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Post by nintendologic on Sept 3, 2021 13:11:37 GMT -5
Ricky Steamboat/Shane Douglas vs. Barry Windham/Brian Pillman (WCW, 12/28/92)
The first half of Starrcade 1992 is among the worst first halves of any major show in history, so it comes as no surprise that the crowd is dead as a doornail in the early going. The wrestlers don't help matters by starting out with some heatless exchanges between Pillman and Douglas. Steamboat and Windham were the ones with a hot issue, so having those two go at it likely would have done a better job of getting the crowd into it. Windham tries to run in after Douglas knocks Pillman onto the entrance ramp with a dropkick but ends up eating a dropkick himself, which brings in Steamboat for some double-team action. There's a pretty amusing moment when Pillman starts to return to the ring and sees his partner being worked over, so he decides he doesn't want any of that and heads to the floor. I don't know if it was intended to be funny, but I popped. Windham demands to be tagged in, and Steamboat responds in kind. He gets the crowd going a bit by slugging it out with Windham only for Douglas to drag things down again with a chinlock. He definitely needed to show more intensity in the early going. They evidently decide that the best way to wake up the crowd is to bump their asses off, beginning with Windham eating a bodyslam on the floor and another one on the ramp. Douglas grinds Windham down some more with a Misawa-tier facelock. Windham escapes with a jawbreaker and falls toward his corner for the tag. Pillman gets backdropped onto the apron, and after a Douglas dropkick, he does his signature throat-first bump on the guardrail. The heels finally take control after a Windham distraction enables Pillman to dropkick Douglas all the way from the top turnbuckle to the floor, where Windham levels him with a clothesline. Douglas must have some Samoan ancestry, because Windham delivering a headbutt to him does almost as much damage to Windham. The heels prove to be a well-oiled machine on top with Windham working Douglas over with big punches and kicks and Pillman sneaking in cheap shots whenever the referee has his back turned. Douglas manages a brief flurry with Pillman in, but Pillman stops it with a drop toehold and brings Windham back in. Windham tosses him out of the ring, and he takes another huge bump as his leg crashes into the guardrail on the way down. With Windham hammering Douglas on the floor, Steamboat takes advantage of a referee distraction and clobbers him with a chair, leading to a classic Jesse Ventura rant. That doesn't turn the tide for his team, but it gives them a fighting chance but giving Douglas a much-needed breather and forcing the heavy hitter Windham to tag out. Douglas tries to make the tag as well, but Pillman cuts him off with a back suplex. Douglas sells Windham's offense magnificently as he can't even remain upright without leaning on the ropes to hold him up. Douglas finally makes the tag after reversing a suplex, but Steamboat's hot tag is cut off almost immediately by a powerslam. Pillman draws Douglas in with a cheap shot and throws Steamboat over the top rope followed by Windham ramming him into the ringpost while the referee is detaining Douglas. Steamboat forces Windham to tag out after hitting him with a facebuster and goes for the tag himself. Pillman tries to cut off the tag like he had earlier but comes up just short this time. Pretty soon, all four men are in the ring with Pillman nearly Sabu'ing himself on a back body drop. Douglas gets the win with a belly-to-belly suplex while Steamboat and Windham are brawling on the ramp.
Tier: 4. One one level, this match is a bit of a disappointment because it feels like they have a much better match in them. Douglas needed to show more aggression in the opening minutes, and the Steamboat FIP section is oddly truncated, possibly due to time constraints. Taken strictly on its own merits, though, this is an excellent rendition of the classic tag formula with action that never lets up once the heels take over.
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Post by nintendologic on Sept 4, 2021 14:26:28 GMT -5
Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori (AJW, 4/2/93)
Add another entry to the list of things I just noticed. Right before the opening bell, the ring announcer announces that the match will have no countouts. That's in addition to no time limit, so the idea is that the issue between the two is so heated that this match must have a decisive outcome. It also allowed them to work a more deliberate pace than is typical for joshi and give the big moments room to breathe, which worked very much to the match's benefit. As it turns out, this might have both the best opening and the best finish of any match in history. They start out with Hokuto socking Kandori in the jaw (for which Kandori does a Fujiwara-esque KO'ed boxer sell) and grabbing the house mic to lay on the badmouth. Kandori responds to this provocation by grabbing Hokuto's arm and bending it in ways it's not supposed to bend. Hokuto's LCO stablemates pull her to the outside to spray her arm down and pop her shoulder back in. She tries to return to the ring, but Kandori plays queen of the mountain and boots her right back out. She eventually makes it back in, and Kandori spends the next few minutes trying to rip her arm out in between trading blows at close range. Hokuto eventually manages an armbar of her own, and when Kandori makes the ropes, Hokuto drags her to the outside. She tries to tombstone Kandori on the timekeeper's table, but Kandori does the 1992 WCW tombstone reversal and hits one of her own. Hokuto rolls to the floor, and we get the iconic shot of the dent in the table. It was almost certainly from Kandori's knee rather than Hokuto's head, but it's still a striking visual. When Hokuto returns to her feet, she's bleeding buckets courtesy of the bladejob administered by referee Wally Yamaguchi. She staggers around as if concussed, and it takes her nearly a minute to make it back in the ring. Once there, Kandori works the cut with punches and yakuza kicks. Hokuto catches Kandori's leg on the third kick attempt and drags her into the crowd after dropping her with a clothesline. They brawl in the stands for a bit, and soon Kandori is bleeding as well. Meanwhile, Hokuto is wearing a full-blown crimson mask. Even her blonde hair is stained red. Ric Flair would be proud. Back in the ring, Hokuto works Kandori over with kicks of her own. She attempts a spinning heel kick, but Kandori swats her down. She then does this ridiculously badass move where it looks like she's going for a slingshot suplex but just dumps Hokuto over the top rope instead. To top it off, she follows it up with a goddamn plancha. She goes for a backdrop when Hokuto returns to the ring, but Hokuto does the All Japan counter and kicks off the ropes. However, Kandori recovers first and goes back after the arm before turning it into a crossface chickenwing. There's a shot of Hokuto after she makes the ropes where she looks more dead than alive with her bloody face and hollow eyes. However, she goes right from there to hitting Kandori with a snap piledriver in a disappointingly abrupt transition. She follows up with a spinning heel kick, and Kandori collapses in the ropes like a marionette whose strings have been cut. However, Kandori regains control after Hokuto airballs a second kick. Hokuto reverses a triangle scissor lock into a half crab, but Kandori reverses that into a half crab of her own. Trying to hang with Kandori on the mat obviously isn't something you should make a habit of doing. Unfortunately, we get another transition at the drop of a hat as Hokuto hulks up and hits a vertical suplex. She hits a top rope splash, but Kandori counters a second one by putting her legs up. Kandori hits a powerbomb and goes up top, but Hokuto swats her aside and hits a dragon suplex. Kandori pulls Hokuto off the turnbuckle and applies a giant swing sleeper, which is a move I'm surprised thousands of wrestlers haven't stolen. Kandori goes for another powerbomb, but Hokuto reverses into a hurricanrana. She can't hold Kandori down for the pin, though. Hokuto reverses an Irish whip into a thunder fire powerbomb, and when Kandori kicks out, both women display some of the greatest war-of-attrition selling you'll ever see. A spinning heel kick sends Kandori to the floor, and LCO provide the assist by holding her in place so Hokuto can hit a springboard tope con hilo and then a missile dropkick to the floor. The LLPW crew are the worst seconds ever as they just stand there not lifting a finger while their leader is being ganged up on. Hokuto signals for the Northern Lights bomb back in the ring, but Kandori snatches her arm yet again. Tiger driver from Kandori gets two. Hokuto reverses a clothesline into a backdrop and finally hits the NLB, but it only gets two. She goes for a second NLB, but Kandori reverses into one of her own. We then move into the all-time classic finishing stretch. They've both exhausted their respective arsenals, so all they can do at this point is punch each other out. Hokuto ends up having just enough left to drag herself on top of Kandori for the pin. Cumulative damage in wrestling is a criminally underexplored concept, and it's nice to see the escalation train go in reverse for once.
Tier: 3. I'm not quite as high on this match now as I have been in the past. Part of that is a reflection of the fact that my tolerance for 30-plus minute matches is at an all-time low. In particular, I felt there was a noticeable dip in intensity between roughly the 15 and 25-minute marks. Also, several of Hokuto's comebacks felt too easy. This is still a lock for my list, but it'll be in the top 25 range rather than top 5.
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Post by nintendologic on Sept 5, 2021 13:56:09 GMT -5
El Hijo del Santo vs. Brazo de Oro (UWA, 1/13/91)
First fall: I don't recognize Santo's second, but Oro is seconded by his brother Brazo de Plata. Surprisingly for this type of match, they begin by wrestling on the up-and-up rather than with the rudo jumping the tecnico. This fall largely consists of Oro working Santo over with a mixture of headbutts and body blows. The action is more of a simmer than a boil as the intensity gradually builds from one fall to the next. The main goal is to foreshadow the ringpost as the key to the match as both men try and fail to send their opponent into it. Oro wins the fall with a powerbomb.
Second fall: Oro dials up the aggression as he starts out by ramming Santo into the guardrail. Soon Santo is bleeding through his mask, which otherwise doesn't have a scratch on it. I don't know how he does that, but none of the possible ways that come to mind seem all that pleasant. I would have preferred a bit less head biting from Oro, but he mostly does an awesome job of kicking Santo's ass all over the place. Santo's selling is on point as well. In particular, he sells like he ruptured a disc in his lower back after taking a back body drop. Oro attempts a second back body drop, but lowering your head against Santo is almost always a mistake since it puts you in perfect position for the knee lift he likes to initiate his comeback with. Sure enough, that's what happens. A dropkick sends Oro the floor, and Santo absolutely crushes him with a tope. After the adrenaline rush from his comeback wears off, Santo returns to the ring and collapses from exhaustion. Long-term selling isn't always a priority in lucha, but it's always a treat when it happens. We finally get the payoff to the foreshadowing in the first fall when Santo sends Oro into the ringpost, and Oro's bladejob leaves his face and chest covered in blood. Santo locks in the camel clutch, and Oro tries to resist but has no choice but to submit when Santo starts to really crank it in.
Third fall: Santo starts out hell-bent on payback as he rams Oro into the turnbuckle and kicks him in the head like he's Kawada. Porky wraps a towel around his brother's head to try to stem the bleeding, but Santo wraps the towel around his hand and punches Oro in the face with it. Now that's a badass tecnico revenge spot. Oro sits there in a daze after kicking out of a sunset flip, enabling Santo to ensnare him with his limbs like an octopus. After a mighty struggle, he turns Oro over and locks in another camel clutch. This time, Oro is able to fight his way out. I'm not a fan of a move that wins a fall being less effective later on in the match without some kind of kayfabe justification (I much prefer it the other way around as moves being more dangerous as a wrestler becomes increasingly worn down makes more intuitive sense to be). Thankfully, we get that here because Santo couldn't really crank it in like he had previously. Santo turns his back on Oro for no real reason, allowing Oro to nail him with a clothesline. I have to be honest, that might be the most mind-boggling transition I've ever seen in an otherwise fantastic match involving great wrestlers. Come on, at least have Porky distract him or something. Oro body checks Santo to the floor and then hits a tope. After both return to the ring, Santo dropkicks Oro back to the outside and hits a beautiful dive from the top rope to the floor. After a victory roll gets two, Santo attempts a hurricanrana. Oro reverses into a powerbomb, but it only gets two. I've already given my thoughts on moves being less effective later in the match. The only kayfabe justification I can think of is that a powerbomb done as a counter is somehow less impactful than one done straight-up. Santo attempts another camel clutch, but this time Oro doesn't even let him put it on. I think that's the best way to use finishers in multi-fall matches. If a move ends a fall, a wrestler should fight like mad to block it in later falls so that the drama comes from the application rather than the escape. They do the Savage/Steamboat finish as Santo reverses a scoop slam into a small package. Like I've said previously, I prefer matches like this to have more decisive finishes. If I were fantasy booking this match, I think I'd have Santo win the second fall by countout and the third with the camel clutch.
Tier: 4. There were some questionable decisions that took me out of the match a bit, but other than MS-1/Sangre Chicana, this does the best job of hitting all the notes I want hit in a lucha apuestas match. The action is a nice mix of gritty brawling and pretty dives, and they serve up plenty of drama in the final fall without going into overkill.
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Post by nintendologic on Sept 6, 2021 11:13:47 GMT -5
My next review will be up later today, but first, a quick housekeeping note. After careful consideration, I've decided to promote the following matches to tier 2: Jerry Lawler vs. Terry Funk (Memphis, 3/23/81) Jushin Liger vs. Naoki Sano (NJPW, 8/10/89) Vader vs. Sting (WCW, 7/12/92) Genichiro Tenryu/Koki Kitahara vs. Shiro Koshinaka/Kengo Kimura (WAR, 10/23/92) Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori (AJW, 4/2/93) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Akira Taue (AJPW, 4/15/95) Mitsuharu Misawa/Jun Akiyama vs. Toshiaki Kawada/Akira Taue (AJPW, 5/23/96) Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama (AJPW, 7/24/98) Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle (WWF, 8/19/01) Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada (NJPW, 4/7/13) Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk (WWE, 8/18/13) And the following matches to tier 3: Mitsuharu Misawa/Toshiaki Kawada/Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta/Akira Taue/Masanobu Fuchi (AJPW, 10/15/91) Mitsuharu Misawa/Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta/Akira Taue (AJPW, 11/29/91) Genichiro Tenryu/Takashi Ishikawa vs. Shinya Hashimoto/Michiyoshi Ohara (NJPW, 6/14/93) Toshiaki Kawada/Masanobu Fuchi vs. Yuji Nagata/Takashi Iizuka (NJPW, 12/14/00) Mitsuharu Misawa/Yoshinari Ogawa vs. KENTA/Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH, 4/25/04) Hirooki Goto/Katsuyori Shibata vs. Yuji Nagata/Tomoaki Honma (NJPW, 6/21/14)
Demoted to tier 4:
Lex Luger vs. Ricky Steamboat (WCW, 7/23/89)
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Post by nintendologic on Sept 6, 2021 15:35:26 GMT -5
AJ Styles vs. Minoru Suzuki (NJPW, 8/1/14)
Suzuki starts out by slapping the taste out of AJ's mouth and whipping him off the ropes, but AJ takes control with a dropkick that sends Suzuki to the floor. AJ follows him and leaps over the guardrail after Suzuki tries to whip him into it. After stunning Suzuki with an elbow, AJ comes back in with a phenomenal forearm off the rail. He works Suzuki over in the ring, and even Suzuki's selling is menacing. It has a vibe of "You'd better kill me while you have the chance because you're dead meat otherwise." AJ attempts a phenomenal forearm, but Suzuki shoves him off the top rope and goes after his right arm with an armbar in the ropes. AJ tumbles to the floor, and Suzuki nails him with an apron PK. After teasing using the ring bell hammer as a weapon, Suzuki drags AJ into the stands and applies an armbar in a chair while a woman in the crowd shrieks with a mixture of entertainment and fear like an amusement park patron on a roller coaster. Back in the ring, he continues the assault on AJ's arm with a variety of hurty-looking submissions. AJ initiates his comeback by rolling out of a wristlock and suplexing Suzuki into the turnbuckle. AJ hits a leaping forearm in the corner but does further damage to his arm in the process. We get a ref bump, and Taka Michinoku, the Good Brothers, and KES all run in (making this the greatest match any of them have been involved in) and then brawl to the back. It sure was nice back when Bullet Club interference was limited to brief mostly inconsequential run-ins. AJ and Suzuki have a strike exchange (in a stroke of genius, AJ throws his strikes with his left arm) ending in a double KO spot. AJ does the Bullet Club finger taunt, to which Suzuki responds by all but ripping that finger off. AJ goes for a phenomenal forearm, but Suzuki counters with a Fujiwara armbar that he accentuates by again pulling back on AJ's index finger. Hell yeah. Suzuki weakens AJ with a sleeper and goes for the Gotch-style piledriver, but AJ manages to escape and goes for the Styles Clash. Suzuki reverses into an ankle lock, which leads to an Angle/Benoit-style ankle lock reversal sequence. However, it takes an unexpected turn when Suzuki anticipates AJ's reversal and locks in a cross armbreaker. AJ tries to clasp his hands together, but Suzuki breaks his grip by again bending back the injured finger. If all that wasn't enough, AJ Styles Clashes his way out of the armbreaker. That was a sequence that started out rather trite and ended up incredible. They have another strike exchange, and Suzuki tries to knock AJ out with a punch but gets dropped by a Pele kick. A second Styles Clash wins it for AJ.
Tier: 3. My guess is that this will end up somwhere between top 25 and top 50 on my list. Great selling from AJ, great facial expressions from Suzuki, and it's nice and compact with hardly any downtime or wasted motion. This is a match just about any wrestling fan should be able to enjoy.
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Post by nintendologic on Sept 7, 2021 14:34:27 GMT -5
Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi (AJPW, 7/29/93)
Kobashi managed his first victories against big-name foreign wrestlers in 1993, pinning Dan Spivey in February and Terry Gordy in May. However, that was child's play compared to the challenge that awaits him here. For whatever reason, Hansen abuses a young boy removing streamers from the ring, allowing Kobashi to get the jump on him at the opening bell. His offensive flurry forces Hansen to flee to the outside, which is an accomplishment in itself. He DDTs Hansen on the floor and rams his head into the ringpost. Back in the ring, Kobashi goes after the lariat arm with shoulder armbreakers, which is the biggest mistake a Hansen opponent can make because it always ends up being blown off. Thankfully, Hansen puts a stop to that with some headbutts. After Kobashi gets two with a lariat, he decides to grind Hansen down with facelocks. Kobashi's partner Misawa had beaten Hansen in a Triple Crown match a couple of months beforehand with liberal use of the facelock when damage to his arm prevented him from throwing elbows, so it's sound psychology even if it isn't terribly exciting. Hansen manages hardly any offense at all for the first eight and a half minutes, but it never feels like he's out of it because it only takes one clean hit for him to turn things around. In one of the most brutal transitions in history, Hansen counters a Kobashi corner charge with a boot to the face. What made it even more impactful is that it wasn't telegraphed at all and came completely out of nowhere. Kobashi's face starts swelling up immediately, and he looks like he's been in a car wreck by the end of the match. Hansen's off-balance release powerbomb on the concrete was a great way for him to firmly reassert control while still registering the damage he had sustained. Other than that, Hansen's offense during this stretch of the match consists largely of knee and elbow drops, moves that require him to do little more than fall on his opponent. Whether intentional or not, that's a pretty cool detail that gets over how much he's still hurting. Kobashi shows his fighting spirit by absorbing Hansen's blows and chopping him down with chops and slaps. He manages to drop Hansen with a running big boot and then collapses from exhaustion. He struggles to crawl over to make the cover, but Hansen kicks out at two. After Kobashi crashes and burns on a missile dropkick, Hansen scrambles over for a desperation pin attempt, showing just how far Kobashi has pushed him. Second rope splash from Hansen gets two. After countering a back body drop attempt, Kobashi knocks Hansen into the corner with a dropkick and follows it up with jumping knees and machine gun chops. He ducks a short-range lariat-like move (it's not quite a proper lariat because Hansen hadn't adjusted the elbow pad yet) and tries to further sap Hansen's strength with a sleeper. Hansen makes the ropes, and when Kobashi attempts a springboard bulldog, he spikes him with a backdrop. After shoulder-checking Kobashi, he signals for the lariat by adjusting the elbow pad. Kobashi blocks it with a drop toehold and hits an escalating series of leg drops to the back of Hansen's neck culminating in one off the top rope. He hits the moonsault, but it only gets two. Hansen goes deep into his arsenal with an enzuigiri and grabs Kobashi's ankle to prevent him from going up for another moonsault. By the time Kobashi makes it to the turnbuckle, Hansen is back on his feet, so he hits a running neckbreaker drop instead. It only gets two, though. At this point, Kobashi decides that brute force won't get the job done and attempts a series of desperate roll-ups. I'll admit I'm a sucker for that spot. Kobashi goes up for the moonsault again, and he and Hansen slug it out for a bit before the iconic finish. It's likely Hansen's most legendary lariat in a career full of them.
Tier: 4. This is another one that fell surprisingly flat for me. I expected this to be a lock for my top ten, but there's a good chance it'll be in the bottom quarter of my list. All the highlights hold up, but I found the connective tissue to be somewhat lacking. My main issue is that Kobashi didn't quite have the offensive firepower to believably hang with Hansen at this stage of his career. Let's get real, leg drops and bulldogs aren't going to put away The Lariat. He seemed to run out of ideas in the opening minutes, which is why he kept going back to the facelock. Also, it was rather jarring to see Kobashi use the lariat as just another move in light of what he became. Right now, I'm of the view that Hansen/Kawada is clearly superior.
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Post by nintendologic on Sept 8, 2021 11:58:11 GMT -5
Kenta Kobashi/Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Doug Furnas/Dan Kroffat (AJPW, 5/25/92)
This takes place in Kikuchi's hometown of Sendai, which is why the crowd is so hot for a midcard match for the secondary tag titles. Kroffat plays the bully early on and boxes Kikuchi's ear, and Kikuchi responds with an elbow barrage that has Kroffat scurrying for the floor like a coward who can dish it out but can't take it. Kobashi tags in, and after taking some punishment, Kroffat gains control with a cheap shot off a rope break. He tags in Furnas, and they hit a double-team jumping shoulder block. Furnas works Kobashi over, and as is the case for much of the match, his work on top is workmanlike and mechanical. He may have been an athletic marvel, but Kroffat was clearly the brains of the outfit. Kobashi tags out, and Kikuchi hits Furnas with a leg lariat. Kroffat tries to run in, but he eats a leg lariat himself. Furnas steamrolls Kikuchi with a shoulder block off the ropes, and Kroffat riles up the crowd by applauding on the apron. The next few minutes are pretty back-and-forth, but the Can-Ams take firm control after a big clothesline from Furnas that appears to catch Kikuchi in the throat. Furnas follows up by gorilla pressing Kikuchi to the floor. Then, while Kroffat has Kobashi detained, he presses Kikuchi onto the timekeeper's table. Back in the ring, a top-rope Hart Attack from the Can-Ams gets two. Kroffat just about bends Kikuchi in half with a Boston crab, but Kikuchi makes the ropes. Kobashi has to run in to break up the pin after Kroffat hits a trifecta of snap suplexes. Kikuchi hits a backdrop, but Kroffat prevents him from tagging out by dragging him over to the Can-Ams' corner by his hair. Kobashi breaks up a Furnas Boston crab, but the Can-Ams make a tagless switch. Kroffat applies a bow and arrow hold, which Kobashi breaks up with a leg drop. Kikuchi finally makes the tag after a leg lariat, but Kroffat cuts off Kobashi's hot tag with a run-in and further enrages the fans by strutting his way back to his team's corner. After blocking a top rope splash by putting his knees up, Kobashi nails Kroffat with an enzuigiri and tags in Kikuchi. Kroffat shuts him down pretty quickly with a nasty thrust kick, though. Furnas runs in when Kikuchi blocks a tiger driver attempt, and the Can-Ams hit a doomsday device. It only gets two, prompting them to heel it up some more by arguing with the referee over the count. Kroffat practically strangles Kikuchi with a cobra clutch as Furnas tries to detain Kobashi. However, Kobashi eventually breaks through and breaks up the hold. Furnas drags Kobashi to the outside, where Kobashi DDTs him on the floor. Kroffat sets Kikuchi up for a superplex, but Kobashi arrives in the nick of time and puts Kroffat on his shoulders. Kroffat reacts exactly how a heel should to being put in the electric chair, flailing his arms and shaking his head no. Kikuchi hits a doomsday dropkick and tags out, but Kroffat counters Kobashi's jumping shoulder block with a facebuster. Furnas tags in and hits a frankensteiner, but Kikuchi breaks up the pin with a diving headbutt. Kobashi goes up for a moonsault, but Kroffat is able to roll out of the way thanks to momentary Furnas interference giving him time to recover. With Kikuchi taking care of Furnas on the outside, Kobashi hits a double-arm DDT and then successfully lands the moonsault to win the All-Asia tag titles.
Tier: 4. This match features an amazing selling performance from Kikuchi, some tremendous drama down the stretch, and one of the hottest crowds in history. However, it doesn't quite have the depth or violence necessary to place it in tippy-top range. In particular, the beatdown on Kikuchi wasn't quite as brutal as I remembered it being. Also, it was distracting how much better Kroffat was than Furnas as playing a heel as he supplied almost all the character work for his team.
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Post by nintendologic on Sept 9, 2021 14:27:00 GMT -5
Lex Luger/Barry Windham vs. Arn Anderson/Tully Blanchard (NWA, 3/27/88)
Luger shoves Tully to the mat off the initial tie-up, and Tully cowers in the corner after Luger flexes. Arn runs in for the double-team, but Luger fends them off with a double clothesline. We get a classic Arn stooge spot when he ducks the clothesline and points to his head to indicate intelligence only to be felled by a second clothesline. Luger racks Tully, but JJ Dillon distracts the referee by accusing Luger of grabbing the trunks, enabling Arn to run in and take out the leg. I really dug that spot for two reasons. One, babyfaces in Southern tags are far too often content to simply make the heels look like clowns or kill time working the arm in the opening minutes, so it's great to see them go for the win right off the bat. Two, you usually have no idea what a manager is arguing about when he jumps on the apron to distract the ref, so it was awesome seeing Dillon back up his argument with some pantomime. The Horsemen then work Luger's leg over a bit. Luger kicks Arn off when he tries to apply a figure-four, knocking Tully off the apron in the process. Arn is thus unable to immediately tag Tully in, which results in him coming in too late to cut off Luger's tag. Windham comes in with a double noggin knocker and nails Tully with a flying lariat and a powerslam. Tully kicks out, so Windham decides to wear him down with a sleeper. Tully tries to escape by rolling to the outside, but Windham maintains the hold. The referee orders Windham back in the ring, which gives Tully time to recover. He guillotines Windham on the top rope and goes up top, but Windham press slams him off. That puts Tully perilously close to his corner, so Windham knocks Arn off the apron to preclude the possibility of a tag. This leads to another trademark Arn spot where he attempts an illegal tag that the referee disallows because his body was through the ropes. Windham applies an abdominal stretch, but Arn breaks it up with a big left after Dillon again accuses the babyfaces of grabbing the trunks. The ref detaining Luger when he comes in to protest enables the Horsemen to make a tagless switch, and Arn drills Windham with a DDT. Some more classic Arn stoogery ensues after a spinebuster when he tries to pin Windham's shoulders to the mat with a double knuckle lock. He tries to bring his weight down but ends up crotching himself when Windham puts his knees up. Even with that setback, Arn is still the fresher man and is able to tag out first. Tully comes in and hammers Windham with a bionic elbow, a body blow, and straight rights. Windham is able to hit a gutwrench suplex but is again unable to tag out before his opponent. This match does a masterful job of getting over the importance of being the fresher man in a tag situation. Arn comes in and applies a wristlock, but Windham kicks him off. Arn initially attempts to tag out, but Dillon directs him to cut off Windham before he can tag out. I love seeing managers actually manage. Arn again tags out after a double-KO spot, and Tully hits a slingshot suplex. It only gets two, though. Windham blocks a punch from Tully and hits one of his own. Arn tags in and again attempts to cut Windham off but comes up just short. The difference between this and Windham's previous attempts to tag out is that he was able to remain upright, enabling him to utilize his height to fall toward his corner. Luger looks a bit lost at a couple points after the hot tag, but he makes up for it with enthusiasm. He gets the pin after Arn goes head-first into a chair introduced by Dillon.
Tier: 4. Generally speaking, I find tag matches where the referee is a stickler about who can be in the ring and run-ins and interference only occur with him distracted to be far less entertaining than ones where the ref is more lenient. Even while working with that restriction, this match is a clinic on building anticipation for the hot tag with rapid-fire tags combined with high-impact moves. Also, it's incredible how much they're able to pack into less than ten minutes by working at a breakneck pace.
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Post by nintendologic on Sept 10, 2021 15:40:00 GMT -5
Kenta Kobashi/Jun Akiyama vs. Stan Hansen/Akira Taue (AJPW, 12/3/99)
Hansen wasn't even supposed to be in the 1999 RWTL, but he ended up as a last-minute replacement when an injury to Kawada left Taue without a partner. Being gifted one last shot at glory in a pairing reminiscent of the Baba/Hansen team has made him a huge sentimental favorite to the Budokan crowd. He shows he's not just happy to be there as he and Taue jump Burning before the opening bell. Kobashi forces Hansen into the corner with a series of kesagiri chops, but Hansen catches him coming in with a boot to the face that had to have given him flashbacks to 1993. Hansen dumps Kobashi to the floor, where Taue nails him with a jumping big boot off the apron. Akiyama tries to come to Kobashi's aid, but Taue whips him into the guardrail and boots him into the stands. Taue works Kobashi over in the ring for a bit before tagging Hansen back in. Kobashi blocks a vertical suplex attempt, so Hansen drags him to the floor. However, the tide turns as Kobashi fells him with more kesagiri chops. Hansen looked good in the beginning, but he could only keep it up for so long at his age and spends the remainder of the match in the unusual position of his team's weak link. Kobashi whips Taue into the rail when he comes to Hansen's aid, and he and Kobashi double-team Hansen on the floor. Back in the ring, Kobashi suplexes Hansen after a titanic struggle and tags in Akiyama. Hansen is reeling because he can't quite hang like he used to, so he puts Akiyama in a headlock and drags him over to his corner to tag Taue in. Akiyama tries to fight his way out of the corner with elbows, but Taue traps his arms and hits a beautiful double overhook suplex. Unfortunately, it's followed by the match's lowlight as Taue goes for a leg drop but catches his leg on the second rope, landing on his ass to the derisive laughter of the crowd. However, he recovers nicely by dumping Akiyama to the outside and DDTing him on the concrete. The moral of the story: if you lose the crowd, you can always win them back with violence. Hansen forces Akiyama back in, and Taue practically twists his head off with a neck crank. Akiyama tags out after hitting a jumping knee, but Taue isn't taking anybody's shit on this night and cuts Kobashi off almost immediately with an enzuigiri. All things considered, this is probably the ass-kickingest performance of Taue's career. Hansen tags in, but Kobashi shows how far gone he is when he forces him into the corner and nearly knocks him out with a simple chop. Incredibly, Akiyama is met with a chorus of boos when he hits a supine Hansen with a knee drop off the apron. Akiyama comes in, but Hansen manages to counter a charge by backdropping him to the outside, which enables the real heavy hitter of the team (Taue) to do some damage. Taue guillotines Akiyama on the rail and sends Kobashi packing when he tries to come to the rescue. Taue tags in legit and hits a fucking top rope splash. This match is like chicken soup for the Taue fan's soul. Hansen tags back in, and it's probably for the best that his offense consists largely of suplexes because it helps disguise his lack of mobility. Kobashi breaks up a pin and actually gets booed out of the building. That's how over Hansen is on this night. Akiyama tags out after hitting a second rope dropkick, but Taue once again refuses to go down without a fight. Kobashi eventually takes care of Taue (although note how Taue sells and then fights through a chop coming off the ropes) and disposes of Hansen as well when he tries to interfere. Kobashi goes for the moonsault, but Hansen runs interference and Taue hits a backdrop. Kobashi tags out after a running neckbreaker drop, and Akiyama sends Hansen all the way into the corner with a dropkick. The two slug it out, and Hansen takes over after a shoulder block. Kobashi breaks up a pin after a powerbomb and is once again booed vociferously. Taue runs in, and he and Hansen seemingly dispose of Kobashi with a double-team. Taue tags in and goes for his old standby of the apron nodowa. Kobashi tries to block it, but Hansen takes care of him. Akiyama manages to land on his feet, so Taue hits a regular nodowa on the floor. Hansen rolls Akiyama back in the ring, and there's an incredible struggle for a second nodowa. Akiyama tries to block it by grabbing the ropes, which culminates in Hansen running in to break his grip. Taue thus hits the nodowa, but it only gets two. Hansen signals for the lariat, and it looks like it's curtains for Burning. But just like they had in the previous year, they manage to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Akiyama stuns Hansen with a jumping knee and hits Taue with an exploder after Kobashi takes care of Hansen for good with a lariat. Taue struggles mightily but eventually goes down to a wrist-clutch exploder.
Tier: 3. I'm going to go on record with this as my pick for greatest RWTL final of all time (there wasn't an official final until 1995, so matches like 12/16/88 and 12/3/93 don't count). It combines the gritty violence of a high-end WAR tag with the epic dramatic finishing run of a high-end King's Road tag. In addition, it has the emotional resonance provided by the story of the cowboy's last ride.
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Post by bossrock on Sept 10, 2021 15:53:07 GMT -5
Tier: 3. I'm going to go on record with this as my pick for greatest RWTL final of all time (there wasn't an official final until 1995, so matches like 12/16/88 and 12/3/93 don't count). It combines the gritty violence of a high-end WAR tag with the epic dramatic finishing run of a high-end King's Road tag. In addition, it has the emotional resonance provided by the story of the cowboy's last ride. TIL
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Post by nintendologic on Sept 12, 2021 12:13:11 GMT -5
Jumbo Tsuruta/Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu/Yoshiaki Yatsu (AJPW, 1/28/86)
Choshu comes into the match with damaged ribs courtesy of a sneak attack from Jumbo and Tenryu earlier in the month. The teams begin with some feeling-out that feels almost shoot-style in terms of intensity if not moves used, with rough uncooperative grappling and chippy striking. At one point, Jumbo escapes a headlock by applying a bearhug to Choshu's injured ribs. Most of the exchanges end in stalemates, but it feels like they're building tension rather than killing time. The first explosion comes when Tenryu cheap-shots Yatsu on the apron. Doing so placed him proximity to the JPW team's corner, and Choshu and Yatsu take advantage by forcing Tenryu into their corner and unleashing a double-team assault. Tenryu kind of blows it off and applies a figure-four leg lock. Choshu rolls over to his corner, where Yatsu hits a top-rope elbow drop before tagging in. He continues to drop elbows while Choshu has Tenryu's legs entangled, which prompts Jumbo to run in and break the hold by stomping Choshu's ribs. Jumbo tags in after a Tenryu lariat and forces Yatsu to powder with a pair of kitchen sinks. Yatsu hits a dropkick after returning to the ring and tags in Choshu. Jumbo targets Choshu's ribs with body blows during a strike exchange and takes over with a jumping knee. I found it a bit odd that he didn't go for a kitchen sink after the previous focus on the ribs, but he makes up for it by targeting them with stomps and axehandles. Choshu hits a backdrop, but the damage to his ribs has taken its toll and Jumbo is the first to his feet. There's a double knockdown spot after both men hit simultaneous lariats, but Jumbo is again the first to recover. He delivers one final stomp to the ribs before tagging out. Tenryu continues the attack on the ribs with kicks, stomps, and elbow drops. There's not a whole lot of variety in his offense, although in fairness, there aren't a whole lot of moves that specifically target that area of the body. When Choshu blocks a suplex attempt, Jumbo delivers a knee to the gut and starts tearing off the protective tape on his abdomen. Yatsu runs in to object, but the referee orders him back to his corner. When Jumbo applies an abdominal stretch, Yatsu breaks it up with a diving double axehandle. That's an ingenious spot because the referee was checking for the submission and thus not in position to restrain him, even more so because he came off the top rope. Choshu tags out, and Tenryu makes an immediate beeline for him on the apron. He whips Choshu into the guardrail and takes a chair to his ribs. I understand that we don't see sequences like that more often because it takes attention away from the hot tag, but it's still pretty awesome to see. Once Tenryu decides he's done enough damage, he sees that Yatsu has Jumbo in a spinning toehold. He breaks it up with a backdrop, continuing the theme of run-ins coming during submission holds because the ref is too busy checking for the submission to detain them. After shaking off the damage to his leg, Jumbo hits a pair of monster lariats and applies a Boston crab while Choshu's JPW teammates re-tape his ribs. Choshu soon tags in and hits a big dropkick but further injures his ribs in the process. Jumbo again is up first and goes after the ribs with kicks, but Choshu reverses into a scorpion deathlock. However, the pain in his ribs hinders his ability to maintain the hold and enables Jumbo to power out. He has to tag out and is never again the legal man in the match. After hitting a running neckbreaker drop and a bulldog, Yatsu dumps Jumbo to the floor, where Choshu finally gains a measure of revenge. He rams Jumbo into the ringpost and busts him open. Tenryu comes to Jumbo's aid, but the damage is done. He inflicts further punishment on Choshu's ribs with a chair while Yatsu brings Jumbo back in the ring the hard way with a suplex. Yatsu does what any sensible man would do in his situation and works over Jumbo's bloody forehead with stomps and punches. Jumbo takes another spill to the floor, and Choshu and Yatsu again send him face-first into the post. The ringside area is crowded with photographers and both team's respective seconds, which makes the brawling on the outside seem even more chaotic because it looks like innocent bystanders have been sucked in. Jumbo powers out of a Texas cloverhold, but Yatsu hits a backbreaker and applies a scorpion deathlock. Tenryu breaks it up with a lariat applied with such force that he nearly sends himself out of the ring. While the referee is ordering Tenryu back to his corner, Choshu runs in and delivers a further receipt to Jumbo with stomps of his own. Jumbo sends Choshu to the outside when he keeps running in to break up Tenryu's pins, and the two end up brawling on the floor. Yatsu manages some impressive near falls, but that comes to an end after Tenryu hits a stun gun (the universal coup de grace in 70s and 80s All Japan). Choshu breaks up a pin after an enzuigiri, but Tenryu hits a powerbomb as Choshu is returning to his corner. By the time he realizes what's happening, it's too late for him to make the save.
Tier: 2. Even if some of the selling is spotty at points, this is one hell of a fight. It's a bit rougher around the edges than the classic 90s All Japan tags, but all the hallmarks of the style are here in embryonic form.
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Post by nintendologic on Sept 14, 2021 12:40:08 GMT -5
Giant Baba vs. Billy Robinson (AJPW, 7/24/76)
First fall: Robinson is frustrated in the early going by his inability to get the better of Baba in grappling exchanges. He was notorious for not liking to cooperate with guys he didn't consider real wrestlers, but you have to make the boss look good. I'm sure he cried all the way to the bank. He's far from outclassed on the mat, though, as he gets the chance to show his stuff on a few occasions. Perhaps most notably, he pries open a bodyscissors by wrapping his legs around Baba's right leg and bending Baba's left leg over his (Robinson's) head. He even does a little lucha with a Santo-style cross-legged headscissors. By the way, the lights in the arena must have been hot as hell because both men are drenched in sweat within a couple minutes of the opening bell. Robinson begins peppering Baba's leg with kicks after the first few exchanges end in stalemates. Baba sidesteps one of the kicks and fires back with a chop, which gets Robinson hot. He lights Baba up with a European uppercut an a proto-Misawa elbow smash. Baba wins the fall with a big boot followed by a backdrop.
Second fall: The end of the previous fall rang Robinson's bell, and he begins this fall in a daze. Baba's strikes are notoriously weak, so Robinson's selling is a stroke of genius. Baba kicking someone's ass the way he does here would normally be preposterous, but Robinson makes it work because he seems to be so woozy you could knock him over with a feather. He eventually resorts to trying to block Baba's blows, which leads to an Arn Anderson-esque moment when Baba feints a brain chop and kicks Robinson in the gut when he puts his arms up to block. Baba whips Robinson into the turnbuckle, but he puts his leg up to block and comes back with a running elbow (a future Misawa signature spot). He follows with a big dropkick and takes firm control after taking several moments to regain his bearings. Robinson's neckbreaker belongs in the conversation for greatest of all time. It starts out like a Rude Awakening, but he falls to a seated position like a stunner rather than falling on his back. He follows up on his earlier work by yanking back on Baba's leg, and Baba sells well enough by grimacing in pain and trying to slap feeling back into the limb. He also desperately kicks Robinson away when he continues the attack on the leg. It soon becomes clear that the goal of the leg work is to soften Baba up for the double-arm suplex rather than creating a direct path to victory. Baba keeps blocking the suplex, so Robinson takes what he's given and locks on a half crab for the submission.
Third fall: I've seen quite a bit of criticism of Baba's leg selling, and he's certainly not hobbling around. But you have to remember that he had time between falls to recover and be attended to by young boys. Also make note of how he positions his body to shield himself from Robinson's kicks and takedowns. Robinson responds with some Kawada-esque low kicks. He comes across like Ali in his prime as he blocks all of Baba's chops in rapid succession. He's really feeling himself by this point, so he gets in Baba's face with his hands on his hips as if to ask him if that's the best he can do. The work in the first two falls comes together in an absolutely brilliant transition as Robinson's focus on the leg ends up being his undoing. Baba kicks him off, and he hits his head on the mat and re-rattles his brain. He again presages Kawada as he does a KO sell and rolls to the outside. Back in the ring, he ties Baba's leg up in the ropes and dives into it, causing them both to tumble to the floor. The crowd starts buzzing since they expect a DCOR finish is forthcoming (an even bigger threat since this is a PWF title match, which means there's a ten-count on the outside rather than the customary 20). Baba goes for another backdrop when they make it back in, but Robinson counters by kicking the ropes. Now Baba's the one who's dazed, and he rolls to the floor to shake out the cobwebs. Robinson follows him outside, and they again tease the DCOR by fighting on the floor for a bit. Baba attempts another big boot back in the ring, but Robinson catches his leg this time. The crowd starts buzzing, possibly because they expect him to go back to the leg, but he hits a dropkick instead. They kind of rush to the finish as they do a couple of rope-running spots before Baba gets the win with a jumping neckbreaker drop outta nowhere.
Tier: 4. This is one of the finest examples of wrestling as physical chess, even if it is perhaps a bit too cerebral for its own good. Robinson in his prime is a joy to watch. Baba didn't really do anything out of the ordinary, but he added to the match by simply existing and being the mountain Robinson had to climb.
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Post by nintendologic on Sept 16, 2021 11:43:00 GMT -5
Getting closer to the finish line has given me a better view of the big picture, and I've shuffled my tiers again as a result. For starters, I moved all the matches previously in tier 2 to tier 1. In addition, I've bumped the following matches up to tier 2: MS-1 vs. Sangre Chicana (EMLL, 9/23/83) Riki Choshu vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (NJPW, 6/9/87) Tatsumi Fujinami/Riki Choshu/Akira Maeda/Kengo Kimura/Super Strong Machine vs. Antonio Inoki/Yoshiaki Fujiwara/Seiji Sakaguchi/Kantaro Hoshino/Keiji Mutoh (NJPW, 8/19/87) Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk (WCW, 7/23/89) Stan Hansen/Genichiro Tenryu vs. Jumbo Tsuruta/Yoshiaki Yatsu (AJPW, 12/6/89) Rick Rude vs. Ricky Steamboat (WCW, 6/20/92) Stan Hansen vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW, 2/28/93) Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind (WWF, 9/22/96) Kenta Kobashi/Jun Akiyama vs. Stan Hansen/Akira Taue (AJPW, 12/3/99) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jun Akiyama (AJPW, 2/27/00) Eddie Guerrero vs. Brock Lesnar (WWE, 2/15/04) Yoshihiro Takayama/Minoru Suzuki vs. Yuji Nagata/Naofumi Yamamoto (NJPW, 10/9/06) John Cena vs. Umaga (WWE, 1/28/07) AJ Styles vs. Minoru Suzuki (NJPW, 8/1/14) Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomoaki Honma (NJPW, 8/3/14) And the following matches up to tier 3: Giant Baba vs. Billy Robinson (AJPW, 7/24/76) El Hijo del Santo vs. Brazo de Oro (UWA, 1/13/91)
Kenta Kobashi/Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Doug Furnas/Dan Kroffat (AJPW, 5/25/92) Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi (AJPW, 7/29/93) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW, 7/24/95) Mitsuharu Misawa/Jun Akiyama vs. Toshiaki Kawada/Akira Taue (AJPW, 12/6/96) John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar (WWE, 4/29/12)
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Post by nintendologic on Sept 16, 2021 13:12:19 GMT -5
Genichiro Tenryu/Takashi Ishikawa vs. Tatsumi Fujinami/Hiroshi Hase (WAR, 2/14/93)
Footage of this match exists in both handheld and pro-shot form. You should watch both to get a complete picture, but of the two, the handheld is the way to go. The pro-shot version picks up on a few details the handheld misses, but it also misses several key transitions down the stretch. This is the first ever meeting between Tenryu and Fujinami, and they're understandably tentative to engage in the early going. Fujinami whiffs a dropkick after Tenryu grabs the ropes, but he sends Tenryu to the outside with a second one after ducking a lariat. He then returns to his junior roots and goes for a tope. Tenryu scoots out of the way, but Hase jumps him on the floor and whips him into the guardrail. Ishikawa comes to his partner's aid, which ignites a fracas with the other New Japan wrestlers at ringside. Hase and Ishikawa get into it legit after tagging in. Ishikawa hits a corner lariat, but Hase reverses an Irish whip into a Russian legsweep (a cool move someone needs to bring back). Ishikawa backdrops his way out of a Fujinami chinlock and tags Tenryu in. Tenryu lays into Fujinami with soccer ball kicks to the face, to which Fujinami responds by patting his forehead and asking for more. I thought it was going to be a bullshit fighting spirit spot, but I was very pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be a way to bait Tenryu into throwing more kicks. When Tenryu takes the bait, Fujinami headbutts him in the thigh. He then takes him down with a dragon screw and attempts a scorpion deathlock. Tenryu prevents him from stepping over by grabbing his leg, so he tags Hase in to do more damage. Hase goes for a cheap shot on Ishikawa on the apron, but turning his back on Tenryu proves to be a grave error. He clobbers Hase with a corner lariat and tags in Ishikawa, who comes in to a chorus of boos. I have no idea why he was so universally hated around this time, but even WAR crowds like this one would regularly boo him out of the building. He further endears himself to the crowd by applying a dragon sleeper while Tenryu and Fujinami nearly come to blows on the apron. Tenryu is almost like a manager with his knack for working the crowd while on the outside. Tenryu tags in, but Hase manages a drop toehold and applies a Muta lock. He and Fujinami work Tenryu's leg over for a bit, which ends when Ishikawa just about crushes Fujinami's skull with a leg drop. That enables Tenryu to make the tag, but then he inadvertently allows Fujinami to tag out by knocking him into his corner with a three-point stance clothesline. Hase comes in, and Ishikawa hiptosses him out of the corner and nails him in the back of the head with an absolutely disgusting dropkick. The resulting Hase beatdown is plenty stiff but probably overly long, although it produces a great highlight when Ishikawa lands calf branding followed by Tenryu punting Hase in the face. Hase tags out after ducking a clothesline, and Fujinami delivers a receipt to Ishikawa by putting him in a dragon sleeper of his own, making sure to turn toward Tenryu's corner to talk trash. Tenryu runs in to break it up, but Fujinami drops him with a series of slaps. He reapplies the dragon sleeper with Tenryu reeling in the ropes, but Tenryu catches him off-guard with an enzuigiri and delivers some liver shots for good measure. In a nice touch, Fujinami didn't see it coming until it was too late because his vision was obstructed by the referee. Tenryu goes for a diving back elbow but overshoots his target, crushing Fujinami's ribs with his knee. He hits the powerbomb with Ishikawa running interference to prevent Hase from breaking it up, but Fujinami kicks out. Ishikawa then crashes and burns on a plancha, leaving Tenryu isolated. Hase breaks up a Tenryu abdominal stretch by blindsiding him with a diving double axehandle (applying an abdominal stretch after a powerbomb is a questionable decision by any measure, but some questionable transitions are to be expected when you're calling it on the fly). He follows up with an uranage, and he and Fujinami hit a double-team suplex before Fujinami tags out. Hase destroys Tenryu with two more uranages and heels it up by accosting the referee over what he perceives to be a slow count after Tenryu kicks out. A German suplex gets two, and he again argues with the referee over the count. He locks in a sleeper, but Ishikawa rises from the dead and breaks it up with a diving double axehandle. He takes out Hase with a massive chokeslam, and he and Tenryu double-team Fujinami when he runs in for the save. They hit a sandwich enzuigiri, but a sandwich lariat goes awry when Fujinami ducks and Ishikawa hits Tenryu instead. Fujinami dropkicks Ishikawa out of the ring, leaving Hase alone to finish Tenryu off. Straitjacket Northern Lights suplex gets two. Hase attempts another German suplex, but Ishikawa redeems himself for his earlier snafu by nailing him with a lariat. Again, they show impressive attention to detail by having Ishikawa wait until after Hase had applied the waistlock so he wouldn't see him coming. Tenryu hits the powerbomb and escapes by the skin of his teeth.
Tier: 3. You might expect a match with Fujinami and Hase to be contested mostly on the mat, but this is the kind of knock-down-drag-out affair you expect from NJPW/WAR. In fact, I think this blows away a lot of the more widely acclaimed matches from that feud, in no small part due to the incredible drama down the stretch. Fujinami has a reputation for being washed-up in the 90s, but he always seemed to bring it against WAR. Maybe he just needed Tenryu to beat greatness back into him.
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Post by nintendologic on Sept 18, 2021 12:49:14 GMT -5
Midnight Rockers vs. Buddy Rose/Doug Somers (AWA, 8/30/86)
Shawn manages a couple quick pin attempts on Rose in the opening minutes. He hita a proto-sweet chin music and Rose kicks out with authority, sending him onto the apron. They end up tangled in the ropes, and as the referee is ordering Rose back, Somers busts Shawn open by ramming him into the post. Marty comes over to check on his partner, and Somers rams Shawn's head into the apron as the ref is ordering Marty back to his corner. Once Shawn makes it back in, Rose and Somers zero in on the cut with punches and stomps. In true heel fashion, they make sure to do most of their damage near the ropes so the illegal man can sneak in a cheap shot whenever the referee is ordering the legal man back or trying to restrain Marty. Shawn was already a world-class seller at this stage of his career, and his punch-drunk selling here is some of the best you'll ever see. This match is a testament to how far a babyface can go with just selling and bleeding. Speaking of which, Somers looking like Hannibal Lecter with his face and mouth covered in blood after biting Shawn's forehead is quite the visual. Shawn dragging himself over to his corner and reaching out for the tag only for Somers to casually walk over and pull his outstretched arm away from the corner is one of the greatest hope spots in history. Marty eventually tags in, and Somers gets busted open as well after taking a Slaughter-style bump into the post. Rose and Somers regain control by taking advantage of a Sherri distraction, and Marty ends up bleeding after being sent into the exposed turnbuckle. The big difference between the Marty FIP segment and the Shawn one is that Marty displays far more fire from underneath. While Shawn was mainly preoccupied with tagging out to safety, Marty is fighting for his life because he's down a man. Rose's desperation to put Marty away ends up backfiring as a big haymaker knocks Marty all the way into his corner. Shawn tags back in, and soon all four men are in the ring. In the ensuing melee, Marty gets dropped on the thin part of the backrest of a chair. Holy crap. Things are completely out of control, and the refs have no choice but to throw the whole thing out.
Tier: 3. I'm a tad lower on this now than in previous years. The work is both largely minimalist and largely one-sided, which I've come to view as not an ideal combination. Better for matches that stick to the basics to be more evenly contested and lopsided matches to employ more variety, I think. The lack of a proper finish was also a bit of a downer. Even so, this is probably the greatest tag match in US history.
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