Special K 0 Report post Posted June 29, 2004 Mine was the Rude/Chono match (G-1 climax, I believe?) It was on a Rude tape I bought, since I loved him to death, and he had just died. I was astounded. I had never figured Rude for a great wrestler, and here he was, in this TERRIFIC wrestling match. It's still a great match, but what stood out to me, aside from all the near falls that I totally bought, was that both guys were completely devoted to making each other look like a million bucks. No no-selling bullshit. Each guy looked like they were scrabbling for the win, and this match was the most important in the world. So what match got you into puroresu? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jingus 0 Report post Posted June 29, 2004 For me, it was the Hansen/Kobashi match from Champions Carnival 94. I'd never seen wrestling like that: not a lot of cutesy spots and reversals, no masturbatory "look how cool we are!" highspots that barely make contact; in short, no bullshit. Just one long BEATING and oh my god it was great. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Ray Report post Posted June 29, 2004 Probably Kawada/Tenryu vs Gordy/Hansen 12/16/88. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Dynamite Kido Report post Posted June 29, 2004 I remember the first puro I ever saw was all of Benoit's work as I bought a Chris Benoit best of tape from RFVideo when I went to a ECW show in 1997. After that I went nuts over Jr's, watched and disliked al the Japanese garbage wrestling, then got into the wonderous glory that is All Japan 90's. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest krazykat72 Report post Posted June 29, 2004 The Dynamite Kid/ Tiger Mask Series and the '94 J Cup -Paul Jacobi- Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest wildpegasus Report post Posted June 29, 2004 About a 10 second clip of wrestling on a show one time. The one clip was enough to show me that wrestling over in Japan was completely different and contained things I always wanted wrestling to have in North America. From there it was matches like Liger vs Nogami, Sting vs Muta, Flair vs Fujinami, Rude vs Sasaki, Chono vs Muta and the Steiners vs Sasaki/Hase. Than I found even better stuff later on. Some of the wrestlers that wrestled over in Japan would come over here and were obviously very talented. So North American matches actually got me into puroresu as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Slayer 0 Report post Posted June 29, 2004 When WCW brought Lyger in late '91 and hyped him up with footage, including showing a full match of him vs. Pegasus Benoit Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Black Tiger Report post Posted June 29, 2004 It was a combination of North American wrestling turning into a big soap opera, with the 5 minute matches, and 15 minute interviews, that made me want to see something new. Matches like Lyger vs AKIRA, Sasaki/Hase vs The Steiners, and the Barely Legal six man, gave me the idea to check out some puro. The first real match that hooked me was Lyger vs Dick Togo from New Japan's Sky Diving J. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Real F'n Show Report post Posted June 29, 2004 Pegasus/Sasuke from the J-Cup 94 definately. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest momoracci Report post Posted June 29, 2004 Juniors: Pegasus/Sasuke, 4/16/94 All Japan: Misawa/Kobashi vs. Kawada/Taue, 6/9/95 Joshi: Kong vs. Toyota, 11/20/94 Shootstyle: Tamura vs. Han, 1/22/97 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest The Last Free Voice Report post Posted June 30, 2004 The entire 94 JCup. Sad thing is I have no money to buy anything else outside of the 95 version, which I bought at the same time... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest The Son of Sting Report post Posted June 30, 2004 J-Cup 94 for me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Internet Warfare 0 Report post Posted June 30, 2004 A lot of us started off with The Super J Cup '94 and I was no different. I've read a lot about it as did my brother. He bought the tape and I wasnt sure as to what I would see, I was completely amazed by the Sasuki/Lyger match and was hooked after that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Coffey Report post Posted June 30, 2004 See, I wasn't a big fan of the Super J Cup 1994. Nor '95. I think both were just hyped up way too much for me. I own both on VHS, don't get me wrong, they just never go into my VCR. I got a few matches off of mIRC a few years back. Basically, I didn't know anything about any non-American matches, so I was just checking out people whom I'd recognized from previous years in the States. People like Vader, Norton, Hansen, etc. Well, after awhile, I found Misawa. So, I wanted to pursue some of his shit. I got a contact from on-line to hook me up with a comp. tape. I got a lot of good shit on the tape. His recommendations, for the match part, were all stellar. I got Misawa/Kawada matches, great tag matches with the like of Jun Akiyami, Kenta Kobashi, Akira Taue, etc. Basically that comp. tape is what turned me on to puro. The problem is I just don't have the funds to keep the shit coming in. I guess I'm just not a fan of cruiser/lightweight wrestling because spots get blown more frequently and easily. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Contentious C Report post Posted June 30, 2004 And yet you have Shinzaki in your avatar - uh-buh???? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Coffey Report post Posted June 30, 2004 ...and you'll note I call him Hakushi not Shinsaki. I'm a bigger fan of his American work because I've not been exposed to a lot of his Japanese work. I've never seen any M-Pro actually. Besides, he has a cool look...and it's an avatar. I didn't put it up there thinking "this is the best wrestler ever and I want everyone to know it." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Masked Man of Mystery 0 Report post Posted July 1, 2004 I actually became a fan of puro by accident. My friend was goign to give me his tape of the first NWA TNA show, but he lost it so he got me the FMW Final Encounter DVD. From there, I look around for puro matches, shows, and Japanese wrestlers in general. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TigerDriver91 Report post Posted July 1, 2004 Wild Pegasus vs. Great Sasuke - J Cup '94 And my love for Puro was cemented when I finally saw Kenta Kobashi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa 1/20/97 for the Triple Crown Championship. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest midnight_burn Report post Posted July 1, 2004 I don't recall any one thing or match getting me into puroresu besides my enjoyment of wrestling, no matter where it's from. If any match from my limited puro viewing has sealed the deal as far as Japanese wrestling being something i need to see as much of as possible it'd probably be either Kawada/Albright 10/25/95 or Ultimo/Ohtani 8/5/96 (i believe those are the dates). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Robert 0 Report post Posted July 1, 2004 Probably the NJPW/WCW show in 1991. It had Sting/Muta, Flair/Fujinami, Steiners/Hase and Kensuki. I think it was called Rumble in The Rising Sun, or something like that. I bought it at a Sentry Video Store for five bucks. I watched, and I was hooked. Not a bad match, with the exception for Gigante/Hughes shitfest. But the match that got me hooked was Akira Nogami (sp?) vs Jushin Liger for the IWGP Lightweight Title. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Jimbo Report post Posted July 1, 2004 It wasn't the match, per se, but that musiv video makin' machine Maynard made a vid for one of the '98 Egg Dome Misawa/Kawada matche where Kawada finally goes over. Maybe it was Maynard's talents, but I was captivated by that highlight vid of the match and desperately searched to find the full match, which was just as good. From them on I just searched around for more Kawada and Misawa matches and any other puro I could find and was hooked. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest 2pacallyps Report post Posted July 1, 2004 Owen vs Liger from 4/28/91 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Holzhammer Report post Posted July 2, 2004 Jushin Liger vs Black Tiger II about eight years ago. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Nater Report post Posted July 2, 2004 Owen/Lyger Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest DeathBecomesYou Report post Posted July 3, 2004 J Cup '94 for sure. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest suplexmasta Report post Posted July 3, 2004 Probably the NJPW/WCW show in 1991. It had Sting/Muta, Flair/Fujinami, Steiners/Hase and Kensuki. I think it was called Rumble in The Rising Sun, or something like that. i got a master of this from one of my crazy uncles when I was younger, and never really watched it. Then, a couple of years ago, I actually watched it all the way through and was blown away wiht some of the work, like Muta/Sting and wanted more. And so it goes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sass 0 Report post Posted July 3, 2004 Footloose vs. Can-Am Express - 6/05/89. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Soylent Green Is People Report post Posted July 4, 2004 It'd probably have to be the 1995 Champions Carnival, ever since then i've been looking to watch all the Japanese Wrestling i can. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TheZsaszHorsemen Report post Posted July 4, 2004 Hayabusa/Liger from Super J Cup '94 was the first puro match I'd ever seen. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ISJ981 Report post Posted July 4, 2004 Even before I watched Puro, I knew a bunch about it. Well about as much as an 11 or 12 year old kid could. Having that knowledge, I had known about the infamous Super J Cup 1994. Well, one night at a local indy, I saw it laying on the gimmick table and pretty much almost stole it, I was so excited. I watched it the next morning, and even before the first match I just thought the introduction of all the wrestlers was so damned cool. After watching it straight through, I knew Puro was the best for sure. If there was one match to peg it on, it would have to be Jushin Lyger vs. The Great Sasuke. Best $10 purchase I've ever made. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
