|
|
Post by fxnj on Mar 13, 2019 18:49:59 GMT -5
Surprised this wasn't nominated, as I've always thought it to be one of the best shoot-style match. Two hungry young guys going at it and cutting a blistering pace for 30 minutes. Great coming party for Suzuki as he hangs with a former NJPW junior champ. Lots of strikes and big throws to even keep non-shoot style fans interested.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cap on Oct 28, 2019 20:20:42 GMT -5
From my watching project... Naoki Sano vs Minoru Suzuki (7/26/1991) Current Rank: 33 Trending: Up As you can see, this match enters the list pretty damn high. Of the three Sano shoot style matches that got added to my list over the past few months, this jumped off the screen the most to me. It really comes across as something epic, a match where two guys are leaving it all in the ring and can’t mentally and spiritually afford to lose. I love that. Upon this review, this and the Shamrock match will probably wind up pretty close together and a touch higher. I’ll have more time to talk about it in a minute, but where the Shamrock/Sano match is maybe untouchable in terms of quick, intense, athletic, and captivating action… this feels more like a real fight where both men are exerting everything they have and are absolutely destroyed at the end. I have seen criticism of this match saying that both guys seemed too gassed, like it wasn’t intentional. It was them being out of shape vs them selling. First of all, I think that is probably flatly wrong. They are still doing all the right things in terms of technique, the little stuff you see exhausted grapplers do to buy themselves some time. You also see them hit each other with flurries, spurts of energy, in all the right spots. But, for a second, lets humor these naysayers… The end result is still me feeling like I am watching a shoot match that looks an awful lot like an actual shoot between the two in spots with tons of drama and a lot of violence. In turn, I don’t really care if they are actually gassed out or giving all-timer selling performances. The result is the same. I’m invested. One of the things that is going to shoot this up my list a bit is the amount of good solid striking it has. I tend to like my shoot matches a little heavy on the striking. This match has some excellent strikes. I also really appreciate that they implement some more pro wrestling positions at certain points, but mix them in nicely. There is a double underhook at one point that looks like Suzuki is going to go for a butterfly suplex and of course that doesn’t work so he just hits him with a piledriver and holds onto the position to keep Sano’s back. That kind of improvised grittiness permeates this match. I also sort of love that it goes to a draw. It’s a draw well-earned and not one that feels contrived or flat in any way. This is going to wind up in my top 5 or so shoot matches and could wind up challenging for the top spot in the style which means I’d consider this for top 10 discussion down the road. That is how much I am buying what Sano and Suzuki are selling here. Full Post: gweproject.freeforums.net/thread/657/caps-watching-project-reports?page=2#ixzz63hZMd2GZ |
|
|
|
Post by superstarsleeze on Jan 11, 2020 14:34:11 GMT -5
Thanks to Cap's stellar review, I checked this out. I didnt like it quite as much as you, but this was still badass and I liked it even more than they hyped Shamrock vs Sano match. Suzuki was phenomenal in this match.
Naoki Sano vs Minoru Suzuki - PWFG 7/26/91
Because sometimes in life you need a break from rope running!
Never seen this before, this rocked! If Pancrase doesnt happen and Minoru Suzuki ends up in New Japan in the Mid-90s, he would be a contender for Greatest Wrestler Ever. He was already superb in 1991. Suzuki vs Hase would be insanely good and of course Suzuki vs Hashimoto in the Dome would have been bonkers!
I liked the story of this match a lot. The younger punk Suzuki comes out of the gate hot full of piss 'n' vinegar and is looking to prove his mettle against the veteran New Japan star Naoki Sano. Suzuki gets a crazy legbar takedown at the start and then catches Sano in a guillotine choke when Sano fails to muscle Suzuki around. Liked how this showed the younger Suzuki as flashier and more offensive-minded. The flip side to this is that it shows that Sano is the true experienced veteran because he counters all these holds and shows he is the better the wrestler. Sano does a get a tight rear naked choke in and Suzuki tries the usual counters such as crossing the ankles and pulling a toe hold and eventually Sano releases. Two things that were great throughout this match were the crossfaces and the Greco-Roman wrestling. We dont see much in the way of Greco-Roman wrestling in Pro Wrestling, but these two were body on body a lot and there were a lot of crazy double underhook takedowns. My favorite takedown even though I think it would be a Freestyle takedown is that Suzuki goes for a Greco-Roman takedown cant negotiate it, so he palm strikes Sano and then drops down and Fireman Carrys him. Excellent! Suzuki does seem to be winning the early portion of the match and even gets a piledriver, but I like how Sano worked right for the Boston Crab. I thought around the 20 minute mark it was clear they were working for the draw and not because they were exhausted, but because they were going for finishes that should have been finishes but instead they became rope breaks. It is was essentially the 2010s equivalent to too many nearfalls. Now I enjoy this style a lot more so I didnt mind it, but I need to call a spade, a spade and thats why it felt like the match ran out of steam.
Some really good spots from the ending sequence was the fire fight that breaks out after the piledriver. Suzuki starts it, but boy does Sano finish it. He cracks Sano real good and the ref is left counting him down. It looks like Suzuki maybe bleeding from the nose. I think the next exchange Suzuki sells it by deadweighting on the throw. However, I think shortly after this, Suzuki just explodes with a second wind. He throws a MONSTER BELLY TO BELLY SUPLEX! He goes for a Cross-Armbreaker and then BEZERK trying to break the clasp of Sano. That was electric! I really liked that sequence. I really liked how Suzuki got an organic German Suplex. Sano definitely controlled the ending with a combination of palm strikes and chokes. Suzuki just starting going for broke with a missed dropkick but hits a flying spinning round kick. Nice! They end the draw in my least favorite spot of all time, the bundle of leg locks. Lame!
I actually liked this more than the Shamrock match. The Shamrock match is a blur of catch wrestling virtuosity. As a casual grappling fan, it was hard to follow the narrative and get the beat of the match. You can just see these two are technical masters. Suzuki blends in more pro style and you can get the beat of the match. Suzuki is the young kid who wants to bring the fight to Sano and prove himself. Sano is letting the kid come at him and always has a counter. I thought the stand up here both in terms of the strikes and especially the grappling takedowns were phenomenal. Dont sleep on this match! ****1/2
|
|
|
|
Post by Cap on May 17, 2020 17:54:37 GMT -5
So I just watched this on a whim - and full disclosure, I've had some wine and whiskey today - but this really feels like a top tier performance from Suzuki. Sano more than holds his own, but he clearly gasses more than Suzuki early on. You can really see Suzuki elevating moments, compensating, and adding some personality to sequences in the second half of the match.
I still think this is an elite match on the whole, but Suzuki's performance here is something I think may need some consideration.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cap on Aug 12, 2020 17:48:28 GMT -5
I kept getting this itch to come back to this. It comes from two places. 1) this is a new addition to my ballot this year and I just wanted to make sure I wasn't getting caught up with it and 2) it stuck with me so much and that is usually a good sign, so I wanted to make sure... I know I am beating a dead horse this year on this match, but my fuck... this is good. From my rewatch on 8/8/2020 Naoki Sano vs Minoru Suzuki (7/26/1991) Current Rank: 12 Trending: Up? I can’t really express how much I love this match. To me, it is probably the perfect shoot style wrestling match in terms of mimicking an actual shoot/MMA fight, at least as far as those that go beyond 5-10 minutes. The biggest criticism I have seen of this match is that they gas early and the work gets sloppy. As I have said before. Either 1) they are actually gassed because that first 15 minutes was a sprint and everything they had in they were exerting energy cranking and making look believable or 2) they are doing a brilliant job selling here. I think for Suzuki its at least partially the latter. At the 15 minute or so mark, they have a massive exchange, he gets floored, pops back up with a bloody nose, and changes his entire approach. Throughout the last 15 minutes he is able to turn the energy on and off to match his use of adrenaline and trying to pump himself up. He is also carrying Sano through at least a few sequences in the back half. Sano does strike me as just a hair late on picking up on some things. I think Suzuki tried to give him his back during one transition and in giving up control on that same sequence Sano was really slow in taking the top position. But… its shoot and they sold the gas tank the entire time so it makes sense and really doesn’t diminish the match at all. I just love the blend of everything here. The suplexes throughout are positioned so perfectly. Suzuki making the mistake of not hiding his leg on that 50-50 leg entanglement at the end and getting caught in a potential heel hook that led them to fight over the legs to the draw was a mint ending to the story they told. This is in the elite of the elite to me. Full Post: gweproject.freeforums.net/post/8310 |
|
|
|
Post by club on Apr 2, 2023 5:08:34 GMT -5
I can't add much to what Cap has already said but this is an absolute masterclass. Personally I love how the back half gets a little sloppy, both guys go all out for the first 10 mins or so it makes sense. This has a great pro-wrestling rhythm to it without sacrificing the believability that makes this style so special. Will certainly make my list somewhere.
An aside: Sano is a really under-appreciated guy. He has arguably Suzuki's best match, Liger's best match and Yoji Anjo's best match.
|
|
