Matches From 2008

[Loss]

Chris Jericho vs Batista - WWE Monday Night RAW 05/19/2008

 

We live in an era where the average television match featuring main event personalities is typically given plenty of time to develop, so there has probably never been a time period for American wrestling fans where they have gotten to see as many terrific wrestling matches for free. Because of this, many matches which would have stood out and been considerably praised in years past are now just considered standard fare, and we typically don't even notice the good matches, or if we do, we often don't even care. The match on Monday Night RAW between Chris Jericho and Batista managed to stand out for several reasons -- Jericho's performance, the in-ring storyline, and the heat.

 

Chris Jericho returning to WWE didn't meet the level of fanfare and excitement he and WWE had probably hoped for. Because they could, WWE and Jericho chose to play mind games with his fans for months, drawing out his return longer than originally planned, and even setting up logical places for it to happen, only to postpone it again. By the time Y2J did show up, the mystery surrounding the promotional packages and strange nature of the build had been largely cracked by everyone, so instead of a "Wow, this guy's back!" reaction, we ended up with a "Oh yeah, we were expecting to see you at some point" reaction.

 

He came back with a Fabulous Ones tribute vest, an expensive-looking metrosexual hair cut, and a love for sophomoric humor that may have been part of his goofball charm at one point, but seemed silly for a 37-year old wrestler whose best friends had all died, and who was on a comeback trail in an attempt to reclaim past glory. He was immediately put in a main event spot, in a feud with then-World champ Randy Orton, in a feud that produced a couple of decent matches, but failed to create any interest of note. What followed was a feud with the returning JBL that had some okay matches and some excellent interviews, but it wasn't enough to live up to expectations, and Chris Jericho had quickly become just another guy, a role he had made famous years earlier when he had the unfortunate luck of hitting his peak in popularity at the same time guys like Steve Austin, the Rock, Mick Foley, and HHH were hitting their peak in popularity, allowing little room for him to "break the walls down".

 

Since the feud with JBL ended, several things happened. Jeff Hardy, who in many ways had assumed the rogue role of the midcarder/occasional main eventer who gets a disproportionately large fan reaction and isn't pushed accordingly, a role Jericho left behind many years earlier, ended up letting his biggest fans down by violating WWE's wellness policy for the second time in less than a year and being served a 60-day suspension. CM Punk, likely the most straight-laced pierced and tattooed pro wrestler you would ever meet, semi-assumed his role by winning the Money In The Bank ladder match at Wrestlemania, assuring he will get a championship match at some point this year. The plan had been for Jericho to work an extended program with Hardy, and the perception initially was that Hardy, whose stock was on the rise, was being saddled by having to work with Jericho, a guy who didn't sustain the heat he had at one time and whose best days seemed behind him. It was felt it was a waste of Hardy, as Jericho, despite his talents, is perhaps the most "labeled" wrestler of the past decade, a guy destined for a certain spot on the show who could do little to change his own fate.

 

Jericho had some exciting matches with Hardy, matches that did more to revitalize Jericho than they did assist Hardy in getting to the next level. He also had some good matches with Punk, a guy who many predicted would eventually fall victim to the same labeling Jericho once had. With his planned rivalries not working out for various reasons, Jericho ended up playing the third wheel in a fairly hot Shawn Michaels/Batista feud. Jericho at this point was clearly the least biggest star of the three, and again, the feeling was that he was bringing down those around him who just needed to be left alone.

 

Five years earlier, Shawn Michaels found himself in a similar situation. He was coming back after a long absence in an attempt to reclaim past glory, and had trouble finding his way and recapturing the audience, until a feud with Jericho signaled a full-fledged return and revitalized him, showing that he could keep up with one of WWE's brightest stars. Interestingly enough, the roles had now been reversed and it was a Jericho/Michaels feud that Jericho was counting on to reverse his fortunes. The feud was flat, but the reception to their Judgment Day match was largely positive, with many commenting that Jericho was returning to form.

 

On the heels of this, Jericho went into a match with Batista. The entire storyline had been built around the character flaws of winning matches everyone thinks you should lose and faking injuries, a play on Michaels' reputation of years past. In this match, Jericho bails early, clutching his knee, while Batista looks on cynically, and just wants Jericho to get back in the ring. Batista dominates -- while fans surprisingly side with Jericho over the younger (in terms of entry to the main event scene, not date of birth), larger, more effectively-pushed Batista, until Batista misses a blind charge and goes sailing over the top rope to the floor. Batista, like Jericho earlier, is now clutching his knee. Jericho's facial expression of half uncertainty and half opportunism here is tremendous, and he immediately hones in on Batista's leg. If Batista was faking his injury, he wouldn't be for long.

 

The fans were siding with Jericho when it wasn't Jericho's role in this match to win fans to his side, so his veteran instincts kick in, and he turns the tide in a way where he attacks his knee enough to build sympathy, and turn the crowd into wanting to see a Batista comeback instead of a Jericho victory. A prolonged half-Boston crab, which appeared to be improvised after Jericho realized the pop he was about to get for applying the Walls of Jericho, ended with Batista struggling to reach the ropes, and the crowd now solidly in his corner. Soon, Batista's comeback would be in full force, and the live audience was very excited. Jericho would attempt the Codebreaker, only for Batista to catch him. Jericho tried to punch his way out of the move, but it was to no avail, as Batista finished him off with the Batista bomb.

 

This was an excellent TV match. It wasn't a classic, it wasn't worth going out of your way to see, but it represented that six months after HHH sarcastically joked with all of his peers that they were going to make huge money off the next round of house shows headlined by the returning "savior", Chris Jericho appears to have returned to form.

[Guest evolution93]

Chris Jericho vs Batista - WWE Monday Night RAW 05/19/2008

 

We live in an era where the average television match featuring main event personalities is typically given plenty of time to develop, so there has probably never been a time period for American wrestling fans where they have gotten to see as many terrific wrestling matches for free. Because of this, many matches which would have stood out and been considerably praised in years past are now just considered standard fare, and we typically don't even notice the good matches, or if we do, we often don't even care. The match on Monday Night RAW between Chris Jericho and Batista managed to stand out for several reasons -- Jericho's performance, the in-ring storyline, and the heat.

 

Chris Jericho returning to WWE didn't meet the level of fanfare and excitement he and WWE had probably hoped for. Because they could, WWE and Jericho chose to play mind games with his fans for months, drawing out his return longer than originally planned, and even setting up logical places for it to happen, only to postpone it again. By the time Y2J did show up, the mystery surrounding the promotional packages and strange nature of the build had been largely cracked by everyone, so instead of a "Wow, this guy's back!" reaction, we ended up with a "Oh yeah, we were expecting to see you at some point" reaction.

 

He came back with a Fabulous Ones tribute vest, an expensive-looking metrosexual hair cut, and a love for sophomoric humor that may have been part of his goofball charm at one point, but seemed silly for a 37-year old wrestler whose best friends had all died, and who was on a comeback trail in an attempt to reclaim past glory. He was immediately put in a main event spot, in a feud with then-World champ Randy Orton, in a feud that produced a couple of decent matches, but failed to create any interest of note. What followed was a feud with the returning JBL that had some okay matches and some excellent interviews, but it wasn't enough to live up to expectations, and Chris Jericho had quickly become just another guy, a role he had made famous years earlier when he had the unfortunate luck of hitting his peak in popularity at the same time guys like Steve Austin, the Rock, Mick Foley, and HHH were hitting their peak in popularity, allowing little room for him to "break the walls down".

 

Since the feud with JBL ended, several things happened. Jeff Hardy, who in many ways had assumed the rogue role of the midcarder/occasional main eventer who gets a disproportionately large fan reaction and isn't pushed accordingly, a role Jericho left behind many years earlier, ended up letting his biggest fans down by violating WWE's wellness policy for the second time in less than a year and being served a 60-day suspension. CM Punk, likely the most straight-laced pierced and tattooed pro wrestler you would ever meet, semi-assumed his role by winning the Money In The Bank ladder match at Wrestlemania, assuring he will get a championship match at some point this year. The plan had been for Jericho to work an extended program with Hardy, and the perception initially was that Hardy, whose stock was on the rise, was being saddled by having to work with Jericho, a guy who didn't sustain the heat he had at one time and whose best days seemed behind him. It was felt it was a waste of Hardy, as Jericho, despite his talents, is perhaps the most "labeled" wrestler of the past decade, a guy destined for a certain spot on the show who could do little to change his own fate.

 

Jericho had some exciting matches with Hardy, matches that did more to revitalize Jericho than they did assist Hardy in getting to the next level. He also had some good matches with Punk, a guy who many predicted would eventually fall victim to the same labeling Jericho once had. With his planned rivalries not working out for various reasons, Jericho ended up playing the third wheel in a fairly hot Shawn Michaels/Batista feud. Jericho at this point was clearly the least biggest star of the three, and again, the feeling was that he was bringing down those around him who just needed to be left alone.

 

Five years earlier, Shawn Michaels found himself in a similar situation. He was coming back after a long absence in an attempt to reclaim past glory, and had trouble finding his way and recapturing the audience, until a feud with Jericho signaled a full-fledged return and revitalized him, showing that he could keep up with one of WWE's brightest stars. Interestingly enough, the roles had now been reversed and it was a Jericho/Michaels feud that Jericho was counting on to reverse his fortunes. The feud was flat, but the reception to their Judgment Day match was largely positive, with many commenting that Jericho was returning to form.

 

On the heels of this, Jericho went into a match with Batista. The entire storyline had been built around the character flaws of winning matches everyone thinks you should lose and faking injuries, a play on Michaels' reputation of years past. In this match, Jericho bails early, clutching his knee, while Batista looks on cynically, and just wants Jericho to get back in the ring. Batista dominates -- while fans surprisingly side with Jericho over the younger (in terms of entry to the main event scene, not date of birth), larger, more effectively-pushed Batista, until Batista misses a blind charge and goes sailing over the top rope to the floor. Batista, like Jericho earlier, is now clutching his knee. Jericho's facial expression of half uncertainty and half opportunism here is tremendous, and he immediately hones in on Batista's leg. If Batista was faking his injury, he wouldn't be for long.

 

The fans were siding with Jericho when it wasn't Jericho's role in this match to win fans to his side, so his veteran instincts kick in, and he turns the tide in a way where he attacks his knee enough to build sympathy, and turn the crowd into wanting to see a Batista comeback instead of a Jericho victory. A prolonged half-Boston crab, which appeared to be improvised after Jericho realized the pop he was about to get for applying the Walls of Jericho, ended with Batista struggling to reach the ropes, and the crowd now solidly in his corner. Soon, Batista's comeback would be in full force, and the live audience was very excited. Jericho would attempt the Codebreaker, only for Batista to catch him. Jericho tried to punch his way out of the move, but it was to no avail, as Batista finished him off with the Batista bomb.

 

This was an excellent TV match. It wasn't a classic, it wasn't worth going out of your way to see, but it represented that six months after HHH sarcastically joked with all of his peers that they were going to make huge money off the next round of house shows headlined by the returning "savior", Chris Jericho appears to have returned to form.

 

Jericho has been good on TV for a while in my opinion, he's almost the Matt Hardy of Raw in terms of having two segment-15 minute matches once or twice a month. The thing that surprises me most about Jericho is that he is more over now than he was in the first month or two of his comeback. I never would have thought that, it's better this way (except for the fact that if he was treated as the "savior" by the fans when he returned he may be a fixture at the top of the card), but I'm surprised.

[smkelly]

KENTA vs. Bryan Danielson 10/13/08 NOAH

 

Fantastic match. My current match of the year for 2008. They build on their previous singles match in NOAH, which was back in December of 2006 (unless I am mistaken). It's your typical awesome Danielson match, now add in the usually awesome KENTA and his spine altering kicks. Danielson takes some major punishment including a double stomp from KENTA who was on the top rope to a prone Danielson on the floor. KENTA works over Danielson's mid section the entire match, and it's great body work, which Danielson sells perfectly. Unless something major happens, this will be my match of the year for 2008.

 

I'm probably going to get ragged on for what I'm about to write, but I think it's a valid observation/opinion. Tiger Mask/Dynamite Kid started the revolution of junior heavyweight wrestling in the 1980's, Liger and Benoit continued (down graded) the progress in the 1990's, I believe KENTA/Danielson are continuing the tradition. The Mask/Kid series is better than Liger/Benoit, but I think Danielson/KENTA has even surpassed Mask and Kid. Danielson's matches with KENTA in ROH and NOAH are all fantastic, and I believe are actually better than the Mask/Kid matches. I'm probably not alone in this train of thought. The Mask matches are just underwhelming, unless it's the junior matches you've ever seen, it just doesn't age well. It's like ladder matches from the '90s compared to now.

 

 

A unrelated side note: I've watched a lot of Dynamite's matches lately, unless he's in the ring with Sayama, his matches are usually underwhelming, or disappointing like Mask II vs. Kid from 11-85.

[smkelly]

1/5/2008 Bryan Danielson vs. Low Ki

PWG

 

WHAT WORKED:

* Danielson's mat wrestling, transitions, and counter holds, they were terrific. Obviously his talents are near Volk Han levels, but he is getting damn close. I don't even know what it would be called, but it looked something like a single leg figure four, only that Danielson was using only one leg while trapping both of Ki's.

* The way Danielson works over an arm. I love how Danielson picks someones arm literally apart, like placing the arm palm down and stomping on the elbow. Talk about greatness. I liked the contortion of Ki's digits, looked like he could have easily dislocated or broken them.

* Danielson's smugness. He is talented in this aspect as well.

* Ki did good working over Danielson's mid-section, and I like how he screams when he does the double stomp. And later on, Ki's koppo kick was nice, I didn't see a leg slap.

* Ki blocking a top rope suplex by biting Danielson was epic.

 

WHAT DIDN'T WORK:

* Low Ki, and his gimmick. His mannerisms are weird, and he acts like a hyped up Crash Holly.

* Low Ki's neglectful selling at times.

* The ending. It was anti-climatic, but I guess it could put strain on the abdominal - and since Ki had just dropped Danielson on his head.

 

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

Danielson is my favorite wrestler, and he continues to impress me with every match I see.

Danielson's mat work and technical ability is the best in the business. The way he contorts arms, and transitions from submissions or to a counter is flawless.

Ki was tolerable, and when he forgot to sell, Danielson quickly reminded him to do so, which was good.

They kept the no selling and bomb throwing to a minimum, which in the context of this match, was a good thing.

4 1/4*

[Jingus]

a love for sophomoric humor that may have been part of his goofball charm at one point, but seemed silly for a 37-year old wrestler whose best friends had all died,

Aw c'mon Loss, don't soft-pedal it, tell us what you really think.

 

In seriousness, good writeup on the psychology of the feud. I think them delaying Jericho's re-debut seemed like more of "Vince changed his mind again" syndrome rather than any deliberate plan, but the rest of it is spot on.

 

Tiger Mask/Dynamite Kid started the revolution of junior heavyweight wrestling in the 1980's, Liger and Benoit continued (down graded) the progress in the 1990's, I believe KENTA/Danielson are continuing the tradition. The Mask/Kid series is better than Liger/Benoit

I agree with this, but partly because Liger was one of those odd cases where Benoit just did not click with his opponent in terms of chemistry. Kinda the same thing that happened with most of his matches with Eddy, too. Benoit was king of the 3-4 stars match: usually very damn good, but rarely reaching the truly great five-star plateau.

 

A unrelated side note: I've watched a lot of Dynamite's matches lately, unless he's in the ring with Sayama, his matches are usually underwhelming, or disappointing like Mask II vs. Kid from 11-85.

True dat, yo. Dynamite and Sayama had amazing chemistry together, to the point where I think some folks actually underrate their matches today. But the Kid had a fairly limited number of people whom he could get that level of performance out of. Having seen a little of his Stampede work, it seemed like he could do some cool shit with Bret, but struggled to match up with most of his other matchups. Of course, part of that might be due to Dynamite being a sociopathic prick who delighted in stiffing his opponents, which is usually not an atmosphere conducive to a spirit of cooperation.

[smkelly]

Or the fact by the time 1989 came around, his back and knees were such a mess he couldn't really be a junior anymore, instead, he had to wrestle more like a heavy, even though he weighed 200 pounds. Watch his street fight with Owen Hart. Owen Hart + Dynamite Kid / 1989 = Horrible

[Dylan Waco]

Not meant as a troll, but can someone tell me what is so good about the DK/TM series besides the "innovative" qualities.

[ohtani's jacket]

Well, they were exciting matches for the time, and you simply cannot underestimate how popular Tiger Mask was, and still is, in Japan. Neither Sayama nor Dynamite were particularly suited to the feud they worked in New Japan. Sayama's calling was to do worked shoots with Yoshiaki Fujiwara, and Dynamite Kid's calling was to stay in Europe and work a million matches with Marty Jones, but they wound up in a NJPW ring trying to do something different from what Inoki was on top. Whatever problems the DK/TM feud had were problems all juniors matches had at the time. I know people will say Fujinami was better or Gran Hamada, but they were the same. It's just not that good a style.

[Dylan Waco]

Well, they were exciting matches for the time, and you simply cannot underestimate how popular Tiger Mask was, and still is, in Japan. Neither Sayama nor Dynamite were particularly suited to the feud they worked in New Japan. Sayama's calling was to do worked shoots with Yoshiaki Fujiwara, and Dynamite Kid's calling was to stay in Europe and work a million matches with Marty Jones, but they wound up in a NJPW ring trying to do something different from what Inoki was on top. Whatever problems the DK/TM feud had were problems all juniors matches had at the time. I know people will say Fujinami was better or Gran Hamada, but they were the same. It's just not that good a style.

Fujinami is pretty clearly better than Sayama at minimum.

[ohtani's jacket]

I dunno. I've watched a fair bit of Fujinami vs. UWA workers recently and he was as workrate happy as any other junior. Stick Fujinami in a Tiger Mask and see what happens. That's the thing that's always bothered me about Sayama criticism. That was not an easy gimmick to play.

[goodhelmet]

I want to bump this because after working on the New Japan set, Junior-era Fujinami is clearly not working the same style as Tiger Mask or any other junior. It isn't the style that is at fault, it is clearly the wrestler.