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Post by nintendologic on Sept 19, 2021 11:45:40 GMT -5
Stan Hansen/Terry Gordy vs. Genichiro Tenryu/Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW, 12/16/88)
Tenryu is forced to take Kawada, then a junior member of his Revolution stable, as his partner for the RWTL after All Japan fires his normal tag team partner Ashura Hara for accruing massive amounts of gambling debt. Unfortunately for Tenryu, this isn't Dangerous K but rather the Steam Early Access version of Kawada who wears leopard print tights and does athletic junior highspots. Still, they'll win the tournament if they pull out the victory here. Hansen puts Kawada's offense over in the early going by frantically grabbing the ropes to avoid a spin kick. After Kawada manages a sunset flip, Hansen dumps him to the floor for Gordy to soften him up. Kawada tags out after hitting a lariat, and Gordy takes a semi-comedic pratfall over the guardrail after Hansen pulls him to safety. That would have gotten a huge reaction in Texas or Oklahoma, but it draws little more than mild gasps in Japan. Kawada tags back in after Tenryu gets the better of a chop battle with Gordy. Hansen tags in shortly afterward, but Kawada sends him to the floor with a dropkick and follows up with a plancha (remember what I said about this being the flying junior version of Kawada?). When Hansen clobbers Tenryu to break up a figure-four headscissors on Gordy, Kawada considers running in for the assist but decides against it. Tenryu summons the strength to explode out of the corner and nail Hansen with a lariat, but Hansen is the first to his feet, so he boots Tenryu to the floor for Gordy to do more damage. Tenryu eventually has Hansen reeling with some brutally hard chops and tags out. Kawada actually drops Hansen to the canvas with kicks and stomps in the corner. Hansen wasn't the world's most giving seller at this stage of his career, but it was a big deal when he did sell because you knew his opponent really earned it. Gordy runs in for the save and then tags in, leading to the match's big turning point. Kawada hits a German suplex, but Hansen breaks up the pin by kicking his leg out of his leg. With Gordy still feeling the effects of the suplex, Hansen stomps and kicks away at Kawada's leg as he crawls to his corner for the tag. Tenryu tags in, but before he can enter the ring, Hansen meets him with a lariat that knocks him off the apron and over the guardrail. They tease the countout, but Hansen rolls Tenryu back in the ring to a huge pop. Kawada apparently has a death wish, so he tries to go after Hansen in his corner, but that only leads to Hansen destroying his leg even more. With Kawada more or less out of the picture, Hansen and Gordy are free to double-team Tenryu at their leisure whenever he shows signs of life. Gordy hits a powerbomb, but Kawada miraculously makes the save. Hansen boots Kawada outside and brutalizes his leg some more, and from that point on, he and Gordy make sure to keep an eye on Kawada and sneak in some licks whenever possible to prevent him from interjecting himself again. Truth be told, Tenryu's only real shot at this point is to steal a victory while the illegal man is preoccupied with Kawada. He has Hansen down for the count a couple of times, but Gordy always comes to the rescue in the nick of time. Tenryu's last gasp comes when he lands the powerbomb on Tenryu only for Gordy to pull him off and hit a powerbomb of his own. There's some pretty egregious no-selling as Hansen shrugs off the powerbomb and adjusts his elbow pad, although it's mitigated by the fact that they went straight from there to him taking Tenryu's head off with a lariat rather than an extended finishing run with teases and cutoffs. I always like how Gordy celebrates every win like he just won the lottery. To be honest, it's probably the best thing he does in the ring.
Tier: 3. The back half of this match is perhaps the ultimate wrestling example of one man fighting and refusing to surrender in the face of impossible odds. One big problem I had was too many run-ins from Hansen and Gordy in the first half. It made all the sense in the world for that to occur after Kawada got taken out, but there's no excuse for him or Tenryu standing on the apron with his thumb up his ass while the other team is running in with impunity. I also think the praise for Kawada's leg selling is a bit overstated. After all, he wasn't called upon to do much more than lay there on the floor while Hansen and Gordy worked him over. I suspect this will end up in the bottom half of my list.
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Post by nintendologic on Sept 21, 2021 13:12:45 GMT -5
Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles (TNA, 12/11/05)
This is in the middle of Joe's undefeated streak (during which he won and lost the X-Division title twice because TNA), which is my favorite period for both Joe and TNA. AJ jumps Joe before the bell and tries to overwhelm him with an offensive flurry. But Joe's a tank, so AJ only succeeds in punching himself out. Soon his strikes don't quite have as much zip on them, which enables Joe to establish separation and fire back. He takes control in spectacularly brutal fashion by sweeping AJ's legs out from under him on the apron and then giant swinging him into the guardrail. He whips AJ into another section of the rail and waits for AJ to return to his feet so he can nail him with a single-leg dropkick. Most wrestlers would probably get right up to set Joe up for the kick, but AJ shows why he's one of the true greats because he's more focused on selling than on getting in position for the next spot. Back in the ring, you can really see the Hashimoto influence in Joe as he destroys AJ with kicks and chops. He turns a leapfrog attempt into a flapjack, which is really cool. AJ gets backdropped onto the apron and fends Joe off with an elbow. He considers going for a phenomenal forearm but instead decides to step back in the ring. That moment of indecision gives Joe the time he needs to regain his bearings, and he catches AJ coming in with a stiff kick to the chest. However, AJ manages to stagger Joe with a Pele kick. He springboards off the top rope, but Joe catches him with a powerbomb (I have to dock them slightly here since AJ just jumped in position to be powerbombed rather than going for a move) and uses the momentum of AJ's kick-out to roll him over for a Boston crab. He normally goes from the powerbomb to the crab in one fluid motion, but AJ's leg slips out, so he tries to roll out and forces Joe to really earn it rather than simply going along with the planned spot. AJ is so great. Joe locks in a deeper crab after AJ makes the ropes, but he loosens his grip on AJ's legs in the process, which allows him to escape by kicking Joe in the head. AJ gets the big break he needs when he backdrops a charging Joe to the floor and follows with a Fosbury flop (although Tenay and West both make it onto my shit list by calling it "Fosberry"). He might be the perfect high-flying wrestler because all of his aerial offense looks both high-risk and high-impact. He rolls Joe back in the ring and hits him in the back of the head with a phenomenal forearm. Joe goes for a dragon suplex but turns it into a German suplex when AJ breaks the full nelson. However, AJ lands on his feet and hits an lionsault reverse DDT. Joe cuts him off with a snap powerslam, nearly spiking him on his head in the process. AJ kicks out, and now Joe is the one who's gassed. AJ tries to further sap his energy by going into rope-a-dope mode. He dodges most of Joe's strikes and blocks the ones he can't avoid. He hits a powerbomb but leaves one of Joe's shoulders exposed on the pin attempt, which enables Joe to kick out. AJ allowing Joe to escape by being too out of it to execute a proper cover is some brilliant storytelling. Joe turns AJ inside-out with a clothesline and hits a tiger driver, but AJ kicks out at one both times. AJ fights off a coquina clutch attempt and knocks Joe loopy with another Pele kick. He sets Joe up on the top turnbuckle in an ill-advised attempt to land a muscle buster and tries to pull him down into position for the Styles Clash when Joe fights him off. He doesn't have the strength to hold Joe up, so he ends up kind of yanking him down to the mat. He hits the Clash, but he once again throws Joe a lifeline by leaving a shoulder uncovered. AJ goes up top, which Joe counters by shoving the referee into the ropes and causing him to lose his balance. He then goes for an O'Connor roll, but Joe reverses into the coquina clutch and wins by ref stoppage.
Tier: 3. A few of the sequences seemed better in theory than in practice, but this executes the David vs. Goliath formula to perfection even if it doesn't quite break new ground in that area.
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Post by nintendologic on Sept 21, 2021 18:24:20 GMT -5
Jerry Lawler vs. Bill Dundee (Memphis, 12/30/85)
Lawler has his right eye bandaged due a mysterious liquid being thrown into the eye, an incident Dundee just might have had something to do with. While Lawler is preoccupied with the heels in the front row, Dundee approaches him from his blind side and nails him with an uppercut. The referee tries to restrain Dundee from going after Lawler in the ropes, so Dundee slugs him. I grew up on the WWF and am accustomed to referees being knocked out cold by a stiff breeze, so it's pretty jarring for me to see a ref recover so quickly from being punched by a wrestler. The first ten minutes or so (it's hard to say exactly how long due to the clipping) consist of nearly uninterrupted domination by Dundee. I'm sure I don't need to put Dundee's punches over, and he turns in one of the all-time great punching performances here in both quality and variety. He also employs stomps and headbutts and even comes off the top a few times. in addition to his offensive onslaught, he repeatedly mocks Lawler by darting in and out of his field of vision, sticking out his chin, and playing hide and seek in the corner. He even does the Fargo strut. On the other side, Lawler is one of the all-time greats at selling punches. What makes his selling so great is that he doesn't just lie there and take a beating but keeps moving forward (that's all he can do with his vision compromised) and forces Dundee to really put him down. I do think the initial beating went on a bit too long. You can beat on a guy just about forever in a tag match since the babyface's goal is to tag out to a fresh partner. In a singles match, the babyface has to make his own comeback, so my patience for one-sided beatdowns is much more limited. Lawler's first comeback seems to come when he comes off the ropes and tags Dundee with a big right. Dundee recovers first and stomps Lawler but then collapses. We then cut to Lawler in firm control (the clipping in this match is absolutely criminal) as he sends Dundee into the timekeeper's table. Dundee says "screw this" and decides to hit the bricks with his wife in tow. Lawler gives chase and they brawl in the stands, where Lawler takes a huge tumble over the rail to the floor. I find it interesting that so many people seem to view that as a highlight of the match when I thought it was the clear lowlight. For one thing, the setup made no sense. Unless Memphis wrestling has different rules I'm not aware of, if Dundee had walked out, he would've gotten counted out and had to get his and his wife's heads shaved. Also, Lawler's bump ended up being almost entirely meaningless as he managed to beat the count without too much difficulty. Dundee immediately boots him back outside, and they brawl on the floor a bit. Dundee sends Lawler into the table and rams him into the ringpost. It should be noted that Lawler seemed to have more trouble making it back in the ring after being sent into the post than the did when he fell from the stands. Dundee incredulously yells at Lawler to stay down, but he's had enough and he DROPS THE STRAP. Lawler collapsing from exhaustion after dropping Dundee with a punch flurry is perfect selling from a babyface mounting a seemingly impossible comeback. A massive right from Lawler knocks Dundee all the way over to where the heels are seated (while leaving him too exhausted to follow up), where the future proprietor of Tony Falk's Waffles and Tire Irons passes him a mysterious substance. He throws it in Lawler's face, and Lawler shockingly loses a LLT match.
Tier: 4. Sorry, I can't go any higher because of the heavy clipping. We lose almost the entire middle portion of the match and don't get a good feel for Lawler's initial comeback. Also, a big bump with an illogical setup that ends up amounting to nothing is something I'd expect from a Seth Rollins match.
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Post by nintendologic on Sept 23, 2021 17:14:21 GMT -5
Hiroshi Tanahashi/Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Minoru Suzuki/Kensuke Sasaki (NJPW, 12/11/04)
This is a match for the IWGP tag titles, which were vacated after Yoshihiro Takayama suffered a stroke in the 2004 G1. His partner Suzuki joins up with Sasaki, the man who put him on the shelf, so the young guns have their work cut out for them. If you're only familiar with his King of Strong Style persona, this version of Nakamura will be virtually unrecognizable. He and Suzuki grapple for a bit before tagging in their partners. Sasaki muscles Tanahashi into the ropes during a test of strength spot and lays into him with hard chops. Suzuki tags back in and continues the punishment. A drop toehold re-aggravates a knee injury Tanahashi had suffered a few days beforehand, and Suzuki and Sasaki immediately go to work on his leg. Nakamura runs in to break up a prison lock, but that enables Suzuki to sneak in some stomps while the referee is ordering Nakamura back to his corner. Suzuki stretches Tanahashi with an assortment of catch wrestling holds before applying a figure-four, which is also broken up by Nakamura. Tanahashi tags out after countering a back body drop attempt, and Nakamura comes in with a reckless-looking (in a good way) spear. A wrestler applying a submission that serves no purpose other than to set him up to be blindsided when his opponent's partner breaks it up is a spot I've come to despise, so I was pleased that Nakamura's Octagon special didn't lead to Suzuki running in and his opponents taking over. What does end Nakamura's run of offense is Suzuki catching him in the ropes with a sleeper followed by Sasaki crushing him with a brutal lariat. They then proceed to beat the hell out of Nakamura for literally over ten minutes. No bones about it, the beatdown didn't need to go nearly as long as it did. Probably the main problem was the relative dearth of hope spots due to the damage to Tanahashi's leg limiting his ability to intervene. He does run in a few times, but he's easily dispatched each time. However, I suppose it served a purpose by giving Tanahashi time to recover so he'd be closer to full strength when he tagged in. I respect the commitment to putting over the leg work. Suzuki's work on top is practically Volk Han-esque at points, like pulling on Nakamura's arm while standing on his neck and a stump puller/neck crank combo. After seemingly an eternity of being pounded on, Nakamura finally tags out after ducking a PK and hitting a dropkick. Tanahashi hits Suzuki with a dropkick of his own and takes out Sasaki with an incredible tope. However, Suzuki cuts off his rally by taking his leg out during a German suplex attempt. Sasaki locks in strangle hold gamma on Tanahashi, but Nakamura breaks free of Suzuki's clutches and breaks it up with a shining kick. Suzuki and Sasaki double-team Nakamura and go for a spike Gotch-style piledriver, but Tanahashi nails Suzuki with an enzuigiri and brings Sasaki down from the top rope the hard way with a superplex. However, given how one-sided the match has been to this point, it seems like little more than a temporary stay of execution. Nakamura tags in and hits a MOONSAULT(!). He goes for a second, but Sasaki rolls out of the way. Suzuki tags in, and all seems lost until Nakamura miraculously manages to slap on a triangle choke. Tanahashi detains Sasaki with a dragon sleeper, and suddenly the youngsters have a legitimate shot at victory. Suzuki eventually makes the ropes, and Nakamura has to tag out. A flash submission has become an excuse to blow off previous damage in recent years, so I appreciate Nakamura's commitment to long-term selling. Sasaki breaks up a dragon sleeper, which brings Nakamura back in. After he and Tanahashi send Sasaki to the floor with a double dropkick, he takes Sasaki out with a CORKSCREW PLANCHA (who the hell is this guy?). Nakamura and Tanahashi hit Suzuki with a triangle choke/shining wizard combo. They hit stereo German suplexes, but Suzuki and Sasaki both reverse into kimuras. Suzuki releases his and goes back after Tanahashi's leg with a kneebar. Suzuki hits the Gotch piledriver after Tanahashi makes the ropes, but Tanahashi kicks out after Suzuki makes an arrogant cover. Suzuki locks in a sleeper and goes for a saka otoshi, but Tanahashi reverses into a small package for two. He then hits a dragon suplex to complete the miracle comeback. I'm glad he got the pin with a suplex because winning with a small package would have been an unsatisfying banana peel finish. He continues to sell the leg after the match because maintaining the bridge took all the strength he had.
Tier: 4. This is another match I thought would just miss the cut. But after the 1985 Lawler/Dundee LLT match ended up doing much less for me than it had in the past, it managed to sneak back on. This is my pick for greatest IWGP tag title match of all time. In addition to the irony in retrospect of a match built around Tanahashi having his leg worked over, it contains many of the same match themes as Misawa/Ogawa vs. KENTA/Marufuji even if it isn't quite on that level. Tanahashi is a great underdog, Suzuki and Sasaki are great sadists, and Nakamura was a hell of an athlete in his younger years. I recommend checking it out even if you're not a fan of Tanahashi or modern New Japan. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
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Post by nintendologic on Sept 25, 2021 16:43:53 GMT -5
Hart Foundation vs. Killer Bees (WWF, 2/17/86)
Gene Okerlund in a voiceover describes Bret as possibly the finest technical wrestler in the world. Pretty cool that they were putting him over to that degree so early on. One of the things that sets this match apart from most 80s tags is how complex it is structurally. In addition to the double-FIP format, the babyfaces are presented with an obstacle to overcome at the outset and don't simply run wild from the beginning. Neidhart is a brick wall in the early going as he easily shrugs off Brunzell's holds and takedown attempts. Brunzell finally makes headway with a drop toehold, and he and Blair proceed to work Neidhart's leg over. The referee disallows a tag by Neidhart because Bret's feet weren't on the apron. I generally lean toward the lenience shown by Japanese referees in tags because it makes matches more exciting, but proper positioning to receive a tag is one area where I'll insist on strict enforcement of the rules of tag team wrestling. It drives me nuts in Japanese tags when someone is hanging from the ropes or already halfway in the ring when tagging in. It doesn't improve the entertainment factor, it's just sloppy. Blair earns brownie points with me by applying a figure-four correctly with the pressure on the straight leg. However, it ends up being for naught as Bret breaks it up with a leg drop. Neidhart's leg selling is surprisingly impressive as he is unable to stand and needs the assistance of the ring ropes to make it to his feet. The work on Blair is short and rather perfunctory, although there is a standout moment when Bret is choking Blair in his team's corner. Neidhart dramatically holds his hands up to demonstrate that he's not joining in only to start choking Blair himself when the ref orders Bret back. Blair tags out after Bret misses a second rope elbow drop, and Bret returns to his corner during Brunzell's hot tag despite still being the legal man. That leads to the traditional Hart Foundation cutoff of Bret kneeing Brunzell in the back when he tries to come off the ropes. Neidhart rams Brunzell into the corner off a bearhug and tags in Bret so the guy who should have been in the whole time is in legit, so all's well that ends well. The Foundation hit a Demolition elbow, and Blair saves the match for his team by pulling Bret off his partner while the ref is ordering Neidhart out of the ring. Bret applies a front facelock, which I normally consider to be the dullest hold in wrestling. However, it works in tag matches because it sets up the wrestler in the hold fighting to make it to his corner for the tag. Brunzell comes agonizingly close, but Bret thwarts him by grabbing the trunks and pulling him into the neutral corner. Neidhart tags in and slams Brunzell to the floor, where Bret slams him on the concrete. Blair comes to his partner's aid and fights Neidhart off, which allows Bret to inflict even more punishment. By the way, Brunzell deserves a medal for his selling in this match. It's practically Mortonesque. Neidhart applies a front facelock of his own, and Bret prevents the tag this time by running in to cheap-shot Blair on the apron. Brunzell finally hits his famous dropkick, but he's too wiped out to capitalize. Neidhart tries to sneak in to do a number on Brunzell, which brings in Blair to ward him off. While the ref is ordering Blair out of the ring, Neidhart places Bret on top of Brunzell for the pin. That's a pretty awesome multi-layered sequence. Bret applies another front facelock, and Neidhart runs in to try to prevent Brunzell from tagging out. He fails, but he causes the referee to miss the tag. However, justice is served immediately afterward when heel miscommunication allows Brunzell to scoot between Neidhart's legs for the tag (a spot that really needs to make a comeback). Blair comes in with some amazing punches, but he perhaps gets caught up in the moment as he tries to pin Neidhart, who isn't the legal man. He soon corrects himself and goes for a pin on Bret. Neidhart tries to break it up, but Blair moves out of the way and causes him to nail his partner. The ref ordering Neidhart out of the ring prevents him from counting immediately, which enables Bret to kick out at two. It should be noted that Blair hooks the leg on several near falls despite a supposed WWF edict that wrestlers could only hook the leg on the finish. Brunzell tags in after some amazing near falls and hits another dropkick, but time expires (officially 20 minutes but more like 18:49 in reality) as he makes the pin.
Tier: 4. Despite some confusion at points over who the legal man is, this is one of my favorite tag matches of the 80s. I especially love how involved the illegal men are because it gives the match a more Japanese feel. This might be the best performance of Neidhart's career.
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Post by nintendologic on Sept 26, 2021 18:22:22 GMT -5
Jim Duggan vs. Ted DiBiase (Mid-South, 3/22/85)
An all-white tuxedo is a bizarre fashion choice by any measure, but it's also a dead giveaway that blood will be spilled. DiBiase is understandably hesitant to enter the cage, so the referee has no choice but to ring the bell and lay on the count. Duggan amusingly prepares for the referee's pat-down by bending over and placing his hands on the ropes like he's under arrest, possibly in an attempt to incite DiBiase to attempt a sneak attack. If that was the plan, it worked like a charm as DiBiase rushes in only to be met by a big left from Duggan. After his sneak attack fails, there's an amazing shot of the expression on DiBiase's face as he realizes he's locked in a cage with a pissed-off Duggan. Unfortunately, the transition to DiBiase in control is pretty weak as he pulls Duggan onto the apron while begging off in the ropes. I think he was trying to send Duggan into the cage, but they didn't quite get there. But DiBiase's work on top more than makes up for that miscue. I especially like how he used Duggan's tuxedo against him, like pulling his shirt over his head and pummeling him like a hockey goon. The psychology is similar to a Last Man Standing match as DiBiase's goal is to beat Duggan to a bloody pulp so he can climb the pole unimpeded to retrieve the glove. In fact, there isn't a single pin attempt in this match until the very end. He even has to wipe Duggan's blood off his hands before attempting to go up the pole at one point, which is a gnarly visual. I appreciate how Duggan mixes up his cutoffs. The first time, he grabs DiBiase's shirt to pull him down. The second time, he uses his own shirt as a lasso. The third time, he takes out DiBiase's leg and causes him to crotch himself on the top turnbuckle. Meanwhile, Duggan goes up the pole and retrieves the glove in his first attempt. In a gimmick match (be it I Quit, LMS, or otherwise), unsuccessful attempts by the babyface should always be kept to a minimum. However, that only leads to DiBiase throwing a handful of powder in his face. The genius of powder as a foreign object is that it isn't detectable in a pat-down the way something like a chain would be. I find brawling much more satisfying when wrestlers have to be creative and can't just bring whatever weapons they feel like to the ring with them. DiBiase acquires the glove, and both men are knocked down after an atomic drop from Duggan. DiBiase attempts a fist drop from the second rope with the glove (which surely would have killed the man had it connected) but misses. Duggan grabs the glove, and DiBiase tries and fails to escape the cage. A heel making a last-ditch effort to ward off his impending doom is the only time I consider an attempt to escape the cage to be acceptable. Duggan gets the win with a huge glove-assisted right.
Tier: 3. This is largely a booking masterpiece as it pays off a number of storylines simultaneously, but it's also a hell of a fight. Even though I don't enjoy minimalist brawls like this as much as I used to, this is one of the finest examples of the genre. DiBiase in particular is superb as the wily heel seemingly in a situation he can't weasel out of only to have a few more tricks up his sleeve before going down in flames.
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Post by nintendologic on Sept 27, 2021 16:08:07 GMT -5
Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart (WWF, 3/20/94)
I've always loved Lawler's line about Stu watching in his orthopedic tuxedo, but Vince's indignant reaction is what really makes it. Owen is a massive prick from the get-go as he starts the match by breaking off a lock-up and celebrating like he just won the Super Bowl. Owen takes Bret down with a fireman's carry takeover, and Bret counters with a headscissors. Owen escapes with an impressive kip-up, although his celebration is once again far out of proportion to his accomplishment. Bret scores a go-behind takedown, and Owen scrambles for the ropes and screams at the ref to get Bret off him. Owen manages a go-behind takedown of his own, but Bret one-ups his brother by sending him out of the ring. Furious at being shown up in the wrestling aspect, Owen slaps Bret and retreats to the ropes to prevent him from retaliating. A nice chain wrestling sequence results in Bret applying a wristlock, which Owen reverses with a hair pull. Bret takes Owen down with a very uncooperative-looking armdrag and clotheslines him to the floor after a rope-running sequence. Owen tries to flee to the locker room, but Bret cuts off his escape and demands they settle this in the ring. Owen finally gains control with a spinning heel kick and tries to soften Bret up for the sharpshooter by working over his back, beginning by ramming him back-first into the ringpost. Back in the ring, he hits a backbreaker and applies a camel clutch. Bret reverses a bodyslam attempt into a lateral press, but Owen sends him to the floor with his kick-out. Owen tries to suplex Bret back in, but he counters with a go-behind. However, Owen manages a standing switch and hits a beautiful bridging German suplex. The German compromised Bret's neck, so that's where Owen switches his focus. He drops a leg on the neck and even hits a tombstone piledriver. He then goes for a diving headbutt, but Bret rolls out of the way. He cuts Owen off with an inverted atomic drop and begins a comeback with his moves of doom. He catches Owen's leg in the corner, but Owen counters with an enzuigiri. He attempts a sharpshooter, but Bret reverses into one of his own. Owen escapes by pulling Bret's hair. Bret sends Owen to the floor with a kick-out and follows with a plancha, but his landing re-aggravates the leg injury he sustained at the Rumble when Owen kicked his...you know. Owen naturally goes after the leg like a shark smelling blood. He rams Bret's leg into the post, takes him down with a dragon screw, and applies a gnarly Indian deathlock variation. He applies a figure-four, but Bret turns it over and they end up in the ropes. In a nice touch, Owen sells the impact of the reversal on his own leg while going back on the attack. He attempts another dragon screw, but Bret counters with an enzuigiri of his own. The damage to Bret's leg doesn't prevent him from executing any moves, but it does prevent him from making immediate covers. He ducks an Owen haymaker and locks in a sleeper, but Owen hits a low blow in the ropes. Owen goes for the sharpshooter again, this time succeeding in locking it in. However, Bret reverses again and locks in one of his own, forcing Owen to head for the ropes. Bret attempts a victory roll, which is how he beat Bam Bam Bigelow to win King of the Ring in 1993. But Owen has it scouted and reverses to get the pin. I'm not sure there was anyone better than Bret at making pinfall reversals feel like legitimate finishes rather than flukes.
Tier: 3. Owen delivers a master class in working as a scientific heel. He wrestles mostly on the level in the early going while not being afraid to take shortcuts. Once he takes over, he attacks Bret aggressively but technically. I especially dig how he switches his body part focus as opportunities present themselves, making it feel like more of a chess match. I suppose this match can be criticized for relative lack of malice, but you have to remember that these are two real-life brothers and most people find the idea of family members engaging in violent combat repugnant. There's a reason the Klitschkos never fought each other. Given that, this is about as heated as can realistically be expected.
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Post by nintendologic on Sept 28, 2021 13:23:26 GMT -5
With the end in sight, I've decided that four tiers is stretching things too thin and a consolidation is in order. As such, I've moved all the matches previously in tier 4 up to tier 3. I've also moved the following matches up to tier 2: Midnight Rockers vs. Buddy Rose/Doug Somers (AWA, 8/30/86) Vader vs. Keiji Mutoh (NJPW, 8/10/91) 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) Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart (WWF, 3/20/94) Kenta Kobashi/Jun Akiyama vs. Stan Hansen/Vader (AJPW, 12/5/98) 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) Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio (WWE, 6/23/05) Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles (TNA, 12/11/05)
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Post by nintendologic on Sept 28, 2021 17:58:24 GMT -5
Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns (WWE, 3/29/15)
The first minute is absolutely perfect. Roman charges Brock at the opening bell, and Brock hits a German suplex in the first twenty seconds. He follows with an F5 but refuses to go for the pin, instead deciding to make Roman suffer more. Brock sustained a cut on his cheek in the opening scuffle, which turned out to be a stroke of serendipity. Without it, Brock extending the match would have felt cheap. With it, you get the sense that he wanted to punish Roman for making him bleed his own blood. The next twelve minutes consist of total Brock domination as he tosses Roman around like a ragdoll and crushes his ribcage with stiff knees. It should be noted, though, that his punches are clearly worked. He even stomps the mat. Let that be a lesson that laying your shit it doesn't mean you have to be a dumbass about it. Deliver stiff shots to safe places, but pull your punches when aiming for the head. Roman manages a few brief rallies but Brock snuffs them out with extreme prejudice, most notably when he catches Roman's leg on the apron and knocks him to the floor with a massive clothesline. The crowd hates Roman so much that they start a "this is awesome" chant while Brock is destroying him, making it the only time in history I've ever enjoyed that chant. A one-sided beating of that length is normally something I'd lose patience with in a hurry. I think what sets this apart for me is the fact the Roman is far from a small man, so watching Brock throw him around like it's nothing is an incredibly captivating experience. The belly-to-belly from the apron into the ring was particularly ridiculous. It's certainly more compelling than watching him do the same to, say, Finn Balor. It helps that Roman's selling is brilliant, particularly of the suplexes. Every time he ate a suplex, he'd try and fail to make it to his feet, and the more of them he absorbed, the less energy his attempts had. He has a pretty tremendous thousand-yard stare as well. Nine minutes in, Brock decides to finally put Roman out of his misery and hits a second F5, but Roman kicks out. Brock then literally takes the gloves off and lays into Roman with slaps and punches. Roman responds by laughing in the face of certain doom, which serves to infuriate Brock even more. Roman's smiling and laughing earlier in the match earlier in the match fell flat for me because Brock no-sold it and that sort of thing only works if it succeeds in getting under the opponent's skin. It succeeds here, and Brock hits a pair of Germans and a third F5. Roman kicks out yet again, so Brock decides to show him the true meaning of pain. He tries to send Roman into the ringpost but ends up hoist by his own petard as Roman reverses, busting him open. It had to have been hardway because his forehead starts gushing blood as soon as it makes contact with the post. Say what you want about Brock's work ethic, he's not afraid to go the extra mile to get a match and his opponent over when it counts. Roman rolls in the ring to recover, and Brock barely beats the count. It's been established by this point that Roman's standard offense barely fazes Brock. His only hope is to land some Superman punches and spears, and now Brock's actually weakened enough for him to do it. He hits two Superman punches, and Brock's punch-drunk selling is magnificent. He goes for a third, but Brock catches him in a waistlock, which Roman fights out of with elbows and headbutts. He hits a third Superman punch, and Brock finally goes down. He hits two spears, but Brock kicks out. Roman goes for a fourth Superman punch, but Brock reverses into a fourth F5. They both collapse in exhaustion, and it looks like it'll come down to which man makes it to his feet first. But then fucking Seth Rollins shows up and ruins everything. He cashes in his Money in the Bank briefcase, and this is now a triple threat match. Seth boots Roman from the ring and curb stomps Brock. He goes for a second, but Brock catches him and puts him in position for an F5. Before he can hit it, Roman spears him. Seth curb stomps Roman and completes the heist of the century.
Tier: 3. This match can be divided into three segments. The first twelve minutes are a glorified squash, the next three are a heavyweight bomb-fest, and the final minute and a half is a three-way with non-stop action. None of those segments are classics on their own, but they come together to produce a match that's greater than the sum of its parts. It manages to be the greatest Wrestlemania main event of all time despite having the worst ending of any Mania main event.
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Post by nintendologic on Sept 29, 2021 13:47:54 GMT -5
Kenta Kobashi/Go Shiozaki vs. Genichiro Tenryu/Jun Akiyama (NOAH, 4/24/05)
Before the ring entrances, there's an announcement on the ribbon board that Kobashi will face Kensuke Sasaki at the July 18 Tokyo Dome show, which naturally gets a huge reaction. Tenryu and Akiyama jump the opposing team before the bell and the action spills to the floor, where Tenryu rakes Kobashi's eyes and chucks a table at him. That's how you start a match. As Akiyama works over Shiozaki in the ring, Tenryu again provokes Kobashi by throwing a water bottle at him. Tenryu tags in and allows Shiozaki to tag out after delivering some more punishment. However, Kobashi is not a man you want to piss off, and it immediately becomes apparent that Tenryu has bitten off more than he can chew as Kobashi obliterates him with chops in the ring and then on the floor. Tenryu's facial expressions while taking the machine gun chops are legitimately laugh-out-loud hilarious. To really put the chops over, he does a Lou Albano-level obvious bladejob to make his chest bleed. Shiozaki tags in and tries to join in on the fun, but Tenryu shuts him down by socking him in the jaw, hurting his own hand in the process. He tags out to Akiyama, who proceeds to treat Shiozaki like he's Makoto Hoshi. He destroys Shiozaki with kicks and knees and shrugs off his comeback attempts. He dumps him to the floor and tries to whip him into the guardrail, but Shiozaki reverses. However, that only brings Tenryu into the mix. Up to this point, Kobashi let Shiozaki fight his own battles to give his protege room to grow. But illegal double-teams are where he draws the line, so he enters the fray as well. He makes a beeline for Tenryu and fends him off with chops only for Akiyama to jump him from behind and DDT him on the floor. Akiyama then guillotines Shiozaki on the guardrail and drops a knee on his neck from the apron. Showing how far beneath him he considers this kid, he makes no attempt to roll Shiozaki in the ring to pin him and is content to take a countout victory. Shiozaki beats the count, but Tenryu tags in. He lays in to the young boy some more, shooting a glare at Kobashi after each blow. Akiyama comes back in and sends Shiozaki back to the floor with an exploder. Kobashi runs over and exhorts him to return to his feet. Akiyama's contemptuous willingness to allow Shiozaki to recover on the outside ends up costing him, as he reverses a suplex after he returns to the ring and makes the tag. Kobashi comes in and wipes out Akiyama with a sleeper suplex and a lariat. Tenryu breaks up the pin, and the two have a chop battle. In the kind of attention to detail that shows why he's one of the greatest of all time, Tenryu switches to punches when the referee turns away to check on Akiyama. He and Kobashi both attempt to powerbomb each other, but both attempts are reversed. After Tenryu's reversal, Akiyama comes to life and lays out Kobashi with a jumping knee. He then chokes out Kobashi with a guillotine. Shiozaki recovers in the nick of time and manages to break the hold. We get a simultaneous tag, which I can tolerate in this instance because it was set up by an outside run-in rather than a move or counter by the FIP. Tenryu handles Shiozaki with ease, but Kobashi softens him up with a DDT. Shiozaki hits a bodyslam and goes up for a moonsault, but Tenryu brings him back down to Earth literally and figuratively by yanking him down by his hair. He hits a lariat and arrogantly counts along with the ref, but it only gets two. No matter, because Tenryu puts him away immediately afterward with a powerbomb. After the match, Tenryu gives Kobashi the bras d'honneur (the middle finger's sophisticated European cousin).
Tier: 2. This is like a sports entertainment NOAH match in that it's driven largely by personalities and character work rather than workrate. Even so, the work is stiff enough that it still feels like a violent fight rather than a cartoon spectacle. Kobashi and Tenryu being involved in a match of this caliber well after their physical primes shows why they're two of the greats.
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Post by mvz on Sept 29, 2021 19:06:08 GMT -5
I should probably rewatch this match, It is in the outside looking in right now but I enjoyed it and reading this write up made me realize how much I liked it and how memorable it was.
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Post by nintendologic on Sept 30, 2021 17:22:41 GMT -5
Awesome. Glad I've been able to inspire people to revisit some of these matches.
Kenta Kobashi vs. Yoshinari Ogawa (NOAH, 11/1/03)
This match presents an interesting conundrum: how do you have a reasonably competitive title match of acceptable length between these two without making Kobashi look weak? The way they manage to solve that dilemma is quite ingenious. They have Ogawa be such a prick that the audience is happy to see Kobashi murder him. Right from the get-go, he spits water in Kobashi's face and tries to overwhelm him with a flurry of punches. Kobashi shrugs off this opening assault relatively easily and lays into Ogawa with chops. Ogawa's selling is picture-perfect, animated enough to put over their impact but theatrical enough that he doesn't risk seeming sympathetic. Ogawa attempts to reverse a vertical suplex into a Fujiwara armbar, which leads to a few exchanges on the mat. That's obviously more Ogawa's wheelhouse, although Kobashi is no slouch in that department. He even brings the rolling cradle out of mothballs. A rolling kesagiri chop seemingly knocks Ogawa out cold, so the referee orders Kobashi back so he can check on him. Kobashi wants to end this farce as quickly as possible, so he keeps trying to force the issue. However, it turns out that Ogawa was playing possum, and he takes out Kobashi's leg with a low dropkick while the ref is detaining him. It was all a clever ruse, as Ogawa demonstrates by pointing to his head to indicate intelligence. He zeroes in on Kobashi's legendarily bad knee, pulling back the protective padding to accentuate the damage. Anyone who thinks they worked this part of the match like they were the same size should revisit Ogawa applying a leglock. Kobashi nearly crushes his head with a facelock, and he has to punch Kobashi's exposed knee to break the hold. Also note how Kobashi powers out of a half crab. However, the leg work eventually takes enough of a toll that Kobashi has to go for the ropes on a second half crab. Kobashi eventually comes back with a jumping neckbreaker drop. He goes for a half-nelson suplex, but Ogawa reverses into a backdrop attempt and shoves Kobashi into the referee. He hits a backdrop, but there's no ref to make the count. He takes advantage by grabbing the ring bell and ramming it into Kobashi's knee. They end up on the floor, where Kobashi turns the tide with one of the most brutal postings I've ever seen. With Ogawa out on the floor, Kobashi takes time to recover and reapply his knee padding. Ogawa comes up bleeding, and Kobashi repeatedly punches his bloody forehead. He turns out to have a surprisingly great punch, especially for a guy who spent his entire career in promotions where worked punches weren't part of the style. He works the cut with chops as well. Ogawa rolls to the entrance ramp and tries to cut Kobashi off by kicking his injured leg, but the recovery time and the return of the padding mean his attacks aren't nearly as effective. Kobashi ends up DDTing him on the ramp. Back in the ring, Kobashi applies a sleeper after another run of offense. That was probably the biggest misfire of the match as it served no real purpose beyond stretching things out. Right when Kobashi's offense is threatening to become tedious, Ogawa hits a low blow while the referee is trying to restrain Kobashi from throwing more punches. Kobashi is thoroughly pissed at this point, and he hits machine gun chops and a superplex. I found out by going through old Observers that Ogawa scored a flash pin on Kobashi in a captain's fall elimination match the previous month by reversing a half-nelson suplex into a cradle, which seems to explain why Kobashi is so hell-bent on hitting it down the stretch. It also explains why Ogawa's pin attempts (including a schoolboy with his feet on the ropes) have so much heat. Kobashi eventually settles for a kind of pumphandle half-nelson slam. He fights off a crucifix pin attempt and flattens Ogawa with a lariat, getting the win after a short-range lariat for good measure.
Tier: 2. They could have stood to go a few minutes shorter given that Ogawa never had a realistic shot at winning, but Kobashi shows his versatility by fitting seamlessly into a thoroughly Americanized title match with ref bumps, foreign objects, punches, and blood. And Ogawa delivers a master class in working as a smaller heel against a significantly larger opponent. This match shows that seeing a weasel get his comeuppance can be just as fulfilling as a dramatic epic.
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Post by nintendologic on Oct 2, 2021 15:01:30 GMT -5
Dynamite Kid vs. Tatsumi Fujinami (NJPW, 2/5/80)
This has to be the most menacing Dynamite's ever looked. With his shaved head and roughhouse tactics, he comes across like a skinhead soccer hooligan. Fujinami has a bandage on his forehead, which will naturally come into play. The closest we get to opening junior matwork is Dynamite briefly applying a headlock. He whips Fujinami into the ropes, and it's pretty much all pedal to the metal from there. He takes Fujinami down with hiptosses and punishes him with European uppercuts and bodyslams. He also goes for an octopus hold, presumably just to be a dick since it's Inoki's company. Fujinami blocks it and takes Dynamite down with a dragon screw. We get a test of strength spot which ends with Dynamite clobbering Fujinami with headbutts and uppercuts. Fujinami creates some breathing room by taking Dynamite down with a double-leg and delivers an uppercut of his own. That apparently pisses Dynamite off enough that he starts going after the cut by punching Fujinami's forehead and ramming his head into the turnbuckle. Fujinami gains another breather by sidestepping a corner charge and taking Dynamite down with an armdrag. Dynamite escapes a wristlock with a forearm smash and goes back on the attack. He goes for another octopus hold, but he's too close to the ropes and they both end up tumbling to the outside. They both roll back in and Dynamite takes Fujinami down, but Fujinami catches him with a bodyscissors. Dynamite does a British-style counter and pushes Fujinami's legs down to turn it into an Indian deathlock. In that position, he works over the cut with punches. Fujinami is opened up by this point, but he manages to get Dynamite in position for the dragon suplex. Dynamite makes the ropes and delivers a headbutt to the cut off the rope break. A punch in the ropes knocks Fujinami to the floor, and when he returns to the ring, Dynamite unceremoniously tosses him right back out the other side like a bouncer ejecting a drunk. He follows in pursuit, but Fujinami has had enough and rams his head into a table. Back in the ring, Dynamite goes after the cut some more with stomps and knee drops. He hits a gutwrench suplex and further works the cut with fist drops. Sunset flip from Fujinami gets two. Dynamite hits a double-arm suplex, but Fujinami saves himself by putting his foot on the bottom rope. The crowd pops when Dynamite goes up the turnbuckle because they think a diving headbutt might be imminent, but he ends up merely delivering a stomp from the second rope. He finally succeeds in locking in the octopus hold, but Fujinami escapes. He gains a bit of momentum after getting the better of a strike battle, but that ends when Dynamite casually sidesteps a dropkick (the first chronological instance of the "nope" spot I'm aware of, at least on tape). He hits the diving headbutt, but Fujinami kicks out. Enraged, Dynamite tosses Fujinami back out of the ring, and they play king of the mountain for a bit. That ends when Fujinami catches Dynamite in the breadbasket with a shoulder and sunset flips his way back in the ring. Dynamite attempts another diving headbutt, but Fujinami rolls out of the way and Dynamite ends up with a bloody nose. Fujinami dropkicks Dynamite out of the ring and tries to follow with a plancha, but Dynamite again sidesteps it. Fujinami escapes a Canadian backbreaker rack, and they kind of limp to the finish with Fujinami picking up the win with a Japanese leg roll clutch. If Fujinami was going to go over with a flash pin, something like a dragon suplex after the missed diving headbutt would have been more impactful. In any event, Dynamite attacks Fujinami after the match. What's the opposite of a Pearl Harbor job? Maybe a New Orleans job since the Battle of New Orleans took place after the signing of the Treaty of Ghent which ended the War of 1812. OK, that's enough history geekery from me.
Tier: 3. Dynamite works this match like a cross between a World of Sport rule-bender and a Southern-style brawler, which might be the perfect wrestling style. This doesn't have a ton of depth, but other than the ending, this is pro wrestling as it should be: a fast-paced aggressive fight with just enough wrestling to let you know that both guys know what they're doing.
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Post by nintendologic on Oct 3, 2021 12:55:03 GMT -5
Ultimate Warrior vs. Rick Rude (WWF, 8/28/89)
Here's a depressing factoid: everyone involved in the in-ring action here (the two wrestlers plus Bobby Heenan, Roddy Piper, and referee Joey Marella) would be dead within 30 years of this match. Rude tries to stick and move, but Warrior no-sells his offense. Jesse Ventura explains that a crazy man feels no pain. Can't argue with that. Rude bumps his ass off in the early going, including getting gorilla pressed from the ring to the floor. Warrior hits Rude with the championship belt on the floor in plain view of the referee, which somehow doesn't result in a disqualification. If Bill Watts were in charge, he would have fined both Warrior for burying the referee and the ref for allowing himself to be buried. Ventura manages to salvage the situation by going off on everybody, including Tony Schiavone for trying to argue that action outside the ring can only lead to a countout. He even declares Schiavone to be dumber than Gorilla Monsoon, who he previously considered the stupidest man alive. Harsh words indeed. Warrior hits a running inverted atomic drop, leading to a classic Rude atomic drop sell, and then drops Rude right on his coccyx. He had landed a double axehandle from the top rope earlier, but Rude takes advantage of a brief Heenan distraction to crotch Warrior on the top turnbuckle when he goes up again. Warrior sells it in the most Warrior way possible by banging his head while grabbing his crotch. Rude delivers elbows to Warrior's lower back. The shots drop Warrior down to one knee, but he keeps returning to his feet. Rude responds by taking him down to the mat with a camel clutch. Warrior keeps trying to power out, so Rude shuts him down with an elbow drop to the lower back. He goes for Rude Awakening, but Warrior pulls his hands apart. Rude ducks a clothesline and applies a piggyback sleeper. Warrior escapes with a jawbreaker, and a double-KO spot takes out the referee as well. Heenan revives Rude and directs him to go back on the attack. He delivers blows that are like Mongolian chops but with closed fists (Mongolian punches?), but Warrior draws upon the strength of his gods and fires back with Mongolian chops of his own. He winds up his arm and drops Rude with a trio of clotheslines. He hits a powerslam, but the ref is is still out of it. He tries to revive the ref, and Rude takes his life into his hands by allowing Warrior to deliver a piledriver to him. The referee finally comes to, but Rude puts his foot on the bottom rope. Warrior hits a running powerslam and goes for a running splash, but Rude puts his knees up. When he makes it to his feet, he hits Warrior with a fucking ganso bomb. Holy shit. Rude goes for a top-rope maneuver that awkwardly ends with him landing on his feet in Warrior's general vicinity without making contact. Maybe he was planning on going for a knee drop and changed his mind on the way down. He hits a piledriver of his own as Piper makes his way to the ring. Rude taunts Piper with a hip swivel, to which Piper responds by lifting his kilt and giving Rude the full moon. Rude is outraged and climbs the turnbuckle, but Warrior brings him back down the hard way with a goddamn second-rope German. Rude is a far more trusting man than I, because that's another move I wouldn't have allowed Warrior to perform on me for any amount of money. He gets the win with a running splash after a shoulder block and press slam. It should be noted that he made sure to drop Rude on his stomach so he wouldn't be able to do the knees-up counter. It's reminiscent of how Hiroshi Tanahashi likes to deliver a high fly flow to prone opponents so they're too stunned to counter when he turns them over for a regular HFF. So there you have it. Definitive proof that Tanahashi got his psychology from the Ultimate Warrior.
Tier: 3. This is perhaps mainly a sentimental pick, but it strikes me as a near-perfect sports entertainment match. It features two cartoonishly larger-than-life superstars doing battle in a simple but smartly structured match that never really drags. And the big bombs and bumps from both men as well as the usage of foreign objects without drawing a DQ makes it feel like more of a 90s All Japan match than an 80s WWF one.
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Post by nintendologic on Oct 5, 2021 17:44:36 GMT -5
Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW, 6/3/94)
Kawada earned this title shot by winning that year's Champion Carnival. Misawa had to withdraw from that tournament due to a (kayfabe) neck injury, which would come into play in this match. The first few minutes consist of some awesome high-end King's Road exchanges. What I like about their use of strike exchanges is that they serve as opening salvos rather than the meat of the action. Instead of taking turns hitting each other until one of them goes down, they'll exchange strikes for a bit before one of them throws rapid-fire strikes and whips the other guy to set up a rope-running sequence. About four and a half minutes in, Misawa sends Kawada to the outside with a dropkick. He flips over the ropes onto the apron when Kawada moves out of the way of a dive. When Kawada tries to go after him on the apron, he flips back into the ring and sends Kawada into the guardrail with a baseball slide dropkick. Misawa tries to go from the apron to the floor with a diving elbow, but Kawada catches him with an elbow of his own. The fight for control still isn't over, though. Misawa reverses an attempt to whip him into the rail only for Kawada to bounce off the rail and take him down with a lariat. That kind of extended struggle for control leading to a transition is King's Road at its best. Back in the ring, though, Kawada's work on top is oddly lackadaisical. There's plenty of stiffness (I mean, Misawa ends up bleeding from his fucking ear) but no real urgency or focus. Kawada almost seems like he's sleepwalking through his control segment. Going from kicking Misawa's bloody ear one moment to applying a sleeper the next is a bizarre choice any way you slice it. Misawa makes the work as compelling as possible with his usual sublime selling, but it's a tough row to hoe. Misawa reasserts control by going after Kawada's injured leg (I wish I hadn't used the "kicked his leg out of his leg" line so many times before because that's exactly what happened here). He had no issue with targeting a body part as the rising star, but I guess he figured the ace should be above that sort of thing. If the idea was supposed to be that he was forced to go that route because of the peril he was in, I don't think it was earned by the work up to that point. Or maybe he was trying to light a fire under Kawada's ass to bring his A game. In any event, it serves as a major turning point for both the match's story and quality. Misawa's leg work is fairly methodical as well, but it works for him because he's the man and has earned the right to be stoic. One sequence in particular stands out. Kawada tries to fend Misawa off by kicking with his good leg only to collapse in pain because he had to use his injured leg to plant. Misawa circles him like a shark smelling blood and looks like the king of badasses. To Kawada's immense credit, he never allows Misawa to simply sit in holds. He constantly struggles and forces Misawa to shift positions by throwing kicks with his free leg. Kawada manages to come back by nailing Misawa in the back of his injured neck with an elbow. He follows with elbow drops to the neck of a prone Misawa, which serves the dual purpose of further softening up a weakened body part and allowing Kawada to go on offense without using his leg. Being able to sell an injured leg is great, but being able to go back in control without completely blowing off leg work is just as important. Luckily, Kawada is a master of both. The next several minutes are the pro wrestling equivalent of trench warfare. Both men refuse to give an inch, and control always seems on the verge of slipping away. Again, it has to be seen to be fully appreciated because it's about the overall vibe created rather than the specific moves. There may be some callbacks to previous matches here, but it wouldn't enhance my enjoyment of this match if I knew about them. The work here is brilliant enough to stand on its own without needing to reference prior history. Both men attempt to go for their respective powerbomb finishers, and Kawada becomes more aggressive in targeting Misawa's neck. Selling his leg after hitting a second rope knee drop is a nice subtle touch. Misawa strikes first with a tiger driver, but Kawada kicks out. Kawada tries to throw a punch in frustration after Misawa blocks a powerbomb attempt, but Misawa parries and drops him with an elbow. On an ordinary night against an ordinary opponent, this would be the point where Misawa started to take it home. But Kawada will not be denied on this night, at least not that easily. He springs to his feet and delivers a furious elbow barrage. Misawa fires back with elbows of his own, and Kawada wobbles like he's on the verge of being KO'ed. But he again refuses to stay down, and he ends up dropping Misawa with a lariat. Misawa sells like he's dead after Kawada hits a dangerous backdrop, which is pretty hard to watch in retrospect. However, it serves as a payoff to the earlier neck work, as Misawa is now incapacitated enough for Kawada to hit the powerbomb. It only gets two, though. It's a transcendent moment made even more so by the guy dancing in the stands. All is not lost for Kawada, though. After all, it took three powerbombs to put Doc away in the Carny final. Also, his mentor Tenryu needed two powerbombs to put Jumbo away in the June 1989 TC match. However, it's at this point that he makes a major blunder. Rather than going for a second powerbomb straight away, he tries to weaken the neck some more. He hits a release German, but he's too drained to follow up. That enables Misawa to roll to the floor to recuperate. Kawada eventually rolls him back in and hits a second powerbomb, but the kickout is almost anticlimactic because allowing Misawa even a momentary breather seemingly made it inevitable. Kawada has learned his lesson and goes right for a third powerbomb, but Misawa scrambles to the ropes. Kawada applies a stretch plum, and we get the lame All Japan near fall where a guy passes out in a submission and kicks out when his opponent pins him. That always felt like a cheap way out to me. Kawada picks Misawa up, but he knocks Kawada away with a huge elbow and then collapses to his hands and knees. Kawada hits a running big boot, but Misawa again fends him off with an elbow. It's reminiscent of his comeback against Taue in the 1995 Carny final, albeit not quite as epic. He hits a tiger suplex, his other standard finisher, but it only gets two. Kawada cuts Misawa off by going back after the neck with a kesagiri chop and a koppu kick. After a second koppu kick, Misawa again rolls to the floor to recover. Kawada practically stares a hole through him as he returns to the ring for the climactic final confrontation. Kawada blocks a rolling elbow and sends Misawa into the corner with headbutts. He delivers alternating leg kicks in the corner, but Misawa hulks up and hits an elbow and then a rolling elbow. A rapid-fire elbow barrage followed by another rolling elbow has Kawada on the ropes. He makes a last-ditch effort to target the neck, but Misawa blocks the koppu kick and hits a running elbow. Misawa has been pushed to his limit, so he employs the nuclear option and finishes Kawada off with a TD91. For whatever reason, Kawada made no real effort to go after the neck in the opening minutes of the match. By the time he made a concerted effort to do so, he was too wiped out to press the advantage after hitting high-impact suplexes. By the end of the match, he wasn't even capable of suplexing Misawa and had to rely on koppu kicks, which aren't nearly as impactful. Had he gone after the neck from the get-go instead of dicking around, he might have pulled out the victory. Bottom line: Kawada screwed Kawada.
Tier: 1. For the longest time, this was set in stone as my top singles match and #2 match overall. This time around, though, Kawada's relatively lethargic early control segment hurt the match quite a bit for me. It's far from a fatal flaw, but you have to nitpick when trying to distinguish between matches at the very top of the food chain. This is still an undisputed all-time classic, but I now see it as a match in the top 20 range rather than a serious #1 contender. If you took the first ten minutes or so of 7/24/95 and the last 20 minutes or so of this match, you'd have a likely top five match.
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