2005 MOTYC Comps

[goodhelmet]

Ok, it took me a little longer than I anticipated becuase of difficulty in acquiring certain matches but I finally completed the 2005 Comps. Anyway, I think 2005 was a very prolific year for match quality... esp. compared to the last few years. Anyway, I am sure I missed some matches that people would argue are MOTYs but I think these comps are a great way to be able to sample different styles and see if there are any gems you may have missed or a cheap way to sample stuff you normally wouldn't see without breaking the bank. Some matches I don't think are MOTYs (Angle-HBK for instance) but received enough publicity at various boards that they should be included.

 

Anyway, I want to get these out there but I also want to make back a little bit of the money I invested in the footage. So, to include as much footage as possible, I recorded each disc in 4 hr mode. The trade-off is that you get more footage but the VQ drops a generation. However, most of the footage is either from a master or digital transfer show so the drop-off is minimal. I tried putting WWE TV on the 4 hour discs but the trasnfer wasn't kind so I included a separate 2 hour disc of WWE TV matches You will get five 4-hour discs for $25 (inside the U.S.) and a 2-hour WWE TV disc for free. There was alot of interest in these before so I hope it is still there. Like before, I would like ten orders before I proceed in making copies.

 

 

DISC 1

2/20/05 Tenzan vs. Kojima (AJ vs. NJ)

2/26/05 Mistico vs. Ultimo Guerrero (CMLL)

4/2/05 Bryan Danielson vs. Spanky (ROH)

4/3/05 Angle vs. Michaels (WWE Wrestlemania)

5/7/05 Samoa Joe vs. Jay Lethal (ROH)

5/14/05 Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries (ROH)

5/14/05 CM Punk vs. Jimmy Rave (ROH)

 

DISC 2

1/30/05 Mistico vs. Averno (CMLL)

2/12/05 Samoa Joe vs. Super Dragon (PWG)

6/11/05 Samoa Joe vs. Necro Butcher (IWA-MS)

6/26/05 Angle vs. Michaels (WWE Vengeance)

7/18/05 KENTA vs Kanemuru (NOAH)

7/18/05 Jun Akiyama/Makato Hashi vs. Naomichi Marufuji/Minoru Suzuki (NOAH)

7/18/05 Kobashi vs. Sasaki (NOAH)

9/11/05 Samoa Joe Vs. Christopher Daniels Vs. AJ Styles (TNA Unbreakable)

9/17/05 Gibson vs. Danielson (ROH)

 

 

DISC 3

2/16/05 Kawada vs. Kojima (All Japan)

4/25/05 Kenta Kobashi/Go Shioski vs. Jun Akiyama/Genichiro Tenryu (NOAH)

7/9/05 CM Punk vs. Roderick Strong (ROH)

7/23/05 AJ Styles vs. Jimmy Rave (ROH)

7/24/05 Eddy Guerrero vs. Rey Misterio Jr. (WWE Great American Bash)

8/13/05 Low Ki/Homicide vs. Joe/Lethal (ROH)

8/21/05 Eddy Guerrero vs. Rey Misterio Jr. (WWE Summerslam)

9/18/05 Suwa vs. KENTA (NOAH)

10/1/05 Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi (ROH)

 

 

DISC 4

1/8/05 Kobashi vs. Suzuki (NOAH)

2/12/05 CM Punk vs Bryan Danielson (FIP)

5/8/05 KENTA & Marufuji vs. Hidaka & Fujita (NOAH)

5/14/05 Perro Aguayo Jr. vs. Mistico (CMLL)

8/14/05 Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles (TNA Sacrifice)

11/5/05 Bryan Danielson vs. Roderick Strong (ROH)

12/3/05 Steel Cage Warfare (ROH)

 

 

Disc 5

4/24/05 Ishikawa vs. Ikeda (Ikeda Produce)

8/19/05 Chris Hero vs. Arik Cannon (IWA MS)

9/11/05 Yuki Ishikawa vs. Alexander Otsuka (Big Mouth Loud)

10/2/05 Gibson vs. Strong (ROH)

10/2/05 Samoa Joe/Low Ki vs. Kenta Kobashi/Homicide (ROH)

10/14/05 El Hijo Del Perro Aguayo/Mr. Aguila/Hallowen/Damian 666 vs. Pierroth/Apolo Dantes/Mascara 2000/Universo 2000 (CMLL)

11/5/05 Santo v. Atlantis (CMLL)

11/5/05 Nakajima/Sasaki vs. Shiosaki/Kobashi (NOAH)

12/11/05 Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles (TNA Turning Point)

12/16/05 Santo/Casas v. Memphisto/Averno (CMLL)

 

 

WWE TV DISC

3/17/05 Kurt Angle v. Marty Jannetty (WWE SD! )

5/2/05 Shelton Benjamin v. Shawn Michaels (WWE RAW )

6/23/05 Eddy Guerrero vs. Rey Misterio Jr. (WWE SD!)

7/16 William Regal v. Chris Benoit (WWE Velocity)

7/21/05 Chris Benoit vs Eddie Guerrero (WWE SD!)

12/23/05 Rey & Batista v MNM (WWE SD!)

[Resident Evil]

My tape buying has come to an absolute hault due to financial reasons but I still have a couple of questions anyway:

 

1)You're not selling to Canada?

 

2)Would you be able to get these DVDs sometime in the distant or not so distant future? It's a nice set of matches.

[goodhelmet]

1. Yes, I am selling to Canada but for any orders outside the U.S., I am asking for $2 extra to help cover the extra shipping costs. So it would be $27

 

2. As long as I get ten orders, I will still sell these in the future. So, even if you cna't pick them up now, as long as ten other people can, you are good.

 

EDIT: Shit, I had no idea I put 42 instead of $2. Sorry for the mistake

[Guest CanadianChick]

So $27 American? I'd be interested in this.

[goodhelmet]

If interested, PM me for my paypal address.

[Loss]

I'm interested. I'll PayPal you for this plus the other thing we're working on at the same time if possible.

[anarchistxx]

I'm considering it, but I have about 60%+ of the stuff, and things like Jannety/Angle have no place on there, especially when you've left out the excellent Michinoku/Togo 03/04 match, and the great Kobashu/Hashi v Akiyama/Kanemaru Tag from 19/08.

[goodhelmet]

Anyway, I am sure I missed some matches that people would argue are MOTYs but I think these comps are a great way to be able to sample different styles and see if there are any gems you may have missed or a cheap way to sample stuff you normally wouldn't see without breaking the bank. Some matches I don't think are MOTYs (Angle-HBK for instance) but received enough publicity at various boards that they should be included.

Sorry man,I thought I covered this already

[Loss]

I just received this set and skimmed it all for VQ and was very impressed. I know GH had suggested at one point that someone be weary if they plan on watching the set on a big screen TV, but I'm watching on a 52" screen with no VQ issues or pixelation at all, and I've scanned all the discs and watched about five seconds of every match.

 

Only match I've had a chance to watch so far is Mistico/Ultimo Guerrero from 2/26/05 from CMLL, as I had about 15 minutes to spare this morning and knew I'd have time for it. It's a very good match, but I don't know if I'd consider it a contender for MOTY. Nothing wrong with it so much, it's just what it is. Clever is the best word I'd use to describe this, with UG outsmarting himself and showing a complete lack of restraint, which leads to Mistico winning in two straight falls. I'm just getting acquainted with lucha (although honestly, after watching Estrada/Cruz from 10/22/89 this weekend and the trios match from the same date, it's really the only style of wrestling I want to watch for a while, aside from this set anyway) and something really clicked with me just recently that has really made me appreciate the style more than I did in the past. The best thing I can say for this match is that while there will most likely be better matches on this set, I'm glad this was included, because the way it's worked is so smart and it's not something a lot of the younger guys featured on the set may be able to pull off at this stage of their careers.

 

There's often a lot of talk about Mistico's high flying, which I'm sure is impressive, although it's not really showcased here. Ultimo Guerrero was the star of this match to me, with the really great characterizations and over-the-top animation. He also has the way cool fallaway slam/pinning combo from the top rope that I love.

 

I beg you all -- give lucha a chance. It admittedly took some time for me to really get into, but it's quickly becoming my favorite style of wrestling there is, and you all know how I feel about the American Southern style. This isn't even a great match, and there are probably just as many matches in CMLL that aren't as there are that are, but there's something redeeming in every match I've watched from CMLL at this point, and this is another example of that.

 

More later.

[goodhelmet]

I agree completely with the assessment of Mistico-UG. It is a perfectly enjoyable match but not a MOTYC. However, when you get to the Perrito-Mistico match, I think you will have to decide where it will go in your Top Ten. For about 2 months, that match was my favorite match of 2005. Still, I will have to watch some of those matches more closely but Perro-Mistico will still be in my top 5.

[Loss]

Ok, watched Danielson/Spanky from 04/02/05, ROH.

 

A million problems with this match. This is probably my least favorite Bryan Danielson match I've ever seen. For all the talk about how far ROH has come since 2002, this is the most 2002-ish match I can recall them doing in the past couple of years. This is part of a tournament and it's not the final, but it's wrestled like the final. That's problem one. Problem two is that Danielson is so far above Spanky that any attempts to make the match seem competitive just don't work at all, because it's impossible to buy Spanky standing toe to toe with Danielson. Then, there's Danielson doing a long Airplane spin and both guys immediately doing top rope move after top rope move without a problem. And Danielson dismantling Spanky's arm and torso really means nothing when all of Spanky's comebacks involve using his arms to balance himself on the top rope, and spinning elbows.

 

Subtlety can be cool, but it should still be somewhat obvious to anyone paying attention. And when Mark Nulty is talking about the smirk on Danielson's face and how he's enjoying this, when that look is nowhere to be found on Danielson's face, it's just silly. You know, from a mechanical standpoint of working a body part and it playing into the finish, this may be a "better" match by the standards of many than Mistico/Ultimo Guerrero, but I'd rather the Mistico/UG match a million times over, and all that watching these two matches back to back did was show me that while Danielson is terrific and I enjoy watching him almost all the time, he's not the best wrestler in the world, and he still has a long way to go before he can reasonably be talked about in that category. As for Kendrick, he's just a younger, faster version of 2005 Shawn Michaels with his flying forearm comebacks and love for dives off the top rope. You either like that or you don't, and I really don't care for it.

[Loss]

Michaels v Angle from Wrestlemania

 

Better than I remember it being, but damn, this is really frustrating. Kind of a great, then bad, then good, then bad, then good, then bad match.

 

Loved:

 

Opening 8 minutes -- Relentless matwork from Shawn, frustration from Angle, Shawn using the short-arm scissors to throw Angle off his game ... really awesome

 

Hated:

 

Attempts at table spots on the floor followed by Angle slam into turnbuckle

 

Loved:

 

Struggle for both to get to their feet in the center of the ring at the same time after the double TKO; really terrific visual

 

Hated:

 

The weird-ass moonsault onto the table

 

Loved:

 

Shawn's look of regret after lowblowing Angle

 

Hated:

 

Shawn spending 3 hours in the anklelock

 

Also, why do WWE matches always have to have so many double TKO spots? Isn't one per match enough?

 

Anyway, also watched Jay/Lethal from 5/7/05, and it's easily my favorite match so far. Joe is obviously the favorite, but Lethal seemed like he might pull it off, and Joe wrestled at a disadvantage for most of the match because of the Code of Honor stuff. Really believable wrestling with believable false finishes and a crowd that really got into the spectacle of it all. I really liked the teacher/student aspect as well, and what was cool about it was that Lethal seemed to know Joe better than Joe knew Lethal. I want to see more matches featuring these two.

[goodhelmet]

Hey, I noticed you skipped Tenzan-Kojima!

[Loss]

I'll get back to it. I'm just not in the mood right now to watch such a long match.

[Loss]

>>1/30/05 Mistico vs. Averno (CMLL)

Really dug this one a lot. I still like Mistico despite the criticisms, but it was obvious Averno was carrying him here. Kind of a hybrid of an old match from the Crockett days on TBS and the AJPW style, which really surprised me. This crowd is so much better than the one wherever the Mistico/UG match took place. I like that crowd too, but the constant horn blowing drowns out any audience pops that may or may not be there. Anyway, this atmosphere is like a much larger armory or TV studio with teenage trash making synchronized chants and the random zoom-ins to fans dressed up like their favorites in the audience. Reminded me of the Flair fans that always wore sunglasses and suits. Teases of the powerbomb early in the match and the delivery later reminded me a lot of AJPW. I need to see more Averno, because I really, really dug him here. My new favorite match of the set thus far.

 

>>2/12/05 Samoa Joe vs. Super Dragon (PWG)

Sorry. I didn't get why it was included at all.

 

>>6/11/05 Samoa Joe vs. Necro Butcher (IWA-MS)

Loved this A LOT. I don't know if IWA Mid South always has atmosphere like this or not, but this was really great and lent itself to a great spectacle in the ring. Joe/Necro may not be Joe/Punk in terms of a pairing, but I might like Joe/Necro better in some ways just because it's so unique and the drama was just off the charts. Necro is insane to be taking some of those spots. I don't know if I'd like him against anyone else or not, but against Samoa Joe, it works really well. I have to ask though -- what's up with the Rob Naylor references?

 

>>6/26/05 Angle vs. Michaels (WWE Vengeance)

I understand why it was included, as some would have stated it should have been there if it wasn't, but there just wasn't anything here for me. Finish was done better on TV with Shelton Benjamin a few months prior, and all the good stuff I liked in the Mania match was either repeated here to less effect or was completely missing. Not my cup of Lipton.

 

>>7/18/05 KENTA vs Kanemuru (NOAH)

>>7/18/05 Jun Akiyama/Makato Hashi vs. Naomichi Marufuji/Minoru Suzuki (NOAH)

>>7/18/05 Kobashi vs. Sasaki (NOAH)

Believe it or not, this is the first NOAH footage I've ever seen. All good stuff mostly, but I noticed a pattern -- the first half of the first two matches were really boring, and the last half was really good. The tag match was really uneven, with a few good moments, but KENTA/Kanemaru turned into a very good match as it went on. The only problem I have with juniors matches at this stage is that the 90s were so good for juniors wrestling that it's going to take something really extraordinary to stand out after seeing so much good stuff. Not a knock on this match, it's just that this match didn't really fit that mold.

 

Kobashi/Sasaki was better than I expected. I wouldn't say that was a must-see classic either, but in terms of working a main event style in front of such a ginormous crowd, this was definitely epic feeling. This would suck in front of an indy-sized crowd, though, and definitely wouldn't work in any environment. Not really great in the traditional sense, but not a "gold-plated piece of crap" either. I liked it, but in a pulp novel kind of way.

 

>>9/11/05 Samoa Joe Vs. Christopher Daniels Vs. AJ Styles (TNA Unbreakable)

I'm convinced that somewhere, this match is still going. I don't really care for spotfests, but if there's going to be one, wrapping it up in 15 minutes is usually a good idea. WCW understood that well, TNA doesn't. The problem with matches like this is that when it's over, you can't really remember anything that happened, what the finish was, or much of anything, because it's all about that particular moment and wowing the crowd for a half hour. I guess that's okay, but again, it's not my style.

 

Still need to watch Gibson/Danielson from Disc 2 and Tenzan/Kojima from Disc 1, then I'll move on to Disc 3.

[Loss]

>>9/17/05 Gibson vs. Danielson (ROH)

This is the first title change match from ROH that I've happened to catch the whole time I've been watching, as the rest have eluded me. I wouldn't call this my favorite ROH match, but it just might be the best I've seen. Danielson coming back with a clear head ready to conquer the world and having to overcome a guy who wrestles a very similar style connected with me. Again, very believable, and it's nice to know Gibson is always a health insurance claim away from being able to wrestle more matches like this.

 

>>2/16/05 Kawada vs. Kojima (All Japan)

Wow. Fantastic match. Now obviously, I haven't seen Kawada week in and week out in years, but this match at least shows that he's still able of stepping up in a big match situation and delivering. Based on the way some people talk about him, I thought he'd be horrible at this stage. This is another title change, like Gibson/Danielson, that I thought was foreshadowed really well, with Kojima put in some pretty vulnerable positions where he managed to overcome all of them. The finish with Kojima putting everything he had left into that lariat, knowing his time was now or never, was great.

 

>>4/25/05 Kenta Kobashi/Go Shioski vs. Jun Akiyama/Genichiro Tenryu (NOAH)

Go Shioski is the World's Greatest Terry Daniels (anyone who saw the DVDVR WWF set will know what I mean by that). I don't think this match flowed all that well, because there were a lot of awkward pauses, but the general layout of the match was strong enough that it really didn't matter. Poor Tenryu - I've never seen anyone bleed like that from chops. They teased the Kobashi/Tenryu encounter really well early on and had the entire audience roaring by the time they finally interacted, with Tenryu taunting Kobashi on the apron and throwing his drink at him. Call it a hunch, but I think those chops made him regret doing so. Tenryu is a freak of nature, still going strong in 2005. Akiyama does nothing for me, but I did like the finish a lot, because Shioski kicked out when you expected him to lose, and he did eventually lose, but was protected in doing so. Nice match.

 

>>7/9/05 CM Punk vs. Roderick Strong (ROH)

Fun watching Punk try to be Ric Flair, but it's a shame it didn't work with the audience. This has to be the single worst crowd I've ever seen for a wrestling match, mocking it the entire time with the "yay-boo-yay-boo" stuff. I did like that Punk had the jet black hair and a different look, and this angle was a really good way to get some milage out of him on the way out the door. I think this would have been better with 10 minutes shaved off; it's the quintessential Worldwide main event with someone nowhere near the champ on the totem pole putting in a surprisingly good showing. Those types of matches usually don't need more than 15 minutes.

 

>>7/23/05 AJ Styles vs. Jimmy Rave (ROH)

Who is this guy that calls himself AJ Styles and where is he the rest of the time? Far from the best ROH match ever, but this very well may be my favorite (opposite of Danielson/Gibson). Lots of hate and blood and fire, and some have complained about the finish, but considering that Styles is an attraction in ROH and Jimmy Rave is a regular, it made sense to me. Never thought I'd make this comparison with him, but Styles is Buzz Sawyer-lite, with the look of insanity and the 5 million consecutive headbutts. I am so burned out on table spots anymore, but I really liked the one in this match, and the brainbuster on the chair was fucking brutal.

 

Really good batch of matches. Second half of Disc 3 (Rey v Eddy twice!) soon.

[Loss]

>>7/24/05 Eddy Guerrero vs. Rey Misterio Jr. (WWE Great American Bash)

This is hard to say, but I didn't think this was a spectacular match that should be talked about as a MOTY contender. I enjoyed it, mainly because I think the Eddy/Rey/Dominic angle was terrific, but that's really all this match is -- a showcase of the angle. There's hints of a match for 30 seconds at a time, but it's mostly Eddy standing outside staring at Dominic. Best part for me was Rey nearly ending up in tears after every false finish.

 

>>8/13/05 Low Ki/Homicide vs. Joe/Lethal (ROH)

Very good match, made excellent by the post-match brawl, which is probably the most heated, engaging thing I've ever seen in ROH. Out of this world. Ki and 'Cide are the best heels you'll find on the indy circuit from what I can tell, because you get the feeling they really believe in what they're doing. I like Jimmy Rave a lot, but some of his stuff still seems like an act. Anyway, Joe constantly coming to the rescue of his partner and his partner surprisingly holding his own as the match continued was great. I'm sure some didn't like the DQ finish, but they more than made up for it with the post-match brawl. There are other matches like Danielson/Gibson and Danielson/Aries that are probably better than this one, but there is a certain sameness to a lot of the ROH matches that are on this set after a while (all the Danielson matches specifically start looking exactly alike). This stood out for being unique.

 

>>8/21/05 Eddy Guerrero vs. Rey Misterio Jr. (WWE Summerslam)

LOVED this match. I think this may be the best ladder match WWE has ever done, or very close. It was still very much a Rey/Eddy match in terms of the spots and the story being told. The ladder didn't swallow the match whole like we sometimes see with other pairings like Benoit/Jericho or Hardyz/E & C. And unlike the Bash, the storyline didn't swallow the match whole either. I really like the outside interference in this case and felt like it added to the drama of the match, with the wives and Dominic all showing surprisingly great acting skills. Is there some type of law in the universe that every Guerrero, whether through bloodlines or being married into the family, has to have good instincts for wrestling? Dominic is a better actor than at least half of the WWE roster. They did a lot of the typical WWE ladder spots, so there wasn't really anything new or inventive here, but I just really enjoyed the way everything came together. The whole storyline and series of matches would have been doomed to fail with any two other guys being given it, but these two made it work, and they made it work within the context of a wrestling match. Eddy is missed.

[Guest wnyxmcneal]

This has to be the single worst crowd I've ever seen for a wrestling match, mocking it the entire time with the "yay-boo-yay-boo" stuff.

The crowd wasn't mocking the match at all, everyone there (except for a few people) really wanted to see Strong kick Punk's ass and win the title.

[Guest Josh]

>>4/25/05 Kenta Kobashi/Go Shioski vs. Jun Akiyama/Genichiro Tenryu (NOAH)

Go Shioski is the World's Greatest Terry Daniels (anyone who saw the DVDVR WWF set will know what I mean by that). I don't think this match flowed all that well, because there were a lot of awkward pauses, but the general layout of the match was strong enough that it really didn't matter. Poor Tenryu - I've never seen anyone bleed like that from chops. They teased the Kobashi/Tenryu encounter really well early on and had the entire audience roaring by the time they finally interacted, with Tenryu taunting Kobashi on the apron and throwing his drink at him. Call it a hunch, but I think those chops made him regret doing so. Tenryu is a freak of nature, still going strong in 2005. Akiyama does nothing for me, but I did like the finish a lot, because Shioski kicked out when you expected him to lose, and he did eventually lose, but was protected in doing so. Nice match.

Tenryu actually bladed his chest, believe it or not. And it's Go Shiosaki.

[goodhelmet]

I never heard the story of Tenryu blading his chest. That is fucking insane.

 

also, I probably mistyped Shiosaki in the match listing so that is probably my bad.

[The Thread Killer]

Ugh me either! I've seen that match a bunch of times and I figured that Kobashi just busted open Tenryu's leathery old lumpy hide.

 

Yeeech.

 

Then again, I just found out that Terry Funk and Dusty Rhodes used to blade their arms and ears for effect, so I guess anything is possible.

[goodhelmet]

I never heard about them blading thier ears but it is so obvious that Dusty bladed his arms.

[Loss]

Yeah, the name was spelled incorrectly on the original match list.

 

>>9/18/05 Suwa vs. KENTA (NOAH)

If this match alone is any indication of any type of consistency, SUWA may be the best wrestler in the world. I was pretty blown away by his great heel stuff here, finding ways to constantly break every rule in the book just out of the sight of the referee. The problem is, and maybe I've gotten a bad sampling, but I can't get into KENTA at all. He always has the same facial expression and never seems to change. He's a guy who wrestles LONG matches for juniors (30+ minutes is insane for that division), which from what I can tell often involve lots of time killing for the first half to two-thirds of the match, followed by lots of kicking in the final stretch with some good nearfalls. SUWA was amazing here, but KENTA, on this set, always seems a little bored.

 

>>10/1/05 Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi (ROH)

Great match! Not a "one-sided squash", as some have called it, by any stretch, considering that both are dominating for a lengthy amount of time throughout this match. Atmosphere carries this match a long way, but that does count for something. One of the best matches of the year, but I don't think it was Kobashi's best match of 2005. This match told me two things -- the first is that Kobashi has an incredible work ethic. He could get away with doing so much less than he does, but he still works very hard every time out. He wanted to have a competitve match here, and he did. The other is that Joe should really be the top gaijin in NOAH, and why he isn't I'll never know.

 

>>1/8/05 Kobashi vs. Suzuki (NOAH)

Having not finished the discs yet, this is currently my MOTY for 2005. Loved it a lot more than goodhelmet did a little while back. The basic style of the match really worked for me. Watching Kobashi in 2005, there are definitely differences between him now and ten years ago -- he favors his knees for obvious reasons and he doesn't take nearly the amount of bumps he once did. However, he really knows how to make the most of what he does have, and it shows here. Again, I don't like to make full judgments based on small samplings, but based on this match, Suzuki >>>>> KENTA. Some of this stuff would seem far too pedestrian if it weren't for his hairstyle, which was apparently cut by Brutus Beefcake on a 1988 episode of WWF Superstars, and the constant smirk on his face, which makes him seem a little maniacal, almost like he enjoys pain and wants Kobashi to bring his best. It's the second time I've mentioned the guy, so I wish I wouldn't have mentioned his name talking about Styles/Rave before -- Suzuki is A LOT like Buzz Sawyer here. Kobashi taking the side headlock to the arena floor and posing in it in front of the cameras is priceless. Reminded me very much of a random match you'd stumble upon from AJ Classics, circa 1982 or 1983.

 

>>2/12/05 CM Punk vs Bryan Danielson (FIP)

Honestly, I was dreading watching this, because both guys have been overexposed on this set, and I'm sick of them at the moment, but to their credit, they had a really good match and brought me back to their side. I still think every Punk match on this set has been about 10 minutes too long, but I like the FIP environment and think it's conducive to good matches. Danielson is far more animated than he typically is in ROH, but he's still very much the same guy. I like Punk far better as a heel than I did as the hometown babyface challenging Samoa Joe in June of '04. I think Punk will do just fine in WWE if he can learn to fit the same schtick in a smaller time frame -- when he can start having good matches at 15 minutes or less, he will probably have what he needs to have good matches in WWE.

 

>>5/8/05 KENTA & Marufuji vs. Hidaka & Fujita (NOAH)

Again, with KENTA matches, the final few minutes are great, but the road there is so boring. He reminds of Shinjiro Otani in that regard, as even when he was having a blockbuster 1996, the one thing that bugged me about many of his matches was that the first half of them involved him doing so much aimless matwork. And aimless would be the word I'd best use to describe the first, oh, 85 minutes of this match or so, although things got really great toward the end.

 

>>5/14/05 Perro Aguayo Jr. vs. Mistico (CMLL)

Always good to see more CMLL, although I wish the matches featured didn't all involve Mistico so there would be a wider variety (I know there's more on Disc 5 that doesn't involve Mistico). I prefer the Averno match for intangible reasons, but this is every bit as great, and it's not hard to see why Perro was on such a hot streak last year. Something I want to revisit after watching all the TV around this time, because a lot of the stuff, like attempting to pin Mistico with his mask off, didn't make sense to me because I didn't understand the motivation for doing so. Enjoyed the hell out of it, but I don't think I went in with enough knowledge to fully appreciate it for what it is.

[World's Worst Man]

My problem with Suzuki vs. Kobashi was that the work was incredibly "fractured". The match had no flow, and there were way too many "uncomfortable pauses" as I like to call them. Suzuki was still terrible at that point, as he didn't know what to do to fill time between his schtick/submissions, and it was something you would see in pretty much every match involving him. That's something I tend to care about, so it really put a damper on the match. Still good, but I probably wouldn't even call it better than the disappointing Sasaki-Kawada match from that month.

 

Kind of disappointed that Kanemaru/Akiyama vs. Hashi/Kobashi didn't get put on. It was my #2 or #3 match of 2005, and it was a match that would appeal to pretty much everyone. The story telling was off the charts, and the wrestling was great as well.

[goodhelmet]

Well, I will probably make an addendum to this for people who ordered the first set who buy more stuff from me. It will include more lucha, more puro and any other match people come up with or got left off the initial set.