I hope to continue more 00s Puroresu & 90s midcard WCW reviews and working with the Titans of Wrestling Podcast covering Portland Wrestling and other 80s wrestling (found at the placetobenation.com and on twitter @titansowrestlin). Of course, I am a person who is capricious when it comes to watching wrestling. I will be sure there will be random blogs about great wrestling. Just rest assured, it will be about bitchin' action in squared circle.
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| Ultimo Dragon, bitch please! |
Keiji Mutoh is probably the most famous Japanese wrestler in America except maybe Jushin Liger and Yoshi Tatsu. I keed, I keed. From reading on the internet, most people seem to be down on his work. I presume there are some Muta marks as the gimmick definitely lend itself to creating a cult status among wrestling fans as The Great Muta is a wicked cool gimmick. I find his matches to be really polarizing and maybe it deals with how much effort he puts in. But I think he just has a weird sense of psychology. It is hard to place your finger on, but there is something off-kilter about most Muta matches. It is usually he is trying too hard to be clever. Usually his best matches are his straight ahead bloodbath brawls with Hase and Tenryu. In 2001, he revamped his gimmick and how he wrestled. There have been plenty of wrestlers that have reinvented how they look, but very few in their advanced age totally changed their working style like Mutoh did. Gone were a lot of the gimmicks and hijinx and replaced was a barrage of dropkicks to knee and dragon leg screws. I appreciate the hyper focus of his attack in these matches and I think they hold up well. It is like how Charles was saying on the 1990 Wrestling With The Past podcast that they pissed away 3 months of vignettes for Rude because a change in working style was not accompanied by a stylistic change in the ring. Much like Sasaki, I have not seen much of post-2001 Muta, but what I have seen of 2001 Mutoh I have really liked.
The year 2001 was a banner year for Mutoh. He departed New Japan due to the heightened focus on MMA hybrid style wrestling which did not totally fit with Mutoh's style. He resuscitated the crippled All Japan promotion eventually becoming the real life President of All Japan Pro Wrestling. He won the 2001 Champion's Carnival and the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion (only the 3rd wrestler to that point to have won both the IWGP and Triple Crown titles). He was the runner-up in New Japan's G-1 Climax and headlined the October Tokyo Dome show for New Japan. Outside for maybe Jun Akiyama, he was the hottest puroresu commodity and he delivered in spades in the ring with unique performances in each of his matches. The Triple Crown Title match with Genichiro Tenryu is incredible feat by both wrestlers. They truly made every single move count. I highly recommend that match and the Champions Carnival final with Toshiaki Kawada. Even if it was only for one year, it is very impressive that Mutoh was able to completely alter his wrestling style to hit a new era, but still stay true to himself as a pro wrestler.
Best of Puroresu 00's rankings so far:
1. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Keiji Mutoh - Budokan 6/8/01
2. Keiji Mutoh vs Toshiaki Kawada - Champions Carnival 04/01
3. IWGP Champion Kensuke Sasaki vs Toshiaki Kawada - 10/00 Tokoyo Dome Non-Title
4. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Kensuke Sasaki - 01/04/00
5. Genichiro Tenryu vs Toshiaki Kawada - Vacant All Japan Triple Crown 10/28/00
6. Keiji Mutoh vs Yuji Nagata - Sumo Hall 08/12/01 G-1 Climax Final
7. Keiji Mutoh & Hiroshi Hase vs Jun Akiyama & Yuji Nagata - Tokyo Dome 10/08/01
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Keiji Mutoh vs Toshiaki Kawada - Champions Carnival 04/01
I have seen their Triple Crown Match from 2002 and remember liking that even though it did not make the voting list. So I was pretty excited to see this and this did not disappoint. The one thing you can expect from Mutoh is you will not get a lot of those macho pissing contests that can dominate heavyweight puroresu in the 2000s. This is wrestled more in the vein of traditional Strong Style. Kawada was definitely the best suited of the King's Road guys to perform in NJPW as he can hold his own on the mat. They jockey for some holds with Muto having a slight edge. The story early seems to be Mutoh knowing he can't out-strike or out-power Kawada so he tries to leverage his ground game into an opening. However, he is unable to avoid the DANGEROUS~! kicks from Kawada, which are all targeted at Mutoh's head and neck. On second watch, I realized that this control segment went on for 10 minutes where Mutoh just got his ass handed to him. I actually appreciated this segment more on how well Kawada worked this and did not get off track. Muto did his best selling in this segment really forcing you to observe how concentrated Kawada was on damaging his neck. Kawada even mocked Muta a bit with his run down the ramp doing a Kawada Kick to Muta's head. Even though, Kawada was in control of a lengthy time, Mutoh still made it feel like a struggle by mixing in a tasteful amount of hope spots. Kawada was able to hit the powerbomb on his second attempt, but Mutoh kicked and rolled to outside. Tired of getting his ass kicked, he grabs a chair from a fan, but ref stops him from bringing it in and the fans applaud (well that is different from America). Mutoh blocks the enziguiri and wastes no time capitalizing with dropkicks to the knee and arm. You have credit Muto getting over dropkicks as a legitimate setup move. Muto is nullifying Kawada's biggest weapon while at the same time putting himself into a position to win by submission. There is nothing Muto really does better than Kawada and he knows that, but if he can take away Kawada's legs then he can win the match. Kawada blows Mutoh out of the water with his selling throughout the home stretch. For whatever reason, Kawada was just fucking on in this match as he is making Mutoh's offense look like a million bucks. The dragon leg screws and figure-4 look devastating while Mutoh seems focused just on doing his offense. Kawada gets the stretch plum going back to the head/neck, but misses a knee drop (OW!). Muto wastes no time again, but this time all the dropkicks are focused on the arm. They trade cross-armbreakers, but once again Kawada outshines Mutoh in the selling. Kawada with a relentless flurry on lariats before Mutoh blocks them. Mutoh wrenches his leg with another dragon leg screw. His Shining Wizards more like they are pushing Kawada over rather nailing him with a high velocity impact, but to his credit Kawada does his best loopy sell of them. ****1/2
It is a little bit slow to start and there are some times in the Kawada control that lose their place a bit. However, once Mutoh hits his first dropkick this match goes to another level with one of Kawada's best individual performances. While Mutoh could have been better at selling and really putting some energy into his offensive strategy was excellent. I prefer this sort of straightforward wrestling match to macho pissing contest matches. So I have it behind only Tenryu/Sasaki so far.
REWATCH THOUGHTS:
Loved this match even more on second watch. This was just an all-time Kawada performance. It reminds you why he is one of the greatest of all time. I am at an all-time high on Misawa and Kobashi and Kawada has sort of lagged in the background because of some weak individual performances in the 2000s. He brought it here on offense and defense. The neck targeting was just pinpoint accurate. Then he continued to sell the leg and arm throughout the match as Mutoh was changing his strategy. One of the hardest things I have found in my wrestling watching is conveying that struggle to still perform offense. Several will just blow off and then return to selling, most will just blow off altogether. Kawada really conveys that struggle demonstrating why he is elite.
Tanahashi could learn a thing or two from Mutoh. Mutoh is not perfect in this match, but gives a great performance. I loved the early work to avoid Kawada's strikes only to fall prey to them. He did blow the selling of the neck off to get to his offense, which is why I would say this is not the greatest performance ever from him. From offensive standpoint, this is incredible. I really don't know how you can fault his urgency in his attacks. He was just pressing and pressing. Dropkicking Kawada's entire right side just peppering with dropkicks the knee and arm. I just loved the suffocation. This was the full court press, but in pro wrestling. Would love to see Tanahashi pick up something like this because he shows great urgency on his High Fly Flow, but would love for him to extend this to his entire game. I would say from strategic standpoint just an absolutely genius performance that has not been replicated frequently enough. It also leads so seamlessly and beautifully into the Shining Wizards, which are sold so well. Between Mutoh's offense and Kawada's selling, it made for an all-time great finish run. The slow start and Mutoh blowing off the neck selling on the transition (loved him getting so frustrated and trying to get a chair) keep it from Top 10. I see this in the #15-25 range. Really high-end stuff from both wrestlers. ****1/2
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| Mr. Puroresu vs Shining Wizard |
All Japan Triple Crown Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Keiji Mutoh - Budokan 6/8/01
Slow and steady wins the race. One wrestling cliche that I feel is misappropriated for many wrestlers is "no wasted motion". In this match, there was no wasted motion. Every single move mattered, was milked and was given time to breathe. At one point, I popped for a dropkick to the knee like it was a frigging Burning Hammer. That is pro wrestling. On the surface, this match is about Mutoh's hyper-focused strategy: the knee, the knee, the knee and Tenryu's consequent retaliation. However, perhaps buried in this match is Tenryu's masterful performance working underneath and selling Shining Wizard from the first minute of the match to the transition to finish. That is pro wrestling. Mutoh comes out all guns blazing and is looking to end it early. Tenryu, off-guard, catches Mutoh's foot who uses it as a step stool to hit a Shining Wizard. He hits his backbreaker, but Tenryu powders before the impending moonsault. The headshot Tenryu suffers prevents him from mounting pretty much any offense in the first ten minutes of the match. When Tenryu is able to string together three moves punctuated with a powerbomb, Mutoh hits a kappo kick to the head sending him reeling to the outside. Mutoh follows up with a plancha and his knees strike Tenryu's head. When Tenryu is climbing back into the ring, Mutoh pounces at the opportunity with two dropkicks to the knee. A desperate Tenryu hits a brainbuster on the apron and a diving elbow through the middle ropes. That is the price you pay for the All Japan Triple Crown. Unfortunately, It is too little too late as Mutoh grabs his leg and dragon leg screws him off the apron and immediately hits a dropkcik from the apron to the knee. Tenryu does his best to try avoid Mutoh's relentless onslaught on the knees, but ends up in the figure-4. After a rope break, Tenryu lands a punch, then a dragon leg screw and then the Ultimate FUCK YOU Dropkick to the knee. I have never popped so hard for a dropkick to the knee. After all the NOAH matches with their constant strike exchanges, we get a shot basement dropkick exchange, which is bitchin'. Tenryu wins with a dragon leg screw and he get his own figure-4. He applies a Texas Cloverleaf, but his knee gives out. Tenryu, feeling in control now, is comfortable to start hitting his big bombs to put away Mutoh. SPIDER GERMAN~! and falling reverse elbow (a combo someone has to crib) get two. Mutoh gets his hope spot with an out of nowhere Frankensteiner. Tenryu blocks the follow-up Shining Wizard. He hits a brainbuster for two. Frustrated, he hits a top rope Frankensteiner for two. He goes back to the well one more time with the brainbuster and eats a knee to the head. He just collapses calling back to the initial Shining Wizard at the outset of the match. They square off once more, but Mutoh hits a bicycle kick and you can feel the end is nigh for Mr. Puroresu. Mutoh hits two Shining Wizards, but neither puts him down for three. Mutoh hits his trademark backbreaker/Moonsault combo to win the Triple Crown and become only the third wrestler to have won both the IWGP Heavyweigh Title and Triple Crown title (Vader and Genichiro Tenryu are the other two who preceded him). ****3/4 (I am not a huge fan of star ratings, but I need something to keep track of all these matches. With that said, I could see me giving this five stars)
Mutoh and Tenryu delivered near perfect individual performances that intertwined to deliver one of the best matches I have seen from 00s Puroresu. Tenryu gave one of the best resilient, sympathetic underneath performances ever. Mutoh was on point with every transition making sense, his strategy was worked to a tee, and he sold well. The whole match Tenryu was hitting home run shots because Mutoh got him off-balance early and even though he recovered by giving Mutoh a taste of his own medicine. Mutoh was able to hit him in the head twice to finally set up for the finish stretch and still Tenryu did not go down without taking 2 Shining Wizards and a moonsault. The only criticism (you have to nitpick when you are trying to determine the best match of the decade) is that it is worked on the slow-side with lots of downtime. I can see other NOAH matches when put together as well as this plus the pace they work edging this out. I think this is a definite MOTDC.
REWATCH THOUGHTS:
Rewatched this match because I fucking loved it the first two times, but it had been like seven months since I last saw it (can't believe that) so I wanted to know if it held up. I found something new to love. After Mutoh hit an out of nowhere Frakensteiner, Tenryu actually baits Mutoh to hit the Shining Wizard setting up his big bombs. That's fucking awesome. Everything I said holds true the key is Mutoh's full court press early throws Tenryu for a loop and when he eats a Shining Wizard early Tenryu has to spend most of the beginning shaking the cobwebs loose. The apron work is enough to make Taue jealous. It is so dramatic as wrestlers are flying over the ropes, through the ropes, on the apron and off the apron. I just love how much these guys are putting on the line to be the Triple Crown Champion. In 2001, Mutoh brought the dropkick back in all its sexy glory. The Fuck You Dropkick to Mutoh's knee is just amazing. I have popped for it every time. Tenryu is amazing on offense with his knee work, but his knee gives out on the Texas Cloverleaf. I loved how Tenryu would keep Mutoh at bay with his nasty closed fists to set up his big bombs. However, on the coup d'grace Mutoh knees him in the head and it is just academic, Mutoh takes shot after shot at his head with his knees and then a moonsault takes the Triple Crown Championship. I am a transitions mark. To me there is nothing more important than the transitions in a wrestling match. These are the critical moments that move the plot along.
1. Right off the bat, you have Mutoh flash Shining Wizard and then the kappo kick that ends Tenryu's first resurgence and brings the match to the outside.
2. You really felt who came out from the war on the oustide/apron would win and Mutoh was able to get the Dragon Leg Screw as Tenryu looked to take the high ground.
3. However not to be outdone Tenryu Fuck you Dropkicks to the Knee put him in the drivers seat
4. Tenryu baits Mutoh into a Shining Wizard that he blocks to hit a brainbuster.
5. Mutoh knees him in the skull calling back to #1 and sets up his victory.
I was wary of going the full monty before, this match is truly a Top 5 match of the decade and a definite ***** match in my opinion.
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| She must be looking in the mirror because I am just as dazed by those headlights. |
Keiji Mutoh vs Yuji Nagata - Sumo Hall 08/12/01 G-1 Climax Final
The objective of the match was to get over Yuji Nagata as a hybrid MMA/pro-style wrestler through submission-style counter-wrestling, which was en vogue at the time. However, the match became so focused on Nagata's counter-wrestling that it seemed like he did not have any offense of his own. This whole match was run through Mutoh, which is a problem in fact in 2001 running a match through Mutoh is sensible especially since Nagata was just beginning his ascent up the card. However, Mutoh did not really fight from underneath rather he would string some moves together and Nagata would counter into submission. Nagata's offense never strung together combinations, but let Mutoh dictate the match. I am not trying to damn the style of counter-wrestler just that Nagata was miscast. We all know that Inoki was trying to force shoot-style/MMA-style down the audience's throats with Fujita as IWGP champion and his Bom-Ba-Ye. That all being said, I think they had a very strong match and the best match they possibly could have given the environment. Mutoh was compelling on offense, sold well for Nagata and they built to a helluva finish run. Nagata for his part did the best he could some of his submissions looked lame and some looked good. Once the more "pro-wrestling" finish kicked in, he looked way more comfortable.
The opening chain sequence ended with Mutoh in a guillotine choke. Mutoh begged off into the corner and took a powder. It established Nagata as the "superior" ground wrestler and that Mutoh is now wary of mixing it up on the ground with Nagata. Mutoh gets in the ring, slaps Nagata and tries a double leg takedown. I like Mutoh trying to distract him with the quick slap. Mutoh goes for his handspring elbow, but Nagata counters into a crippler crossface. After a rope break, Mutoh executes a dragon leg screw after catching a kick. Mutoh may have been unprepared for the ground game, but he has countering the kicks all match and finally now is ready to execute Mutoh v.2001 Strategy. However, he goes for the figure-4 too soon and gets caught in a triangle choke. Imagine Dusty putting Flair in a triangle choke that would have been awesome. They stand back up and there is a really intense struggle as Nagata is trying to kick Mutoh;s legs and Mutoh keeps trying to wrangle his knee and finally hits a dropkick to the knee. Now the standard Mutoh leg work kicks in and he applies the figure-4. They do the sequence again and again, but when Mutoh goes for the figure-4 a third time Nagata connects with a kick to head and a weak-looking heel hook. Back up, Mutoh hits a frankensteiner into a cross-armbreaker and poorly reversed into Nagata's version of the figure-4. So far, guillotine choke, crossface, triangle choke, a heel hook and now a figure-4, but everything feels so isolated and no submission holding is having any consequence on the match. Whereas, Mutoh's work has been tight, connected and he has sold well for Nagata's stuff (Mutoh sold his figure-4 better than Nagata sold his). The finish stretch was the best part of the match for me. Mutoh hit his top rope frankensteiner followed up with a moonsault. He goes for a cross-armbreaker and this time Nagata has to get to the ropes because Mutoh finally has punished him so much. Mutoh goes for the Shining Wizard in the corner, but Nagata dodges. He hits a nasty German that folds Mutoh up like an accordion and then gives him the wrist-clutch exploder; only for Mutoh to pop up and hit the Shining Wizard. The place goes fuckin' nuts for that. They were sitting on their hands for the most part until that sweet sequence. Then they exchange some of wicked shitty kicks (why was Nagata given a shoot-style gimmick). He blocks the Shining Wizard and applies the crippler crossface to win the 2001 G-1 Climax. ***1/2
Nagata came off as so reactionary in this match. Mutoh was constantly moving forward and had a clear game plan. Mutoh was going to counter the kicks and use his knee psychology to win. Nagata just countered and never followed-up. I have not watched enough Nagata, but I don't think that was inexperience on the big stage as much as it was having a style foisted on him that did not suit him. It is actually a testament to both men that this match is so great given how far outside their comfort zone this was. I enjoyed Mutoh's performance a lot. He got Nagata over as a submission specialist while still making himself look strong. I liked the flash submission stuff as first, but I was hoping it would go somewhere. Like I said above, the finish sequence was great. It is not up with Mutoh's best stuff from the year, but it does demonstrate the year Mutoh was having: winning the Champion's Carnival, Triple Crown, Runner-Up in the G-1 Climax and headlining the Dome in October. He is right up there with Akiyama as hottest commodity in puroresu in 2001.
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| SHINING WIZARD~! |
GHC Heavyweight Champion Jun Akiyama & Yuji Nagata vs.
All Japan Triple Crown Champion Keiji Mutoh & Hiroshi Hase - Tokyo Dome 10/08/01
You have three hottest commodities in puroresu in this match and Hiroshi Hase. Of course, I thought Hase was the best worker in the match. smile.gif New Japan is continuing to put over Nagata as their new pro wrestling superstar having him hang with All Japan's and NOAH's champions. NOAH followed up Akiyama's red hot 2000 by making him the second GHC champion putting him over Misawa in July. Mutoh resuscitated the crippled All Japan promotion by reinventing himself completely in the ring. Also Mutoh placed a runner-up in 2001 G-1 climax losing to rising superstar, Yuji Nagata. Mutoh is looking for some revenge and has his buddy, Hase as back-up. This match also served to hype the main event to 2002 01/04 Dome show where Nagata was going to challenger Akiyama for the GHC Championship.
They were definitely trying to deliver a big Dome main even match, but I thought they fell short of the mark. The body of the match seemed perfunctory and an obligation before they started to bust out finishers in the grand finale. Mutoh wins an early chain exchange with Akiyama by hitting a dropkick and posing which got a pretty good reaction from the crowd. The Mutoh and Hase have much better continuity as expected and this affords them an early advantage as Mutoh scores his style elbow and begins some leg work. Nagata and Hase exchanged some pretty good slapfests when they needed to and Nagata was clearly the most protected wrestler in the match. Hase had a chip on his shoulder and he was working the hardest to sell and bump for his opponents even selling on the apron. Hase is supremely smug as he re-enters and then does the giant swing to a big pop. They tease the exploder off the apron, but Mutoh does the dragon leg screw off the apron and dropkicks the knee. I love that combination so much. All of sudden it is breaking loose in the Tupelo Dome as we get the double figure-4 for Mutoh and Hase. Mutoh hits his franekensteiner and moonsault combo for two. When I watched this, I could have sworn the match was more even, but reading my notes it seems like Mutoh and Hase dominated. Hase gets a little cocky after rolling Germans and a backbreaker. He slaps Nagata. Nagata hits an overhead belly to belly. Melee ensues. The spot of the match is Mutoh stepping on Hase's back to hit a Shining Wizard on a standing Nagata. Hase follows up by head dropping Akiyama and hitting his Northern Lights Suplex on Nagata. However, Nagata and Akiyama are able to wrangle Mutoh and Hase into double submission holds. The finish is Akiyama hitting his jumping knee twice and Nagata dropping Hase with a back body driver.
Honestly, I watched this match twice once about a month ago and again two nights ago and this review does not really reflect my perception of the match. Akiyama and Nagata definitely struggled more and got in more offense, but my notes paint a picture of Mutoh & Hase domination. Neither time did I think the match was all great so I am not going to rewatch it again anytime soon, but I wanted to be honest about this review. Outside of a big Hase performance, it felt like Mutoh by the numbers with a fireworks finish. It was definitely most disappointing Akiyama match so far. ***
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After watching with these matches, I definitely want to check out some more early 00s Mutoh to see if anything else holds up as well. I should have a blog up pretty soon that covers my man, the Bleach Blond Giant of Japan, Yoshihiro Takayama from 2000-2002. Also, I have started the groundwork on Dustin Rhodes vs Rick Rude 1993 feud. Finally, I would highly recommend the Fandango vs Big E. Langston match and not just for Summer Rae's bitchin' dress. Those guys really busted ass and actually outworked Punk/Rollins from the same show.
Nice blog
ReplyDeleteAmazang
Good work
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