World's Worst Man

I don't think there was much wrong with the WM match, but now when those guys wrestle each other, they're going to be obsessed with topping their previous matches. That will lead them to force things out for the sake of having a classic match, which leads to ridiculously contrived and idiotic wrestling. *points to their rematch*

Given how masturbatory and lame the Angle-HBK rematch was, I'll go with AJ vs. Daniels. I suppose Angle vs. HBK would be the better match if both guys just went out there and had a match without trying to force out a classic, but I don't see it happening that way.

No junior 6-man from the 1/4 dome show? No Nishimura vs. Tenzan? You got jipped man I have the goldenboytapes version of this. I'm not gonna watch all of the matches because I dont have the time, but I'll watch the bigger ones for each volume and do a counter review to your own. This volume will probably be Akiyama vs. Nagata.

Is it me, or is UT involved in a lot of "worst match ever" candidates?

These all just missed for me. I thought Tenryu vs. Jumbo was ***** the first time I saw it, but after a second viewing thought it was ****3/4. I had the Dream Rush tag at ****3/4 also, just because of sloppy execution. Everything else in that match was just so brilliant. Jumbo vs. Funk I had a bit lower, but that was the first 70's match I saw, so I really need to watch it again now that I have more experience with that under my belt. All 3 of those matches are still solid choices. Good choices here too. I thought Flair-Windham was better than the Flair-Steamboat matches, just misses ***** for me as well. The Can-Am vs. Footloose match I've only seen clipped, something like 12:30ish of 19:30ish or something. Maybe it's full on classics, and hopefully I'll be seeing it when the DVDVR Best of the 80's gets around to AJPW. I agree with the last 4 just missing. Kawada vs. Kobashi for me, was the best match that took place from the period of 1998-2004, but just missed *****, IIRC due to some Kobashi goofiness. Edit - I might post some reviews of upcoming stuff I watch, rather than going back. I wanted to do a bunch of reviews of the stuff I've seen listed, but I just have too much new stuff I need to watch. I've got the differ cup and '05 Destiny coming up, along with the full run of the NJ Cup. I'll have some reviews on those in the future, and when I'm finished I'll go back for some older stuff.

This spot plays off of Jumbo vs Misawa from 9/1/90. This is not the match where Jumbo made Misawa with the flash pin, but the rematch where Jumbo got his win back to establish he was still a top guy. (since he jobbed the Triple Crown to Gordy 2 days before he made Misawa on 6/8/90) In the 9/1 match, Misawa is laying a whipping in the corner to Jumbo and Jumbo slowly rises out of the corner, like Misawa did with Kawada, no sells the blows, and then proceeds to lay a beating on poor Misawa and eventually defeats him to show him he's still "the man". Just like Misawa would do to Kawada 4 years later. Although it plays off a previous story, I still don't like it, because it essentially amounted to no-selling, and I think that no-selling is no-selling, regardless of if it makes sense in the story. It's still a small gripe on my part, considering it wasn't like they were no-selling mid-high end offense (*eyes Kobashi and Akiyama*)

Part of the problem is probably context. It's a different match if one is familiar with the history and their past TC matches. When all else fails, I just compare it to other matches. And I don't see any other matches that were as close to flawless as this one, to go along with a great story that is told through perfectly executed and stiff looking wrestling. Bret vs. Owen at WMX for example, didn't have nearly the amount of story, nor was the work as good. I gave that match ****1/2 and a lot of people have it higher.

Ok, here's the problem with that argument. In a relative sense, Misawa didn't take all that much punishment. Compare it to how much punishment Kobashi took in 12/23/00. Or compare it to Kobashi kicking out of both of Misawa's super finishers in 1/20/97. (Both of which you rated higher). In the match itself, they also gave perfectly acceptable explanations for Misawa surviving. The big flurry that Kawada put against Misawa was the backdrop -> powerbomb -> release german combo. There was a delay between the backdrop and powerbomb, as Kawada was selling after he hit it. After the release german, Misawa rolled out of the ring, giving himself time to recover. As such, the 2nd powerbomb wasn't enough to put him away. Misawa also rolled out of the ring at a later point, giving him more time to recover. Some other things that weren't mentioned by you. - The learned spots/transitions were worked in beautifully. Misawa blocking the high kick, Kawada blocking the tiger driver etc. - The match was incredibly stiff and believable, enough so to deserve extra credit for it. - The powerbomb had unbelievable build to it, with the guys fighting over it tooth and nail. As such, when Kawada finally hit it, the crowd went bonkers. I can't remember a match that had a better build. The only big negative I've seen with this match after at least 5 or 6 viewings is Misawa's comeback near the end, after taking kicks in the corner. Kawada was laying them in there and it didn't make sense for a comeback at that point. It's a rather small gripe, considering some of the selling issues we see today. Judging the wrestling alone, I'd give it the highest possibly rating that it could get. Adding the story elements and it just becomes one the best matches ever.

See, the thing about that is, the whole story of the match was that Kawada was on and Misawa was off. Kawada basically had the match won, but Misawa managed to eek out a win because he pulled out his killer move. It's not unlike the 9/04 Kobashi-Taue match where Kobashi uses a wrist clutch burning hammer to beat Taue. At face value, one would think "Why would he use such a big move for Taue?" or "Taue didn't take as much damage as Kobashi". But that's the point. Because Kobashi (in this case Misawa) took so much damage and was dangerously close to losing, they had to pull out a huge move to escape with a victory. Also, this match has numerous plays off earlier matches. I don't remember specifically, but sometime in the near future I'm going to watch all of their singles matches leading up to the 6/94 match and I'll do a review. The tag match is more or less the same deal, lots of playing off of previous matches. The main story in that match was also Kawada and Taue wanting to pin Misawa. They could have won the match a lot earlier than they did, if they had gone after Kobashi. But Kawada in particular wanted to beat Misawa, so they just brutalized Kobashi to a point where he was useless, and then beat the crap out of Misawa.

So, does this happen everytime a big name Japanese wrestles comes to the US? I believe Liger was rumoured to be on RAW too. Anyway, it's kind of pointless to have those guys on the show when probably 15% of the audience have even heard the name, and 5% are actually familiar with the guys.

He wears no shirt with a non-horned black mask when he's in a heavyweight match. Otherwise he wears the black outfit that is the same design as his red/white outfit. When he comes to TNA, he'll probably wear the red and white outfit, as he'll likely be a face. That's what he did for ROH anyway.

Right, the finals. They had a league match on 11/29, which I had at ****1/4.

Wow, I've never seen such low ratings for these. Granted, they do play off previous matches (and in some case, multiple matches) but I still think even as complete standalones they're MOTDCs. In fact, those are probably my top 3 matches of all time. I think we're going to have to have it out over these, if you're interested.

Care to list the others? I'll list mine. Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori (4/2/93) Kenta Kobashi vs. Stan Hansen (7/29/93) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada (6/3/94) Misawa & Kobashi vs. Kawada & Taue (6/9/95) Misawa & Akiyama vs. Kawada & Taue (12/6/96) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi (1/20/97) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi (10/21/97) Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk (12/4/04) Not officially added yet, I really need to see it again. Hehe, I guess this is kind of off-topic, but whatever since it's my blog damnit!

Even though it's not directed at me, I had the first match at ***3/4, second at ****3/4, third at *****. I've only seen the matches once each though, so take those ratings for what it's worth. I do think it was the best trilogy I've ever seen. The Misawa-Kawada series kind of transcends pro wrestling and was a story told over many years and about 18-20 matches, so I don't really count that one

IIRC, the **3/4 rating was probably out of disgust at only a few things in the match, so I unfairly rated it low with that in mind. A second viewing will probably give me a more accurate picture. Hase-Muto was weird because it was wrestled in such a retro style and caught me so off guard. I didn't mind the style they wrestled, but I just wasn't looking at it the right way I think. In general, I just have really high standards after **** I think. Like, I only have something like 7 matches at *****. It leads to me having A LOT of high quality matches in the upper *** range. Oh well, the discussion is what counts

Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk - ROH Joe vs. Punk II, October 16th 2004 - ****3/4 Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Satoshi Kojima - New Japan, February 20th 2005 - ***3/4 Kenta Kobashi vs. Yuji Nagata - NOAH, September 12th 2003 - **3/4 Keiji Muto vs. Hiroshi Hase - New Japan, June 6th 2001 - ***1/4 Kenta Kobashi vs. Kensuke Sasaki - NOAH, July 18th 2005 Unwatched Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama - NOAH, December 23rd 2000 - ***1/2 originally, ****1/2 now Yuji Nagata vs. Masahiro Chono - New Japan, October 26th 2002 - ***1/2 Chikayo Nagashima vs. Manami Toyota - AJW, October 20th 2002 Kurt Angle vs. The Rock - WWF No Mercy 2000 Kurt Angle vs. Edge - WWE Judgment Day 2002 All of these unwatched. Of those matches, the only one I've seen fairly recently was Kojima-Tenzan and the Kobashi-Akiyama match. Kobashi-Nagata, Muto-Hase and Nagata-Chono I watched at a time when I was being incredibly hard on matches. So I'd expect to view all 3 in a better light when I rewatch them. (and you saw how much of a difference it made for Kobashi-Akiyama)

It just seemed to be missing something to put it at that level for me. Needed more of an epic feel I think, which would have been achieved had the moonsault and necklock come into play (in the case of the moonsault, being countered better or hit, in the case of the necklock, just used). I think their 7/10/04 match was heading towards ***** level into they totally shitted it all away. Oh well. I didn't think much of their 7/10/04 bout. I don't know if it was all the hype, not that I paid much attention to it, or what, but I only gave that ****. It was kind of like Kobashi vs. Misawa from '03 for me. In the end, I didn't think much of it either, I only have it ***3/4. The no-selling/delayed selling was just timed so, so poorly. It happened so far into the match and happened after both guys had taken so much punishment, that it just totally killed the believability of the match. Then again, I'm not going to be like some people and drop a potentially ****1/2+ match down to ** just because of that. In the end, the majority of the match was great. As an aside, I think it's going to be interesting to break down these WWE matches. I'll say right now that of the modern WWE "classics" I've seen, I've had most around ***-***1/2. The only ones breaking **** were Angle vs. HBK at WM21 and Eddy vs. Brock at NWO 04. Probably because those matches were actually wrestled at a high level, as opposed to using mediocre wrestling to tell a good story. I just can't justify rating matches highly unless they're firing on all cylinders. Bret vs. Owen at WMX is a good example of a great story being told with great wrestling and as such, I'd concider it a legit ****1/2-****3/4. Oh well, that's just my preference I guess.

I'm going to watch/do reviews of the matches I disagree with. It probably won't be quick, because I have a TON of stuff I have to watch. Plus, I don't have access to the WWE stuff, and the only WWE match I'm equipped to debate right now is the Rock/Austin WMX7 match. Everyone else feel free to do the same for the matches that you disagree with and either post them here or in your own blog. I figure doing this is a good way to keep out the people who aren't actually interested in discussing intelligently, as opposed to a forum thread.

It just seemed to be missing something to put it at that level for me. Needed more of an epic feel I think, which would have been achieved had the moonsault and necklock come into play (in the case of the moonsault, being countered better or hit, in the case of the necklock, just used). I think their 7/10/04 match was heading towards ***** level into they totally shitted it all away. Oh well.

Kobashi vs. Akiyama (12/23/00) The Good - Akiyama plays his role as an asshole well, Kobashi plays the role of his angered opponent well. Akiyama doesn't give clean breaks, so Kobashi brutalizes him when he gets Jun in the corner. - The strikes and execution was stiff and believable. No surprise here and nothing out of the oridnary for these guys. - They fought for the moves really well, particular the dangerous moves. The fight for the ring side suplex, the fight/tease of the ramp to floor exploder was particular good. Jun did a good job trying to get out of the headlocks/chinlocks too, considering this next point... - Kobashi's neck attack was focused and well executed, leaving no doubt as to what he was attempting. Made his low-end offense seem important. - Smart counters to moves that had already been used earlier in the match. Kobashi countering Jun's knee and Jun countering Kobashi's suplex in particular. - Akiyama's long-term selling was great at all points. He was really putting over the damage that he had taken from each Kobashi control segment, as well as the match overall. - Akiyama's arm work was well done and makes sense in the context of lessening the effect of Kobashi's lariat. A great sequence in particular was Jun trying to get the armbar, but Kobashi blocking it, so Jun went to a short-arm scissors instead. Kobashi eventually tried to flash pin Jun while Jun still had the hold, so Jun easily kicked out and then got the full armbar. Smart work. - Both guys were selling their injuries well. Kobashi with his arm, Jun with his neck. Jun's selling was fantastic. - Great transition. Jun goes for one too many armbreakers, so Kobashi counters with a sleeper suplex. It was just a perfect position to use it. Another great transition is mentioned later. - They fought for the ramp half-nelson really well. It seemed like Jun was safe, but Kobashi pulled him off the ropes and quickly hit it. Jun sells it like death. - The concrete floor exploder was a great way for Jun to get back on fairly equal footing with Kobashi, after Jun was being killed for a lot of the match. This also lead to Jun switching his attack to Kobashi's neck, to setup for the front necklock. Great time and reason to switch attacks. - Great stretch run. They fought for the front necklock, with Jun getting it on but Kobashi getting the ropes right at the same time. Wrist clutch exploder was setup nicely. Jun attempts a normal exploder, Kobashi reaches out for the ropes, so Jun simply grabs the hand and hits the wrist-clutch exploder. Jun attempts a super exploder, Kobashi counters with a lariat, leading to a great double-sell sequence which really throws the match into doubt. - Burning hammer finish works. Kobashi can't screw around because if Jun gets the front necklock, it's probably over. Forgoes the moonsault and just goes for the burning hammer, which is setup excellently. Rolling kesagiri to the back of the neck sends Jun stomach first into the corner, and that was the beginning of the end. The Bad - The no-selling/delayed selling of the half-nelson suplex and exploder was just superfluous. - Akiyama's counter to Kobashi's moonsault didn't make sense, as Akiyama was hurting at the time. Would have been better if Kobashi had simply missed the moonsault. You know, I originally had this at ***1/2, and I don't know what the hell I was smoking, because this was Kobashi and Akiyama's best match together. I think I was in my "no-selling is the end of the world" phase when I originally watched it, and I unfairly judged the match after that. This was easily a MOTDC, ****1/2. If not for the couple flaws, this was probably ****3/4.

You should. I do, and I've got gigs of stuff on here. Analysis will come later, but these are my Top Ten of the matches from 2000-2005, that I remember off-hand, that I’d rate at ****1/2 or higher Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk - ROH Joe vs. Punk II, October 16th 2004 Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Satoshi Kojima - New Japan, February 20th 2005 Kenta Kobashi vs. Yuji Nagata - NOAH, September 12th 2003 Keiji Muto vs. Hiroshi Hase - New Japan, June 6th 2001 Kenta Kobashi vs. Kensuke Sasaki - NOAH, July 18th 2005 Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama - NOAH, December 23rd 2000 Yuji Nagata vs. Masahiro Chono - New Japan, October 26th 2002 Chikayo Nagashima vs. Manami Toyota - AJW, October 20th 2002 Kurt Angle vs. The Rock - WWF No Mercy 2000 Kurt Angle vs. Edge - WWE Judgment Day 2002 I don't suppose you have those WWE matches on your HD? (The ones you mentioned as well as the one's Loss mentioned) Luckily I have the rest of those, bar the AJW match. Tenzan-Kojima I just watched recently. I thought there were some selling problems (mainly Kojima being stupid) that dragged it down a bit, along with the totally flat and poorly executed ending. Other than that it was just a fantastic match. Maybe a MOTYC for this year. Kobashi vs. Sasaki analysis will come when I get to the 7/18/05 Dome Show. I'm watching some NOAH stuff in order at the moment, and I'm at the 4/24/05 Budokan show. I'm going to rewatch the other stuff.

I'm going to have to track those matches down again, as I only remember my general thoughts about each, and I can't really discuss them without having specific pointers in mind. I better start taking notes on matches that I download, as I don't ever keep them around for later viewing.

Ironically, there's also word that New Japan is trying to get their 10/8 Dome show to air on North American PPV. I'd imagine that might make things a wee bit more interesting with regards to McMahon's opinion about Brock competing for NJPW.

Was Trish Stratus pleasuring him while he viewed the match?