Watching the Top 100

[ohtani's jacket]

Pretty simple. I'm gonna watch one match for every wrestler who made the top 100. I'll pick the highest match from cagematch that I haven't seen (and can find online.) Feel free to join me, tell me I'm wrong, whatever you like. 

#100  Chris Hero

So, the highest ranked Hero match on cagematch is some elusive German indie match. Therefore, I'll go with:

Chris Hero vs. Bryan Danielson (PWG, 9/4/09)

I like this look for Hero. I'm used to watching him clean shaven, wearing the blue Superman t-shirt. I don't know who originated this look on the indies, but he reminds me of Steve Corino. Danielson looks like Luke Skywalker with a beard.

I've seen a lot of comments about this being unfocused. It's true that they move from one section to the other, starting with what some folks would call a matwork section (to me it was more holds than matwork), then potato shots, big moves and strikes. I've never wrestled a match, but I imagine it's easier to break it down into sections in your head. You run the risk of telegraphing things for fans who've been around the block a few times, but I'm willing to cut them a little slack. The strikes weren't as popular among reviewers as the early mat portions, but I really liked the ear shots. I wish more wrestlers would take a page out of Hero's playbook and mess with a guy's ears. It's better than the twisty shit he does on simple moves. I get why wrestlers like to get a little showy with moves, but if you're a big guy just drop an elbow or knee. You'll get more mileage out of it in the long run. 

The size difference bothered me early on. I kept thinking that Hero should just beat the crap out of Danielson, so I was actually happy to see Danielson crank thing up. The two things Danielson had going for him here were high impact strikes and nasty looking submissions. The best in the world shit drives me crazy. I know it's a gimmick, but the fans are so slavish about it. You're wrestling in front of a 100 fans. You're not the best in the world. You're the best indy worker to make tape. Still, everybody takes that shit seriously. The whole story revolves around Hero having to prove that he's better than Danielson even though he's the champ. It's too bad they deliver a regular sort of bout instead of a match for the ages. Regular Hero/Danielson isn't bad, but can't live up to the hype. I liked this moment-to-moment, and I thought the finish was cool, but I dunno what they smoke on cagematch to rate this so high. Whatever it is, it must be the best in the world. 

 

[oldcasper]

I watched this one relatively recently and it sticks out like a sore thumb for me in that it's a PWG match I really enjoyed.  (I am allergic to PWG audiences, commentary and in-ring at the best of times).

 

I really appreciated the structure and I felt it was a clear three act match which was nice and easy to follow, and for a long match was pretty engaging throughout.

I recall the pivot in the match of Danielson getting on top before being cut out by the chair shot being very effective and how the dynamic shifted in terms of who was in control / vulnerable.

Think this match succeeds in spite of the setting and if I recall it was in Danielson's last hurrah before signing with WWE so acted as a bookend / homage to his indie career.

Great thread idea by the way.

[Tetsujin]

Great thread, hope you get through the whole list. It's been a while since I watched the Hero/Danielson match, but I remember it feeling really well paced for a match that long, with awesome crowd.

[ohtani's jacket]

#99 Tully Blanchard

cagematch users don't rate Tully Blanchard matches very highly. There were a couple of cool looking NWA matches, but of course the highest rated match I haven't seen is a Brain Busters vs. Rockers match. The rules are the rules. I've seen Brain Busters vs. Rockers matches before, but I couldn't tell you which ones, and it's not a matchup I hold in particularly high regard. 

Brain Busters vs. The Rockers (WWF, 1/23/89)

This started with a typical WWF heel-in-peril section, which I guess you'd call an extended shine (if that's the word you're supposed to use.) Then the heels took over and there was a Shawn Michaels face-in-peril section. Michaels made the hot tag, pandemonium broke loose, and the Brain Busters cheated to win. Solid match, but there was nothing great about it. They probably ran a variation on the following night, and the night after that.

It's more of an Arn showcase than a Tully bout. That doesn't surprise me. Arn hadn't peaked yet as a worker or a stooge, but he was still better suited to WWF wrestling than Tully. Tully feels like a quintessential 80s wrestler. It's hard to imagine him transitioning into the 90s. They may be because we didn't actually see it, but what was Tully's ceiling in 90s WCW? Does he join the Dangerous Alliance? Fill Orndorff's role? If Arn had stayed in the WWF, I can see them using him in a midcard role. At least for a year or two. Tully was such a product of 80s brat pack and yuppie culture that it's hard to see him being successful in any other role. The Rockers, on the other hand, seemed primed for a run as WWF tag champs. It's too bad that Vince lost interest in the tag division during '89. 

[NotJayTabb]

I think Tully fits perfectly into the Dangerous Alliance. As you say, he's a real product of yuppie culture, so mobile-wielding super-yuppie Paul E Dangerously feels like the perfect manager for him. I can absolutely imagine Tully in the 92 War Games match as well. Only question is whether he replaces Eaton or Larry.

[Makai Club #1]

Tully came back in 1994 and had a really super match with Terry Funk, so I think there is a place in there with him. But maybe he goes the route of Ricky Morton.

[Tetsujin]

I remember a 1995 Tully vs Fujinami match that was surprisingly great for such a bizarre pairing and time. Tully displayed his usual strengths while also giving his performance a more serious tone, less cartoony and more sports-like. I think he would have been really awesome if he worked through the 90s full time.

[KB8]

I'd never even considered Tully as part of the Dangerous Alliance in '92 but it's now shot up the top of my list of things that never happened that I wish I had a time machine to somehow rectify personally.

I love the Rockers/Brainbusters series. That 1/23/89 match is like a top 5 WWF/E tag ever for me. 

[ohtani's jacket]

I suspect Larry Z would've been given the boot if Tully had been in the Dangerous Alliance. 

[KB8]

He was given the boot in the end for his incompetence anyway. I reckon Tully would've just hastened his removal and then they end up getting 12 minutes at Beach Blast to work a ***1/2 classic. I'm okay with that. 

[ohtani's jacket]

#98 Daisuke Ikeda

The highest ranked Ikeda match I haven't seen is an intergender match. I could lie and choose something else, but part of me is proud of having seen all of the higher ranked matches.

Daisuke Ikeda & Syuri vs. Kana & Kenichi Yamamoto (Kana Pro, 6/17/2012)

A note to anyone who wants to watch this match: I watched a clipped version on YouTube first then saw on cagematch that the bout was 46 minutes long. I managed to find a longer version that was infinitely better than shorter one. The shorter version mostly cut a lot of Syuri and Yamamoto's involvement, but it also cut a lot of Kana's offense and changed the narrative of the bout. The longer version is closer to the cagematch rating than the shorter one. 

I quite liked the Kana/Syuri exchanges here. They worked shoot style and went hard. Kana, as you know, is a very good worker and well-suited to this style. Off the top of my head, I can't remember if I've seen Yamamoto anywhere. He wasn't particularly great, but the beauty of Ikeda is that he's fun to watch against anyone. The men and women wrestled each other here. and it led to Syuri and Yamamoto positioning themselves at awkward angles to avoid anything weird. Kana and Ikeda were the main draw, and they squared off for the latter part of the bout. Kana had a first hand introduction to Ikeda's infamous headbutts, chops and right hands, Kana gave as good as she got, and there was some cool submission work. The shortened version robbed the audience of a great Ikeda selling performance, glossed over his hardway blood, and missed the part where Kana removed her boot to attack Ikeda barefooted. I wasn't particularly swayed by the Kana/Ikeda stuff in the short version, but the longer clip was much better. It's worth noting that it's a KO only match (something cagematch doesn't make clear.) They kind of ignored Yamamoto and Syuri while they did their thing, and I didn't love Kana's nuanced KO sell at the end, but it's her produce and she'll cry if she wants to. 

Short story version -- I was going to rubbish this until I saw the longer version and then I was happy I watched it. Not a match you'd include to support Ikeda's placement in the top 100, but if you ever wanted to see Kana wrestle Ikeda then here's your chance. 

 

 

[ohtani's jacket]

#97 Barry Windham

Barry Windham is another guy whom cagematch users don't think that highly of. I wonder if there's a correlation between cagematch votes and how territories guys fared. 

Arn Anderson, Ric Flair & Tully Blanchard vs. Barry Windham, Lex Luger & Sting (NWA, 3/31/88)

This was a fun match with a super hot crowd. Kind of a precursor to those great six mans during the Dangerous Alliance era. Windham was the workhorse for his side, but everyone brought their working boots and Luger did a surprisingly good job as the FIP. The Horsemen were great, however it was Arn who stole the show again with his comedic facials. I wouldn't have said no to another five minutes, but you knew at some point the Horsemen would cheat to win. Not exactly a showcase for Barry, but he shone in his role, which is a large part of the case for Barry -- he always looks good, no matter what sort of match you put him in. 

I do think it's a bit troubling how low his match ratings are, though, especially compared to a guy like Hero. It may be increasingly difficult to convince the younger generations that Barry was a special talent when he has so few matches over 8.0.

[Ricky Jackson]

4 hours ago, ohtani's jacket said:

I wonder if there's a correlation between cagematch votes and how territories guys fared. 

I think you may be on to something. Another reason Wrestlingdata is superior

[Tetsujin]

Cagematch is basically a post-six star matches kind of IWC, so yeah, it tracks. Modern meltzerism, the past isn't worth revisiting, what's new is always better.

[Phil Schneider]

I kind of love the idea of using best Cagematch ratings of wrestlers you haven't seen. I don't think it will give you a representative sample of their work, but I am a fan of projects with weird structures, and I am looking forward to what you watch and what you think about it.

[ohtani's jacket]

#96 Shinobu Kandori

We've come a long way since the days of people believing Kandori was carried at Dream Slam. I don't think we should dismiss those opinions of Kandori outright. There's value in figuring out why the Kunzes and Lorefices felt that way about her as a worker. It's not as though people have been doing a deep dive on Kandori's JWP and LLPW work. Jetlag did some of the legwork on that, but let's face it, it requires watching a lot of LLPW. Aside from the odd match or two, voters are drawing from the same pool of matches. Fans in the past had access to the same matches -- the Hokuto feud, the Bull chain match, the Devil Masami match, etc. Kandori's case isn't based on anything new except for perhaps some recommended JWP bouts and the Devil handheld. So what has changed in the intervening years? 

Shinobu Kandori vs. Yumiko Hotta (LLPW, 3/21/98)

I pretty much hate Yumiko Hotta, so I thought this would be like eating my Brussels sprouts. Then I started watching it and, in the moment, I thought it was awesome. Hotta was bleeding, and there was a bunch of cool shoot style shit. At one point, I thought it was easily the best match I've watched thus far. Then it ended after 12 minutes. Jesus fuck. This thing was not paced to end after 12 minutes. At least not as far as my biological viewing clock is concerned. How the hell this got 9.26 on cagematch is beyond me. 

So, what does the match tell us about Kandori? She was good at making scowling faces. She was good at projecting an image of being legit tough because of a combination of her background and rep. She leaned into her Mr. Joshi Puroresu gimmick with her attitude and manner of speaking. She was good at strikes and flash submissions. She had a charisma that was based not only on her toughness but her sense of humor and appearances on variety shows and in comedy sketch pieces. She wasn't very good at selling or transitions. She couldn't carry the narrative of the match. She wasn't a storyteller. This is just my personal take, and perhaps I'm pissed at the match ending after 12 minutes, but I think people are buying into Kandori's image over her actual ability. Her best matches were against Hokuto, Bull and Devil. Great storytellers, great at pushing a narrative. Kandori was a unique and interesting foil, but I don't think a foil should be making the top 100. A creator should make the top 100. 

She's the first wrestler who I think is undeserving of the top 100, especially because there were a number of better Joshi wrestlers who fell below her. 

 

[Phil Schneider]

I am a huge fan of that Hotta match and couldn't disagree more about the length, that is an all gas no breaks fight, full of violent full force shots,  when matches like that drag into 20 plus minutes they lose a lot of their impact, and tend to repeat themselves. 

[Phil Schneider]

Here is Eric and I's review of that match which we have as our 1998 MOTY

 

https://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2017/11/1998-match-of-year.html

 

 

[ohtani's jacket]

#95 Eddie Kingston

Team Cash (Chris Cash, JC Bailey, Nate Webb & Sexxxy Eddy) vs. BLKOUT (Jack Evans, King, Ruckus & Sabian) (w/Maven Bentley & Robby Mireno) (c), CZW Tag Team Title Cage Of Death War Games Match (CZW, 12/11/04)

I've only seen a handful of Eddie Kingston matches, though I'm aware of the following he has. Multi-man matches aren't the best way to judge a worker, but the rules are the rules and if I start making exceptions now I'm going to start cherry picking the type of matches I want to see. This was early in Kingston's career, so I'm not going to make too many judgements.

It was a wild indie War Games match with more than a few insane spots. Kingston is eliminated fairly early on. The biggest impression he leaves is probably before the bout starts when he's jawing with the fans. I don't know where the line between the person and the performer was drawn, but he came across as legit. His work was sloppy and unathletic, but he was good at selling and was involved in some cool spots. I liked the shot of him selling his hand. That type of attention to detail will always get you extra points. Kingston kinda came out of this match unscathed compared to a lot of the other dudes. There was a part where a guy put a trash can over his head and did a moonsault off the top of the cage. I couldn't decide whether it was mad genius or the stupidest shit I'd ever seen. Props for staying inside the can though. There was a spot afterwards where he was upside down in the can with his legs sticking out. It was like a kid playing with his action figures or something. Some of the eliminations off the top of the cage to the outside were ill-advised. They were lucky no-one broke their neck.

I don't love these types of matches, but I'm not a complete puritan. I doubt I'll ever watch it again, but as a one time deal there was enough batshit insanity for me to keep an eye on. Dudes marking out with their bros probably enjoyed it more. Eddie Kingston was a part of this match. That's all I've got.

[ohtani's jacket]

7 hours ago, Phil Schneider said:

I am a huge fan of that Hotta match and couldn't disagree more about the length, that is an all gas no breaks fight, full of violent full force shots,  when matches like that drag into 20 plus minutes they lose a lot of their impact, and tend to repeat themselves. 

That's probably true. I was just getting into it and it ended. I might watch it again at some point knowing that it goes short. 

[MoS]

2 hours ago, ohtani's jacket said:

#95 Eddie Kingston

Team Cash (Chris Cash, JC Bailey, Nate Webb & Sexxxy Eddy) vs. BLKOUT (Jack Evans, King, Ruckus & Sabian) (w/Maven Bentley & Robby Mireno) (c), CZW Tag Team Title Cage Of Death War Games Match (CZW, 12/11/04)

There was a part where a guy put a trash can over his head and did a moonsault off the top of the cage. I couldn't decide whether it was mad genius or the stupidest shit I'd ever seen. Props for staying inside the can though.

HAHAHAHAHA!! 

Excellent thread, brother! And commiserations for Kane Williamson retiring

[Phil Schneider]

5 hours ago, ohtani's jacket said:

#95 Eddie Kingston

Team Cash (Chris Cash, JC Bailey, Nate Webb & Sexxxy Eddy) vs. BLKOUT (Jack Evans, King, Ruckus & Sabian) (w/Maven Bentley & Robby Mireno) (c), CZW Tag Team Title Cage Of Death War Games Match (CZW, 12/11/04)

I've only seen a handful of Eddie Kingston matches, though I'm aware of the following he has. Multi-man matches aren't the best way to judge a worker, but the rules are the rules and if I start making exceptions now I'm going to start cherry picking the type of matches I want to see. This was early in Kingston's career, so I'm not going to make too many judgements.

It was a wild indie War Games match with more than a few insane spots. Kingston is eliminated fairly early on. The biggest impression he leaves is probably before the bout starts when he's jawing with the fans. I don't know where the line between the person and the performer was drawn, but he came across as legit. His work was sloppy and unathletic, but he was good at selling and was involved in some cool spots. I liked the shot of him selling his hand. That type of attention to detail will always get you extra points. Kingston kinda came out of this match unscathed compared to a lot of the other dudes. There was a part where a guy put a trash can over his head and did a moonsault off the top of the cage. I couldn't decide whether it was mad genius or the stupidest shit I'd ever seen. Props for staying inside the can though. There was a spot afterwards where he was upside down in the can with his legs sticking out. It was like a kid playing with his action figures or something. Some of the eliminations off the top of the cage to the outside were ill-advised. They were lucky no-one broke their neck.

I don't love these types of matches, but I'm not a complete puritan. I doubt I'll ever watch it again, but as a one time deal there was enough batshit insanity for me to keep an eye on. Dudes marking out with their bros probably enjoyed it more. Eddie Kingston was a part of this match. That's all I've got.

I love this match, but it isn't something that gets you any sort of idea of what kind of wrestler Kingston is, although honestly I don't think Eddie is your flavor of soup anyway. It is very fun to see what this project forces on you