Tag Teams Back Again: US Express, Sheik & Volkoff, Dream Team (WWF, 1985)

Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

This blog is the written companion piece for the podcast dubbed "Tag Teams Back Again" I did with Titan of Wrestling & Jobber-Lover, Kelly Nelson on 1985 tag team wrestling focusing on the championship teams of the year: The US Express, Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff, and the Dream Team of Greg Valentine & Brutus Beefcake. Click the link below to hear our melodious and dulcet voices discuss the awesomeness of The Hammer!

Tags Teams Back Again

If you like this, also check out my blog about Greg "The Hammer" Valentine and his singles and tag exploits from 1985-1990:

The Hammer Swings Down

I always preferred the Golden Globes 

WWF World Tag Team Champions Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff vs US Express - MSG 5/20/85

It is the Fashion Plate vs. The Captain in this Wrestlemania rematch at Madison Square Garden. USSR #1, Iran #1, USA hock-ptooey is always awesome. Albano with the All-American, white meat babyfaces was definitely an odd pairing, but Windham and Rotundo were over like rover. Barry Windham is just damn good at pro wrestling. I was hoping there was a way he would play face in peril and be the hot tag and they did it! On the opposing team, Sheiky Baby is underrated at wrestling. He is such a great cowardly villain, but when he gets on offense he has enough to seem credible. Sheik and Rotundo starting off with some amateur wrestling was great and wished it went longer. Rotundo took most of the shine, but Sheik kept it entertaining: bowing on his knees to try to buy time or when it may venture into heel in peril he created movement with his somersault bump. Volkoff came in and Windham hit such a beautiful sunset flip, but missed on a dropkick which gave the Axis of Evil chance to begin double teaming. Sheik hits his usual abdominal stretch and awesome gutwrench suplex. Windham blocks Sheik on a suplex and in the struggle delivers one helluva suplex that had Gorilla popping. Windham is dazed, but makes it to Rotundo for the lukewarm tag, who hits a pair of dropkicks, but get cut off by double teaming. If you want something done, you got to do it yourself so Windham bashes Sheik's brain's into the steel. Sheik is busted. Hot tag to Windham, who is hitting anything that moves and has the Garden rocking, baby! Windham is working over the cut with punches and BULLDOG! Katie Bar the Door there is a pier-six brawl a brewing. It spills to the outside where Windham gnaws on the cut and Rotundo punches Blassie. They call it a countout victory for the US Express, but that is suspect at best. Windham rocked this match selling and then being his own hot tag, which really whipped this crowd into a frenzy. What I came out of this thinking is that I really want to see Windham vs Sheik singles street fight. The brief hot finish stretch vaults this into the above average good territory. ***
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The Dream Team w/Jimmy Hart vs Tito Santana & Ricky Steamboat - MLG 4/85

This match sure lived up to the hype and may be the best Beefcake performance I have ever seen. This match was all about tempo. Santana was in his red-hot feud with Valentine who had broken his leg and taken his title. The crowd was molten for that angle. The babyfaces worked their entire end in an up-tempo, fired -up fashion. The Dream Team knowing they could not match this attempted every trick in the book to break their momentum and work a real grinding style. This led to a really good match.

Early on Steamboat and Santana have a hot shine sequence with Beefcake and Valentine just bumping all over the place for them. I have been down on WWF Steamboat, but he was pumped for this match just flying around the ring. You know that Tito is going to bring the hate with his fists balled up. Beefcake and Valentine do their best to stall and break this momentum, but at first there seems like no end to this onslaught. Until, Tito goes for the figure-4 on Valentine, who grabs his trunks and hits a knee in the midsection. Once he hits a shoulderbreaker he consolidates the advantage for the Dream Team and grinds the match to a halt. They work on Santana with some double teams and Valentine slaps on an arm bar. Tito is almost able to make the tag, but Valentine knocks Steamboat off the apron and then Beefcake comes around and beats on Steamboat. The crowd was just eating this all up. The Beefer gets cocky and goads Steamboat. Tito is able to crawl past Beefcake and get the hot tag to Steamboat. IT IS BREAKING LOOSE IN TORONTO! Steamboat with his best hot tag I have seen. He unloads on both the Hammer and the Beefer with karate shots. The crowd was losing their shit for this. Steamboat grabs the sleeper hold, but Beefcake with an eye-rake. Valentine and Steamboat have a good exchange until an eye-rake does Steamboat in and Valentine consolidates with a gut buster. I preferred the Steamboat FIP is a better at selling and the Dream Team really unloaded with double teams and offense. Valentine starts to warm him up for the figure-4, but Steamboat knows his way around the figure-4 and grabs an inside cradle. Steamboat fights out of the corner and is able to Tito. ARRIBA! Double noggin knocker. Tito drops Valentine with a right. Flying Burrito to a huge pop! Beefcake saves. Melee ensues. They are double teaming Tito and Steamboat flies off the top onto Beefcake. Tito blocks Valentine's atomic drop and applies the figure-4 for the submission victory. ARRIBA! Wooooooooooooo, I am out of breathe after that one.

This is babyface wrestling 101, folks. Steamboat and Santana gave maximum effort and I bet it is real easy when you have a crowd as hot as this one at the Maple Leaf Gardens. The Dream Team wrestled a smart match to ensure constant heat throughout the match as they built not one, but two really hot tags. In some of those double FIP AWA tags, the first hot tag is not all that hot, but in this match that Steamboat hot tag is just as red-hot as the following Santana one. Beefcake actually wrestled pretty well here and was not as awkward as usual. The Hammer is going to clog the lane every time and make sure that babyface earns every shot. This up there with the Bulldogs match as one of the best WWF Tags of the 80s.
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WWF Tag Champs US Express vs The Dream Team - Philly 9/85

I am glad I went back and watched these two Dream Team matches because they could contend with the Islanders as my favorite heel tag team in 80s WWF. I will say one of the disappointments of Valentine sticking in one promotion for so long is that we did not get stuff like Valentine vs Windham one on one at length. Also, what I do not understand is why Beefcake seemed to suck so hard in '86. I mean Valentine barely let Beefcake wrestle in Wrestlemania II. He wrestled pretty decently in these two matches. He is still only the fourth best wrestler in these matches, but he is not sucking out loud.

I loved the start to this match as the Dream Team jumps them and a melee ensues. The Windham/Valentine exchange makes me want that singles match so much. The faces send the heels packing. Valentine & Beefcake true to form work smart and try to break their momentum. We get Windham/Valentine proper and the two minutes we get is awesome. Valentine stops the runaway freight train with a knee lift. Beefcake loses this advantage and we go to Heel In Peril with some arm work. I actually think Beefcake sold this pretty well and Rotundo worked pretty well in this segment. The US Express even hits a double dropkick (way better than Rockers one) on Beefer. Beefcake works Rotundo to his corrner and he blind tagged Valentine, who came off the top with a sledge onto Rotundo. Valentine suffocates Rotundo and is relentless on his legs and Rotundo sells pretty well. Rotundo is good at working some strikes in his hope spots in the corner. I dig Dream Team double whip into the corner. We hit the front facelock for a while. I will say the Valentine drop toehold to prevent Rotundo from making the tag is one of the best of those kind. Windham and Valentine get back into it. I just love how chippy this is. Valentine hits his shoulder breaker. I dig the shoulderbreaker I think someone should incorporate it in their moveset, but it is weird for Valentine's moveset. Valentine gets kicked off by Rotundo on his figure-4 into his corner so he can tag Beefer. Rotundo and Beefcake knock heads and The Hammer throws the Beefer on Rotundo and it is a close two! The crowd lets out a collective sigh of relief. But Rotundo escapes and hot tag to BIG BARRY!!! I love how Windham steps through his punches. He hits Valentine with a bulldog, but Valentine KICKS OUT! Now that's a death sentence for a babyface. Windham goes for the second bulldog, but Beefcake puts "Luscious" Johnny V's hair product in Barry's eyes. Valentine hits an elbow to seal the deal. I love how Windham is writhing in pain while he is being pinned, perfect selling.

The other match is definitely the better workrate match and the front facelock stuff does drag, but Windham & Valentine are really excellent. I wish they would some of that beginning melee stuff in other matches it gives matches a more heated feel. I thought this is one of the better title switches I have seen.
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WWF World Tag Champions Dream Team vs Tito Santana & Pedro Morales - MSG 11/25/85

Anytime Valentine and Satana have a chance to hook it up whether it is in a tag or in singles, you know you are going to watch something special. There is just so much heat and urgency to their work. The beginning is great with Valentine and Pedro going hard body shot for hard body shot with Pedro winning. Morales I think only contributed left hands, but they were all great. Valentine was stooging and hitting TIMBAAAAAHHHHH early. Valentine and Santana tease figure-4s and the Garden is rocking for Tito with big Tito chants. I love Tito opening up with rights on Valentine. Valentine tags out but the story remains the same for the Beefer. Valentine is outside hugging Johnny V while Beefcake gets his ass handed to him. Double noggin knocker. They start to vere into heel in peril with arm work on Beefcake. There is an awesome game of chicken between Valentine and Santana over Morales going for a Chickenwing/Half Nelson pin that Valentine wins. Valentine comes in and just rocks Pedro with wicked elbows that send him tumbling through the ropes. When it is time to get mean, nobody is better than the Hammer. Beefcake is in and hits the Sleeper, which is the best they he can do. Jesse and Gorilla both are surprised this is in his arsenal as it ends up becoming his finish. Pedro crawls to his corner, but Valentine distracts the ref so he can't see the tag and then when the ref sends Tito back they toss Pedro over the top rope. That is some well done chicanery. Beefcake applies a spinning toehold when Pedro kicks out, Beefcake immediately tags out and Valentine wastes no time flying over to knock Santana off the apron and Valentine obilterates Pedro with a right elbow. Valentine goes for the Figure-4, but Pedro as one last burst of energy and makes the tag to Tito. Tito is such a great pissed of house of fire just hitting anything that moves and applies the figure-4 to Tito. Katie Bar the Door a Pier-Six Brawl is a brewing as Valentine deliberately attacks Tito triggering the disqualification.

I love Valentine in this period so much. He is totally selfless in getting the other team over, but at the same time does not necessarily need to cheat to take over. Sometimes, he is just going to hit you really hard in the mouth. I love the urgency of everyone's actions involved with great cheating thrown in by the Dream Team. The shine and hot tag were both excellent as to be expected from always lively Tito Santana. The finish leaves a lot to be desired, but that's the 80s for you. ***1/2

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WWF World Tag Champions Dream Team vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff 

Championship Wrestling 12/17/1985

In this rare heel vs heel match, nothing terribly exciting happens even though I think Valentine vs. Sheiky Baby would be a ton fun as a singles match. Dream Team play de facto babyfaces using generic arm work as the base of their strategy. First Beefcake falls prey to Volkoff's headlock. Beefcake's punches are even worse when viewed next to Valentine's. Valentine and Sheik finally square off and Sheik busts out the dropkick for the TIMBAH bump. Sheik hits a gutwrench suplex and applies the Camel Clutch, but The Hammer saves The Beefer. Valentine looks for figure-4, but the world's weakest donnybrook breaks out for the double disqualification. You know the whole match was weak when the highspot is Sheik hitting a dropkick. Nothing really happened. Surprising lack of cheating for heel vs heel. Don't waste your 8 minutes.

Kid Ego: Dolph Ziggler (WWE, 2014)

Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

WWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! I got a free burrito from Chipotle a couple days ago because of how well I WOO! Man, I love Ric Flair and I love pro wrestling! WOOOOOOOO!

I am every woman's dream burrito, zero calories, but just as filling 

I love Dolph Ziggler's shirts! Definitely the only wearable shirts that WWE makes and they go great with my Zubaz. So Ziggler has that going for him. Also, I dig his throwback long, bleach blond hair. Let's see what else...hmmmmmmm. 

The internet wrestling fan has rallied around Ziggler because of his athletic ability, a distinctive look and his pinball bumping. The night after Wrestlemania 29, the smart mark-laden MSG crowd went bonkers for Ziggler's World Title victory over Del Rio. If I was running a NYC-only promotion, there is no doubt I would want to build around Ziggler as my ace face. At this year's Royal Rumble, the first chant I heard as we were walking to our seats was "We Want Ziggler". Besides Ambrose, he was the only wrestler still over with the pissed off Philly crowd. Yet, Dolph Ziggler just does not seem to do it for me.   I see Ziggler as someone who lacks credible offense, and relies Randy Savage's babyface formula, Mr. Perfect's over bumping and the worst of Shawn Michaels' catchphrases to skate by. The Randy Savage babyface formula is take heat from the get-go and for the majority of the match, hit one big comeback spot (Ziggler's dropkick) and then run through the finish (for Savage this meant a victory with the Big Elbow, Ziggler is not always as lucky). My major malfunction with this formula is that it lacks  struggle. A recent RAW match against Wyatt saw Ziggler press harder earlier and show a more pugnacious style. Hopefully that performance is a harbinger of things to come. More than the match layout, I find his in-ring style is not credible and not engaging.

Dolph Ziggler feels ultimately to me like a Mr. Perfect tribute act. By the time Curt Hennig, his best years were already behind him. He masked his lack of offense and his injuries with his over the top bumps. Ziggler is similar in regards to Hennig in how he uses his bumps to oversahdow his lack of offense. Unlike Hennig, Ziggler's strikes are piss poor at least Hennig could rely on his chop. His punches where he punches with the inside of his fist look like shit and his superkick does not look much better. The rest of his offense besides his nice dropkick is made out of ridiculous 2000s-y offense like the fameasser and facebuster. I actually think the Zig Zag is a fine finisher because it at least looks like a possible KO blow. The last bothersome Ziggler in-ring trait is his inability to modulate his selling. He is either flopping around like a deadfish or running full speed ahead. This 0 to 60 style is jarring and can happen multiple times in the same match. I appreciate that he sells more than the average WWE wrestler in 2014, but he needs to modulate better. Where everybody else needs to add more selling, Ziggler needs to add more of  a register. You never want to die because once you do it makes everyone look  bad unless you are going to lose of course. In the Survivor Series match, on rewatch, I think is the best example of Ziggler modulating his selling well and gradually gaining strength against seemingly insurmountable odds. Again, let us hope that is a harbinger of things to come. More than the match layout and the in-ring, there is nothing more annoying about Ziggler than his character.

Who is Dolph Ziggler? He dresses kind of like Don Johnson and has LMFAO-inspired ring gear. He likes to Show Off, I hear, but really does not do that anymore in the ring. He likes to talkreallyfastonpromosuntilhegetstothe *pause* punchline. He is kinda a ladies' man. He is sorta sleezy. Oh I know he likes to steal the show and entertain the fans. Hold on, while I puke. Overall, I am a pretty big Shawn Michaels fan, but nothing annoys me about Shawn than when his gimmick basically became I put on great matches and who cares who wins, it was awesome to watch. Wrestling should be about competitors struggle to win a contest. If that is your gimmick, you need to go home. Wade Keller on The Steve Austin Show made a great point about Dolph Ziggler's lack of killer instinct on the stick. Ziggler just had the biggest win of his career beating The Authority to send them home; looked great as the ultimate underdog; the push came out of nowhere, but was well-received. In the post-match promo, Ziggler said he did what anyone else would do in that situation, he went out to entertain the fans. WHAT THE FUCK? Dude, you are there to kick ass and defend your co-worker's jobs. Fuck the fans, you are there to win. UGH! Excellent matches like the one against Luke Harper in a ladder match at TLC may be able to wipe away this character and replace it with one that claws for everything he gets. In the match Ziggler is faced against a sadistic beast that just tears into him and has no regard for his well-being. Ziggler takes advantage of every opening and struggles to win the match in front of his hometown. It was the first time winning I-C title felt like a huge deal in years because Ziggler had to struggle and claw to win the match. That's what entertains the fans, Dolph, not you telling us you are going to, but you are looking invested in the outcome of your match. Once again, I hope this is a harbinger of what is to come.

A Godsend that goes perfectly with Hot Pink & Black Zubaz!Atreewq

I am hard on Dolph Ziggler, but I think I am fair. He showed strong improvement in key areas as I pointed out. It feels like the company was getting behind late in 2014, but with the returns of other key babyfaces, he may be forgotten again, but right now he still looks in good shape. I hope he builds on these good performances and leaves his bad tendencies behind. At the very least, come out with another badass shirt!

Match Listing:

WWE Intercontinental Champion Bad News Barrett vs Dolph Ziggler - WWE RAW 6/23/14

Disposable RAW mid-card match. Ultimately forgettable. Crowd worked the workers. 

WWE Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler vs Cesaro vs Tyson Kidd ***3/4

Fun Spotfest. Tyson Kidd got to shine. Cesaro great strength spots. Ziggler looked strong as champ.

Team Cena (John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, The Big Show, Ryback, Rowan) vs 

The Authority (Seth Rollins, Luke Harper, Rusev, Kane and Mark Henry) 

WWE Survivor Series 2014 ****1/4

Big match feel. Great use of characters. Exciting narrative. Logical, cool swerve. Great Ziggler run.

WWE IC Champion Luke Harper vs Dolph Ziggler WWE TLC 2014 Ladder Match ****1/2

Awesome sadistic performance by Harper. Great heroics by Ziggler. Felt like a BIG win!

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WWE Intercontinental Champion Bad News Barrett vs Dolph Ziggler - WWE RAW 6/23/14

Take a pair of semi-over midcarders and tack on a couple nearfalls and you get "This is Awesome". I remember watching this match and thinking this was one of the most egregious examples of the overexposure of the "This Is Awesome" chant. My beef with "This Is Awesome" chant is that it tends to be the MOVEZ~! that are over rather than the individual wrestlers. If Ziggler was so over. how come Ziggler was not being cheered? A lot of it has to do with how the match was presented and laid out. What did Barrett do that was particularly heelish? Really the only reason Barrett was the heel was because he is the bigger of the two and he would cut off Ziggler. It was a very neutral performance from Barrett and I have noticed over very neutral performances from midcard heels especially Cesaro. It is funny that all these old time great wrestling minds can't put their finger on why these wrestlers can't make it to the next level. I would start right there. Obviously, booking is critical, but if you are talking about things a wrestler can control, it is stronger heel performances. It seems the heels are too concerned with being considered "great" wrestlers, which in the modern context means MOVEZ~!

I wanted to review this match because it made one list of top WWE matches of the year I read and I wanted to look at a Ziggler match from before his late year push. I remember ZIggler utilizing the babyface mid-90s Savage formula of taking heat, hitting one counter move and then going home. Of course, Savage would win his match with the big elbow, but most times Ziggler would lose. I think the match would have benefited from that formula.  It would afford the opportunity for Barrett to look like a violent bully and for Ziggler to build sympathy for his big dropkick comeback. Instead, it was just I hit a move, you hit a move. There was no sense of struggle or real desire to win. Hell, you can't even claim they had good escalation: The Zig Zag was used as a throwaway transition, which built to a commercial and within one spot, Barrett was up and hitting the Cactus Elbow. Plus Barrett's natural size was totally undermined by the match. Ziggler was countering at will Barrett's offense and it was not like he was using great speed. The selling was generally not good and even when it happened like Ziggler not being able to capitalize the selling felt false (more like frustration) and did not feel warranted based on the limited punishment he took. The finish was pretty awesome with Ziggler going for the Stinger Splash and Barrett hits him with a KO elbow.

I think Barrett and Ziggler have great potential, but have their limitations. Barrett really is not a good bumper or seller, which he does not have to be, but it will limit him. Ziggler has the worst punches in the business today and his deadfish/pop-up selling is annoying at best. However, I think even with those limitations, they can construct great matches against other people using Barrett's brute and Ziggler's bumping ability. Tag team wrestling could have taught both these guys a lot. Alas, it is a shame.

The match was designed to impress the crowd. You work the audience. Don't let the audience work you. Disposable, mindless match that is fun to watch with your brother on Saturday morning, but not worthwhile on rewatch.

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Man, I used to have a lot of hair!

WWE Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler vs Cesaro vs Tyson Kidd 

 WWE Smackdown! 11/14/14

First thing's first, the new Smackdown ring announcer is realest. I may just start watching Smackdown for her. Hot damn.

This match is a great spotfest and besides the Money In The Bank Ladder match, I can't think of a better one this year in WWE (reDragon vs Young Bucks, which I saw live was the best spotfest of the year and one of the best of all time). Spotfest is a loaded word after all wrestling matches are a collection of spots. It is your fireworks spectacle in lieu of a compelling story. I think there is very much a place for them on pro wrestling cards (no more than one a card). If you are going to have one, then commit to it. The reason I was so down on Barrett and Ziggler is they had a spotfest, but they were just hitting their stock moves on each other. These three came up with creative, fun, and eye-popping spots. Sometimes they got too smart for their own good like trying a more complicated Tower of Doom spot that looked like shit. However, fun stuff like Cesaro covering Ziggler while in the Sharpshooter or Kidd hitting a Blockbuster on Cesaro onto Ziggler's knees. I also have to say after watching all that 00s NOAH that Cesaro hitting a big boot to start a match and then an exploder is the most NOAH beginning to any WWE match ever. In fact, if NOAH ever had a junior heavyweight triple threat match, I would say it would look a lot like this only with more strike exchanges. I liked the opening part with quick pinfalls by each competitor really put over their desire to eliminate a wrestler and setup a one on one match for the title. They also managed not to fall into the triple threat trap of having one wrestler sell for long periods of time on the outside. They all just kept going at each other with vigor. I would say that is what would separate this match from a lot of other typical WWE matches is the urgency of the wrestlers.

The finish stretch begins with a Kidd sharpshooter/Cesaro crossface combo on Ziggler. The storyline behind this was that Authority was setting Ziggler (then the only member of Team Cena) to lose his title because of the stacked odds. While Cesaro and Kidd never formally teamed up, these moments drove home that angle. In an idiotic moment, Kidd breaks the hold to attack Cesaro and gets the Giant Swing. Cesaro hotshotting Ziggler into a kick by Kid was sick. Kidd has some really good kicks in this match. Ziggler hits the Zig Zag, but Kidd being the gloryhound he is (remember the storyline with Nattie) he tosses Ziggler out so he can get the pinfall. I like the respect shown for the Zig Zag. Kidd had a really good string of offense on Ziggler and you really felt him press his advantage with nice kicks. He tries for the Sharpshooter, but it is reversed into a cradle and then ZIG ZAG! Ziggler survives with his championship reign intact.

There was no great overarching story and the selling was nothing to write home about, but for a spotfest you could not ask for much more. There were a lot of fun spots that escalated to a satisfying conclusion. Plus Kidd got some time to shine, which is nice and showed some promise. Good shit. ***3/4

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Team Cena (John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, The Big Show, Ryback, Rowan) vs 

The Authority (Seth Rollins, Luke Harper, Rusev, Kane and Mark Henry) 

WWE Survivor Series 2014

When Survivor Series Elimination Matches are done right they are hard to top. A booker can take advantage of more moving pieces in terms of the number of wrestlers in a match and the number of finishes afforded to him. It allows for more pairings and no dull moments with each tag there is a new combination. The arc follows a more traditional sports-oriented approach where there is a scoreboard and teams fall behind and have to work hard to catch back up. I think this match should go down as one of the best Survivor Series Tags of all time.

The hardest thing for Survivor Series tags to overcome ususally is the stigma that they are inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. While it turned out to be true that this Survivor Series tag was just as inconsequentlal as most, at the time, this match really felt huge and meaningful to everyone in the match, outside the ring, the announcer and the live audience. I would say in terms of big match feel this ranked only behind Cena/Lesnar at Summerslam and the Bryan matches at Wrestlemania. Everyone played their roles to a T. Triple H and Stephanie just absolutely and totally rocked it on the outside. I loved HHH firing up Mark Henry and really laying it on thick only for Henry to walk into the WMD. Damn! It was the perfect start to the match. Triple H goes from all revved up to total dejection. The heels fell flat on their faces. The babyfaces start hot and the crowd is whipped into a frenzy and they never really let go.

One of my biggest hang-ups watching this live was the treatment of Ryback. I am a Ryback fan. When Ryback was at nadir of his career teaming with Curtis Axel against the Dust Brothers for the umpteenth time at the Money In The Bank, I got a "Feed Me More" chant started because damnit, I was not going to let him die. They redebut him and he feels like a big deal. He is presented as the piece that will tip the scales in either team's directions. Then he is the first person pinned on Team Cena!?!?!?! Do I think that if you switch Ryback and Big Show's roles that the story, the match and the aftermath would be 1000000x better? Yes. Did I overreact and basically underrate a match because of it? Yes. I just wanted to get that out there.

I love that babyfaces got a long shine by modern WWE standards. This is what Rollins brings to the table that really not other heel does right now. He can pinball bump like a muthafucka and really create energy for a babyface. Whether it is being swatted by the Big Show or Ryback tossing him up, it takes the onus off the babyface to solely get the crowd involved. To be fair to their treatment of Ryback, he does get a huge run of offense before he is eliminated. Rollins gets tossed around. Harper takes a stalling suplex. Kane comes in gets his ass kicked. Hell, Rusev looks vulnerable before in all the chaos Rollins takes advantage with a timely Curb Stomp and eliminate him. I love the heels taking advantage of a melee like that.

What is interesting is I remembered that Rusev was presented as the game-changer for the heels, but that was incorrect it was always Harper. Rusev was special because any nearfall or any time he looked vulnerable triggered a big reaction, but it was Harper that actually turned the tide for the heels. Show actually looked strong against Rusev, but it was a well-timed dropkick by Harper that gave the heels their first advantage. The Big Show face in peril segment was the lull in the match, but it was to set up Dolph's first entry into the match and he was supposed to be the star of the show. Ziggler gets a quick burst of offense before Harper plants him. The Ziggler face in peril set up the in-match swerve and the finish beautifully even if it was a bit boring. Rusev busting out the knees again was awesome! After a Ziggler hope spot nearfall, a melee ensues, but this time does not benefit the heels as Rusev belly flops onto an announce table while HHH was egging him on. Triple H's frustration at Rusev not being able to make it to his feet and J & J desperately, but futilely trying to carry Rusev to the ring was the great character work that enhanced the atmosphere of this match. The babyfaces are up at this, but they are not soaring quite as high as earlier in the match.

Down 4-3, Rollins took the match into his own hands and executed Shield tactics that being create havoc and always press. The curb stomp to Cena to save Kane forced Cena to tag in Rowan. I did not even notice how awesome Harper/Rowan was. Harper is fucking amazing. It was just a gnarly powerhouse fight. Again, Rollins took advantage and flew in with a knee to the side of the head so that Harper could collect the victory.

This all sets up the Big Show turn beautifully. Ziggler is out on the floor from his face in peril and Cena is staggered from the Curb Stomp. It is effectively 3-on-1 and BOOM! Awesome in-match heel turn, logically sound. Triple H handshake was great and Steph doing the Yes! Chant to Cena was awesome. Loved the St. Louis crowd chanting for Randy Orton twice. A member of the main roster is actually over now that is awesome! This is the part of the match I expected to hate, but I actually thought Ziggler was really, really good in this. I expected it to be dead-fish sell and then zero to sixty, rinse, lather, repeat. I thought he did a great job actually building to climaxes and not switching shit off and on. The segment with Kane was worked beautifully. Kane looks like it is a slam dunk, Ziggler staggers and hits his KO blow to eliminate. He has life and the crowd and HHH & Steph respond accordingly. The worst part of the match is actually this Harper segment. Harper mauls him and then loses to a roll-up. It is really hard to book this middle segment. Either scratch it or they could have had Ziggler beat Harper like he did Kane and then when Kane comes in he just destroys him no selling. The Harper beating made it look too incredulous when Ziggler got the roll-up. I thought they did a great job in the Rollins segment building to everything. Rollins was on top, but Ziggler kept hitting more and more moves. Ziggler really paced his offense well and he seemed to be getting stronger with every shot. The interference was well-paced. Ziggler gets a close nearfall and here come the stooges which sends Steph into HHH. Ziggler gets the Zig Zag and HHH says fuck it and Pedigrees him. I wish it was Orton that came out and RKO'd HHH, but Sting was pretty cool. Just do not give a single fuck about Sting/HHH. The finish pretty much sucks because they had built Ziggler into a believable babyface winner over Rollins and he just needed a bit of help like an RKO to Trips, but instead it became all about HHH/Sting, which is too bad.

The aftermath and the finish take a lot of wind out of the sails of this one, but for the vast majority of this match is incredibly compelling and you really did not know what would happen next. Everything felt urgent and immediate. The babyfaces were on fire early and you thought they could run away with this. Rollins using Shield tactics to create opportunities for his partners was greta heel strategy. Harper being the heel stud badass was great. The Big Show turn even if Ryback would have been better was freaking awesome. Hell, even the majority of the Ziggler run was some of the best Ziggler ever as he actually modulated his selling and bursts of offense well. Very, very entertaining and like most WWE matches wish they followed up on this better! ****1/4

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WWE Intercontinental Champion Luke Harper vs Dolph Ziggler 

WWE TLC 2014 Ladder Match

Luke Harper may look like Bruiser Brody, but he wrestles like Stan Hansen and the world is a better place for it. He had a total disregard for Ziggler and his own welfare. Having watched wrestling for seventeen years now, it takes a lot to make me cringe, but repeatedly I was wincing in pain with each punishing blow. It was so violent and I even questioned if it was all worth it. I hope it will be because I thought this be HBK/Mankind match for Ziggler. Shawn Michaels needed the match with Foley to establish that he dish out the pain as well as he could take it. It is similar to how in the 80s pretty boy tag teams would be positioned in brutal fights with gnarly heels to show they were tougher than they look and earn credibility with the audience. To keep the Shawn Michaels thread going, matches like The Rockers versus Rose & Somers bloodbath in the AWA come to mind. If exploited properly, this can be that very match. It is so difficult in this day and age to be an asskicker and not come across as a cool babyface. Harper was able to tap into such an uncomfortable violence that he was booed heavily. Yes, eventually there was the obligatory "This Is Awesome" chant, but for the vast majority of the match the people cheered Ziggler and booed Harper. It helped a lot they were in Ziggler's hometown of Cleveland, but regardless, to see such an outpouring of emotion to cheer for one wrestler was so refreshing in this day of "appreciating the match" and other such hogwash.

On the rewatch, with a closer attention to detail, I realized how much Harper really destroyed Ziggler for the opening half of the match. It is a testament to Ziggler that when I was watching with my family that I really never felt like he was totally out of it and that he was always struggling. Too often he can rely on deadfish/pop-up selling, but here, I thought more often than not he kept it a competitive style of selling. Harper established the perfect pace for this brutal masterpiece. It never plodded, but they never rushed to the next spot. He was going to let that ladder just fall on Ziggler's head and then climb the ladder to retain his title. Those ladder timber spots were vicious especially the one that clipped Ziggler in the head. The most violent spot of the match was without a doubt the Harper suicide dive onto the ladder where he basically piledrove himself into a ladder. How he did not break his arms and/or be concussed was beyond me. I could barely watch. The Ziggler pop up and scramble up the ladder was perfect, because up until that point he had basically no offense and now the monster has basically impaled himself it was time to take advantage. It was great drama as the Creature from the Black Lagoon rose again and stopped him. Not to be topped Ziggler took some hellacious bumps like on a powerbomb onto a Ladder (the ladder did not break) and then being catapulted into the middle rope with the ladder around his head (concussion city and getting busted open). Ziggler breaking free of the doctors to stop Harper from climbing the ladder was an awesome moment.

This should not be lost in the shuffle, but the effort they put into this and how much they were willing to risk made the Intercontinental Championship feel like a big deal for the first time in forever. As I survey the damage, Ziggler is bleeding from the face and fingers while Harper is bleeding from all sort of odd places on his body. You really felt like whoever wins this demolition derby deserves it. Ziggler makes his grand comeback, but what's great is that it is not just one move. He has to keep beating Harper back, first it is a facebuster onto the ladder, then it is DDT off the ladder, then dropkicking the ladder into his face and finally the superkick off the ladder that wins ZIggler the match. The fact that it was Ziggler had to earn every single step by constantly hitting Harper with big shots really you made it feel like he could earn it.

Ziggler proved he could withstand the punishment doled out by one of WWE's most sadistic monsters. Harper made him earn this every step of the way delivering one of the most malevolent performances of the year. Harper gave as good as he got as proved by that suicide dive. For Ziggler, we see if the WWE exploits this newfound credibility as a tough, die hard son of a bitch. The negatives are slight. but apparent: Ziggler's punches still look like shit and they did lose a bit of steam towards the end as the spots got a bit more contrived. In terms of a violent spectacle, where the pretty boy babyface not just survived the monster, this match deserves to be ranked among the best ladder matches of all time. ****1/2

A Flair For The Inzayn: Sami Zayn, Charlotte, Adrian Neville (WWE NXT 2014)

Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

I tried to come up with a  funny way to introduce just how much fucking snow there is right now in Boston, but then is absolutely nothing funny about the personal Hel I am currently living in. Ragnarok is coming. 

How come she did not fall from the sky?

Sami Zayn is coming and ain't nobody going to stop the best damn pure babyface on the roster besides Daniel Bryan Zayn is on a quest to prove that white meat, underdog babyface is not dead in the water. Whether it was as a plucky upstart against Cesaro or finally getting the monkey off his back defeating Adrian Neville to win the NXT Championship, Zayn is making it cool to be good again. Against Adrian Neville at the December NXT Special, the match was humming along just fine and I was enjoying it as another great Zayn selling performance with some cool spots thrown in like the Dragonrana. Then at the end of the match, something special happened. The crowd was so invested in the Sami Zayn character that they cared that he not only won the match, but how they won the match. When Zayn stood above a prone Neville with championship belt cocked and ready, the crowd chanted in unison "NO!". It restored my faith that real babyfaces could still exist in this often jaded, cynical wrestling universe. They did not want Zayn to compromise his morals or take shortcuts to win the title. They wanted a Sami Zayn that was true to himself and won on his own merits. They got just that when Sami Zayn defeated Adrian Neville clean in the ring to win the NXT Championship and prove that he can indeed win the big one.

However, this is not where Zayn best showcased his talents as one of the great potential future WWE superstars. It was on the very first NXT live special on the Network in the very first match against Cesaro that Zayn shined brightest. He proved that even in a loss that sometimes you can come out looking like a million bucks. He gave a heroic underdog babyface performance of the ages against the arrogant bully, Cesaro. He craves that respect from Cesaro and earns it the hard way, but never saying die and always moving forward. Sami Zayn has been the cornerstone of NXT and development as a star has been the hook.

Lately, Steve Austin has been on a kick of asking people pro wrestling or sports entertainment. NXT is pro wrestling to WWE's sports entertainment. Recently, I have noticed some more WWE-centric and indy traits bleeding into the NXT product, which disappoints me. However, those first two or three NXT special just exuding pro wrestling to me. It was a promotion built on wins & losses, pride & respect, fun characters, video packages that fleshed out characters and explained matches. Recently, where have those video packages been for Finn Balor and Hideo Itami? Early on, I loved the packages that chronicled who Bo Dallas, Tyler Breeze or Tyson Kidd were. Take Bo Dallas for instance. On the main roster, he was an annoying knock off of Tony Robbins. If you watch NXT Arrival, you realize how they just took one small facet of the character "Bolieve" and totally abandoned the entire character. That was a champion who delusionally believed he was beloved. I loved his response to "No More Bo" that they wanted to "know" more about Bo Dallas. NXT did a great job fleshing these characters out and perhaps there is no better example than in their flourishing women's division.

Every corner of the internet seems abuzz with NXT Women's division and how it is a paradigm for the what main roster's women's division could be. It begins and ends with how the NXT women are promoted. They are treated seriously and usually as the semi-main event fight. They have unique, interesting characters that are striving to win the championship. Even though, my favorite women's match was between two ladies that would soon leave for the main roster, Paige & Emma, the women's matches have been the most anticipated for me personally. I am not what you would have called a women's wrestling fan until NXT. There has been a lot of hype around Charlotte/Natalya, which I think is a bit over-blown from a purely in-ring perspective, but there is no denying its importance. It could be a harbinger of things to come and turning point for how women are viewed in WWE. It was promoted and treated  as serious fight with important consequences and the second most important match on the card behind the NXT Championship match. The announcers and the crowd were equally invested in the outcome and  it has continued in all of Charlotte's matches. Charlotte, much like her father, has redefined pro wrestling only she has done it for women. Her athleticism and confidence has made people take notice. It needs to be mentioned she has the best entrance music in wrestling today. She has had good to great matches with Nattie, Bayley and Sasha Banks and just gave a great performance this past week in the fatal 4-way. She is the perfect anchor to build a division around. She has all the offense to be a great babyface, but has the attitude and size to be a heel. Matches against Paige and Nikki Bella are on the top of my dream match list and that's not something I would thought I would have said just a couple weeks ago. 

We can't talk about the women's division without talking about my favorite character in wrestling Mmmm you maybe gorgeous, Tyler, but you take a backseat to the Boss. I was super pumped that she won the NXT Divas title this past week as she definitely deserves it. She has her gimmick down pat and she is just a badd bitch. Calling Charlotte "generically basic" and trash talking the entire division has been the highlight of these NXT specials. I really enjoyed her match against Charlotte because of how pure her heel performance was early when so many heels are afraid to be hated, Sasha Banks revels in it. I look forward to many title defenses and after Bayley showed some incredible fire in the fatal 4-way, I can't wait for them to hook up.

The year 2014 was a breakout year for NXT as WWE's developmental/alternative brand. I hope they continue to focus on wins and losses and unique characters that are motivated in the ring by who they are and the context of the story. That is pro wrestling and I hope NXT keeps it alive.

Match Listing:   

Cesaro vs Sami Zayn - NXT Arrival 2/14 ****1/2
Cesaro best heel performance. Zayn rocks as the never say die face. A Matter of Respect. MOTYC.

NXT Women's Champion Paige vs Emma - NXT Arrival 2/27/14 ****
FIGHT! Paige was vicious, just gnarly kicks. Emma is underrated. Best women's match of the year.

Charlotte vs Natayla - NXT Takeover 5/29/14 Vacant NXT Women's Championship ***1/2

A statement on what the division could be. Felt too much like an exhibition.

NXT Champion Neville vs Zayn vs Kidd vs Tyler Breeze - NXT Takeover 9/14

Decent action, but loved the finish. Finish sets up Zayn vs Neville perfectly. 

NXT Women's Champion Charlotte vs Sasha Banks -NXT Takeover REvolution 12/11/14 ***1/2

Sasha Banks is Da Boss! Great heel performance early. Finish stretch went too long. 

NXT Champion Adrian Neville vs Sami Zayn - NXT Takeover REvolution 12/11/14 ****1/4
Sami finally wins the big one in grand fashion with an incredibly dramatic finish. NXT on fire with finishes!

Cesaro vs Sami Zayn - NXT Arrival 2/14

NXT is where pro wrestling lives, baby! Where has this Cesaro been on the main roster? No, it is not completely booking's fault. I am taking that bully mentality and those violent heel tendencies. Cesaro is damn great wrestler, make no mistake about it, but he has the same problem that many midcard heels on the main roster have. They do NOT do anything heelish in the context of the match. This is why "This is awesome" is so prevalent because there can't be good without evil and no one is evil in the ring. On this night, Cesaro was a total, unmitigated, unadulterated prick. Zayn is the consummate babyface. He is the lovable underdog character that you believe can win, but know it is not going to be easy. You know he is going to leave it all in that ring and you will never be disappointed by Zayn win, lose or draw.


Watch the two out of three falls match first, before you watch this match. Ok, you watched it now, good. Unlike most modern WWE series of matches, this series actually builds layers on top of other matches. The only WWE series that comes close recently is Cena/Lesnar. The beginning of this match was probably my favorite beginning to any match of 2014. It was just so perfect. Zayn has proven from the previous matches that his best chance to elude Cesaro with his quickness, but now being familiar with Cesaro he is combining his natural elusiveness with actual scouting experience. Cesaro shows him up early with his power and gives him a playful slap to the back of the head that gets a rise out of everyone. Cesaro goes for the Giant Swing, but Zayn eludes it with a armdrag to the outside. Zayn goes flying out onto Cesaro and it is fastbreak offense that gets the crowd rocking. Cesaro nips in the bud by catching Zayn off the top and into a backbreaker. Cesaro is just in total bully prick mode throwing Zayn around on the outside and he looks to use the post, but Zayn yanks Cesaro into the post with his feet. Zayn looks to repeat his awesome dive through the turnbuckles, EUROPEAN UPPERCUT! HOLY SHIT! Cesaro had it scouted. Now, we get Cesaro going back to the post and wrapping around the post. Cesaro working the knee was incredible and some of his best work in the WWE. Zayn is killing it selling, but also mixing in hope spots. I loved the whiff on the enziguiri triggering the single leg crab. I love sequences like that. His next spot was for Zayn was his split legged moonsault caught by Cesaro and slams him into the ramp. Damn! That was actually credible countout finish tease and you really feel Zayn's grit and determination to return to the ring.


Zayn's first big score is the Exploder into the turnbuckles. I agreed that Zayn needed to get hit some offense at this point in the match, but I thought it was a bit too easy for Zayn and felt more like it was his turn than him earning it. Cesaro goes back to the knee to cut off Zayn’s string of offense and applying a leg wrench using his neck as a fulcrum. Then you move to another interesting aspect of the characters. Cesaro starts to get a little cocky and Zayn takes advantage with roll up out of the Giant Swing. I love how Zayn fights during the Swing; it really makes for an awesome visual and puts over Zayn’s character. During a sloppy Cesaro cover Zayn slides Cesaro over for a two count. Cesaro almost more pissed at himself for letting that happened, crushes Zayn’s head with a double spot that had me popping like crazy. Zayn has another burst of offense using a hurricanarana off the top to set up his Yakuza Kick (I could not understand what Zayn’s name for it is.). Zayn won the first fall of the last match with that move. 1-2-NO! OH shit, you just gave Cesaro your best shot and that has to take a lot of wind out of your sails. Cesaro starts to obliterate with European Uppercuts and Zayn is just rocked, but won’t stay down. Zayn  has one last burst of burst and the fists start flying. He throws a wicked German. Can he pull it off? I love Zayn’s selling with him holding his mouth, fighting through the pain and showing great fire looking for that Yakuza Kick, but Cesaro demolishes him with a big boot. Cesaro throw him up and European Uppercut only get one, but Cesaro will not be deterred and hits a roaring European Uppercut and Neutralizer for the win!


Zayn and Cesaro just crushed it out there. If there is any NXT match as good as this, then hot damn I am going to be in for one helluva run. Cesaro showed some of his best character work here as an arrogant bully. Zayn’s story of craving that respect and proving himself by defeating the main event bully made for a great hook. He fought to the very end, but eventually succumbed to Cesaro. Then Cesaro comes back to the ring and gives him that respect in the form of a hug. This is a perfect representation of how to get someone over by losing. Everyone came out looking better from this masterpiece. ****1/2

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NXT Women's Champion Paige vs Emma - NXT Arrival 2/27/14

Sorry Nattie/Charlotte, this is the women's match of the year for me. Paige is so good at intensity compared to the rest of the women's division. I was watching the match with Brie from this past week's RAW and Paige looks like the only one on the roster male or female who cares if she wins or loses. Poor Emma, I maybe biased because I think she is super cute, but I really like her as a wrestler. I think she was really good as the underdog in this match. Paige gets right up in Emma's face and piefaces her. This is definitely the hottest start to a women's match in quite some time. I loved Paige's dropkicks to midsection. I really wish she would bring back her midsection work. Emma is looking for that slingshot, but Paige blocks into the chinlock, which kills the match a bit. I love the Paige spot where people catch her foot and she takes a header. Emma gets the first part of the Emmalock with the slingshot, but Paige counters. Again, Emma takes out Paige's base, which makes sense since Paige is a giant. She is a long drink of water. Emma runs through some good babyface offense that riles the crowd like the Dilemma and Emmamite Sammich. I really loved the surfboard especially Paige's selling. Paige rocks Emma with an elbow on the apron out of desperation, but Emma still in control and hits a powerbomb. Emma is slapping Paige around, fuck I love this. This feels like a fight! Paige hits a wild slap. HOLY SHIT KICK TO THE MIDSECTION! Page Turner, but it only gets two! Paige debuts the Scorpion Crosslock to get the submission victory.

This was just a gnarly fight between two badass women. I loved this match. There was nothing cute. It was a bomb throwing sprint. Paige was going to destroy Emma's midsection and Emma looked to take out Paige's base. Emma got off a nice string of offense, but did not have enough in the tank. Paige was able to hit a wild slap and wicked kick to the midsection. Women's match of the year. Damn what a fight! I am so pumped for Paige vs Nikki. ****

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Charlotte vs Natayla - NXT Takeover 5/29/14 Vacant NXT Women's Championship

I can understand why this match is being pointed to as what the women's division can be if probably promoted, why it is being lauded as the greatest women's match in WWE canon and a turning point for women being taken seriously under WWE umberella. This is not just a match that is being trumpeted by WWE.com as a means to canonize (thanks Charles) this as a great/historic match; it finished #20 in Voices of Wrestling poll for 2014. WWE took the women seriously and in turn so did the pundits. I think that is the strength of this match more than anything than they did in the ring. This is the first women's match since Trish/Mickie/Lita that felt like it had a big fight feel. You had the Nature Boy going crazy at ringside cheering on his daughter and the stoic Hitman coaching up his niece. The announcers treated the match seriously and the crowd was fully invested in the outcome. I was at the Royal Rumble during what I thought was a really good Bellas vs Nattie/Paige tag match where you could hear a pin drop and no one gave one fuck about the match. The crowd is crucial in developing that atmosphere they wanted for this match. Honestly, this match felt like an exhibition to me. I think the cool story for a while was Nattie's submission ability against Charlotte's length. Yes, Nattie could grab the holds, but Charlotte was too damn long for Nattie to be able to hold her in those holds. Still, the match lacked quality transitions. I am a huge fan of chain wrestling that gets chippy and we get that with some nice slaps and then Charlotte smoking her with a spinning back chop. RIC FLAIR IS HYPED! He is all over the fallen Nattie, Wooing in her face after he she had that audacity earlier in the match. Then Nattie is just running the ropes and taking control. This is my next problem with the match. Women need to accentuate their positives and hide their weaknesses like any other wrestler. So just because men run the ropes, does not mean you should. Nattie with her little legs looks ridiculous when she is trying to run the ropes and Charlotte has to wait for her. This is something I noticed about the Charlotte/Banks match is that Charlotte is so athletic that she is showing up her fellow women. She can run the ropes and do convoluted sequences and look badass. Making Banks do those sequences or making Nattie try to keep up by running the ropes exposes both competitors. I like the figure-4 headlock a lot and Nattie trying to escape only to have Charlotte roll through showed how Charlotte's natural length thwarted Nattie. Then you get bullshit like Charlotte hitting a dropkick only for Nattie to hit a butterfly suplex. I liked the Charlotte Flair Flip into Nattie blasting her off the apron with a forearm. Nattie should focus on strikes, submissions and throws and forget about running. Charlotte whips her off the apron in a nasty bump. Then Charlotte misses the moonsault and Flair losing his shit. Flair should be her full-time manager, he adds a lot to this match.  Nattie applies the Sharpshooter, but Charlotte reverses into the Figure-4. This was the worst figure-4 sequence I have ever seen and actively detracted from the match for me. Charlotte applied it and just because Nattie rolled through onto her back does not mean she is applying pressure. From there, they just start no-selling it and look confused. Then they trash talk and it is like somebody needs to start selling because this looks ridiculous. I am surprised they did not have Nattie properly reverse the pressure because that is actually a Sharpshooter (is just a standing reverse figure-4) and it would have been a counter that got a big pop. Anyways, Charlotte hits Bow Down to the Queen a way better name than Natural Selection to win the match. I feel like Paige/Emma had way more intensity and Charlotte/Banks had more interesting character work. Both of those matches felt like struggles. This match just felt like they were showcasing what women's wrestling could be rather than looking to win a match. ***1/2 

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NXT Champion Adrian Neville vs Sami Zayn vs Tyson Kidd vs Tyler Breeze - 

NXT Takeover 9/14

Overall, I tend to like NXT crowds they remind me of ECW crowds where they are smart and play along. I think the best representation of this was the double chant of "Nattie's Better!" "That's a fact!". That might be the most creative and appropriate chant ever. I love chants that exist to get under the heel's skin like Paula and are sorely missing in today's current product. The NXT crowd really nailed it with that one. While they did chant "CM Punk!" "999" and then "This Is Awesome" during the finish, they can't do any wrong in my eyes after the awesome double chant.

So talking about the crowd as the opening may seem pretty damning for the content of the match, but I thought this was a pretty good fatal 4-way. Everyone plays their character really well, the spots were fun and the finish was great and really sets up the next show. Before we get there, lets talk about the match. Early on the best spot is Zayn getting one up on Breeze and then taking a selfie, which is a fun early spot. Kidd/Breeze take out Neville and Zayn with double suplexes on the entrance ramp. I like Kidd's selling on those suplexes let's you know how much damage is really dished out. The best part of the match up until the finish was Kidd playing King of the Mountain on Neville. He was relentless keeping Neville out of the ring and I loved it. Breeze standing on Zayn's head is something we need to see more out of him. Kidd vacillated between being awesome and boring. The slap exchange with Zayn was great, but then he would lock on a chinlock. There is the right time for a chinlock and a wrong time. It really feels like he is squandering his isolation advantage (loved that term from either Byron or Tom). Finally, Neville breaks into the match and it does not get nearly the reaction it should have based on the King of the Mountain earlier. The announcers let us know that Neville and Zayn are friends. Neville steals Zayn's thunder doing top rope Asai Moonsault onto the two heels. We get the Zayn/Neville teaser that the crowd eats up. I really like Kidd shooting Zayn like a dart up onto Neville who was on the top rope and it is a nasty bump. I liked that spot a lot. Zayn is looking for a Yakuza Kick, but is intercepted by a Beauty Shot from Breeze. Breeze was slotted in the Rollins opportunist role and did a fine job, but nothing spectacular. He can't get the pin and that leads to Tower of Doom. Renee asks "What do you call that? Have you ever seen that before?" "Tower of Doom and Yes I have in every multi-man match featuring midcarders post-2002". Now Zayn cant get the pin. Zayn eats a foot from Neville and takes a Shooting Star Press. Breeze throws Neville out and looks for pin, but cant get it. He takes an eternity to follow it up. He squanders his opportunity and Kidd applies the Sharpshooter. Neville stops Breeze's hand from tapping and Zayn breaks it up. Zayn goes for his big tear. Neville takes a HUGE bump to the outside, Zayn dives through the post onto Breeze, YAKUZA KICK TO KIDD! HE IS GOING TO DO IT! 1-2-NEVILLE PULLS OUT THE REF! Gold is a powerful force. Zayn is in shock and Neville cant seem to believe he did it himself. Zayn eats a superkick and Neville hits the Red Arrow on Kidd to win.

Breeze was mostly a non-factor and had some decent moments as the opportunist. They showcased Kidd early as the main heel and he demonstrated some violent tendencies and loved King of the Mountain. Then he is sort of disappears and eats the pin. Neville and Zayn were the stars and did great in their roles. Zayn as the underdog babyface just does all the right things, he pops the crowd early with the Breeze selfie, then selling with Kidd and that absolute tear that just has everyone rocking. Neville was the frustrated champion. He was constantly undermined at first with the King of the Mountain, then Zayn being catapulted into him, Breeze stealing the Shooting Star Press. I would be frustrated too that I am the champion and I just can't get anything going. Here I am about to lose my damn title, but I never really got  a chance to kick ass and I would just lash out and grab the ref. Great build up to that moment and him snapping. He really sells it like "I can't believe I just did that." I have been liking these NXT shows, but I think what has been missing is the hook for the next show and now i am just itching for Neville/Zayn. The match content was fun, but that finish really makes the match for me. ***1/2

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NXT Women's Champion Charlotte vs Sasha Banks -NXT Takeover REvolution 12/11/14

It was love at first sight for me and The Boss. I could just tell from her mannerisms that she would be a Sleeze Favorite, then she called Charlotte, "generically basic" and I knew she could do no wrong. However, this Lady (She ain't ratchet!) from Titletown, USA (Home of Winners such as the New England Patriots, John Cena, and Myself, the First Ever Winner of the First Ever Pro Wrestling Trivia Internet Podcast, Brainbuster), is no slouch in the ring and most importantly is not afraid to heel it up. Whether it was getting into Charlotte's face like who ya think ya are or taunting Charlotte with Woos making me laugh like heidy heidy ha, Sasha Banks was wrestling this match like a Flair. Hell, she even had the Flair transition of using the outside and corner to your advantage. Ric Flair is perhaps the greatest corner wrestler of the time. It was in the ropes that Flair was at his most dangerous because that is a break in the steady-sate action of wrestling and he was used these transients to get one-up on his opponents. Here, we see Sasha bait Charlotte to the outside, yank hair from the corner (never turned you back on an opponent, Charlotte, love how Sasha made her pay for the lapse in focus), or the the drop toehold in the corner. The announcers were on point noting these elements of Sasha's game plans, kudos. What they missed and this where Bobby Heenan really would have shined is that Sasha Banks was not just taunting Charlotte by using the chop and the figure-4 headlock, she taught Charlotte those moves! That was one of the cruxes of the video package. Heenan would have been right on top of that and BANG! We would have gotten the will you stop from Gorilla. One last thing, I dug from Banks early on, when Charlotte looked to regain the advantage, we saw Sasha tackle her into the corner and deliver double knees in the corner. it showed a desperation and violence mixed together. It was a wrestler that knew their grasp was tenuous at best. I liked Charlotte using her natural strength to overcome Sasha. Charlotte is an interesting case. I don't if she would be better suited as a heel or face. I liked her as a heel in the Bayley match a lot, but I feel like her natural gifts and moveset would make her a babyface. I think starting off as a heel and maturing into the face is always the safest route, but I could see her going either way. Towards the match got all move trade-y and athletic and stuff. I have seen it all folks, a strike exchange in a WWE-sponsored women's match. That damn fucking sequence is going to follow me to my grave. I thought I was safe, but they went and pulled it out. Admittedly, I liked Charlotte shortening the ring up on the tackle to end the exchange. Charlotte's moonsault into a somersault senton was very, very impressive. There were a couple other spots, but I was disappointed they abandoned a great narrative to hit MOVEZ~! Certain people would say that would be the most Flair thing to do. :P That being said it does play into the fact that in an athletic match Charlotte would smoke Sasha so once Charlotte could set her pace and implement her gameplan it was over for The Boss, but constant move trading took away from any sort of hot crescendo. Anyways, first half of this match Sasha Banks wrestled this match Like A Boss and the best pure heel performance in a WWE ring since Stephanie McMahon at Summerslam. The second half is not bad, but it is forgettable, but the story hook is eschewed for moves. ***1/2  

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NXT Champion Adrian Neville vs Sami Zayn - NXT Takeover REvolution 12/11/14

NXT crowds are far from perfect, but for this match they were undoubtedly perfect. This match goes from a normal MOVEZ~! match to a great match and a star-making performance for Sami Zayn because this crowd was totally invested in the Sami Zayn character. They also proved me wrong. The past couple of years my confidence had been shaken that babyfaces could exist in this cynical, jaded wrestling climate.  When Sami Zayn had the chance to blast Neville with the championship belt, they all chanted "NO!" in unison throughout the segment. They cared about how Zayn won the match and that meant a lot to me. It restored my faith that real babyfaces can still exist in this world. The pop for his victory would have been the feel good moment of the year if not for the amazing Daniel Bryan story that began the year. 

The match also represented something that I personally fear the growing homogenization of American and Japanese wrestling. The match felt like a very good Pro Wrestling NOAH main event circa 2009, more than a big time WWE match. You had these moves alone: Split Leg Asai Moonsault, Kawada Kicks, a convoluted Blue Thunder Bomb, Koji Clutch (called by the announcer as that!), Dragonrana, Half Nelson Suplex, and Exploder into the turnbuckles. Of course, the most telling sign was the strike exchange. It was such a barrage of moves that I felt that the humanity of the match sometimes was stripped from it. The Zayn story was sometimes lost in getting to next spot. Kudos to the crowd for never faltering and always making this about Zayn with their constant exhorting of Zayn and Ole Chants. Besides the finish, I liked the beginning of the match the most because it exploited the more interesting parts of the story: Zayn's confidence and crowd dynamics.

Neville was doing all the little things to mitigate Zayn's crowd advantage and stop him from getting out of the gates hot. The chain wrestling was very entertaining and a great way to bottle Zayn up. Then he would get into his heads with the front handsprings to show him up. Neville gets too cocky is caught with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Zayn goes on that early fast break run with a split leg Asai moonsault. There is a weak transition that allows Neville to get back on top. Again, Neville is bottling Zayn's excitement up with a reverse chinlock and kneedrops to the face. Again, Neville cocky hits some playful kicks to the face before the Kawada Kicks. Zayn hits a nice swandive to the outside. I liked how Zayn was not letting Neville breathe and forced his advantage. After this, it got a little move trade-y. The setup for the Powerbomb was lifting from Japanese in a very good way. I liked how Neville had to use a forearm sledge, withstand a Zayn counter, and kick him in the head to hit the powerbomb. That is pro wrestling at its best, having to earn that move. As much as I may be complaining, I marked out for the DRANGONRANA~! I just think it would have looked even cooler if it was not surrounded with other standard big spots.

The ref bumps were perfect and returned the match back to the story. The crowd was on point telling Zayn to not worry about the ref only to eat a thrust kick and the Dragonrana. The crowd was so pumped for that kick out. Then again during the aforementioned "Should I blast him with the belt or not?". The crowd pleading with Zayn not to do it only for Neville to sneak in with the roll up. These were great false finishes. Zayn winning with the Yakuza Kick was a spectacular moment after not being able to win the big one during his career. He pulled out all the spots in this one and still held himself to his moral code. It was nice to see fellow Quebecois, Kevin Steen (now Kevin Owens) and Pat Patterson celebrate with him. Even Nevilled embraced Zayn. However, just as they were going off the air, supposed best friend Kevin Owens threw Zayn down on the back of his head on the ramp and then brutally powerbombed him on the apron (that's just Indy, :) ). I thought these NXT shows needed a big angle to hook you into the next show and this was perfect. ****1/4 

Defenders of the Faith: Akira Taue, Mitsuharu Misawa, Shinya Hashimoto (Pro Wrestling NOAH, 2000-2002)

Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

BEST DAY EVER AT WORK~! Not only did I get to use real chemical engineering modeling at work, I also solved our cleanliness problem. Who's da man? I am da man! Not even a flat tire on the way home from work could bring me down!

The Only Two Things That Could Make Today Better

I decided to celebrate by talking about one of my favorite time period of one of my favorite promotions (read: I did not finish watching all the 2014 NXT matches I wanted), early Pro Wrestling NOAH. Early NOAH captures the intricate and compelling storytelling of All Japan, with a deeper and more fun roster and reducing the average match time. Matches like the Misawa/Akiyama Semifinals match and Misawa/Taue were downright lean and mean. The only match that really feels beholden to the length is strength mindset is the Kobashi vs Akiyama epic from the end of 2000. I thought they made use of their time a lot better there than they did during their Dome match four years later. I capture the very beginning of NOAH and how they went out their way to differentiate themselves from All Japan in the following blog:

 http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/01/jun-akiyama-fifth-pillar-of-heaven-or.html

I decided to go back to watch more NOAH matches from this time period because I enjoyed it so much that I did not want to leave any stone unturned. For the most part, none of the matches really rocked my world. They were just very good to great matches that were enjoyable experiences. The two matches that really stood out to me were the aforementioned Misawa vs Taue match and the amazing heel vs heel Takayama vs Ogawa match for the GHC Championship.

I loved the brisk pace of the Taue/Misawa match without sacrificing anything in regards to compelling match structure or awesome moments. Taue had the elbow scouted and was just relentless suffocating Misawa. You really felt how Misawa could not get anything started against this onslaught. Misawa always has his trusty elbow, which bails him out eventually. He just never deviates from what brought him to the dance and who can blame him with the track record he had. I wished the match forced him to dig deeper into his bags of trick, but overall it was very enjoyable.

The big find of going back and watching this era was the Yoshihiro Takayama and Yoshinari Ogawa GHC Heavyweight Championship match from 2002. They stand as far part on the heel spectrum as possible, but they are two best heels in Japan of the decade. I have gone on record that Rat Boy is my spirit wrestler from the look (the hair & zebra pants), the attitude (cocksure, but clearly not deserving) and just being a total cheat in the ring. The Bleach Blond Giant is the ultimate bully of Japan with combination of size and shoot-fighting skills he knows he is a badass and he ain't afraid to let you know. However, how fine is the line between bully and asskicker? What about the line between do whatever it takes scoundrel and undersize underdog? It is a great heel vs. heel match because they never deviate from their characters, but the context makes you cheer for each one at different points. At the beginning as Takayama is just having his way with Ogawa, you feel bad for the little guy. Once the little guy starts cheating like a muthafucka and is really laying a beating on the Giant, you can't wait for Takayama to get his hands on this piss-ant and squash him like  a bug. Pro wrestling demonstrates what we know from the real world that context is the difference between hero and villain and loved and being hated.  That is why pro wrestling is the greatest form of entertainment in the history of mankind.

Greatest Champion Ever! EVAH~!

Previously on Riding Space Mountain:

Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Akira Taue - NOAH 8/5/00
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/01/jun-akiyama-fifth-pillar-of-heaven-or.html

Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - NOAH 8/6/00 ****
#93 of 100
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/01/jun-akiyama-fifth-pillar-of-heaven-or.html

Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - NOAH 12/23/00 ****1/2
#32 of 100, 2000 NOAH Match of the Year
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/01/jun-akiyama-fifth-pillar-of-heaven-or.html

Shinya Hashimoto & Yuji Nagata vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama - Zero-1 3/2/01 ****1/4
#53 of 100
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/01/jun-akiyama-fifth-pillar-of-heaven-or.html

Mitsuharu Misawa vs Yoshihiro Takayama - Vacant GHC Championship 4/13/01 ****3/4
#13 of 100, 2001 NOAH Match of the Year
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/01/bleach-blond-bad-yoshihiro-takayama.html

GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama - NOAH 7/27/01 ****1/2
#26 of 100
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/01/jun-akiyama-fifth-pillar-of-heaven-or.html

New Japan (Liger & Wataru Inoue) vs NOAH (Kikuchi & Kanemaru) - NOAH 2/17/02 ****1/4
#51 of 100
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/02/minoru-special-japanese-juniors-2000.html

Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama & Yuji Nagata - NOAH 2/17/02
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/01/jun-akiyama-fifth-pillar-of-heaven-or.html

New Japan (Liger & Wataru Inoue) vs NOAH (Kikuchi & Kanemaru) - NOAH 4/7/02 ****1/2
#37 of 100
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/02/minoru-special-japanese-juniors-2000.html

Wild II (Morishima & Rikio) vs Sterness (Akiyama & Saito) - NOAH 9/23/02
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/01/jun-akiyama-fifth-pillar-of-heaven-or.html

GHC Hvywt Champion Yoshihiro Takayama vs Mistuharu Misawa - NOAH 9/23/02 ****1/2
#45 of 100
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/01/bleach-blond-bad-yoshihiro-takayama.html

Sterness (Akiyama & Saito) vs Burning (Kobashi & Shiga) - NOAH 10/19/02
#76 of 100
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/01/jun-akiyama-fifth-pillar-of-heaven-or.html
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Match Listing:

Kenta Kobashi, Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, Takeshi Rikio vs. 

Jun Akiyama, Yoshihiro Takayama, Kentaro Shiga - NOAH 9/25/00 ***1/4

Standard fun NOAH six-man. Kikuchi stands out from the pack.

Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs Hashimoto & Alexander Otsuka - NOAH 1/13/01 ***1/2
It is Hashimoto vs Misawa. If that is not must-see, I don't know what is. Rat Boy is badass per usual.

Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue vs Jun Akiyama & Vader - NOAH 1/13/01 ****

#88 of 100

Huge Vader Lariats and even bigger NODOWAS~! Scariest Vadersault ever. Great tag team match.

Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama - GHC Hvywt Championship SemiFinals 04/11/01 ***3/4

Sprint! Super fun, NOAH just kept getting longer and longer. Love these early shorties.

GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Akira Taue - NOAH 05/18/01 ****1/2

#34 of 100

It is Taue so efficient and compact at no expense to a great story. Taue delivers a great full court press.

Tamon Honda vs Daisuke Ikeda - NOAH 09/01/01 ***1/2

Wrestler vs striker. Fun NOAH mid-card bouts back when those used to happen.

GHC Heavyweight Champion Yoshinari Ogawa vs Yoshihiro Takayama - NOAH 9/7/02 ****1/2

#21 of 100, 2002 NOAH Match of the Year
Best heel vs heel match ever? Bully vs Rat Boy. So different but both epitomize why I love wrestling. 

Definitely not just another pretty face

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Kenta Kobashi, Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, Takeshi Rikio vs. 

Jun Akiyama, Yoshihiro Takayama, Kentaro Shiga - NOAH 9/25/00

The reunion of Kobashi and Kikuchi was cool, but this seemed pretty by the numbers. For once, Akiyama actually looks like the star in a tag match rather than taking the backseat to his team members. He felt like Kobashi's equal coming off choking him out in August. Akiyama was the one who earned the advantage for his team  with a big knee to Rikio and later dropkick to Kobashi's knee, which forced Kobashi out of the match. Rikio was the best he looked to me. He was just a raw, strong young dude. All he knew was to use his body as a weapon just throwing it at people and awesome sumo slaps. It is not a sustainable style, but it makes sense for a rookie of his size. However, once the even bigger Takayama was able to use the momentum against him with a  knee lift and his partners were detained, Rikio was easy pickings. Takayama and Kobashi is my favorite pairing of the 00s and it was great seeing them lock up. Kobashi was not as overbearing as usual. He was still the weapon of the massive destruction of his team and it was great to see him work with Kikuchi. However, Akiyama was able to detain him with a dropkick to the knee and a figure-4 while Takayama polished off Rikio. Shiga impressed me in 2000 as the plucky underdog. I did not like him as much as the upstart with a chip on his shoulder against Kobashi, but he was servicable. Shiga gets too caught up trying to fight Kobashi on apron that Kikuchi is able to snap off a couple suplexes. The real star of this match is Kikuchi. He worked the short heat segment when he gets too overzealous by challenging Akiyama's team in the corner and Kikuchi suffers for it. He is great at selling, but the beatdown is pretty by the numbers. Surprisingly, Kikuchi works the hot tag and is the best part of the match. He has this crazy spider spot (like Tenryu's Spider German) and just rocks the match. However, Takayama breaks up Kikuchi's rolling Germans, which triggers the Takayama and Rikio finish. If this match happened on RAW, there would be a lot of buzz, but in puroresu we can be a bit spoiled. Kikuchi's performance is standout the rest is pretty much cruise control for everyone else. ***1/4  

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Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs 

Shinya Hashimoto & Alexander Otsuka - NOAH 1/13/01

Holy Shit! A single Tiger Driver actually won a match! Thats Batshit Insane! I really need to rewatch the March tag because I loved this. However, my big problem is that Ogawa makes so much more sense in the role of undersized douche than Akiyama who I thought got destroyed in the match. Hashimoto and Otsuka made their intentions clear that they want Misawa and that Ogawa is just getting in their way. I love Misawa's demeanor. He has total faith in Ogawa. He is not hiding behind him, but he believes in him and wants him to wrestle. For the most part, this does not go too well for Ogawa especially when Hashimoto the Destroyer was in there. Hashimoto vs. Kobashi in 2003:The World Implodes? Hashimoto and Misawa was friggin bitchin. Easily the best strike exchange of the 2000s just great weight and meaning behind each one. Hashimot goes down first, but comes back with overhand chops and stays on top of Misawa with stomps. This draws the young boys to the apron and a great tense staredown. Hashimoto gives one a shove.  I would have loved a melee then restart. Misawa comes outta the corner with a big elbow. In a way they worked a mini-match with a Hashimoto heat and Misawa comeback that was very satisfying. The match continues with Otsuka working a solid heat on Misawa who decks him with an elbow. Ogawa does not the sustain the advantage for long. By God, the crowd is chanting for "Ogawa!". Hashimoto is destroying him with these kicks. Hashimoto goes for a brainbuster, but there is struggle, and some more struggle and finally an eyepoke, HUGE POP! OGAWA SUPLEX! Ogawa/Misawa run through some great double teams, but Hashimoto breaks up pinfall attempt. Hashimoto is relentless attacking Misawa until Ogawa pulls him off and Misawa hits the Tiger Driver for the win.

Hashimoto just seemed like one mean bastard. He was going out of his way to prove He was The Man to Misawa and it generated so much great heat. Otsuka was serviceable as number two. Ogawa was so perfect for this role in every way that Akiyama was not. He was fit to get his ass kicked, but it all built to him getting an eyepoke and a suplex. It was the ultimate Japanese pro wrestling moment of "He may be an asshole, but he is OUR asshole!" Really need to rewatch March match. ***1/2



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Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue vs Jun Akiyama & Vader - NOAH 1/13/01

Vader is DA MAN~! If NOAH could milk Vader for a couple more years even if just hidden in tags, he would have been a huge boon to NOAH. My biggest criticism of NOAH is the lack of gaijin talent. Stan Hansen and Dr. Death were so critical to the All Japan Golden Years. I know 2001 Vader is not 1994 Dr. Death especially evident in the couple mishaps and the extremely blown finish. However, holy shit did he look great as the monstrous heel who just mauls Kobashi. I also thought this was one of the most Southern style tag matches in Japan with great double heat.

Kobashi and Taue have an absolutely great shine segment. Vader and Akiyama look to double team Kobashi at the outset, but Kobashi and Taue have other plans in mind. Kobashi destroys Vader with back fists and Taue hits NODOWA~! on Akiyama on ramp. Kobashi continues the beat down on Akiyama. Akiyama high knee and tags in Vader. Vader is fantastic. After all the flippy shit in the 2007 juniors, this is just mama's home cooking as Vader is just blasting Kobashi in the face. In a weird moment, Vader takes Kobashi out into the crowd and puts him in a chinlock. Alright then, snuggle time in the crowd it is. Back in the ring, Vader gets nearfalls off a bitchin lariat (this is one of those lariats JBL would have an orgasm for) and a Vaderbomb. Taue saves and this gives time for Kobashi to tag out. Taue hits the Mother of All NODOWA~! on Vader. Jesus, the elevation he gets on Vader of all people makes up for Vader's shitty finish. Akiyama hits an Exploder on Taue and now Taue is in peril. Vader and Akiyama kick his ass on the outside with Akiyama hitting a piledriver. Taue hits a nasty big boot on Vader. This match is stiff as all hell. Vader chucks Kobashi across the ring on two Germans. Vader hits a massive powerbomb only for two triggering "Ko-Bash-I". Vader hits a Vaderbomb and then nearly kills himself on a Vadersault attempt, which Akiyama covers and then he actually does it and almost kills Kobashi. All I could think was when Vader nearly fell to off the top rope was if I was Kobashi I would be shitting my pants because he you have no idea where the hell Vader would land. I would have called audible and switched the finish, just for my livelihood. That is why Kobashi is Kobashi. He has Balls of Steel!

Incredibly fun match marred by a blown finish. It was entertaining from the excellent Kobashi/Taue shine to the double heat through the finish run with Vader throwing people around. Vader looked like a monster in this match, but I would imagine the finish killed any chance of him getting further chances up the card or perhaps he just didn't have it in him. This match epitomizes what I like in my wrestling. ****



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LOOK OUT!

Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama - GHC Heavyweight Championship SemiFinals 04/11/01

After a pretty ho-hum 2000 (well besides putting on the Match of the Decade), Misawa needed to be re-established as the Man in NOAH especially with Kobashi being out for 2001 and majority of 2002. This leads to a weird retrogression in the Misawa/Akiyama series and again the problem with never totally committing to Akiyama. Akiyama would win the GHC Championship from Misawa, but here he seems like Misawa's whipping boy. Misawa was coming back at will. Where in 2000, Akiyama dominated after Misawa crashed and burned on elbow from the apron, Misawa rocked Akiyama with elbows so he never ever got anything going. Really the match felt like an exhibition for Misawa's offense. Misawa looked fantastic, pretty much best he ever did in 21st Centruy looking nimble and energetic and Akiyama sold and bumped for him great. It just made Akiyama look a little weak. I liked the double countout on the floor with Misawa hitting a Tiger Driver and Akiyama hiitng an Exploder. It protects Akiyama a bit. They restart the match because there must be a winner!

The finishing stretch is a great sprint with Akiyama looking to put Misawa away with a big high knee, brainbuster and his new and still lethal guillotine choke. Misawa is able to make the ropes. The actual finish is roll-up reversals with Misawa coming out on top is very fresh for NOAH given ho accustomed we are too definitive finishes. It was a fun exhibition for Misawa and a return to form for The Man, just a bit disappointing it came at Akiyama's expense. ***3/4

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GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Akira Taue - NOAH 05/18/01

A GHC Championship match that goes 15 minutes, CALLOOH! CALLAY! Taue has Misawa scouted, he ain't going to fall for any of this elbow bullshit. He is absolutely suffocating on offense taking to Misawa obliterating him with big boots and hitting a NODOWA~! from the ramp to the timekeeper's table. This 2001 match is much more aligned with the usual Misawa takes a shitkicking and keeps on tickin. Misawa gets his Misawa-Rana and counters like this, but you got to get up pretty early in the morning to get one over on Taue, who just keeps pressing with boots to the head. DYNAMIC BOMB~! Misawa kicks out and tries to powder, but Taue gets a hold of him on the apron. RUH ROH! Misawa's elbow saves him and he collapses back into the safety of the ring. Taue was not the only one with a scouting report. So much for safety as he eats two NODOWA~!, but kicks out. Misawa spinkick Taue and he powders. INCOMING! Here comes Misawa with two diving elbows. TAUE BACKDROP NODOWA~! only gets two. That is pretty much a death sentence. Elbows rock Taue -> Emerald Flowsion -> Obliteration Elbow ->2->Emerald Flowsion -> 3. Taue was on fire in this match as he had answer for all the usual Misawa tricks. I would have liked to seen Misawa dig deep into bag of tricks to beat Taue instead of just patiently sticking with the elbow, but that is Misawa's modus operandi. I would say that is what hurt the match the most you have Taue hitting huge bombs and really responding well to Misawa, but the finish is just the same 'ol same with Misawa hitting his elbows to set up Emerald Flowsion now instead of the Tiger Driver. Still a very fun, tidy and efficient bout. ****1/4

Does not look good for our hero

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Tamon Honda vs Daisuke Ikeda - NOAH 09/01/01

NOAH was running in a small building with stained glass, a very interesting setting for a very interesting match. There was nothing about this bout that said NOAH. It would have felt more at home in New Japan or even in BattlArts. This is not surprising as Ikeda cut his teeth at Fujiwara's Gym and the original BattlArts. Ikeda likes to kick people hard. Honda is an Olympic wrestler and looks to neutralize Ikeda with takedowns. Honda does not have his facial hair so he does not look like the world's ugliest pro wrestler. It feels like early UFC where the wrestler takes down a striker, but does not how to finish him off down there and just smothers him. Ikeda proves why Honda has taken this strategy with flurries of kicks, but finally evens the match with a cross armbreaker. If you respect the cross armbreaker, I respect you. Honda definitely respected the cross armbreaker with his selling. This match is totally built around selling, which is a great contrast the big bomb nature of most NOAH matches. However, there was still a distinct lack of struggle and not much in the way of a story once the wrestler vs. grappler story ended. Good example was Honda powerbomb -> Ikeda triangle -> Honda leg lace with not signs of struggle. I loved Ikeda using the ropes to counterweight a Honda throw, but soon they just throwing each other around. It makes sense for Honda to go for throws, but I would have liked to seen Ikeda use his striking ability to counteract Honda. Honda is eventually able to pick up a submission victory over Ikeda. I see why a lot people like this match. It is minimalist match centered around selling.  Personally, I thought Honda was overselling. I understood selling the arm, but he was selling general fatigue and pain like Ikeda was having a competitive match with him. Ikeda did not get much in the way of offense. Even before Ikeda's back drop driver, Honda was selling like he had been through a war and all Ikeda had done was a cross armbreaker. Honda's selling effectively disguised this as more competitive as it was. I enjoyed it as something very different than the NOAH's main event scene. They could have used this diversity more as the decade progressed. ***1/2

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GHC Heavyweight Champion Yoshinari Ogawa vs Yoshihiro Takayama - NOAH 9/7/02

Yoshinari Ogawa's tights say GHC Champ. Automatic 5 Stars!!! Hands down the best match of 2002 with Takayama and Ogawa just tearing it up in one of the best heel vs heel match that I have ever seen. Ogawa and Takayama have been the two best heels in Japan in the 2000s, but heel vs heel is even harder than face vs. face. I would say heel vs heel was the root cause of the relatively quiet crowd until the hot finish. They make it work because a monster bully can make even the most snot nosed punk an undersized underdog and the most snot nosed punk can make even the biggest bully an asskicking giant. Much like Hart/Diesel Survivor Series '95 (albeit that's a face v face match), I thought Takayama/Ogawa did a good job trading roles within the match.

The hooks of the match are Takayama underestimating Ogawa and Ogawa looking for any opening to exploit. Ogawa starts hot with a roll-up (where Ogawa actually sold his arm because Takayama is so heavy) and an eye poke/shoulder knockdown, but then goes totally flying on the kick out. Takayama begins to kick the shit out of Ogawa because Ogawa is not a tough badass we get some really fun selling. Takayama steps Ogawa's face and does the one foot cover. You actually feel a bit of sympathy for the little punk. Then you remember he is such a little snot when Takayama big boot goes over the top rope and puts Takayama in the tree of woe. When the ref tries to hold Ogawa back and Ogawa pushes him off, it is not the usual heel trying to be more violent, it is that Ogawa knows this is now or never. Ogawa makes the most of it and wrenches the arm across the post. Ring-assisted figure-4 armlock, Ogawa is God! Ogawa is hyper focused on arm and Takayama is still using his size to struggle, but Ogawa is leveraging this is as his one advantage. Every time Takayama seems like he is about to destroy Ogawa, but Ogawa always gets out. Takayama lifts him out of short arm scissors, Ogawa rolls through into another one. Takayama looks to send him into the railing, but Ogawa sends him arm first into the post. Takayama looks to take off Ogawa's head, but Ogawa gets drop toehold into the post. Ogawa back drop driver onto floor. YES! YES! YES! Crowd gives the biggest pop when Takayama gets back in the ring at 19 and Ogawa lets out a nice, big "SHIT!". Ogawa has turned Takayama babyface, BABY!

Ogawa rattles off a bunch of back drop drivers and one after another Takayama kicks out. You know it is coming. You know it is coming. BAM! KNEE LIFT AND OGAWA GOES FLYING! Ogawa actually kicks out of the first Everest Suplex. Ogawa counters with a barrage of roll-ups, which are actually over because it is Ogawa. Ogawa goes for a small package and Takayama stands tall and slams him in a wicked cool spot. Everest Suplex and Takayama wins the GHC Title!

I had been so down in 2002, just turns out I was not watching the correct matches because this was all types of awesome. Ogawa just embodies Rat Boy so well. The way he can just slip out of each situation and his heat segments are some of the best since 2000 because there is no guy you want to see get his ass kicked. He just kept getting out of each situation. Then he gets the countout finish. It keeps building and building, you get that knee lift just like the Kobashi bloodied up Ogawa. Then you get a nice compact finish run Takayama needs a bomb or two and Ogawa tries to hold on by the skin of his teeth with roll ups. The only reason this does not go on higher is because Takayama as such a natural heel just is not as good as the ultimate babyface Kobashi steamrolling Ogawa so that is why it is a level less, but an easy 2002 Match of the Year and gives 2002 a Match of the Year on the level of the years. Watch this match! ****1/2

RE-WATCH THOUGHTS:
Who am I to doubt myself? Again, thought I may have overrated this match, but I thought this was really fun again. Ogawa was without a doubt the most entertaining wrestler of the decade, it is a shame, he disappeared in the latter half of the decade as you would have been great as the decade got staler. I had forgotten about Ogawa's loud "Shit!" at the 19 count when Takayama rolled back in in a nick of time. I popped all over again. He sold so well in the beginning making you believe Takayama was going to run away with this. Even with the size disparity, once Ogawa went on offense it was totally credible because he used the ring-post initially and just kept on it. I loved those cutoffs by using the ring post late in the match.


Takayama was so in the zone at this point that this is just perfect confluence of great wrestling. Takayama is such a great bully that you actually start rooting for Rat Boy to stick to this arrogant asshole. Then when he is forced to sell for Ogawa, he goes all out. He is so critical in making Ogawa credible and making you doubt the outcome of the match. Then you start to root for Takayama to kick his scrawny ass. It was just a really well done heel vs heel match whether neither sacrificed their character in order to wrestle the match. It really felt like a match that only these two unique wrestlers could have. I have it #2 for 2002, but I severely short-changed some other 2002 matches, but we will see how it holds up. I am projecting in the #20s. ****1/2