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Post by fxnj on Jul 30, 2018 12:21:25 GMT -5
19950617 Han vs. Yamamoto
Interesting watching this after that Zaza/Kosaka match I reviewed earlier for how they take completely different approaches to matwork. Whereas Zaza/Kosaka was two roughly equal peers pulling out all kinds of tricked out matwork to get the better of one another, this is about the old master toying around with the hot young gun desperate to cling to whatever scraps he can get. It benefits a lot from a big fight atmosphere with it being a main event featuring the top foreigner against the guy pegged to become the top native, and the crowd is hot for all the things you'd want them to be hot for. Han pulls out some really intricate leg locks, even a figure four and STF at certain points, while Yamamoto is forced to stick with the basic submissions and a few flash knockdowns. I've seen this match described as the Volk Han show, which I think is selling Yamamoto a tad short. Though Han controlled the action him twisting Yamamoto in various is main reason this is entertaining, this was by no means a competitive squash as Yamamoto always seemed to have just a little bit left to keep Han from getting too comfortable. The match isn't one of those that has these amazing counter-wrestling sequences, but they do a great job with getting the most out of what they do in terms of struggle and selling. Both guys are pushed down to their last point, and this match serves as a great example of how to work that trope as they're always remember to milk the submissions and it never falls into the UWFi trap where you're just waiting for them to run down their points. ****1/4
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Post by fxnj on Jul 30, 2018 15:13:38 GMT -5
Watched: 19810923 Andre vs. Hansen A lot has been written about how this is one of wrestling's great spectacles and I absolutely agree. It's right up there as one of the most rewatchable matches ever as I've seen it numerous times at various points and it never ceases to draw me in. It's executed about as well as you could imagine, not just in how they pinball around for each other and treat every hold like a titanic struggle, but also in how the presentation and booking really gets across these guys as larger than life. Such a great moment how Andre gets the match restarted through sheer intimidation, not to be outdone with the pull-apart at the end with them swatting away the locker room like annoying flies. One thing that didn't really sit right with me, though, was how much attention Andre paid to working the lariat arm in the first half of the match. That sort of thing just never really fit in with how the rest of the match is worked as a wild brawl, and Hansen doesn't really sell the arm work a whole lot afterwards either. I'm come to peace with it now, though, and I'll explain that later. Something I am a bit surprised about is how little has been said about their prior matches from 1979 and 1980, and how great this match is in building off of them into an epic conclusion to their trilogy. Just 18 minutes of these guys going at it wasn't enough for me today, so I went back and watched their older matches for the first time ever. The 1979 match is a pretty much what you'd expect for a first match in a series. As it goes on, though, a funny thing starts to happen as Hansen not only manages to hang Andre in a way no one else could, but also seems to be getting the upper-hand, even putting in Andre in a bear hug at one point. Things get more heated as the match progresses, climaxing in Hansen knocking Andre out of the ring and bloodying him. The match ends soon after with them brawling all over the fans, but Hansen is really put over is a potential Giant killer. The 1980 match picks up right where the 1979 match left with them going at it in a wild brawl from the opening bell, and Andre makes sure to get in his own bear-hug in a great moment in that reused for the 1981 match. It only lasts a few minutes before the inevitable cop-out finish, but a bell ring has never been enough to deter them so they keep going long afterwards. More than maybe even their 1981 match, the 1980 match has the feeling of something totally out of control as they chairs and tables at each other with reckless abandon. About the only thing holding it down is an oddly dead crowd, but I really think the 1980 match is a great segment that should have made the DVDVR set. This leads me back to the 1981 match with that Andre arm work I mentioned earlier. Watching their earlier matches made me realize that Andre worked Hansen's arm for the same reason he grabbed that loaded elbow pad and forced the DQ after Hansen finally hit the western lariat. He was scared of Hansen. In Hansen he saw someone who could bring the fight to him like no one else, and in the western lariat he saw a weapon that had the potential to knock him out like nothing else. I saw the 1983 Tiger Mask/Dynamite Kid match described as wrestling's greatest "what if?" scenario for the question of what would have happened in an 8th match in their series, but I think that moniker is far more fitting the 1981 Hansen/Andre match. Every time I watch it I can't help but be consumed in the thought of what a no DQ rematch would have looked like had Hansen not made the jump to AJPW. ****5/8 Links to their other matches: www.dailymotion.com/video/x3v9mi4www.dailymotion.com/video/x13nnxf
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Post by fxnj on Jul 30, 2018 16:13:17 GMT -5
Watched: 20110213 Kana vs Satomura
I wanted to watch their 2010 match, but this is the closest thing available for free. I didn't like this the first time I saw it back in 2011. It's not a bad match or anything, but I was just so taken aback by the violence on display here. I don't think it would be an exaggeration to describe the Kana/Satomura pairing as the female equivalent to Ishikawa/Ikeda, though the women seem to have been lucky enough to have had far more profile careers. Watching this right now, it really feels like a strong 2011 MOTYC for how it takes the "your turn, my turn" strike exchanges that were en vogue in puro at the time and pushes them far beyond what anyone else is doing. I mean this not only in the stiffness and technical beauty of the strikes, but also in the care taken to create a sense that they want to finish each other and how they avoid treating the exchanges as some pissing contest. I thought it was pretty smart how both women got seriously hurt in the first few minutes to create the impression that the fight could end at any moment. The matches follows that opposite direction of a lot of other matches in that the first half is an all-out striking war while the second half is more focused on submissions, but they make it work. The first half features such brutality that it feels like they're just trying whatever they can to end it. Still, they never really abandon the strikes entirely and the second half does feature some of the hardest shots of the match. The cartwheel into a knee to the back of the neck done by Satomura always makes me wince. All the submissions look brutal as well, especially the finish. About the only thing holding this back from being a lock for my list is the dead crowd, but given how I reacted when I first saw this I would chalk that up to them just being too shocked of what they were watching to react much. ****3/8
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Post by fxnj on Jul 31, 2018 11:46:06 GMT -5
20060716 KENTA/Marufuji vs. Rikioh/Morishima
This is a 30 minute draw billed as the new four pillars showdown and it went on win 2006 MOTY at the old DVDVR Purotopia voting. I barely need to say that it holds up to neither description, but it is a great match. I got a kick out of the opening exchange between Rikioh and Marufuji with how Rikioh shifted his weight onto Marufuji to make the headlock harder to escape, but the crowd was dead. KENTA and Morishima went at it pretty hard as soon as they got a chance to tag in, and the crowd exploded. From there the match settled into a heat section with the juniors working over the heavyweights for the rest of the first half. I enjoyed looking at all the striking exchanges pulled out by KENTA and Marufuji, but it just feels wrong to have the juniors being so dominant over the heavyweights. As the match crossed into the second half, the heavyweights seemingly remembered that they are, indeed, heavyweights as Rikioh killed KENTA with a single hard slap. Morishima comes in and busts out some moves you'd expect from a guy half his size. The heat section with the heavyweights controlling is really good and the spots with Morishima standing on KENTA's ribs looked painful as hell. There's a pretty noticeable botch from Marufuji around 2/3's of the way in, but they do an ok-ish job of covering it as the match transitions into the stretch run. The crowd gets huge into it and we're treated to some really neat exchanges and cool nearfalls between Morishima and KENTA before the time limit expires. This is a great all-action tag with no dead sections and it really felt like they left it all in the ring. As a MOTY or the successor to 90's AJPW it comes up short as it is lacking in the attention to detail and layered complexities that makes the 90's tags such a joy to rewatch and analyze. There's lots of cool stuff, but it lacks much of a thread to bind it together in terms of selling and psychology. Even the obvious heavyweight/junior dynamic is only really played up for one section of the match. I really have to give props to Morishima for how he moved here, but when he's busting out cartwheels and dives like it's nothing it makes a lot harder for the juniors' high flying to stand out, and I have similar feelings for how KENTA was able to do telephone booth strike exchanges with the Morishima as making it harder for the heavyweights to make their power stand out. These guys were working as hard the four pillars, but they weren't working as smart. ****
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Post by fxnj on Jul 31, 2018 14:50:41 GMT -5
Watched: 20151223 Shirai vs Satomura
An excellent match that I think falls just barely short of being a classic for a few issues that I'll discuss later. The more I watch of her the more I think Satomura deserves to be in the discussion when people talk about the best joshi wrestlers. She's does just so good at creating a sense of brutality in all her big matches. Compared to the NOAH match I watched before this, her offense was on an entirely different level. This particular match doesn't quite touch the levels of gratuitous violence seen in the Kana match from yesterday, but it makes up for that with the narrative. Satomura is the invader holding the title belt hostage while Io is Stardom's hottest star and the one everyone is pinning their hopes on to win the belt back. Little things like having all those girls desperately screaming Io's name at ringside and applying ice spray when it looks like she's hurt really get this across as an important match. Satomura really looks like a beast employing the perfect mix of rock-hard strikes and rugged submissions to break Shirai apart. I loved all the cut-offs from Satomura and it was really cool how they worked a few failed rallies from Io where was simply to banged up to fully seize the advantage.
What Io has going for her is her youth and the athleticism that comes from it, and she takes full advantage of it. I've heard how this match described as Io's big coming out party, and I'm not sure if I agree with it as I remember her having some great matches before this one, but she definitely doesn't disappoint with her performance. All her flying moves are beautifully executed, especially the suicide dive she does near the beginning where she gets a ton of momentum and creates this visual of flinging her entire body at Satomura at light speed. There were some other incredible moments here. Satomura hit that sick cartwheel to knee in the back of the head and, after Io kicked out from a cover, Io turned towards the camera with this glassy eyed concussed look. Later, Satomura hit a superplex and the way that she stayed down really felt like a big moment as it was the first time she started selling the cumulative wear of the match, and I loved how Io went after with so much aggression afterwards as she knew this was her big chance. Towards the end, there was an absolutely nutty spot where Io went for a beautiful moonsault and Satomura got her feet up to hit Io square in the abdomen while she was in mid-air, which threw Io's body violently to the other side of the ring.
The problem is that the selling linking all these things together was a bit questionable. It's been said that the best long singles matches have the feeling of there being an HP bar over the heads of both competitors and, as it dwindles, they'll slowly start selling the effects of the match until one guy's bar hits 0 and he gets knocked out. I didn't get the sense of that being the case here. There were points where Io would sell like she was almost dead, and then a few minutes later she'd be running around like was just fine. The most egregious example of this is the ending, when Meiko hits two death valley drivers in a row just for Io to reverse the third and hit her big moves with no issues to score the win. It just felt a little too easy and, as a result, didn't have the feel of the epic come-from-behind win to me that it seemed they were going. The other problem I have with the match is that cheesy part near the beginning where go into the crowd and need only a headlock to drag each other through the arena. I'm pretty much never gonna be a fan of that sort of thing, but I thought they could have saved it if instead they had Satomura carrying Io on her back to get into the crowd instead of the awkward walking in a headlock they did. This match isn't a lock for my list, but it has a good chance as it's about as close as match can get to being a classic without actually hitting that level. ****3/8
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Post by fxnj on Aug 1, 2018 22:34:06 GMT -5
19940416 Kawada vs. Williams
I really should make more of an effort to watch some of these matches in proper context. I noticed some people saying how much this stands out when compared to other CC 1994 matches, and I do remember this feeling pretty epic when I saw it while going through AJPW chronologically, but it's kind of hard for it to replicate that feel when it's just some random match I'm watching for the project. Anyway, I have to admit to being skeptical at first due to how slow it started, but as the match went on they made me feel like a fool for how they masterfully built on the seeds they planted in those opening minutes. A recurring theme of this match is how Williams mocks Kawada during his beatdowns, which angers Kawada and leads to Williams finding some opening to capitalize on. Though it seems innocent at first, as the match goes on the moves that Williams get bigger until they culminate in him hitting the backdrop driver late in the match. Backing up a bit, those first few minutes also play host to a really cool chinlock oneupsmanship thing, with both guys trying to applying chinlocks to try to outdo each other until Williams turns his into a tiger suplex that kills Kawada in the first big moment of the match. They started trading big moves after that and it started to feel like the match may have been nearing its end. Instead, the match kicked into overdrive as Williams fought out of an stretch plum attempt (or abdominal stretch) and did some awesome punches that really felt like an epic moment for how rare it is to see punches in AJPW and in how both Kawada and the ref sold them. Then, Williams followed it up with his own sick abdominal stretch variation where he had his leg over Kawada's head and while yanking on Kawada's arm. The last 10 minutes of the match that follow are some incredible stuff with tons of amazing counters (including the backdrop driver moment mentioned above) and both guys really selling in a way that makes this match feel like a big deal. The backdrop driver is treated like a key moment in the match. Either you could say that Kawada really starts adapting to Doc's offense, or he's taken Doc's best shots and isn't as prone to being psyched out as earlier, but the last few minutes are all about Kawada finding ways to reverse Williams's big moves and getting the match into his favor. This match is pinned as an incredible Kawada performance, and he steps up you'd expect him to for such a match, but I was really impressed with Williams's performance here, especially his selling. When Kawada hit those two powerbombs for the finish, Williams did such an amazing job playing it like he was concussed and clueless of what was going on. ****1/2
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Post by fxnj on Aug 4, 2018 16:56:53 GMT -5
19381118 Londos vs Nagurski
The film of this match should be regarded as a national treasure. I've watched this match numerous times over the past decade, and I've always loved it, but I don't think I've ever appreciated it as much I did today. It's the oldest championship match we have in near-complete form, yet it not only contains all the elements of a top-tier modern match, but workers of today still haven't fully caught up to what's on display in this match from 80 years ago. The lock-ups are still the best I've ever seen in any match. I love how they constantly push and pull, always making adjustments to grip yet still maintaining a stiff composure. It's also a great detail how you see them sprint out of the lock-up when getting the ropes to try to stop the other guy from getting the advantage. I've seen so many guys just casually let themselves get into the ropes during the lock-up that it felt like a huge revelation to see guys actually treating it as this key gateway move to set up for other things. I've always seen my beloved AJPW crew as being a notch above most others in how they work the early-match lock-ups to build tension, but Londos/Nagurski still left them in the dust for they use them to only build tension but also to develop strategy. And it all just feels so right to see this lost art, like seeing a picture that had been ripped have its broken piece put back in place.
About the only place you'll see collar-and-elbow tie-ups worked similarly are in collegiate wrestling contests or BJJ matches that starts in stand-up. I bring that up because this match felt real in a way that most matches don't. I've praised a lot of matches for how guys will struggle in holds, and they did that here with everything looking like a titanic struggle, but they also took it a step further with how neither guy was afraid of throwing cheap-shots to try to escape. I've seen US 80's matches where the heel might throw some love taps when the face has him in a headlock, but this was nothing of the sort. I am talking vicious blows to the back of the head that result in the head being visibly rocked up and down. It looked sick and it really got across how serious both guys were about winning. Just like in a real fight, this match doesn't paint a black-and-white image of a a good guy fighting off a dastardly cheat, but shades of grey where both competitors just do what it takes to get the win.
The stretch run is as good as any I've seen. Nagurski scores some incredible tackles and some beautiful throws, and just when it looks like Londos is hurt he fights back by getting a sick standing armbar off a rope break. Londos knows Nagurski's got a bad arm so he tries to go to work, but Nagurski isn't going down without a fight. They throw vicious blows, work some stiff submissions, and in the end Londos hits his 3rd airplane whirl slam of the match to emerge triumphant. Photographers swarm inside the ring to take pictures while Londos has his hands and stands a hero. ****3/4
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Post by fxnj on Aug 8, 2018 14:00:33 GMT -5
20170808 Suzuki vs. Okada
One of those weird matches that people loved at the time but which I've not a peep about since. This is a case of the sum being less than the parts. You've got some neat neck selling from Okada, some cool stretches from Suzuki, and a really well done slap exchange as the time limit expires. The problem is in what's holding those pieces together. One of my favorite things about analyzing matches is being able to go back and look at each guy's different strategies, but I found myself puzzled by Okada's strategy. He seemed to insist on doing all his usual signatures and, though he sold the hell out of the neck, didn't seem to modify his strategy at all to match the damage. It felt wrong seeing him leaping off the top rope and doing dropkicks with seemingly no ill effects. It was neat how they worked the neck work into the strike exchanges, but that just made me wonder why he was even trying to trade strikes in the first place when he's got a bad neck. When I watch Misawa matches where he gets his neck worked over, I see him going straight for kill shots and not dicking around in pointless exchanges. Also, Okada's offense in the first half of this was garbage. Some of the softest high kicks I've ever seen and he also hits a DDT where there's about a foot between Suzuki's head and the mat. If you had only showed me the slap exchange they did in the last few minutes, you probably could have fooled me into thinking this was a great match, but I unfortunately watched the rest of the match that preceded and it really made no sense in that context. Suzuki looked like a chump that not only could he not get submission with his signature sleeper after working over Okada's injured neck all match, but he let himself get hit by a rainmaker and ended the match on the losing end. At no point of this did it feel like Okada was the best in the world or deserving of being world champion. Best part of the match was when Suzuki grinded Okada's neck against the guard rail and made him scream like a little girl. ***
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Post by fxnj on Aug 16, 2018 22:41:46 GMT -5
19910904 Hansen vs. Kobashi
I was about to write this off as a great encounter that doesn't quite have the violence to match their 1993 match until Hansen bodyslammed Kobashi straight on his neck on the outside. I can see why people love this match as the crowd is really hot and it has the same great dynamic as their other matches. It also has a somewhat unique layout for an AJPW match with Hansen hurting Kobashi before the bell even rings and going on a long control segment highlighted by a hard powerbomb on the outside. I also got a kick out of them showing a girl going crazy for Kobashi during the ring introductions to get him across as this American-esque blowjob face. Compared to their other matches, I do feel it's become a bit overrated as it doesn't really have the brutality of their 1993 match of the memorable story of their 1996 match. I also thought Kobashi initial comeback felt a little too easy. Would have been more effective for him to start his comeback by countering some of that table stuff Hansen did on the outside rather than with a measly kick on the inside of the ring. After a bit of Kobashi in control, Hansen fights back and regains control by using the boston crab and Kobashi sells the back a bit, which was kind of cool. I appreciate the thought behind Kobashi really going for the sleeper submission with him being too far behind to match Hansen in a firefight, but Kobashi's sleeper looked surprisingly loose to me and that took me a bit out of the match. Don't mean to sound too critical of this, though, as I still enjoyed it a lot regardless of those nitpicks. Loved those two explosive lariats he hit at the end. ****1/8
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Post by fxnj on Aug 17, 2018 0:07:26 GMT -5
19500331 Thesz vs Anaya This was one of my favorite 50's matches when I watched it some time ago, and it holds up quite well on rewatch. The story behind it, as explained by the commentator, is that Anaya is some kid from Venezuela who's been waiting a long time to get a shot at the champ, and he's right there with Thesz every step of the way in the match itself. It doesn't have flashy movez or mind blowing psychology, but it easily makes up for that just in sound execution of the basics and great athleticism on display from both guys. Similar to Londos/Nagurski, there's a lot of tension underlying all the standing portions with how explosive they are in their movements and going for holds. It's not often that I wince when I see a headlock takeover, but I did so multiple times here as they were always so violently executed. Each throw was also accompanied by a loud thud from the hard ring, which definitely added to it. The actual groundwork is great as well. Not much in the way of slick counters, but there's constant movement and struggle to appreciate. Towards the end, Thesz counters a cobra twist (abdominal stretch) having them both tumble onto the outside concrete, and it looked brutal. Anaya gets the worst of it and we get a great count-out tease. Anaya gets back in, but Thesz goes after him like a shark who smells blood and it isn't long before the finish. I had a great time watching this and it really flew by for its duration. I like how they kept things clean and just let the technical abilities on display speak for itself to get Anaya over as a worthy contender. ****3/8 Uploaded this for others to watch rutube.ru/video/5308933a71c845cacfdbcb015290d8e8/
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Post by fxnj on Aug 17, 2018 21:47:41 GMT -5
20090405 Undertaker vs Michaels
After watching this I couldn't help but think it's a pretty big shame that this match has come to be viewed in some circles as one of the first self-conscious epics or a finisher-fest, as it really is far from that. Those last 10 minutes of finisher kick-outs are what's famous, but what makes the match is the 20 minutes of build to it. I remember seeing people say this match would get shit on if it happened on the indies or that it only because people give some goodwill to finisher kickouts in Undertaker Wrestlemania matches, but that's bullshit. They do such a great job of slowly introducing bigger moves and selling the exhaustion and disbelief as the match goes on that I would call this a masterclass in escalation. Each section of the match built logically on what came before and every near fall felt like it made perfect sense for the story being told, which isn't something I can say about a lot of the pimped lucha matches I've watched where you get guys wrestling a certain way in the first 2/3 and then forgetting it to do a 50/50 stretch run because tradition. Beyond that, I'd really call this a match that exceeds in a multitude of facets of great wrestling with some badass standing sections, daredevil high-flying, engaging limb work, and an epic atmosphere wrapped within a great story. In the first few minutes we get some really cool and unique work playing off the dynamic in their prior matches with Michaels trying to use his agility to look for openings to unload combinations. Then Undertaker remembers what a big size advantage he has and starts throwing Michaels around the ring, including a sick bump on the turnbuckle steel. Michaels then retaliates with some legwork. I have to admit that there was one spot that took me out a bit when Michaels did a modified indian deathlock and the commentators called it as figure four, which made me confused until I realized what hold Michaels was actually using. Another time Michaels went for the crossface but had difficulties turning Undertaker over to get it fully locked in, which again made me confused with the commentators acting like he had it fully locked in the whole time. Those commentary nitpicks aside, there was one excellent sequence where Michaels looked to be going for the sweet chin music but ended up doing it Undertaker's hurt knee, and then Undertaker quickly locked in a hell's gate when Michaels tried to pounce. Shortly after that is the great section on the outside with Undertakers swatting down a moonsault from Michaels and then trying to upstage him with his now-legendary botched dive. When they get back in, it really feels like both guys are severely hurt so the whole count-out tease section serves as a brilliant bridge to the hot stretch run. A great detail that I'd never really picked up on before was all the work to make it look during that stretch run like they were so spent they could barely stand on their own volition. They were very thoughtful about always using the ring ropes to help themselves up, and that spot where they get up by holding onto each other is one of my favorite Wrestlemania moments.
There were two key narrative threads throughout, the first being the dynamic of Michaels's technique and manueverability against Undertaker's size and power, and the second being the element of Michaels's hubris. I was really impressed with how they stuck so closely to these elements and figured out creative ways to keep things fresh. Just about every big moment for Undertaker could be chalked up to Michaels's hubris coming back to bite him, which is ironic considering he does he pretty good job of capitalizing on Undertaker's own mistakes. He insists on doing the crossface even when it's apparent he can't do it cleanly, and he gets hit with a big sidewalk slam. He just has to kip-up even when he doesn't need to and ends up hurting his back. He tries to show off with a moonsault on the outside to a standing Undertaker and he gets swatted down in what could have easily been the sickest bump of the match if not for the crazy dive that Undertaker responded with. He insisted on going for sweet chin music too early, and he got caught with a chokeslam. He insisted on going through skinning the cat when he wasn't able to do it as quickly as he normally could, and that moment of sluggishness gave Undertaker the time he needed to come over and turn it into a big tombstone. He hit a few good chops to Undertaker and, seeing Undertaker's reddened chest, decided to abandon his cat-and-mouse game for a straight-up striking battle but pretty quickly gets downed by a punch. He tried again to go for a moonsault on Undertaker while standing and it ended up costing the match. Writing it down like that, it really amazes me how well planned the whole thing was. Even with it being obvious the match had no chance ending with anything besides a tombstone, all those other moves still felt like huge moments that got both crowd and the announce team marking out because of what great storytelling there was behind them. Same deal with Undertaker's big botched dive. Seeing him make an uncharacteristically big mistake like that after Michael's gameplan had been all about capitalizing on mistakes was a huge deal. I was actually kind of surprised how quick the referee's count seemed not because it was particularly fast, but when I watched this match at the time it felt like an eternity waiting to see if Undertaker had did himself in as nothing like that happened to him in a match before. Michaels was pretty melodramatic in begging the ref to count Undertaker out and praying for him to come back in, but it worked given the gravitas of the situation. I've seen people point to Michaels's praying for a count-out win and the aforementioned back pain on the kip-up to argue that this match subtlety hints at the idea that maybe Michaels is getting a little too old, and I'd agree. Michaels's acting style during the count-out tease gives the whole thing a crazy old man praying to the clouds vibe, which is accentuated by how the camerawork gives a good look at his bald spot at one point during it.
The other thing that makes this match stand out is the crowd and the overall atmosphere. Though I do think this could pass as a great match in any other setting, the Wrestlemania atmosphere definitely added a lot to it. Jim Ross's call that he had an out-of-body experience during the first tombstone kick-out might be the most memorable call of his entire career as it was fittingly over-the-top yet mixed with such palpable thrill and passion behind it. It kind of reminded me of Gatti-Ward I for how you had this team of old big name announcers pretty much abandon professionalism and mark out like 10 year old boys because they're so enthralled by what they're watching. I believe that first tombstone kickout was also the first time we saw the "this is awesome" chant in WWE, or at least the first time it was acknowledged by announcers. Those things, combined with Undertaker's iconic look of disbelief and the other times the way performers masterfully sell disbelief during the finish run all work in tandem to create what feels like a genuinely special moment. This is is why it perplexes me to see people call this a self-conscious epic or be down on the last 10 minutes. There's really only about 2 or 3 moves here that would seem to have a plausible chance of ending it were you to write down all the moves used with nothing else, but they make you believe in those other big moments because of the thought they put into building everything up and letting them breathe, which is really about as far as you can get from a self-conscious epic. I should also mention that, though this match was expected to be the best match of the night going in, it really didn't have all that much hype behind it with the goofy build-up it got and I don't think many expected it to be the classic it would be mythologized. If you pay attention to the crowd in the beginning, they really aren't that into the match but the two performers progressively win them over until they're molten at the end. At its core, this match really is about two masters going out and letting their full talents shine on a big stage without too much pressure. ****5/8
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Post by fxnj on Aug 18, 2018 18:39:04 GMT -5
20010414 Kawada vs. Mutoh
I dug the opening with Mutoh moving around with those cat-like reflexes and using that quickness controlling the action on the mat. Often, matwork in wrestling revolves around who's stronger or has better technique, but, speaking as someone who has done some beginner-level grappling, it seens just as common to lose because your opponent is too explosive for you to keep up with. That said, the mat stuff did kind of get old with how Mutoh went for these loose headlocks and didn't seem to be doing much actual damage. Kawada takes over with some strikes on Mutoh's neck and lays down a pretty good beatdown, though it's not a patch on what he's done to Kobashi and Misawa. Mutoh's selling was kind of weird with how he'd just stare aimlessly into space like he was some meth head with no idea what was hitting him. That, and the strikes he'd fight back with looked like garbage in comparison to Kawada's, though I can buy the argument that it was part of the story with how Kawada smoked him in the striking exchanges. Kawada hitting a powerbomb seems to wake Mutoh up as he rolls out on the outside for a breather and, after fighting with Kyohei over a chair, he goes back in and almost instantly takes back over by working over Kawada's arms and legs. This was the high point of the match for me as it really made for a hell of a spectacle to see Mutoh flying around like a bat out of hell relentlessly assaulting Kawada's limbs with dropkicks. Kawada puts in a hell of a selling performance to put Mutoh over, including a great spot where he, seemingly out of instinct, tries to fend off Mutoh by throwing some lariats with the arm Mutoh had just armbarred, but he just ends up injuring his arm even further. They really play it like Mutoh has broken down Kawada's entire body and a Mutoh win starts to feel inevitable until it happens not too long thereafter. I thought it was a great match with some epic moments, but I wasn't really into some of Mutoh's performance in the first 2/3rd. Also, though I enjoyed the stretch run quite a bit, it didn't feel like they built to the spectacle of Mutoh picking apart Kawada as well as they could have. ****
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Post by fxnj on Aug 20, 2018 23:27:56 GMT -5
19960724 Taue vs. Kobashi
Taue isn't really known as a great champion, and he's not the best pick on-paper for Kobashi to get his first title win over a more established rival like Hansen, but it still has a big match feel just from how much the crowd is into Kobashi. Thought they built the suspense well in the early going. The test of strength of exchange with the headbutts is always a spot I enjoy watching. After feeling each other out a bit and trading some blows, the match pretty much becomes a bomb fest. There's some nice neck work from Kobashi and I liked how he always struggled so much to avoid the nodowa. Some really good cut-offs as well to keep the crowd interested, my favorites being Taue turning a missed Kobashi plancha into a nodowa and Kobashi hitting a flash lariat late in the match to take back control before the finish. I kind of felt like the depth of Kobashi's moveset was the difference maker. Whereas Taue just had powerbomb and nodowa variations that Kobashi knew to avoid, Kobashi had many more options including the lariat he'd started using on this tour and which required far less set-up than either of Taue's finishers. It's a long match, but it feels shorter than its running time from how the big near falls are spaced out. The crowd is excellent as well with how they start out hot and progressively get even more into the match as it goes on, giving a great pop for the finish. Pretty well worked heavyweight title match, though the lack of an epic story or an exceptional performance from either guy kind of keeps it from being as great as I remembered. Kawada/Albright was the MOTN. ****1/4
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Post by fxnj on Aug 21, 2018 1:48:41 GMT -5
20120429 Cena vs Lesnar
I've seen bits and pieces of this before, but I think this might have been the first time I sat down and watched the whole thing. People have talked about how the match gets a boost for how unique it is, and on that front I think it loses a bit from how I'm working backwards after having seen him work similarly with other opponents and in rematches with Cena. Lucky for me, watching Lesnar stiff people is one of my favorite things, so the match doesn't lose a whole lot in my view. What really makes the match stand out even today is that it's the first time we got to see Lesnar work a match like this, and there's a lot of excitement that goes with it. Watching Lesnar's performance, I could feel his glee in finally getting a chance to use that MMA knowledge to push his wrestling style in a new direction and in being back out there entertaining people without the stresses that come from real fights. Every spot in this oozes brutality, creativity, and exceptional character work. Cena also deserves credit for eating a man-sized beating and the visual of the hard-way blood smearing down his face and onto Lesnar's chest was a hell of a sight. I was scared I might not like the finish, but I thought it was really well done. When Lesnar perched himself on those steel steps to get a look at Cena outside the ring, I loved the analogy by the commentators used about Lesnar becoming a hunter toying with his prey. They did a great job of building up the idea of Lesnar letting himself get too comfortable, forgetting who he was in the ring with, and ultimately leaving himself open for a big knockout blow. Reason I'm a little lower on this than others is pretty much just that I prefer the the atmosphere of the Reigns match to this. Lesnar's working style is suited for a modern-day coliseum, not some dingy arena with half the crowd being kids. ****1/2
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Post by fxnj on Aug 22, 2018 23:25:16 GMT -5
19500417 Thesz vs Silverstein Seems to be a tad divisive based on the somewhat limited sampling of people who've reviewed it. I love it. Yohe wrote a fantastic review of the match breaking down how the match seems to veer off in a shooty direction at points. wrestlingclassics.com/.ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=10;t=004421;p=1#000003I wrote about the intense and gritty style of matwork used in Londos/Nagurski and Thesz/Anaya, but those are still matches that primarily focus on the technical ability of the competitors. Here, though both guys do display a great deal of talent, it's also a very dirty match just throwing out cheap shots willy nilly and throwing each other out of the ring several times. The backstory according to the review linked is that Silverstein had a rep as a shooter and didn't get along with Thesz. The catalyst for the match getting dirty seems to be when Silverstein puts on a stiff toehold and Thesz retaliates with a stiff slap on a rope break. It's kind of a proto-BattlArts match for how you get the stiff strikes mixed with rugged mat-work. The commentator notes at one point that Silverstein's face is puffed up and bleeding from all the shots Thesz has thrown, but you can't really tell due to a combination of it being black & white and the unclear quality. I loved all the work surrounding the headlocks between the brutal takedowns, the struggle mixed with hard shots, and how they had to tangle themselves up in the ropes to get out of it. Maybe the hardest strike of the match happens at the end of the first fall, when Thesz nails Silverstein with a dropkick that looks to be square in the jaw, and Silverstein seems like he may have hit his head on the mat on the way down though it's not shown on camera. Silverstein looks dazed in the break between falls from that shot. The 2nd and 3rd are pretty quick compared to the 1st, which seems to have irritated some but I thought it made sense considering how much they spent themselves in the first fall and they never strayed from that brutal proto-BattlArts style. Really cool pin by Silverstein to win the second fall. Well worth a watch, but probably would have loved this even more if it was shot with modern equipment. ****3/8 rutube.ru/video/97a212de9b91608316c8c781905efc8d/
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