Shoot To Thrill: Yuki Ishikawa, Daisuke Ikeda (Shoot-Style 2000-2006)

Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies:

Is there any letter combination pronounced more differently than "Ough". You have though, rough, cough and bough and none of them rhyme. No wonder the rest of the world hates us.

I would shoot all over those

Contrary to belief of many non-wrestling fans, I think trying to understand pro wrestling as a simulation of real fighting is missing the point. However, for those non-wrestling fans that does exist and it called Shoot-Style. The history of Shoot-Style is for a much better wrestling historian than me to describe. To oversimplify it begins with New Japan Pro Wrestling Founder and Legitimate Badass, Antonio Inoki. Inoki built his credibility on Mixed Martial Arts exhibitions, most famously against Muhammad Ali. It has been remarked that Inoki's leg kicks took many years off of Ali's boxing career. Inoki is a world famous grappler in both pro wrestling and MMA worlds. Even though Inoki fancied himself a legitimate competitor his New Japan Pro Wrestling like all Pro Wrestling companies featured pre-determined matches and was booked like a normal pro wrestling company. In 1984, the likes Akira Maeda, Tiger Mask (Super Tiger in UWF), and Yoshiaki Fujiwara  formed the UWF  a shoot-style promotion, which would feature worked finishes, but worked in a more realistic fashion. The UWF folded over visionary disputes between Super Tiger & Maeda and the UWF invaded New Japan. Back in New Japan, Maeda was in two of the more infamous shoot moments in pro wrestling history when he shot on Andre The Giant when both refused to job and when he broke Choshu's orbital bone with a kick. The latter caused him to get fired and the New UWF was started. The UWF would bury New Japan and All Japan as fake and worked while they were legitimate. Of course, they worked matches like the rest, but their style based on submissions and kicks was supposed to simulate what a real match would look like as the wrestlers were well-versed in Catch Wrestling, Amateur Wrestling, Kickboxing and Judo. The shoot-style would splinter into different promotions in the early 90s such as Takada's UWFi (the most popular). Fujiwara's PWFG (I don't know much about), Maeda's RINGS (the most realistic and a eventually a legitimate shoot promotion) and Minoru Suzuki's Pancrase (which was a mixture of shoots & works).  RINGS is how famous MMA heavyweight Fedro Emelianenko debuted and many RINGS matches are counted towards people's official Sherdog's MMA record even though they were works. PANCRASE featured the Shamrock brothers and again Sherdog has a hard time discerning work from shoot. UWFi was the home promotion of "Gracie Hunter" Kazushi Sakaruba. This all to point out that in Japan the difference between work and shoot was often blurred. UWFi folded in 1996 and much like in 1984, Takada invaded New Japan and did gangbusters in box office. As New Japan was doing big business with real judoka, Naoya Ogawa against Shinya Hashimoto, Nobuhiko Takada's newest venture would change the course of puroresu history: PRIDE Fighting Championships.

PRIDE changed the game for pro wrestling and MMA in Japan. PRIDE was a shoot and in doing so effectively killed shoot-style and greatly hurt pro wrestling's draw in Japan. Inoki became obsessed with his wrestlers competing in MMA when they were not suited for that competition and pushing MMA fighters when they were not suited to being great pro wrestlers.  At least pro wrestling is different enough from MMA that there is value in watching pro wrestling, but who really wants to watch a simulated version of the real thing and thus shoot-style was dead in the water. There were brief resurgences here and there. The most meaningful in 2008 when BattlArts just uncorked one fucking great match after another that year, but up until then there was just a smattering of shoot-style matches. Former RINGS grapper, Kiyoshi Tamura tried to recapture his former shoot-style glory by founding the U-Style promotion, but while there were a couple great matches, its existence was short-lived. Shoot-style God, Yuki Ishikawa was the most active in this time period and would be the reason for the BatBat resurgence in 2008. His 2005 match with arch-rival Daisuke Ikeda is a top 20 match of the decade and proof positive that shoot-style still has a place in the modern landscape with MMA being prominently promoted.

One of the things, I need to catch up on is all the great shoot-style of the 90s and the 00s just whetted my appetite. Shoot-style can be a little dry, but more of than not it is very rewarding in the exciting finishes with crazy strike exchanges and submission battles. I definitely recommend checking out some shoot-style to broaden your horizons.


Match Listing:

Yuki Ishikawa vs Kazunari Murakami - BattlArts 11/26/00 ****
#98 of 100
Very heated. Murakami's relentless strikes vs. Ishikawa's ground game. Bit anticlimatic

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka - U-Style 02/04/04 ***3/4

Great matwork, but a bit showy and exhibitionary at times. Hot finish.

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Hiroyuki Ito - U-Style 08/18/04 ****
#77 of 100
Great underdog vs veteran story with underdog swinging for the fences and the vet having to dig himself out of a hole

Yuki Ishikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda - FUTEN 4/24/05 ****1/2
#18 of 100
BRUTAL! Violent! They hit each other really fucking hard and it is very enjoyable. 

Yuki Ishikawa vs Alexander Otsuka - Big Mouth Loud 9/11/05 ***

More of a NJPW Strong Style match with a lot of fun highspots like a Frankensteiner into a Triangle.

Osamu Nishimura vs Hiro Saito - MUGA 08/02/06 ****
#87 of 100
Amazing selling in this old school affair where every move proved consequential. Suspect finish.

Osamu Nishimura vs Tatsumi Fujinami - MUGA 9/25/06 Two Out of three Falls ****
#86 of 100
Another great old school match with an awesome King of the Mountain sequence leading to a surprise finish.



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Yuki Ishikawa vs Kazunari Murakami - BattlArts 11/26/00

Stay Calm and Keep It On The Mat is Ishikawa's mantra as Murkami tried to unsettle him with his relentless fury of strikes. Murakami and his WHAM! Eyebrows look to knock Ishikawa out early with strikes, but Ishikawa keeps his head down and  before you know it he has Murakami on his back. I loved how heated this was and how Ishikawa was able to counter Murakami's uptempo style by constantly picking for mistakes. Murakami gets a flurry of kicks in and Ishikawa powders. Then we get absolutely awesome crowd brawling with them wiping out a bunch of chairs. I would say the only disappointing element was that the finish was so quick. Murakami bringing Ishikawa back in hardway with a rear naked choke was fantastic, but just as he was looking in command is when Ishikawa caught his foot and punched him in the face. An enziguiri into a rear choke was enough to force the submission. The finish suited the match well enough, but this left me wanting more. ****

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Kiyoshi Tamura vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka - U-Style 02/04/04

Tamura piqued my interest in his match with Ito. I always put delving more into Shoot Style off so I thought I take advantage of another Tamura match among the nominated matches. As a shoot-style novice, I do not know if I really could appreciate the beginning of this match. The work was really smooth and they were always moving, but it felt a little too showy like they were putting on an exhibition. I got the sense that Kohsaka was outworking on Tamura on the ground as he was chaining his moves together better and forced the first rope break at around the 10 minute mark with the guillotine choke. As good 'ol JR would say business is about to pick up as they fired off a thrilling a finish sequence. I liked Tamura responding to the first point loss with a stand up barrage to secure a knockdown and loved the knee that caught Tamura in the midsection in the fracas to put Kohsaka up 4-3. They sequence felt really organic. This is where my shoot style naivete maybe rearing its ugly head, but how come Kohsaka did not sell Tamura's deep half crab after the hold. He was screaming and selling in the hold and the nothing. I get the "real" sports argument you dont show weakness but just a little limp or favoring of that knee would have added. Also are closed fists allowed because Tamura used them liberally to break up submissions late? With Tamura down 2-1, Kohsaka goes for the home run, rolling heel hook, that Tamura counters into a cross-armbreaker in the center of the ring. I thought there were better submission sequences earlier that could have been used as the finish. I will probably appreciate this more once I watch more RINGS. Still I love great matwork and this was very well-executed. ***3/4

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Kiyoshi Tamura vs Hiroyuki Ito - U-Style 08/18/04

With the emergence of MMA in Japan, it spelled the end for shoot-style promotions, which were not as differentiated as their pro wrestling brethren. Shoot-style lives in this weird no man's land. It is essentially the worked version of MMA. I have never seen pro wrestling as the worked version of MMA. In fact, I think a lot of non-fan's hangups with pro wrestling come from the fact they are viewing it through the wrong prism. Wrestling is a carnival attraction and it adapts itself to the times. Shoot-style is the sub-genre of pro wrestling that is the closest replication of actual MMA. I have enjoyed what I have seen of the style (Takada's UWFi), but I am no expert. For instance, this is the first Tamura match I have seen even though I know the ballyhooed Volk Han series in RINGS (I have never seen a RINGS match) is very heavily promoted by the shoot-style proponents. Thus it is hard for me to rate this match in the context of this project. I liked this match a lot, but even though all the matches are worked it still feels like comparing apples and oranges.

Tamura is the ace of promotion and a well-known talent in the shoot style community and a reasonably successful MMA fighter in Pride and such (sporting a record of 32-13-3). Ito is someone I do not know and I suspect was a heavy underdog. Ito definitely prescribed to the adage "a good defense is a great offense" as he came out swinging on every occasion. In fact, for the first half the match he dominated Tamura forcing him to take two rope breaks utilizing palm strikes, knees to the head, triangle chokes and cross armbreakers. Even though, he was put into an early hole, Tamura never lost his cool and wrangled a leg lace, but Ito was able to get a leg lace of his own, but eventually Ito had to use the ropes to escape. After Tamura caught a kick and applied a heel hook, Ito lost his second point.  With the match leveled, Ito concentrated keeping the fight off the ground and tried to win by knockout. They trade knockdowns, but Ito definitely is the more offensive fighter. Tamura presses an advantage and Ito sells his high kicks really well, but Ito is able to sneak in a palm strike to the face to knock him down. One more knock down and Ito wins. Tamura wakes the fuck up and takes Ito to town. He catches Ito's kick and turns it into a half-crab for the win.

I loved Ito taking it to the strong favorite, Tamura at every chance. His performance was so urgent and there was a real sense of struggle on the stand-up. No one would confuse this ground game for an MMA match, but they kept it moving. Besides the dueling leg laces, every submission was sold like it could end it. The real highlight of the match is the very dramatic stand-up sequence with both fatigued and just going for broke. It was very well laid out to have Tamura back up against the wall throwing bombs only to finally catch Ito's leg and finish via submission. I would not say a match of the decade contender, but a very good match. ****  

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Yuki Ishikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda - FUTEN 4/24/05

A Japanese Shoot-Style promotion that allows closed fists, my prayers have been answered! As soon as the ref breaks them, Ikeda punches Ishikawa right in the face to get an early knock down. Ikeda never really looks back earning 4 knockdowns and forcing 2 rope breaks to Ishikawa's one knockdown and 2 rope break forces. These punches are incredible how they are laying them in. I was watching Ishikawa punch Ikeda right in the face on the ground and could not believe the force. Ikeda seems better at take downs, striking and submissions. Ishikawa just has crazy resilience and even crazier hair. They work their double wirstlocks from odd angles sometimes. They are definitely better off standing up. I love that Ikeda would not break his leg lace, but once Ishikawa reversed it, he was desperately grabbing the ropes. Ikeda absolutely ripped up Ishikawa fact with boot lace kicks. Is Randy Orton secretly a huge Daisuke Ikeda mark? Ishikawa makes his big comeback with a pair of back drop drivers. Ikeda is definitely the better "pro wrestler" of the two based on how he sells and feeds Ishikawa. I love him climbing up the ropes trying to escape it. Ishikawa ends up closing the gap earning 5 knockdowns and forcing 3 rope breaks against Ikeda's six knockdowns and 3 rope break forces. FUTEN does not use a point system, but it is interesting way to keep tabs on the flow of the match. Ishikawa finally forces a submission with a crossface chickenwing. I preferred the drama of Tamura's U-Style matches with the point system, but this had the way better striking. I am going to put this somewhere around the Tamura/Ito match given it is hard for me to place shoot-style match still at this point even though I really enjoy them.

REWATCH THOUGHTS:
That one Ikeda six inch jab to Ishikawa's face coming out of a rope break followed by a wicked, wicked kick to the head was batshit incredible. I stand-by complaint that this was not the best when they took it to the mat. I have definitely seen Ishikawa have better mat-based performance. The stretch run with Ishikawa's face getting destroyed and bleeding profusely from the mouth was riveting. The suplexes and then crossface chickenwing submission was just the cherry on a sundae with extra bite.


 ****1/2

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Yuki Ishikawa vs Alexander Otsuka - Big Mouth Loud 9/11/05

This was not as shoot-style as the competitors listed would led you to believe. Big Mouth Loud used a lot of shoot-stylists and New Japan wrestlers disillusioned with Inokism. It seemed to be closer to the 80s/90s New Japan style than to Shoot-Style. I still had trouble comparing this match to other puroresu. I think it is due to more subtle selling. They register pain, but do not actually sell the pain. It can come off like moves are inconsequential when they are not. I liked Otsuka quite a bit. He was good on the mat constantly outwrestling Ishikawa and getting him in heel hooks. He had some nasty headbutts in this match. Plus he brought out the highspots: Giant Swing, German Suplex and the best, Frakensteiner (as called by announcer) into a triangle choke. I would lose my shit if that ever happened in an MMA match. Ishikawa was his usual badass self. He worked hard and really sold the threat of Otsuka. He had some nasty, nasty punches. I loved his incorporation of throws late by converting a heel gook into a sick, sick, headrop German. Then using a sweet knockout punch into a sleeper for the win. It is an entertaining match that finishes really well, but it is definitely nowhere near Ishikawa/Ikeda or Tamura/Ito. ***

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

One complaint I think you can't levy at Japan as a whole in the 2000s is a lack of variety. Yes, the NOAH style was dominant in terms of getting the most praise, but that bombastic style was limited only to NOAH. You had the American/puroresu style of All Japan, the more mat & strike based style of New Japan (Inokism or Strong Style), the lucha/comedy hybird of Dragon Gate, shoot-style promotions and to add to the list we have MUGA. MUGA was headed up by New Japan legend Tatsumi Fujinami to turn the clock back to late 70s and early 80s when men were men and European Uppercuts and Spinning Toeholds were the end all be all of wrestling. I wish we got more of it during this project.

Hiro Saito is built much like the more famous Masa Saito (no relation), but maybe a bit shorter. He was a junior heavyweight for New Japan and All Japan in the 80s and 90s before the junior heavyweight boom led by Liger. At this point, I'm hard pressed to believe he would meet the weight limit bu then again Shuji Kondo was able to, but I think he is a pretty short dude. Nishimura is someone I enjoy, but has yet to blow me away in any match. In fact, my favorite match may have been the random match with Al Snow I watched from ECW Hardcore TV in January of 95 the other night. Rest assured, Nishimura finally knocked one out of the park with Saito in this match.

Nishimura shows up Saito a bit early and Saito gets a bit peeved and starts throwing furniture around. Saito is the more powerful of the two and is able to cinch in an armbrar and transform it into an All Japan surfboard spot. Nishimura gets a big pop for reversing it. Nishimura works a headlock like he is Lou Thesz. The face I can accurately say that is why the Chicago Film Archive has to be commended for doing God's work. Nishimura grabs a sleeper, but Saito hits a jawbreaker. The selling from Nishimura is amazing as he writes in pain. Saito hits his famous senton (according to Wiki, he invented that move). Nishimura bails to the outside for a breather. They work an amazing king of the mountain sequence where Saito keeps find new ways to snap Nishimura's throat across the ropes. It was amazingly compelling wrestling. Nishimura needed to break up the momentum of Saito, but is now paying the price. They do a great ab stretch hope spot, but Saito wins. He goes for the coup d'grace in the form of a piledriver, but Nishimura counters. They do the bridge/backslide counter. Nishmura dumps Saito outside who jams his knee. On two separate occasions, Nishimura whiffs on a knee drop to the outside, but they sell a  countout finish anyways. Saito gives Flair a run for his money in terms of great verbal selling and really making this credible. Nishimura has to stand Saito up just kick his leg out from under his leg. :)

Nishimura actually misses the knee drop this time. Saito hits two bridging Germans and is able to hold him down on the second. He couldn't stand, but he could bridge. I don't know about that one. The selling was off the charts in this one. Nishimura trying to fight just to get back into the ring was very compelling. Saito's selling of the knee was so great that it makes the finish all that much more curious. ****

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Osamu Nishimura vs Tatsumi Fujinami - MUGA 9/25/06 Two Out of three Falls

Nishimura's performance in this reminded me of Sasuke's in Sasuke vs Dragon or Suzuki's in Suzuki vs Mutoh. They are all giving these out of the world great performances, but their opponents are just not up to snuff. It is interesting because Dragon, Mutoh and Fujinami had all slowed down a lot in terms of output in the middle of the decade. You could see they could still be carried by an opponent that was firing on all cylinders, but they just did not have enough gas in the tank to match their opponent.

If the tone set in the first fall was maintained throughout the match then you would have a MOTDC on your hands. Nishimura starts off aggressive with European Uppercuts that would make Dory Funk Jr. proud. Fujinami seems a bit taken aback, but is able to use the aggression against him and snap off a Dragon Leg Screw. He goes for the Figure-4, but an inside cradle nabs the first fall for Nishimura. It only lasted under a minute, but it was an incredible fall.

The second fall they get a little too cute for me. They seem more keen on showing off. Instead of flips, it is bridge outs and double wristlock takedowns. An exhibition is an exhibition. Fujinami rides high on a leg lace and gets caught in a short arm scissors. Nishimura applies a cross-armbreaker. The New Japan timekeeper has the hammer raised in case there was  a submission and I agree with him. If you respect the cross-armbreaker, I respect you. I do NOT respect you, Mr. Fujinami. Of course, I am being facetious, but it is my number one pet peeve when wrestlers treat the cross armbreaker like a headlock. It is at best them not keeping up with the times and at worst being ignorant and lazy. Yes, I thought Fujinami's performance was lazy at times. This match is the ultimate missing the forest for the trees match. You have Fujinami doing great little things like lunging for the ropes with his feet, but not selling his arm. Or Nishimura working the injured finger of Fujinami while in a cross armbreaker, but why does it matter because Fujinami has killed the viability of the cross armbreaker as a finish. To be fair to Fujinami, Nishimura did bridge out of a cross-armbreaker, which is pretty ludicrous. Basically this match took a big shit on the cross armbreaker.

Now, once the match moved from Nishimura on offense to Fujinami on offense the match got a million times better. Just like the Sasuke match, Dragon was not interested in selling and neither was Fujinami. However, put them on top and have the wrestler who wants to work on bottom and you got magic. Fujinami goes after Nishimura's knee with a swift low kicks like Inoki in Inoki/Ali. Nishimura bails. Fujinami targets the knee, but Nishimura in desperation goes for Fujnami's knee with a spinning toe hold, shades of Dory Funk Jr, BABY! Fujinami kicks him off and a figure-4 knots it all up.


What I love about Nishimura matches, is you understand how this can be a double edged sword. Yes, you are getting time to walk it off and break up your opponent's momentum, but you are giving him the high ground. With the high ground, the opponent can dictate the match and make it very difficult for you to get back into the ring. I used to say that Akira Taue was the undisputed king of working the apron, but damn if I see more Nishimura that could change. Nishimura rocks Fujinami with a European Uppercut and crashes burns with a bombs away knee drop. What a dumbshit! He blocks the figure-4 and is able to bail. Nishimura is fed up with all this bullshit on the apron and says you want my knee you can have it, but you will not have ME, FUJINAMI! Fujinami attacks the knee and pulls him into the ring. He applies the sleeper to sap that last bit of fight out of him. Fujinami applies the figure-4 and just when you think he has it, Nishimura reverses the pressure and Fujinami has not alternative, but to submit.


This is pretty much on par with the Saito match. Saito does not feel as much of a threat as Fujinami even though he wins the match so this match had more in terms of drama. Saito works a lot harder than Fujinami, who only seemed interested in being on offense. Nishimura gives two tremendous performances within two months of each other. We need more Nishimura footage. The finish is a lot hotter in this one and that is usually my tiebreaker so I have this one edging out the Saito match. ****

Feels Like The First Time: Rey Mysterio, Psicosis, Dean Malenko (WCW, 1996)

Hey yo  Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

It has been too fucking awesome for far too long to not be included in my intro blurbs. The Sonny Corthinos/Michael Quartermaine angle on General Hospital has been the best thing on TV since October. It is heated with tons of great twists and turns that are logical, but bring catch you off guard. I really dug the most recent twist of Michael manipulating the custody hearing judge to be his grandmother's boyfriend and then promo that Sonny cut from the witness stand was straight cash money just print it from that ATM. It is a total mystery how vapid talk shows like The View do well compared to the incredible TV General Hospital has been putting out between Sonny/Michael, the return of Helena and pretty much anything Ava Jerome touches (so the Luke storyline has been a little much, but I am still holding out hope). One thing is for sure there is no fucking way WWE is written by soap opera writers or maybe they are bottom of the barrel soap opera writers because if WWE was written by GH's writers it would actually be compelling and have continuity.

HIRE HER GH!

Let's go back to simpler times when WCW ran by 50 different individuals at once. :)

After revisiting 1995, I got the itch to keep pressing on to watch more great WCW with the idea being to crown what I think is the greatest WCW match in history. Culling a list from the Smarkschoice poll and my favorite website ProWrestlingOnly.com, I came up with pretty much a "Usual Suspects" list. I will definitely fill in the gaps, but I just feel like watching great wrestling and even if I seen it before, I have not seen it in like two years and have not really characterized the landscape. The goal is to plow through the last half of the decade (the weaker half for match quality) and then slowly work my way through the front half.

1996 WCW was the first year of midcarders carrying the match quality workload from the main eventers, which became one facet of WCW's reputation during the Monday Night Wars. There were some good main event matches in 1996 contrary to popular belief. I don't think anyone would be a contender for greatest WCW match of all time. I really liked Hollywood Hogan vs Roddy Piper from Starrcade 1996, which is probably the greatest Hollywood Hogan singles match of all time as fun popcorn match. The 1996 Wargames of WCW vs NWO and Flair vs Savage in the Cage at SuperBrawl were both very good heated matched. It was not likely the main event was completely bereft of great matches. I am actually intrigued at the prospect of The Giant vs Flair, Sting or Luger in the front half of the year as all sound like fun matches.

While those are all entertaining affairs, 1996 belonged to one phenom, Rey Misterio Jr. Misterio took WCW and the US by storm by firing off amazing match after amazing match through 1996 and pretty much single-handedly made the Crusierweight Championship a can't miss, must see match on every PPV. I have encountered a lot of discussion about the order of matches WCW chose to debut Rey. Traditionally, Rey would debut in a new promotion (WAR, ECW) against Tijuana rival, Psicosis. The Rey/Psicosis touring match in 1995 was probably the hottest international ticket of the year as it got over in Tokyo, Philadelphia and Mexico City without issue. As I explain below in their Bash At The Beach 1996 match, Psicosis was made for Rey Misterio and Rey Misterio was made for Psicosis. They bring out the very best in each other and they accentuate each other's positives. Psicosis always knew how to make Rey shine whether with HUGE bumps or clowning. But when it came time to kick ass, he is so much bigger than Rey that when he got nasty instantaneously Rey was garnering that sympathy. Rey for his part was one of the best sellers in the world at 21 years of age with great verbal selling and believe the hype when it comes to Rey's hope spots. So with all this, you expect me to come down hard on WCW for not following template and having Rey debut against someone else not so fast. WCW was a national promotion and I think showcasing Rey against an American talent and proving that Rey could kick ass in the American style was more critical. Psicosis was his safety blanket and they took that away from him. It was sink or swim. I don't think Malenko gobbled him up. I think it set up Rey's highspots really well and it allowed him to sell for the audience and rally the, Yes, the match needed a better shine to whet the audience's appetite so that they would better understand what to expect. In turn this sets Rey up even better for Bash At The Beach. Now he is a proven commodity so the crowd will be behind him and now they get to see him against Psicosis. They can pay that eager anticipation off with a kickass match. I think there are multiple ways to skin a cat. I can see where WCW is coming from on this one and I think either order would suit Rey fine. At the end of the day, Rey was going to get over no matter what because the cream always rises to the top and Rey is the cream of the crop, BABY!

Match Listing:

WCW Cruiserweight Champion Dean Malenko vs Rey Misterio Jr. - WCW GAB 1996 ****1/2

One of the best aerial vs ground matches of all time. Needs a better shine to get to the next level.

Chris Benoit vs Kevin Sullivan - WCW Great American Bash 1996 ***1/2

Really fun brawl. Sullivan was vicious. "There is a woman in the men's bathroom!" is classic. Benoit needed to kick more ass.

Chris Benoit w/Woman & Miss Elizabeth vs Dean Malenko – WCW Hog Wild 1996 ***1/2

Impressive offense, but feels too much like "your turn, my turn"

Rey Misterio Jr. vs Psicosis – Bash At The Beach 1996 ****1/2

Breath-taking highspots, Psicosis bumps huge and vicious. Rey is the ultimate babyface. Better transitions would take this to the next level.

J-Crown Champion Ultimo Dragon vs Rey Mysterio Jr. - World War III 1996 ***1/2

Greatest offensive exhibition of all time? Feels too much like an exhibition to rate any higher. 

WCW Cruiserweight Champion Dean Malenko vs Rey Misterio Jr.

Great American Bash 1996 

This match simultaneously salvaged the fledging cruiserweight division and made it into a sensation over night. This match is the best exhibition of Malenko’s chain wrestling being entertaining and working well within the confines of the layout. Malenko knows he cannot let Rey create space between them or otherwise face the damage of Rey’s vaunted aerial attack. If he can ground Rey, he eliminates that threat. That is the crux of the match Rey trying to squirm away from Malenko and Malenko trying to wrangle Rey.

From the outset, Malenko is one who is able to strike first with a cool looking Greco-Roman knucklelock arm snapping-thingy. It looked sweet trust me. He works over that arm relentlessly and convincingly with a great variety of moves. It always feels like he is trying to gain a new advantage or add a different degree of pain to Rey’s arm to keep him off-balance. My favorite moment is a flying hammerlock into a kimura that just looks so fuckin sweet. The key in this control segment is that Rey still has hope spots. This was Rey’s debut and it was critical to have these hope spots especially when he did not get an opening shine or you run the risk of jobberizing him.

As the match progresses and Dean is still struggling to put Rey away, you come to see a recurring theme with Malenko he does show emotion. Dean is not more relatable wrestler or the best seller, but he is really good at selling frustration at the inability to put an opponent away. This combined with Rey’s resilience and sympathetic underdog selling creates a very powerful story for the audience that is rooting for the underdog in this debut match against the champion.

When Dean finally does lose control, Rey unleashes that arsenal of aerial maneuvers, which both wow the fans and does a good job displaying why Dean was working so hard to ground Rey. The finish is thrilling with Rey’s quick pinfall attempts and all his quick counters. However, he finally succumbs to a massive powerbomb by Dean, who puts his feet on the ropes for three. The finish is a satisfying climax to this cat and mouse game. Rey looks like a champ with hot finish and Dean is able to retain due to one big move.

Most of what I have read has been in favor of declaring this match a classic, but it feels that many feel the need to defend it against a vocal minority that believes Dean gobbled up Rey for too long. Now, if Dean just sat in an armbar for the entirety of his lengthy heat segment, I would agree. Dean was really active with a lot of gnarly submissions and high-impact blows into pinfalls. It truly felt like he was trying to win a match and I can appreciate that. I think where these critics have a point is that Dean should not have immediately entered into a heat segment. In their subsequent Nitro match in July, Rey has a really cool babyface shine to open it. In that match, it really sets up the idea of what Dean has to fear. If Dean can not ground him, Rey will have him going in circles and Dean really sells that frustration in that match well. In this match, you don’t really get the feeling that Dean has anything to worry about in the context of the match because Rey did not open with anything. The drama in the Great American Bash would have been greatly enhanced by allowing Rey to hit a couple big moves off the bat to demonstrate how he lethal he could be. Since I brought up the Nitro match, the big problem with that match is that Malenko’s heat segment really meanders and is not really as good as this one. The Great American Bash match is a better complete match.

In sum, I think if you tack the babyface shine segment from the Nitro match and splice it into the Great American Bash match you have a Match of the Year Candidate for 1996. As is, it is one of three best matches from 1996 in WCW (Mysterio/Psychosis, Benoit/Sullivan), but doesn’t rank that highly in the world. This heat segment definitively proves in my mind that Dean Malenko is not boring. Can he be boring? Yes and we will see that! But he definitely can be a fuckin fantastic offensive wrestler. I think Dean’s strong suit is as a heel. Malenko is one of the few American wrestlers to always be straddling the face/heel line. I think if the booking team just went full bore with Dean as a sadistic, ground-based heel he would have had more entertaining matches consistently. This match showed how effective he could be as a yin to Mysterio’s yang. Mysterio for his part continued his campaign to be best wrestler in North America. I agree that Mysterio should have worked the majority of the match from underneath. His selling endeared him to the fans, his hope spots were well-timed to keep the audience engaged, and the match was structured to give his aerial spots time to breathe and seem more important to the audience. In the Dragon match, he will not be so lucky. 

One thing I want to debunk is that at least initially the commentary team (sans the Brain) did a very good job trying to get over the cruiserweights. You could feel how excited Dusty was to watch them and how much he enjoyed their work. As time progressed, of course like with all things in the mid-card, the WCW commentary team would just ignore it and talk about the Hogan-related item of the night.

Chris Benoit vs Kevin Sullivan - WCW Great American Bash 1996

Two years in a row (they make it three the following year with Page/Savage II), the Great American Bash delivers another a great brawl between two opponents that hate each other. Benoit picking up the slack for the departed Pillman challenges The Taskmaster in a falls count anywhere match. Obviously, the match is most famous for the fight in the Men's Bathroom and Dusty's hysterical call of the woman in the men's bathroom. It features some really good action from Sullivan. I loved his short right jab to Benoit's eye. He was just nasty this entire fight with eye gouges, slamming the stall door on Benoit's head and throwing Benoit down a flight of stairs. Hell, my favorite part was probably the double stomp on the bathroom floor. I think Tony's call of a cover near the commode is pretty funny too. The reason I don't think this is an all-time great brawl was a surprising one. I did not feel like Benoit's comeback or offense had a lot of fire. I think Benoit's greatest strength is that he is an awesome asskicker. I just did not feel like he is kicking much ass in this match. Sullivan was also taking bumps really gingerly so maybe he was trying to protect Sully. Loved Dusty's call of "You just gotta that plundah, right, baby" when Benoit was mounting the table in the corner. Superplex off the table gets a huge pop, which strikes me as weird because it was not any extra height, it was just extra dangerous because table wobbled. Maybe Benoit was just that over! He definitely was not with the Sturgis crowd. AA proves he is Horsemen 4 Life when he kicks The Taskmaster ass and the crowd pops mad. Very entertaining match. ***1/2

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Rey Misterio Jr. vs Psicosis – Bash At The Beach 1996

Growing up, Psicosis was one of my favorite wrestlers just based on look alone. I would argue that he had even cooler costume than La Parka, but La Parka had the dance moves & chair so it was a close call. I was always disappointed that he was never featured at the same level of Rey Misterio or Juventud Guerrera. It turns out these childhood feelings have been validated by the fact that Psicosis is really fucking good. Both going back through the old footage and reading other people’s opinions that Psicosis is one of the best workers in the world in the mid-90s. Unfortunately, he was not able to sustain his greatness in the late 90s while his arch-nemesise, Rey Misterio Jr. really took off. Misterio and Psicosis have a history that dates back to Tijuana wrestling scene of the 90s. Psicosis was the clown, base and vicious heel to Rey Misterio’s undersized underdog with revolutionary high-flying. They were the perfect mix and they took their act on tour. From their home promotion of AAA (an upstart lucha libre promotion challenging CMLL think the American League or AFL), they travelled to Japan to wow the crowds there and then came to Philadelphia to the little promotion that could, ECW. In 1996, in an effort to further differentiate WCW from WWF, Eric Bischoff brought in a small army of luchadores to populate the fledging WCW cruiserweight division. So logically, the hottest match of 1995 was featured for the first time for a wide scale American audience when Rey Misterio and Psicosis locked up at Bash At The Beach 1996.

It would be so easy for Misterio and Psicosis to just hit a myriad of mind-numbing highspots to astonish and amaze a virgin audience, but what makes these two among the all-time greats is how they transition and build to those highspots for maximum sensory impact. For that reason, this match holds up as one of the best matches in the history of WCW and one of the best PPV openers in any company of all time. Psicosis is consummate heel in this match. He knows when to let Rey shine and when to get vicious to put that heat on Rey. It is a great selfless performance that makes Rey look one of the biggest stars of the world, but in doing so elevates himself and the match. It was surprising to me that first highspot went to Psicosis with a gorgeous suicide dive over the top rope. Unlike all the wussy dives through the ropes recently, this one really wipes Rey out. Psicosis is just great laying down a wicked beating on Rey. Rey is so great at verbal selling as Psicosis whips, chops and slams him. Psicosis nails him with a top rope guillotine leg drop. There is a definite sense of Psicosis attacking the neck and looking to take the wind out of the high-flying Misterio, which is a great strategy against the quick Rey Rey. Psicosis takes his first crazy, hellacious bump, which is a monkey flip on the apron that propels him into the post. WOW! Misterio hits a rana off the apron and then a springboard hurricanrana spikes Psicosis only gets two. The match never feels like an exhibition even the objective of the match is to showcase these crazy spots. The competitors still care about the win and loss. Psicosis does a great job selling his knee after a Rey dropkicks his knee. Trying to chop down the bigger man is not a bad strategy for Rey especially after getting his ass kicked for a good chunk there. Psicosis quashes the Misterio comeback with a droptoehold and locks on a nasty headscissors. I loved Rey’s screams. One of the best worked headscissors I have ever seen and a perfect use of it: a heel who needs to stop the bleeding and sap the energy from a babyface. Good stuff.  Psicosis is targeting the neck again as he sends him flying into the top rope. Rey powders to catch his breath, but Psicosis is right on him dropping him neck first on the railing. Then he hits a senton from the top rope to the floor. WOW! Psicosis’ offense is breath-taking and violent, perfect. Back in the ring, Psicosis applies a camel clutch and fishhooks him. Psicosis is just fucking killing it. Misterio is like Woah, woah I am pretty fucking good too so he busts out a cartwheel into a hurricanarana and a mind-blowing top rope hurricanarana onto Psicosis that was standing on the apron. Holy shit, I think all these spots would still blow the majority of WWE’s current audience’s mind in 2015. Psicosis takes one of my favorite bumps when he gets dropkicked in the back of the head, he slides belly first onto the floor. Misterio hits a twisting corkscrew Asai Moonsault and everybody loses their shit. You can tell how much Tenay loved calling that while Dusty and Bobby were just like What the Fuck. I think while Bobby would vacillate between not giving a shit and putting over the crusierweights, The Dream seemed to be really entertained by them and in his own way put them over at every chance. Psicosis is able to catch Rey with a powerbomb and it actually looks really good. Psicosis is looking for Splash Mountain and Rey hits a crazy rana to win the match. WOW!

I have seen this match a couple times before and I am always blown away by how good it is. Matches that revolve around showcasing spots usually don’t age that well, but this match was as character-driven as it was spot-driven. Not to mention, these spots were crazy awesome and hold up totally. To me a heel is selfless, big bumping and vicious. Psicosis just had that in spades. He took two crazy bumps and hit some amazing highspots. He was always vicious with how he attacked Misterio. Misterio is just an all time great. His verbal selling was off the charts and he was great as a ragdoll for Psicosis to throw around, but when it came to blow people’s minds. He never failed. That finish run is just one incredible highspot after the other all with the purpose of winning the match. Definitely a contender for best WCW match of 90s and a testament to the greatness of the Rey Misterio/Psicosis series. ****1/2

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Chris Benoit w/Woman & Miss Elizabeth vs Dean Malenko – WCW Hog Wild 1996

At least Miss Elizabeth & Woman were on the hard camera, so that gives it a leg up on modern WWE and 2000s indy wrestling. Seriously, we need more female valets to add a bit of color and glamour to the product. Trotting out Dolph Ziggler and Bad News Brown for a heatless spotfest would be so much better with some extracurricular pieces at ringside. This is not just me being a shallow dude, the most heat in this match was because Woman interfered and that’s because it was something of consequence. I am being a little harsh because Benoit and Malenko are just of the greatest at execution so a 30 minute spotfest by them is better than run of the mill spotfest of the 21^st century, but it is still not great and it is not the fault of Sturgis Bikers that they did not “get” this match because there was nothing to get.

First the match layout is totally disconnected from the angle. The angle being presented is that Malenko was hired to take Benoit out by Kevin Sullivan & The Dungeon of Doom. Given the fact it was a blood feud, I don’t think Malenko proving he is the better wrestler and earning Benoit’s respect through an intricate and very cool rollup/bridge sequence was what The Taskmaster had in mind. The match layout is a classic layout with two great wrestlers trying to pin each other in a scientific and classy manner. Then they are just like fuck that layout and fuck the angle. We are going for bombs. It was just suplexes, headbutts and slams galore. At least, Dusty was hilarious trying to pronounce “Millennium”.   The one thing they have going for them is that they are at least making the effort to show they are concerned about winning by going for covers often and trying to put their opponent away. However, there is not much long-term selling and they are just hitting moves willy-nilly. Thus we go to the first draw. In the first overtime, at least, Benoit cheats a little by clocking Malenko from behind while he discussing the rules with the ref. Benoit applies a Texas Cloverleaf and just lets go. This is my least favorite thing in all of wrestling. Such an eyeball-roll inducing spot. Benoit goes after leg with some holds, but none as convincing as the Cloverleaf he had on! Again, we get a draw and now the crowd is getting hot. They are pissed that this match is dragging on forever. The last fall was actually the most interesting. Benoit hits his finish at the time, the Dragon Suplex, which Malenko kicks out. Now Malenko applies the Cloverleaf and as Benoit makes it to the ropes, Malenko switches to an STF, which is genius. Woman rakes Malenko’s eyes and Benoit rolls up. What a totally out of context finish to just a really weird match. It was entertaining watching this from an offensive exhibition. From an offense point of view, this was and still is state of the art blowing pretty much everything out of the water in terms of crispness and damage level. The lack of a hook or any consequence to the moves really hurt this. ***1/2

Thats the fuckin J-Crown. Pretty Badass

J-Crown Champion Ultimo Dragon vs Rey Mysterio Jr.

World War III 1996

[The J-Crown was a set of 8 cruiserweight/junior heavyweight titles from around the world including incidentally enough the WWF Light Heavyweight Title. At the height of the Monday Night Wars the WWF Light Heavyweight Title was being defended on WCW television is incredible and also so WCW that they did not notice. The J-Crown always looked impressive as Dragon would walk out with his 8 titles on TV. I actually just watched the two most famous matches from the J-Crown tournament. I highly recommend the semi-final between Shinjiro Ohtani (my choice for best wrestler in the world in 1996) and Ultimo Dragon. The final between Great Sasuke and Ultimo Dragon is a fun high-flying exhibition, but the semi-final is one of the best junior heavyweight matches ever.]

Rey Mysterio had become the centerpiece of WCW’s cruiserweight division, but had dropped the title back to Malenko at Halloween Havoc, the previous month. In this match, it is Rey’s job to cement Ultimo Dragon as the top heel of the cruiserweight division. This is the match where people rightfully so complain of Rey getting gobbled up by Dragon’s offense. Whereas, the Malenko match felt like a struggle where two men were trying to win a match with natural strategies, this match felt like an exhibition of Dragon’s spots. Don’t get me wrong, Dragon has some pretty nifty spots (he busts out the Giant Swing!!!), but never feels like he is trying to win. Instead, he is just trying to show-off all his cool moves. Here is a list of the cool moves:

• Spinning Argentine Backbreaker
• Giant Swing
• Slingshot Powerbomb
• His Intricate Outside the ring sequence
• Spinning Tombstone Piledriver
• Running Ligerbomb
• Brainbuster
• Surprisingly did not do the Asai Moonsault (named after him)

This is the type of story that always falls flat with me. It is simply because there is no story. There is not a struggle. It is just an exhibition. It is fun visually, but not emotionally. In addition, Dragon did really use anything to set up his moves. Usually, he uses a ground game to weaken his opponents before he works his shit in. Instead, it just felt like pick up Rey and do his spots.

Rey be assertive. Where were your hope spots? The match was dying because of the babyface was getting totaled out there. It looked like match I had against my stuffed bear yesterday erm I mean 15 years ago. I totally mean 15 years ago.

Dusty was cracking me up throughout the match, but this quote not only makes me laugh, but is accurate portrayal of the match “This is pants-down momma spankin you whuppin!”  Of course at the finish, Rey does make his comeback and hits his visually impressive spots like his somersault plancha. The finish was hot, but the how fuck would the finish not be hot when you have Dragon with his ZILLION moves and Rey flying around at a mile a minute. They had a perfect ending: Dragon is able to catch Rey Rey off the springboard and hit a fuckin Slingshot Powerbomb (BITCHIN~!) for the win.

I have watched this match a lot because I happen to love watching Ultimo Dragon’s offense, but it is not a very dramatic match and thus loses a lot of points in my book. ***1/2

Spoiler Alert: Dragon wont sell the leg

Father's Day Fracas: Randy Savage, Ric Flair (WCW, 1995)

Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

As is typical with all my wrestling projects, I could not sustain interest through the end. I hope to wrap 2014 up by the end of March, but first I needed a break and just watch some old school wrestling to recharge my batteries. I decided to watch one of my favorite matches of all time again: Randy Savage vs Ric Flair - Great American Bash 1995.

She can be on MY FAVORITE TEAM any day!

This unheralded classic features Randy Savage delivering the best babyface performance of his WWF & WCW career. We all know the Savage babyface formula of taking heat, hitting a bodyslam and then the big elbow. He is such a great classic seller and his matches feature nonstop action that matches where still entertaining. As a heel, Savage is the personification of intensity and generates chaos in every situation. Besides the Jake The Snake feud, rarely did Savage demonstrate the same manic tendencies. Unfortunately, the Jake feud while filled with classic angles and promos never was given a chance to develop a classic match.   

When WWE DVDs started producing career retrospectives in 2003 and the advent of youtube of 2006, I was THE kid in the candystore finally getting to sample all the great matches that I could before only read about. Growing up a WCW fan, I was a big Macho Man and Nature Boy fan. There was no bigger dream match in my estimation than watching those two wrestle. I had read the Scott Keith review of Wrestlemania VIII. I knew the angle, hell I knew what was going to happen in the match, but damnit I could not wait to see it. It was the ultimate redemption story for the Macho Man after losing his career to the Ultimate Warrior the previous year, but gaining back what really mattered: Elizabeth. This set off a chain events that afforded him the chance to return and challenge for the WWF Championship, one year after the biggest loss of his professional life. The Randy Savage story arc told just in Wrestlemanias from Wrestlemania II to VIII is without a doubt the great creative achievement of Vince McMahon with Wrestlemania VII being Vince's crowning moment as a creative genius. Wrestlemania VIII was the bow on the perfect story. Now you add in Flair, the cocksure former NWA champion, the invader from the South that basically just defeated the entire roster at Royal Rumble 1992. He was the Real World Heavyweight Champion and he had Liz before Randy. Hot damn!

I have watched the Wrestlemania VIII match and it is a great match. It is probably a top 20 WWF match of the 90s and a really great exhibition of how Savage is probably the best seller in American wrestling history. There was something missing. Flair and Savage are both all about energy. It is why I have always gravitated towards them: the colors, the promos, the personalities and the movement. It lacked that chaotic energy. I thought maybe I had overhyped it in my head. Months and years passed and watched more and more kickass historic matches.  I had always known Flair vs Savage had a series in WCW, but it was not very highly rated  (***-****) and it was WCW's worst period in terms of buzz and booking in 1995. One day, threw on their Great American Bash 1995 match and like before I knew the angle from reading the angle that Flair had injured Savage's father, Angelo Poffo with the figure-4 at the previous PPV. From the outset, I was transfixed. It was the perfect confluence of my two favorite wrestlers in the bout that I can imagine only them having. Savage was just a bull that sees red. He was relentless in every sense of word. It was completely engrossing. Flair was the perfect complement to Savage. He deferred to Savage's violent tendencies. It is not often Flair plays second banana in a match, but Savage was giving an all-time career performance in this match. Flair will get nasty when pushed. He got just as nasty in this match that just dripped with hatred. For Flair it was a fight for survival for Savage this was the ultimate revenge match.

A Bleeding Savage says one elbow is not enough punishment for the Nature Boy. 

Watching this last night, it never fails to ensnare my entire attention. I just knew I needed to devote a blog to this masterpiece of violent hatred. I can never just write about one match so I threw in the other highly touted three matches of 1995 WCW. Without debut of Nitro, WCW in 1995 would be a pretty barren landscape of highlights as it was  a year of poor booking, lame characters and the transformation of WCW into a weird rock n wrestling parody of 80s WWF. Usually, Flair vs Anderson & Pillman vs Badd, both, from Fall Brawl '95 are held up as the shining lights for a bleak year. They are great matches, but they pale in comparison to the energy and excitement of Flair vs Savage. Another match that sometimes gets overlooked is the Hogan vs Vader SuperBrawl V match, which I would say is a top 5 Hogan match of all time. It gets shit on because of Hogan no-selling the Vader Bomb and killing it off even though in this match Vader is treated like the true monster he ought to be. It goes to show you always watch the primary source material and only let second-hand accounts guide you so much. Thankfully, I did with the excellent Savage vs Flair match from Great American Bash 1995, which have become my favorite match of all time.

Match Listing:

WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs WCW US Heavyweight Vader ****

Superbrawl V  

Great Hogan vs Monster match where Hogan actually adapts to the situation. Vader is a beast.

“Macho Man” Randy Savage vs “Nature Boy” Ric Flair - Great American Bash 1995 ****1/2

Think shoot, but work and I am not even sure they were working. Hate-filled fight. WATCH IT!

Brian Pillman vs Johnny B. Badd - Fall Brawl '95 ****

Japanese-influenced bombfest that was a harbinger of wrestling to come. Highly influential

Ric Flair vs Arn Anderson - WCW Fall Brawl 1995

AA proves he is Flair's equal. Flair cheats only for AA to out-Flair Flair with a little help from a friend. 

The Irresistible Force vs The Immovable Object, Jess!

WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs WCW US Heavyweight Vader

Superbrawl V  

Not much of a story to this one, except it was one of the big dream matches since Hogan had arrived in WCW and really logical. Hogan had made his star by wrestling these big monsters and vanquishing them (Studd, Bundy, Andre, Earthquake). However, there is no more versatile big man than Vader, who combined the size of those men with an explosive quickness. Also, Hogan’s star was on the wane as his 10 year old character had grown stale and passé especially in the South, which expected a higher level of wrestling than the cartoon stuff that Hogan liked to shovel. This led to this weird dynamic of Hogan getting pretty brutally booed the entire match against monster heel, Vader. 

Tony lets us know that Ric Flair is indeed here in the front row. Hogan had “retired” Flair in October of 1994. They begin by both men are of equal strength. Hogan unleashes some pretty wicked slaps and his whip/elbow combo. Vader just screams “NO PAIN! NO PAIN!  NO PAIN!” I was totally marking out during this segment. I just wanted Vader to maul Hogan. In a cool twist, Hogan realizes the power game is ineffective and actually attempts to wrestle Vader. WHAT!!??! He even busts out a flying cross arm-breaker (juji-gatame for MMA fans). Vader breaks that up by stepping on Hogan’s face like a boss. Hogan is betwixt and between. Vader mauling in the corner is combined with a wicked short-arm clothesline. 

Hogan powders and Vader eats his railing bump and nearly wipes out Flair. Well, I think Hogan may have found something that worked. Hogan works some chops in the corner, the 10 punch count and then a rebound lariat to a small pop. Hogan uses some of his heel tactics: boot on throat and eye-rake, but he goes for the bodyslam attempt too early as Vader drops on top of him. Vader runs through some strikes and then connects with the powerslam/Vaderbomb combo for two. The Vadersault misses and Hogan in desperation whips Vader back into the rail and blasts him with the best Hogan chair shot I have ever witnessed. VADER FEELS NO PAIN! Vader chokeslams the fuck outta Hogan. I don’t think Hogan intended to take that wicked of a bump. The Hulk-Up comes off a vertical suplex. Vader KICKS OUT of the LEGDROP at ONE!!!! HOLY SHIT!

A Vader body attack wipes out the ref and Vader hits the powerbomb and he counts a visual three along with Flair, but there is no ref. Hogan makes his comeback and clears him outta the ring only for Flair to attack. Finally the ref calls for the DQ. Savage and Sting make the save against Flair & Vader.

There is a lot to love about this match up until the finish. I loved the beginning story with Hogan trying to wrestle Vader and then using his own dirty tactics out of desperation because Vader was such a monster. Vader comes across as this unconquerable monster with the no-selling at the beginning, the killer offense and of course kicking out of the vaunted leg drop at one. A lot is made about how, Hogan no sold a Vaderbomb previous to this match and how it killed Vader’s drawing power. I can only say he definitely tried to make up for it in this match because Vader looked awesome here. All of the traditional Hogan transition are ineffective against Vader and they only way for Hogan to sustain offense is through Vader mistakes and illegal tactics like chairshots really makes Vader seem like an unstoppable force. The finish is pretty unsatisfying. A Vader victory and subsequent matches against Sting and Savage would have drawn well while Hogan questions if he still has it would have been an interesting wrinkle to the Hogan character. I like the Boss match better because of the efficiency of spots and the better finish, but this one was remarkably good and one of the Top 5 Best Hogan matches I have ever seen. ****

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Vader & Arn Anderson vs Stars & Stripes - WCW Saturday Night 4/15/95

The Patriot sure as hell had one interesting career: Kenta Kobashi's gaijin tag partner, WCW midcarder, more All Japan with Bobby Fulton's brother as his partner and then brief stint as WWF main eventer and I am sure I am missing some other stuff. I actually thought he looked pretty damn good here and was able to rile the crowd up pretty easily. I would have actually liked to see him a get a stronger push in WCW or All Japan to see what he really could have done.

This is a really strong TV tag team match that makes me long for more Vader & AA tag matches because damn did they gel perfectly here. Both really have a similar methodology when it comes to wrestling, they are going to get theres, but they do their utmost to shine up the babyface no matter where the babyface is on the card. Arn makes Stars & Stripes look like a million bucks early and even Patriot gets a lick on Vader. Before they hit heel in peril, Arn directs traffic to set up for a catapult into a Chokeslam. Shit! That was awesome. Vader takes it to Bagwell in the corner with the typical Vader blows, but Bagwell is able evade Vader long enough to tag in Patriot. Patriot looked awesome here for a minute stretch of offense. He was teeing off on Vader and hits a massive flying forearm and the crowd is jacked! Vader is always giving in matches and perfect way to make Patriot look like a star.  Arn stops the bleeding by goading Patriot to the outside ducking and VADER BODY ATTACK! Here is the reinstated Nature Boy to add his two cents to the match. The heat segment proper on Patriot is awesome! At one point, Anderson uses a drop toehold to keep Patriot down and Vader squashes with a sick elbow. Vaderbomb only gets two, which shocks the timekeeper who rang the bell expecting it to be the finish. Got to smarten up the timekeeper, WCW! People complain about Hogan killing the finish! LOL! Vader is just in his element here destroying the Patriot, but letting him sneak in little shots. Anderson does the head collide on rope running sequence, but not a very convincing one. Bagwell is in and there is something in the water because he looks great coming off the hot tag and tagging Arn getting a powerslam for two. Double dropkick to Vader! Bagwell hits a Fisherman Suplex on Anderson, but Vader hits a diving headbutt and Anderson rolls through for the win. Great TV match that was energetic throughout, they gave some love to Patriot and Bagwell, btu Vader was just a monster in this and really looked like one of the best wrestlers in the world! ***1/2

Savage takes a lickin, but keeps on tickin

“Macho Man” Randy Savage vs “Nature Boy” Ric Flair - Great American Bash 1995

This may be my favorite match of all time. My two favorite wrestlers competing one of the greatest hate-filled, relentless, fight to survive matches I have ever seen. I remember being so excited to finally see Savage vs Flair, my two favorites of all time, when I finally started searching youtube 2006 and immediately it was the Wrestlemania VII match that I wanted to see it. It is a great match and a great moment in the culmination of the overarching Randy Savage Wrestlemania story arc dating back to Wrestlemania III. Something was missing. It was missing that truly out of control feel and energy that Flair and Savage can bring. Watching this match in shitty quality on dailymotion in 2008, I was transfixed. Savage was a relentless ball of fury. Lunging at Flair at ever turn. There were just these little things that made it feel like a shoot. Savage attacking Flair from behind in such a way that was scary. Or Savage just suffocating Flair even on the begging off section. There just was not the customary time. The selling was selling of exhaustion of a fight. Savage's selling of the knee was spot on and why he was one of the greatest of all time. While Savage gives a truly special performance, it would be an amazing match without Flair. Flair sells the match as a fight to survive. He is blasting the fuck out of Savage and he dives onto Savage from behind, which is another wicked bump. The way he sells. He is in pain and fatigued, but if he even takes one moment to breathe, he may not last. So he just keeps fighting. I can not say how much I love this match.

My video includes opening remarks from Savage with the interview being conducted by “Mean” Gene Okerlund. He vows revenge against Flair and the momentum is on his side. Incidentally, today is Father’s Day and a happy accident for this storyline He finishes with one of my favorite lines from him: “Too hot to handle, too cold to hold”. Flair is adorned in a black and white sequined robe decorated with Monarch Butterflies in white diamonds. Savage is also donning the black and white and HE IS NOT ALONE. His father, Angelo Poffo, is with him after the attack from the Horsemen, but with the aide of a cane. This is NOT FAIR TO FLAIR. DOUBLE A! DOUBLE A! Where art thou?

Once Poffo is settled in, Savage hits the ring and Flair heads for the hills. Savage gives chase.  Savage wants to kill Flair and any offense Flair can muster is because Savage is overzealous. Savage is hitting hard tonight. This aint a wrestling match. THIS IS A FIGHT~! Flair stops Savage’s momentum by sending him into the steel ringpost and then the guardrail. Flair with an uncharacteristic axe-handle off the apron to the back of Savage. The bump Savage takes was just violent and gripping to watch. I love it, Flair knows that Savage wants to kill so he adapts by pulling out all the stops. Angelo Poffo gets out of the chair with a look of concern as Flair is taking Savage apart with his trademark moveset of chops and kneedrops.  Savage connects with a flurry of jabs and in a fit of  rage chokes Flair and grabs at his nose. Flair takes the Bret-bump into the corner more choking. Flair tries to powder out, but Savage nails him from behind wicked hard. These are the moments that make it feel like a shoot. Flair takes his usual bump off the top rope. How does he not have crippling back injuries? Flair flip now onto the outside and now he goes after daddy. The Brain and I share the same sentiment as us that was fuckin dumb. Flair is smarter than both of us because he suckered Savage into checking on his Daddy and then clipping the knee. What follows is a shinbreaker across the guardrail, which is another crazy bump. The Brain wonders if “Did Daddy bring two canes because his son is going to need one.” The Brain continues to the tell story well, “Flair was smart he knew he was going to be able to slug it out with Savage, a man possessed. So he went to take a body part out. Flair has a plan.”

Savage throws punches from his back in a show of valor and courage. Kicking and clawing at Flair with whatever he can muster and Flair like the prick he is just keeps going back to knee. This is masterful psychology. Savage is killing it right now with his selling. NOW WE GO TO SCHOOL!!! Flair of course gets to the ropes for that additional leverage. Savage is fighting only for his father and in a truly moving spot, Mr. Poffo attempts to get the ref’s attention that Flair is cheating. This is one of the most emotional matches I have ever had the pleasure of watching. SAVAGE REVERSE THE PRESSURE!!!

Savage hops on one leg only to dive on Flair and keep punching. Flair and Savage are just laying it all on the line. Flair flip for a second time, runs down the apron but Savage hits him in the gut as he comes done. SAVAGE HITS HIM WITH BIG ELBOW!!!! He pins Flair, but pulls him at 2. NOT ENOUGH SAYS MACHO MAN  as he grabs the ring bell (shades of Ricky the Dragon) and the crowd is whipped into a frenzy. The Brain says Savage is out to maim Flair. At some point, Savage has been busted open under his eye. Holy shit, what a brawl so far. The ref saves Flair from the bell and Savage crashes and burns hard on the guardrail. What a bump, the fans in the front row are freaked out because he hit so hard. Flair is pissed off because Savage has tried to maim him. Flair goes for Angelo, Poffo chokes him with cane, but Flair knocks out Angelo and gains control of the cane. Savage having checked on his dad does not realize this. Flair waffles him with cane. Flair picks up the tainted victory.

This match epitomizes why I love wrestling: Raw hatred for each other with stiff shots, high-energy no resting with brilliant story-telling and acting. WATCH THIS MATCH! Contender for best WCW match of the decade. The last Match of the Year contender, Flair or Savage would ever have. I would say the best babyface Savage performance of his career in WCW or WWF.   ****1/2.

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One Cool Looking Muthafucka

Brian Pillman vs Johnny B. Badd - Fall Brawl '95

 Pillman's "Blonds Have More Fun" is an excellent slab of pop metal. Nice to see pop metal still had home somewhere in 1995. Before the match, the crowd is already firmly behind Johnny B. Badd. The winner of this match receives a mandatory US Title shot against then holder, Sting. In this snippet of Pillman's career, he was not often paired with someone he had to carry. unfortunately, I did not have access to his GAB '95 match as a comparison point. Both were ostensibly face vs. face matches against an carryable opponent where Pillman chose to play the heel in that match. You can tell how much Pillman hated being a face at this point in his career. The first 5 or minutes are filled with lackadaisical, slow-motion hold work. They do the obligatory dropkick each other at the same time. One of my pet peeves in wrestling is when a wrestler just drops a hold for no reason and that happens more than once in this portion. Business picks up with a Billy Robinson backbreaker into a Boston Crab by Pillman. He lets go to punch Badd with a closed fist and Pillman starts to jaw with the fans and the camera. I was pretty underwhelmed with the match until that point. Badd hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Shoving exchange is won by Badd, which gets a nice pop. Pillman backs him into a corner and hits a hard reverse elbow. Pillman goes full-on heel at this point taking the walk up the aisleway, the facetious handshake and biting Badd. They have a sick collision on a double Thesz Press attempt, where was this fire earlier. At this point, it just turns into a bombfest, which is so strange for 1995 WCW and I was totally caught off guard. I enjoyed it a lot. Badd had a lot more aerial moves in his arsenal than "Flyin'" Brian. I always felt that was a misnomer that got him pigeon holed in places he did not belong when he should be having violent brawls because watching the footage he was so well-suited for that. Badd hits a powerbomb and Pillman hits a tombstone piledriver. Are we in the Budokan? They trade finishers (Tutti Frutti & Air Pillman) as the time limit expires. Nick Patrick says there must be a winner so we go to sudden death! Heenan wonders when he is going to get a chance to shave, which I thought was hilarious. Pillman chops the fuck outta Badd on the outside. YES! That's the Pillman I want! Badd counters a Pillman missile dropkick with a dropkick a callback to Pillman's counter-dropkick spot. They trade sleepers. Misawa counters Kawada's powerbomb with a headscissors takeover. I am sorry, I meant Pillman counters Badd's powerbomb with a headscissors takeover. I find a out a Badd Day is a Top Rope Frankensteiner and Pillman takes a great bump for it. He follows up that bump with always sick-looking railing bump. I find out a Badd Mood is a crazy somersault plancha. Lets Go Badd! I might have to explore him further. Badd does a reverse slingshot splash and eats knees. Pillman looking to prove why he is "Flyin Brian" and keep up The Badd Man whiffs pretty bad on a suicide dive. In his defense, Badd should have closer and to add to the complexity the stairs where right up against the apron there so he had to clear that too. At 30 minutes into the match, they fuckin sprint against the ropes and collide mid-ring with Badd falling on top for the win. Pillman-san and Badd-san had quite the match that night that hitherto was rarely seen in America. Unfortunately, this style was copied and stripped down missing the transitions to hold together the big spots. Yes, the beginning of the match was lackluster, but once Pillman effectively turns heel it gets a lot better. I wish Pillman had a better transition to turning heel rather just kind of just snapping his fingers and saying I am going to heel it up. To that point, Pillman bumps like a heel, but does offense like a babyface, which I feel hurts how the middle of the match connects to the amazing finish. It is a very disjointed match, which I hate rating. The beginning was some of the lamest face vs. face wrestling you'll ever see. The middle was an interesting period where Pillman was heeling it up and Badd was playing the hero well in their mini-battles. Then finish they just go balls to the walls and Pillman stops cheating and heeling. There is no glue. Within the finish stretch, the transitions are great and they have plenty of callback psychology. I just can't fit the three portions of the match together. I hate rating matches like this. What I have found interesting about this match is a lot people just throw out **** and don't say why it falls shy of ***** (not this group, but those who review for other sites). The finish stretch, which is incredibly long for an American match, is friggin' good that I will agree with the consensus and give it ****. I am trying to do star ratings to keep everything straight for future lists and projects.

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Best Friends 4 Life?

Ric Flair vs Arn Anderson - WCW Fall Brawl 1995

"If God Were A Pro Wrestler His Name Would Be Ric Flair", Amen, brutha amen. And look a Flair 3:16 sign! I have always fallen on the positive side of things in this controversial match because it was a compelling story between two men who said true to themselves from start to finish. The Enforcer is a double tough sumbitch that has been content (or proud) to be the Champion's best friend and protector. Anderson's game plan has always been to neutralize an opponent by taking a limb away rendering him powerless to be picked apart. We have seen this countless times in WCW especially in the amazing Dustin Rhodes Saturday Night 1992 match. Anderson could brawl, but he was a brawler per se. He wrestled with intent to maim and win. He was violent, but in an out or control frenetic way. He had purpose and that is every bit as violent as a bar room brawl. The story never called for Anderson to come in and tee off on Flair to beat him up. He wanted to prove his mettle against the measuring stick of pro wrestling and he was going to do it his way. He was going to take away Flair's arm and beat him down to humble him. He was going to prove he was every bit the pro wrestler that Ric Flair was and it could have been just easily him in that top spot.

Flair says it all in the beginning "Are you sure you want this?" You could interpret that two ways. It is Flair cocky as ever saying I am going to beat you 1-2-3 and you are going to look a fool. Or is it the Nature Boy that does not want to fight his friend. From the outset, Flair was shown up by his Enforcer on the mat and standing up. He would ball up those fists and get tagged in the face. It woke Flair up to the reality that he was in a fight with his best friend and if he did not get his ass in gear then he would be the one humiliated. It was not two men who loathed each other, it was their pride at stake. When the chips are down, Flair will do whatever it takes to win a match. In a stroke of genius, for over a decade, Ric Flair would go up and over the turnbuckles run down the apron and either he get struck or thrown off the top rope. On this night, Anderson expecting to deck the prone Nature Boy, Flair finally pulls down the ropes sending him head over heels onto the floor. It was such a great spot and finally the Dirtiest Player in the Game is on top and he ain't too proud to use a ref's distraction to take a cheapshot at Anderson. In a way, at this point, Anderson has won, he has proven that Flair would be forced to go into his bag of tricks to beat. Anderson was the better pure wrestler, but Flair was the better cheapshot artist. It was time for The Enforecer to get his hands dirty and on the floor he starts the rapid fire punching to the head. At about this point, they do lose me a bit because it does become a bit of the Flair show as they just start throwing shit out as part of the grand finale. Flair gets a suplex on the floor and then a delayed vertical, but then the next thing you know he is hanging upside down. Anderson goes for the DDT and Flair hooks the top rope, but then Flair is getting thrown off the top. The Figure-4 stuff was incredible and super heated. I loved Anderson blocking, the struggle, Flair spit and then Anderson fires up. Anderson did a great job selling the knee and just when you think it is over. Pillman whacks Flair and Anderson hits the DDT. The Enforcer beat the Nature Boy at his own game by calling in the reinforcements and having that all-important Plan B. My minor quibble aside about the run up to the finish, I thought this was a great match that stuck to the story and was a match that only these could work. Arn Anderson was Arn Anderson he was not the Flair opponent du jour. My major qualm with the match was that Flair was ostensibly the face coming in, worked heel in the match and then got turned full-on babyface by the finish. I know Flair's preference to work heel and I think it was the right call to have him wrestle match as a heel because it served the story better. It felt they were going for a double turn in the match and then finish cements where they were going into it. I have lessened on this because Anderson/Sting does not have the same cache as Flair/Sting teaming and it was a good desperation tactic by Anderson to tear a page out of Flair's book. I would put this over Pillman/Badd, which on rewatch felt really, really long and overwrought. This match had the heat and the big match atmosphere, but there were too many lulls and it never felt like they ratcheted all the way up to a real boiling point, which you would have loved to see. ****

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Chris Benoit vs Eddy Guerrero - WCW Nitro 10/16/95

One of my favorite matches of all time, before youtube all I had was a handful of DVDs from WWE and one was the Benoit DVD. I watched the shit out of it and there was nothing I liked better for those moments when I had only 10 minutes than this fantastic sprint. I was totally awestruck how explosive these two were from both a speed and power standpoint. You see spotfests all the time, but it is a lost art to see them done with such acceleration and intensity. The spots are incredible, but the selling is equally as amazing for how believable it was, but still fit in the context of 10 minute showcase sprint. Early on, they show off their speed and play tit for tat. Their headscissors are amazing. Guerrero scores big with the splash from the top to the outside, but wraps his arm around the ringpost. Eddie sells the arm like a champion the rest of the way, but Benoit should get credit too.  Benoit is the best non-Mexican at selling the discombobulation that results from an armdrag. The armdrag keeps him off balance and it is what affords Eddie the chance to hit a Tornado DDT. Benoit sells his head, hits a wicked clothesline and still needs to shake the cobwebs loose. That how you demonstrate to people you are fighting through pain. Benoit works an incredible Anderson-style heat segment and taking it to the next level with an Northern Lights Hammerlock Slam, Jesus! Again, Eddie can use that headscissors to discombobulate Benoit long enough to show he can give as good he gets with the back drop driver and brainbuster. Almost every spot is a direct consequence of what happened previously and then leads into the next one, it is mind blowing how well this laid out while still having giant spots. Benoit gets knees up only to hit the MUTHA OF ALL POWERBOMBS! Eddie kicks out, but when he uses his bad arm to punch Benoit takes advantage with a Dragon Suplex. Tremendous match! It is incredible how they were able to basically pack in all their unique characteristics in one ten minute debut match. Huge offense. Check. Psychology. Check. Selling. Check. Logical Layout. Check. Impressing in a Debut. Check. One of my favorite sprints of all time! ****

Chop, Chop, Chop: Toshiaki Kawada, Genichiro Tenryu, Satoshi Kojima (All Japan Pro Wrestling 2000-2004)

Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

I have failed you all. I lost the prestigious Brainbuster Championship to that no good, egg-sucking, jobber-loving  co-host of mine on Tag Teams Back Again, Kelly Nelson on the second episode of Brainbuster! The fix was in, Sleeze Synod, you see the show is hosted by Titan of Wrestling, Johnny Sorrow and Kelly Nelson is a fellow Titan of Wrestling. They have always had it out for your Teen Titan (check me out on the Portland, Continental and Georgia episodes of Titans!). In the tiebreaker, Johnny had a question that only a true jobber lover could get correct and that is how many victories The Gambler had in his career. Rest assured, I am coming back stronger and sleezier than ever in a future episode of Brainbuster to reclaim my crown!

You can listen to the episode here: http://placetobenation.com/brainbuster-the-pro-wrestling-quiz-show-episode-2/

GO BLUE~!

Before we get to this looooooooooong post, I just want to give my main man, John Cena a shoutout. I was in attendance at Madison Square Garden on Friday night for Hulk Hogan Appreciation night. I was crossing seeing wrestling at MSG off the bucket list. I could not help be a bit disappointed at the rote match routines. Then John Cena's music hit for his match with Rusev and I just leapt out of my seat and went bonkers. I really don't know what came over me, but I just felt that electricity. John Cena did not disappoint in the ring. While everyone else on the roster basically took the night off (shout out to Rollins for at least heeling up like a champ in the main), Cena proved why he was the top guy with a damn good match with Rusev. I have been a huge proponent of Cena/Rusev from Fast Lane, which I think is an early MOTYC. I did not think this was as good, but it was really fun and would have been a high-end RAW match. It just felt like a great old school pro wrestling match at the Garden with tons of chaos in the finish. Enough cannot be said about Cena, when so many people put it on autopilot, he puts out so much effort. He is definitely one of the greatest pro wrestlers of all time.

Listing of all Post-Split All Japan Pro Wrestling Matches Reviewed from 2000-2004:

Toshiaki Kawada & Genichiro Tenryu vs Stan Hansen & Taiyo Kea - Budokan 7/23/00 ****1/4
#50 of 100
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/01/all-japan-strikes-back-toshiaki-kawada.html

Toshiaki Kawada vs Genichiro Tenryu - Budokan 10/28/00 Vacant Triple Crown ****1/4
#57 of 100
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2013/11/2-out-of-3-falls-toshiaki-kawada.html


Toshiaki Kawada vs Keiji Mutoh - AJPW Champions Carnival 4/14/01 ****1/2
#25 of 100
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/01/2001-shining-wizard-keiji-mutoh.html

Toshiaki Kawada vs Satoshi Kojima - AJPW 6/6/01
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/01/all-japan-strikes-back-toshiaki-kawada.html

AJPW Triple Crown Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Keiji Mutoh - 6/8/01 *****
#5 of 100
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/01/2001-shining-wizard-keiji-mutoh.html

Toshiaki Kawada & Nobutaka Araya vs Genichiro Tenryu & Masa Fuchi - 6/30/01 ****1/4
#63 of 100
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/01/all-japan-strikes-back-toshiaki-kawada.html

Genichiro Tenryu vs Satoshi Kojima - 2/24/02
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/01/all-japan-strikes-back-toshiaki-kawada.html

Genichiro Tenryu vs Satoshi Kojima - 7/17/02 ****1/2
#44 of 100
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/01/all-japan-strikes-back-toshiaki-kawada.html

AJPW Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada vs Shinya Hashimoto - AJPW 2/22/04 ****
#67 of 100
http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/04/space-tornado-ogawa-vs-dangerous-kawada.html



Match Listing:

Genichiro Tenryu & Nobutaka Araya vs Taiyo Kea & Kazushi Miyamoto - AJPW 4/27/02 ****
#61 of 100
One of the best Prick Heels vs Main Event Face & Young Lion tag match. Miyamoto was incredible. 

Genichiro Tenryu & Nobukazu Hirai vs. Satoshi Kojima & Kaza Hayashi - AJPW 10/06/02 ***
Good version of the previous which I am a sucker for, but did not hit the same levels. 

AJPW Triple Crown Champion Shinya Hashimoto vs Satoshi Kojima - AJPW 6/13/03 ****1/4
#54 of 100
Hashimoto The Destroyer in all his glory. He punches the fuck out of Kojima's lariat, so awesome!

Satoshi Kojima vs Shinjiro Ohtani - Budokan 9/06/03

Good match but they go overkill on Ohtani only to have win the match. Never liked that.

Mitsuharu Misawa vs Satoshi Kojima - AJPW 7/18/04

Depressing match.

AJPW Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada vs Takao Omori - AJPW 7/18/04

Really great Kawada selling and offensive performance almost carries bland Omori to Top 100.

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Genichiro Tenryu & Nobutaka Araya vs Taiyo Kea & Kazushi Miyamoto - AJPW 4/27/02

Tenryu excels in these environments with three career midcarders and making a special and memorable match. Araya goes from taking a beat from Tenryu to joining him in dishing one out on poor rookie, Miyamoto. Cant beat him, join him. Kea is a potential next big star in the shallow All Japan roster and wrestles at an urgent pace to prove himself to Tenryu. Without a doubt, the star of the show is plucky underdog, Miyamoto, who takes a licking, but keeps on ticking. Miyamoto actually shows up Araya early for a hot second, before Tenryu comes in and chops him. Araya busts Miyamaoto's nose open with a wicked reverse elbow. The story just tells itself. Tenryu comes in immediately and kicks Miyamoto right in the nose to a big reaction. What a prick! To Miyamoto's credit, he is not just selling magnificently, he is putting one of the best underneath fights. Bringing it right to Tenryu. After all, sometimes you just got to punch the bully in the mouth or dropkick him in the knee. If that does not work, jump on the announce table and elbow smash him. The constant struggle between the hope spots and cutoffs builds great drama and add the bully/underdog dynamic you have molten heat that I just love. When Kea does come in, he works with a great sense of urgency and Tenryu is very giving. Unfortunately, it seems Kea cares more about proving that he is Tenryu's equal rather than winning the match or Miyamoto's health. Kea does get to hit the TKO on Tenryu, but Araya saves. To Miyamoto's credit, he does not just fold up shop when he gets tagged back in twice. Tenryu goes for a punch to the face and Miyamoto traps him in a Triangle in an awesome spot, but Araya saves. Tenryu slaps the fuck outta Miyamoto and he is just humiliating him. Finally Kea saves him in a Texas Cloverleaf, but God he should not being throwing kicks. Miyamoto looks like he is about to get the best of Araya, but Tenryu punches Kea right in the face and throws a chair at him ruining Miyamoto's chance of tagging out. Araya goes for the moonsault, but Miyamoto hits a wicked GERMAN!!! PIN HIM, KID! 1-2-NO!!!!! Araya drills him with a brainbuster to end the Cinderella story. Kea was supposed to look great against Tenryu, but Miyamoto stole the show with one of the greatest single match underdog performances. This performance was only enhanced by one of the best, mean-spirited bullies of all time, Genichiro Tenryu. It all combines for an easy top 100 match of the 2000s in Japan lock. ****

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Genichiro Tenryu & Nobukazu Hirai vs. Satoshi Kojima & Kaza Hayashi - AJPW 10/06/02

Hirai looks like the nicest wrestler in the world. He just has a very pleasant aura about him, which is very peculiar in wrestling. I did not think match was nearly as good as the earlier Tenryu AJPW 2002 tag, which had the great work from Miyamoto. This match had great energy, but it was almost too much energy. Everybody was running around, but there was not much purpose or consequence to the action. I will say the Tenryu/Kojima interactions make me think I underrated their 2002 series because it was easily the best work in the match. Kojima coming in with tunnel vision to attack Tenryu leaving him prone to the double team was really well executed with Kojima showing some of his best fire of all time. The problem was transitions in and out. Kojima gets his ass kicked outside and then casually takes over on Hirai and tags in Hayashi. I hate inconsequential sequences.

Tenryu was out of fucking control in this match. Tenryu lines up to hit Kojima with a chair, but instead decides to whip it into the audience and attack Kojima. Anybody care to explain what the hell that was about? Then Hayashi cheap shots Tenryu on the apron. So Tenryu gets another chair and flings it at him when he is in the corner. It goes flying off the ring post into the crowd. He could have really hurt Hayashi or somebody. It reminded me of the recent cinder block throw that almost hurt Lawler and you could see how displeases Lawler was at the segment. It adds to the chaotic nature, but is almost too dangerous. Tenryu killing Hayashi is fun, but I have seen better. Just like before the transition out sucked as it was just Hayashi doing a backspring elbow on Hirai. For as bad as the transitions were, Kojima looked great and the Kojima/Tenryu work was electric. It felt much bigger than Tenryu/Kea because how over Kojima is and how much effort he was putting forth. Kojima is able to hit the lariat, but has to tag out. By contrast, Hirai/Hayashi just seems so unimportant like RAW 10:30 segment unimportant. Kojima back in hits a lariat to win the match.

What is weird about this match is that it feels like it is building to a major Tenryu/Kojima singles match except Kojima/Tenryu already happened twice. Kojima/Tenryu is great and I will go back and watch their singles series. Hayashi/Hirai is not. Tenryu is crazy dangerous in this match. In about a month from now, I guarantee the only thing I will remember is Tenryu throwing chairs in the audience. It is a good match with plenty of energy, but not great. ***

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AJPW Triple Crown Champion Shinya Hashimoto vs Satoshi Kojima - AJPW 6/13/03

I don't know if I am so burnt out on the NOAH style or because I got a wicked hot chick's number last night (toot! toot!), but this was damn entertaining. That was one of the most exciting finish stretches I have seen in some time. I was hanging on every move as Hashimoto The Destroyer looked to put down Crowd Favorite Kojima. The "STOP HITTING ME WITH THAT LARIAT" punches had me going bezerk and you did not know when Kojima was going to strike next with his lariat. 

The beginning was so refreshing with two wrestlers just struggling over basic holds and working a classic championship style build. A spot like the early cross armbreaker, which Kojima sold well by immediately getting to the ropes and powdering, gives the crowd a quick highspot and demonstrates how important is not to make a mistake. From a kayfabe perspective, I feel like Hashimoto was not really trying to win the match just sort of playing defense then he dropkicked Kojima to the outside and the match really picked up. Hashimoto starts to kick ass on the outside with a DDT on the outside. Kojima hits a desperation lariat to the knees. Hashimoto hits a Fuck You knee lift and then a HUGE double stomp from the top rope. SWEET! Kojima hits a bad bad looking back drop driver. Then PRO WRESTLING LOVE Shining Wizard, but kick out! Kojima gets the figure-4 and signals for the LARIATO! HASHIMOTO THE DESTROYER CHOPS AWAY THE LARIAT ARM! KICKS TO THE ARM! Hammerlock DDT, STO and Inverse triangle choke, but Kojima makes it to the ropes. HASHIMOTO IS PISSED AND IS GOING TO DRILL KOJIMA WITH A BRAINBUSTER! Kojima slips out and LARIAT! Kojima has his lariat, but Hashimoto knows it is coming so you get these great Hashimoto destroys arm, but Kojima just sucks it up and nails lariats because he nothing else. Then Hashimoto just starts punching the fuck out of his arm to set up THE BRAINBUSTER~! Hashimoto The Destroyer wins, but Kojima shows he can compete with the big boys.

A more interesting thread or hook earlier in the match would make this a MOTYC, but it falls just short. I need to rewatch the Tenryu matches, but as it stands this is my favorite Kojima match. He unquestionably always brings the crowd to his matches, but here he was focused and worked hard as an underdog.. This was Hashimoto's best pure singles performance from the 00s where he just looked like a world beater, but still gave Kojima enough to make the match competitive. Most importantly, they peaked with a super hot finish. ****1/4

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Satoshi Kojima vs Shinjiro Ohtani - Budokan 9/06/03

Another good Kojima match will wonders ever cease! I should let this girl know the effect she has had on me. Making me like Kojima, craziness! I was totally shocked by the finish, but I should not have been given the layout. This was the first time since Kojima joined All Japan he was not the underdog (Mutoh, Kawada, Tenryu and Hashimoto) and I was intrigued what he would do. I actually thought he worked an energetic and hot match from on top. I would liked to seen more dickishness and heeling from Ohtani since this is part of the AJPW vs Z1 feud. I liked the opening with them hitting finishers early to kick off the match with a bang. They reset to a more standard opening with Kojima dominating Ohtani for the most part except when Ohtani was able to rake the eyes and get his facewash. Kojima teases doing the Ohtani facewash and he really should have! I liked how they had each other scouted Ohtani dropkicked Kojima going for his elbow drop and Kojima returned the favor when Ohtai went for the springboard dropkick. Kojima nearly kills himself with a wicked suicide dive into the railing. Kojima is really throwing himself into his spots. Kojima destroys Ohtani with an elbow and he does the lifeless sell. I should have realized once Kojima was destroying Ohtani with Ace Crushers, but was not finishing him off that Ohtani would win because that is Japanese Match Layout 101, but I presume this was when Kojima gets his victory over  a veteran and bring his ascent.  I didn't like the finish because I thought Kojima killed Ohtani too much. Thus it made Kojima look weak and the Ohtani comeback look unbelieveable. I really bit on Ohtani getting two Dragon Suplexes to counter the Lariat and then Kojima nailing him with a Lariat. If that was the finish, this match would have finished a bit better, but it would have been more of an extended squash. Ohtani mounts his comeback with a spinwheel kick and springboard dropkick to the back of his head. He cant get the powerbomb and Kojima knocks him out of his boots and again a perfectly good finish for a Kojima victory. Ohtani powerbomb and then a Dragon suplex brings it home for Ohtani.

My two knocks against this match is that if you want Ohtani to win the whole match ought to be restructed or at the very least not have Kojima totally annihilate him and that finish run did not fit the rest of the match. They were working a fun upper midcard match to establish Kojima on top then they all of sudden tacked on this "epic" finish run. It is still a good match, but did not think the complete package will make my top 100. ***

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Mitsuharu Misawa vs Satoshi Kojima - AJPW 7/18/04

Is Kojima sponsored by a Japanese furniture company called Cozy World? Thats badass. Misawa's age really, really showed in this match. By the end, he finally broke the match open, but the first 20 minutes or so was painful to watch one of the greatest wrestlers of all time sleepwalk through his style of match. Kojima, who is usually rover like over with crowd, could not seen to get them behind him until the latter half of the match making for a dead crowd and overall boring match that is probably more famous for a hilarious blunder.

The beginning was the match was well-worked with good basic work involving top wristlock and headlock with you few highspots. Then they just sat this chinlock forever. Kojima looked to pick it up by doing a Tiger Driver (O NO HE DIDNT) and then kicking some ass on the outside. In the spot of the match, Kojima went for a powerbomb on Misawa, but you cant powerbomb Misawa and took a wicked bump into the railing. Misawa ran through basic mid-match offense, but was just going through the motions. Then in one of the funniest botches, Misawa goes for his pump fake diving elbow and basically flips into the ropes and falls back on his ass. Kojima, way more professional than me, continues on as I would have been laughing my ass off. After that match finally gets going with them trading bombs, the Tiger Driver to the floor was a good highspot and actually believed Kojima had a chance once he kicked out of Emerald Flowsion and hit a couple big lariats. It was not to be because a spinning back elbow and a Tiger Driver '91 polished him off.

Was Kojima supposed to the Kawada of the 00s? Just never could win the big one. The guy could not buy a victory before his February '05 Triple Crown victory, but hey he was still over. Misawa sadly looked old and washed up. Kojima did not know how to bring him out of a funk. The finish pulls the match into the good territory, but nowhere near a top 100 match. *** 

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AJPW Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada vs Takao Omori - AJPW 7/18/04

Omori rocking a trendy 2014 hipster haircut in 2004. Who knew all hipsters were ripping off Takao Omori.

In two marquee matches (Tenryu and Hashimoto), Kawada just blows off knee selling and then here he just starts randomly selling the knee, but who I am to complain Kawada selling the knee is always badass. In fairness, Omori did hit one dragon leg screw, but it did not seem like it would be followed up on. Then Kawada after hitting his back heel kick and axe kick started selling the knee and the match got real interesting. Omori did an admirable job working the knee, but this was the Kawada show and I was loving it. Kawada mounts comeback on the outside with a yakuza kick over the railing. He retreats to the high ground of the ring. Omori tries to get back in and Kawada yakuza kick again. Then they work a mini-scaffold match out on the apron that is really great drama, which ends with a Kawada enziguiri. The difference between Kawada in this and the aforementioned matches is night and day. You can really feel the struggle to overcome the pain to hit his basic offense. Kawada nails two back drop drivers and goes for a third, but Omori holds onto ropes for dear life. Omori goes back to knee and drills Kawada with a wicked piledriver. Knee drop gets two. Omori overcomes a barrage of enziguiris with lariats. After this match, falls apart into a bomb throwing fest, but not as fun as Kobashi/Omori. Kawada is awfully small to be hitting a powerbomb against someone like Omori. Kawada wins after elbows, back drop driver and a Shining Wizard. Tack on a hotter finish and this is a mortal lock for the Top 100. Kawada's great selling keeps thing interesting early, the mini-scaffold match was fun and Omori false run were great, but then they were just missing that extra gear. It will probably make the Top 100, but not sure. ***3/4