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Post by microstatistics on Aug 4, 2020 21:49:45 GMT -5
LCO vs. Ayako Hamada/AKINO (ARSION, 12/11/1999)
The tag champions Ayako and Akino were way in over their head but took it right to the savage invaders. LCO took charge quickly, though they started off relatively tamely by their standards as the champions displayed their spunk. But it didn’t take long before both babyfaces were a bloody mess and being brutalized, much to the concern of the ringside ARSION roster members. Ayako and Akino refused to yield though and bravely fought back, despite the fact that even their best attacks were only partially effective. Still, LCO had been too preoccupied with inflicting pain and so their finishing ability was a little rusty, allowing Ayako to temporarily stun Shimoda for the miracle win. The selling wasn’t flawless (though a good portion of that was intentional to get LCO over as killers) but this had some fantastic action and pseudo-brawling plus a great story about the virtues of persistence. It even had an emotional hook as it felt like a triumph for the entire promotion, rather than just the wrestlers. ****1/2
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Post by microstatistics on Aug 4, 2020 21:58:29 GMT -5
Cactus Jack vs. Triple H (WWF, 1/23/2000)
HHH pushed Mick Foley too far and now had to survive Foley’s most dangerous personality: Cactus Jack. HHH was quickly forced to match Jack’s level of violence and adjust to the plunder brawl setting. Despite getting badly lacerated, he displayed impressive fortitude and even lived up to his ‘cerebral assassin’ moniker as he repeatedly took advantage of Foley’s hurt knee to stop him in his tracks. The continuity with the handcuffs from the I Quit match the previous year was a nice touch, though a cop randomly showing up to unlock them was maybe a little too convenient. All-time great finishing stretch with an epic Pedigree kickout and a climactic and brutal finish. Post-match beatdown was neat since it reiterated that Jack could only be kept down but never put down. Still, ultimately, HHH beat Jack at his own game to retain the world title and prove he belonged at the top. ****1/2
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Post by microstatistics on Aug 4, 2020 22:53:17 GMT -5
Atlantis vs. Villano III (CMLL, 3/17/2000)
The culmination of their months long feud, featuring unreal crowd investment as one of these two lucha legends was about to be unmasked forever. The crowd seemed to favor the rudo V3 early on, perhaps seeing him as the underdog. After an initial matwork section, both were busted open after colliding heads on a tope and the rudo-technico divide became less relevant, though V3 continued to showboat. It morphed into a desperate struggle for their masks with several counters and pin attempts, urgent submissions and even some dire fighting. Atlantis finally caught V3 in his torture rack finisher and while the latter managed to escape, his back was irreversibly damaged, and the crowd realized the end was nigh. The stipulation and occasion were definitely conducive to the back and forth nature of the work, which likely would have failed under other circumstances. But wrestling was sound and infused with urgency at every turn, which is why it retains the drama and holds up well after subsequent viewings. ****3/8
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Post by microstatistics on Aug 4, 2020 23:19:15 GMT -5
El Satanico/Averno/Mephisto vs. Tarzan Boy/Rey Bucanero/Ultimo Guerrero/Mascara Magica (CMLL, 9/28/2001)
This was the blowoff to the Satanico vs. Ultimo Guerrero feud with the winner getting to keep the ‘Infernales’ title. The stipulation was Infierno en el Ring, a steel cage with escape only rules until the final two wrestlers, who then had to compete in an apuestas. The rudos used the numbers advantage to their favor and rapidly ambushed Satanico and friends. But they got greedy and tried to escape earlier than was permitted, allowing a technico fightback. The technico’s made a similar mistake, leading to a more even back half. Eventually, guys like Tarzan Boy and Bucanero began to abandon ship to save their own hair, which was in superb contrast to Satanico’s altruism when he aborted his own escape to instead facilitate Averno’s. It boiled down to Satanico’s hair vs. Magica’s mask with Magica’s rudo tactics not being enough to save his mask and Satanico prevailing. The action was a bit pedestrian, though some intense, hateful brawling made up for it. But Satanico’s journey and triumph was definitely the main story here. ****1/4
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Post by microstatistics on Aug 4, 2020 23:54:34 GMT -5
Naomichi Marufuji vs. Tatsuhito Takaiwa (NOAH, 12/9/2001)
Marufuji challenged for the junior’s title and had to utilize his speed and athleticism against a far stronger champion. Explosive start as Takaiwa tried to kill Marufuji off right away with a lariat and a series of powerbombs. A superkick bought Marufuji a little time but Takaiwa quickly smothered him on the mat, threw him around and destroyed his knee. Marufuji sold quite well as the knee hindered a lot of his high impact offense and Takaiwa even smartly grabbed went back to it amidst the bombfest. Some flash pins led to Marufuji landing a few fatal blows to pull off the upset and Takaiwa’s post-match show of respect was a nice touch, especially after his arrogant covers. They probably could have done a better job pacing the escalation in the middle but, overall, I think this is a modern juniors classic due to the compact, hard-hitting action and strong psychology. ****3/8
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Post by microstatistics on Aug 6, 2020 17:35:42 GMT -5
Kenta Kobashi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa (NOAH, 3/1/2003)
Misawa was the GHC champion and the ace of NOAH, but his days seemed numbered as many felt Kobashi’s time to take up the mantle had come, even though he had never beaten in Misawa in a world title bout. Accordingly, Misawa displayed an unusual level of urgency as he aggressively cut Kobashi off and targeted his lariat arm. Though he crashed into the guardrail on a missed dive, opening the door for a focused Kobashi to attack and soften up his neck. But he survived a suplex barrage and managed to execute a monstrous Tiger suplex off the ramp. It seemed like déjà vu as the one big maneuver that always spelled doom for Kobashi in these Misawa world title matches had materialized. But, unlike previous instances, Kobashi kicked out of Misawa’s follow-up finishers, clawed his way back to even ground, unloaded impactful offense and finally landed the lethal Burning Hammer. Not a fan of the fighting spirit sequence in the middle but this pretty much nailed the changing-of-the-guard dynamic it was going for, especially as it made Kobashi truly earn the win. ****5/8
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Post by microstatistics on Aug 6, 2020 17:38:04 GMT -5
Kenta Kobashi vs. Tamon Honda (NOAH, 4/13/2003)
This was Kobashi’s first world title defense, against an opponent who, at least on paper, was a massive underdog. Still, Honda was undeniably skilled and applied his mat game and unorthodox attacks well, though Kobashi proved to be up to the challenge. But Kobashi’s taped right arm was a vulnerability, which Honda exploited with tricky submissions and opened Kobashi up for bigger bombs. Meanwhile, Kobashi tried to weather the storm, while relying on his strengths and acumen. Kobashi pulling out a rana counter and a left arm lariat were noteworthy spots since they displayed both his resourcefulness and desperation. A Honda upset was teased with some big kickouts and flash pins but Kobashi decisively reigned supreme. ****1/4
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Post by microstatistics on Aug 6, 2020 21:07:51 GMT -5
Eddie Guerrero vs. JBL (WWE, 5/16/2004)
The elitist JBL made this challenge for the beloved champion’s world title extremely personal by tormenting Eddie’s family and spewing racist rhetoric. Eddie was absolutely seething at the onset and began to aggressively rough up his larger opponent. A desperate JBL made use of his strength and employed smothering holds to extinguish Eddie’s momentum and power moves to damage Eddie’s back. Eddie ended up absorbing a chair-shot that busted him open extremely badly as a smug JBL sensed the opportunity and went in for the kill. Eddie displayed his immense resilience though and launched a fiery comeback, forcing JBL to cowardly resort to cheating tactics. This backfired as Eddie’s vengeful, animalistic side took over when he cracked JBL with the title belt (getting disqualified in the process) and utterly destroyed him in the post-match. One of the best WWE matches of the 2000s. ****3/8
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Post by microstatistics on Aug 6, 2020 21:10:13 GMT -5
Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama (NOAH, 7/10/2004)
The biggest match in NOAH history as Akiyama’s years-long quest to topple Kobashi reached its final chapter. Akiyama lost the initial strength-based exchanges but smartly baited Kobashi with a strike exchange to stun him with a flying knee and launch a varied and focused assault on his neck. Kobashi desperately stymied him with a snug headlock before executing a brutal suplex off the apron. Kobashi rallied with a series of bombs but the threat of the Burning Hammer prompted Akiyama to urgently bounce back. He then unleashed a torrent of huge bombs, in addition to his king crab lock, but Kobashi withstood it all. Once Kobashi countered another finisher attempt with a brainbuster, a previously calm Akiyama let out a cry of frustration before going on to lose a sequence that pretty much sealed his fate. Still, Kobashi had to bust out everything, including the Burning Hammer, to keep him down. The fighting spirit exchange here at least served a purpose (to illustrate the inevitable demise of Akiyama) but they still could have toned it down. Overall, though, this might be the ultimate achievement in wrestling maximalism. ****5/8
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Post by microstatistics on Aug 6, 2020 21:12:17 GMT -5
Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Hiroyuki Ito (U-Style, 8/18/2004)
U-Style ace Tamura contended with the young lion Ito in one of the semi-finals of the tournament. Ferocious strike bursts and smart grappling maneuvers from Ito stunned Tamura as the latter successively conceded two points. Tamura was forced to dig deep and utilize his submission expertise to erase the deficit in hard fought manner. But feisty Ito kicks damaged him, leading to a heated strike exchange that saw Ito regain the points lead. An upset seemed imminent as Tamura looked like he was on his last legs, but he was experienced and knowledgeable enough to grab a limb amidst the stand-up fighting and trap Ito for the submission. Almost certainly the best shoot-style match that has occurred since the heyday of late 1990s RINGS. ****5/8
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Post by microstatistics on Aug 7, 2020 23:08:05 GMT -5
Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk (ROH, 12/4/2004)
Punk had pushed Joe to the brink twice, only to fall short, so this was his last chance at the world title. There was a considerable amount of clever continuity from the previous two matches as both were familiar with the other’s tactics and hence were able to anticipate and counter. Punk opened up a line of attack on Joe’s neck in an attempt to grind him down but was busted open in the process and mercilessly worked over. Joe was usually the dominant, no-nonsense champion, but Punk’s spirited underdog work made him desperate. He began to rely on things like hair and ropes for additional leverage and even tried to steal a pin near the end, much to the displeasure of the crowd. The Steamboat spot was silly and out of place but the commanding finish sort of made up for it as Joe finally nullified the Punk challenge. A contender for best match in ROH history. ****5/8
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Post by microstatistics on Aug 7, 2020 23:10:27 GMT -5
AMW vs. Triple X (TNA, 12/5/2004)
This was a Six Sides of Steel blow off to their feud and the losing team had to permanently disband. Both teams wrestled like well-oiled machines until Triple X handcuffed Chris Harris in the corner in order to isolate and take out James Storm. However, they grew complacent at various points, specifically when Christopher Daniels taunted Harris with the key (hence facilitating his escape) and they mockingly utilized AMW’s finisher. Perhaps it was poetic justice when it was Daniels who ended up being handcuffed in the corner and had to helplessly watch the dissolution of his team when AMW pinned Elix Skipper with Triple X’s own power-plex. The selling was a little suspect at times, but they melded strategic tag wrestling with the cage violence and huge bumps really well. ****1/4
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Post by microstatistics on Aug 7, 2020 23:11:31 GMT -5
AJ Styles vs. Abyss (TNA, 4/24/2005)
This was a No.1 contender’s steel cage match and Styles utilized his aerial ability to take it to the monster right away. But the setting worked in Abyss’ favor and he applied his experience and size to corner Styles and pulverize him. Styles’ bump(s) after Abyss slammed the cage door into his face were quite epic and made the spot feel incredibly violent. Eventually, athletic and smartly timed counters and the feistiness (e.g. hair pulling, biting) of Styles allowed him to slay the beast. The pacing was a little sluggish at times, but overall, you can add this to the pantheon of great cage matches. ****1/2
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Post by microstatistics on Aug 7, 2020 23:12:32 GMT -5
AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe (TNA, 12/11/2005)
Joe injured Christopher Daniels and demolished the X-division in disrespectful fashion. The champion Styles was incensed and determined to teach Joe a lesson, despite the enormity of the task. Styles came out all guns blazing to briefly stun Joe, but Joe soon began to annihilate him with kicks and other stiff offense. Styles only managed short bursts of offense as Joe quashed his momentum at every turn. Still, he defiantly resisted, and Joe began to doubt himself but just when it looked like he might pull it off, he got caught in the choke. The effort and conviction were admirable, but the endeavor was fruitless as Styles lost his title and Joe continued his rampage. One of the best matches in TNA history. ****3/8
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Post by microstatistics on Aug 7, 2020 23:43:35 GMT -5
Kenta Kobashi vs. Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH, 4/23/2006)
Kobashi was a step or two slower than he was in 2003-2004 but he smartly used his strength advantage to neutralize Marufuji’s speed. In response, Marufuji attacked Kobashi’s famously bad knee in creative fashion to stem the tide. Kobashi relied on his chops to fight back and slowly built to his bombs, though the knee hampered his mobility. So Marufuji decided to throw caution into the wind and unloaded with high impact offense. I want to highlight Kobashi’s half nelson suplex spot since it was the type of ideal transition that is sorely lacking in modern wrestling. It was a big move that curbed Marufuji’s flurry but, instead of immediately following up on it, Kobashi went back to selling the damage he had just sustained. In the process, they subverted the back-and-forth trap and the match was organically back on an even keel. The finishing stretch was also well done as none of the near-falls or big moves were excessive, Marufuji came off as a credible threat to a heavyweight and Kobashi’s win was definitive. ****1/4
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