thecitythesky

^^^ not to squabble over the details... but i'd certainly think that Hero/Styles comes in at ****1/4. the intensity by Styles is absolutly ridiculous. i mentioned this in another thread, but i feel that this is a testament to the heel that Styles should've been as NWA Champ. he was a vicous, vicous pitbull on Hero's leg. and in true Hero fashion he sold everything masterfully, knowing exactly when to break into his comebacks (but not making them too long and nullify the legwork). no real wasted movement... everything made sense, and it all built and built and built and went somewhere. the only downsides are that i would've liked to have seen it go longer, that michael shane spoiled the after match in order to push the following nights match. although the extra 1/4* in the rating may also be a live vs. tape issue; i think that it warrants it. : as for IWA-MS shows to get from this year : Winter Wars (for the above match, as well as the Jacobs/Shelley matches) TPI 2003 (for Hero/B-Boy (a solid ****1/2 affair) which is the icing on the cake of an all around great weekend) 12-20-03 in Highland, IN (Hero/B-Boy II (not as good as the first one, but plays on the big spots from that match and sets up for the 2/3 falls match (which will happen at some point down the road... when?... with Hero going to Germany WxW full time i don't know) and Arik Cannon/Steve Stone (a fun ***1/4 matchup with Stone's great babyface fire) and Whitmer/Steel (***1/4-ish) When Hero met Punk (2/3 falls, 93 minutes... everything that needs to be said already has. and the match is longer than the Mighty Ducks) Spirit of '76 (Shelly/Jacobs 30 minute Ironman match, Hero/Steel) KOTDM 03 (Hero/Homicide) must own: TPI 2002 (Daniels/Styles (****) and Daniels/Punk (****1/2, the story runs so deep and directs the entire match) along with so many other solid solid matches. probably the best weekend of wrestling of the year) 02/09/02 (Hero/Punk Tables and Ladders match, 55 minutes. ****1/4. almost perfectly put together, everything is built up... and everything means something)

i got the same e-mail this morning... i'm certainly surprised to say the least. honestly, i really don't like Danny Daniels' chances against Hero tonight. for a while i was legitimatly conerned that Hero was taking off for bigger and better things (call me selfish, but i really don't want him to stop wrestling w/in a 5 hour drive from my apartment). but after Danny won the first cage match in Salem and considering that Ian just took the belt off of him does not bode well for the former champ. ah well... should be an excellent cage match. we'll see. it's really the only reason i'm making the drive (granted Highland's only 2 or so hours.)... although, i'd imagine the Sydal/Bailey match should be fun, chances are Bailey will take something right on his melon and Sydal'll try his damnedest to pull something engaging out of JC. and the Chikara 6 man looks good; i mark out for Quack so... i almost forgot Sabin/Martini which should be good considering they've wrestled with each other enough times. although, no Jacobs, no Shelley, no champ, and the fact that chances are the show'll go 5 hours are kind of downers (especially Lynn). but such is life. and high five for no stupid deathmatches on the show.

at his website (www.nickmondo.com) there used to be a link to a retirement highlight reel of sorts. on there is both the "weedwhacker" incident from TOD 1 (i believe in slow motion, albeit without the disgusting sound), as well as the insane, insane bump he and Zandig took at TOD 2.

what do you guys think of these collections...? my exposure to puro has mostly been in the form of New Japan juniors and such, but mid-nineties All Japan has always intrigued me. now, i know that the proper way would be to start all the way back with Choshu's Army stuff and go up from there... but, i don't want to wade through a mountain of tapes just to see what are regarded by many as the best ever. and plus, the collections are a perfect mix of things i know i like (Liger/Sano, other NJ Junoir stuff) and things i haven't seen. ... so anyway, what do you guys think of the series? is the VQ good? i've never had any problems with highspots before. but getting all the stuff i'd want to would be about $150. and i'd hate to get fucked. Thanks for whatever input you can give.

two of the bigger reasons that i was so upset that ECW folded were two storylines that i really wanted to see... : the NEW impact players w/ Justin Incredible/Steve Corino : and Jerry Lynn's whole siding w/ Callis and that big "Jerry Lynn will only wrestle in Main Events. i thought that both of those could've unfolded nicely.

they don't NEED the 35 minutes, as both are more than capable of putting on very good matches at any length. and Hero/Dragon would have a, no doubt, fantastic 15 minute match. but given more time (i.e. the 35 minutes)... the could really turn out something special.

that's not always true... the ECWA 4 way with Dragon/Low-Ki/Andrew/Daniels is very good. granted, not as good as RF Video says it is. and i will admit that Dragon doesn't look exceptional in it... but the Dragon/Ki story was nowhere near as important as Daniels/Andrews story was in that match. but it's still worth the money to buy the tape to have the match (provided RF sends the right tape...) EDIT: and the above Hero 3 ways are very, very good... and Hero looks very good in them.

if you really want to see what Hero can do, check out the following matches: (the above mentioned) Hero/B-Boy TPI 2003 (11/08/03) Hero/Shelley We are Family (07/04/03) Hero/Punk (02/07/03 2/3 Falls, 93 minutes) (the above mentioned) Hero/Homicide (08/01/03) (if you can get someone to put this on a comp. for you, do it. unless you want to sit through the garbage tournament...) Hero/Stryker TPI 2002 (11/01(maybe?)/02) (Hero sells the leg like a champ.) Hero/Styles (12/19/03 (this is the vicious prick heel that Styles should've been as NWA Champ, Hero again... selling the leg like a champ.)) Hero/Punk (02/09(maybe?)/02) 55 minutes Tables and Ladders match Hero/Whitmer/Punk (10/04/02) Hero/Steve Stone (11/22/03 Hero/Rotten/Cash Flo (11/24/01) (pros of this tape: this match... wet, topless women . cons: the first 3 matches, someone almost legit bleeding to death in the main) Hero/Punk (10/06/01... not terribly excellent. but fun to see how well these two "clicked" even back then... and also to see how far they've both come) ... i would actually recommend watching the matches in this order...

both Hero/B-Boy matches were absolutly gorgeous. the TPI match was a stand alone ****1/2 match. hard-hitting, exciting, dramatic match. a testament to why Hero is one of the top 5 in the US without question. simple story; with Hero knowing and showing that he is the better "wrestler" than B-Boy, so B-Boy breaks out his vicious strikes and high impact moveset... and Hero sells like only Hero can. Hero lets him know that 2 can play at that game and doesn't back down from the "fight". The closing 3 minutes are ridiculously intense as everytime you thought it was over, it wasn't. This match alone is worth buying the tape, and it was more than worth the 6 hours in a car. the second Hero/B-Boy match (from 12/20) is kind of a different animal (but still fantastic!). the match is good on its own, but really requires viewing the first match to become something much greater. also, this match needs to be watched with the understanding that the booking was done in such a fashion to set up for the 2/3 falls match. but, back to the match itself... they play off of all the signiture stuff from the first match. whereas the first time there was a lack of familiarity; this time, they know what to watch out for. B-Boy knows not to get caught on the mat (although, he does for a bit) and puts over Hero's attempts at locking in the Hangman's Clutch as truly desperate times. Hero throws the first forearm coming out of a corner break as a receipt for when B-Boy did it a month ago. Hero knows to look out for the Shining Wizard and so on and so forth. some people were unhappy w/ the finish as it happened... but like i said... it was booked to set up the 2/3 falls match, and i'm totally okay with that. also, this weekend's shows (12/19/03 & 12/20/03) are a testament to the fact that Hero's really the one guiding these matches and keeping them together. not that it's a straight up carry job, but he's taking some that would be very good on it's own and really making it something special... because, on 12/19 B-Boy wrestled Ian Rotten, and for much of the match B-Boy seemed kind of lost. the matwork, and much of the match itself is kind of sloppy; nothing really came together... and a match that was exciting on paper felt flat in the end. Also, Chris Hero v Homicide would be no slouch either. it wasn't... it was fantastic. they wrestled at IWA's King of the Deathmatch in a non-tournament match (either 08/02 or 08/03).

DiBiase/Roberts from Wrestlemania 6... one of my favorite matches of all time, and prefaced by a ridiculously intense promo by Jake. carrying that kind of gravity while remaining so collected (especially for the time)... it gets me every time.

You would say that. Not all of us think that Dutt, Acid and AB Luke are the be all and end all Barber, a little less bias in your posts would be nice you do realize that the Dutt/Acid "off the charts good" comment was taken verbatim from an unrelated third party currently at the show, then posted on the RoH board, then cut and pasted here, right....? that may explain the quotes. so any bias belongs to dude's friend Joe in Philly. (although... you are, as far as i'm concerned, correct about Luke, Acid, and to a lesser extent, Dutt.)

thanks for all the opinions. i may end up just getting a few choice ones thanks to various advice. check out the VQ on these collections to see if that was just a bad experience or not. as for CoffinSurfer's comments... while i'd love to/and do plan on getting the entire mid-90s All Japan TV spots if i like the matches on these collections; i'd like to see the big ones first. i know that i won't enjoy a lot of the depth that is apparently there, but i just want to know if the style appeals to me first. granted, from what i've heard/read, the matches in question are universally good... i'd still rather not commit to a project i may end up having no desire of finishing. at least this way i'll get some stuff that (on the collections) that i know i like but don't have. also... as per someone's recommendation. i am going to forgo buy 1994 Part I as i already have that years J-Cup and just order the 01-24-03 AJW show along with Dreamslam I and II. Thanks again.

http://www.highspots.com/www/stores_app/Br...parent_ids=0,52 they are all the way at the bottom. ... i'm not getting 82-83... as i already have 5 of the matches and everything after after 97.

if you go to www.nickmondo.com (as someone else had mentioned)... you can download the retirement video package (it's, i think, 42 megs and about 7 minutes). you can see the TOD 2 bump along with all the other retarded shit Mondo did over the years (included a slow-motion replay of the weedwacker incident).

yeah... hero beat arik cannon, dutt, and b-boy before getting pinned by alex shelley in a 3-way with shelley and daniels... ... and for the record, dutt/hero wasn't that good; if you've ever seen hero take on juniors, then you know he can do it... but for some reason it was flat, they just didn't really "click" in the ring. (although, dutt seemed to be flat all weekend... both in and out of the ring) if given time and dutt's on his game it could be a very good match. but it's not something i'd run to tell people about. (like hero/b-boy... which alone is reason enough to buy the tape).