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Post by tetsujin on Jan 10, 2024 16:46:07 GMT -5
LA Park vs. El Mesias (Hair vs. Mask - AAA - 6/18/2011)
Not as good as their 2010 match, but still a very fun spectacle. There's a moment when Park sets up a table in the middle of the ring, gets on top of it, does his fucking dance on it, and right after turning around el Mesías hits him through the table with a spear from the top rope. Greatest shit ever.
This lacked the cohesiveness and great selling of the 2010 match, but it's all about the fireworks and they are great here. An apuestas spotfest, if you want. LA Park's heat segment with the crowd right after the match is godly, he really is both one the most asshole guys and one of the most lovable guys in wrestling history.
***3/4. Very strong match that I can see on people's lists if they're more into lucha than I am, but not near that level for me. If the 2010 one had also a couple of spots and the finish of this one, that would be an instant lock for my ballot though.
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Post by tetsujin on Jan 16, 2024 19:02:08 GMT -5
Larry Zbyszko vs Nick Bockwinkel (AWA - 7/11/1987)
Yasss face Bockwinkel! Which quite frankly, as KB8 said, it's just heel Bockwinkel but with the crowd on his side, which makes this match a rare example of the heel vs heel match up, and one of thw best I've seen, mind you.
Here Bock is purely vicious against Zbyszko, and it's a delight seeing that part of his character on display. Bock is sadly underrated in the "more versatile wrestlers ever" talk, he can work basically how he wants to and that gives him a timeless aura, while at the same time not feeling out of place in the 80s setting at any point.
And Zbyszko is great as well. He sells, he begs, he attacks when given a chance and he fights fire with fire. There's nothing more to it, but it's more than enough here.
****. Not something I'm gonna consider for a top 100, but definitely a great piece of pro wrestling that everyone should see.
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Post by tetsujin on Feb 6, 2024 9:14:10 GMT -5
LA Park vs Dr Wagner Jr (TxT, 11/5/2013)
Another awesome LA Park brawl. He sure knows how to make every one of them feel unique while sharing the same formula. The amazing visual with the shirt and the chair on fire at the beginning is dope as fucking fuck.
This one had a very disgusting and Invelieve unintentional blade job (from the beer bottle spot), that had Park and the doctor worried about it enough times to give him bandages more than once. Honestly, feeling the real danger and medical negiglence makes this cross the wrestling line between enjoyment and disgust, so I think it takes away from it, sadly.
Either way, LA Park keeps going and both him a DWJ fight to death. The first fall, which is basically a long Park squash, is my favourite. The match IS so good that even the ref bumps weren't as dumb, and overall the overbooking was kept to a minimum. Black Terry counting to three despite having the intention to give the final fall to LA Park anyway is the most hilarious rudo referee stuff I've ever seen.
Great match, for sure. Too uncomfortable to watch at times, and the botched bladejob makes la tercera caída a bit of a mess, but other than that this is everything you could ask for in a lucha brawl.
****.
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Post by tetsujin on Feb 13, 2024 15:24:41 GMT -5
The Destroyer vs Mil Mascaras (AJPW - 10/9/1973)
Finally I was able to watch this classic. And I was bored.
This style of wrestling is not really for me, but, based on the Baba match, I thought Destroyer could bring enough charm for this one. Sadly, that wasn't the case. It's the same 2/3 falls 70s big match any other pair of wrestlers could have worked, with too basic and uninspiring matwork most of the times, a random sequence running the ropes followed by a weak as hell running strike from Máscaras to end the first fall (a move that later on Destroyer doesn't have any trounle kicking out of, of course), and a samey second fall with an interesting finish to set up the third fall, the only one worked at high level.
It's cool to see Destroyer going for Máscaras' leg looking for another figure four, and Máscaras' urgency to avoid it is easily my best part of the match, but that's a segment that only last for the last five or so minutes of the match (and the match still ends in a anticlimatic count out finish, duh). The first two falls are too dull and generic, with almost none of the Destroyer's charisma to be found. Some cool holds here and there, but camouflaged whitin a half an hour of... Just acceptable wrestling, honestly.
**3/4. Almost decent, with a good third fall. I really wanted to like this but it's too soulless.
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Post by tetsujin on Feb 14, 2024 18:07:18 GMT -5
Austin Aries vs Nigel McGuinness (ROH - 12/29/2007)
This was amazing. They defined what the match will be about very early on, not wasting any time: Aries burst Nigel open at the beginning with one of the nastiest topes ever, and he goes after Nigel's injured arm as well. Meanwhile, Nigel, being at a clear disadvantage, goes for his biggest shots, and urgent Nigel is the best Nigel.
Fast paced while keeping superb psychology, creative offense and cool ways of bringing their signature spots. That's basically it, but the match didn't need nothing else. It's two guys working hard for the world title.
I really connected with this match, and while I won't vote for it, it's definitely on a top 200, maybe even top 150. Maybe the best Nigel match ever, too! ****1/4
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Post by tetsujin on Feb 16, 2024 5:40:35 GMT -5
Buzz Sawyer vs Jim Duggan (Mid South - 11/11/1985)
I don't have any idea of the story behind this match, as Mid South is still a blindspot for me, but matches like this make me wanna change that. This was a great brawl: super intense, bloody, crowd on fire, savage babyface against coward heel, just vintage territory era wrestling.
It's nothing more than that, but also, nothing less. ***3/4
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Post by tetsujin on Mar 1, 2024 17:47:30 GMT -5
Minoru Suzuki vs Kazushi Sakuraba (NJPW - 1/4/2015)
Man I miss this New Japan. This show was my first ever NJPW show and thankfully it was one of the best shows of modern era because between this, Ishii/Makabe, Naito/AJ and the two excellent main matches, what a fucking card man.
Although the early mat sequences were super interesting, this quickly envolved into a Suzuki brawl, but Sakuraba turns it on his favor by almost breaking Misu's arm on the ramp. Suzuki sells the pain in a great way, but pushes through it in order to get openings with big slaps (with his other arm, thank god). The juji gatame nearfall was amazing and so was Suzuki being able to lock that sleeper hold to get the win.
Great sprint with a little bit or everything, both guys had great aura to pull this off. Not a great match but definitely very good and a great addition to the show. ***3/4
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Post by tetsujin on Mar 2, 2024 7:03:03 GMT -5
Arn & Ole Anderson vs Rock N Roll Express (JCP - 7/17/1986)
This was great, although it never reached the next level for me, and the commercial cuts not letting me enjoy the full match is a shame. Still, what we have is super fun, and the crowd is fucking amazing as well.
When you see this kind of match nowadays, you get the babyfaces shinning, the heels working on top setting up the hot tag, hope spots, the hot tag and comeback of the faces, and the nearfalls with the partner breaking the count at the last moment. But here, here it never gets to that last part, that climax; the match is basically the Andersons working on Gibson, then the RnR Express working on Ole, and then the Andersons working on Ricky (and instead of a proper hot tag, Gibson just randomly entered the ring at the end, that was a bit anticlimatic to me). Then the time limit expires. Weird structure.
However, from an input standpoint this is great. There's a touch of grittiness behind almost everything they do, even from the RnR Express, who are not afraid of giving the heels some of their own medicine and I love that treat in my babyfaces, thank you.
***3/4. A great match (although not more than that) that sadly I can't find in full.
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Post by tetsujin on Mar 2, 2024 17:38:01 GMT -5
Vader vs Tatsumi Fujinami (NJPW - 4/24/1989)
What a great match. What's fascinating from Vader to me is how you can put him in any setting and you will obviously feel it's a Vader match, but at the same time you'll think "wait a minute, this is a wonderful [insert style/region/era] match that happens to have Vader in it!". He's such a versatile guy without losing any of his aura and personality, and he dies that better than other similar guys you might want him to compare to, like Hansen or Lesnar, for example.
That said, one of my knocks against Vader in a GWE context it's his lack of top tier matches: he has great mtches, sure, but they don't get to the next level, and I have the same feeling for almost all of his more famous stuff (the 1998 RWTL Finals being the only exception, I've voted for that match in GME twice now iirc). This is no exception, but alas, it is still great.
Fujinami carries himself wonderfully here. He looks super capable against the big guy, who struggles to keep the match on his territory. Neither guy seems to take the full advantage, they're constantly surprising one another, with Fuji even giving Vader some of his own medicine more than once, returning slaps, surprise back suplexes and all that. I really like that, if you're coming blind to this match, you might expect a classic David vs Goliath tale, considering the wrestlers involved. I mean, who's a better underdog than Fujinami and who's a better monster that Vader? Not too many people in neither case. However, they gave us kind of a 50-50 approach, and they made it work pretty damn well, while keeping both guys' essence.
They just had great chemistry, although they had a little bit of a slow pace sometimes and that sacrificed intensity, which could have helped the match a lot more to become a true classic in my eyes. I know they had more matches both before and after this one, but I believe this is the most remembered so I'm not sure if they could give me the MOTYC I want from them. We'll see.
I guet the top 100 consideration, there's a lot to love, but it's just not on that level to me. Still, great match and a surprising performance for both legends. ****
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Post by tetsujin on Mar 18, 2024 8:51:10 GMT -5
Negro Casas vs Blue Panther (Hair vs Hair - CMLL - 3/2/2012)
While I'm not as big on Panther as most people, Negro Casas is one of my favourite luchadores (maybe top 3, just below Santito and LA Park) and I really liked their Relámpago match earlier that year, so I was really looking forward to the apuestas match at Homenaje a Dos Leyendas.
And it was great. These two +30 year veterans went all out since the very beginning: I loved how Panther really acted like the animal on his name and catched Casas with just one fast assault (a Fujiwara armbar in this case) to secure the first fall. He smells blood and continues his limbwork right after, but Casas is also as old as sin and manages to counterattack with La Casita to even the score.
While las dos primeras caídas end too early, as usual in the 2/3 falls mexican matches, it didn't bother me this time because both holds that finished them where credible enough, instead of random, weak-looking moves like in many other caídas I've seen in lucha or 70s NWA. They were treated like finishers and, later on, when Panther tries to go after the arm again, or when Casas locks La Casita again, they still felt huge and potential match enders due to the previous falls. That's what is all about in 2/3 Falls matches: taking into account what happened earlier, never forgetting that, essentialy, the wrestlers are going through three different matches one after the other. And these two maestros do that here wonderfully, with great selling, playing nice with the setups and payoffs, and never relying on clichés.
Because, speaking of clichés, and considering this was an apuestas match, It surprised me that this never became the vintage bloody mexican brawl, with lots of ringside action, bites, ref bumps and all that stuff that, because of the overuse, usually ruins these kind of matches to me. Instead, these two keep it mostly clean, and I've seen that performance by Negro before: walking in that thin line that separates the legal from the ilegal (the 1992 Dandy and 1997 Santito matches come to mind); he's the best luchador at that. La tercera caída focuses more on complex matwork than the first two, and I really loved both guys struggling for... basically everything. They are old, they are tired, but they have a lot of tricks on their bags and the have to push their limits because they're on an apuestas match, and man does it feel like it watching this match. It was a very cathartic last fall and, oddly enough, I really enjoyed the finish as well. After such a fight, neither guy could properly defeat the other after all, but anyway, both guys accept losing their hair because of respect to the fans and the business (Panther without a doubt, while Casas almost ran away, I liked that contrast).
Panther challenges Casas to a title match in the future, because they still hate each other and even attack each other at different times in the post match, so I'm really looking forward to that as well.
What a great match. One of the finest versions of a 2/3 falls apuestas match I've seen (a style that's not really my cup of tea), with two of the greatest veteran performances I've seen. I love Casas' cockiness throughout the whole thing: dancing, making fun of Panther's bad leg, beautifully smiling while allowing himself to recover before Panther stands up again... Panther's pride was also very notable here, as he looked a bit inferior to Casas technically speaking, but making sure he won't be defeated as long as he breathes, adding a lot of intensity and urgency to almost everything he did.
I don't feel this match as top 100, but it is definitely top 200, maybe top 150 even. I can't explain why, maybe it's because the style not really being my thing despite the match being very, very good still, I don't know. Maybe the action wasn't as focused as it should have, as they both drop their respective limbworks early and very quickly go from one spot to another (but it is also true that they don't sacrifice neither selling nor cohesion while doing so).
Whatever, everyone should see this. For lucha fans, I can't believe this isn't pushed more like other classics like Atlantis/Villano or Satánico/Dandy, for example. It deserves that kind of consideration.
****1/4.
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Post by tetsujin on Mar 18, 2024 16:10:26 GMT -5
Shinsuke Nakamura vs Kazushi Sakuraba (NJPW - 1/4/2013)
Oh, how I missed you Naka.
This was incredibly intense, from the first matwork sequence to the fucking insane end of the match. It's also a short match and that's obviously for the best here, because these two were escalating things too damn quickly. I loved every second of it: Naka's taunting, that very first super powerful leg tackle attempt, the slaps, the knees in the corner, the sleeper, Sakuraba's knee counter to Naka's second tackle attempt (holy shit), the Kimura nearfall that I 100% bought, and the fucking vicios Boma Ye out of the jugi gatame (holy shit!!!).
It's too simple, but in its simplicity it reigns supreme as one of the very best matches of the year. What a 2013 New Japan had. It's really sad to look at them now. ****1/4
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Post by tetsujin on Mar 23, 2024 6:35:52 GMT -5
Bob Backlund vs Greg Valentine (WWF - 2/19/1979)
I was finally in the mood of watching this 70s one hour draw of Bob Backlund, a guy I'm not really into (although I was exciting for discovering new Valentine stuff).
Man, this smokes almost every long 70s match I've seen. They had so much chemistry and they worked the crowd soooo well all the time! Specially Backlund, he was always doing all kind of stuff to keep the crowd into his holds, his struggle, everything. Valentine brought a lot of intensity and Backlund retaliated wonderfully.
Although one could argue that this could have been significantly shorter, reducing the time on some restholds and avoiding repeating then, it is true that they never lost the crowd and that they still worked the match in a way that, although very 70s-esque, it looked totally fine by today standards. They were simple when they needed, they brought more stuff when the situation required, the strikes were amazing in this match and looked like game changers, and obviously the few big moves that they did were even more meaningful (most of the times). Valentine was so mean throughout the whole thing, his knee drops during the matwork specially were memorable.
The selling was also pretty god damn good, and that's something that Backlund never makes me buy in his game, but was totally on board with his approach here. He had a much more sports-like approach in this match, which reminded me of the Takada match, which is my favourite Backlund match by far.
Something I didn't like: I would have loved for the Figure Four(s) to finally play a role in the final moments of the match, instead of right after the bell rang. It felt like a setup without any actual payoff, after all those teases and legwork from both guys.
So overall, pretty god damn good. I understand and share the praise. A contender for anyone's list, it won't be in mine but it's definitely one of the best matches of the decade (it has to be the 1979 MOTY, right? Can't think of any other match being better) and from both guys careers.
It seems they have shorther matches out there, so I'm excited to check those out and see if a more compact version of their dynamic helps them reach even more greatness.
****1/4
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Post by puroraisedme on Mar 23, 2024 6:59:01 GMT -5
(it has to be the 1979 MOTY, right? Can't think of any other match being better) and from both guys careers. The Backlund/Patterson match from 7/30/1979 might be better imo.
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Post by fxnj on Mar 23, 2024 15:58:50 GMT -5
I remember preferring Jumbo/Bock and Fujinami/Go.
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Post by tetsujin on Mar 24, 2024 9:28:25 GMT -5
The Hawaii match dissapointed me last time I watched It, but the Fuji/Go I saw was really cool, someday I'll watch the whole trilogy. I think I saw a Backlund/Patterson match before, but can't remember anything about it.
Yuji Nagata vs Kensuke Sasaki (NJPW - 1/4/2004)
Holy fucking shit. This shouldn't have happened as it did, the amount of uncontroled blood they lost is huge, specially Nagata. There were literal pools of blood on the mat any time he was laying there for a minute. Disgusting, yet also thrilling and mesmerizing in this weird, sadistic pro wrestling little world of ours. These two felt like gladiators fighting to death. The strikes were desperate, the turnbuckle spots crossed the line. The ending is a bit anticlimatic, it totally ruined the pace and feel of the match, but other than that this is an undeniably unforgettable match. Not something I would like to rewatch ever again, but man, it was... Something else. Definitely a great bloodbath and you gotta admire their compromise to the spectacle and the fans for keep working the match in those circumstances, but man.
****. It definitely has a unique aura and it was reaching for something even greater, but the finish is too bad, and the match itself became too dangerous with the amount of blood loss. "almost MOTYC" seems right.
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