Starting to watch a lot of wrestling again, and I whipped up a couple of reviews.
Chigusa Nagayo vs. Devil Masami (8/22/85)
This was pro-wrestling in its purest form. It wasn't about good vs. evil or trying to avoid or hit a specific move. It was about two competitors trying to win a wrestling match. And both Chigusa and Devil really, really wanted to win. Everything was fought for, nothing was given. Every early mat-hold was contested. Chigusa got the short end of the stick early on,
Thought I'd post my ongoing ballots for DVDVR's best of the 1980's projects. This one is for the "Other Japan", meaning all men's promotions outside of AJPW and NJPW (they have their own categories). I've already started, so I've posted the current list. I'll also add short blurbs about the matches when I have something to say about them.
1. Nobuhiko Takada vs Akira Maeda (11/10/88 UWF)
2. Kazuo Yamazaki vs Nobuhiko Takada (8/13/88 UWF)
3. Akira Maeda vs Gerard Gourdeau (8/13/88 UWF)
Since I'm just full of original ideas lately, I decided to steal another idea, this time from HTQ. You know the drill, give me some names of wrestlers or posters, and watch the carnage unfold.
I watched this match the day after it originally aired, with, based on what I had read, the expecations that it was going to be a stiff, scrappy match. When I didn't get even close to that, I was disappointed, and it probably lessened my opinion of the match more than it should have. So I rewatched it today, with a clean slate and no specific expectations.
The story of the match was vaguely defined (ie. not told all that well). As far as I could surmise, the main story elements were Benoit'
Stolen completely from Loss. I like putting together lists, so I'm going to do one of the top wrestling matches by year, according to me. It should also give me a good idea of which years I'm lacking in footage of. I left out matches that were significantly edited. Challenge me on matches you disagree with. I'm itching to watch some of this stuff again, but I can't justify it without a good reason. Part of the reason is that I have a depressing amount of unwatched stuff. Updates at the bottom.
Some people say you can't compare different wrestling styles. I say nonsense. While different styles require one to look for different things, there are a number of criteria that are constant in all forms of pro-wrestling. Once that is known, all that is left in order to compare the different styles of pro-wrestling is to decide whether one match does a better job in its genre's specific criteria than the next. This is of course all my opinion, in case the reader is one of those who get offended
I just saw this one. It was incredibly stiff. More so than a normal Kobashi or Joe match. They really set the stage early, doing things to let the audience know that this was indeed going to be a war between two guys who are viewed as the strongest wrestlers in their home promotions. The match built pretty well, as they kept it small at the start and didn't give anything away. Selling was top notch, particular the long-term selling, which really got over how grueling the match was. There wasn't
This was part of the NWA Tag Title tournament that WCW held in 1992. Originally, only the first round matches were to be shown on this broadcast I believe, but they did an angle were Steve Williams and Terry Gordy (who were slated to face the winner) took out the Steiners' first round opponents. The reason being that Doc and Gordy wanted to get at the Steiners as soon as possible. So Bill Watts ended up announcing that the match that all the fans wanted to see, would take place tonight.
T
I just saw this match, and since I don't have it on DVD or tape, decided to review it on my first watching so I'd have something to go back to if it ever came up in discussion. I haven't seen a whole lot about this match, other than Meltzer giving it ****3/4, so I don't really know how this match is regarded by the populace. I basically went in with a clean slate.
The match starts very sloppily. A Thesz press counter is almost completely botched, and Austin's offense just looks horrible. Th
I finally saw it today. It was fairly entertaining, but a few things really kept it out of MOTYC range.
What wasn't good
The chop sequence wasn't put over very well, and it was way too long. It was a fine idea, it just wasn't executed well.
The no-selling was just terrible. No-selling an exploder is one thing, no-selling a northern lights bomb is something else.
What was good
Kobashi's actual selling is fantastic, and it always has been.
Both guys used great body la
Why is it, that when people who are exposed to a hyped-up promotion for the first time, expect every single match to be great? I see this all the time with ROH, and I recently saw it with NOAH too. I see people complaining about a card-opening comedy match or a mid-card indy spotfest, and that supposedly means the promotion isn't great. What kind of logic is this, especially considering I don't see anyone claiming that ROH or NOAH produces great matches up and down the card. It's just not possib
Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiozaki vs. Jun Akiyama & Genichiro Tenryu (4/24/05)
This was the semi-main to NOAH's horrible 4/24/05 show. The card had so far seen a couple of DUD-level six-mans, an early, screwjob finish and a couple of average-slightly decent matches. So now we have Japan's strongest wrestler, along with his young protege, vs. a surly old legend along with the younger, but just as cantankerous Akiyama. Does it save the card? Depends on one's standards I suppose.
It was
Ok, here's what I want to do. Hopefully enough people read this blog so that we can get some sort of reasonable discussion. Lets discuss the best matches from 2000-2005, or early "Match of the decade candidates". Post as many matches as you want, but only if you really think they're truly great enough to be one of the best of the decade. You don't have to provide in-depth analysis, unless you're questioned. And even then, it doesn't have to be long-winded or anything. I'll fire off a few matches
So when did this trend of rating matches highly solely based on the story it tells, completely ignoring every other factor, start? Or is it just a by-product of the gradual change of the smart community to the anti-conformist, WWE fan? These people are usually the first to crucify a match for being too spotty. "Good wrestling isn't all about spots!!!". Well, good wrestling isn't all about the story either. If the story of the match is good, but the story is told poorly, does the match deserve as
A recent post got me thinking about a theoretical situation, and I extrapolated a sequence of events in my mind. What if someone claims that a certain wrestler has been involved with a great number of match of the decade cadidate type matches, when the reality is the wresltler in question has likely been involved in zero? What if someone calls this person out on that and asks for a list and explanation of said matches? Due to none of the matches actually being anywhere near that level, what if t
Once again, a wrestler, and specifically a Japanese legend, dies much too young. One of my favourite wrestlers of all time, one of the biggest draws in wrestling history and a tremendous in-ring performer is dead at the age of 40. As I write this, the last wrestling match I've seen was Toshiaki Kawada vs. Shinya Hashimoto. While I was viewing the match, never in my wildest dreams would I expect to hear of one of the combatants' death later in the day. RIP to a wrestling legend.
That's right, the line "all opinions are equal" is false. I see this bullshit being thrown around by people and it gets quite annoying. All opinions are not equal and people aren't just entitled to their opinion, but their informed, supportable opinion. This is an excuse used by lots of people who subscribe to opinions that can't generally be supported or people who have no idea how to even begin to support their opinions. For example, what if I said "Andre the Giant circa 1989 was a fantastic w
Welp, I saw Angle vs. HBK from Vengeance. It started fairly well, with some decent looking and logical mat work. The match just kind of meandered along until the horribly contrived german suplex on the table spot. That lead to an awful Angle control segment, which illustrates another reason why Angle is overrated. Chin locks and punches, how creative. Great way to fill the time there. The corner powerbomb was neat, but they followed it up with..more chin locks. Who's idea was it to have a 90 sec
So how about that Kurt Angle eh? Great worker right? Wrong. Lets start with the masturbatory matwork/grapple sequences with lots of pretty counters and rolling around. Good matwork should look realistic and effective, not pretty and contrived. His supposedly "great" matches with Benoit are a good example of this. Oh, and lets not forget the "trading german suplexes" spot where both guys essentially no-sell the damage from multiple german suplexes (granted, with how germans are done in the WWE, t
Secondly, DrVenkman rocks. It's kind of funny, our "relationship". He's a big WWE fan, I'm a hardcore workrate fan. WWE and workrate is like Stephanie McMahon and good booking. Yea. But we get along, even when I'm going off on tangents about how crummy the WWE product is. We get along despite a pretty strong difference of opinion. What a concept. If only more people realized that a simple difference of opinion, when their truly is no right and wrong, doesn't mean you have to verbally attack the
