Yuki Ishikawa v Daisuke Ikeda (Fu-Ten 24/4/05)
--They shake hands out of mutual respect and not five seconds go by before Ikeda’s laid out Ishikawa with a palm (could have been a fist). Gets an eight-count too which was great to start the match with and it really creates a theme of these two trying to outdo each other. These two had been in ring rivals for at least ten years before this and while I haven’t seen a lot of their matches or probably even their best ones, they’ve all been great. This was off the charts. Ishikawa to me is the superior mat worker of the two and Ikeda the better at smacking people around with kicks and different hand shots. Never mind that though, Ikeda can do mat and Ishikawa can do pummelling. This had both doing both, obviously. There was plenty of first-rate grappling here with a lot of stalemate moments where both guys would be waiting for the other to cave in and stay the hell down. By the end of it (fourteen minutes), both guys hair looked like they had been electrocuted and Ishikawa’s lip was split open. I was surprised to see it end in submission, actually.
Shinya Hashimoto v Masato Tanaka (Zero-ONE 2/3/02)
--This is apparently the match that made Z1 officials become so impressed with Tanaka that they hired him full-time. Can't say I blame them, he was great. He has some sort of inter-promotional Championship in his hands or something pre-match and just before the bell rings he drops it to his leg and kicks it towards Hashimoto. Hash is a respectful fella, and fan favourite (and creator of Zero-ONE) but he'll fuck you up bad. He rampages straight for Tanaka in a blind haze of strikes and kicks that'd make most wrestlers weep. Tanaka's waiting outside for a break and he's almost whinging like a baby while Hashimoto's standing there and looking at him like he dares him to kick that belt at him ever again. Tanaka gets some good offence in and I was surprised by how much I liked him, but Hash is one of my favourites on offence and he's really creative. One spot Tanaka's on the outside laying down and Hashimoto casually jumps from he apron ONTO HIM. Nearly hits his head on the guardrail as a result. He just will not relent with those kicks and chops either, I didn't really think I'd see anyone I could say rivals Vader in the shoot-while-not-wrestling-shoot-style department. Great bloody match and I'm not waiting too long to watch he 11/7/03 one.
Sheamus v John Morrison (WWE 19/12/10)
--I can pretty much revoke what I said about Sheamus not interesting me in any way, because most of what he did here was pretty freakin great. I wouldn't call this a classic, and I'd say it's far from it, but the idea of a "classic" seems to vary from every single person, and I'm not going to knock this much at all because it was really good. Thought Sheamus actually did really display his overpowering big motherfucker gimmick over little jumpy purty-boy Morrison who should have specialised in this sort of thing. Sheamus' work on his leg wasn't just good becuase "hey he's jumpy and this is a ladder match and John can't climb", it was good because he actually DID unique stuff that i thought he was missing. I really can't be bothered trying to remember much of what he did in particular, or trying to come up with names for them, but I got the sense that if somebody like Arn Anderson was in a ladder match he'd do a similar sequence of stuff. First 3/4 of the match was spent with hobbling Morrison trying to stop Sheamus from going up, and Sheamus being pissed and surpirsed at how Morrison can even stand, then plowing through him him with this and that. Morrison sold the leg really,m really well as well, and he sold it even at points where it wasn't even necessary (if it is and stuff. yayrasslinnerds) It was all done really well and Morrison's hope spots didn't seem goofy (like I usu. think they do). Loved the spot where they were both holding ladders on the opposite sides of the ring and ran at each yelling "YOU FUCKERRRRR". Well they didn't yell that, but it wa sin my head and I enjoyed it. Ladder matches are obviously going to have it's fair share of "the hell?" moments, and this wasn't too bad before the *big spot* of faling outside the ring. Honestly that looked pathetic with both guys just jumping. I tried to watch the replay to see if someone did a move or they both fell but I just saw Sheamus jump onto the ladder and Morrison jump after him. I don't think Sheamus should have really got up after that either but it set up Jerry Lawler's line of "what is this guy The Terminator?", so it makes up for it. Very good match.
Yoshiaki Fujiwara v Kengo Kimura (NJPW 7/12/75)
--Been going through the NJPW 80s set again, and skipping through Fujiwara caught my eye like a motherfucker. On a total kick of the guy and I'm gonna skip through the NJPW 80s, Other Japan 80s & PWFG sets and watch anything of him I can. In the meantime I'll search for otehr stuff of his I don't have, like this. Fujiwara's apparantly been in the game about three years here, and his selling is already phenomenal. This is a short match (unlikely- most was probably cut off), but it's a good display of 70s matwork, and I like that style a lot. Kimura's fine and good, busting out your usual stuff and trying to outdo Fujiwara the best he can, but Fujiwara's threw out some great stuff, notably having an armbar on Kimura, throwing him over in a firemen's carrier (while keeping hold of the arm), and dropping down to a leg-armbar. Thing. Like I said his selling is top notch; you don't get to see a lot of selling in his face since the footage is from '75 and a little blurry, but his bumps are spot on and if someone used the stuff Kimura used in a leigt fight I can totallly see someone actually being affected the way Fujiwara was selling. Not a great match at all (for the eight/nine minutes that was shown, it was probably a lot longer), but it's the sort of match I'd be thrilled to see on Raw sometime.
Yoshiaki Fujiwara v Kohei Sato (Zero-One 2/3/02)
--I was liking this until this Sato guy decided to blow off all of Fujiwara's signature stuff. They were having really good mat exchanges for nearly ten minutes, and then Fjiwara goes to the Fujiwara armbar, and without two seconds rolling by, Sato rolls through and treats it like it's nothing. That I wasn't ALL THAT fussed about, but it got a lot worse when Fujiwara was trying to headbutt the kid, and he goes and starts yelling like one of those annoying young Japanese wrestlers, displaying his "spirit" or some crap (like KENTA or Akiyama). Fujiwara later does that thing where he twists his legs around and kaes his opponent roll in front of him, and because he's old and shit it takes forever and he's panting like a motherfucker on the floor, so Sato gets back on offence again. Honestly, though, first half (more than half, probably) of the match was really good. Fujiwara was still good mat-wise and Sato could match him well. Felt kind of sorry for them because of the dead crowd, like, if this was RINGS with a hot atmosphere, there would have been people shitting their pants at the quick submissions pulled out of nowhere and stuff. Worth a watch, definitely.
Showing posts with label NJPW. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NJPW. Show all posts
Sunday, 11 September 2011
Wednesday, 20 July 2011
There Are No Headbutts In This Match. I Plomise.
Yoshiaki Fujiwara v Riki Choshu (NJPW 9/6/87)
--Fujiwara doesn't even wait for Choshu to get to the ring before unding him and laying some badass headbutts to rock his brain. All that makes Choshu's head bloody not even three minutes in, and the crowd were eating it up. Looked to me like they had accepted Fujiwara and Choshu needed to pay for his invasions and betrayals. Probably as far off from the actual story shit that happened, but what the hell. Fujiwara gives Choshu a piledriver and lifts his head when going for a pin, "you thought that was all?". Fujiwara's headbutts are insane-looking, btw, I can only think of Chris Benoit throwing better ones. Once Choshu starts actually getting in some moves, Fujiwara's all, "ok, I'll choke him". Choshu's had enough and stomps Fujiwara while standing, and Fujiwara reacts differently to each one, the first was like "I dare you to kick me again", the second was like "getting closer", the third was like "almost.....", and then he goes back to the throat and into an armbar. Choshu still in content with using some stomps, and Fujiwara sells each one harder and harder. And the way he sells those punches in the corner, oh my God, his facial expression of being somewhat surprised and happy at the same time that Choshu has a nice amount still left in him in incredible. Choshu's trying to put Fujiwara away with a variation of the Scorpion Deathlock, but he can't quite sink it in properly and once Fujiwara grabs the ropes he stomps the motherfucking crap out of him. Fujiwara reverses a suplex into a Fujiwara Armbar and has this insane SMILE while doing it, like "I put the kibosh on your move, bucko". Fujiwara goes to pull off that entire turnbuckle section and throws it at Choshu's head, I mean that thing can't hurt THAT much but it was a really nifty touch that I'be never seen before. His Irish-whip-into-it attempt is futile and Choshu's fighting for his career so he reverses it. Choshu goes for the Riki Lariat and it ends up becoming a FUJIWARA ARMBAR. Choshus's beyond pissed and figures Fujiwara's head hasn't got any blood on it, so he just has to bring him to the outside and bloody it up. His head and chest becomes flooded with his own blood and he's still trying to lay those headbutts in. What was really was his final headbutt, he hits it then wobbles around, selling an emotion of "these headbutts are going to finish ***me*** off", and it was his final one. Choshu can't believe he's actually got the strength to pull those off, so he finishes him with two Riki Lariats that Fujiwara sells like a god of selling. All of that was in thirteen minutes. You don't want to miss this one.
--Fujiwara doesn't even wait for Choshu to get to the ring before unding him and laying some badass headbutts to rock his brain. All that makes Choshu's head bloody not even three minutes in, and the crowd were eating it up. Looked to me like they had accepted Fujiwara and Choshu needed to pay for his invasions and betrayals. Probably as far off from the actual story shit that happened, but what the hell. Fujiwara gives Choshu a piledriver and lifts his head when going for a pin, "you thought that was all?". Fujiwara's headbutts are insane-looking, btw, I can only think of Chris Benoit throwing better ones. Once Choshu starts actually getting in some moves, Fujiwara's all, "ok, I'll choke him". Choshu's had enough and stomps Fujiwara while standing, and Fujiwara reacts differently to each one, the first was like "I dare you to kick me again", the second was like "getting closer", the third was like "almost.....", and then he goes back to the throat and into an armbar. Choshu still in content with using some stomps, and Fujiwara sells each one harder and harder. And the way he sells those punches in the corner, oh my God, his facial expression of being somewhat surprised and happy at the same time that Choshu has a nice amount still left in him in incredible. Choshu's trying to put Fujiwara away with a variation of the Scorpion Deathlock, but he can't quite sink it in properly and once Fujiwara grabs the ropes he stomps the motherfucking crap out of him. Fujiwara reverses a suplex into a Fujiwara Armbar and has this insane SMILE while doing it, like "I put the kibosh on your move, bucko". Fujiwara goes to pull off that entire turnbuckle section and throws it at Choshu's head, I mean that thing can't hurt THAT much but it was a really nifty touch that I'be never seen before. His Irish-whip-into-it attempt is futile and Choshu's fighting for his career so he reverses it. Choshu goes for the Riki Lariat and it ends up becoming a FUJIWARA ARMBAR. Choshus's beyond pissed and figures Fujiwara's head hasn't got any blood on it, so he just has to bring him to the outside and bloody it up. His head and chest becomes flooded with his own blood and he's still trying to lay those headbutts in. What was really was his final headbutt, he hits it then wobbles around, selling an emotion of "these headbutts are going to finish ***me*** off", and it was his final one. Choshu can't believe he's actually got the strength to pull those off, so he finishes him with two Riki Lariats that Fujiwara sells like a god of selling. All of that was in thirteen minutes. You don't want to miss this one.
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
No, It Isn't A Box Office Movie, It's a Pro Wrestling Match
Stan Hansen v Andre the Giant (NJPW 23/9/81)
--Yeah here it is, possibly my favourite puro match ever. I know some would look at Andre's name on a match and think 'eh....', but this is outstanding. Like Stan Hansen....STAN HANSEN.....playing an underdog babyface (STAN. FUCKING. HANSEN. AS AN UNDERDOG BABYFACE). The first thing I noticed was the prescence and 'aura' of Andre, is unexplainable really, but just looking at him walk to the ring here in itself is....awesome. Then he goes ahead and walks over the top rope, and boots Hansen with one of his legs on the way in. After that, it's really nothing special at all, just chops, headbutts, punches, boots, elbows, etc. But damn, they made it seem so important, and it felt like a big-time anime monster fight or something. The way Andre was yelling, there was something about his booming voice 'AHH's that made the match feel BIG. Andre's selling really helped the match feel big too, he would tilt backwards into the ropes and there would be like slight bounce on the ropes. It made him seem like a monster who could only taken down after being rocked back and forth after some hihg-impact move. Even then he didn't go down, which helped built to the LARIATOH near the ending (almost like that's the only thing that could take him down). Speaking of which, the double count-out was great, it built a whole 'nothing will contain these two from whooping each other' dynamic.Found it weird how Inoki seemed to like double count-outs with the match starting again, but yeah, I didn't mind it at all because I didn't want the match to end. And after the LARIATOH spot, Andre got knocked out of the ring and was all 'fuck it, I can't take this, I'll get my loaded elow pad'. and then the referee nearly dies when Andre Lariat's him after the ref tries to pull it off of him. Great ending, if you ask me. I don't generally like using the term 'psychology', but there was some cool psychological stuff here also, like Andre targeting the Lariat arm for a part of the match, and Hansen shoving on a camel Clutch thing after he slammed Andre. But it was mostly a BIG FIGHT atmosphere-ish match, and the crowd dug it (they went bezerk when Hansen sammed Andre). So yeah, get it, watch it, love it, but just not as much as me, because....I dont think it's possible.
--Yeah here it is, possibly my favourite puro match ever. I know some would look at Andre's name on a match and think 'eh....', but this is outstanding. Like Stan Hansen....STAN HANSEN.....playing an underdog babyface (STAN. FUCKING. HANSEN. AS AN UNDERDOG BABYFACE). The first thing I noticed was the prescence and 'aura' of Andre, is unexplainable really, but just looking at him walk to the ring here in itself is....awesome. Then he goes ahead and walks over the top rope, and boots Hansen with one of his legs on the way in. After that, it's really nothing special at all, just chops, headbutts, punches, boots, elbows, etc. But damn, they made it seem so important, and it felt like a big-time anime monster fight or something. The way Andre was yelling, there was something about his booming voice 'AHH's that made the match feel BIG. Andre's selling really helped the match feel big too, he would tilt backwards into the ropes and there would be like slight bounce on the ropes. It made him seem like a monster who could only taken down after being rocked back and forth after some hihg-impact move. Even then he didn't go down, which helped built to the LARIATOH near the ending (almost like that's the only thing that could take him down). Speaking of which, the double count-out was great, it built a whole 'nothing will contain these two from whooping each other' dynamic.Found it weird how Inoki seemed to like double count-outs with the match starting again, but yeah, I didn't mind it at all because I didn't want the match to end. And after the LARIATOH spot, Andre got knocked out of the ring and was all 'fuck it, I can't take this, I'll get my loaded elow pad'. and then the referee nearly dies when Andre Lariat's him after the ref tries to pull it off of him. Great ending, if you ask me. I don't generally like using the term 'psychology', but there was some cool psychological stuff here also, like Andre targeting the Lariat arm for a part of the match, and Hansen shoving on a camel Clutch thing after he slammed Andre. But it was mostly a BIG FIGHT atmosphere-ish match, and the crowd dug it (they went bezerk when Hansen sammed Andre). So yeah, get it, watch it, love it, but just not as much as me, because....I dont think it's possible.
Sunday, 26 June 2011
Found a lot more...
Pardon whatever spelling errors there might be..Blush smiley.
Riki Choshu v Shinya Hashimoto (NJPW 2/8/96)
--Just became one of my favourite matches ever, so damn HARD HITTING and STIFF. It had a certain atmosphere like these two were evenly matched or something and they started off with a few collar & elbows tie ups which lasted not a minute before they started belting each other with palms and chops, to say the very least it was great. I was surprised by how much these two took in, seemed like they had made some mutual agreement to not hold anything back at all because from what I remember every hit landed stupidly hard, no thigh-slapping, no dumb stomping, nothing. The lariats near the end were one of my favourite sequences of any match ever, Choshu keeps laying them in to take Hashimoto down, and Hahsimoto wasn't going down after like five of them. When I say "lay them in" I don't mean "they looked awesome" I mean he honest-to-God swung at him and hit him borderline as hard as he could. Finish wasn't long after that; Hashimoto gets ready for the last lariat and yells "CHOSHUUUU" and finally goes down. 1996 match of the year contender.
Tiger Mask v Black Tiger (NJPW 26/5/82)
--Nothing special but as far as Tiger Mask matches go it was good. First few minutes had the usual TM formula where he'd squeeze in as many spinny arm reversals and stuff as possible, and as usual his opponent sells it like a punch to the face. Black Tiger tried working the arm after that and Sayama seemingly shurgged some of it off but still managed to not ignore it and make it look hurtful.Small finishing stretch was neato with Sayama winning with a crooked looking moonsault. If you like Tiger Mask's style a lot then definitely watch this, otherwise it's nothing above "good".
Hulk Hogan v Abdullah the Butcher (NJPW 26/5/82)
--Oh man I liked this a lot. Hogan's been one of my favourites ever since I first watched him, and this is good for an example of how he can put a really good little match together. His execution isn't too sharp but it's satisfying enough. Abdullah, despite looking exhausted after the first five minutes, put a great effort in right down to the awesome post-match brawl. He did his usual routine, poking and jarring Hogan with a spiky foreign object, leaning outside to run his head into the post, etc. then Hogan retaliates by chewing parts of his head so the both of them are bleeding good. Unsurprising double count-out finish aside, I could watch this over and over, I think.
Dick Murdoch v Tatsumi Fujinami (NJPW 6/7/82)
--If Murdoch kicking the flowers given to him into the crowd isn't the best thing I've ever seen, then his grounded shots on Fujinami are. He was laying his knuckles straight into the corner of his forehead, and without trying to sound evil, it was awesome. Fujinami's a guy I can really get into as far as coming back from huge amounts of pain goes and he was tops here as usual. Really well put together match. Little surprised after everything Murdoch had done he got face reactions, though.
Tiger Mask/Kengo Kimura v The Dynamite Kid/Bret Hart (NJPW 16/7/82)
--TM and DKid are a hit and miss to me, and Bret sucks shit in Japan, so I wasn't planning on paying close attention to this at all. I got the basics of it, it looked to be almost a little version of the No Mercy 2002 tag or something (which I'm not a fan of at all), with plenty of big moves and stuff. Didn't look bad or anything but this making the NJPW 80s set over Inoki/Fujinami 8/8/88 is a real head scratcher.
I'll find more as well, you watch. Actually I know for a fact I wrote something on Fujiwara/Choshu from 87, Danielson/Strong Vendetta (which was actually my longest one ever, WarGames 92 is probably bigger, though), and more Santito stuff. I have others from earlier years but I don't plan to post them anytime soon. Another blush smiley.
Riki Choshu v Shinya Hashimoto (NJPW 2/8/96)
--Just became one of my favourite matches ever, so damn HARD HITTING and STIFF. It had a certain atmosphere like these two were evenly matched or something and they started off with a few collar & elbows tie ups which lasted not a minute before they started belting each other with palms and chops, to say the very least it was great. I was surprised by how much these two took in, seemed like they had made some mutual agreement to not hold anything back at all because from what I remember every hit landed stupidly hard, no thigh-slapping, no dumb stomping, nothing. The lariats near the end were one of my favourite sequences of any match ever, Choshu keeps laying them in to take Hashimoto down, and Hahsimoto wasn't going down after like five of them. When I say "lay them in" I don't mean "they looked awesome" I mean he honest-to-God swung at him and hit him borderline as hard as he could. Finish wasn't long after that; Hashimoto gets ready for the last lariat and yells "CHOSHUUUU" and finally goes down. 1996 match of the year contender.
Tiger Mask v Black Tiger (NJPW 26/5/82)
--Nothing special but as far as Tiger Mask matches go it was good. First few minutes had the usual TM formula where he'd squeeze in as many spinny arm reversals and stuff as possible, and as usual his opponent sells it like a punch to the face. Black Tiger tried working the arm after that and Sayama seemingly shurgged some of it off but still managed to not ignore it and make it look hurtful.Small finishing stretch was neato with Sayama winning with a crooked looking moonsault. If you like Tiger Mask's style a lot then definitely watch this, otherwise it's nothing above "good".
Hulk Hogan v Abdullah the Butcher (NJPW 26/5/82)
--Oh man I liked this a lot. Hogan's been one of my favourites ever since I first watched him, and this is good for an example of how he can put a really good little match together. His execution isn't too sharp but it's satisfying enough. Abdullah, despite looking exhausted after the first five minutes, put a great effort in right down to the awesome post-match brawl. He did his usual routine, poking and jarring Hogan with a spiky foreign object, leaning outside to run his head into the post, etc. then Hogan retaliates by chewing parts of his head so the both of them are bleeding good. Unsurprising double count-out finish aside, I could watch this over and over, I think.
Dick Murdoch v Tatsumi Fujinami (NJPW 6/7/82)
--If Murdoch kicking the flowers given to him into the crowd isn't the best thing I've ever seen, then his grounded shots on Fujinami are. He was laying his knuckles straight into the corner of his forehead, and without trying to sound evil, it was awesome. Fujinami's a guy I can really get into as far as coming back from huge amounts of pain goes and he was tops here as usual. Really well put together match. Little surprised after everything Murdoch had done he got face reactions, though.
Tiger Mask/Kengo Kimura v The Dynamite Kid/Bret Hart (NJPW 16/7/82)
--TM and DKid are a hit and miss to me, and Bret sucks shit in Japan, so I wasn't planning on paying close attention to this at all. I got the basics of it, it looked to be almost a little version of the No Mercy 2002 tag or something (which I'm not a fan of at all), with plenty of big moves and stuff. Didn't look bad or anything but this making the NJPW 80s set over Inoki/Fujinami 8/8/88 is a real head scratcher.
I'll find more as well, you watch. Actually I know for a fact I wrote something on Fujiwara/Choshu from 87, Danielson/Strong Vendetta (which was actually my longest one ever, WarGames 92 is probably bigger, though), and more Santito stuff. I have others from earlier years but I don't plan to post them anytime soon. Another blush smiley.
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