We did this before...

[Guest Tim Cooke]

Maybe to spark a little conversation around here.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------

 

1. What is your favorite match of all time?

 

2. Who is your favorite wrestler of all time?

 

3. What is your dream match that has never taken place?

 

4. What is your favorite match from 2002?

 

5. Is there any style of wrestling that you generally dislike?

 

6. What event or match would you recommend to a person who has never watched any Japanese wrestling?

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Try to give some explanation so if you do have a some what cooky choice, people won't jump on you if you have some type of explanation.

 

Tim (My response below)

[Guest Tim Cooke]

1. What is your favorite match of all time?

 

I'll list 3 matches that show my love for Professional Wrestling. Not the *best* matches, but 3 that I will cherish forever.

 

A.) Midnight Express v Southern Boys (7/7/90)

- The height of the southern style formula of tag team wrestling with the fired up, crowd backed babyfaces having the davantage early on, the heels taking over, and then nearfalls. MX/Cornette were probably the second best "team group" that I have ever seen.

 

B.) Toyoda/Yamada v Ozaki/Kansai (11/26/92)

- Fire, desire, passion, heart, courage...all of these wrapped into an epic match that has everything a classic tag match should have, plus more. I should also note that 12/6/96 Misawa/Akiyama v Kawada/Taue is right next to this match as I see some very similiar things between the characters. Yamada was the best wrestler in the world on 11/26/92.

 

C.) Volk Han v Kiyoshi Tamura (9/26/97)

- Tamura v Kohsaka might be the better match but this one strikes me as one RINGS match that I could watch over and over again without having to get prepared for and still marvel at it's complexity. Volk Han is a top 3 worker of the 1990's...I know that much.

 

3. What is your dream match that has never taken place?

 

Volk Han v Nobuhiko Takada

 

or

 

Midnight Express v Kobashi/Kikuchi from around 1991

 

4. What is your favorite match from 2002?

 

TM IV v Hidaka (5/6/02). The best juniors match of the year...better than most of the pimped ROH crap with solid wrestling, a good story, and crisp execution. Beats the hell out of any Ki/Dragon stuff from this year.

 

5. Is there any style of wrestling that you generally dislike?

 

Other than the WEEEEEEEEE, I dislike Garbagy stuff but can accept it if done well.

 

6. What event or match would you recommend to a person who has never watched any Japanese wrestling?

 

Either a comedy match from Osaka Pro or Otani v Dragon from 8/4/96. Either match would accomplish my goals of a solid intro to Japanese wrestling.

[EL DANDY~! 0]

1. What is your favorite match of all time?-Right now, it's 6/3/94, but I'm giving consideration to a couple others, like 6/9/95 or 10/15/95.

 

2. Who is your favorite wrestler of all time?-Toshiaki Motherfuckin Kawada. Forget Misawa and all his great fuckin matches. Kawada makes me FEEL THE PAIN he dishes out AND receives.

 

3. What is your dream match that has never taken place?-I'd LOVE to see Bret Hart vs. Toshiaki Kawada or Misawa vs. Benoit. Or hell, maybe even a tag match from those matches.

 

4. What is your favorite match from 2002?-7/17-I haven't seen much else, but I heard the Chono/Tenzan vs. Nishimura/Nakanishi 60-minute match was something else.

 

5. Is there any style of wrestling that you generally dislike?-garbage wrestling, at least some of ECW's hardcore matches had style and substance.

 

6. What event or match would you recommend to a person who has never watched any Japanese wrestling? Watch Misawa/Jumbo when Misawa unmasks. It makes me realize what wrestling is. A great great scientific match devoid of all the bs headdropping. This then leads into 6/3/94. There ya go.

[Guest goodhelmet]

since this is the puro folder, i'll keep it in japan...

 

1. What is your favorite match of all time?- 6/9/95 misawa/kobashi vs. kawda/taue

 

2. Who is your favorite wrestler of all time?- ricky steamboat (ok, stretching it but he worked japan in the 80's. plus, this is for favorite, not the best).

 

3. What is your dream match that has never taken place?- as far as i know, i would love a steamboat vs. liger match.

 

4. What is your favorite match from 2002?- haven't seen many puro matches but the noah junior tag from february has entertained me the most.

 

5. Is there any style of wrestling that you generally dislike? -MOST hardcore stuff from iwa or big japan.

 

6. What event or match would you recommend to a person who has never watched any Japanese wrestling?

heavies- 6/9/95

juniors- ohtani vs. ultimo dragon JCrown 96

[Guest wolverine]

"1. What is your favorite match of all time?"

 

The 12/3/93 Misawa/Kobashi vs. Kawada/Taue. Already talked about this recently.

 

"2. Who is your favorite wrestler of all time?"

 

Jumbo Tsuruta is way up there. For male workers, I probably enjoy watching him about as much as anyone else. For women, my favorite is either Akira Hokuto or Mariko Yoshida at their peak (1993 and 1999 respectively).

 

"3. What is your dream match that has never taken place?"

 

Not sure if this has taken place before, but I'd love to see Momoe Nakanishi vs. Mariko Yoshida in a singles match.

 

"4. What is your favorite match from 2002?"

 

I have a hunch it's going to be Kaoru Ito vs. Momoe Nakanishi from 10/20 as soon as I see it.

 

"5. Is there any style of wrestling that you generally dislike?"

 

I hate garbage wrestling for sure.

 

"6. What event or match would you recommend to a person who has never watched any Japanese wrestling?"

 

I've always thought the Kobashi/Kikuchi vs. Kroffat/Furnas 5/25/92 match would be a great pick, especially considering it has the wildest crowd I've ever seen, which I think would get non-fans to take notice and take interest in it.

[Guest Jubuki]

1. What is your favorite match of all time?

Hokuto/Kandori, always and forever.

 

2. Who is your favorite wrestler of all time?

See above. Hisako opened my eyes to a lot of things - not just Joshi, not just a better way to wrestle, but the inner contradictions we have to live with everyday; the choices we make, even when we know how harmful they can be; the irony that individual greatness comes when one is selfless. I remember JON Burr quoting Kris Kristofferson to describe her: "A pusher and a prophet / Partly truth and partly fiction / A walking contradiction" - if it's not true about her, I don't know who else it's supposed to apply to (besides Johnny Cash). I don't know about the rest of you, but I sit here and watch her work, and I think about "Victory Through Guts," and I think about what she endured, endured to the point of addiction, and I wonder how sick I must be to praise and applaud her accomplishments, knowing what price she had to pay, knowing it's no victory at all to be chewed up, spat out, and thrown away once one's body is absolutely wrecked from the effort - ask Wakizawa about that toll, or ask Momoe, or (may they rest in peace) ask Plum Mariko and Emiko Kado, if you could. And yet, I sit here knowing that I can't have it any other way, because she didn't want it any other way, and somehow that justifies it all, even when it doesn't justify it in the least.

 

I don't know how that makes her my favorite. I guess it just makes her more real, more human, more accessible than all the others, and I find it impossible to turn away from that.

 

3. What is your dream match that has never taken place?

Depends on what you mean - dream match that could have happened but didn't? Dream match that still has time to happen? Completely made-up match featuring the best from two eras? Instead of opening up a can of worms, I'll just say that Ran YuYu should have joined GAEA a year earlier to work Hokuto before her retirement, and, if she wasn't going there, she should have left for ARSION.

 

4. What is your favorite match from 2002?

Haven't seen enough to say.

 

5. Is there any style of wrestling that you generally dislike?

Does "stupid" count?

 

6. What event or match would you recommend to a person who has never watched any Japanese wrestling?

I like the Osaka Pro choice.

[Guest Luke Argyle]

1. Ohtani vs. Liger 3/17/96. Ohtani's mannerisms are simply unmatched. He plays the determined, cocky son of a bitch to perfection here. I hope he'll win the match every time I see it regardless of my knowledge of the outcome. That, to me, is what all great wrestling should be capapble of to a certain extent. The powerbomb Liger dishes out may be my favorite bump ever. This match just rules.

 

2. Fav of all time? I tend to fetishize Kojima a bit more than other wrestlers. Something about him, I couldn't say what, makes me identify with him.

 

3. Dream match. I want to see Kurt Angle vs. Honma or Yamakawa from '99. Everyone wants to see him in Japan, but I want him there in the Big Japan style. If the match at KotR with Shane was like that, then I'm sure that Angle with either of those two would blow the roof off the place.

 

4. Shocker vs. Dr. Wagner from April was pretty fucking great. Exceded my expectations for what was possible in a Lucha singles match, which I typicaly find pretty lacklustre. Smart work and great selling, especially from Shocker.

 

5. Not really. I'm not in a pesimistic mood today.

 

6. Tiger Mask vs. DK matches. I hooked my roommate on that shit a couple years back 'cause Sayama's just so damned fast and fun to watch. We'd come home loaded and he'd be all "DUDE, put in some Tiger Man!" Fun stuff.

[Guest BionicRedneck]

Seing as this is the Puro folder, I'll stick to Puro...

 

1. What is your favorite match of all time?

 

To many to name really. I really, really love the Ohtani/Ultimo J Crown semi-final. Ohtani's performance is so awesome. Other than that, Pegasus vs. Sasuke, Liger vs. Sammy, 1996 RWTL Finals...as I said, to many to name.

 

2. Who is your favorite wrestler of all time?

 

hmmm...probably Benoit.

 

3. What is your dream match that has never taken place?

 

I dunno, but, I would love to see TenKoji vs. an in-their-prime Misawa/Akiyama

 

4. What is your favorite match from 2002?

 

Tenzan/Chono vs. Gotch-Ism

 

5. Is there any style of wrestling that you generally dislike?

 

Nope

 

6. What event or match would you recommend to a person who has never watched any Japanese wrestling?

 

Super J Cup 1994 is where most start, I think.

[Guest TheyCallMeMark]

1. What is your favorite match of all time?

 

Kenta Kobashi v. Mitsharu Misawa, I think from 10/97. Just forty minutes og brutal action. The main part I really like though is the slow burn throughout the match. I don't think I've seen anything like it. It's so perfectly paced, and all the moves are in just the right spots so they make it seem like less of a wrestling match and more of a war between gods. Utterly powerful.

 

2. Who is your favorite wrestler of all time?

 

Eddie Guerrero. I've never seen anyone do quite what he does in the ring. In a way, his moves are crisp but he makes them look sloppy, you know? It makes the match feel more real, and it really adds to his whole character. He really has his act perfected in the ring.

 

3. What is your dream match that has never taken place?

 

I'd like to see Eddie Guerrero v. Ricky Steamboat. Just kind of a personal thing.

 

4. What is your favorite match from 2002?

 

Haven't seen any recent Puro so I'll go Eddie Guererro v. Edge on whatever SmackDown! it was. He took some pretty sick bumps.

 

5. Is there any style of wrestling that you generally dislike?

 

Not a big fan of disgustingly overwieght man-wrestling.

 

6. What event or match would you recommend to a person who has never watched any Japanese wrestling?

 

Some Ohtani v. Ka Shin match. I think it might appeal to a newb.

[Guest RickyChosyu]

1. What is your favorite match of all time?

 

Kong/Toyota 11/20/94. Man, did this one fly over my head the first time through. After repeated viewings, I'm sure this is the best match I have ever seen, if for no other reason besides how it makes the immediate impresion that no other match I've seen accomplishes. Toyota has as much fire, determination, and perserverance as could ever be expected of her, and more, yet Aja annialates her like she's nothing and then rubs it in her face as if to say "your gutsy work is pointless against me, and you never had a chance." Everything Toyota can muster is barely enough to get Aja to show frustration, and everytime she takes control on Manami it seems as if she was just letting her get some shots in so it would be all the more humiliating when Aja beat her down. Unbelievable performance by both.

 

3. What is your dream match that has never taken place?

 

Well, if you're talking matches that could have or should have happened, but didn't, I never understood we Benoit/Ultimo didn't get the book in '95.

 

4. What is your favorite match from 2002?

 

Haven't seen nearly enough to decide.

 

5. Is there any style of wrestling that you generally dislike?

 

Not really. I'm a big freak when it comes to selling, so I generally tend to dislike anything obtrusive in that area (Mutoh/Kawada, Kanemoto's 98 work, ect).

 

6. What event or match would you recommend to a person who has never watched any Japanese wrestling?

 

The Sasuke Sekigun/Kaientai DX 12/12/96 ten man wouldn't be bad for an intro. I really think it depends on the person, though.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

See above. Hisako opened my eyes to a lot of things - not just Joshi, not just a better way to wrestle, but the inner contradictions we have to live with everyday; the choices we make, even when we know how harmful they can be; the irony that individual greatness comes when one is selfless. I remember JON Burr quoting Kris Kristofferson to describe her: "A pusher and a prophet / Partly truth and partly fiction / A walking contradiction" - if it's not true about her, I don't know who else it's supposed to apply to (besides Johnny Cash). I don't know about the rest of you, but I sit here and watch her work, and I think about "Victory Through Guts," and I think about what she endured, endured to the point of addiction, and I wonder how sick I must be to praise and applaud her accomplishments, knowing what price she had to pay, knowing it's no victory at all to be chewed up, spat out, and thrown away once one's body is absolutely wrecked from the effort - ask Wakizawa about that toll, or ask Momoe, or (may they rest in peace) ask Plum Mariko and Emiko Kado, if you could. And yet, I sit here knowing that I can't have it any other way, because she didn't want it any other way, and somehow that justifies it all, even when it doesn't justify it in the least.

 

I don't know how that makes her my favorite. I guess it just makes her more real, more human, more accessible than all the others, and I find it impossible to turn away from that.

 

I totally agree. In fact, once I saw her walk by this blind girl and the hem of her robe touched her and she could see immeadiatly. I heard they give her matches out to people with AIDS, and the matches turn the AIDS into butterscotch candies.

 

I'm kidding, but... damn. After reading that I want to start humming "Personal Jesus". I mean I don't watch a Steamboat match and go "This STF makes the problem of the eternal soul clearer."

[Guest Jubuki]

Is there something we can help you with? Or are you just spouting nonsense because no one you've met or seen is very interesting or heroic?

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

Is there something we can help you with?  Or are you just spouting nonsense because no one you've met or seen is very interesting or heroic?

I met Jimmy Carter on a booktour.

 

 

Lighten up, buddy.

 

 

NOTE: Does anyone else see the irony of a man who thinks joshi matches are windows to the inner soul deciding what is interesting/heroic?

[Guest Jubuki]

Funny, I don't seem to recall mentioning Jesus or religion or anything of the sort in my post, yet you yammered on about it like that was what I was talking about and made horrid jokes anyway. READING is fundamental, you know - try it some time.

 

Don't you pay ANY attention at all to the people around you? Are you trying to say that no one you've met has EVER made you stop and think, "OK, why are they doing this?" and when you arrive at an answer, it makes you think some more about why you make the decisions you make? Maybe if you weren't so busy failing with your attempts at humor, you'd catch on to what I mean. Maybe a negative example would work better, taken from your own faulty line of reasoning: say, those phony 'born-again' creeps we've all run into, the types who are so fake that they leave us thinking, "I don't want to be anything like that"? Does that make more sense?

 

In the future, instead of trying to ridicule - especially considering how mightily you suck at it - you should stop and think. You, in theory at least, have a brain in your head for a reason; maybe now is a good time to start using it?

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

Funny, I don't seem to recall mentioning Jesus or religion or anything of the sort in my post, yet you yammered on about it like that was what I was talking about and made horrid jokes anyway. READING is fundamental, you know - try it some time.

 

Don't you pay ANY attention at all to the people around you? Are you trying to say that no one you've met has EVER made you stop and think, "OK, why are they doing this?" and when you arrive at an answer, it makes you think some more about why you make the decisions you make? Maybe if you weren't so busy failing with your attempts at humor, you'd catch on to what I mean. Maybe a negative example would work better, taken from your own faulty line of reasoning: say, those phony 'born-again' creeps we've all run into, the types who are so fake that they leave us thinking, "I don't want to be anything like that"? Does that make more sense?

 

In the future, instead of trying to ridicule - especially considering how mightily you suck at it - you should stop and think. You, in theory at least, have a brain in your head for a reason; maybe now is a good time to start using it?

1. Ummm. The soul is only metaphysical. It doesn't have to be religous. You're post was very philisophical in nature. Thus my comment was correct.

 

2. I wasn't trying to ridicule. I mistakenly believed you had a sense of humor.

[Guest Jubuki]

No, you were about as far off base as one can get.

 

Here, I'll put this into the most basic terms I possibly can, so that even a troglodyte such as you may be enlightened:

 

Maybe 8 months or so ago, I was watching the August 01 AJW TV. There's a match on there between Kayo Noumi and Miho Wakizawa. About five minutes into the match, maybe less, Miho takes a bump wrong on the floor and hurts her shoulder/neck. They pretty much stop the match entirely for a couple of minutes to tend to her. And to watch her...you wonder why she'd even bother to keep going. Her face is contorted in pain, tears gushing down her cheeks - she's in agony, the kind of suffering you hope you only see on a videotape, never in person. But, after a while, she gets up and finishes the match, still in a ton of pain every moment along the way. Turns out she had a broken neck, and the bone wasn't healing properly - well, no fucking shit, you're bouncing off it 15 times a week, it's not going to heal correctly. She had to retire at the age of 21 because of it; left her best friends behind because she couldn't put herself through that kind of physical abuse anymore.

 

But who wants to? What kind of person do you have to be to risk suffering like that? And what kind of people are we to sit there and CHEER them? We know full well what kinds of horrible things can happen to them - we've heard of in-ring deaths and seen people crippled - but we still pay our money and act like idiots when the opportunity presents itself. I saw her sitting there, bawling her eyes out, and I felt bad - not just for what happened to her, but I felt bad that I was saying it was OK that it happened by supporting wrestling at all.

 

Following me so far? See how that has jack shit to do with 'souls' and all that so far? OK.

 

That one match with Wakizawa is sort of like Hokuto's entire career. It's why I mentioned the Victory Through Guts motto. It's right there in the center of the ring for practically all the AJW matches I've seen. I've seen it all those times, and it's total bullshit nearly every time. It's a sham. They don't have to prove how tough they are; they don't have to be tough to be successful or earn our respect. It's there in the middle of the ring like it's some sort of fucking rallying cry for these girls to achieve 'greater glory' or something like that, but that's not the truth at all. The truth is it's a threat - it's the company's way of saying, "Tape it up and go" so that the promoters can maybe find their next big draw while some poor girl goes out and beats her joints to pieces or has her bones broken for their profit. But, the girls keep showing up of their own free will, and they keep wrestling hurt, like Miho did for MONTHS before retiring and Hokuto did for YEARS despite ample chances to retire, because they care about their friends and they care about their fans and they care about what they do. And part of me still can't make sense of that. I don't know if they're heroines for going out there and fighting through things that would make most of you boys cry for your mommas, or if they're idiots for doing some damnfool thing that they know could get them killed. Truth is that they're probably somewhere in between.

 

THAT's what Hokuto has meant to me. She does help me understand myself better - in relation to WRESTLING. Get it? Sure, I know people in real life who are in somewhat similar situations; I know people who put themselves in harm's way when they know better, because they love what they do or they love somebody, and I think they're pretty stupid for it. And I know people who've endured things I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy but have come out on the other side in better shape for it, people who have achieved in spite of obstacles. I'd have these opinions of them regardless of whether or not I'd ever seen a Joshi match. And Hokuto, at least in regards to pro-wrestling, is an example of both sides of that, as a worker and as a person. I watch her wrestle, I think about the path her career took, and I wonder if I'd have the guts - or the lack of brains - to make the same decisions.

 

But hey, this thread isn't about my opinions on wrestling and the state of fandom; it's about likes and dislikes, and, as far as I can tell, you haven't contributed a damn thing in that respect. Gonna start, or are you gonna keep acting like you have been?

 

"I have come to the conclusion that every (wo)man is half hero, half idiot; only heroes could survive in the maelstrom, and only idiots would want to." -- some apt shit from the QM

[Guest wolverine]

Absolutely phenomenal post, Chris.

 

Ricky: Great to hear the thoughts on Aja-Toyota 11/20/94. There are very few matches that I go out of my way to pimp to people who haven't seen them, and this was one of them.

[Guest The Mighty Damaramu]

"1. What is your favorite match of all time?"

In Japan? It'd have to be the 6/9/95 Misawa/Kobashi vs. Kawada/Taue. That was a vicious shit kicking on the leg.

Overall I'd say Flair/Steamboat from WrestleWar.

 

"2. Who is your favorite wrestler of all time?"

Once again a toss-up. Randy Savage or Chris Benoit.

 

"3. What is your dream match that has never taken place?"

Benoit(prime) vs. Savage(prime)

 

"4. What is your favorite match from 2002?"

Hmm.......haven't seen any Puro from this year. Probably the No Mercy Tag match between Angle/Benoit vs. Edge/Rey

 

"5. Is there any style of wrestling that you generally dislike?"

Hoss wrestling and hardcore(ECW/CZW/XPW/RAW crap)

 

"6. What event or match would you recommend to a person who has never watched any Japanese wrestling?"

I'd give them Super J Cup 94 and 95 and tell them to go nuts.

[Guest RickyChosyu]

Yeah, the more I watch it, the more things I find to love about it. The way Aja punishes Toyota evertime she fails to varry her offense or follow up too slowly, and the way she seems vulnerable at times but completely dominant overall is just amazing. Great moment after the match, too, when Aja clutches the WWWA Title, showing everyone that even she realized how close Toyota came to beating her, if only for a few seconds. Seeing this and Kansai/Inoue back-to-back was all I needed to get hooked on Joshi.

 

And that was indeed a fantastic read, Chris. Very insightfull, as always.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

I just saw Kong/Toyota last night for the first time. Probably the most brutal asskicking I've ever seen in a match. I loved every minute of it.

 

I'll keep this primarily leaning towards puro, since we're in the puro folder and all, obviously.

 

1. Favorite match would be either Misawa/Kobashi 1/97 or Benoit/Sasuke from the SJC94.

 

2. Again, favorite is a relative thing, so I'll go Mick Foley. Whether he's bouncing off of cement and getting right back up like nothing happened, or bleeding everywhere like a psychopath, he always puts a smile on my face.

 

3. A prime Benoit vs. a prime Dynamite. Probably been said a thousand times before, but it would be a perfect example of teacher vs. student, old vs. new, not to mention the level of brutality the match would have. Stiffness galore.

 

4. I haven't seen a single thing from anywhere but the states this year, so I can't say.

 

5. Lucha Libre. I like elements of it when used with other styles, but not straight-up lucha. The rudo/technico madness bugs me, as well as the refs, the constant run-ins and nonsense, and the lack of a lot of singles matches I enjoy not involving Rey/Juvi or Rey/Psichosis.

 

6. Definitely some DK/TM stuff. It's easy to watch, it's fun, and it's good. I had a similar situation with a neighbor I was friends with who didn't watch too much wrestling or anything that got hooked on Kid/Sayama. Only he called him "Tiger Face."

 

I briefly described the history with the mask, and the tradition, and in a drunken stupor, he said it was his goal in life to become the next tiger mask, then join the NWO.

[Guest J*ingus]

1. What is your favorite match of all time?

 

Hmmm. I have three matches that I have no reservations about showing to anyone, at anytime. None of them are what I'd call flawless, cuz I don't think there is such a thing as a perfect match, but these three are close enough for me.

 

Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair, Chi-Town Rumble. This was the first of their three legendary PPV matches, and is often the most overlooked one. People talk about the Wrestlewar match more, and about the 2/3 Falls even more than that. But this one's my favorite out of the bunch. One reason is that it's the only time that Steamboat ever flat-out dominated and soundly defeated Flair, or really any other main-event match for that matter. The Dragon was so good at making the other guy look good that, for much of his career, he'd spend the entire match selling and bumping for his opponent, with only token offense for himself, and often got pinned clean for the 1-2-3. Not this time. In his first PPV match since his rather embarassing first-round tournament loss to Greg Valentine since Wrestlemania IV, Steamboat comes out of the gate kicking ass immediately and never lets up. Flair, for the first time in years, seems to be at a loss for what to do to a guy who's not bigger and stronger than him (Luger) or more energetic (Sting), but is simply every bit as excellent a wrestler and a performer as the Nature Boy himself. Like I said earlier, the match ain't flawless, the final ref bump was really unnecessary, but in the end it didn't matter. He caught Flair in a small package (the same way he beat Savage two years earlier) and, for the first and only time, was officially announced as Your New World Champion.

 

Dynamite Kid vs. Tiger Mask. This wasn't the overpraised 2/3 falls or MSG match, it was one of their earlier ones (DK's head was shaved), and the date escapes me, sometime 82-ish. Personally, I liked this one better than the others because their spots were still new to the audience. Tiger was proving that he was more than just his silly cartoon gimmick, and Dynamite actually frightened the crowd: who was this English bastard who seemed to actually delight in nothing but the misery of his opponent? The match was more solid and less spotty than some of their later efforts, and thankfully there was no interference this time out from the Harts or whoever. DK worked over Tiger's leg for a while with some vicious kicks, and when Tiger finally got to return the favor, the crowd exploded; finally, this foreign barbarian was receiving some of his own goddamn medicine. And to top it all off, they went to a clean pin for the finish, something that rarely happened in their later days.

 

Misawa/Kobashi vs. Kawada/Taue, 6/9/95. Let me say first that this is the only tag match with these teams that I've seen, so no I have not seen the much-heralded 12/3/93 match, and yeah I want to, but I really couldn't imagine it being any more exciting, any more logical, and ultimately any more heartbreaking than this match. I showed it to a veteran wrestler recently, and his comment was, "THAT is what we've been missing in this business, simple shit like that. Slow it down and make it mean something." I couldn't agree more. Misawa was the stoic champion who you had to actually knock out to take out; Kobashi was the fiery youngster with more guts than brains; Taue was the strong, silent enforcer with a "ah, what the hell" attitude; and Kawada... Kawada was fucking evil. He was an asshole, a rulebreaker, a cheapshot artist, and an all-around villain, who seemed to be somewhat new to villainy and found that he enjoyed it. I was never a big fan of his before this match (he's still not my favorite of the group), but it was this match that opened my eyes to just what he was capable of. That sadistic streak turned out to be exactly what his team needed, and from the first time that Taue kicked Kobashi's vulnerable, taped-up knee (more of a warning shot than anything else), you knew the champs, and Misawa's unbeaten streak, were quite possibly fucked right then and there. I didn't like the finishing sequence at first, since it seemed anticlimactic; there was no huge final flurry of moves and countermoves, false finishes and stopped hearts; the losers were just kinda slowly crushed to the end. But upon reconsideration, I actually like that better on a deeper scale; they were dead, and the winners were merely taking their time hammering the nails into the coffin and making sure that all loose ends had been clipped. A better statement for what tag-team wrestling is and should be I have never seen.

 

2. Who is your favorite wrestler of all time?

 

Tough one. Very tough one. How, for example, do you choose between guys who were born athletes, natural physical prodigies (like Flair, Liger, Angle, and so on) and untalented guys who obviously had to struggle their whole lives and fight upstream in a sport they were never really meant to do and yet achieved greatness anyway (Foley, Taue, Dusty, Hashimoto, etc)? How do you choose between guys who can do eye-popping high flying moves, and guys who couldn't do a moonsault if you held a gun to the heads of the children? How do you choose between a nearly seven-foot monster and a barely five-foot runt? How do you choose between someone who possesses awesome fiery energy, and someone who always keeps their glacial icy cool? Between a light worker and a stiff one? A chair-swinging brawler or a mat wrestler? Between goofy entertainers and serious shooters? Between 'roided and natural? Between young and old? Between ugly and handsome? Between the guys you grew up loving, and the awesome new discovery you just found last week? It's very nearly impossible.

 

There are plenty of people I could put here and not have a second thought. Steamboat. Backlund. Hansen. Kobashi. HBK. Sasuke. Dibiase. Chono. Angle. Even old Jake the Snake, who probably killed more brain cells than anyone else was ever born with in the first place. How do you pick one, and only one?

 

Another day and I might say one of those names, but today, I'm making a hard choice, a choice made even more difficult by the out-of-ring events of the past several months. But today, I'm going to say Steve Austin. I've never seen anyone who has done such a wide range of things, and was so good at so many of them. He started off as the generic blond prettyboy babyface; moved on to being a new-age asshole, who could somehow keep up even with Pillman; and finally found his ultimate niche as himself, a semi-drunken paranoid redneckish Grumpy Veteran Bastard (© Jumbo Tsuruta, 1991) who wasn't the strongest, or fastest, or biggest, or most skilled, but could still whip anything that had an ass above two legs simply because he was the most ornery prick to ever swing a punch in the whole world.

 

3. What is your dream match that has never taken place?

 

In terms of ones that should've actually happened, Bruiser Brody vs. Stan Hansen probably would've kicked ass. In the realm of pure fantasy, 1970 Dory Funk Jr. vs. 2002 American Dragon would probably be something really worth seeing.

 

4. What is your favorite match from 2002?

 

Well, there haven't been too many. Probably one of the Smackdown matches involving Angle and Benoit in some way, although I've only seen a couple. Low-Ki vs. American Dragon at ROH's 2nd show was damn good. And taken as a whole, the epic Jerry Lynn vs. AJ Styles marathon night of TNA's week 11 and 12, capped off by the 3-way ladder match, was a sight to behold there live.

 

5. Is there any style of wrestling that you generally dislike?

 

I've just never gotten into lucha, though I admit to not trying terribly hard and not having seen much. The trios matches, the minis, and the endless masks all seem so weird and foreign that it's distracting.

 

6. What event or match would you recommend to a person who has never watched any Japanese wrestling?

 

Depends on the person. For an ECW blood mark, I'd probably get them an FMW tape, most likely Bombs, Blood, & Barbed Wire with the Kudo/Toyoda explosion retirement match. For a guy who liked Smackdown and the workers therein, J-Cup '94 would be my choice. And for a pure WWF mark, I'd most likely get one of the Dome supershows with as many gaijin superstars for him to recognize as I could.

 

But who wants to? What kind of person do you have to be to risk suffering like that? And what kind of people are we to sit there and CHEER them? We know full well what kinds of horrible things can happen to them - we've heard of in-ring deaths and seen people crippled - but we still pay our money and act like idiots when the opportunity presents itself.

 

I gotta say that I fully agree with that, beautifully stated.

 

I know people who put themselves in harm's way when they know better, because they love what they do or they love somebody, and I think they're pretty stupid for it.

 

That one on the other hand...

[Guest DragonflyKid]

See above. Hisako opened my eyes to a lot of things - not just Joshi, not just a better way to wrestle, but the inner contradictions we have to live with everyday; the choices we make, even when we know how harmful they can be; the irony that individual greatness comes when one is selfless. I remember JON Burr quoting Kris Kristofferson to describe her: "A pusher and a prophet / Partly truth and partly fiction / A walking contradiction" - if it's not true about her, I don't know who else it's supposed to apply to (besides Johnny Cash). I don't know about the rest of you, but I sit here and watch her work, and I think about "Victory Through Guts," and I think about what she endured, endured to the point of addiction, and I wonder how sick I must be to praise and applaud her accomplishments, knowing what price she had to pay, knowing it's no victory at all to be chewed up, spat out, and thrown away once one's body is absolutely wrecked from the effort - ask Wakizawa about that toll, or ask Momoe, or (may they rest in peace) ask Plum Mariko and Emiko Kado, if you could. And yet, I sit here knowing that I can't have it any other way, because she didn't want it any other way, and somehow that justifies it all, even when it doesn't justify it in the least.

 

I don't know how that makes her my favorite. I guess it just makes her more real, more human, more accessible than all the others, and I find it impossible to turn away from that.

 

 

I feel the same way about Hokuto but the person who opened my eyes was Kobashi since I started watching AJ first.

 

I'm curious to know if the same people who are amazed by Hokuto's fighting-spirit feel the same way about Kobashi, I'm not talking about his hulking-up fighting spirit, his inconsistent selling or goofiness but his passion for wrestling. Despite having several serious knee problems he only gave into the injuries when there was no other choice. He worked injured and still was involved in memorable matches, whereas others would call it a career he has always been willing to sacrifice and return.

[Guest Black Tiger]

1. What is your favorite match of all time?

 

AJ Heavy: Misawa vs. Kobashi (1/20/97)

NJ Heavy: Hashimoto/Iizuka vs. Ogawa/Murakami (1/4/00)

NJ Junior: Ultimo Dragon vs. Shinjiro Ohtani (8/4/96)

Joshi: Combat Toyota vs. Megumi Kudo (5/5/96)

M Pro: KDX vs. Sasuke Seigen (10/10/96)

 

2. Who is your favorite wrestler of all time?

 

Koji Kanemoto: Punk persona, mixed with stiff strikes, and great ringwork

 

3. What is your dream match that has never taken place?

 

Super Crazy/Tajiri vs. Kanemoto/Ohtani

 

4. What is your favorite match from 2002?

 

I haven't seen anywhere near enough from this year to make a great choice, but based on my limited viewing I'll say Takayama vs. Ogawa for the GHC. I'm sure I'll get flamed for it though

 

5. Is there any style of wrestling that you generally dislike?

 

The All Japan Junior style, and most deathmatches, I enjoy a deathmatch if it has some sort of storyline to it, like the Joshi match I had listed as my favorite.

 

6. What event or match would you recommend to a person who has never watched any Japanese wrestling?

 

The 1st Super J-Cup show.

[Guest Coffin Surfer]

1. What is your favorite match of all time?

This is a tough one. Probably Black Tiger vs. Benoit 11/96?(I think, if only the tape had a date for it) . This is just the perfect heel vs face match, worked by two foreigners of all people. Benoit's offense consists of sleepers and chinlocks to annoy the crowd, while Eddy uses his flying moves to pop the crowd. And there is nothing cooler than a guy still selling sleeperholds, while he is on offense. Too bad Benoit isn't working these type of matches now, I'd take this over those any of those suplex fests designed to appeal to people suffering from ADD.

 

2. Who is your favorite wrestler of all time?

Kawada. I think I enjoy more matches from him, than any other wrestler. His old match formula was pretty much flawless, and his persona is my personal favorite of all time. He's a dick, but he isn't one dimensional, he also managed to come off as a tragic and sympthatic character that you just want to root for.

 

3. What is your dream match that has never taken place?

Kawada vs. Jun(96-98) I've searched and searched, but the only singles matches I've seen from these two were from 93. Which is a damn shame, because judging from the tag matches they were in, a singles match between the two at that time, would have been awesome, way better than any of the Kobashi/Jun or Misawa/Jun matches. I once saw a six man tag where they trying to out sell each other, that climaxed with Jun doing a corpse sell off Sheer Drop Brainbuster for almost 10 minutes. It's too bad that Jun didn't stay on that road.

 

4. What is your favorite match from 2002?

I haven't seen that much, and from what I hear I haven't been missing out on anything. Right now I am concentrating on getting caught up with Joshi.

 

5. Is there any style of wrestling that you generally dislike?

I just don't feel Lucha or the New Japan Heavyweights. However, I do like some of the better garbage stuff from Big Japan and FMW.

 

6. What event or match would you recommend to a person who has never watched any Japanese wrestling?

As somebody said probably Kobashi/Kikuchi vs. Can Am Connection. The match has the moves, a hell on wheels pace, the god like heat, and a simple but great story.

And if they have to see Misawa/Kawada, start off with the 93 matches.

[Guest XdojimeX]

"Misawa/Kobashi vs. Kawada/Taue, 6/9/95. Let me say first that this is the only tag match with these teams that I've seen, so no I have not seen the much-heralded 12/3/93 match, and yeah I want to, but I really couldn't imagine it being any more exciting, any more logical, and ultimately any more heartbreaking than this match."

 

Yeah, you're missing a whole chapter to the book without seeing this match. Go git it already. It's a different pacing and psychology. The workrate isn't nearly as high end as 6/9/95 but it's arguably a deeper match in it's simplicity. Certainly more heartbreaking and just as dramatic. Kawada at his heights as a story teller. I'm down with Wolverine calling it his fav, it's been hovering in my top 3 AJ for awhile now.

[Guest XdojimeX]

"1. What is your favorite match of all time?"

 

This always changes, you have you're usual AJ suspects. I'm AJ diehard at heart...havent seen anybody pimp Tsuruta vs. Tenryu much lately. An oldie but goodie if there ever was one. Saw it again recently and forgot how much I loved that match. And how fun Tenryu is. What a war.

 

2. Who is your favorite wrestler of all time?

 

Kawada, Misawa, Benoit, Yamazaki, Liger.

 

Left field pick, HUGE Shiro Koshinaka fan. That's my boy.

 

3. What is your dream match that has never taken place?

 

Probably Hash vs. Kawada or Takada vs. Kawada. Or any combo of the 3 Muskys vs. Baba's boys, tag or otherwise. Throw prime Hase in there while you're at it. Interpromotional in the early 90's would have been something (never mind the fact that it would have spoiled business, its my dream here).

 

I've wondered what fruit Jumbo vs. Maeda might have bore.

 

4. What is your favorite match from 2002?

 

Need to catch up on tapes.

 

5. Is there any style of wrestling that you generally dislike?

 

ECW '97-'00. WWF '98-'99. AJ-NOAH '99-present. (Actually I need to see more recent NOAH to judge on that)

 

6. What event or match would you recommend to a person who has never watched any Japanese wrestling?

 

There's My First Sony. And there's My First Puroresu. '94 J-Cup.

[Guest wolverine]

"Kawada vs. Jun(96-98) I've searched and searched, but the only singles matches I've seen from these two were from 93."

 

They had a match on 3/26/98, which was during the Champion Carnival, and it aired on Samurai TV. I had been thinking about tracking down that match for over a year now, but never got around to it.

 

I should also mention that they had a KICK ASS match during the 95 Carny (3/21/95) as well. Jun takes a hellacious beating here.

 

Another quick note. The main event at Budokan Hall on 6/12/98 was originally scheduled to be Kawada vs. Akiyama for the Triple Crown, which Kawada was scheduled to go over in. That would have been his first win in a TC defense ever. However, because business had hit the shits by this point and with Misawa out of action with his myriad of injuries, Baba decided to go with Kobashi back on top - which at least we can be thankful for them putting on a classic, but still, I would've loved to have seen the Jun match.

[Guest Coffin Surfer]

"Kawada vs. Jun(96-98) I've searched and searched, but the only singles matches I've seen from these two were from 93."

 

They had a match on 3/26/98, which was during the Champion Carnival, and it aired on Samurai TV. I had been thinking about tracking down that match for over a year now, but never got around to it.

 

I should also mention that they had a KICK ASS match during the 95 Carny (3/21/95) as well. Jun takes a hellacious beating here.

 

Another quick note. The main event at Budokan Hall on 6/12/98 was originally scheduled to be Kawada vs. Akiyama for the Triple Crown, which Kawada was scheduled to go over in. That would have been his first win in a TC defense ever. However, because business had hit the shits by this point and with Misawa out of action with his myriad of injuries, Baba decided to go with Kobashi back on top - which at least we can be thankful for them putting on a classic, but still, I would've loved to have seen the Jun match.

Cool, Thanks alot. I knew they had to have at least have one match after 93, somewhere. I looked up Kawada vs. Jun on the All Japan match lists on the" New to" pinned thread a while back, the dates aren't accurate, but it still points me in the right direction. However they have it mislabeled as Kobashi vs. Jun on 4/21/95 Carnies I think.

 

I have several matches from the 95 Carnies, but I never bought the actual tape or looked at an actual match list of the whole thing until today. It looks like I need to put that one on the list. Is it as good as the 93 matches?

 

The 98 match sounds interesting, I have no idea how I missed that one either.

 

I also have heard the story about the 6/12/98 Triple Crown Match, which is what got me wondering "Did these two ever have a match after 93?" I had no idea they had a match earlier in the year, that was recorded. Kawada was very on that night, while Kobashi was practially crippled, so there's the possibility that the Kawada/Jun could have actually been better.

[Guest Jubuki]

Actually, the match list dates are accurate - for their TV air date, which is why they're off from the real dates.

[Guest wolverine]

"I have several matches from the 95 Carnies, but I never bought the actual tape or looked at an actual match list of the whole thing until today. It looks like I need to put that one on the list. Is it as good as the 93 matches?"

 

It's definitely better than the 2/93 Kawada-Jun. Haven't seen the 7/93 match yet.