The worst of the worst...

[Guest Jubuki]

Taue is better than average. WATCH THE TAPES AND ANALYZE. You might *gasp* learn a thing or two in the process.

[Guest Nevermortal]

AKIRA TAUE IS GOD! DON'T YOU FORGET IT!

 

Ahem. Now as for someone I can't stand....Shark Tsuchiya for murdering Megumi Kudoh. One of the sickest displays of brutality I've ever seen.

 

Also, Kendo Nagasaki. A guy who NEVER TAKES BUMPS INTO THE DANGEROUS SHIT! Case and point in the Free Fall Barbed Wire Match, and the Piranha match. Matasunaga took almost all the punishment.

 

Tarzan Goto, another one. He's boring as hell. Ironically though, he had his only good match with Dan Severn at KotDM, whom I also find boring.

[Guest Luke Argyle]

There is one name that makes me cringe everytime I see it on a list for a tape, and that name is Masao Inoue. He is fucking terrible. Or just really, really boring. I don't care to watch him work enought to decide whcih, however.

[Guest saturnmark4life]

yes, i have seen '95 taue, and whilst he's good he is just another disgruntled old man character. Nothing that blows me away.

[Guest saturnmark4life]

and i am SHOCKED i say that anyone brought saturn into this. I never said he was great...i just really really like him. He's no Akira Taue, tho.

[Guest wolverine]

Let's not have a bad word said about Saturn, he is a great man... Taue I like, but mainly cos i'm a huge mark for disgruntled old men. He has had some great matches, most notably in the CC 95, but I don't think he is, overall, in the same league as Misawa / Kawada / Kobashi or even Akiyama.

Taue was obviously better than Kobashi in 1995. A perfect comparison is to look at Taue's 9/10/95 match with Misawa and Kobashi's 10/25/95 match with Misawa. Those two matches aren't even close in quality, with Taue's being a high end MOTYC, and Kobashi's being craptacular. And this is coming from someone who likes Kobashi more than Taue.

[Guest PlatypusFool]

Jubuki, as I said, he has had GREAT matches, just not as many as the rest of the 90's AJPW leaders. And when I talk about workers I talk about their whole careers, not just 1995.

[Guest wolverine]

I went over to Rasman, and pulled some info on Taue's TV singles matches against Misawa/Kawada/Kobashi from the 90's against Akiyama's, and did some comparing. The star ratings used are Meltzer's:

 

Taue (vs. Misawa/Kawada/Kobashi)

 

Matches: 22 Avg. Star Rating: 4.02

 

Akiyama (vs. Misawa/Kawada/Kobashi)

 

Matches: 10 Avg. Star Rating: 3.95

 

Taue maintained a higher average throughout the decade, with more than double the matches against common opponents. Match ratings are subjective, but I'll give Taue the edge over Akiyama for consistency.

[Guest PlatypusFool]

You've made your point, but I'm a mark for Akiyama so

[Guest wolverine]

You've made your point, but I'm a mark for Akiyama so

You still said Taue wasn't:

 

1) in Akiyama's league

2) hasn't had as many great matches as "90's AJPW leaders" which you lumped Akiyama as being in.

 

Please explain yourself with more than saying you're a "mark" for him.

[Guest BionicRedneck]

yep,

 

a little misunderstanding. Saturnmark4life said he doesn't like Taue as much as Misawa/Kobashi/Kawada because he's nothing special. I agreed. He didn't say he was nothing in 1995 so i assumed he meant now, which is true. Taue is average-decent NOW.

 

He had some excellent matches (particularly in 95) against the likes of Misawa, who generally had great matches with everyone. I think its fair to say Taue is not one of the greatest wrestlers ever.

[Guest wolverine]

I think Taue sucks now personally. I was just comparing his matches against the Big 3 vs. Akiyama's, and Taue comes out on top, which made him the better worker in the 90's from my POV and many other's.

[Guest PlatypusFool]

I'm not going to explain further Wolverine. As I have stated before I don't like to think before I post always, so I made some comments that probly aren't true. I prefer Akiyama. He may not have been a part of as many great matches as Taue, but I believe this is more to do with how good Kawada / Misawa / Kobashi were when they were working with Taue when compared with how good they were when they were working with Akiyama. I believe that, when looked at as an individual (not by the amount of classic matches they have taken part in), Akiyama is a better wrestler than Taue over a longer period of time.

 

To put simply, Taue looks better because the people he worked with in his prime were at their prime too. When Akiyama worked with the same people they were no longer in their prime. Taue had some great matches in the mid-90's. Akiyama had some great matches in the mid-90's, and is still having great matches now. Hence, I prefer Akiyama.

[Guest BionicRedneck]

He may not have been a part of as many great matches as Taue, but I believe this is more to do with how good Kawada / Misawa / Kobashi were when they were working with Taue when compared with how good they were when they were working with Akiyama. I believe that, when looked at as an individual (not by the amount of classic matches they have taken part in), Akiyama is a better wrestler than Taue over a longer period of time.

 

To put simply, Taue looks better because the people he worked with in his prime were at their prime too. When Akiyama worked with the same people they were no longer in their prime. Taue had some great matches in the mid-90's. Akiyama had some great matches in the mid-90's, and is still having great matches now. Hence, I prefer Akiyama.

I agree with this 100%. Taue was/is a basic worker carried to greatness.

[Guest Jubuki]

"Taue was/is a basic worker carried to greatness."

 

And you were/are still WRONG. Maybe I should just have "Did you WATCH the match?" in my signature.

[Guest Black Tiger]

I don't own an AJPW from that period but from what I've heard, Taue was great in the period between CC 195 and RWTL 1996. But from what I've seen of his 1988-1993 AJ work it sucks as does his NOAH garbage.

[Guest BionicRedneck]

Yes, in that time period Taue was involved in some classic matches, but for the most part, he's average-decent IMO.

[Guest wolverine]

"To put simply, Taue looks better because the people he worked with in his prime were at their prime too. When Akiyama worked with the same people they were no longer in their prime."

 

Dude, Akiyama worked with all of those guys in their primes. He wasn't a main eventer, so he wasn't given the time to have a great match that Taue was getting, but he had a shot at working with them all. That right there should be your excuse for Akiyama, not that "primes" stuff that's totally wrong.

 

"and is still having great matches now."

 

Um, okay.

[Guest NoSelfWorth]

Can't we all get along ?

[Guest Jubuki]

No.

[Guest red_file]

"Taue was/is a basic worker carried to greatness."

 

And you were/are still WRONG. Maybe I should just have "Did you WATCH the match?" in my signature.

And if I have watched the match(es) and still find something lacking in Taue, does that mean that I'm still WRONG?

[Guest J*ingus]

According to Chris, yes, he doesn't take people disagreeing with him very well. Or as someone else once put it, "Don't feed the Jubuki".

[Guest red_file]

But he's so cute when he's irrational.

[Guest XdojimeX]

Here's a couple, not exactly the worst but certainly no friends of my VCR...

 

Fujinami mid-90's on.

Outside of the Tenryu match I can't recall anything memorable from him in the last 8 years, and it took the worst broken nose in the history of the sport for that match to even stick out. Actually come to think of it I did kind of enjoy that Hashimoto title switch that everybody else hated, go figure. Anyways he was a great, influential, legendary worker in his day who probably never really got his due, so more power to him...but he sure bored the shit out of me for that last decade or so.

 

Choshyu.

Another 80's retread, and all do respect to the poster on this board but outside of a couple inspired moments where he recaptured that 80's fire Riki Choshyu in the 90's is about the most fast-forwarded wrestler in the history of my VCR.

[Guest RickyChosyu]

Choshyu.

Another 80's retread, and all do respect to the poster on this board but outside of a couple inspired moments where he recaptured that 80's fire Riki Choshyu in the 90's is about the most fast-forwarded wrestler in the history of my VCR.

I do realize Chosyu's moments of greatness in the nineties were few and far between, but my markdom for him comes more from his influence with the Ishingun angle in All Japan durring the eighties, and as booker for New Japan in the ninties, where he was, at one point, a very good mind for business. Then came the wrestling against garbage wrestlers in hopes of burrying them, the destruction of the greatest Junior division ever created, and the constant unprofesionalism, but for a while there, he was truly great.

 

Plus, Vs. Hash from 8/2/96 rocks. It's honestly my favorite NJ heavies match I've seen so far, which is admitedly, very little.

[Guest thefrenchargel]

Alright, i may as well say it, Akira Taue. He DOESN'T DO ANYTHING PEOPLE!!!

naw, before you all lynch me i don't HATE him or anything and i'm no purohead, i just don't understand how he's in the same league as Kawada, misawa or kobashi.

i HATE taue. and anyone who tells you he's good is lying. he's had ONE watchable singles match, which was with Misawa, who carried him kicking and screaming. Anyone who says he ruled it in the 80's..well. I don't believe you. I hate Choshyu as well, who does clotheslines, no sells, and bumps poorly.

[Guest thefrenchargel]

I've seen the Kobashi stuff from the 95 area as well as the Taue stuff, and if you STILL think the Taue matches are better, you're "touched." I'll admit he had a good match with Misawa..but that's about it. One decent year doesn't make you a great wrestler.

 

Taue=Kane. Shitty big boots, chokeslams, piss poor bumping, only watchable when carried by the very best.

[Guest saturnmark4life]

Taue=Kane. Shitty big boots, chokeslams, piss poor bumping, only watchable when carried by the very best.

lol, thanks for saying what i didn't dare to! I think you hate him more than me tho, i'll stick to 'overrated' for now.

[Guest Tim Cooke]

Taue from April 1995-Dec 1996 had better matches than Shawn Michaels ever had. Like Chris said, watch the fucking tapes.

 

Tim

[Guest Hogan Made Wrestling]

Worst of the Worst? This statement should sum it up nicely:

 

YOUR AJPW Tag Team Champions: KRONIK~!