Goodhelmet's 2006 MOTY set

[Loss]

I decided to make a thread for this, so Gordi, if you'd like, feel free to post your stuff you posted in Match Discussion here. Also, anyone else who has picked up the set and wants to talk about it, please feel free to post.

 

So, let's get started. I'm watching these matches slightly out of order due to time management issues.

 

First, let's post the full match list.

 

Disc 1

La Mascara & El Hijo Del Santo vs. Blue Panther & Tarzan Boy (CMLL GDL 1/1/06)

KENTA vs. Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH 1/22/06)

Shadow WX & Mammoth Sasaki v. Abdullah Kobyashi & Daisuke Sekimoto (BJPW 1/27/06)

Kurt Angle vs. The Undertaker (No Way Out 2/19/06)

Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Takeshi Morishima (NOAH 3/5/06)

KENTA vs. Kenta Kobashi (NOAH 3/5/06)

Do Fixer vs. Blood Generation (ROH 3/31/06)

Chris Benoit vs. William Regal (Velocity 5/8/06)

Hiro Saito vs. Osamu Nishimura (MUGA 8/2/06)

 

Disc 2

Abdullah Kobayashi vs. Takashi Sasaki (BJPW 3/31/06)

Mistico & Negro Casas vs. Averno & Mephisto (CMLL 4/15/06)

Yuji Nagata vs. Giant Bernard (NJPW 4/30/06)

ROH vs. CZW 6-man (ROH 4/22/06)

Jun Akiyama vs. Masao Inoue (NOAH 4/23/06)

Kenta Kobashi vs. Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH 4/23/06)

Chris Benoit vs. Fit Finlay (Judgment Day 5/21/06)

Samoa Joe vs. Scott Steiner (Slammiversary 6/18/06)

 

Disc 3

L.A. Park/Marco Corleone/Johnny Stamboli vs. Dr. Wagner Jr./Dos Caras Jr./Lizmark Jr. (CMLL 5/19/06)

Cage of Death (ROH 7/15/06)

KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji vs. WILD 2 (NOAH 7/16/06)

LAX vs. Christopher Daniels & AJ Styles (Hard Justice 8/13/06)

Brian Danielson vs. Samoa Joe (ROH 8/6/06)

Kaz Hayashi vs. Shuji Kondo (All Japan 8/27/06)

 

Disc 4

Captain’s Fall Match (Dragon’s Gate 1/27/06)

Yuki Ishikawa vs. Hiroyuki Ito (Big Mouth Loud 4/19/06)

Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness (ROH 4/29/06)

Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness (ROH 8/12/06)

Bryan Danielson vs. KENTA (ROH 9/16/06)

John Cena vs. Edge (TLC) (Unforgiven 9/17/06)

Osamu Nishimura vs. Tatsumi Fujinami (2/3 falls) (MUGA 9/25/06)

 

Disc 5

Naomichi Marufuji v. Akira Taue (NOAH 3/5/06)

Meiko Satomura v. Aja Kong (Sendai Pro Wrestling 7/9/06)

Masato Tanaka v. Ryuji Sai (Zero-One 7/30/06)

El Hijo del Santo, Mistico y Negro Casas vs. Atlantis, Black Warrior y Ultimo Guerrero (CMLL 8/4/06)

El Hijo del Santo vs. Perro Aguayo Jr. (CMLL 8/25/06)

LAX vs. Christopher Daniels & AJ Styles (Ultimate X) (No Surrender 9/24/06)

William Regal vs. Chris Benoit (No Mercy 10/8/06)

KENTA v. Matt Sydal (ROH 11/4/06)

Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle (Turning Point 12/10/06)

 

Disc 6

Kenta Kobashi & Kensuke Sasaki vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Katsuhiko Nakajima (Kensuke Office 2/11/06)

Necro Butcher vs. Low-Ki (IWA-MS 4/1/06)

Necro Butcher vs. Homicide (ROH 5/13/06)

Minoru Suzuki vs. MECHA Mummy (Ultimo Dragon Fiesta 6/23/06)

Necro Butcher vs. Super Dragon (PWG 9/2/06)

Jerrito Estrada, Mini Abismo Negro, Mini Charly Manson vs. Mascarita Divina, Mascarita Sagrada, Octagoncito (AAA 10/20/06)

Naomichi Marufuji vs. KENTA (NOAH 10/29/06)

Bryan Danielson vs. KENTA (NOAH 12/2/06)

Kendrick & London vs. Regal & Taylor vs. The Hardyz vs. MNM (Ladder Match) (Armageddon 12/17/06)

 

Disc 7

Rey Mysterio vs. Finlay (SD! 3/21/06)

Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton (SD! 4/4/06)

Chris Benoit vs. JBL (SD! 4/11/06)

Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels (Impact 4/13/06)

Chris Benoit vs. Finlay WWE (SD! 5/3/06)

Damien Wayne vs. Sean Denny (NWA-VA 5/6/06)

Chris Benoit vs. Finlay (SD! 11/24/06)

El Hijo del Santo & La Mascara v Blue Panther & Tarzan Boy - CMLL 01/01/2006

What an awesome way to start this thing. Blue Panther and Santo are in first of course. Would you expect anything but? They do their typically great matwork exchanges with each other, as I realize they're probably doing similar matwork in some hole in the wall with no cameras somewhere as I type. It's all about the macho oneupmanship. They shake hands after coming to a stalemate at one point, and there's subtext galore going on, as it feels much more like a backhanded compliment than any genuine type of sportsmanship. Santo's headscissors from the ground up early on is awesome, but what made it even more awesome was that they slow-mo'd him using it to take Panther down. It's not even a highspot, but it's a good clue that whoever produced this thing understands wrestling. Some great familiarity spots here, my favorite of which is Panther challenging Santo to run the ropes and then dropping an elbow on him instead.

 

Santo hasn't really aged at all here, and the Tommy Rogers-style avoidance of heel doubleteaming, the Super Astro tribute headbutt and senton/tope suicida combo just make that point way better than I can. Santo also has a tendency to play to my inner wrestling nerd, as I feel the need to start bitching about him being overly dominant and showy right when Tarzan Boy catches him with a powerbomb to take the second fall for his team. I'm a bit spoiled on great trios matches because I've watched far too much 1989 EMLL, so I wouldn't call this a classic or anything, but it's still very much an excellent match. There are other matches I've watched so far that objectively are better matches, but this one is way more fun to watch.

 

I'm excited that there's more Santo to come!

 

KENTA v Naomichi Marufuji - NOAH 01/22/06

I have no idea where to really start here. This is a great match. It's the best match I've watched on this set so far. Yet at the same time, I really hate it and think it represents a lot of what I don't really like about wrestling these days. Maybe it's the Lessons Of 2006 stuff with Marufuji doing the ground and pound, maybe it's the overly careful construction of this thing, I have no idea. It just really feels more calculated than a Madonna publicity stunt and flows like a match that was planned and practiced for weeks ahead of time. To their credit, they do a tremendous job building drama from beginning to end, Marufuji does some really awesome legwork on KENTA, and there is this really great moment late in the match where KENTA is making a comeback with his kicks, and Marufuji does this awesome sell where he leans right into every kick so he can fall back bigger and make them look more visually impressive.

 

I think I would have enjoyed this more had it been a little shorter. Meltzer directed a rather infamous rant toward Eddy Guerrero and Rey Misterio a couple of years ago for being 15-18 minute guys trying to work 30 minutes that really would have been better served going toward these two. At the same time, I think there's a benefit to especially Marufuji working these matches now. He strikes me as a guy who is going to peak when he gets old and fat, and at that point, he'll probably be a moderately successful heavy working on top somewhere. He'll be used to going long, and he'll be better for it. And maybe then, some of the things being attempted here will play a little bit better for me. Sadly for these guys, NOAH isn't St. Louis, so a match between warring partners with lots of huge nearfalls and double TKO spots doesn't come across as well as it deserves. It sounds like I'm hating on these guys and bagging on the match I know, but I'm not. I thought this was a great effort with two talented guys (although Marufuji smokes KENTA in every way possible), and I felt bad for them because it really deserved to take place in a different era and environment to be fully appreciated.

 

Shadow WX & Mammoth Sasaki v Abdullah Kobyashi & Daisuke Sekimoto - BJPW 01/27/06

I wanted to like this and tried to enjoy it, but sorry, no dice. I probably would have enjoyed this match more if it wasn't being talked about as a MOTYC. It's really more of a wacky comedy match with 2-3 minutes of hot nearfalls tacked on to the end of it than it is one of the best matches of the year. Garbage matches really require a lot of heat and atmosphere for me to get into them; otherwise, they just come across as pathetic. And this match didn't have much in the way of audience love until the final few minutes, which is a shame, because they were working pretty hard.

 

Chris Benoit v William Regal - WWE Velocity 05/08/06

It's Benoit/Regal and it's everything you'd expect from Benoit/Regal. All the great spots are here, and while I still think the stuff they were doing a decade before is better, there's a certain charm to this that maybe wasn't there in their earlier matches, and it's interesting to see what's similar to and different from the Nitro specials they used to do. This is the second match in a row (and not the last) that really needed to be transplanted in another promotion or town or something to play to full effect. It's a bit weird watching all these awesome and totally-not-WWE-style spots in a WWE ring.

 

Mitsuharu Misawa v Takeshi Morishima - NOAH 03/05/06

I really enjoyed this match quite a bit. My view is probably a bit skewed in an odd direction though, as I watched (and loathed) their January match before getting around to seeing this one. All that watching the two matches that way does is totally expose Morishima as a green spot guy being carried by a pretty formulaic Misawa match layout. And that match layout does wonders here to make Morishima look way better than he really is, as he has some great, stiff lariats and stuff, but can't really put together a match for shit. But he can follow, and he does that much better here than he did in January. That's probably because Misawa was concussed in that match and Morishima had no idea what to do, so he just dropped Misawa on his head another half dozen times. He's not the new Terry Gordy, he's more the Rob Van Dam version of Terry Gordy, if that makes sense. Still, the somewhat crippled Misawa deserves credit for being a hell of a pro, taking a vicious beating to get over a rising star and carrying the match mentally while letting Morishima carry it physically. Impressive, and probably not terribly easy to pull off. I wouldn't call this one of the best matches of the year, but I really enjoyed this as a Misawa performance. It's hardly an endorsement that he has lots of gas left in the tank. It's more of a statement that even as a shell of his former self, he remains pretty good when he really needs to be.

[World's Worst Man]

I think the booking of Misawa-Morishima was terrible in what was otherwise a pretty good match. The three backdrops were just overkill, and the third one really should have ended the match (just listen to the crowd). Instead, it kind of killed the move. Misawa is sure great at playing the "old guy who takes a gigantic beating" though. Morishima obviously brings the firepower, but Misawa absorbs it in a way to almost draw pity as he drags himself around the ring with a glassy look in his eyes. Decent finish, with Morishima looking like a tough fucker in the loss. So ultimately I think the wrong guy won in the context of the match they wrestled, even if it wasn't necessarily the wrong result in the big picture.

[World's Worst Man]

Kobashi vs.Kenta is still really good the second time through. KENTA is just such a little prick in this, as he taunts Kobashi throughout the match with disrespectful little kicks, slaps and gestures. Kobashi brings the anger in response to all of this with some extra nasty looking stuff, like a big downwards chop right to KENTA's nose. KENTA busts out some nice arm work after Kobashi is 'injured' after an apron side 'rana, and Kobashi does a pretty good job of selling it, even after it's done being worked on. Despite doing some pretty neat reversals and comeback segments, very little crowd heat is sustained. I tried to ignore it, because what the wrestlers were doing was still great, but it might bother some people. KENTA is really awesome in matches that don't go too long. His prick character against the veterans always makes for good stuff, and him and Kobashi always seem to mesh well together. Not really an elite match, but a damn fine encounter nonetheless.

[Loss]

One thing that I think will help me out when I watch the other KENTA and Marufuji matches on the set -- is there a storyline with a breakup with them or is it more that they're just tag team partners who have a bit of a rivalry and occasionally face each other? I didn't know if it was a Misawa/Kawada circa '92 thing where they're slowly drifting apart to prep them for a big feud or not. Obviously, Marufuji proving to not be a draw with the GHC title probably affected whatever the long-term plans were, but I was curious. The reason I asked is that they went at it pretty aggressively in the January match, and it's possible I blocked it out, but I don't remember pre and post-match handshakes.

[kjh]

I think I would have enjoyed this more had it been a little shorter. Meltzer directed a rather infamous rant toward Eddy Guerrero and Rey Misterio a couple of years ago for being 15-18 minute guys trying to work 30 minutes that really would have been better served going toward these two.

To be fair Meltzer has criticised the NOAH style on several occasions for their title matches always going at least 20 minutes and usually longer, which means that the fans are conditioned to believe that a title match can't end early, so they don't react much until the final few minutes of the match.

 

I enjoyed this match a lot too when I saw it a few months ago, though I also felt at the time it would have been better if they worked a shorter, tighter match and that the match at times came off a bit artificial and overly choreographed, rather than spontaneous and real.

[Loss]

When Meltzer says that, isn't it more of a criticism of the heavyweights? NOAH is really the first promotion I've ever seen that gives juniors 30 minutes on a regular basis, excluding all juniors promotions.

[World's Worst Man]

I don't think there was any sort of specific storyline involving KENTA and Marufuji. I believe they just split the team up with no hard feelings or anything. KENTA is just a prick who tries to beat the shit out of his opponent, regardless of who it is. Whether it's his former partner (Marufuji) or his former teacher (Kobashi), it doesn't seem to matter.

[kjh]

When Meltzer says that, isn't it more of a criticism of the heavyweights?

I think he brings it up more often with the heavyweights, but I think the point still stands with the junior heavyweights when they do their title matches.

[anarchistxx]

Watched KENTA v Danielson today, and fuck the cat, it was uninspiring as hell. The problem with Dragon doing 20 Minute + Title defences 5 times a month, is that he ends up doing the same stuff almost every match. Which is fine, if it's outstanding, but the stuff wasn't terribly exciting when he first did it, let alone when I've seen it 30 times. KENTA is hit and miss, here he just works his paint-by-numbers match, and doesn't seem to be putting a lot into it, his performance here pales in comparison to the great match he had with Sydal. Half the problem is, KENTA looks great, while Dragon doesn't look in the least bit threatening and looks like a complete nerd, which essentially he is, so I don't buy anything he does. There wasn't even anything particular I could point to here, it was just boring. No charisma, a poor crowd, dreadfully overhyped, avoid this.

[goodhelmet]

Just for reference, was this the ROH or NOAH match you are talking about?

[anarchistxx]

Oh, sorry, I meant the ROH match. Didn't like it at all.

[Loss]

Picking up where I left off before ...

 

Kurt Angle v The Undertaker - WWE No Way Out 02/19/06

There were definitely lots of things to love about this match, and lots of things I thought they did really well. There are also a few things that completely went against what they were trying to do here. Still, I think the good outweighed the bad by a healthy bit, and this was still pretty excellent. Taker puts together a hell of a performance. I really enjoyed him taking Angle to the mat and schooling him early on, and also thinking a step ahead with his offense in the early stages. One of the best spots in the first few minutes is when he goes for the big boot, Angle ducks and he comes within inches of hitting the ropes and crotching himself, but pulls back just in time. He loses a little of that for me as the match goes on. The first apron legdrop looked really awesome, and the second one was SUCH a telegraphed indication that Angle was about to move out of the way. In fact, one of the things that I really think knocked this match down a peg or two is the amount of time it took them to set up their big stuff. The apron legdrop is one example, and another is when Taker goes to the top rope to set up the Angle slam. There was a good two minutes of stalling for time and dead space - or at least it seemed that way - before the spot actually happened. This match also could have easily done without the announce table spot. They were obviously trying to break the mold and put out a match that WWE fans would enjoy, but not necessarily in the same style they were used to seeing in main events. That spot just put a sour taste on the rest of the match because it was so cliche and unnecessary.

 

But because this is WWE, that's the spot that gets replayed several times and that gets the most announcer hype, because WWE has always been about putting inanimate objects over wrestling offense. All the cool triangle choke attempts, the apron legdrop, Angle's really great-looking knee clip ... all good looking stuff that wasn't going to get a lot of play because it wasn't such a hyped part of the style. And on that note, if I never see Kurt Angle hold on to the Angle Lock through every counter imaginable again, it will be too soon. It's cool the first few times it happens, and I guess I do have to give credit for them milking it for a great reaction in his matches when he was in the company, but every big show Angle match (or every extended TV match) included that same sequence again and again. People talk about Randy Orton being too in love with RKO attempts, but Angle is really the same way with the Angle lock.

 

But enough negativity from me. Undertaker's triangle choke is terrific and the photo finish with the move being reversed comes across really well and gets the desired reaction. This was the better match from either guy I have seen in a while. For all of the (sometimes justified) complaining about Undertaker being overpushed, him being as protected as he is really comes in handy in a match like this. When the Austin style took over main events in the late 90s, WWE main events became ALL about finishers. There was no reason to think the match was over until the finisher had been hit. Undertaker can bust out new submissions that are credible because he's credible, and the chokeslam, Last Ride and tombstone all really seem like they could end the match.

 

Overall, I don't think I'd call this a MOTYC, but I'm glad it was on this set, because for the environment it was in, it was really good.

 

KENTA v Kenta Kobashi - NOAH 03/05/06

For once, KENTA really seems to have a look of purpose, and I really like him better in this match than I did anything on the 2005 set, or the Marufuji match earlier on this disc. Had KENTA acted a little more like this instead of just kinda following along in the SUWA match, the match might have gone from great match to classic. Here, he's this surly little punk determined to rip Kobashi's arm off and feed it to him, and it's pretty frightening and surprising. I like the story at play here, as Kobashi plays nice for almost all of the match until he finally has enough and wins the match in seconds. For teacher versus student matches, this one seems to look pretty good next to Larry Zbyszko versus Bruno Sammartino, and even feels a bit like a Nightmare/Dick Murdoch match in Mid South. It's a LONG build to Kobashi finally snapping and having enough, and there are times when you think it's never going to happen, but when it finally does, it's pretty glorious. Good match. Not really "great" to me because it's largely pretty one-sided, but lots of fun and I liked the way the match played out when all was said and done. Kind of wrestled like a match designed to create a rematch, which I wouldn't mind seeing if it ever happened.

 

Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito & Genki Horiguchi v CIMA, Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino - ROH 03/31/06

I can see why this got the praise it did. I enjoyed it too, and could see myself watching it again. The rope running is pretty fun because it's so fast paced and spirited, and the overboard nature of all the nearfalls at the end went from great to annoying to enjoyable again, because they overkilled the two counts to a point where it became a little comedic. Still, when I think Match of the Year, I'm not really thinking a showcase match from another promotion with no real storyline that just exists in a vacuum in relation to everything else going on. It's enjoyable, don't get me wrong, but no one argued the Michinoku Pro 6-man at Barely Legal as the match of the year, did they? And speaking of that, comparing Dragon Gate to M-Pro, there are very few similarities, fewer than I would have expected. The Michinoku Pro guys tended to work more complex wrestling sequences, work in more comedy, do more showboating and emphasize the differences between all the wrestlers on each team. This is more guys who can wrestle really fast, but it feels more like the Big Japan style of catching a guy in a suplex as he's coming off of another move and doing rapid fire offense, which isn't really what I usually go for in my wrestling.

 

Osamu Nishimura v Hiro Saito - MUGA 08/02/06

This match is ridiculously good, and totally caught me by surprise. I don't know if this match is all that indicative of the typical Muga style, but if it is, sign me up. This was a good match to watch after the Big Japan tag and the Dragon Gate 6-man, because it's pretty much the opposite of what those matches are. They take the time to really put over the big offense and submissions, which pays off, because Nishimura bridging out of a hammerlock gets a far bigger reaction than Abdullah Kobayashi killing himself because it's built up so well. Really simple, basic, stiff wrestling that's accessible and heated. I can't complain at all. Hiro Saito is really an unlikely underdog babyface in any environment, but he plays one for most of this match and is shockingly effective at that role. He sells Nishimura's headlocks and figure fours and Indian deathlocks so well. Any fans who really fell out of love with Japanese wrestling after 1998 would probably enjoy MUGA better than NOAH from what I can tell here. This is really a great late 70s/early 80s style All Japan or New Japan match, and both guys are awesome. Nishimura doing the rapid fire arm switching headlock thing is the greatest spot Bob Backlund never did, and hearing the crowd erupt when Saito catches Nishimura with a jawbreaker to counter a sleeper hold is really surreal for 2006 wrestling. The finish came completely out of nowhere and was really my least favorite part of the match, because it was such a quick comeback without much build, but at the same time, they got over the point nicely that Nishimura was better, but Saito was more resourceful. My favorite match off the first disc by a pretty big margin.

 

Ranking the matches on Disc 1:

 

#1 - Osamu Nishimura v Hiro Saito - MUGA 08/02/06

#2 - KENTA v Naomichi Marufuji - NOAH 01/22/06

#3 - El Hijo del Santo & La Mascara v Blue Panther & Tarzan Boy - CMLL 01/01/06

#4 - Mitsuharu Misawa v Takeshi Morishima - NOAH 03/05/06

#5 - Kurt Angle v Undertaker - WWE 02/19/06

#6 - Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito & Genki Horiguchi v CIMA, Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino - ROH 03/31/06

#7 - KENTA v Kenta Kobashi - NOAH 03/05/06

#8 - Chris Benoit v William Regal - WWE 05/08/06

#9 - Shadow WX & Mammoth Sasaki v Abdullah Kobayashi & Daisuke Sekimoto - BJPW 01/27/06

[Dylan Waco]

Couple of quick thoughts.

 

First of all MUGA rules and the Fujanami v. Nish match is even better. The matches are just really well developed in the sense that everything feels like it's building toward the logical end. Predictability is not ALWAYS desirable, but nowadays when everyone is working to be unpredictable or do "nifty" things, really basic, well thought out matches really stand out above the pack. It's part of the reason why I get more enjoyment watching World Class tv matches from 82, then I do watching most of what is commonly called "good" these days.

 

I liked Taker v. Angle much more than you did actually for similar reasons. Taker is now in my view one of the more underrated wrestlers ever, if only because he is almost never given credit for being a ring general on par with the best of his generation, even though he so clearly is. Very few guys get better with age, but Taker seems to. Yes his match layout is a bit predictable, but it also virtually guarantees a solid bout if his opponent put in minimal effort. Taker did not get Angle to work a true Taker match, but he kept Angle from working a straight Angle match and that alone is a major task. Honestly the crowd heat in the match was incredible and both guys seemed to feed off of it. I know you didn't like the table spot, but I enjoyed it because it set up the countout spot which ruled. Also the strap drop/situp spot was really well done "superhero schtick" stuff that really woudln't work with anyone other than Taker. I enjoyed the finish run, but also heading to that run was good and not overbooked or out of control like the average Angle match. I think it was one of the five best matches of last year actually.

[Loss]

Taker was the star of the match, no question. I don't know if he has it in him or not, but it would be great to see a full year's worth of matches (both on PPV and TV) at this level from him. I think he's capable, but Undertaker has almost always been a guy who really shows up once or twice a year. I'd like to see him have an extended run of lots of this sort of thing at some point with a variety of opponents.

[anarchistxx]

Problem is, I don't think he gets the calibre of opponents to get a full run.

 

It's one thing taking a perfectly serviceable Kurt Angle to a good match, but then on the next run of PPV's, he's working Henry, Khali, Big Show in a crap gimmick match and a really green Kennedy.

 

Perhaps if he worked Benoit, Cena, Mysterio and Michaels consecutively, he could get a run going.

[Loss]

Oh, I agree, I just wish WWE would book him in a way that would let him do that. There's a good chance this could be his last big run as champ, and hopefully they'll make the most of it and push him strong so he can drop the belt convincingly.

[gordi]

I decided to make a thread for this, so Gordi, if you'd like, feel free to post your stuff you posted in Match Discussion here...

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the invite. Here it is:

 

goodhelmet's 2006 MOTYC set disc 1 part 1

 

La Mascara & El Hijo Del Santo vs. Blue Panther & Tarzan Boy (CMLL GDL 1/1/06)

 

The thrill of this one os seeing El Hijo del Santo and Blue Panther hookin' it up again. They start right out with some very smooth matwork, and it's just a pure pleasure to watch. Panther is not as quick as he once was, but he's still pretty spry. He works in a handstand spot, and if that doesn't warm your heart you might want to check and see if it's still there.

 

This has quite an old-school feel, as the first two falls build slowly, with lots of mutual respect spots and handshaking... then they just unleash for the third. The big spot involves both Santito and Panther doing huge dives to the floor from the top turnbuckle. I have to say, I wasn't expecting that. The finish is superb.

 

KENTA vs. Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH 1/22/06)

 

It seems like watching handsome junior heavyweights kick the crap out of each other has kind of gone out of style in 2007. I don't care. I can't get enough of this kind of match. They do a lightening fast exchange into a standoff, then go straight into the stiff slaps. I get the feeling that this is going to be a hot match... AND IT IS!

 

There's some MMA-inspired matwork, then it's back up for minutes of stupidly sick stiffness ans hilarious direspect spots. After a good long while Maru proceeds to take KENTA's leg apart. If there's a big flaw in this match, it's that it's obvious that all the leg work will lead nowhere.

 

Anyway, I forget to care as they head straight into the HOLY $#*&! part of the match. It's frankly amazing how these two guys manage to keep coming up with new variations of their craziest spots. They just string one crazy maneuver after another together, and only badly blow one of them. Then they do a bunch of variations on the theme of nearfalls. This is damn near a half-hour match, but it just flies by. As I said, I can't get enough of this stuff. Word on the street is, this is not even their best match on this set!

 

Shadow WX & Mammoth Sasaki v. Abdullah Kobyashi & Daisuke Sekimoto (BJPW 1/27/06)

 

What's great about this is that it's at least 85% old fashioned hard hitting heavyweight tag team action, and less than 5% aimlessly hitting guys with stuff or putting guys through stuff. The rest is hitting guys with stuff in a way that suits the flow of the match. High-flying Kobyashi is hilarious and unexpectedly believable. Sekimoto is jacked up and working tight. WX and Sasaki are a good team, they work together, and they pull out chair shot variations that Edge and Christian never imagined. All four guys are better at working a straight style than I would have imagined. Mutoh impersonations are always a bonus in my book, as well.

Kurt Angle vs. The Undertaker (No Way Out 2/19/06)

 

What's remarkable about this is that they let the wrestling tell the tale. No run-ins, ref bumps, or lightning bolts coming out of the undead giant's hands. They build slowly to the HUGE spot, then quickly transition into a really fun extended sequence of holds and reversals that never loses momentum. The finish is outstanding, and this match easily lives up to the hype.

 

Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Takeshi Morishima (NOAH 3/5/06)

 

An epic heavyweight encounter, with Morishima on fire, and Misawa at his absolute latter-day best. It's all hard hitting, big moves, and sick bumps. Morishima gets busted hardway, and doesn't slow down for a second. Misawa lays a brutal beating on him, and it does my heart good to see him in such fine form.

 

 

 

I've polished off the first disc, so I'll post my thoughts n the rest of these matches and maybe some response to your (and other) opinions when I get some free time.

[Dylan Waco]

Taker was the star of the match, no question. I don't know if he has it in him or not, but it would be great to see a full year's worth of matches (both on PPV and TV) at this level from him. I think he's capable, but Undertaker has almost always been a guy who really shows up once or twice a year. I'd like to see him have an extended run of lots of this sort of thing at some point with a variety of opponents.

 

I think the real issue is "variety of opponents". Generally speaking Taker gets stuffed into programs that last relatively long, even during periods of time when long running programs pretty much were the exception to the rule. Virtually every match he had with Orton was good, with a couple of them being very good, but after a while you start to wonder if the guys are just working a straight formula (and really who could blame them?).

 

What's interesting about Taker to me is that he's a much more versatile wrestler than given credit for. While he is almost always booked as the "dominate" guy, he really can work from a variety of perspectives once the bell rings. His matches with Jeff Hardy, Brock, John Cena, Orton, Angle and even Khali have totally different heirachial elemants and aspects of vulnerability than you would expect out of matches involving a guy who's gimmick is that he's a zombie who watches MMA.

[Dylan Waco]

Problem is, I don't think he gets the calibre of opponents to get a full run.

 

It's one thing taking a perfectly serviceable Kurt Angle to a good match, but then on the next run of PPV's, he's working Henry, Khali, Big Show in a crap gimmick match and a really green Kennedy.

 

Perhaps if he worked Benoit, Cena, Mysterio and Michaels consecutively, he could get a run going.

 

 

While I really would like to see him opposite Mysterio, I don't know that I really want to see him work Benoit. Mysterio/Taker probably have at least one very good Hardy/Taker style match in them (and Taker was excellent in that role). It's hard to imagine how they would work a Taker/Benoit match. Taker has a very good formula for his matches, but Benoit has key things he likes to do, that don't neccesarily gel with a Taker formula. On top of this, and though I love Benoit and he is over, Benoit does not command the "respect" that Angle does which means the theoretical Taker/Angle model is kind of out the window. By that I mean I just can't see them running a "clash of the titans" match because Benoit, while a shitkicker, isn't a titan. Actually his best trait at this point is his selling, which he is better at than pretty much anyone on the planet excluding maybe Rey and Cena, but Benoit working a straight underdog mach v. Taker somehow seems silly given how Benoit is portrayed.

 

Really Benoit is to the point now where I think he's best served doing what he's doing now. Working with a young guy, who the company wants to invest in for the future and helping him learn his craft/get him over. Benoit v. MVP, Kennedy, Elijah Burke, CM Punk, et. are all more interesting matches to me than Benoit/Taker.

 

Also, I though Taker had some pretty good matches with Show, Henry and even Khali last year, so while I get what you are sayin, I think his size and gimmick are pretty much always going to guarantee him feuds like that and he's one of the few guys who can make them work.

[anarchistxx]

. It's hard to imagine how they would work a Taker/Benoit match.

Taker and Benoit have had two very good matches before, on a Raw and UK PPV in 2000, so they can definately work together.

 

I don't see a credibility issue either, Benoit can go heel if need be, and people still buy him against the top guys.

 

Benoit is a shadow of his former self, from what I've seen lately, and his matches are really linear. consisting of Multiple Germans and other signature moves. However, if he was given a top level feud against a good worker, I'm confident he could up his game and do something great.

 

Really Benoit is to the point now where I think he's best served doing what he's doing now. Working with a young guy, who the company wants to invest in for the future and helping him learn his craft/get him over.

I have to disagree there, I feel with the current talent pool in the company, Benoit has a top run left in him. It's disrespectful to see him being used as enhancement talent, when you have lacklstre workers like Booker-T in the main event.

 

Also, I though Taker had some pretty good matches with Show,

He had a decemt match at NWO03, but there Punjabi Cell match last year was terrible from what I heard.

 

Henry

I don't know, the Wrestlemania match was abysmal.

 

and even Khali last year,

Yeah, that match sucked as well. People praised it because...

 

A. It was on a PPV they wanted to like.

 

B. It wasn't the total trainwreck it could have been.

 

Immense credit to Taker for making the match at least not a complete disaster, but it really was awful stuff.

[Resident Evil]

Benoit can easily be booked at the very top of the card and make everything around him better. Easily. It just has to be booked right. Even without proper booking, it can be easily done.

 

Benoit vs Taker is my current dream match that can possibly happen. How they would approach it is a question I would often ask myself. I just hope they don't have a match where Benoit is portrayed as too weak and he gets his butt kicked in.

 

 

But it's guaranteed to be at least a very good one and probably a great one. Why? Because it has several of the crucial ingredients needed for it to work.

 

a)both wrestlers can work in the sense they know what they're doing in there

b)both wrestlers take pride in their craft

c)both are fans of telling a story in the ring

d)both wrestlers will work hard especially with this being a rare match -- you have to make it more special

e)both wrestlers I believe have respect with each other. I know Benoit respects Taker and Taker I think respects Benoit. Hey, Benoit did score that roll up pin on him in 2000 even though it was completely looked over afterwards.

f)This goes without saying, but neither wrestler is lazy.

[Dylan Waco]

I know I bring this up to the point where it seems I'm trolling, but Khali/Taker at JD was a solid match, certainly not significantly worse than say Orton/Hogan which you enjoyed alot (in fact, I'd say it's pretty easily better). Maybe the perverse entertainment of the one man show Taker playing Shawn Michaels clouds my judgment, but it's a match I've watched more than once.

 

Also the Taker/Henry WM match, while not their best match, was in no way shape or form abyssmal or even below average.

[anarchistxx]

Don't know how you liked either of those matches. Boring and pedestrian is how I'd best describe them.

[Loss]

Disc 2

 

Abdullah Kobayashi v Takashi Sasaki - BJPW 03/31/06

Holy hell. I could probably nitpick this match to pieces if that's really what I wanted to do, but it's not. There's a time to just say, "You know what? They worked really hard, they bled all over the place for my enjoyment, they took an incredible amount of punishment and they put out something pretty spectacular" and leave it at that. And that's what I'm going to do. Even doing that though, this is still pretty good as a wrestling match with death spots mixed in. There's a point later in the match where every time they make contact, debris goes flying of of their faces and torsos all over the place and it's an incredible visual. Each nearfall toward the end had more suspense than the one before it. Abby ate a light tube and Sasaki wrestled a big part of the match with a spike stuck in his skull! That's living the gimmick. God bless both of these guys.

 

Mistico & Negro Casas v Mephisto & Averno - CMLL 04/15/06

Once again, holy hell. Not only is the best match I've seen on this set so far, I'm pretty sure this is the best match I've seen this decade. It starts off with some really awesome matwork between Casas and Averno. Mistico and Mephisto then tag in and while it's obvious Mephisto is really carrying the exchanges with big motions and body language, it's still an awesome exchange and Mistico more than holds up his own end. When Casas and Averno come back in, we are treated to some really great Midinght Express-style doubleteaming from the heels. The whole sequence with Casas getting tripped from the apron and hitting his head, leading to Mistico getting a double Hogan-and-friend style boot, leading to Casas getting cornerned is so, so good and was the first real rewind moment I've had since starting this set. The first fall comes quickly, but they do such a great job in establishing the pace and the nature of what the match is going to be. The Midnight Express tributes keep on coming as we start the second fall. Mephisto and Averno take turns chopping (and those chops make Kobashi's look pretty pale by comparison), lariating and generally torturing their opponents, and then start pulling off even more cool doubleteam spots like the double bulldog and the stereo missile dropkicks. The way I'm describing this sounds like it's pretty much just a spotfest without a lot else to pull it together, but what elevates it from exciting to great is how stiff everything is and how skilled everyone is at selling everything at just the right moment in just the right way. Casas and Mistico get a lucky second fall out of nowhere to take us to the third fall after losing the first fall pretty conceivably. At this point, they really don't seem to have any chance of winning.

 

It's really awesome that Casas, despite being quite a bit older than Mistico, can outperform Mistico in his own style. Casas' dives and frenetic pacing hardly looks out of place next to that of the younger Mistico, and if anything, it's the opposite. Mephisto and Averno are still no slouches in this area either, with Mephisto doing an awesome somersault plancha to the floor. This sets the stage for the match to basically turn into an All Japan tag, with Mistico injured and Casas being left to fight for his team alone. The odds seem pretty insurmountable, as a physician is at ringside tending to Mistico, Casas is getting his ass kicked and they pin him with ease. At this point, pinning Mistico seems like child's play, but the technicos somehow pull off the impossible and manage to come back and win the match.

 

I personally loved this match. Again, I don't think I've seen a match this good since at least 1999, and maybe even further back than that. They really did an incredible job creating doubt over the finish, and every nearfall in the last 10 minutes of the match really seemed like it could conceivably finish. Just as fast-paced as the Dragon's Gate match in ROH, with the main difference being that this match is far more coherent and has a really great in-ring storyline going, and they don't overkill the false finishes. I can see why some wouldn't like this match, as the match layout is a bit smoke and mirrors and isn't really a typical lucha layout, and you obviously have three tremendous wrestlers making a style choice designed to make Mistico look like an equal. But in that regard, they definitely accomplished what they set out to do. Good for them.

 

Yuji Nagata v Giant Bernard - NJPW 04/30/06

So Albert has really improved quite a bit. I don't think this is really a great match, but I do think it's a very good babyface versus monster match that deserves the positive vibe it's gotten. What keeps it from getting to the next level for me is Nagata's overselling of everything, to a point where it makes Ricky Steamboat seem subdued by comparison. Bernard having to dead lift Nagata to get him in position for the powerbomb and struggling to hit it was either a really badly botched spot or a really cool struggle. I couldn't figure out which.

 

Samoa Joe, BJ Whitmer & Adam Pearce v Necro Butcher, Chris Hero & Super Dragon - ROH 04/22/06

Having not yet watched Cage of Death (very soon), I feel comfortable calling this the best thing I've ever seen ROH put together. Just a wild, emotional rollercoaster with great heat. It was a throwback as much as it was perfect for the era and audience it was performed for. You can't really talk about this match without acknowledging how great Joe Zandig and especially Jim Cornette were at the beginning of the match in their debate. I don't know if the match would have come across quite as well without the lead in, but that doesn't really matter, because everyone involved delivered in a big way regardless. Adam Pearce and Necro Butcher were really the stars of this match for me. I'm becoming quite the Pearce fan after seeing this and recently seeing him play a great mid-80s heel in NWA Pro. That blade job was pretty gory, and Pearce/Butcher really provide the best stuff of any of the pairings in the match. I really want to see a singles match between the two of them, and am hoping one happened at some point that I just don't know about. Claudio's turn seemed either messed up or mistimed or something, I couldn't tell, but it also worked and helped advance the overall ROH/CZW feud. The battle between the refs was also really cool. Amazing match and atmosphere with more emotion than I've ever really seen in an indy match period, not just an ROH match. I wish it could be like this all the time.

 

Jun Akiyama v Masao Inoue - NOAH 04/23/06

I loved this match as well. The heel versus heel thing really works to the advantage of both guys. Inoue's incessant stalling and complaining -- after being the one to rush the bell in the first place -- is so hypocritical and I love it. The face rake across the mat was also really cool, but what really put this over the top for me is the constant teasing of cheap/copout finishes, because of the sleazy nature of both guys involved. The figure four on the ramp was a great false finish. Akiyama is also really reliable for great knee use spots. The spot where Inoue jumped from the middle rope to be caught in mid air by that Akiyama knee to his face is nasty looking. Also like Inoue DDTing Akiyama, breaking the count and then piledriving Akiyama on the exposed floor. Awesome match that stands out from the pack pretty well because it's pretty far from the usual Kobashi/Misawa/Morishima/KENTA/Marufuji fare.

 

Kenta Kobashi v Naomichi Marufuji - NOAH 04/23/06

I loved this one also. This group of matches is pretty much all great. This is a nice contrast to the Kobashi/KENTA match because Marufuji seems to be working Kobashi's match, as opposed to Kobashi working KENTA's match before this. Kobashi does a great job really putting over Marufuji strong as a contender while saving just the right amount for himself as well. This was more resembling of Jumbo's matches with Kawada and Kobashi than anything I've really seen in NOAH. Early on, Kobashi easily wins a chop battle, and every time Marufuji tries a big offensive move, Kobashi retaliates by doing the same move in better fashion. He's pretty relentless, so Marufuji changes strategy and goes all Owen Hart in Stampede with the armbar kipups and the fancy headscissors spots. Kobashi ends up in that predicament twice, and the third time, he casually shoves Marufuji away, causing him to land pretty hard on his knee, which is a pretty awesome transition spot. Marufuji eventually works his way back and then turns the tables on Kobashi by working over his knee. From here, the match goes back and forth a few times, but each guy is in control a little bit longer each time the momentum swings. So now, they're starting to seem more like equals, where early on, Kobashi was just better on every level. They go back to one of the early spots later in the match with Marufuji attempting to block Kobashi's chops again, and failing again, but deciding he was tired of being an underdog and just kicking Kobashi in the face as hard as he could and then practically killing him with a somersault plancha to the floor. Really awesome spot, because he had Kobashi easily beat at this point, but he was outside the ring. So Marufuji had to expend most of his energy just to get Kobashi back in to pin him, and by that time, Kobashi had recovered enough to kick out. So now, we know that Marufuji is capable of beating Kobashi and that's followed by some pretty convincing nearfalls. Kobashi finally pulls out a brainbuster, which is not a common move for him and is totally out of desperation, to win the match. Best Marufuji match ever for me, and best Kobashi match for me in a really long time. I liked this much more than his stuff against Samoa Joe, Kensuke Sasaki and Minoru Suzuki.

 

Chris Benoit v Fit Finlay - WWE Judgment Day 05/21/06

As far as two guys having chemistry and knowing how to work with each other, it doesn't really get much better than this. There's not really a lot to say here. Just watch two pros that know how to do all the big things right and work in more subtlety than anything any of their peers pretty much anywhere in the world are doing at this point. So much wrestling here that is so basic, but manages to get over strong because it looks so good. I really loved the submission with Finlay stepping on top of Benoit's head and torquing his neck, but the match is full of things like that. Man, picking a match of the year after I've watched all this stuff is going to be harder than I thought.

 

Samoa Joe v Scott Steiner - TNA Slammiversary 6/18/06

One of the weaker matches on this set so far, but that's not really a major insult, considering the quality of everything I've watched so far. Joe gets more out of Steiner than anyone did in WWE a few years back.

 

Ranking the matches on Disc 2:

 

#1 - Mistico & Negro Casas v Mephisto & Averno - CMLL 04/15/06

#2 - Samoa Joe, BJ Whitmer & Adam Pearce v Necro Butcher, Chris Hero & Super Dragon - ROH 04/22/06

#3 - Kenta Kobashi v Naomichi Marufuji - NOAH 04/23/06

#4 - Chris Benoit v Fit Finlay - WWE Judgment Day 05/21/06

#5 - Jun Akiyama v Masao Inoue - NOAH 04/23/06

#6 - Yuji Nagata v Giant Bernard - NJPW 04/30/06

#7 - Abdullah Kobayashi v Takashi Sasaki - BJPW 03/31/06

#8 - Samoa Joe v Scott Steiner - TNA Slammiversary 6/18/06

 

OVERALL:

 

#1 - Mistico & Negro Casas v Mephisto & Averno - CMLL 04/15/06

#2 - Samoa Joe, BJ Whitmer & Adam Pearce v Necro Butcher, Chris Hero & Super Dragon - ROH 04/22/06

#3 - Kenta Kobashi v Naomichi Marufuji - NOAH 04/23/06

#4 - Chris Benoit v Fit Finlay - WWE Judgment Day 05/21/06

#5 - Osamu Nishimura v Hiro Saito - MUGA 08/02/06

#6 - Jun Akiyama v Masao Inoue - NOAH 04/23/06

#7 - KENTA v Naomichi Marufuji - NOAH 01/22/06

#8 - El Hijo del Santo & La Mascara v Blue Panther & Tarzan Boy - CMLL 01/01/06

#9 - Mitsuharu Misawa v Takeshi Morishima - NOAH 03/05/06

#10 - Kurt Angle v Undertaker - WWE 02/19/06

#11 - Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito & Genki Horiguchi v CIMA, Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino - ROH 03/31/06

#12 - Abdullah Kobayashi v Takashi Sasaki - BJPW 03/31/06

#13 - Yuji Nagata v Giant Bernard - NJPW 04/30/06

#14 - KENTA v Kenta Kobashi - NOAH 03/05/06

#15 - Chris Benoit v William Regal - WWE 05/08/06

#16 - Shadow WX & Mammoth Sasaki v Abdullah Kobayashi & Daisuke Sekimoto - BJPW 01/27/06

#17 - Samoa Joe v Scott Steiner - TNA Slammiversary 6/18/06

[Resident Evil]

Disc 2

 

 

Kenta Kobashi v Naomichi Marufuji - NOAH 04/23/06

I loved this one also. This group of matches is pretty much all great. This is a nice contrast to the Kobashi/KENTA match because Marufuji seems to be working Kobashi's match, as opposed to Kobashi working KENTA's match before this. Kobashi does a great job really putting over Marufuji strong as a contender while saving just the right amount for himself as well. This was more resembling of Jumbo's matches with Kawada and Kobashi than anything I've really seen in NOAH. Early on, Kobashi easily wins a chop battle, and every time Marufuji tries a big offensive move, Kobashi retaliates by doing the same move in better fashion. He's pretty relentless, so Marufuji changes strategy and goes all Owen Hart in Stampede with the armbar kipups and the fancy headscissors spots. Kobashi ends up in that predicament twice, and the third time, he casually shoves Marufuji away, causing him to land pretty hard on his knee, which is a pretty awesome transition spot. Marufuji eventually works his way back and then turns the tables on Kobashi by working over his knee. From here, the match goes back and forth a few times, but each guy is in control a little bit longer each time the momentum swings. So now, they're starting to seem more like equals, where early on, Kobashi was just better on every level. They go back to one of the early spots later in the match with Marufuji attempting to block Kobashi's chops again, and failing again, but deciding he was tired of being an underdog and just kicking Kobashi in the face as hard as he could and then practically killing him with a somersault plancha to the floor. Really awesome spot, because he had Kobashi easily beat at this point, but he was outside the ring. So Marufuji had to expend most of his energy just to get Kobashi back in to pin him, and by that time, Kobashi had recovered enough to kick out. So now, we know that Marufuji is capable of beating Kobashi and that's followed by some pretty convincing nearfalls. Kobashi finally pulls out a brainbuster, which is not a common move for him and is totally out of desperation, to win the match. Best Marufuji match ever for me, and best Kobashi match for me in a really long time. I liked this much more than his stuff against Samoa Joe, Kensuke Sasaki and Minoru Suzuki.

 

 

 

Like I've said before, I thought this was among the better matches I've watched in years. Just great, great stuff.