Favourite in each promotion

[Guest ultimo the great]

NJPW HVT/-kensuke sasaki & hiroyoshi tenzan NJPW JR HVT/-jushin liger  AJPW HVT/-satoshi kojima & toshiakikawada NOAH HVT/-jun akiyama NOAH JR HVT/-yoshinobu kanemura TORYUMON/-masaaki mochizuki & genki horiguchi MICHINOKU PRO the great sasuke EMLL/-ricky marvin &pscosis AAA/-gran apache BRITISH/-jodie fliesch & jonny storm i don't watch much lucha or british and im just about to get a joshi tape so im no expert on them http://toryumonusa.tripod.com

[Guest Joshi Guerrero]

Hmmm .. Let's see.

 

New Japan - I'm a big fan of Silver King & Minoru Tanaka in the juniors, not very into NJPW heavyweight stuff I would say Yuji Nagata is as close as I get to Favourtite.

 

NOAH - Jun Akiyama & Kenta Kobashi for heavy, Marufuji as a junior.

 

All Japan - Kawada, Hayashi.

 

MPro - Gran Hamada.. not so much these days (bad pun:P) but I'm still a huge fan. Sasuke of course still rocks socks.

 

Toryumon - CIMA, Magnum TOKYO & Ken'ichiro Arai.

 

Osaka Pro - All hail Takehiro Murahama.

 

Joshi - KAROU, Aja Kong & Chigusa Nagayo.

 

Lucha - Blue Panther, Rencor Latino, Shocker, Felino & Antifaz.

[Guest PlatypusFool]

Im gonna restrict myself to one guy per fed, except the distinction between NJ HWT and NJ LWT, more fun that way...

 

NJPW HWT - Keiji Mutoh (so he's not technically NJ anymore, but you know). I ain't seen much NJ HWT's, but from what I've seen this guy is just fun to watch. He might be old and broken down, but I like his style.

 

NJPW LWT - Jushin Liger. Probably my favourite wrestler ever, I just love the bastard heel mannerisms and moveset of this guy.

 

AJPW - Toshiaki Kawada. I don't like saying that seeing as I have issues about him being a lot less good than people make out, but he is growing on me slowly, and there isn't anyone else in AJ anymore thats really stunned me.

 

NOAH - Jun Akiyama. He might not be the best, but I mark out like a bitch for him.

 

Toryumon - Only seen Toryumon Comes To Japan, but I'll go with CIMA.

 

Michi-Pro - Gran Naniwa. Do the crab-walk baby.

 

Thats all the feds I know well enough to comment on at this time I reckon.

[Guest Jubuki]

Hmm, neat question, hadn't thought hard about it until just now.

 

NJPW: Among the Jrs., I like the little bit of Wataru Inoue I've seen.  He, Liger, and Samurai are the only 3 guys I like from the entire promotion.  Too bad one of the three is too young to be really good and another jobs too much.

 

AJPW: Kawada, obviously.  Kojima, although he looks like a whale now - I want to see if he's still worthwhile.  Fuchi, when he doesn't have to bump and can just be Fuchi.  The rest of the promotion can go straight to Hell.

 

NOAH: I liked Morishima before he became a whale, too.  Marufuji, Omori, and Takayama are the only others I'd go out of my way to see.

 

CMLL: Shocker's fun to watch.  So are Rey Bucanero, Ultimo Guerrero, and Tarzan Boy (as long as Satanico's working with him).  Santo is still amazing, so is Blue Panther.  Casas has slowed down, but it's hard to hold it against him.  Antonio Gomez is better than the level of respect he's received.  Satanico is ridiculously good for his age, best old man in the business, bar none.  Rey and Nicho are still something despite injuries, particularly Nicho.  Although I don't know how often they work CMLL, or if it's even exclusive.  Oh, and Doc Wag.  And Fuerza.  And Black Warrior.

 

AJW: Watanabe, Toyota, Ito, Momoe.  In that order.

 

Indies: In the US, American Dragon & Spanky.  Overseas, there's Doug Williams, Ikuto Hidaka, Tiger Mask, & Carl Malenko.  For the women, The Bloody & Mariko Yoshida.

 

Free Agents: For the men, Silver King.  For the women, Mita, Shimoda, Takako Inoue, & Hiromi Yagi.

[Guest poopsicle316]

New Japan - Tanaka, Tenzan, Lyger, Nagata

 

NOAH - Akiyama, Marafuji, Modest

 

All Japan - Kawada, Kojima, Kea

 

MPro - Sasuke, Hamada, Curry

 

Toryumon - Masaaki, CIMA, Suwa

 

T2P - Oyanagi, Milano, Yagi

 

BJPW - Kasai, Winger, Fantastik

[Guest HBK16]

NJPW HWT:  Mutoh

 

NJPW LWT:  Samurai & Lyger

 

AJPW: Kawada

 

M-Pro: Great Sasuke- Been my favorite for 3 years and it's not changing

 

Toryumon: Dragon Kid

 

NOAH:  Akiyama

 

CMLL: Shocker- I love watching him wrestle. He's the best. Also add Tarzan Boy and Satanico

[Guest Tim Cooke]

New Japan - Liger is still the main reason to really stick around and see the NJ Juniors as he always comes up with some way to make things interesting and fun.  I also like some of the Young Lions but haven't seen enough to really have an accurate view.

 

All Japan - Kawada.  No explanation needed.

 

NOAH - Marifuji.  His Junior work is very spot oriented, but is fun to watch and innovative (though innovation these days is quite over rated).  Vader is still okay to watch, despite being far from his former self.

 

MPro - Tiger Mask IV.  Definetly the best of the group until Togo stops fucking around and goes back to doing his 96/7 KDX gimmick.

 

Toryumon - Masaaki Mochizuki.  Stiff and brings something more than just sprint type highspots to the matches.  

 

Osaka Pro - Esseban.  Nothing like world class comedy matches to brighten up those down days.

 

Zero One - Otani.  Though a shell of his former self, still has some of those elements that made him Top 10 in the world in 1996.

 

US Indies - Jamie Noble, American Dragon, and Spanky.  These are the three who I see the most potential in.  For the most part, the rest can go to hell.  

 

International Indies - Doug Williams, Jody Fleish.  Williams is better than both Dragon and Spanky and will hopefully be able to see more of him soon.  Fleish is high spot man, but from what I have heard, he can do more than that, which of course I need to see.

 

AJW - Nakanishi, Ito.  I'm still learning and watching the Joshi, both past and present so I am still rather clueless.

 

EMLL/CMLL - Santo, Panther (both of who don't really work that much there anymore) so I guess Wagner Jr., Silver King/BT top my list.  I am catching up on the height of Lucha 1993-1996 so my current viewings are very limited.

 

WWF - Benoit and Austin.  Angle may be in that list some day but he needs plenty of work.

 

Tim

[Guest Black Tiger]

New Japan Jr: Koji Kanemoto

 

New Japan Heavy: Masahiro Chono

 

FMW: Haya Fuckin Busa!

 

I'm new to Puro and have only seen one All Japan tape so I don't have a favorite yet.

 

M Pro: Tiger Mask IV

[Guest MRFTW]

New Japan Hvy - Chono and Nagata

 

New Japan Lwt - Candido, Minoru Tanaka, Silver King

 

All Japan - Mutoh, Kaz Hayashi, Bart Gunn

 

Osaka Pro - Pretty much the whole roster

 

Toryumon - Taru, Apache, Bicycle Guy (Saito?), Drunken Guy (Arai?), Darkness Dragon

 

T2p - Oyanagi

 

M-pro - Shinzaki, Togo

 

Zero-One - Hashimoto, Ohtani

 

FMW(when it was still around) - Hayabusa, Kanemura, Ganosuke, Ricky Fuji, Kuroda

 

Freelancers/Misc - Gran Naniwa, Masato Tanaka

 

Joshi(don't own any recent tapes)

 

US Indies(the little i've seen) - Low Ki, Chris Daniels, Westside Playaz

 

WWF(only counting guys that appear on tv regularly) - Angle, Booker, Test, Taijiri, RVD

[Guest CED Ordonez]

AJPW - Bow to Kawada. Thanks to whoever at highspots.com for making this image that I tinkered with to make an avatar

 

NJPW - Yuji Nagata. I'm a mark for him, just look at my screenname.

 

Sadly I need to pick up on the other puro feds...

[Guest HopeSpot]

"AJPW: Kawada, obviously.  Kojima, although he looks like a whale now - I want to see if he's still worthwhile.  Fuchi, when he doesn't have to bump and can just be Fuchi.  The rest of the promotion can go straight to Hell."

 

Chris you just constructed a monument to your own cynicism. Keiji Mutoh is the Observers wrestler of the year but he's not good enough for you? What about Masato Tanaka? Oh what's that you say...he blew a spot at Heatwave 98? Kaz Hayashi? To small? Slow? What's the matter?

 

Fact is AJPW has under gone a rebirth as of recently. Their with out a doubt the single best promotion on the planet right now, but then again, what do I know? I actually enjoy wrestling.

[Guest MRFTW]

"What about Masato Tanaka?"

 

I believe he stopped working for All Japan. I seem to remember hearing something about him cancelling his bookings with them a few weeks back.

[Guest Jubuki]

Chris you just constructed a monument to your own cynicism.

 

And you to your own stupidity, with your utter bullshit "no matter how stiff it is, Joshi offense doesn't look credible" comment.  I can no longer say a thing to Matt Randazzo about having piss-poor reasons for missing out on good Joshi matches; yours takes the cake, sonny.  If I'm cynical in the eyes of the blind, let me never be optimistic.

 

 

Keiji Mutoh is the Observers wrestler of the year but he's not good enough for you?

 

Pretty much.  Mutoh sucks - carried to watchability by Kawada, carried to something pretty darned good by Tenryu.  Suddenly having 2 passable matches after having none the year before doesn't make you great; it makes you Kane.  Austin returned from more serious injury, was a bigger draw, had more good to great matches on TV (let alone PPV) and didn't disgrace his company's major title with farcical defenses against has-beens and old men.  Care to try to construct a better argument, if your brain doesn't blow a gasket first?

 

What about Masato Tanaka? Oh what's that you say...he blew a spot at Heatwave 98?

 

I could give a fuck about Tanaka.  Plenty of guys have good offense; I prefer selling to that any day of the week.

 

Kaz Hayashi? To small? Slow? What's the matter?

 

The matter would be that A) he hasn't been in a MOTYC since '97, and B) I saw him at an indy show in February, against a worker who had it in him to be carried, and he rather sucked.  Completely Stamfordized.  I think 5 years without any blow-away work -- unless you count 8-minute WCWSN matches "blow-away" -- is enough time to need a worker to show me he/she still has "it".

 

Fact is AJPW has under gone a rebirth as of recently.

 

And they're still much, much closer to the grave than they are their heyday.  Some 'rebirth'.

 

Their with out a doubt the single best promotion on the planet right now,

 

CMLL?   Anyone?  I'll still take NJPW, for that matter.  This is 2002, not 1992, after all.

 

but what do I know?

 

Besides how to troll?  Nothing, it seems.

 

I actually enjoy wrestling.

 

And if you enjoyed good wrestling - which is predicated upon knowing what it is - I might give two flying chili shits.  My "enjoyment" has allowed me to get more from wrestling than you ever have, will, or can.

[Guest Midnight Express]

I'm very new to Puro and still very much a NJ mark -so:

 

AJ - Mutoh, Kojima

 

NJ - Tenzan, Chono, Magata, Tanaka, Lyger

[Guest razazteca]

CMLL

Shocker

Tarzan Boy & Ultimo Guerrero & Rey Buccanero

Dr. Wanger & Blue Panther & Fuerza Guerrera

 

AAA

all of the minis

Hector Garza

Electro Shock

La Parka

Mascara Sagrada

[Guest HopeSpot]

"with your utter bullshit "no matter how stiff it is, Joshi offense doesn't look credible" comment.  I can no longer say a thing to Matt Randazzo about having piss-poor reasons for missing out on good Joshi matches; yours takes the cake, sonny."

 

Didn't I also say something about the respect I have for those women and the way they bust ass night in and night out? Your god damn right I did, I don't like Joshi but I respect it, watching two women beat the piss out of each other just doesn't appeal to me.

 

"Pretty much.  Mutoh sucks - carried to watchability by Kawada, carried to something pretty darned good by Tenryu.  Suddenly having 2 passable matches after having none the year before doesn't make you great; it makes you Kane.  Austin returned from more serious injury, was a bigger draw, had more good to great matches on TV (let alone PPV) and didn't disgrace his company's major title with farcical defenses against has-beens and old men.  Care to try to construct a better argument, if your brain doesn't blow a gasket first?"

 

The last time I brought this up you compared Mutoh to guys like Flair, Kobashi, and Steamboat. The fact that you did that is undeniable proof that even you think Mutoh is one of the greatest of all time (because he's in their leauge Chris, I thought I might have to spell it our for you.)

 

I'm a Mutoh mark the reasons go all the way back to watching him at the Charlotte Colusieum with my Grandpa oh so many years ago.

 

"If I'm cynical in the eyes of the blind, let me never be optimistic."

 

Did you steal that from an old episode of Mr. Show? In any case Chris this just sums up the kind of fan you are. For anyone who actually read that pethic rebuttal it was made obvious: you're a puro elitist. Anyone who disagrees with you is wrong because you are the all knowing voice of wrestling reason, well you won me over Chris. Masato Tanaka sucks, Kaz Hayashi sucks, All Japan sucks because they aren't as good as they were during their peak, and everybody just sucks. I mean you named all the wrestlers you like and thier isn't enough guys thier to have a decent battle royal.

 

I saw you at the last concert I was at Chris. You were sitting in a dark little corner by yourself, arms folded, staring at the floor, "I've seen it all before look on your face." Lighten up Chris we can't all be as jaded and assholistic as you are some of us have lives.

[Guest Stuart]

Some of my faves right now. There are some I'll forever like (Misawa) not listed, but these are my current favourites...

 

New Japan: Tenzan, Nagata, Kensuke, Chono, Nishimura, Tanahashi, Naruse (not because he's good, but because of the big steps he has taken since joining) and Liger

 

All Japan: Kawada, Tenryu, Kojima, Honma, Kea, Okumura and Hijikata

 

NOAH: Marufuji, Omori, Kanemaru, KENTA, Asako, Ikeda, Sano and Shiga (if Misawa would just separate heavies and juniors, he could have one heck of a junior division)

 

ZERO-ONE: Hashimoto, Otani, Takaiwa, Hoshikawa, Masato Tanaka and Yoshito Sasaki

 

Toryumon Japan: Ryo Saito, Susumu Yokosuka, Masaaki Mochizuki, Dragon Kid and Super Shiisa

 

Toryumon 2000 Project: Everyone I've seen except Toru Owashi

 

Big Japan: Yamakawa, Shadow WX, Kamikaze (now technically freelance though), Sekimoto and Hido

 

Fuyuki Army/former FMW: Kanemura, Onryo, Gannosuke, Kuroda (sometimes...)

 

Michinoku Pro: Sasuke, Tiger Mask and Hidaka

 

Osaka Pro: Murahama

 

Project X: Onita (forever!)

[Guest Joshi Guerrero]

<snip>you're a puro elitist.<snip>

To be fair, a puro elitist would not bring up EMLL as a best promotion in the world candidate. I personaly think that they may well be - they have more top 100 talent working there weekly then anyone else, although NOAH has better roster depth than most of the world and strill manages to be fairly average.

 

Just to add to my own first post-

 

WWF- Steve Austin, Lance Storm, Kurt Angle.

 

Indy- I have very few Indy tapes, but from what I have Low-Ki is far and away my favourite.

[Guest Tim Cooke]

"Kaz Hayashi? To small? Slow? What's the matter?"

 

Hayashi flat out sucked in HWA.  I don't blame him for it though because they made him tone down his style to learn the basics, even though he had already had more basics than 90% of the WWF roster in the big leagues.

 

I liked Hayashi's stuff at the end of WCW as he was finally able to show a little bit of stuff that made him so good in MPro in 96-7.  

 

But after watching his Sept, Oct, and Nov HWA stuff, I understand where Chris is coming from in regards to not giving two shits about Kaz anymore.  And you can add to this that AJPW has promoted lightweights just as much as the WWF has, so why is there are a reason to care?

 

Tim

[Guest Jubuki]

The last time I brought this up you compared Mutoh to guys like Flair, Kobashi, and Steamboat. The fact that you did that is undeniable proof that even you think Mutoh is one of the greatest of all time

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

 

This is the funniest thing I've read in my entire life.

 

There are these little things called 'context clues' you may want to familiarize yourself with, bub.  

 

Here's my quote, for anyone who isn't following along with the lunacy:

 

"By my reasoning, Tenryu's work was fine - it was giving him an opening to hit bigger spots - but Mutoh didn't follow up on it by recognizing that it had any effect on him, as many better wrestlers -- Misawa, Kawada, Kobashi, Taue, Hokuto, Aja, Jumbo, Flair, Steamboat, Destroyer, Funk, etc. -- would have, in some small way, in a similar situation."

 

That's what I said.  Now, I can see how the dependent clauses could confuse some, so I'll break it down to its bare essentials:

 

1) Tenryu's attack on Mutoh's leg was fine by me.

2) Tenryu's attack on Mutoh's leg gave him a chance to hit his bigger spots, which he did.

3) Mutoh didn't sell the leg long-term; the knee to face counter of the NLB gave him no problems, the moonsault gave him no problems, etc.

4) In a similar situation, better workers -- such as Flair, Steamboat, Kobashi, etc. -- would have sold the leg long-term.

 

So, looking at those points in order, I'm not comparing Mutoh to those workers; I'm contrasting him AGAINST those workers.

 

In the future, if you have problems figuring this out, just find a certain type of punctuation, remove everything that's written until you see that punctuation again, and then piece the two ends back together to see how the sentence operates.  I think I learned that in the 5th grade.  Glad I could help out.

 

I'm a Mutoh mark

 

No kidding.

 

the reasons go all the way back to watching him at the Charlotte Colusieum with my Grandpa oh so many years ago.

 

Uh-oh...I really hope the argument didn't trigger some long-repressed "Grandpa" memories - I don't think any of us really need you to go there.

 

Anyone who disagrees with you is wrong because you are the all knowing voice of wrestling reason,

 

No, not hardly.  I just like good wrestling.  You, on the other hand, can't seem to deal with criticism of any sort, so whenever someone points out your ignorance, your only response is to cry "ELITIST! ELITIST!" like a braying ass.  

 

I saw you at the last concert I was at Chris. You were sitting in a dark little corner by yourself, arms folded, staring at the floor, "I've seen it all before look on your face."

 

You knew who I was 2 years ago?  Wow, that's awfully stalkerific.

 

Not to mention that if someone is staring at the floor, how could someone else see their face so clearly?  Unless you're Alushe-sized, that is.

 

Lighten up Chris we can't all be as jaded and assholistic as you are some of us have lives.

 

Next you'll be telling me I don't get laid enough...yawn...make it past grade school and come talk to us again, kiddo.

[Guest HopeSpot]

"Next you'll be telling me I don't get laid enough"

 

That would explain a lot, maybe your cynisim is repressed sexual frustration?

 

"Uh-oh...I really hope the argument didn't trigger some long-repressed "Grandpa" memories - I don't think any of us really need you to go there."

 

Yawn... next you'll be telling me I don't get laid enough.

 

"This is the funniest thing I've read in my entire life."

 

Chris you really need to get out of the house, the funniest thing in your entire life? Seriously though Muta didn't recognize that the knee had an effect on him and he sucks because he doesn't do long term selling consistently? This guy is so beat up he can't go 100% every match, I mean give him a break,  WWF fans do it when Austin puts his hands up before a chair shot.

 

"No, not hardly.  I just like good wrestling.  You, on the other hand, can't seem to deal with criticism of any sort, so whenever someone points out your ignorance, your only response is to cry "ELITIST! ELITIST!" like a braying ass."

 

Souldn't you be on a literature message board discussing Faust? I've never called anyone an "ELITIST" but you are just that and I thought I'd point it out to anyone who didn't notice.

 

So basically I like Mutoh and you don't, can't we just get along?

[Guest wolverine]

I'd suggest going to Chris' site and educating yourself about this thing we call puroresu.  Because it seems like you need it.

[Guest ultimo the great]

i forgot some T2P/-milano collection at, kinya oyanagi & taru cito, WWF/-yoshihiro tajiri, christian,mike awesome & chris kanyon

[Guest HopeSpot]

"I'd suggest going to Chris' site and educating yourself about this thing we call puroresu.  Because it seems like you need it."

 

Chris one of your sheep is missing. Didn't I make it clear I was finished with this shit?

[Guest Jubuki]

Oh, it was clear you were finished -- just not how you think.

[Guest dawho5]

NJ Juniors - Liger & Minoru Tanaka, followed closely by Koji Kanemoto

 

NJ Heavyweights - Never really liked any besides Mutoh....

 

AJPW - Kawada, one of the best ever

 

Toryumon - CIMA, SUWA, Ultimo Dragon (it is such a crime he can't wrestle anymore)

 

MPro - The Great Sasuke, TAKA, Dick Togo, MEN'S Teioh

 

Lucha Libre - Santo, Nicho de Millionairio, Satanico, Fuerza Guerrera

 

haven't seen enough joshi, Osaka Pro, or NOAH to really comment