What have you seen lately?

[Guest Captian Linger]

To steal Tim's idea from a few weeks ago, this post covers what I've seen recently. Although I haven't seen much of anything so this won't be a long one;).

 

Joshi-Comp #6!

 

Seriously, I should get a second VCR together so I can dub some of my comps for people that are interested. One thing I noticed about getting whole shows on one tape instead of splitting them into volumes is that the VQ doesn't always age well. It's strange, both of my Dreamslams on SLP both look great while my Queendom III and BEU are getting *very* jumpy. I haven't had problems with any other tapes but those two...I'm a pretty big VQ nut when it comes to comm stuff. There's just no excuse there.

 

Anyways, on to the new stuff:

 

First match: Aja Kong vs Dynamite Kansai 8-25-93:

 

-I thought this was easily on par with their BEU match but a little bit longer and drawn out. Near falls were great, stiffness factor was as good as always. It just seems odd that this match hardly gets mention when the BEU and 8/95 match get pimped with much higher frequency. If you liked the other two I mentioned, do yourself a favor and pick up this match.

 

Second Match: Aja Kong/Bull Nakano vs Hokuto/Kandori 3-27-94:

 

-Just a fabulous match. Like the first, it seems very under appreciated. Even though it made the top 20 of the DVDVR poll, I fail to see how the DS2 main and 8/95 tags were so much better than this. This was different in terms of style and work than what usually gets pimped to the moon, I guess. Aja Kong looked like one of the greatest workers on Earth here. Hokuto worked well with Aja and took some unreal punishment. Nakano played most of the filler role but was still solid as you'd expect. Kandori worked the least but was part of the most interesting parts of the match. There's just so much content here to get into right now. While some parts are drawn out and over-long, the overriding theme/story of the match greatly out-weigh any flaws. There was a whole lotta good here. This is a top 5 match of the 90's (Joshi) in my opinion.

 

Third match: Double Inoues vs Toyota/Hasegawa (2/3 falls) 1-16-95

 

-Nothing like Double Inoues to brighten my day:). This was mabye just a small notch below their 8/95 which means it was still awesome. Some nutty spots like both Inoues laying on two tables while Toyota moonsaulted off the bleachers on both. Otherwise, can't go wrong here at all.

 

Fourth match: Kyoko Inoue vs Toyota 12-8-96:

 

-Yikes! Almost two years later and Kyoko looks like Bull Nakano. I got kinda bored about 15mins in and logged on here. Toyota had already blown a couple of spots by the time I shut it off. The last couple segments better be great if this is going to break ***. Eh, it probably will, my eyes are just brutally tired from too much coffee/frappachino/Iced Tea...It's not just for the morning, you know;)

 

Last match: Yoshida vs Aja Kong 8-6-99:

 

I'll post on this when I see it.

 

Report: Well, the first three matches were top 20 level stuff so no complaints at all. Just watching it makes me forget about getting all that New Japan and All Japan stuff I still want to collect, among other things.

 

I'll be sure to pick of the entire 2/24 AJPW show, regardless. Can't wait!

[Guest MRFTW]

"Aja Kong vs Dynamite Kansai 8-25-93"

 

You can never go wrong with Aja vs Kansai. Every match I have of them singles or tag has been kick ass but why just get this and not the whole show? Except for the first 2 matches everything else ranges from good to great.

 

Hell, why get only one match from any show during that time period when almost all the major ones were for the most part great from top to bottom?

[Guest Captian Linger]

Just finished watching the rest-Toyota/Inoue 12/96 seemed better after taking a short break. I'd probably rate it around ***1/4, but there's nothing wrong with a ***1/4 match by any means.

 

I'm not one of those snobs that is dissapointed by anything that's below ****1/2. Just today I read someone posting at tOA about how Hotta/Toyota '95 was dissapointing at ****1/4. Fuck that. I don't disagree with the rating but comon, lets but the whole ratings nonsense in perspective. If you are dissapointed by ****1/4 matches, it's time to watch 6/9/95 in a loop and nothing else, ever.

 

Tangent over.

 

Aja/Yoshida was a whole lotta fun. I haven't seen much 'recent' Joshi but this impressed me. Aja was as sharp as always, Yoshida bumped like there was no tomorrow. I couldn't believe that powerbomb to the ring post she took. I'd say it was pretty damn stupid but wow, can't beat that visaul. Downside (there always has to be something to bitch about) was that it was a 20min match but I think only around ten aired. Damn you, ARSION!!! Oh well, good time had by all, regardless.

 

Awesome tape!

[Guest theMission]

To steal Tim's idea from a few weeks ago, this post covers

Anyways, on to the new stuff:

 

First match: Aja Kong vs Dynamite Kansai 8-25-93:

 

-I thought this was easily on par with their BEU match but a little bit longer and drawn out. Near falls were great, stiffness factor was as good as always. It just seems odd that this match hardly gets mention when the BEU and 8/95 match get pimped with much higher frequency. If you liked the other two I mentioned, do yourself a favor and pick up this match.

 

This is a really good match, with a great crowd. It's pretty obvious that they're still working out the bugs with each other in spots, but it definitely stands out as being different than their later matches.

 

Second Match: Aja Kong/Bull Nakano vs Hokuto/Kandori 3-27-94:

 

-Just a fabulous match. Like the first, it seems very under appreciated. Even though it made the top 20 of the DVDVR poll, I fail to see how the DS2 main and 8/95 tags were so much better than this. This was different in terms of style and work than what usually gets pimped to the moon, I guess. Aja Kong looked like one of the greatest workers on Earth here. Hokuto worked well with Aja and took some unreal punishment. Nakano played most of the filler role but was still solid as you'd expect. Kandori worked the least but was part of the most interesting parts of the match. There's just so much content here to get into right now. While some parts are drawn out and over-long, the overriding theme/story of the match greatly out-weigh any flaws. There was a whole lotta good here. This is a top 5 match of the 90's (Joshi) in my opinion.

 

Going by story alone, it would be top 5 easily. By work, it's not even close. Hokuto and Aja were great, Kandori was good, and Bull was....there. I don't really see how it's underappreciated considering how everyone and their ugly sister pimps it, but the more the better I guess. One of the funnest matches of the 90's, even if it isn't one of the best worked. Hokuto was god.

 

Third match: Double Inoues vs Toyota/Hasegawa (2/3 falls) 1-16-95

 

-Nothing like Double Inoues to brighten my day:). This was mabye just a small notch below their 8/95 which means it was still awesome. Some nutty spots like both Inoues laying on two tables while Toyota moonsaulted off the bleachers on both. Otherwise, can't go wrong here at all.

 

Takako Inoue steals the show. I love the first fall of this match so much, one sneering submission from Takako is worth 25 crappy moonsaults. Outside of the errant table spot and anticlimactic finish, this is gold.

 

Fourth match: Kyoko Inoue vs Toyota 12-8-96:

 

-Yikes! Almost two years later and Kyoko looks like Bull Nakano. I got kinda bored about 15mins in and logged on here. Toyota had already blown a couple of spots by the time I shut it off. The last couple segments better be great if this is going to break ***. Eh, it probably will, my eyes are just brutally tired from too much coffee/frappachino/Iced Tea...It's not just for the morning, you know;)

 

This match was pretty overhyped when it first happened, if I remember. It's got a lot of big spots and big moves, but it's got the worst aspects of mid-90's Zenjo right up in your face too. Nothing terrible relatively, but nothing you have to track down or anything.

 

 

Last match: Yoshida vs Aja Kong 8-6-99:

 

-I'll post on this when I see it.

 

You do that.

 

-Report: Well, the first three matches were top 20 level stuff so no complaints at all. Just watching it makes me forget about getting all that New Japan and All Japan stuff I still want to collect, among other things.

 

Very good

 

I'll be sure to pick of the entire 2/24 AJPW show, regardless. Can't wait!

[Guest Jubuki]

--

[Guest Jubuki]

I'm not one of those snobs that is dissapointed by anything that's below ****1/2. Just today I read someone posting at tOA about how Hotta/Toyota '95 was dissapointing at ****1/4. Fuck that. I don't disagree with the rating but comon, lets but the whole ratings nonsense in perspective.

 

OK, let's do just that....

 

Point #1: Your ratings are YOUR ratings.  No one else is going to agree, point for point, about all of them.  They are not universal.  They are not set in stone.  There is no one way to look at them all.  They're nearly as unique as fingerprints...so taking that into perspective, it could be that there are those of us (like myself) who have to be damn well smacked over the head and knocked silly by a match to shill it to everyone.  Snobbish, picky, whatever you want to attach to it, go right ahead; it isn't as though trolling about it is going to make people change their tunes.

 

Point #2: There are great workers out there who go through their same old act, even during their best performances.  I've seen LCO brawls from their first heel run that, were someone to hold a gun to my head, I would rate ahead of Aja/Kudo 12/93...but I'd give my pick to that Aja/Kudo before the LCO matches because I've seen all their stuff so many times before.  So, again, some of us are as intrigued by something out of the ordinary as we are by what's "good."  Believe it or not, some people's mileage may vary.

 

And that Joshi top 20 over yonder has about as much cred as Low-Ki @ #7 does...using that as a measure of under/overpimping for a match isn't the best of ideas - anyone who knows their stuff knows how good that Queendom main is.

[Guest MrDanger]

Speaking of Joshi, I get the chance to watch Momoe Nakanishi vs. Kaoru Ito 9/16 today and all I can say is WOW!

 

Every glorified backyarder in CZW should be strapped down and be forced to watch that match and learn how to inject a story into their matches.

[Guest Tim Cooke]

I just got the 8/15/92 and 11/26/92 AJW shows in a trade from Chris so I watched some of the matches from them.

 

The Toyota v Yamada Hair v Hair match was somewhat of a surreal experience.  Going into the match, the only Toyota I had seen was from 2001 so I hadn't seen much.  The first couple of minutes seemed to be a bit odd in pacing and delivery but after that, everything went to gold.  I have always read about these freaked out AJW suplexes and my God, they were incredible.  I had seen Juvi and Rey do some of the more basic stuff in AAA and ECW, but never to the amount that Toyota and Yamada did.  Lots of great nearfalls and at first, I was turned off by the kicking out of everything but upon further inspection, it didn't really hurt the match due to the stipulations and the fact they weren't going through the AJPW "I'll drop you, you drop me, we will all kick out before 3" method.  Plus, its 1992 for goodness sakes......minus the Destroyer, I don't think have ever seen a bunch of workers so ahead of their time vs the rest of the world.

 

The 11/92 Dreamrush Main Event was spectacular.  I don't know where it falls in terms of best ever yet as I need to see more of what happened before and after in the Joshi world to get a full persepctive.  I do know that this match, work rate wise, kills 6/9/95 and 12/6/96.  I guess that could be said with a bunch of "work rate" matches, but the 11/26/92 still had some terrific psych and probably tons more that a first viewing wasn't able to pick up on.  

 

Also watched the 7/2/93 Misawa/Kobashi/Akiyama v Kawada/Taue/Ogawa 6 man.  Not the perfect 6 man that it is built up to be but def the best 6 man of the decade and past.  The Misawa/Kawada storyline was the key and was played as well as it could have been.  From their exchanges to the post match brawl that you never see in AJPW, it was just beautiful.  Taue really sucked in this one though for some reason.  Maybe it was because everyone else looked so good but compared to his stuff with Jumbo on his side, he looked very akward, more so than usual.  Myabe it was because he wasn't going up against Kawada and getting heat for just stepping into the ring.

 

I have to look to trade for Dreamslam I and II now as they are next on the AJW 1992-1996 era.  I have the 12/88 UWF show to watch and some other odds and ends this weekend and the work load is down somewhat so I should have plenty of time.

 

Tim

[Guest MRFTW]

Speaking of Aja vs Kudo from 93, what the hell was with the way that match ended?

 

Aja gives her about 5-6 urakens BUT doesn't go for the pin AND seemingly doesn't want to win by knockout, THEN after wrestling another few minutes gives her ANOTHER uraken and pins her for the win. WTF? Did that not make any sense or is it just me?

[Guest CB2M]

Seriously, I should get a second VCR together so I can dub some of my comps for people that are interested.

Remember Jeff Lynch's address folks, [email protected].  That's all you need to know when you read stuff like this.

[Guest CB2M]

I'm not one of those snobs that is dissapointed by anything that's below ****1/2. Just today I read someone posting at tOA about how Hotta/Toyota '95 was dissapointing at ****1/4. Fuck that. I don't disagree with the rating but comon, lets but the whole ratings nonsense in perspective.

 

OK, let's do just that....

 

Point #1: Your ratings are YOUR ratings.  No one else is going to agree, point for point, about all of them.  They are not universal.  They are not set in stone.  There is no one way to look at them all.  They're nearly as unique as fingerprints...so taking that into perspective, it could be that there are those of us (like myself) who have to be damn well smacked over the head and knocked silly by a match to shill it to everyone.  Snobbish, picky, whatever you want to attach to it, go right ahead; it isn't as though trolling about it is going to make people change their tunes.

Totally agree.  I just laughed when I read that, because this is the same guy who, on the old SmarkBoard, did this long post about "Misawa vs. Kawada--Explaining the Ratings" or some ridiculous thing like that.  He uses some scientific scale, such as Misawa vs. Kawada starts at ****1/2, and goes up or down, or something like that.  I take it as nothing more than humor, nothing serious.

[Guest dawho5]

I've been watching just random stuff on a custom comp. I had made.

 

Danny Kroffat vs. RVD (AJPW) - Good match for RVD, although I have always been a Kroffat mark (since being exposed to him).

 

Can Am Express vs. RVD/Sabu - no comment.

 

Kawada vs. Kobashi (Kawada's Triple Crown defense) - I remembered it was a draw, kind of took the drama out of it, but a great match nonetheless.

 

Ultimo Dragon vs. Shinjiro Otahni (12/12/95) - These guys just rule it.  My only prob is Ultimo's Star Dust Press (version 1 or 2, whichever one the big aerial spin is) makes zero contact.

 

Jericho's heel years as a cruiserweight in WCW - He could cut a great promo, and his heel character was SO over.

 

The Booker T. vs. Benoit best of 7 series - WCW should have taken the hint from how great these matches were and elevated both these guys.  If they had been given a decent push instead of taking a back seat to the nWo, things may have turned out differently for WCW.