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Post by elliott on Feb 13, 2020 1:33:05 GMT -5
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Post by elliott on Feb 13, 2020 2:05:15 GMT -5
Since people are recommending stuff like Funks vs. Abby/Sheikh, what exactly are we talking about when referring "deathmatch" here? Something with a certain stipulation or just ridiculously bloody shit that features some bizarre choice in weaponry? This is probably a question I don't really know how to answer, even though I brought it up. When I think of deathmatch wrestling I think of barb wire, explosions, etc etc. But I get that this may be somewhat narrow. I wound up starting with some of the Funks vs Abby/Sheik stuff last night because it is also a rivalry I have just never gotten around to watching and I am long overdue on. I only started cherrypicking the 70s a couple years ago and kept putting off this rivalry for no great reason. It seemed reasonable to start with that stuff. I don't think of Funks vs Abby & Sheik as "Death Matches." But just wild violent brawls. There aren't any promoted gimmicks and there are countouts/DQs so definitely not "death matches" exactly. But I recommended it because Cap asked for a "good introduction" to dive into "classic" death matches and specifically mentioned Onita/Funk era stuff. I didn't want to throw him (or anyone) right into the deep end by recommending Mr Pogo & his sickle or guys walking bare foot on glass or thumbtacks. That sort of thing has always been a turn off to a lot of people. Even someone like me who likes crazy brawls and likes Onita death matches...I hate anything where one guy lays motionless screaming as someone else carves them up with a sickle. That sucks. Give me the big spectacular explosions. I recommended the 12/77 RWTL match for several reasons. Yes, it is ridiculously bloody and there's the famous carving up of Terry's arm. But much more importantly, Terry was Onita's favorite wrestler, this is one of the most famous/important matches ever and it is the match that really took Terry Funk from headliner to living legend in Japan. It's not even a gimmick match let alone what we think of as a "death match," but I picked it as a pallet cleanser to sort of get you prepped and in the mood for the the early FMW stuff. Not all of Onita's early FMW main events were exploding barbed wire matches. Some are just nutso hard hitting bloody brawls and are fucking awesome. So this sets that tone for the rest of the "playlist." (Sidenote - Honestly I figured Cap had seen the Funks vs Abby/Sheiks matches before and only intended to recommend it to set the mood. But holy fuck since you haven't seen them before, nows the time to watch them all. 12/77 is the most famous but probably my 3rd favorite of this feud. The 7/79 match is my #1 or #2 AJPW match ever.) I picked the Funk/Lawler Empty Arena match for similar reasons. Again, Terry was Onita's favorite wrestler and a huge influence on Onita. The Empty Arena match is another exceedingly violent match with an insane gimmick. Again the sort of thing to set the mood for early Onita. The Tupelo Concession stand brawl felt like another important thing to watch to get the origins of Onita for obvious reasons. I picked those two Colon matches because Colon & Puerto Rico was obviously another huge influence on Onita and FMW. And these two are also actual death matches with crazy gimmicks but they still aren't at the level of insanity Onita would take it to later. If you watch my recs in order you'll get to see not just the best of the early Onita matches, but I wanted it to try and tell a story of the style with these matches. You get to see the evolution. I could have been much more comprehensive. I could have included Rusher Kimura 70s Cage matches, the rest of the Funks/Abby/Sheik matches, Dump Matsumoto matches, more Colon, lucha matches etc. But I figure if Cap is laid up recovering on pain pills, he could kick back and watch those 16 matches and basically see the evolution. If Sabu/Funk and Cactus/Funk are his favorites, then we should probably point him in the direction of Honma & Yamakawa. If he sees that stuff as overkill but likes something like Onita vs Aoyagi, we can point to some stuff like that. That was sort of my thinking. When he said stuff like "classic death match" and "good introduction" and Funk/Onita era, it really made me think of stuff mostly up to Onita's first retirement. We can go bigger. But I would strongly recommend watching that early stuff first. Lastly, Jetlag, king of kings, brought up Headhunter A vs Headhunter B from IWA and absolutely add that insane match to the list. I honestly don't know how it holds up because I haven't seen it since like 1997, but I have extremely vivid memories of some of the spots and it was really important at the time in tape trading circles. I should rewatch that one.
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Post by bossrock on Feb 13, 2020 19:19:23 GMT -5
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Post by nintendologic on Feb 13, 2020 21:45:27 GMT -5
I've often said that Kudo/Toyoda is the greatest match I never want to see again.
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Post by elliott on Feb 14, 2020 16:52:41 GMT -5
That's definitely the best one (Kudo/Toyoda) but I didn't bring it up because I just assume everyone has seen it.
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Post by elliott on Feb 14, 2020 16:53:50 GMT -5
Foley's screeching in this match is a lot.
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Post by elliott on Mar 1, 2020 2:41:05 GMT -5
Bossrock, did you watch that Funk/Foley match?
Cap, did you watch anymore of these matches? What were your thoughts?
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Post by bossrock on Mar 1, 2020 8:15:29 GMT -5
Bossrock, did you watch that Funk/Foley match? Cap, did you watch anymore of these matches? What were your thoughts? I did! I liked it a lot. Might be my favorite Funk 90's match that isn't against Eddie Gilbert. As you said, Foley is at his screechiest but he makes it work because of the sheer fact that he's Mick freakin' Foley.
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Post by Cap on Mar 8, 2020 8:24:37 GMT -5
I went through the entire Abby/Shiek vs Funks feud and its incredible. I also watched Onita vs Tenryu, Funk, and Habaybusa from the anniversary shows. First two are great. The third was fun drama at the end. I also watched Funk vs Cactus from 1/8/1995. Fuck me. Those two were not afraid to destroy themselves for a hand full of people.
I then got busy with work. Its spring break so students are gone this week so hopefully I will be able to get some more suggestions.
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Post by elliott on Mar 8, 2020 16:43:29 GMT -5
That Funk/Cactus match is the one Foley talks about in his first book. Knowing it would be filmed for a commercial tape, he worked extra hard. And it was apparently super cold in the arena.
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Post by Cap on Mar 8, 2020 18:13:54 GMT -5
Its a bonkers match. It wasn't my favorite of what I watched yet, but there was something sort of mesmerizing about it.
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Post by elliott on Mar 8, 2020 18:41:03 GMT -5
The Abby/Sheiks/Funks stuff is out of this world.
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