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Post by Cap on Jul 19, 2019 9:55:09 GMT -5
It took me a minute to "get" Taue, but i absolutely love him. He is brings such a unique dynamic to matches. He is a cranky dude who just beats the piss out of people. If people haven't seen it I really suggest his GHC title match with Kobashi. Fantastic stuff.
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Post by bossrock on Jul 20, 2019 15:18:17 GMT -5
It took me a minute to "get" Taua, but i absolutely love him. He is brings such a unique dynamic to matches. He is a cranky dude who just beats the piss out of people. If people haven't seen it I really suggest his GHC title match with Kobashi. Fantastic stuff. That is indeed a great one and I would also highly recommend the Marufuji match. Tremendous performance so late into his career. I remember seeing someone on PWO likening appreciating Taue as sort of a "rite of passage" for wrestling fans and it's true. Because while most (myself included) would agree that Misawa, Kawada, and Kobashi were better, Taue is still incredible. Just as much as Kawada, he is the glue that holds a lot of those classic tag matches together. He plays an essential role in 6/9/95 and 12/6/96 and the early 90's trios matches are driven by him and Kawada beating the crap out of each other. And while he was an asshole in so many matches, he could be surprisingly sympathetic as well. Even though he's not the "biggest" big man wrestler, he's the undisputed best. Top 10 candidate for best ever. |
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Post by elliott on Jul 21, 2019 3:35:51 GMT -5
Last time I watched all the early 90s AJPW, I was surprised how many times Taue was the 2nd or 3rd best guy in the match often only behind Jumbo & Taue. He is usually dismissed until like 1995 but I think he was a big part of way too many great matches in the 91-94 era for me to say he wasn't great during that period. Certainly he was great in a multi-man setting in that era. I love his matches with Kawada from that time period. 94 has the amazing Hansen Carnival match. I can't remember the singles matches during this early period against Kobashi & Misawa but I'd really like to seek any out and give them a look. Of course the Misawa matches from 95 are two of the best matches from 90s AJPW. I think the 7/95 Kobashi match is hugely underrated and should make people voting for 40 AJPW & NOAH matches lists.  One match I think people should take a look at is his 4/96 match against Dr Death Steve Williams. It isn't a top 100 GME candidate, but it is a truly great match and an awesome example of Taue working against a limited worker. This was after Williams' peak post arrest & that whole mess. Really it is probably the last great match of Williams' career. |
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Post by microstatistics on Sept 22, 2019 17:01:44 GMT -5
Building on the debate in the Kawada thread:
Yeah, I never got the 'Taue turned a corner in 1995' viewpoint. If people said he became even better in 1995, I'd understand but that line implies he wasn't particularly good before 1995.
I think until 1993 (maybe even 1994), Taue was the best. Performance wise (in singles, tag, multi-mans), I thought he was more impressive than Misawa and Kawada and maybe even Kobashi. Better selling and offense and his presence stood out more.
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