World's Worst Man

Incredibly talented and charismatic. Also incredibly lazy. Muto unfortunately decided that once he was over like a god, he would stop working hard in the ring, and he never really reached his full potential as far as an in-ring performer. In his later years, he was still decent at various points, but the overall story was one of a veteran coasting on his success. In any case, he's still one of the more popular Japanese wrestlers of all time, and is notable for his success in the American market as well. I've not seen a lot of Harley Race, especially his American work, but from what I can tell, he know how to get it done in the ring. Very good worker with a solidgrasp of psychology and believable execution. I haven't seen a prime Lawler, but I look forward to it during the DVDVR 1980's project. There's not much to say that hasn't been said before. Calling 1990's AJPW the best wrestling product of all time is such a cliche and there seems to have been some backlash against the promotion for garnering such praise and attention, but I do believe they produced more of the best matches than any other wrestling promotion. They were still basically a one or two match show during their glory years, but I'm just not so sure that even matters considering the the quality and quantity of their high-end matches. For someone who enjoys the serious, sporting form of wrestling over the more theatrical, I can't imagine a better promotion to get into.

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, but she never stopped trying to fight her way out of Devil's holds. And why wouldn't she, the holds hurt right? They sure looked like it, as both girls did a phenomenal job putting over the damage of the early mat-work, with excellent facials and clear body language. In some matches, the early mat-work seems to be given a passing thought. Not here, where it seemed like life or death from the very start. The struggle and competitiveness extended itself to the rest of the match. Suplexes and slams were fought for and against. It makes sense, but it also made for great timing, which is something missing from a lot of matches today. It makes such a large difference when the wrestlers fight for moves instead of just hitting them right away. It builds anticipation for the move and makes them that much more important. Maybe the best example of this was Chigusa's late match cross-armed german suplex. Chigusa slowly hooked it in while Devil frantically tried to struggle out of it, to no avail. When the move was hit, it made for an excellent near fall, one that the crowd bought into as the finish. Most all of the big moves in this match were timed and fought for well, which added to the drama, and put the moves over to the audience. While the main reasons this match was so great are covered above, there were a few other things that stand out, good and bad. Devil's absolutely devastating punches for one. These were some big league knocks Chigusa was taking, I can't remember the last women's match I'd seen with such great punches. The selling was just fantastic, most notably the late match selling which put over how much sheer energy each girl had used up. This was one of the big reasons the match came off as epic as it did. On the negative side, I wasn't crazy about the late match structure and transitioning, as it seemed like a few of the transitions came at perplexing moments. For example, a couple times it seemed like Chigusa or Devil would get hit with a move for a near fall, and then almost right after, transition into control without any reversal or comeback made. It didn't happen often, but was just a small annoyance late in the match. Finally, the double KO finish made sense, because the match had really been quite even. Devil got the better of it early, Chigusa eventually fought back to somewhat equal footing, and they each took their fair share of bombs late in the match. Some things might have been done to add a little more drama to the finish, because I don't feel it got over as well as it could have, but it was definitely the right finish for the match. I really liked this match. The "competitive" style of pro-wrestling is absolutely my favourite style. I'll take two wrestlers going at it in a rough, hard-fought wrestling match over a more theatrical approach any day. This match was basically that, and in that context, was performed almost as well as I could expect. ****1/2 Homicide vs. Bryan Danielson (6/3/06) This was the Homicide show, as he really stole the spotlight in the match. Early portions were fairly pedestrian, until they go out to the floor and brawl around a bit, while Danielson starts going to town on Homicide's shoulder. Homicide really shines in his role as the face, as his selling of the arm is top notch and natural (unlike some other ROH workers whose selling is rather unnatural). Things eventually build to both men missing moves from the top, which really made things interesting for the last few minutes, as it was back and forth after that. Danielson is working his heel schtick pretty good, even in the later portions of the match. For example when both guys are slugging each other and really getting the crowd going, Danielson goes for the eyes as he's losing the striking match, which got a great reaction due to the timing. Unfortunately, Danielson's timing on some of his late match moves isn't strong, as he blows off some previous offense and goes through a dragon suplex like nothing, without bothering to milk it for heat or dramatic effect. Best near-fall of the match was Homicide's frog splash, which he hit after fighting off a Danielson superplex attempt. A good example of getting a hot near-fall out of a counter. Finish wasn't great, mostly because the Danielson elbows didn't look particularly effective, and a ref stoppage should really warrant some nasty looking punishment. The booking of it was fine, because it kept Homicide strong, it just wasn't performed well. The match was still rather good, and makes me look forward to their rematch. ***1/2

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) 4. Kazuo Yamazaki vs Nobuhiko Takada (9/11/85 UWF) 5. Nobuhiko Takada vs Bob Backlund (12/22/88 UWF) 6. Yoji Anjoh vs Masakatsu Funaki (6/14/89 UWF) 7. Masakatsu Funaki vs Tatsuo Nakano (7/24/89 UWF) 8. Kazuo Yamazaki vs Nobuhiko Takada (12/5/84 UWF) 9. Akira Maeda vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (8/13/89 UWF) 10. Yoji Anjoh vs Minoru Suzuki (10/25/89 UWF) 11. Akira Maeda vs Kazuo Yamazaki (5/21/89 UWF) 12. Kazuo Yamazaki vs Yoji Anjoh (8/13/89 UWF) 13. Kazuo Yamazaki vs Nobuhiko Takada (5/4/89 UWF) 14. Nobuhiko Takada vs Akira Maeda (1/10/89 UWF) 15. Nobuhiko Takada vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (10/25/89 UWF) 16. Super Tiger vs Nobuhiko Takada (9/6/85 UWF) 17. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger (9/11/85 UWF) 18. Akira Maeda vs Kazuo Yamazaki (5/12/88 UWF) 19. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger (7/17/85 UWF) 20. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Akira Maeda (3/2/85 UWF) 21. Super Tiger vs Akira Maeda (9/11/84 UWF) 22. Nobuhiko Takada vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (7/8/85 UWF) 23. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger (12/5/84 UWF) 24. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Nobuhiko Takada (10/22/84 UWF) 25. Atsushi Onita vs Masashi Aoyagi (10/6/89 FMW) 26. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Kazuo Yamazaki (1/7/85 UWF) 27. Super Tiger vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (6/24/85 UWF) 28. Yoji Anjoh vs Minoru Suzuki (4/14/89 UWF) 29. Super Tiger vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (9/7/84 UWF) 30. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Masakatsu Funaki (5/4/89 UWF) 31. Nobuhiko Takada vs Marty Jones (2/18/85 UWF) 32. Yuko Miyato vs Minoru Suzuki (5/4/89 UWF) 33. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Osamu Kido (9/6/85 UWF) 34. Akira Maeda vs Super Tiger (1/7/85 UWF) 35. Riki Choshu vs Genichiro Tenryu (2/21/85 JPW) 36. Osamu Kido vs Akira Maeda (7/21/85 UWF) 37. Super Tiger vs Nobuhiko Takada (7/21/85 UWF) 38. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Kazuo Yamazaki (8/29/85 UWF) 39. Super Tiger vs Marty Jones (3/2/85 UWF) 40. Akira Maeda vs Kazuo Yamazaki (2/18/85 UWF) 41. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Kazuo Yamazaki (7/24/89 UWF) 42. Super Tiger/Joe Malenko vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara/Osamu Kido (5/25/85 UWF) 43. Masami Soronaka vs Scott McGhee (12/5/84 UWF) 44. Nobuhiko Takada vs Masami Soronaka (3/2/85 UWF) 45. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Osamu Kido (2/18/85 UWF) 46. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Yoji Anjoh (5/21/89 UWF) 47. Osamu Kido vs Akira Maeda (1/29/85 UWF) 48. Minoru Suzuki vs Johnny Barrett (10/1/89 UWF) 49. Ryuma Go vs Atsushi Onita (4/30/89 Pioneer) 50. Rusher Kimura vs Alexis Smirnoff (11/22/80 IWE) 51. Mighty Inoue/Higo Hamaguchi vs Carlos Plata/El Doberman (11/27/80 IWE) 52. Bob Backlund vs Masakatsu Funaki (5/21/89 UWF) 53. Carlos Plata/El Doberman/Goro Tsurumi vs Higo Hamaguchi/Isamu Teranishi/Mach Hayato (11/22/80 IWE) 54. Super Tiger/Akira Maeda vs Nobuhiko Takada/Yoshiaki Fujiwara (7/23/84 UWF) 55. Kazuo Yamazaki vs Chris Dolman (11/29/89 UWF) 56. Riki Choshu/Yoshiaki Yatsu/Kuniaki Kobayashi vs Hiro Saito/Shunji Takano/Super Strong Machine (11/2/85 JPW) 57. Nobuhiko Takada vs Akira Maeda (5/25/85 UWF) 58. Atsushi Onita vs Masashi Aoyagi (6/2/89 Ultimate Karate Ikki Kajiwara Memorial) 59. Shozo Kobayashi & Haruka Eigen vs Mighty Inoue & Isamu Teranishi (6/29/80 IWE) 60. El Gran Hamada vs Perro Aguayo (4/11/84 UWF) 61. Mighty Inoue/Higo Hamaguchi vs Spike Huber/Rocky Brewer (7/25/80 IWE) 62. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Akira Maeda (7/13/85 UWF) 63. Tarzan Goto vs Mitsuhiro Matsunaga (12/4/89 FMW) 64. Higo Hamaguchi/Isamu Teranishi/Mach Hayato vs El Cobarde/Herodes/Goro Tsurumi (3/26/81 IWE) 65. Akira Maeda vs Kazuo Yamazaki (10/22/84 UWF) 66. Osamu Kido vs Super Tiger (7/8/85 UWF) 67. Kazuo Yamazaki vs Jack Snuka (9/11/84 UWF) 68. Osamu Kido vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (7/25/85 UWF) 69. Cuban Assassian/Phil Lafleur vs Super Tiger/Osamu Kido (10/22/84 UWF) 70. Carlos Plata/El Doberman vs Mighty Inoue/Mach Hayato (11/1/80 IWE) 71. Super Tiger vs Osamu Kido (8/29/85 UWF) 72. Atsushi Onita/Dick Murdoch vs Masanobu Kurisu/Jos LeDuc (12/4/89 FMW) 73. Jimmy Backlund vs Mitsuteru Tokuda (10/6/89 FMW) 74. Killer Khan vs Stan Hansen (??/??/86 JPW) 75. Pete Roberts/Akira Maeda vs Keith Hayward/Osamu Kido (12/5/84 UWF) Rusher Kimura vs Alexis Smirnoff (11/22/80 IWE) - I doubt this will be a popular pick, but I liked it. There was a lot of very, very basic and deliberate matwork, but it wasn't inactive matwork . Sometimes one hold would be held for 2 or 3 minutes at a time, but both guys would constantly try to fight their way out of those holds, and eventually, it turned into a solid and focused leg attack from Smirnoff. I'll take basic and deliberate combined with active and focused any day. Super Tiger vs Akira Maeda (9/11/84 UWF) - I loved the back and forth in this match. Great counters and great momentum swings made this really dramatic for me. Masami Soronaka vs Scott McGhee (12/5/84 UWF) - This was perhaps the most realistic match on the set so far. A lot of chain/amateur wrestling going on here, with both guys working for holds, and moving along in a realistic and smooth way. For how great of an amateur Kurt Angle was, these two seem to have a better grasp of how to translate that style into the pros. Pete Roberts/Akira Maeda vs Keith Hayward/Osamu Kido (12/5/84 UWF) - A complete bore for 25 of the 30 minutes this match went. Lifeless matches aren't a big deal when they're short, but when they're long, it's just painful. Maeda did nothing except kill one of the first exciting sequences of the match. The other three only picked up their game during the last 10 minutes or so. There was little or no direction, focus or action and it lasted 30 minutes. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Super Tiger (12/5/84 UWF) - Absolutely brutal. The early portions of the match are peppered with some great mat sequences, with both guys working for holds, transitioning to other holds when those weren't working and just looking really believable in general. Then Tiger starts killing Fujiwara with kicks. For about seven minutes. This was actually good and bad in that it was silly that Tiger was allowed to kick the hell out of Fujiwara while he was down and supposedly taking a ten count. If a ten count is going to be used for knockdowns, the other guy can't be allowed continue beating his opponent after the opponent gets knocked down. It ruins the point and drama of the knockdown. The whole finishing sequence would have been better if Fujiwara was taking the beating on his feet, along with making a few more attempts at a comeback. But I can't complain too much, since this is still early UWF, and the workers were still perfecting the style. Kazuo Yamazaki vs Nobuhiko Takada (12/5/84 UWF) - This was more or less a better version of Tiger vs. Maeda from 9/11/84. A great swing match, where both guys had their moments. Great, fluid matwork early, awesome transitions from one move attempt to the next and a fantastic back and forth stretch run where the outcome was very much in doubt. Osamu Kido vs Akira Maeda (1/29/85 UWF) - Maeda actually sold a bit. Early portions were very dull, as Maeda was in control for 95% of the first 10-15 minutes. Things picked up at various points, but the work was never more than good. Ends up being merely decent, which is a lot better than I thought it would be after the first few minutes. Nobuhiko Takada vs Marty Jones (2/18/85 UWF) - Good bit of fun here, with some clever reversals, great body language from both guys and a neat mini-story revolving around the headscissors. Not much drama, just a solidly worked, shoot-style wrestling match. Akira Maeda vs Kazuo Yamazaki (2/18/85 UWF) - Not such a great first 15 minutes, although it wasn't all bad. Things got really good when Yamazaki was allowed to make his comeback and get in some quality offense. Most of the match was mediocre, but the stretch run made it good enough to get a decent placement on the list. Riki Choshu vs Genichiro Tenryu (2/21/85 JPW) - This was one of those matches where they don't waste any time in moving the match along, as Tenryu tried to bomb Choshu out of there right at the start, which made the whole match seem like a stretch run. If the sort of work these guys did was at the end of 15-20 minutes of build, this would be a MOTYC. As it was, it's just merely good, but a lot of fun regardless. Nobuhiko Takada vs Akira Maeda (5/25/85 UWF) - This was way too clipped, showing only six of nineteen minutes. What I saw was mostly good, and was enough to put it over some of the weaker matches, but I didn't see enough for this to really get a good placement. Nobuhiko Takada vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara (7/8/85 UWF) - The main point here was that Fujiwara is a prick, and that makes Takada angry. Angry Takada decides to kick the crap out of Fujiwara, but that doesn't really stop Fujiwara from being a prick. Short match, but it had a nifty story and it was a ton of fun. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Kazuo Yamazaki (8/29/85 UWF) - There was some nifty matwork here which led to some bizarre positions, along with a couple of neat counters. The match never really got hot, and the ending was somewhat abrupt, but it was still a solid match due to how good the early portions were. Kazuo Yamazaki vs Nobuhiko Takada (9/11/85 UWF) - Tough call between this match or their 12/5/84 match, but I went with this one. The early portions of this match were hit or miss and weren't as strong as their previous encounter, but the stretch run was a lot better. Only problem was that it may have gone on a little too long. In any case, this match seemed like a blueprint for UWF2, as this was worked much like the bigger UWF2 matches, with a lot of knockdowns, comebacks and tons of drama. Kazuo Yamazaki vs Nobuhiko Takada (8/13/88 UWF) - Takada was actually heeling it up here, twice kicking Yamazaki while he was down, along with punching him right in the face. The opening 5-10 minutes of this match was full of neat little spots and story sequences like that. Later, Takada started going after Yamazaki's leg but couldn't put him away. One complaint is that the dragon suplex wasn't treated well, as it didn't even get a close near-fall, and it wasn't sold very well either. Finishing sequence was incredible and the actual finish was incredibly hot. Excellent match. Nobuhiko Takada vs Akira Maeda (11/10/88 UWF) - Incredibly dramatic and epic match. Both guys were just whaling on each other by the end. Really great story, with Takada getting the worst of it early, and only being one knockdown away from losing, only to reverse the tide and storm back for the win. The finish was just beautiful, as they were drilling each other with their best shots, and it was only a matter of who would go down first. Maeda's selling was fantastic and it was the best performance of his that I've seen.

This is probably the worst booked tournament in quite some time. If the match quality isn't any good, it'll probably be the worst G1 period. It's just so mind-boggling to have Kanemoto advance over Nagata, and Tanahashi (a guy who they need to present as a solid champ) not get in. If they wanted a junior in, Liger was right there, and he happens to be more credible against the heavyweights, and seems to be a better choice all around. They also ruined the chances of maybe the only big match in the G1, that being Kojima vs. Nagata. And the likeliest outcome seems to be Kojima vs. Tenzan part XII, which I'm not looking forward to, mostly because Tenzan has been lazy, unmotivated and out of shape lately.

It sounds like you work with people who suck. Here, let my signature image cheer you up.

Whoops. I seemed to have missed it when I put together the list. I'll add it now, but it won't be very high because of the offense overkill, no-selling and wacky pacing in the later stages of the match. I used to watch WCW from early-late 90's, but I haven't seen much lately, outside of some PPVs. Everything on this list is stuff I've watched since getting back into wrestling in 2004. I didn't keep track of stuff I watched from 99-2000 (when I first became a fan of in-ring work) and stuff I watched before then, and even if I did, it wouldn't be an accurate representation of what I think now, because my methods and criteria have changed drastically.

Fair enough, thats why I like Vernon Wells in the top 3. The defense is just incredible. I'm surprised Papi is so low. His AVG isn't stellar this year, but he has a ton of RBI, including a few game winners. He's Mr. Clutch.

Mauer ahead of Hafner? That's odd, considering Hafner's been involved with 153 of the Indians runs this year (72 R, 81 RBI), while Mauer has 102 (52 R, 50 RBI). Not to mention the .637 SLG and 1.075 OPS.

Well done, old bean.

I've only seen the first two seasons. The show became too formulaic and boring for me to continue watching it. It would have been fine as a one season show, because the premise was good and the show was entertaining for a while.

At his peak, he had the best moveset in wrestling history, was a great dramatic seller and could get a story over with his intensity and emotion. The downside to the latter point is that he occasionally let that intensity and emotion throw the logic of the match out the window. Along those lines, he's also a fair bit responsible for the no-selling that's become a staple in big match Japanese pro-wrestling. Even so, for the few "silly" performances of his, he's had ten times as many that showed he was quite a smart wrestler. Kenta Kobashi is probably one of the ten or fifteen best workers of all time and is certainly the greatest wrestler of the past 10 years. Completely believable, stiff offense. The best selling ever. A clear understanding of how to tell a story in the ring. Toshiaki Kawada is the best worker of all time. His longevity was certainly not at the level of a Jumbo Tsuruta, but from about 1993 to 1998, I don't believe there was a better talent in the history of pro-wrestling. Every wrestler should watch and learn from Toshiaki Kawada. Mitsuharu Misawa was undoubtedly the star of All Japan during the 90's. Oddly enough, among American wrestling fans, he's probably the least popular of the "big 3" of All Japan (Taue is less popular, but he's not really at the level of ability as the other 3). Still, I believe he was a better worker than Kobashi. Misawa just wasn't as flashy or fancy, but the guy was just completely solid as a wrestler. He's probably been involved in more great matches than anyone else, mostly because all of the other AJPW workers' great matches typically involved him as well. His feud with Kawada is probably the best of all time, spanning 6 years and 10-12 matches over that timespan, almost every single match over ****. Misawa was also a large draw, and along with Keiji Muto and Shinya Hashimoto, was the face of Japanese pro-wrestling througout the 90's and into the 2000's. Shinya Hashimoto was larger than life. Combining crisp looking offense, fantastic selling and an overwhelming amount of in-ring charisma, Hashimoto matches were often spectacles and he was well loved by the fans. Probably the biggest Japanese draw of the 90's, he built his reputation as the "true" successor to Antonio Inoki. The amount of fire and emotion he brought to his matches is unmatched by all but a few. His feud with Naoya Ogawa was probably the last great feud that NJPW ever did. Hashimoto is a true legend and may well be among the greatest of all time.

Great worker back in the day. Crisp, believable offense, good, smart selling and a master at the slow build NJPW Junior style. These days his offensive strengths are totally gone, so I'd never call him great, but he's still very good, and has shown a complete understanding of US pro-wrestling story-telling. Unfortunately, he's now incredibly overrated, especially by a certain repugnant group of fans (the contrarian anti-smark idiots). Because of that, it's hard for me to really get into him. The last thing I said about Benoit also applies to Mysterio. Actually, the offense problem applies too. The difference is, I think Rey has always been overrated. He was athletically gifted and could certainly have good matches. But I haven't seen much truly great stuff from him. Today, he's one of the better WWE-style workers, probably only behind Benoit at this point. Hey look, it's another guy that's overrated. I think with Finlay, it comes because some vocal people seem to like stiffness and tough guy personas. There's no doubt he was a good brawler, as his selling and execution (in the context of a brawl) was topnotch. I haven't seen much to talk about during his comeback though. The PPV match with Benoit was so dime-a-dozen and so laughably overrated, and that pretty much sums up all of his comeback work. It's hard to consider him anything more than decent at this point. I haven't seen any of him lately, but before..All he brought to the table was spots. And he usually blew 1 or 2 per match. That's a bad combination. He's overrated by the casual smarks, which probably isn't a big deal. He probably has no hope of becoming a decent worker going down the path he's on. Danielson has always been technically fabulous. It's only in the past year or so that he's consistently able to apply that technical ability in matches that have some sort of meaning. Meaning that in his earlier days, his matches were just straight up wrestling with little or no dramatics and passion (some exceptions obviously). But today, he's given a character and gimmick to run with, so his matches are quite a bit more well-rounded. Since his ROH title reign started, he's probably the best wrestler in North America. He pretty much has it all in the ring. All he's lacking is outside the ring charisma, which isn't a big deal to me, and wouldn't big a big deal in NJPW or NOAH, where I hope he ends up sometime in the future. Aries showed a lot of promise when he broke out in 2004, being involved in some really good multi-man tags, along with the 2 excellent Danielson matches. Since losing the world title, he's been somewhat stagnant I think. He's pretty much plateaued as a wrestler without reaching the heights one would have expected for him. I still think he's a decent-good worker, but he needs to pick up his game. Shelley is a tremendously funny worker. His mannerisms and body language are top notch and he has a good idea of how to work a crowd. His wrestling sometimes tends to get on the "play wrestling" side of things, that is to say the technical portions of his match look somewhat forced and unnatural. I think that's more of a mental issue as opposed to him just not knowing how to work naturally. With his charisma, he has no need to wrestle that way. Even if he's not Bryan Danielson, he doesn't have to be, so there's no need to force anything. The more I watch and think about Daniels, the more I dislike him. He seems to wrestle in a homogenized and sterile way. Everything seems unnatural and forced, even the passion and dramatics. He's a smart, capable worker, but I think he tries too hard to be great. That means he ends up not even being good.