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Post by nintendologic on Jul 20, 2021 16:59:28 GMT -5
Genichiro Tenryu/Takashi Ishikawa vs. Shinya Hashimoto/Michiyoshi Ohara (NJPW, 6/14/93)
No points for guessing who eats the pin here. Tenryu and Hashimoto are two of the all-time masters of intense staredowns, and the beginning of this match is a prime example. Tenryu backs off in the face of Hashimoto's leg kicks, and Hashimoto ducks a Tenryu chop. Tenryu grabs a headlock and Hashimoto shoots him off, but he grabs the ropes to prevent him from running into whatever Hashimoto had planned. After staring each other down some more, they finally explode in a flurry of knees and chops. Just a master class in building tension and then releasing it. Hashimoto still wants a piece of Tenryu even after Ishikawa tags in, and the referee has to separate the two. He furthers the issue by running a misdirection play where he comes off the ropes but then runs over to knock Tenryu off the apron. With Hashimoto preoccupied with Tenryu, Ishikawa gets his attention the only way he knows how: with clubbing blows. Hashimoto fires back with kicks, but Ishikawa grabs his leg, enabling Tenryu to come in and drop him with a lariat. Ohara tries to come to Hashimoto's aid, but Tenryu and Ishikawa don't even deem him to be worthy of the effort required to lay him out. Instead, Ishikawa tags himself in and aims some kicks at Hashimoto's face while the referee orders Ohara back to his corner. Hashimoto fends Ishikawa off with a thrust kick and tags Ohara in with a massive high five, the kind usually seen in end zone touchdown celebrations. However, Ishikawa shows Ohara as much respect as he deserves (that is to say, none) and immediately drops him with an elbow. He and Tenryu then spend the next few minutes trying to give Ohara early onset CTE with repeated kicks and knees to the skull. Tenryu also tries to puncture his eardrum with diving elbows. Ohara turns in an incredible underdog performance, selling his ass off but also showing plenty of fighting spirit by periodically firing up before being cut off. He even forces Tenryu to tag out by catching him coming off the ropes with an elbow to the gut. Tenryu's brutality is legendary, but he was also an incredibly giving seller when need be. When Hashimoto finally comes in off the hot tag, he kicks Ishikawa so hard the force knocks him into his own corner and enables him to tag out. Hashimoto twice tries to hit a DDT on Tenryu, but he makes the ropes both times. However, that leaves him a sitting duck for Hashimoto's kicks, including a high kick that he's lucky didn't knock him out legit because it looks like it hit him flush in the jaw. Ohara tags back in, but he makes a critical mistake when he becomes so focused on Tenryu that he doesn't notice Ishikawa tagging in. Team WAR decides to unleash the heavy artillery this time around, including a sumo lariat from Ishikawa and a diving back elbow from Tenryu. Hashimoto breaks up the pin after the elbow and tries to drag Ohara toward his corner, but Tenryu simply drags him back toward the middle. At this point, Ohara becomes simply concerned with survival and repeatedly tries to scramble for the tag. That leads to a fantastic moment when Ishikawa catches Ohara inches away from his corner, drives his knee into Ohara's temple, and turns to Hashimoto to deliver some smack talk. Tenryu and Ishikawa hit a sandwich enzuigiri, but the referee decides they've gone too far and refuses to count the pin. Undeterred, Tenryu goes for the powerbomb, but Ohara reverses and finally tags out. Hashimoto is an absolute killing machine off the hot tag, and both Tenryu and Ishikawa get wiped out. With Ishikawa on the ropes, Ohara finally gets a nice run of offense, including some Animal Hamaguchi-esque elbow drops and a brutal diving bulldog. Tenryu breaks up a Hashimoto DDT attempt with an enzuigiri, but Hashimoto recovers first and hits it anyway. He tags Ohara in with Ishikawa seemingly served up on a silver platter, but that proves to be a fatal mistake as Ishikawa finishes Ohara off with a monster chokeslam that nearly drives him through the mat with Tenryu knocking Hashimoto off the apron to prevent him from breaking up the pin. Tenryu adds insult to injury after the match by kicking Ohara in the face some more after the match before Hashimoto drives him off.
Tier: 4. A bit too short to develop the story as much as they could have, but they make up for it with bucketfuls of hatred and plenty of highlights packed into a compressed time frame. Right on the cusp of tier 3.
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Post by nintendologic on Jul 22, 2021 15:45:18 GMT -5
Dustin Rhodes vs. Bunkhouse Buck (WCW, 4/17/94)
Dustin brings a piece of lumber with him to the ring, but that's forgotten about initially as he flies over the top rope and nails Buck with a clothesline to start. Dustin's punches are amazing, as is Buck's punch-drunk selling. A bit of an awkward transition as Dustin grabs a headlock for no real reason. Buck shoots him off and ducks a crossbody, and Dustin tumbles all the way to the floor. Buck retrieves the lumber and breaks it over Dustin's back. He then jabs the splintered piece into Dustin's forehead, which naturally draws blood. Dustin does a nutty 360 bump on the ramp off a clothesline, followed by Buck choking him with his suspenders. In a nice hope spot, Dustin establishes some separation but airballs on a big right. With Dustin on the deck, Buck stomps him in the head with his cowboy boots, which couldn't have been pleasant to have been on the receiving end of. Dustin throws powder in Buck's eyes, but Buck recovers before he can capitalize. To be honest, I think powder is something that should meaningfully contribute to a momentum shift rather than being just a spot to throw out. Buck lays into Dustin with some brutal belt shots and jams the buckle into his bloody forehead. He then traps Dustin in the corner and inflicts more punishment with two running kicks. However, the rule of threes comes into play as Dustin sidesteps the third kick and Buck catches his leg on the top rope. With momentum back on his side, Dustin retaliates for the earlier belt attacks by taking off his belt and whipping Buck with it. Buck sells the belt shots hilariously, swinging his arms around like he's being stung by bees. I'm of the opinion that a heel's selling should be theatrical if not outright comical. There's a natural human tendency to empathize with someone who appears to be in serious pain, so if a heel's selling is too realistic, he runs the risk of becoming too sympathetic. Bobby Heenan likens the scene in the ring to a plane crash as blood, bodies, and articles of clothing are strewn everywhere. He then delivers a paean to the brawling style, saying "I like this brand of wrestling!" You know you've accomplished something when you've got Heenan marking out on commentary. Dustin hits the bulldog but pulls up to go after Colonel Parker on the apron, enabling Buck to roll him up with a schoolboy for two. That likely would have been the finish in modern WWE. After a boot to the face sends Buck into the ropes, Parker tells the referee to hold Dustin back and slips Buck a set of knuckle dusters. Why did the referee have to be distracted? It's a bunkhouse match! Just give him the brass knuckles! KO punch wins it for Buck. Heenan makes a big deal out of a Rhodes losing a bunkhouse match, but you have to think a guy named Bunkhouse Buck would be no slouch in that department.
Tier: 4. As Heenan's comments indicate, this is largely a love letter to the territory brawls of yesteryear. Other than a few wonky transitions, that's perhaps its biggest weakness: because it is such a throwback, I don't know if it possesses the timelessness of the very tippy-top brawls. However, it should be noted that it probably seems more anachronistic in retrospect than it did at the time because the ECW style ended up predominating to a degree no one could have anticipated. In any event, this a testament to how far you can get with punches when the guys throwing them know how to punch and the guys taking them know how to sell.
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Post by nintendologic on Jul 24, 2021 12:28:29 GMT -5
Ricky Steamboat/Shane Douglas vs. Jushin Liger/Kensuke Sasaki (WCW, 12/29/92)
This is another match that was just on the outside looking in but moved up after a match previously on the list (British Bulldogs vs. Hart Foundation, in case you were wondering) underwhelmed on a recent viewing. It hadn't been nominated yet as far as I can tell, so I took the liberty of creating a thread. You can read my thoughts there.
gweproject.freeforums.net/thread/2226/steamboat-douglas-liger-sasaki-1992
The match is on the drive if you're interested.
Tier: 4. It would be much higher if the early arm work had some kind of payoff and Douglas had spent more time incapacitated after tagging out. Breaking down one of the first guy's body parts and then overwhelming the second guy with double-teams while the first guy is recuperating on the apron is pretty much the ideal formula for a double-FIP match. I can't guarantee this will remain on my list, but something will have to knock my socks off to supplant it.
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Post by nintendologic on Jul 26, 2021 11:18:05 GMT -5
Vader vs. Sting (WCW, 7/12/92)
This is a match and a feud that surely needs no introduction. Vader gets right down to business by forcing Sting into the corner and pummeling him with clubbing blows, which Sting sells magnificently. Rolling outside to regroup has little effect, as Vader no-sells a clothesline and tosses off a crossbody attempt when he comes back in. The only way he's able to get any traction is by using Vader's momentum against him when he sidesteps a running corner splash and hits a back suplex. He clotheslines Vader out of the ring, and now Vader is the one who has to regroup. Back in the ring, he challenges Sting to a test of strength. Vader wins handily, but Sting escapes by poking him in the eyes and stomping on his foot, which I didn't really care for since Vader had been wrestling on the up-and-up to that point. Someone like Steve Austin can get away with being the first one to bend the rules in a match, but I don't think it's a good move for a squeaky-clean heroic figure like Sting. However, it did add further emphasis to how formidable his adversary was. Vader finally gains firm control with his sunset flip counter butt splash. He follows it up with a double biceps pose, which prompts Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura to take some thinly veiled shots at the WBF. Vader completely dominates for the next five-plus minutes, and it's an absolute clinic on how to make a lengthy period of uninterrupted heel domination compelling. One important factor is the depth of Vader's offense. He may be the greatest offensive wrestler in history (a well-rounded arsenal of strikes, power moves, and even a few submssions), and it's on full display here. Just as important is Sting's selling performance. He deserves a medal for how well he sells in this match. It's the perfect balance of realistic and theatrical. Sting starts his comeback by ducking a Vader lariat and coming off the ropes with a koppu kick. Following it up with a DDT was a smart move since it can be hit in a flash and doesn't require much power to execute. Vader goes to the top rope, which is the only part of the match that fell flat for me. Coming off the top was an automatic disqualification at this time in WCW, so it made no sense for him to be doing it in plain view of the referee. At the very least, the ref should have been knocked out or distracted by Harley Race. Better yet, have Race remind Vader of the top-rope DQ rule since he's used to competing under different rules (that's what a manger is for, after all) and have Sting gain the advantage off the distraction. Regardless, Sting's Samoan drop is an incredible feat of strength. Sting flips out of a backdrop attempt and hits a German suplex. But he hit the referee in the face in the process, which caused him to be a split second late on the three-count. After hitting a Stinger splash, he seemingly finally has things going his way. He goes for a second, but he overshoots his target and knocks himself out on the turnbuckle connecting rod. He throws a few desperation haymakers, but Vader casually dodges them and finishes him of with a thunder fire powerbomb.
Tier: 3. Compared to Starrcade, this is more of an American-style superstar babyface vs. monster heel match. There's no brawling on the outside, and there are some referee shenanigans to take the sting (no pun intended) of the champion's loss. Regardless, this contains an all-time classic selling performance from Sting and a classic finish.
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Post by nintendologic on Jul 28, 2021 10:35:37 GMT -5
Kazuchika Okada vs. Togi Makabe (NJPW, 6/22/13)
Truth be told, this is something of a miracle match. These two have inexplicably strong chemistry with each other, but they greatly overachieve here even by that standard. The opening mat wrestling is short and inoffensive, although Makabe does have a nice wristlock. Okada seems gotten to by the fact that Makabe wrestled him to a standstill and makes the mistake of trying to play Makabe's game. I really liked how there wasn't even a momentary pretense of parity in their respective striking abilities. There's an amusing moment when Makabe is pummeling Okada in the corner. He taps his forearm to signal to the referee that he's not throwing closed fist punches and then immediately starts hammering Okada with body blows. With Makabe in firm control, he makes the critical error of exchanging words with Gedo on the outside. This gives Okada time to regroup, and he takes advantage by dropkicking Makabe to the floor. He then weakens Makabe's neck with a draping DDT off the guardrail. Back in the ring, he continues to target the neck with various llave-style holds. Makabe comes back with punches, and there's no use in sugar-coating it: they're pretty bad. He throws them Abyss-style where he clubs his opponent with the inside of his wrist. Having decent punches should be a minimum requirement for a wild man brawler gimmick. Thankfully, that's their only appearance in this match. Okada cuts him off with a straitjacket neckbreaker, which strikes me as unnecessarily convoluted for that purpose, and follows it up with a CM Punk-tier elbow drop. Makabe refuses to take the rainmaker pose lying down (literally) and gets right in Okada's face. Not quite as cool as Ishii chopping Okada in the throat, but a similar idea. Okada tries to absorb Makabe's lariats Hashimoto-style, but he's clearly not about that life, and the third one drops him to his knees. However, he counters the fourth one with a dropkick. Okada might not be much of a slugger, but he's a superb counter-puncher. I find this version of Okada much more interesting than the superman he would eventually become. Okada rolls out of the way of a King Kong knee drop attempt and locks in red ink, but the damage he's sustained takes its toll and he temporarily relinquishes his grip, allowing Makabe to reach the ropes. Makabe blocks Okada's attempt at a tombstone on the floor and hits a nasty-looking powerslam. No wonder Okada has back problems. At this point, Makabe throws caution to the wind and grabs the timekeeper's table. He rams the table into Okada's face and then powerbombs him through it. What do you know, a Japanese table that actually breaks. Okada is motionless, but Makabe doesn't want to win the belt by countout, so he drags him back into the ring. Makabe hits a spider German suplex and goes for another King Kong knee drop, but Okada again moves out of the way. Makabe ducks a rainmaker and hits a dragon suplex, but Okada hits a tombstone piledriver and connects with the rainmaker for the win.
Tier: 4. There are some pretty glaring flaws in this match that are impossible to ignore (Makabe's punches, Okada's elbow drop). I also wish Okada had more interesting ways of targeting his opponent's neck. If you're a modern New Japan skeptic, those will likely be dealbreakers for you. But the match worked for me because I think they nailed the big picture stuff. They did a great job of getting over the contrast in wrestling styles and personalities, they built some tremendous drama down the stretch, and it ended right when it should have.
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Post by nintendologic on Aug 1, 2021 10:32:03 GMT -5
Jerry Lawler vs. Bill Dundee (Memphis, 6/6/83)
I've always thought this was superior to the 1985 LLT match, and I've never thought it was particularly close. The key, I think, is to look at it as a title prize fight rather than an all-out brawl. This is the highest-stakes match either man has ever been in, which explains their tentativeness at the outset. Neither one wants to take any major risks because one big mistake could cost them everything. It's like a one-fall lucha mask match minus the matwork. Dundee starts out by twice forcing Lawler into the corner and taking a swing but is rebuffed both times. He shifts gears and shoots Lawler off the ropes and catches him with a back elbow. He tries to follow up with an elbow drop, but Lawler dodges. After some clipping, Dundee forces Lawler into the corner again and goes low instead of high, catching him off-guard with a kick to the midsection. He hits two bulldogs, but he runs afoul of the rule of threes when Lawler anticipates the third one and drops Dundee on the top turnbuckle. He's too worn down by the previous bulldogs to capitalize, though. After another clip, Lawler is peppering Dundee with jabs with some amazing concussed selling from Dundee. Lawler is in firm control, but he spends too much time cocking back his fist to throw a haymaker and Dundee cuts him off with a body blow. Lawler escapes Dundee's first two pin attempts by putting his foot on the ropes. The third time, he kicks out with authority and sends Dundee all the way to the floor. That gives Lawler a necessary respite, and he shoots Dundee off the ropes when he returns to the ring. Both men are nearly knocked out after colliding with each other on a rope-running spot, but Dundee manages to remain upright long enough to maneuver himself on top of Lawler for a cover. He tries to return to his feet after Lawler kicks out, but he collapses and Lawler drapes his arm over Dundee for a cover of his own. Just a masterful war-of-attrition sequence. Dundee regains the advantage with a big right hand, but he misses a jumping knee in the corner and tumbles to the outside. Lawler drops Dundee with a right of his own but misses a diving leg drop, selling like he dislocated his hip. Dundee is again too wiped out to execute a proper cover and can only drape his arm over Lawler's body. He goes for a piledriver, but his leg gives out for some reason (possibly a callback to something that was clipped out) and he can't quite get all of it. Dundee coming up limping allows Lawler to catch him with a body blow. He tries to press the advantage, but Dundee backdrops him to the floor. After kicking out of a pin, Lawler rolls onto the apron for a temporary breather. However, that only worsens his predicament as Dundee kicks him to the floor. He draws blood by ramming Lawler into the ringpost and clobbers him with perhaps the greatest punch combination in wrestling history. A TKO would have been a believable finish after that combo. They play king of the mountain for a bit as Dundee stomps on Lawler's head from the apron. When Lawler tries to climb back in, a running punch from Dundee sends him into the timekeeper's table. He rolls back in and Dundee lays into him with more punches, but they have no effect as he finally drops the strap. His comeback culminates in a diving fist drop, but Dundee reverses the pin attempt into a sunset flip. In the past, I found that spot rather contrived. But after thinking about it more, there had been several points in the match where someone enabled his opponent to kick out by being too drained to go for a proper cover. Lawler puts an end to that by going for the strongest cover he can think of with his knees on Dundee's arms, so Dundee reversing the way he did ended up being a strong near fall. Having exhausted his other avenues to victory, Dundee decides to employ the Quicksilver Method (a man can't stand, he can't fight) and takes out Lawler's leg with chop blocks. He hits two, but the rule of threes again comes into play as Lawler counters the third with a huge uppercut and sends Dundee packing with a piledriver.
Tier: 2. The clipping holds this back somewhat, but what we have is about as good as pro wrestling gets. More than anything, this is a battle of attrition. Most of the shifts in momentum come off big counters, but it never feels your-turn my-turn thanks to both men's brilliant fatigued selling. It's similar to Hokuto/Kandori in that regard. Combine that with the awesome punches you expect from a high-end Memphis bout and you have an undisputed classic.
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Post by nintendologic on Aug 2, 2021 18:09:21 GMT -5
Kenta Kobashi/Jun Akiyama vs. Toshiaki Kawada/Akira Taue (AJPW, 10/11/98)
You know how I said Ricky Steamboat/Shane Douglas vs. Jushin Liger/Kensuke Sasaki could be supplanted if a match came along that knocked my socks off? Well, this match impressed me enough to squeak onto my list when I revisited it recently. Sorry, Steamboat/Douglas vs. Liger/Sasaki. You had a nice run. Of all the pairings in the opening minutes, Kawada/Kobashi surprisingly ends up being the least interesting due to the heavy emphasis on strike exchanges, although we do get a classic KO sell from Kawada. Kobashi gets worked over for a bit, but it never feels like he's in any real danger. However, he does his best to create the impression of peril when he sells a Kawada spin kick like it really rocked him and has to roll to the outside to recover. There are two notable turning points in this match, one major and one minor. The minor one comes after Kobashi reverses a dynamic bomb attempt. He has a clear path to tag out, but he waits for Taue to get up so he can get in another shot before making the tag. This allows Taue to immediately cut off Akiyama with a DDT. Burning thus squanders the advantage and has to play catch-up for most of the remainder of the match. The action spills to the outside, and Akiyama catches his ankle on the swinging gate when Taue boots him over the guardrail. The HDA then begin targeting the damaged leg. I don't know if it was a happy accident they incorporated into the match or a planned spot they managed to make look spontaneous, but it's incredibly impressive either way. Taue had largely jettisoned leg work from his arsenal by this stage of his career, but we get a dope moment when he has Akiyama in a scorpion deathlock and Kawada cuts off his attempt to reach the ropes with a knee drop. My favorite sequence of the match comes when Kawada has Akiyama in a half crab. Kobashi breaks it up by punching Kawada in the face, but then Kawada starts nailing Akiyama with supine axe kicks. When Kobashi comes in off the hot tag, we get another choice Kawada KO sell when he collapses on the referee. Taue twice goes for a running neckbreaker drop (a canonical move in All Japan due to being Baba's finisher), but Kobashi cuts him off both times with a sleeper. With Akiyama out of commission due to the damage to his leg, though, it's only a matter of time before the numbers game catches up to Kobashi. Akiyama recovers in time to break up a backdrop/chokeslam combo and drops both HDA members with a split-legged dropkick. The earlier leg work not being a factor down the stretch doesn't bother me because Akiyama had plenty of time to recover on the outside and the HDA never went back to it. Kobashi and Akiyama then double-team Kawada (who never actually tagged in, though I can't blame them for losing track of who the legal man was with all the chaos in the ring) for a bit. Kobashi goes for a moonsault, but there's no water in the pool. He tags out after hitting Kawada with a lariat, and Akiyama continues the assault. Taue cuts Akiyama off with his awesome double overhook suplex and drags Kawada over to his corner for the tag. He goes for an apron nodowa and turns it into an apron DDT when Akiyama tries to reverse it into an exploder. The major turning point comes after Kobashi breaks up a dynamic bomb pin. He tries to drag Akiyama over to his corner only to eat a boot to the face. He's still a factor down the stretch, but he never comes close to tagging in again. The HDA show why they're the greatest of all time when it comes to slamming the door on an opposing team as they pile on the punishment to Akiyama while cutting off Kobashi's saves until Kawada gets the win with a brainbuster and an enzuigiri.
Tier: 4. This doesn't reach the unassailable heights of the very best 90s All Japan matches, but it wouldn't look out of place in the lower reaches of a top 20 of the decade for the promotion. You have to understand that I probably value novelty far more than most people. In fact, it's pretty much impossible for more than two iterations of a particular match to feel unique enough to me to hold my interest. The third-best Misawa/Kobashi or Misawa/Akiyama vs. Kawada/Taue match might be better than this to most fans, but this feels fresh to me in a way those matches don't. Also, this is a late 90s All Japan match that goes nearly 30 minutes and doesn't have a single head drop, so it deserves recognition on that basis alone.
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Post by nintendologic on Aug 6, 2021 11:05:39 GMT -5
Bret Hart vs. British Bulldog (WWF, 12/17/95)
Jim Cornette accompanies Davey Boy to the ring, but his involvement in the match is disappointingly limited to a single interference spot. Using Cornette as a manager and having him do little more than walk around the ring is like buying a Ferrari and only using it to take the kids to soccer practice. They start out with some solid chain wrestling as Bret does the deal where he yanks on his opponent's arm in a wristlock. The interesting thing is that the opening minutes are largely a mirror image of their Summerslam match's. There, Davey boy controlled things by working the arm before Bret took over with a kitchen sink. Here, the opposite was the case. After yanking Bret up from the mat by his hair and inflicting some punishment in the tree of woe, Davey Boy takes Bret to chinlock city. He's not fooked like he was at Wembley, but he does seem pretty blown up. I do think this match gets a bit of a bad rap when it comes to the chinlocks. I haven't done a direct comparison, but I recall the Summerslam match being far more chinlock-heavy. Also, Bret here does a fine job of fighting from underneath. He has a good variety of hope spots and cutoffs (the sternum-first turnbuckle bump naturally makes an appearance) and doesn't allow Davey Boy to remain in any hold for too long. Bret begins his comeback after catapulting Davey Boy with his legs during a rope-running sequence and runs through much of his standard offense, including three of the five moves of doom (inverted atomic drop, Russian legsweep, second rope elbow drop). He attempts a superplex, but in an all-time classic transition, Davey Boy counters by picking Bret up and crotching him on the top rope. That's an insane bump by mid-90s WWF standards and is still pretty nutty today. After Davey Boy sends Bret into the ring steps and rams him into the ringpost, we get the bladejob this match is best known for. The camera crew going out of their way to avoid showing images of Bret bleeding diminishes the impact somewhat, but the pools of blood at ringside and the bloodstains on Davey Boy's tights tell the story well enough. A heel powerhouse tossing around a bloodied opponent is my kind of wrestling, and Davey Boy's power offense is accentuated by Bret's always superb selling. Bret reverses a bow and arrow submission but is unable to lock in the sharpshooter, possibly due to being weakened from blood loss. At least, that's my preferred explanation. There's another great selling sequence when Bret shoots Davey Boy off but is too out of it to follow up with anything so he gets shoulder-checked to the floor. However, that turns out to be a blessing in disguise as it gives him the space he needs to begin an awesome Misawa-esque extended comeback. First, he counters an attempt to bring him in the hard way with a German suplex. Then, after a double clothesline drops both men, he backdrops a charging Davey Boy out of the ring and follows with a plancha (with Davey Boy this time managing to avoid almost breaking his neck). He tries to press the advantage with the Asai Vader bomb he had used to great effect against Hakushi on Raw, but Davey Boy catches him and lands a brutal powerslam on the floor. He went for high-risk offense in desperation after coming up empty on the sharpshooter attempt, but it's called high-risk for a reason. After all, Hail Mary plays result in interceptions far more than they do touchdowns. Davey Boy pulls back the mat and tries to slam Bret on the exposed floor, but that only sets Bret up for the much-needed big play when he blocks it and crotches Davey Boy on the guardrail. Back in the ring, Bret hits the fourth move of doom (backbreaker) and finally lands the superplex. I dug the magistral finish. Not only does it fit Bret's gimmick, it continues the story of him needing to reach deep into his bag of tricks after his usual path to victory was stymied.
Tier: 4. The Summerslam match has the incredible Wembley atmosphere and one of the best commentary jobs of Bobby Heenan's career, but this is clearly superior as a wrestling match due to a stronger face-heel divide and Davey Boy showing up in condition to perform. I'll fight you if you disagree.
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Post by nintendologic on Aug 8, 2021 18:32:49 GMT -5
Mitsuharu Misawa/Toshiaki Kawada/Kenta Kobashi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta/Akira Taue/Masanobu Fuchi (AJPW, 10/19/90)
This is the first Jumbo/Misawa six-man featuring the classic lineup as well as the first one where the two squads are all-out adversaries. Taue has yet to grow the proverbial beard (or pompadour in his case), but he sets the tone early on when he catches Kawada napping and boots him off the apron. Kobashi takes control with an armdrag and tags in Kawada, who seems even grumpier than usual (he looks like a student who arrived at a 9 AM lecture after rolling out of bed at 8:50). However, his initial interactions with Taue are surprisingly low-key. It's as if he suspects Taue is trying to bait him into being overly aggressive and wants to avoid falling into his trap. Misawa and comes in and lands a kick that sends Taue into his corner, allowing Jumbo to tag himself for the confrontation everyone was waiting for. Misawa gains the advantage with elbows but Jumbo catches him coming off the ropes with a kitchen sink, which leads to Jumbo's team targeting Misawa's midsection. I have no idea why more wrestlers don't do that thing Jumbo does where he shoves his opponent into the ropes and elbows them in the gut on the rebound. The referee holds Kobashi back when he tries to break up a Taue abdominal stretch, but Kawada gets his first taste of revenge when he takes advantage of the ref being otherwise occupied to sneak in a kick. Kobashi tags in and has a nice run of offense, but Taue reverses a whip into the corner and tags in Jumbo. The resulting Kobashi-in-peril section has plenty of viciousness but not a whole lot of direction. Kobashi eventually manages to hit a lariat and tags in Kawada, who finally has a clean shot at Taue. He pummels Taue with kicks of such force that they send him to the floor. Kawada drags him into the crowd and tries to slam him on the floor, but Taue reverses and Kawada is the one who ends up slammed. Team Jumbo then proceeds to work over Kawada's back. Jumbo even does his shove into the ropes but with Kawada turned the other way so he can elbow him in the lower back. After Kawada makes the tag, a Misawa spin kick sends Taue to the floor. Kawada follows up with stomps from the apron and again drags him into the crowd, where he finally gets the payback he's been seeking by suplexing Taue onto the floor. Talk about delayed gratification. Misawa's team had up to this point failed to gain any real traction against Jumbo's, but now they finally have a weak point to target and take advantage by going after Taue's back. I really like how the control segments in this match are based around targeting someone's back or ribs. Not only is it a refreshing change of pace from working the arm or leg, it's the kind of thing that can be more believably worked through (to me, anyway) so it doesn't feel like the work is simply being blown off when it isn't a factor later on. Fuchi tries to break up a Kobashi half crab on Taue by punching him in the face, but to no avail. Jumbo tries to come in while the referee is ordering Fuchi out, but Kobashi signs his own death warrant by cutting him off with a lariat. Taue eventually hits a DDT and tags out to Jumbo, who comes in with murder on his mind. He nails Kobashi with a lariat that sounded like he launched a fastball into the upper deck, and from there, it's open season on Kobashi's bloody nose. For Fuchi (who amazingly is only 36 here even though he looks about a decade older), having the opportunity to mutilate a young pretty boy is like an early Christmas present. Ramming a chair into Kobashi's face on the floor was bad enough, but the way he stomped on his face back in the ring might have been even more violent. Kobashi really is one of the all-time great underdog tag babyfaces. It's better for him that he evolved beyond that role, but he'd be remembered in the same breath as Morton and Kikuchi if he had stuck with it. At one point, he crawls toward his corner with Fuchi grabbing his ankle and makes a frantic unsuccessful attempt to kick Fuchi off. At another, he stuns Jumbo with a spin kick and comes heartbreakingly close to making the tag before Jumbo pulls him back to his corner. Taue makes a major blunder when he deviates from the game plan of punching and stomping Kobashi's face to get his shit in, which allows Kobashi to tag out after reversing a suplex attempt. Kawada comes in and is so fixated on punishing Taue that he shoves the referee off, which enables Taue to hit him with a lariat and tag out. Jumbo comes in and adjusts his elbow pad to signal for another killer lariat, but Kawada ducks and hits him with a spin kick. He tags out to Misawa, and we get another titanic confrontation. Jumbo gains the advantage with a jumping knee, but Kobashi breaks up a backdrop attempt and forces him to tag out to Taue. When Jumbo tries to sneak in a parting shot before leaving the ring, Misawa treats Taue like an afterthought to go after him, and the two end up going at it on the floor. After Jumbo manages to fend off Misawa, Taue (the legal man, if you'll remember) wipes him out with a tope out of nowhere. Soon Kobashi and Fuchi are the legal men, and Kobashi hits a moonsault. Taue breaks up the pin, which leads to the four illegal men brawling on the outside. Fuchi fights off Kobashi with an enzuigiri and tags in Jumbo, who hits another lariat. He goes for a powerbomb, but Kobashi kicks out and then reverses a backdrop attempt with a crossbody. He probably goes back on offense a bit too easily, but it's not a big deal since he eats the pin in the end. Fuchi runs interference to block another moonsault attempt, enabling Jumbo to hit a second-rope backdrop. Kobashi shockingly kicks out, but that ends up only being a temporary reprieve as Jumbo gets the win right afterward with a regular backdrop.
Tier: 2. This match succeeds on so many levels that pointing out flaws feels like nitpicking. It combines action and hatred at level hardly ever equaled before or since, and everything flows beautifully and logically from what came before. Even though it provides the most bang for the buck of any of the Jumbo/Misawa six-mans, it would have benefited from even more trimming. If it had been about five minutes shorter, it could've been a top five match all-time rather than "merely" top 20 or so.
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Post by nintendologic on Aug 10, 2021 15:50:31 GMT -5
Steiner Brothers vs. Nasty Boys (WCW, 10/27/90)
There was a recent discussion at PWO about what the best Steiners match was, and the consensus (which I concurred with) was this match. No feeling-out process here, this is a pier sixer from the get-go. Sags whips Scott into the guardrail and clobbers him with a chair while the referee is trying to break up Knobbs and Rick on the other side of the floor. Sags goes for a superplex in the ring, but Scott reverses (he stumbles a bit, but he recovers well enough) and hits a belly-to-belly superplex that fortunately doesn't go horribly awry. The way Sags was situated on the turnbuckle, he easily could caught his legs in the ropes on the way down and gotten dropped on his head. Knobbs breaks up the pin, but Rick knocks him out of the ring. With Knobbs recovering on the outside, we get a tiger driver from Scott followed by a doomsday bulldog. Bombs, bombs, and more bombs-that's how you start a tag match. Unfortunately, while the referee is ordering Rick to return to his corner, Knobbs hits Scott with another chair and rolls Sags out for the tagless switch. With Scott's back softened up, that becomes the focal point of the Nasties' offense. Among other things, we see a side slam, a pumphandle slam, even headbutts to Scott's lower back. After Rick breaks up a pin attempt, the Nasties make another tagless switch and Knobbs drops some elbows on Scott's back. They then employ the classic heel standby of the assisted abdominal stretch, which Rick also breaks up. Scott reverses a Sags bearhug with a belly-to-belly, but Knobbs cuts him off before he can make the tag. Rick drops Knobbs with a Steiner line but goes flying out of the ring when he goes for a second. The Nasties hit a spike piledriver while the referee is checking on Rick, but Knobbs makes a major blunder by not exiting the ring in time. While the referee orders him out of the ring, Rick gains a measure of revenge with a chairshot of his own that busts Sags open. From that point on, the Nasties shift gears somewhat as they focus more on preventing Scott from tagging out than on inflicting punishment. These two teams aren't exactly known for meticulous attention to sound match structure, but you could hardly ask for a better-structured tag match than this. It's like the ideal hybrid of Japanese and Southern styles with plenty of bomb-throwing at the start, targeted body part work during the FIP section culminating in increasingly aggressive attempts to prevent the tag, and a hot tag followed shortly by the finish. Heel miscommunication finally allows Rick to tag in, and he cleans house with Steiner lines and a double noggin knocker. Sags breaks up the pin, which leads to all four men fighting in the ring. I wish Scott had remained incapacitated for longer, but the genius of the Southern tag is that with the finish coming soon after the hot tag, shrugging off damage is more forgivable than in matches with longer finishing stretches. Scott trips up both Nasties from the floor, and after sending Sags into the ringpost, he gets the pin (despite technically not being the legal man) with a horrifying frankensteiner than looked like it should have broken Knobbs' neck.
Tier: 4. Despite some hiccups in execution and a few slow patches, this is a spectacular car crash that manages to impeccably walk the tightrope between structured tag and chaotic brawl. For the most part, the match's sloppiness is the good kind that conveys a sense of struggle and fatigue rather than the bad kind that exposes the business. Recklessness with your opponents' bodies is somewhat less problematic when both sides are willing to dish it out and take it.
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Post by nintendologic on Aug 11, 2021 10:44:18 GMT -5
Mitsuharu Misawa/Toshiaki Kawada/Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta/Akira Taue/Masanobu Fuchi (AJPW, 10/15/91)
Misawa comes in sporting a bandage on his nose, and Fuchi cuts a promo on the house mic before the match. Whatever he said really pissed Misawa off as he rips off the bandage and charges at Jumbo's team. In the ensuing melee, Jumbo immediately zeroes in on Misawa's nose. He manages to fend off Jumbo long enough to tag out, but with him spending most of the remainder of the match recuperating on the floor, this is now a de facto handicap match. Kawada comes in, and since he has a shot at Jumbo's Triple Crown in nine days, he has something extra to prove. He takes it to Jumbo with such force that he gets knocked into his corner and unleashes similar fury on Taue when he tags in. When Fuchi comes in, Kawada puts him in an abdominal stretch, but punches from Jumbo and headbutts from Taue force him to tag out. Kikuchi comes in with momentum, but Fuchi manages to get away to tag Jumbo in (cutting off the ring was a consistent problem for Misawa's team), and Jumbo vs. Kikuchi is a mismatch to say the least. Kikuchi tries his best to take Jumbo's shots and keep firing back, but Jumbo's side takes firm control after he whiffs a dropkick. Taue pointing out Kawada to the referee to prevent him from interfering and then dismissively waving him away was outstanding Japanese-style heeling and pretty hilarious to boot. That would backfire shortly afterward when Taue has Kikuchi in a sleeper. He couldn't point Kawada out to the ref since his back was to their corner, and Kawada takes advantage and breaks it up, enabling Kikuchi to tag out. Misawa reenters the fray, but he again fails to cut off the ring as a dropkick sends Taue into his corner. Jumbo comes in and zeroes in on the bullseye that is Misawa's injured nose, forcing him out yet again. Kawada forces Jumbo to tag out to Fuchi, and since he needs to be at full strength for his team to even have a prayer of turning things around, he brings Kikuchi in to go up against the one guy on Jumbo's team he has a fighting chance against. However, things go south for Kikuchi in a hurry when Fuchi reverses a Boston crab attempt and ties him into a pretzel with an STF variation that has to be seen to be believed. When Jumbo comes in, he applies a hold I don't even know how to describe. It's like a cobra clutch bow and arrow backbreaker. Team Jumbo is just needlessly flexing on Kikuchi at this point, seemingly making up holds as they go along. When Kawada comes in to break up a half crab, Fuchi releases the hold and flips him the bird. With Kawada and Fuchi going at it, Jumbo comes in to lay the boots to Kikuchi some more. Kikuchi manages to scamble to his corner for the tag, but Jumbo obliterates Kawada with a kitchen sink, leading to the old standby of Kawada getting his midsection worked over. Taue really shines here as he drops Kawada onto the guardrail, rams a chair into his abdomen, and even does a stomach claw. Misawa again returns to action to break up a Jumbo figure-four chinlock(?), but he's once again shut down right away as Taue claws his nose the same way he would claw his eye in 1995. Kawada eventually makes the tag to Kikuchi, who actually gets some time to shine as he mounts Taue and pummels him like Ralphie beating up Farkus in A Christmas Story. He sends Fuchi packing when he tries to break it up and then dropkicks Jumbo off the apron, and it looks like they might actually pull off the miracle comeback. However, that hope is extinguished in short order when Taue hits a stun gun and tags out. Jumbo comes in and punishes Kikuchi for his insolence with a pair of neck hanging tree slams. Come at the king, you best not miss. Misawa breaks up a pin after a powerbomb, but that last gasp is snuffed out when Taue again goes after his nose. A Jumbo backdrop mercifully ends things.
Tier: 4. This is a fantastic example of making something out of nothing. A near-24 minute match where the outcome is a foregone conclusion shouldn't be anywhere near this compelling, but Team Jumbo's brutality and overall dickishness make this a must-see.
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Post by nintendologic on Aug 12, 2021 15:30:29 GMT -5
Kenta Kobashi vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (NOAH, 4/25/04)
The opening minutes are all about feeling each other out and macho posturing. After failing to make headway with regular chops in a strike battle, Kobashi switches to kesagiri chops and gains the advantage. I certainly find that more compelling than two guys simply taking turns hitting each other until one of them goes down. Kobashi decides that trying to slug it out with Takayama is a fool's errand, so we get an All Japan surfboard, a headlock, and a figure-four headscissors, all tried-and-true methods of eating up time while wearing down an opponent. Takayama makes his comeback in shooter fashion by reversing a vertical suplex attempt into a guillotine choke. After a corner jumping knee/double-arm suplex combo, Takayama applies a chinlock. Kobashi twice tries to escape by pulling Takayama's hair, but Takayama retaliates both times by elbowing him in the face. After the referee checks on Kobashi, he reapplies the hold and forces Kobashi to make the ropes. That's how you make a chinlock interesting. When Kobashi tries to block a corner charge by putting his foot up, Takayama takes him down with a quasi-dragon screw and opportunistically works the leg for a bit. A running knee in the tree of woe forces Kobashi to roll to the outside to recover. Back in the ring, Kobashi fires back with chops, but Takayama takes his greatest weapon away from him by going after the arm. Words can't do justice to Kobashi's arm selling. It's not just grabbing the arm while wincing in pain, it's the way he dangles his arm and his overall body language. Takayama sends him back to the outside with a baseball slide dropkick and whips him into the guardrail, but Kobashi comes back with a huge lariat. He does even more damage to his arm in the process, and both men spend several seconds on the floor recuperating. Kobashi tries to roll back in, but we get the requisite big NOAH bump when Takayama Germans him from the apron to the floor. At least it's given time to sink in and treated as a titanic match-altering moment rather than simply a prelude to more escalation that's quickly forgotten about as a result. Kobashi tries throwing left-handed chops, but they're not quite as effective. When he catches a PK, he sucks it up and throws rolling chops with his right arm, further aggravating the damage. Takayama deserves plenty of credit here as well, as he does an amazing job of selling being out on his feet. Kobashi gives his arm a break by throwing headbutts and returning to his All Japan roots with a running neckbreaker drop. After Takayama fights off a half-nelson suplex, we get a cross armbreaker sequence that's incredible both in the struggle for Takayama to lock it in and for Kobashi to make the ropes. Takayama continues the assault with shoulder armbreakers, but Kobashi counters with a sleeper. After Takayama forces him into the corner, Kobashi tries to come off the second rope with a shoulder block, but Takayama cuts him off with a monster knee lift. After a running knee to the back of the head, he hits the Everest German, but it only gets two. Kobashi gets a break when he sidesteps a yakuza kick and Takayama catches his leg on the top rope. After a trio of rolling kesagiri chops, he finally hits the half-nelson suplex. He signals for the lariat, but Takayama snatches his arm. When Kobashi blocks the armbar takedown, he turns it into a dragon suplex. After hitting a running knee lift, he pulls down his kneepad for the coup de grace, but Kobashi takes his head off with a lariat when he charges in. He's unable to make the cover, though, due both to the damage to his arm and to overall fatigue. After Takayama fends off a burning hammer attempt, Kobashi hits a burning lariat, but it again only gets two. Although his arm isn't bothering him as much anymore outwardly, it's still too compromised to lead him to victory, so it's clear what he must do. He had retired the moonsault due to the toll it took on his knees, but it's all he has left at this point. His aim is off and he lands right on Takayama's head. Hey, you can't blame him for being rusty.
Tier: 1. The physical toll of a match like this isn't something to be emulated, but as a combination of action and storytelling, this is pro wrestling the way it should be.
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Post by nintendologic on Aug 13, 2021 14:04:29 GMT -5
Rick Martel vs. Jumbo Tsuruta (AWA, 9/29/85)
This is the earliest footage I'm aware of where Jumbo works as a full-blown heel. We join the match about two minutes in with Jumbo landing kitchen sinks and European uppercuts and raking Martel's eyes with his boot. Martel tries firing back from his knees, but Jumbo cuts him off and hits a vertical suplex. Martel fires back again, this time successfully, and hits a gutwrench suplex. Jumbo regains control with shots to the midsection and applies an abdominal stretch, grabbing Martel's trunks for additional leverage. Martel breaks the hold with a hiptoss, but Jumbo catches him coming off the ropes with a picture-perfect dropkick. He picks Martel up for a piledriver and turns to each section of the crowd to show them what's in store for him before dropping him. When Martel tries to add extra oomph to his elbows by rebounding off the ropes, Jumbo takes him down with a snapmare and applies a chinlock. Martel reverses it with a backbreaker and follows up with knees to Jumbo's lower back. Jumbo powers out of a Boston crab and dumps Martel to the floor. We get a brief king of the mountain segment as Jumbo lands clubbing blows to Martel's chest on the apron and guillotines him on the top rope. Martel storms back in the ring with rights and lefts and nails Jumbo with a dropkick of his own. After a good run of offense from Martel, Jumbo goes back on the attack with body shots and hits a double-arm suplex. Martel reverses a snapmare attempt into a backslide and hits another backbreaker, but Jumbo cuts him off with a massive backdrop. It takes him a moment to regain his bearings, so it only gets two. After Martel misses a slingshot senton, Jumbo starts really laying the boots to him. He whiffs a dropkick, though, and Martel hits a piledriver of his own. After Martel misses a knee drop, Jumbo goes to work on his right leg. He puts his training from the Funks to good use with a spinning toehold, but Martel reverses into a small package. He tries to establish separation, but Jumbo quickly closes the distance. There's a good sense of progression when Jumbo stomping the knee prevents Martel from cutting off his approach with body shots like had at several points earlier in the match. He applies a figure-four, and Martel comes up selling his left knee after making the ropes. There was apparently some miscommunication as Jumbo worked the hold like it targeted the bent right leg while Martel (correctly) sold it as if his straight left leg was impacted. Jumbo's a pro, though, so he shifts gears and goes after the left leg. Martel hobbling around and trying to protect his injured leg with Jumbo menacingly stalking him is just great pro wrestling. He lands a shinbreaker and stomps on the leg after tying it up in the ropes. I would have preferred if Martel had continued selling the leg down the stretch, but I'll give him credit for shaking off the damage during his comeback and not simply blowing it off. After Martel squeaks out the victory with a reverse crossbody, Jumbo the sore loser lays him out with a jumping knee and does his signature "OH!" pose for heel heat.
Tier: 4. This match has always stuck with me because it feels decades ahead of its time, a heavyweight bomb-fest worked at a breakneck pace. The lack of attention to selling will keep it at the bottom of my list, but Jumbo mostly dominating as well as his solid heel work ensures that it feels like a contest and not simply an exhibition, which is the most important thing.
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Post by nintendologic on Aug 15, 2021 11:52:27 GMT -5
Riki Choshu/Kensuke Sasaki/Shiro Koshinaka/Kuniaki Kobayashi/Kantaro Hoshino vs. Animal Hamaguchi/Masanobu Kurisu/Super Strong Machine/Tatsutoshi Goto/Hiro Saito (NJPW, 6/26/90)
First fall: This differs from most New Japan 10-mans by being 2/3 falls and not having ring-out eliminations. They show right away the kind of match this is going to be when Choshu snapmares Kurisu into his corner and we get a 5-on-1 clubbering spot. This fall mostly consists of rapid-fire loosely connected sequences of violence, of which I will highlight several. Kurisu and Koshinaka trade headbutts like a pair of billy goats. Hamaguchi repeatedly tries to take Sasaki down with single legs and Sasaki repeatedly kicks him off. Choshu and Kobayashi both get worked over for a bit, but it's more like a gang beatdown with kicks and stomps than a pro wrestling heat segment with traditional tag team offense. Saito gets sent to the outside and takes a lunatic bump into the guardrail and immediately outdoes himself when Hoshino dropkicks him off the apron. In an incredible sequence, Sasaki breaks up a German suplex attempt on Kobayashi from Machine with a dropkick from out of nowhere. Kobayashi and Hoshino then attempt a spike piledriver, but Saito runs in to throw Hoshino off the top rope and knock Kobayashi away. Koshinaka tags in and gets sent to the floor, setting the stage for Kurisu to do what he does best. After scouring the ringside area for a chair like a pig rooting for truffles, he brains Koshinaka with it. Koshinaka goes down in short order to a barrage of elbow drops from Hamaguchi and sentons from Saito.
Second fall: This fall is significantly more structured than the first. Koshinaka and Saito, the legal men at the end of the previous fall, start things out. Saito manages a cheap shot before the bell, and after he and Machine drag Koshinaka over to their corner, he lands an elbow drop that hits Koshinaka right in the family jewels. The heel side tries to work the leg, but when Koshinaka's teammates keep running in to break up their submissions, they decide to simply beat him down. There's an awesome hope spot when Koshinaka sidesteps a Goto corner charge only for Hamaguchi to run in illegally and drag him back over to their corner. Koshinaka finally manages to tag out after rolling out of the way of a second-rope senton from Saito. Kobayashi hits a fisherman suplex on Goto, but Kurisu breaks up the pin to a thunderous chorus of boos. Once Goto is sufficiently worn down, Koshinaka gets tagged back in to do the honors. He goes for a dragon suplex, but Goto's teammates run in for some 4-on-1 clubbering. Goto then goes for a backdrop (he became known as Mr. Backdrop after nearly killing Hiroshi Hase with one), but Koshinaka's teammates respond with clubbering of their own. Koshinaka lands a pair of hip attacks and gets the pin with a German suplex. We get an all-out rugby scrum between falls with Kengo Kimura, who is seconding Choshu's team, getting dragged in as well.
Third fall: If the first fall was mainly moment-driven and the second more story-driven, this fall is about tying up loose ends and giving the heels their comeuppance. First, Koshinaka pays back Kurisu by clocking him with a chairshot of his own and ramming him into the ring bell. After Kurisu tags out to Saito, Choshu hits him with a stomp that appears to land below the belt. When Machine runs in to protest, Koshinaka sneaks in and delivers a receipt for the earlier low blow with a headbutt to the groin. After Choshu grabs Kurisu on the apron, we get another rugby scrum. The match is past its peak at this point, and they probably should have gone home a couple of minutes earlier than they did. It comes down to Choshu against Hamaguchi, who shockingly kicks out of a lariat. Machine breaks up a second pin attempt with a diving headbutt, enabling Hamaguchi to tag out. Kurisu comes in with Choshu seemingly ripe for the picking, but Sasaki saves the day with another dropkick from out of nowhere. Kurisu goes down to the lariat and attacks his teammates after the match, seemingly pissed that they hung him out to dry. There truly is no honor among thieves.
Tier: 4. If you're more into generous selling (Kurisu in particular is notoriously terrible in that regard) and smoothly flowing action (there are several instances where someone has to awkwardly shift direction because he and his opponent aren't on the same page) than hatred and violence, this won't do much for you. But like hardcore punk, what it lacks in technique it more than makes up for in speed and aggression.
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Post by nintendologic on Aug 16, 2021 14:03:00 GMT -5
Toshiaki Kawada/Masanobu Fuchi vs. Yuji Nagata/Takashi Iizuka (NJPW, 12/14/00)
Fuchi and Iizuka start things out. Iizuka's sleepers have Fuchi desperately scrambling for the ropes, which I once thought was supposed to show that Fuchi was uniquely susceptible to the hold. But then I remembered that Iizuka had submitted Kazunari Murakami with a sleeper at the January 4 Dome event, so the idea seems to be that he's uniquely adept at applying it. Nagata tags in after some more grappling, and Kawada joins him after his leg kicks send Fuchi fleeing toward his corner. An amateur-style sequence ends in a stalemate. Kawada does his leg stretch taunt, and Nagata replies with a boot to the face. Before you know it, the two are trading blows. Kawada seemingly has the edge, but Nagata evens the score with a roundhouse kick to the head. Fuchi and Iizuka both tag in, and Fuchi immediately takes out the leg with a shinbreaker. From there, he starts stretching Iizuka as only Fuchi can. In addition to an STF, he drapes Iizuka over the second rope and steps on his throat. Kawada comes in and does his half crab where he stomps on his opponent's head before turning over. He then applies a bow and arrow hold, which brings Fuchi in to again stand on Iizuka's throat. Iizuka tries to fight his way out of the All Japan team's corner, but a Kawada big boot cuts him off. Nagata breaks up a Fuchi half crab, but he gets dropped himself by a Kawada enzuigiri. From there, Kawada and Fuchi increasingly direct their fire to Nagata on the outside to prevent him from interfering. For starters, after Fuchi crotches Iizuka on the top rope, Kawada runs over to Nagata's corner and whips him into the guardrail. Then, after Kawada tags in, Fuchi drops Nagata on the rail, sending him into the lap of a lucky(?) fan at ringside. It should be noted that Nagata sells all this rather bizarrely. I think he's trying to convey being dazed on his feet, but he looks like he's sleepwalking. He recovers enough to break up a Kawada Boston crab before collapsing back to his corner, only for Kawada to follow up with supine axe kicks to Iizuka's head. Iizuka reverses a Fuchi suplex attempt, but Fuchi drags him back to his corner and tags in Kawada, setting the stage for one of the most unique hot tags in history. Iizuka locks in a sleeper on Fuchi, which at first seems like a fatal error since it causes him to turn his back on Kawada and Fuchi isn't even the legal man. But he manages to hold on long enough that Fuchi collapses to the floor. Kawada has to check on his partner, which gives Iizuka a clear path to tag out. Nagata has the advantage at first, but Kawada counters one of his kicks with a legsweep, leading to the stretch plum. Iizuka comes back from the dead to break it up, but he eats a big boot when he tries to do the same with a powerbomb attempt. However, this enables Nagata to hit a counter of his own and then take out Kawada's leg with a kick to the shin. He then applies the Nagata Lock, which Fuchi breaks up. Iizuka tags in and cuts off Kawada's attempt to tag out by knocking Fuchi off the apron. He than applies a kneebar to Kawada while Nagata has Fuchi in the Nagata Lock. Kawada makes the ropes and manages to fight Iizuka off the make the tag to Fuchi. Even though he can barely stand, Fuchi takes Iizuka down with a low dropkick and applies a facelock after a pair of backdrops. When Nagata tries to run in, Kawada puts him in the stretch plum. Iizuka makes the ropes, and he and Fuchi both attempt to tag out after being knocked loopy on a rope-running spot. Nagata tags in first and tries to cut off Fuchi's tag, but he comes just short. Even with less than a minute left, you get the sense that Nagata would have finished Fuchi off had he managed to prevent the tag, so that represents the end of any hope of a decisive outcome. All Nagata and Kawada can do is go for the KO as time expires.
Tier: 4. This match can be divided into thirds of close to equal length. The first third (ending with the Fuchi shinbreaker) is merely solid, but the second third (ending with the tag to Nagata) is tremendous and the final third is as dramatic as the final ten minutes of a time-limit draw have likely ever been.
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