I walk in the doors and much to my surprise,
I see Hayabusa and Brother Yasshi dining in this god-forsaken dive.
1) Minoru Suzuki vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (Korakuen Hall 6/17/08) – 5
I’ve never really been a big fan of either of these guys but they put on a damn hard hitting match. There were slaps in this that made my face hurt just watching. Suzuki brought out the hard chops including one especially nasty one late in the match. Takayama’s efforts are not to go unmentioned either as his realistic selling (mainly because everything Suzuki hit him with really hurt) and his hard kicks were some genuine highlights for me. Suzuki’s selling left me with some questions as there were times were he would sell a kick but other times were he would barely sell a submission hold. The flow of the match was much like a heavyweight title fight where they felt each other out in the early going and brought out the heavy lumber late in the bout. The physicality of the hard strikes and slaps helped the overall score but I really wouldn’t try hard to find this.
2) Takeshi Morishima vs. Naomichi Marufuji (NOAH 12/2/07) – 7
This wasn’t quite the epic match I thought that it would be but it was still a great match to watch. Morishima controlled early on by bringing the power right off the bat. They went to the outside, brawled a bit, and came back in. There was a great tease of Morishima doing his patented back-drop off the apron but Marufuji fought out and landed on his feet. There was an uber-sick move toward the end where Marufuji did some sort of flipping Rock Bottom move off the rampway onto the floor. Marufuji recovered quickly and hit Morishima with a coast-to-coast dropkick for a close two in a remarkable sequence. The finishing sequence was something to propose a toast to. Marufuji’s kicks scored some close falls but ultimately a hard clothesline and two sick back-drops sealed Marufuji’s fate. Overall, a fine match with some minor issues in the beginning but the last half raised it from “marginal” to “recommended”.
3) Takuya Sugawara, Brahman Shu, & Brahman Kei vs. Brother Yasshi, Jumping Kid Okimoto, & Dick Togo – Ladder Match (El Dorado 12/29/07) – 5
Lord have mercy, this had some problems. First thought, let’s talk about the positives, of which there were few. The ladders come into play right off the start as Okimoto attempts to scale a kiddie ladder and then starts playing on a giant ladder. The whole match was a big giant brawl complete with wooden oil drums, kendo sticks, and metal signs. There weren’t really any outstaning ladder spots like you would see in the states. Togo broke the giant ladder after trying to jump onto it from the turnbuckle. At the end you see one of the Brahman hooking himself to the cable that holds the title belt and begins crawling across it in an effort to capture the belt. One thing that really bothered me was that once he was stopped by Okimoto, he just hung there until it was time to end the match. The match wasn’t as wild as I thought it would be but I enjoyed it nonetheless. If you want a wild, sloppy, Japanese brawl where two guys come to the ring dressed as KKK members with Rob Zombie music in the background, then this is the match for you.
4) Mike “Gladiator” Awesome & Terry Funk vs. Masato Tanaka & Hayabusa (FMW 9/24/96) – 4
This is part of a three-disc Awesome vs. Tanaka compilation I have. The video quality is not the best in the world (at least on the computer screen) but it’s definitely watchable. I’m not sure how to sum this one up except for the fact that it was a wild, hardcore brawl. Yep, that’ll work. It gets wild right off the bat with Awesome grabbing Hayabusa and taking him on a tour of the arena. Hey, this must be the same arena that the ladder match I just talked about was held in. I knew I recognized that sign that Hayabusa’s head is making a dent in. Funk and Tanaka trade punches and that’s about all they do during the course of the match. Awesome threw a table at Tanaka and split him open and follows that up with a powerbomb through said table. Chairs start flying courtesy of Funk but much to my dismay. A mighty, mighty Awesome Bomb finishes the bout, mercifully. Awesome and Tanaka would have much, much better matches against each other in ECW.
5) Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Don Frye (Pride FC – 6/23/02) – 6
Technically, this isn’t a pro wrestling match, it’s an MMA fight. However, the brutality and sheer awesomeness of this fight deserves to be talked about. They come out slugging with Frye scoring some shots under the left eye of Takayama as they go into the corner. Moments later, they come out slugging again with Takayama hitting a few shots but nothing that phases Frye. More corner work and the ref breaks them because Takayama’s left eye has swollen almost shut. More slugging and then back into the corner. Takayama tries a takedown but Frye blocks it into a guard. Frye wails away some more on Takayama until the ref stops it. Only a six minute fight but those were the damndest six minutes of action I’ve ever seen.
My meal is done and as I pay the bill,
I see Dick Togo diving off a ladder just for a thrill.
Friday, September 12, 2008
No Prom Date, Take 9
"Okay, so, what's my, ah.....motivation?"
"Well, you're supposed to go to the prom, but you never found a date, so you decide to stay home and watch a bunch of wrestling matches that have no cohesion whatsoever. Go!"
"...........That.....is the most asinine thing I've ever heard. That makes absolutely no logical sense how I would come to do that just because i dont' have a date to the prom, it's just ridiculously absurd."
"Okay, well, you don't have a date to the prom, you decide to watch a bunch of matches with no cohesion at all and you found 3 tubs of leftover Chinese food in the fridge...."
"Now, you're talking my language!"
1) Chris Jericho v. Shawn Michaels (Great American Bash 2008)- 7
By most people's estimations, this has been the best feud of the year and this match further stipulates that popular opinion. Not as technical as their Judgment Day match, but every bit as important. Stiff forearms start out the match, violent knees and a crazy bump on the apron by Michaels off of Jericho's springboard dropkick to the apron. The chemistry between the two is so good and so in sync that even Beeker could win a Nobel Prize with it. There's a good deal of reversals and other technical spots but they seem so rigid and as just a setup for the hate filled gorefest that it's all leading up to; the anger is so palpable it's hanging in the air over the ring; in fact, Gorilla Monsoon's ghost was hanging from the rafters with those so-called fans he always saw there and they were bouncing off of it like a trampoline. Michaels hits a clothesline and Jericho hits a enzuiguri that are both the hardest shot they can get off. Jericho goes over the ropes from a hip toss onto Lance Cade like a Hollywood stunt double, followed by an HBK moonsault from the top ropes out to both men, who don't catch him at all. Michaels had to have kicked himself in the ass for skipping practice at the Texas Wrestling Academy the day he was supposed to go over that drill with the students just to rent one of those jungle themed hotel rooms and take his wife there to play "Find the Banana."
When Shawn's eye gets busted open, the match takes a sick turn, as Jericho has never acted better (despite his quite wooden performance in the Android movie he did for Sci-Fi) because he's shocked at Michaels massive blade job and then he relishes it and just works it over and over again, with headbutts, straight punches and kicks. HBK locks in a pretty pronounced crossface as a last ditch effort but to no avail and Jericho finally locks him up in an MMA style cradle and just punches the bloody surface that used to be Michael's face until the ref stops it. One of the more visceral matches in some time- you could feel the anguish of Michaels and the bloody respite of Jericho as the feud rages on in a grandiose manner. This is so far from the kind of match you would expect from them it's definitley worth seeing.
2) Vordell Walker v. Masada (FIP Bring the Pain, 03/26/05)- 3
This is not the Masada I thought it was, I was expecting the short Japanese freak with glam rock face paint, this was around 7 minutes, I liked that it started out with the feeling out process and some harmless mat work with the arm, Walker had a blank expression on his face as I'm sure he did through most of his training school, this was pretty low key, even Masada's front flip plancha had such little impact an old school pillow fight would have been considered more hardcore. For grunge rock indy scuzz, Masada wasn't half bad. The finish was out of nowhere and the wrong man won- Walker showed really nothing at all in this match and his opponent's shoulders weren't even down for the count.
3) Misterioso/ Depredador/ Inferno v. X-treme Tiger/ King Dragon/ Sinestro(WWO) - 2
I would have much rather seen the purple skin, yellow ring wearing baddie than this 6 pack of woeful lucha losers! Tiger was basically wearing Rey Jr.'s mask just with some glue-on fur around the cheeks, but I did like how he started the match riding Misterioso's waist like a high school wrestler. He also has a pretty outstanding dropkick. The first fall went by quickly with a "bloated toad" splash (an ugly frog). What is about all heel Luchadores and they can all punch really well, like an enemy from Double Dragon? Just that straight punch to the jaw, most of their rope work looked pretty amateurish though. I'm noticing shoulders not being down on pinfalls a lot now- are refs that insignificant that they can't even be allowed to do their job anymore? can we instill a little bit of realism back into this sport? I know that question is hard to take seriously considering it's love of horny midgets, preganant 80 year old women, necrophilia and using D-list celebrities, but come on people?
Ringside brawl starts 2nd fall and culminates minutes later after the heels are in a Kaientai-DX pose when Inferno comes off the top with a headscissors which would have been cool had he not missed grabbing the head! The 3rd caida continues the tradition of sloppy brawling as half the participants disappear into the rowdy crowd- Depredador is an Los Angeles Homie if Ive ever seen one, and he's shitty- he takes a dropkick but openly no sells it to tell the guy to clothesline him over the ropes- This was sloppy Lucha at it's finest.
4) "Soccer Hooligan" William Mackelvaney v. JC Digits (EWF)- 3
First off, let me say that both of these guys are close, personal friends of mine and in no way is this review meant as a personal attack of any kind, merely another expansion into another area of this vast landscape we call professional wrestling. Now, on with it: The first thing that catches my attention is the Hooligan is wearing a sharp polo and looks more like a part time employee at the GAP than a soccer player. Digits makes Mack's strength look pliable, taking bumps across the ring. Mackelvaney has a lot of emotion in his sells and is taking some ugly bumps, including falling face first after being hit with a back elbow. His ground work needs, well, work but he has a hellacious kick that is sold well. The crowd is so sparse and paper thin and they don't really seem to be into it except for a few moments. Both guys are usually pretty vocal but neither are really calling out to the audience as much. A brawling section seems more like an afterthought but some bogus cameraman misses the post shot and I think i'm watching Impact except Don West's shirt isn't blinding me. Okay, these bumps are getting worse; he's falling sideways like someone shot a cannon at his leg. I like that they both play up their frustration at getting a victory and some of it feels like they are trying to stretch the match out. They kept it simple, instead of trying to be just another overbooked indy match and the finish looked great (Koji Klutch out of nowhere) and it was clean. Guess it's back to the pub with ya, Mackelvaney.
5) Edge v. Ric Flair (TLC Match, Raw, 01/16/06)- 6
This match is purely 3 bumps and little else; Flair has given up on selling anything but the major moves here, as any punches or transitions are purely moves to get him to the next spot and his body looks like a candle that's been burning for 12 hours straight. Flair's chops are still completely legendary though Edge never really learned effective striking. There's some big mishaps; the brawl over the railing into the crowd is poorly done, then you have Edge climbing the ladder to come off with a dropkick, that Flair just barely steps out ofthe way of (while Edge waits for him to do it), but then Flair flops to the mat anyways- WTF? So, the 3 bumps- Edge splashes Flair outside through a table from the top of the ladder, Flair takes a meaty superplex from the top of the ladder to the mat( love that spot) and Edge goes backwards from the ladder outside through a table in a very dangerous spot. You also have Flair's daughter Ashley sitting front row with some of her UNC buddies, cheering on her dad, which really ups the emotion quotient. Overall, though, i can't recommend this as required viewing but those 3 bumps alone do belong on many highlight reels for along time to come even if the overall structure of the match is pretty damn sad.
6) Masato Yoshino v. Anthony W. Mori (Dragon Gate Infinity, May '08)- 5
I rag on Yoshino a lot, but it's pretty cool because he's like a completely different style in singles than in tag team, he can be very deliberate and calculating in singles competition. Mori looks like a joke wrestler but Yoshino can hang in the silly category- Mori pulls off THE Sickest Dragon Suplex this side of the Rising Sun and a Kickout! Great spot. The strong style chop fest w/ clotheslines just doesn't have the same effect when the guys doing it are only 100 lbs. each. They have good chemistry though and look like they know where the other guy is always going. Yoshino's finish is nifty (kind of a version of Mistico's) but he does it with little to no impact- I mean it's an armbreak, more or less and he puts no emphasis on breaking the arm! He has a cool wristlock that he puts on with his feet- never seen that before. Some idiot interferes and uses a storage tote to attack Yoshino with, that was dumb. The finish came after an awesome series of cradles by both men and a surprise win. This was hit or miss and now seeing the time, I think this was clipped as well.
"Well, you're supposed to go to the prom, but you never found a date, so you decide to stay home and watch a bunch of wrestling matches that have no cohesion whatsoever. Go!"
"...........That.....is the most asinine thing I've ever heard. That makes absolutely no logical sense how I would come to do that just because i dont' have a date to the prom, it's just ridiculously absurd."
"Okay, well, you don't have a date to the prom, you decide to watch a bunch of matches with no cohesion at all and you found 3 tubs of leftover Chinese food in the fridge...."
"Now, you're talking my language!"
1) Chris Jericho v. Shawn Michaels (Great American Bash 2008)- 7
By most people's estimations, this has been the best feud of the year and this match further stipulates that popular opinion. Not as technical as their Judgment Day match, but every bit as important. Stiff forearms start out the match, violent knees and a crazy bump on the apron by Michaels off of Jericho's springboard dropkick to the apron. The chemistry between the two is so good and so in sync that even Beeker could win a Nobel Prize with it. There's a good deal of reversals and other technical spots but they seem so rigid and as just a setup for the hate filled gorefest that it's all leading up to; the anger is so palpable it's hanging in the air over the ring; in fact, Gorilla Monsoon's ghost was hanging from the rafters with those so-called fans he always saw there and they were bouncing off of it like a trampoline. Michaels hits a clothesline and Jericho hits a enzuiguri that are both the hardest shot they can get off. Jericho goes over the ropes from a hip toss onto Lance Cade like a Hollywood stunt double, followed by an HBK moonsault from the top ropes out to both men, who don't catch him at all. Michaels had to have kicked himself in the ass for skipping practice at the Texas Wrestling Academy the day he was supposed to go over that drill with the students just to rent one of those jungle themed hotel rooms and take his wife there to play "Find the Banana."
When Shawn's eye gets busted open, the match takes a sick turn, as Jericho has never acted better (despite his quite wooden performance in the Android movie he did for Sci-Fi) because he's shocked at Michaels massive blade job and then he relishes it and just works it over and over again, with headbutts, straight punches and kicks. HBK locks in a pretty pronounced crossface as a last ditch effort but to no avail and Jericho finally locks him up in an MMA style cradle and just punches the bloody surface that used to be Michael's face until the ref stops it. One of the more visceral matches in some time- you could feel the anguish of Michaels and the bloody respite of Jericho as the feud rages on in a grandiose manner. This is so far from the kind of match you would expect from them it's definitley worth seeing.
2) Vordell Walker v. Masada (FIP Bring the Pain, 03/26/05)- 3
This is not the Masada I thought it was, I was expecting the short Japanese freak with glam rock face paint, this was around 7 minutes, I liked that it started out with the feeling out process and some harmless mat work with the arm, Walker had a blank expression on his face as I'm sure he did through most of his training school, this was pretty low key, even Masada's front flip plancha had such little impact an old school pillow fight would have been considered more hardcore. For grunge rock indy scuzz, Masada wasn't half bad. The finish was out of nowhere and the wrong man won- Walker showed really nothing at all in this match and his opponent's shoulders weren't even down for the count.
3) Misterioso/ Depredador/ Inferno v. X-treme Tiger/ King Dragon/ Sinestro(WWO) - 2
I would have much rather seen the purple skin, yellow ring wearing baddie than this 6 pack of woeful lucha losers! Tiger was basically wearing Rey Jr.'s mask just with some glue-on fur around the cheeks, but I did like how he started the match riding Misterioso's waist like a high school wrestler. He also has a pretty outstanding dropkick. The first fall went by quickly with a "bloated toad" splash (an ugly frog). What is about all heel Luchadores and they can all punch really well, like an enemy from Double Dragon? Just that straight punch to the jaw, most of their rope work looked pretty amateurish though. I'm noticing shoulders not being down on pinfalls a lot now- are refs that insignificant that they can't even be allowed to do their job anymore? can we instill a little bit of realism back into this sport? I know that question is hard to take seriously considering it's love of horny midgets, preganant 80 year old women, necrophilia and using D-list celebrities, but come on people?
Ringside brawl starts 2nd fall and culminates minutes later after the heels are in a Kaientai-DX pose when Inferno comes off the top with a headscissors which would have been cool had he not missed grabbing the head! The 3rd caida continues the tradition of sloppy brawling as half the participants disappear into the rowdy crowd- Depredador is an Los Angeles Homie if Ive ever seen one, and he's shitty- he takes a dropkick but openly no sells it to tell the guy to clothesline him over the ropes- This was sloppy Lucha at it's finest.
4) "Soccer Hooligan" William Mackelvaney v. JC Digits (EWF)- 3
First off, let me say that both of these guys are close, personal friends of mine and in no way is this review meant as a personal attack of any kind, merely another expansion into another area of this vast landscape we call professional wrestling. Now, on with it: The first thing that catches my attention is the Hooligan is wearing a sharp polo and looks more like a part time employee at the GAP than a soccer player. Digits makes Mack's strength look pliable, taking bumps across the ring. Mackelvaney has a lot of emotion in his sells and is taking some ugly bumps, including falling face first after being hit with a back elbow. His ground work needs, well, work but he has a hellacious kick that is sold well. The crowd is so sparse and paper thin and they don't really seem to be into it except for a few moments. Both guys are usually pretty vocal but neither are really calling out to the audience as much. A brawling section seems more like an afterthought but some bogus cameraman misses the post shot and I think i'm watching Impact except Don West's shirt isn't blinding me. Okay, these bumps are getting worse; he's falling sideways like someone shot a cannon at his leg. I like that they both play up their frustration at getting a victory and some of it feels like they are trying to stretch the match out. They kept it simple, instead of trying to be just another overbooked indy match and the finish looked great (Koji Klutch out of nowhere) and it was clean. Guess it's back to the pub with ya, Mackelvaney.
5) Edge v. Ric Flair (TLC Match, Raw, 01/16/06)- 6
This match is purely 3 bumps and little else; Flair has given up on selling anything but the major moves here, as any punches or transitions are purely moves to get him to the next spot and his body looks like a candle that's been burning for 12 hours straight. Flair's chops are still completely legendary though Edge never really learned effective striking. There's some big mishaps; the brawl over the railing into the crowd is poorly done, then you have Edge climbing the ladder to come off with a dropkick, that Flair just barely steps out ofthe way of (while Edge waits for him to do it), but then Flair flops to the mat anyways- WTF? So, the 3 bumps- Edge splashes Flair outside through a table from the top of the ladder, Flair takes a meaty superplex from the top of the ladder to the mat( love that spot) and Edge goes backwards from the ladder outside through a table in a very dangerous spot. You also have Flair's daughter Ashley sitting front row with some of her UNC buddies, cheering on her dad, which really ups the emotion quotient. Overall, though, i can't recommend this as required viewing but those 3 bumps alone do belong on many highlight reels for along time to come even if the overall structure of the match is pretty damn sad.
6) Masato Yoshino v. Anthony W. Mori (Dragon Gate Infinity, May '08)- 5
I rag on Yoshino a lot, but it's pretty cool because he's like a completely different style in singles than in tag team, he can be very deliberate and calculating in singles competition. Mori looks like a joke wrestler but Yoshino can hang in the silly category- Mori pulls off THE Sickest Dragon Suplex this side of the Rising Sun and a Kickout! Great spot. The strong style chop fest w/ clotheslines just doesn't have the same effect when the guys doing it are only 100 lbs. each. They have good chemistry though and look like they know where the other guy is always going. Yoshino's finish is nifty (kind of a version of Mistico's) but he does it with little to no impact- I mean it's an armbreak, more or less and he puts no emphasis on breaking the arm! He has a cool wristlock that he puts on with his feet- never seen that before. Some idiot interferes and uses a storage tote to attack Yoshino with, that was dumb. The finish came after an awesome series of cradles by both men and a surprise win. This was hit or miss and now seeing the time, I think this was clipped as well.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
NHO Hall of Fame Series Presents: Barry Windham Vol. 2
1) Barry v. Ric Flair (NWA Title Match, CWF TV)- 8
It was strange but Flair came out to Genesis instead of the 2001 theme song. He cut a hilarious promo before the match where some former wrestler named Buddy Colt was sucking his ass big time. Windham starts control with technical game and it looks good. He locks in a Boston Crab which can be a son of a bitch if you really think about it. The ropes are extremely loose as Flair almost decapitates himself going into the ropes. His chops are just as legendary as ever but Windham answers with these awesome open handed strikes; he's also sporting a most bodacious 80's porn stache! Flair can sell anything and make it believable, he lets out that scream, whips his hair back and bumps till you believe- the Florida crowd is absolutely coming unglued and gives this match a great atmosphere, especially considering it's for the belt. Something I noticed here is that more so in the 70's and 80's they used submission moves as the close calls of the match more so than near fall pins with high impact moves; they still have near falls but they squeeze the drama out of the submission holds plus use them to rest and put some time into the match.
Flair takes over and just runs the ring and Barry, to his credit, is a superb face in peril even though he seems nearly double Flair's size. Flair moves about the ring with utmost confidence, a little thing that always made me seperate, in my head, the real pros from everyone else; the guys who looked like they already had the next ten moves ready to go. Windham hits a crazy flying lariat that looks like 2 bald eagle running nose to nose high in the sky, because both men come crashing to the mat and hard. Windham had been pretty aggressive early on working the leg, but Flair's the master and he starts in on Barry's leg about 25 minutes in. The announcing, on a sidebar, was quite superb- Gordon Solie on lead commentary but Mike Graham was surprisingly effective, discussing strategy and giving a unique point of view being a wrestler (if you want to call him that) himself. Flair busts out a mushroom stomp! and I love his hard, short jabs and he is bouncing them off of Windham's jaw like Kobe no doubt bounced his nutsack off of some Chinese high school girls last month in Beijing.
Both guys are sweating like those guys in the Gatorade commercials and then there's a ref bump into Flair, which he completely ignores. Windham comes off the top with a sloppy ass dropkick and then they both go sailing over the top in a crazy car crash which leads to the jerk off finish of a double countout. Real disappointment after over 40 minutes of solid action to go with ending.
2) Barry/ Mike Rotundo v. The Fabulous Ones (AWA Wrestle Rock 86)- 4
The Fabs have fans; I'm not one of them. They both went onto to do better work in the future, Lane as part of the HOF Midnights and Keirn as the chaw spitting Skinner. The whole pretty boy thing doesn't work when you look like a homeless guy with suspenders on. Lane's superkick always goes to the balls- i wonder if people hated selling that thing. Rotundo seems to enjoy stiffing Keirn with forearms and I concur. Windham and Rotundo doing a double dropkick is pretty impressive. The Fabs aren't very good heels, as soon as they get the advantage they work a front facelock, killing the heat they had. Windham got kicked in the back and sold it like he was shot with a paintball, doing this silly jump and falling down on his side. The finish made no sense; Windham, the illegal man, comes in with a flying forearm and just pins the guy- this wasn't very good.
3) Barry v. Terry Funk (Puerto Rico)- 6
Is there anything more soothing than the sound of Hugo Savinovich's voice? What a strange match this is- Funk is doing his usual crazy routine, taking mulitple bumps outside, scaring fans, throwing chairs in the ring. OH SHIT- He turned it up a notch and gives Barry a piledriver on the concrete and this is Puerto Rico so you know there's no damn mats outside and there's probably traces of heroin residing on the ground. And another one! Yes, Windham and Funk are good brawlers and I love when Barry throws the fucking babyface routine in the trash and takes Funk out to the cement and piledrives his crazy Ass- now that's Puerto Rico. They do a couple good near falls and then the finish hits where Windham thinks he won but the ref waves it off and Funk picks up the win. I love these odd matches that you never knew existed.
4) Barry/ Ron Garvin v. The Russians (NWA Pro- US Tag TeamTitle Match- 12/09/86)- 4
Well, this is a strange team- Ivan is a tough bastard, even 20 years after his prime. Barry looks smoother than Anna Kornikova's ass but Garvin and Ivan can't get on the same page. Barry hits a nice chain of suplexes on the future Smash- then Krusher. Ivan, in an unintentionally funny spot, nearly shatters his knee cap missing a knee drop from the top. The crowd is really hot for Windham during the final moments, we have a chain shot that Punky Brewster could have kicked out of and a sunset flip with someone else's god damn shoulders up! This is getting old. new champs.
5) Barry/ Ron Garvin v. The Midnight Express (Eaton/ Condrey)- 5
God, Cornette on commentary, spouting off 80's manager rhetoric. The thing that works so well about the Midnights and has made them one of the greatest tag teams of all time is their fluid motion throughout a match, whether it's with back and forth tagging, offense, or both men taking bumps for their opponents, it's just something that has resonated in all of their work, with most of the incarnations. Garvin isn't selling very much, he looks like someone absently spit at him while having a conversation every time he gets hit. Eaton has one of the sweetest punches in the biz. Garvin finally gives some aftersell on this over-extended beat down of him where he writhes on the mat, gasping for air like a goldfish out of it's bowl. The Midnights beating on Garvin went on forever and really lost my interest in an otherwise exciting tag match, it's almost like they were trying to kill time, yeah, I was right- 20 min. draw.
It was strange but Flair came out to Genesis instead of the 2001 theme song. He cut a hilarious promo before the match where some former wrestler named Buddy Colt was sucking his ass big time. Windham starts control with technical game and it looks good. He locks in a Boston Crab which can be a son of a bitch if you really think about it. The ropes are extremely loose as Flair almost decapitates himself going into the ropes. His chops are just as legendary as ever but Windham answers with these awesome open handed strikes; he's also sporting a most bodacious 80's porn stache! Flair can sell anything and make it believable, he lets out that scream, whips his hair back and bumps till you believe- the Florida crowd is absolutely coming unglued and gives this match a great atmosphere, especially considering it's for the belt. Something I noticed here is that more so in the 70's and 80's they used submission moves as the close calls of the match more so than near fall pins with high impact moves; they still have near falls but they squeeze the drama out of the submission holds plus use them to rest and put some time into the match.
Flair takes over and just runs the ring and Barry, to his credit, is a superb face in peril even though he seems nearly double Flair's size. Flair moves about the ring with utmost confidence, a little thing that always made me seperate, in my head, the real pros from everyone else; the guys who looked like they already had the next ten moves ready to go. Windham hits a crazy flying lariat that looks like 2 bald eagle running nose to nose high in the sky, because both men come crashing to the mat and hard. Windham had been pretty aggressive early on working the leg, but Flair's the master and he starts in on Barry's leg about 25 minutes in. The announcing, on a sidebar, was quite superb- Gordon Solie on lead commentary but Mike Graham was surprisingly effective, discussing strategy and giving a unique point of view being a wrestler (if you want to call him that) himself. Flair busts out a mushroom stomp! and I love his hard, short jabs and he is bouncing them off of Windham's jaw like Kobe no doubt bounced his nutsack off of some Chinese high school girls last month in Beijing.
Both guys are sweating like those guys in the Gatorade commercials and then there's a ref bump into Flair, which he completely ignores. Windham comes off the top with a sloppy ass dropkick and then they both go sailing over the top in a crazy car crash which leads to the jerk off finish of a double countout. Real disappointment after over 40 minutes of solid action to go with ending.
2) Barry/ Mike Rotundo v. The Fabulous Ones (AWA Wrestle Rock 86)- 4
The Fabs have fans; I'm not one of them. They both went onto to do better work in the future, Lane as part of the HOF Midnights and Keirn as the chaw spitting Skinner. The whole pretty boy thing doesn't work when you look like a homeless guy with suspenders on. Lane's superkick always goes to the balls- i wonder if people hated selling that thing. Rotundo seems to enjoy stiffing Keirn with forearms and I concur. Windham and Rotundo doing a double dropkick is pretty impressive. The Fabs aren't very good heels, as soon as they get the advantage they work a front facelock, killing the heat they had. Windham got kicked in the back and sold it like he was shot with a paintball, doing this silly jump and falling down on his side. The finish made no sense; Windham, the illegal man, comes in with a flying forearm and just pins the guy- this wasn't very good.
3) Barry v. Terry Funk (Puerto Rico)- 6
Is there anything more soothing than the sound of Hugo Savinovich's voice? What a strange match this is- Funk is doing his usual crazy routine, taking mulitple bumps outside, scaring fans, throwing chairs in the ring. OH SHIT- He turned it up a notch and gives Barry a piledriver on the concrete and this is Puerto Rico so you know there's no damn mats outside and there's probably traces of heroin residing on the ground. And another one! Yes, Windham and Funk are good brawlers and I love when Barry throws the fucking babyface routine in the trash and takes Funk out to the cement and piledrives his crazy Ass- now that's Puerto Rico. They do a couple good near falls and then the finish hits where Windham thinks he won but the ref waves it off and Funk picks up the win. I love these odd matches that you never knew existed.
4) Barry/ Ron Garvin v. The Russians (NWA Pro- US Tag TeamTitle Match- 12/09/86)- 4
Well, this is a strange team- Ivan is a tough bastard, even 20 years after his prime. Barry looks smoother than Anna Kornikova's ass but Garvin and Ivan can't get on the same page. Barry hits a nice chain of suplexes on the future Smash- then Krusher. Ivan, in an unintentionally funny spot, nearly shatters his knee cap missing a knee drop from the top. The crowd is really hot for Windham during the final moments, we have a chain shot that Punky Brewster could have kicked out of and a sunset flip with someone else's god damn shoulders up! This is getting old. new champs.
5) Barry/ Ron Garvin v. The Midnight Express (Eaton/ Condrey)- 5
God, Cornette on commentary, spouting off 80's manager rhetoric. The thing that works so well about the Midnights and has made them one of the greatest tag teams of all time is their fluid motion throughout a match, whether it's with back and forth tagging, offense, or both men taking bumps for their opponents, it's just something that has resonated in all of their work, with most of the incarnations. Garvin isn't selling very much, he looks like someone absently spit at him while having a conversation every time he gets hit. Eaton has one of the sweetest punches in the biz. Garvin finally gives some aftersell on this over-extended beat down of him where he writhes on the mat, gasping for air like a goldfish out of it's bowl. The Midnights beating on Garvin went on forever and really lost my interest in an otherwise exciting tag match, it's almost like they were trying to kill time, yeah, I was right- 20 min. draw.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Audio Review: WWE Unforgiven '08
Click here to listen to our audio review of WWE Unforgiven ’08 where you’ll hear our opinions of the show, both good and bad, including refernces to Super Leather, Lance Cade as a Aeropostle salesclerk, Shawn Michaels' wife’s dick lips, title changes, that "new Haku guy", and so much more. Enjoy!
Sunday, September 7, 2008
WWF @ MSG- 09/30/89
Announce Team: Tony Schiavone/ Hillbilly Jim
1) The Genius v. Koko B Ware- 3
For a midcard range guy, Koko is hugely popular with this crowd. Genius does his normal schtick with the poem then the prancing and cartwheeling, and the crowd of course follows suit and boos the shit out of him. As for the match, decent opener, Genius kept the pace slowed and worked over Koko's shoulder for most of the match with the "Birdman" getting little spurts of offense in. Pretty basic stuff. Koko sold big on a stun gun late in the match. One odd thing I noticed was at the base of Koko's neck where his nifty hair do ended (dyed yellow & blue like Frankie's feathers) there was some paint covering his neck, as if the barber went a little crazy and shaved some of the dyed hair off. Don't remember a time when the neck paint caught on as a form of fashion, but i'll do my research....
2) "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka v. Honky Tonk Man- 4
This was an odd mix of styles. Can anyone tell me what those little finger chops Snuka does are? He crinkles his hands and then like chops people? That's his basic strike that he uses? Has he always done this odd attack or I'm just blind? Anyways, Honky's offense was just as limited, down to punches, kicks and the occasional knee in the breadbasket. Hillbilly was hooting and hollering at Jimmy Hart for all his "nonsense" on the outside. Snuka sold surprisingly well to the midsection and the crowd came unglued after he went up for the superfly splash; although it was premature because he dropped a headbutt from the top instead.
3) Mr. Perfect v. Red Rooster- 4
HA! This match makes me think of the Legends Roundtable where Michael Hayes burns Foley when Foley talks about Taylor getting the call from WWE and being put into two possible gimmicks: Perfect & Rooster and Foley says he thinks Taylor would have been a good Perfect, to which Hayes replies " Yeah, but do you want to hit a single or a home run? Henning's the home run"
Anyways, onto the match- Hennig has a punch like Andrew Dice Clay in "Brainsmashers: A Love Story." Taylor is always a guy people swing off his nuts but I just don't see it. He does a nice sunset flip sequence with Henning, but come on, he's working with Henning! Beautiful pinpoint dropkick by Henning, wish our Patriot Missles from the Gulf War in '91 were that accurate. The finish came off really well and was a clean heel win with scientific move (small package) which was one of the unique properties the Mr. Perfect character had and that was he was a better wrestler than most of his opponents and rarely had to cheat.
4) Mark Young v. Barry Horowitz- 3
Not familiar with Young, he was wearing sequined Red, white & blue trunks, sort of like a poor white man's Apollo Creed. He had good instincts and pulled off some impressive arieal moves for the late 80's and Horowitz did a decent job of getting frustrated. This just suffered from lack of emotion- crowd was sort of into it and I think some of that falls on Horowitz, who could have put it over more and Young, who just seemed inexperienced. But the pace worked and the finish was surprising.
5) Ultimate Warrior v. Andre the Giant- 3
SHOOT! SHOOT! Shoot, Shoot, Shoot! I was dying for all the boys in the back to come out to the ring and surround it and chant that, like in a high school hallway when two guys started scrapping. The match, not going well to begin with as Warrior's offense was so shoddy and sloppy and Andre sold decently for him for a while but I'm thinking he got fed up. At one point, Andre was on his knees and Warrior went for a boot but Andre didn't feel like selling it so he grabbed his foot and they both fell forward with Warrior falling through the 2nd and bottom rope and Andre almost going with him. They were pawing at each other like two baby bear cubs caught in a net. Andre cracked Warrior in the jaw when they got back in and i laughed my ass off. Damn, i want to rank this higher because this would be a nice, fun treat to watch but it was so badly put together. Heenan was cursing visably on the outside.
6) Ronnie Garvin v. Greg Valentine- 6
This was the bubble gum center of the Tootsie Pop. Garvin's brick like punches and Valentine's blistering chops were sprinkeled throughout this tasty treat like a good cummin and spice is on a pumpkin mousse! Valentine was wearing a catcher's shin guard and supposedly that helped his figure four become deadlier because they teased it a lot. There were some really good near falls that helped built to the end but once they got there, they kept going. You could see both men physically ran out of gas and I could have shaved maybe 2-3 minutes out right before the end to really leave no room for error. But, overall solid performances from both men- this seemed like a hell of a feud.
7) "Rowdy" Roddy Piper v. "Ravishing" Rick Rude- 4
Piper is a great main eventer for MSG- the crowd loves him, they don't require technical masterpieces, hell, they prefer not to have them over a fan brawl with lots of crowd invovlement. Rude was in asbolutely phenomenal shape and was having foot stomping madness laying in forearms on "Hot Rod," maybe there was a Riverdance talent scout in the audience. Piper was heated and really took it to Rude, which prompted Schiavone to awkwardly blurt out, "Write this one down in your diaries!" Huh?....is that what you meant to say? I wonder if Schiavone had his sitting on his lap, and around the back of his chair was a "Macho Man" bookbag! Man, these guys worked a hell of a sequence together right after the middle stuff with all the ground work done, where it culminated in Piper hitting an Aja Kong backfist- Hells yeah, represent! This ended in DQ, i believe and was fun for what it was but these guys made no bones about their performance they knew they were on last, so they just ripped it up and had fun with it. Kudos.
I love MSG shows and this was no exception, nothing on here was too great, save for the Garvin-Valentine match, but i'm sure they've had better in their feud. Schiavone did a commendable job, even if he had to wrangle in Jim's strange redneck comments and called the matches as if they were legitimate athletic contests, which I enjoyed.
1) The Genius v. Koko B Ware- 3
For a midcard range guy, Koko is hugely popular with this crowd. Genius does his normal schtick with the poem then the prancing and cartwheeling, and the crowd of course follows suit and boos the shit out of him. As for the match, decent opener, Genius kept the pace slowed and worked over Koko's shoulder for most of the match with the "Birdman" getting little spurts of offense in. Pretty basic stuff. Koko sold big on a stun gun late in the match. One odd thing I noticed was at the base of Koko's neck where his nifty hair do ended (dyed yellow & blue like Frankie's feathers) there was some paint covering his neck, as if the barber went a little crazy and shaved some of the dyed hair off. Don't remember a time when the neck paint caught on as a form of fashion, but i'll do my research....
2) "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka v. Honky Tonk Man- 4
This was an odd mix of styles. Can anyone tell me what those little finger chops Snuka does are? He crinkles his hands and then like chops people? That's his basic strike that he uses? Has he always done this odd attack or I'm just blind? Anyways, Honky's offense was just as limited, down to punches, kicks and the occasional knee in the breadbasket. Hillbilly was hooting and hollering at Jimmy Hart for all his "nonsense" on the outside. Snuka sold surprisingly well to the midsection and the crowd came unglued after he went up for the superfly splash; although it was premature because he dropped a headbutt from the top instead.
3) Mr. Perfect v. Red Rooster- 4
HA! This match makes me think of the Legends Roundtable where Michael Hayes burns Foley when Foley talks about Taylor getting the call from WWE and being put into two possible gimmicks: Perfect & Rooster and Foley says he thinks Taylor would have been a good Perfect, to which Hayes replies " Yeah, but do you want to hit a single or a home run? Henning's the home run"
Anyways, onto the match- Hennig has a punch like Andrew Dice Clay in "Brainsmashers: A Love Story." Taylor is always a guy people swing off his nuts but I just don't see it. He does a nice sunset flip sequence with Henning, but come on, he's working with Henning! Beautiful pinpoint dropkick by Henning, wish our Patriot Missles from the Gulf War in '91 were that accurate. The finish came off really well and was a clean heel win with scientific move (small package) which was one of the unique properties the Mr. Perfect character had and that was he was a better wrestler than most of his opponents and rarely had to cheat.
4) Mark Young v. Barry Horowitz- 3
Not familiar with Young, he was wearing sequined Red, white & blue trunks, sort of like a poor white man's Apollo Creed. He had good instincts and pulled off some impressive arieal moves for the late 80's and Horowitz did a decent job of getting frustrated. This just suffered from lack of emotion- crowd was sort of into it and I think some of that falls on Horowitz, who could have put it over more and Young, who just seemed inexperienced. But the pace worked and the finish was surprising.
5) Ultimate Warrior v. Andre the Giant- 3
SHOOT! SHOOT! Shoot, Shoot, Shoot! I was dying for all the boys in the back to come out to the ring and surround it and chant that, like in a high school hallway when two guys started scrapping. The match, not going well to begin with as Warrior's offense was so shoddy and sloppy and Andre sold decently for him for a while but I'm thinking he got fed up. At one point, Andre was on his knees and Warrior went for a boot but Andre didn't feel like selling it so he grabbed his foot and they both fell forward with Warrior falling through the 2nd and bottom rope and Andre almost going with him. They were pawing at each other like two baby bear cubs caught in a net. Andre cracked Warrior in the jaw when they got back in and i laughed my ass off. Damn, i want to rank this higher because this would be a nice, fun treat to watch but it was so badly put together. Heenan was cursing visably on the outside.
6) Ronnie Garvin v. Greg Valentine- 6
This was the bubble gum center of the Tootsie Pop. Garvin's brick like punches and Valentine's blistering chops were sprinkeled throughout this tasty treat like a good cummin and spice is on a pumpkin mousse! Valentine was wearing a catcher's shin guard and supposedly that helped his figure four become deadlier because they teased it a lot. There were some really good near falls that helped built to the end but once they got there, they kept going. You could see both men physically ran out of gas and I could have shaved maybe 2-3 minutes out right before the end to really leave no room for error. But, overall solid performances from both men- this seemed like a hell of a feud.
7) "Rowdy" Roddy Piper v. "Ravishing" Rick Rude- 4
Piper is a great main eventer for MSG- the crowd loves him, they don't require technical masterpieces, hell, they prefer not to have them over a fan brawl with lots of crowd invovlement. Rude was in asbolutely phenomenal shape and was having foot stomping madness laying in forearms on "Hot Rod," maybe there was a Riverdance talent scout in the audience. Piper was heated and really took it to Rude, which prompted Schiavone to awkwardly blurt out, "Write this one down in your diaries!" Huh?....is that what you meant to say? I wonder if Schiavone had his sitting on his lap, and around the back of his chair was a "Macho Man" bookbag! Man, these guys worked a hell of a sequence together right after the middle stuff with all the ground work done, where it culminated in Piper hitting an Aja Kong backfist- Hells yeah, represent! This ended in DQ, i believe and was fun for what it was but these guys made no bones about their performance they knew they were on last, so they just ripped it up and had fun with it. Kudos.
I love MSG shows and this was no exception, nothing on here was too great, save for the Garvin-Valentine match, but i'm sure they've had better in their feud. Schiavone did a commendable job, even if he had to wrangle in Jim's strange redneck comments and called the matches as if they were legitimate athletic contests, which I enjoyed.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
I Bet He's Got a Nice Headlock #1
Juggling work, attending college at two different campuses, running Review the World, and trying to maintain my marriage with a loving wife while I’m constantly distracted by things like my recent acquisition of the entire 94-episode run of She-Ra: Princess of Power, leaves little time to watch my beloved wrestling, and even less time to actually write about it. So, I’m going to condense what I’ve managed to watch in the last week or so into one, stream of consciousness rambling dialogue.
I started the five-disc UWFi set I snagged from Adam. With as much wrestling footage as Adam owns, co-creator and writer Jessie and I often kid that he likes collecting it more than he does watching it. I’m really looking forward to watching this compilation, more so than I’ve been for anything else wrestling-related in recent memory. I watched the first match off the first disc this morning before class. Yuko Miyato and Tatsuo Takano just beating the hell out of each other, it ended up being a draw, but I still felt satisfied even without a clear victor. In one match it encapsulated all that I love about UWFi, with a bloody nose, cripplingly stiff strikes, and intelligent mat work.
We watched Great American Bash ’08 over at Jessie’s house Tuesday evening. Blog contributors Didge and Adam stopped by briefly, and Jessie got preoccupied caring for his adorable daughter, so I was the only one that got to fully focus on the show. My opinion? Not bad. It seemed, for the most part, to be pretty focused on the wrestling. The first few matches featured strong performances by Festus, Finlay, and Shelton. The ECW match was actively bad, and the women’s match was also forgettable, but the second-half of the show ratcheted back up. The Jericho/Michaels bloody brawl was great fuel to their ongoing epic feud. Punk and Batista was surprisingly inoffensive, although I’d rather see Punk in FIP working Kahagis but that’s just me. The NYC street fight, or whatever it was billed as, between Cena and Bradshaw was kind of goofy. Sure, there were a couple stiff shots, like Cena going through a couple different windshields of cars, but it paled in comparison to their fantastic I Quit match from a few years ago in the violence department.
I watched the Legends Roundtable from WWE 24/7 on wrestling’s most ridiculous gimmicks. It was good for a few reminisces, but loose and not particularly well organized, which gave guys like Michael P.S. Hayes ample time to ramble on about shit. Still, not a bad way to kill an hour, and I’d like to see more of these shows, but it’s not necessary viewing by any means. I watched the two bonus matches from the second disc of the Triple H: King of Kings DVD set. It had the Hog Pen match, which is still as dumb as it was back then, but both guys eat pretty gnarly shots into the metal and wood hog pen so it wasn’t a complete waste. It also had Hunter’s first match, from some shoddy indy show, which shockingly wasn’t terrible but felt like an afterthought as the commentary track with HHH and Jim Ross made it difficult to really focus on.
Watched the second-half of ROH Dragon Gate Challenge II from the Orlando weekend courtesy of Spoon. I really enjoyed it, actually. The Steen/Generico vs. Yoshino/Doi match was just so much fun. It had big, epic nearfalls, high impact moves, a breakneck pace, etc. The two tags that followed it (Shingo/BxB vs. Jacobs/Black and Briscoes vs. Dragon Kid/Sato) were also pretty solid, especially given the talents’ lack of experience working together, but couldn’t compare to the aforementioned match in terms of sheer energy and excitement. The main event, pitting Stevens, CIMA, and Go versus the No Remorse Core was also terrific. It nearly went thirty minutes, but was just packed with physical action, and another real joy to witness. I went through a period of dislike for ROH, but I’m definitely enjoying it more lately, although now it’s more of a balance of accepting what they do poorly and enjoying what they offer that’s unique, especially in the American scene.
In my American TV wrestling progress, I’m now progressing through February of ’08. I watched the Smackdown! (probably my favorite show) episode from Valentine’s Day the other night that had the Edge proposing to Vickie segment. I’d assumed I’d vehemently hate that ongoing storyline, but I’ll be damned, I was laughing my ass off and really entertained by that whole segment. Edge’s facials, where he was trying to act suave and sincere, but underneath showed flashes of his deceptiveness and cunning, all the while trying to hold his composure and pull if off, were just a riot and the whole thing was so over the top that I was laughing my balls off. Then Rey came out and springboarded right onto Vickie in her wheelchair. Five stars.
I almost forgot to mention the WrestleFest ’90 cassette I started. I love that Sean Mooney’s desk is littered with WWF action figures. The opener was Savage versus Piper which seemed like a rare gem. Piper’s flailing movements are growing tiresome with me. Dino Bravo versus Warrior put me into coma. I liked the Beefcake/Martel MSG match a ton, though. I’ll finish it soon. The last match is apparently DiBiase/Akeem (Yes! Yes!) versus Jake Roberts/Warrior.
Next on my wrestling agenda is finishing the UWFi set, watching the new Rock set I scored from the inter-library loan system, watching the out of print and rare two-disc Best of Raw set featuring over twenty complete matches from the ’99 era, and a bunch more crap. I’ve got the first disc of Didge’s Kawada set to spin, and will be watching Adam’s PWG Sells Out three-disc set next month. My wife insists whenever we’re home together that we continue working on the first season of Veronica Mars, which is brilliant, but eating into my Paul Roma house show footage time. We’ve also got our first bulk order in, with the second allegedly arriving any day now. I got a ton of stuff; all kinds of discs, ranging from shoot interviews (Butch Reed, Stevie Ray, Demolition, Powers of Pain, and Nasty Boys), to a bunch of American indy stuff like PWX, IWC, IWA Mid-South, PWG, some FIP and ROH, and an obscene amount of Hermie Sadler’s UWF which features a lot of TNA guys. It’s a good time to study the art of professional wrestling.
I started the five-disc UWFi set I snagged from Adam. With as much wrestling footage as Adam owns, co-creator and writer Jessie and I often kid that he likes collecting it more than he does watching it. I’m really looking forward to watching this compilation, more so than I’ve been for anything else wrestling-related in recent memory. I watched the first match off the first disc this morning before class. Yuko Miyato and Tatsuo Takano just beating the hell out of each other, it ended up being a draw, but I still felt satisfied even without a clear victor. In one match it encapsulated all that I love about UWFi, with a bloody nose, cripplingly stiff strikes, and intelligent mat work.
We watched Great American Bash ’08 over at Jessie’s house Tuesday evening. Blog contributors Didge and Adam stopped by briefly, and Jessie got preoccupied caring for his adorable daughter, so I was the only one that got to fully focus on the show. My opinion? Not bad. It seemed, for the most part, to be pretty focused on the wrestling. The first few matches featured strong performances by Festus, Finlay, and Shelton. The ECW match was actively bad, and the women’s match was also forgettable, but the second-half of the show ratcheted back up. The Jericho/Michaels bloody brawl was great fuel to their ongoing epic feud. Punk and Batista was surprisingly inoffensive, although I’d rather see Punk in FIP working Kahagis but that’s just me. The NYC street fight, or whatever it was billed as, between Cena and Bradshaw was kind of goofy. Sure, there were a couple stiff shots, like Cena going through a couple different windshields of cars, but it paled in comparison to their fantastic I Quit match from a few years ago in the violence department.
I watched the Legends Roundtable from WWE 24/7 on wrestling’s most ridiculous gimmicks. It was good for a few reminisces, but loose and not particularly well organized, which gave guys like Michael P.S. Hayes ample time to ramble on about shit. Still, not a bad way to kill an hour, and I’d like to see more of these shows, but it’s not necessary viewing by any means. I watched the two bonus matches from the second disc of the Triple H: King of Kings DVD set. It had the Hog Pen match, which is still as dumb as it was back then, but both guys eat pretty gnarly shots into the metal and wood hog pen so it wasn’t a complete waste. It also had Hunter’s first match, from some shoddy indy show, which shockingly wasn’t terrible but felt like an afterthought as the commentary track with HHH and Jim Ross made it difficult to really focus on.
Watched the second-half of ROH Dragon Gate Challenge II from the Orlando weekend courtesy of Spoon. I really enjoyed it, actually. The Steen/Generico vs. Yoshino/Doi match was just so much fun. It had big, epic nearfalls, high impact moves, a breakneck pace, etc. The two tags that followed it (Shingo/BxB vs. Jacobs/Black and Briscoes vs. Dragon Kid/Sato) were also pretty solid, especially given the talents’ lack of experience working together, but couldn’t compare to the aforementioned match in terms of sheer energy and excitement. The main event, pitting Stevens, CIMA, and Go versus the No Remorse Core was also terrific. It nearly went thirty minutes, but was just packed with physical action, and another real joy to witness. I went through a period of dislike for ROH, but I’m definitely enjoying it more lately, although now it’s more of a balance of accepting what they do poorly and enjoying what they offer that’s unique, especially in the American scene.
In my American TV wrestling progress, I’m now progressing through February of ’08. I watched the Smackdown! (probably my favorite show) episode from Valentine’s Day the other night that had the Edge proposing to Vickie segment. I’d assumed I’d vehemently hate that ongoing storyline, but I’ll be damned, I was laughing my ass off and really entertained by that whole segment. Edge’s facials, where he was trying to act suave and sincere, but underneath showed flashes of his deceptiveness and cunning, all the while trying to hold his composure and pull if off, were just a riot and the whole thing was so over the top that I was laughing my balls off. Then Rey came out and springboarded right onto Vickie in her wheelchair. Five stars.
I almost forgot to mention the WrestleFest ’90 cassette I started. I love that Sean Mooney’s desk is littered with WWF action figures. The opener was Savage versus Piper which seemed like a rare gem. Piper’s flailing movements are growing tiresome with me. Dino Bravo versus Warrior put me into coma. I liked the Beefcake/Martel MSG match a ton, though. I’ll finish it soon. The last match is apparently DiBiase/Akeem (Yes! Yes!) versus Jake Roberts/Warrior.
Next on my wrestling agenda is finishing the UWFi set, watching the new Rock set I scored from the inter-library loan system, watching the out of print and rare two-disc Best of Raw set featuring over twenty complete matches from the ’99 era, and a bunch more crap. I’ve got the first disc of Didge’s Kawada set to spin, and will be watching Adam’s PWG Sells Out three-disc set next month. My wife insists whenever we’re home together that we continue working on the first season of Veronica Mars, which is brilliant, but eating into my Paul Roma house show footage time. We’ve also got our first bulk order in, with the second allegedly arriving any day now. I got a ton of stuff; all kinds of discs, ranging from shoot interviews (Butch Reed, Stevie Ray, Demolition, Powers of Pain, and Nasty Boys), to a bunch of American indy stuff like PWX, IWC, IWA Mid-South, PWG, some FIP and ROH, and an obscene amount of Hermie Sadler’s UWF which features a lot of TNA guys. It’s a good time to study the art of professional wrestling.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Performer Analysis: Keiji Muto/ The Great Muta
After just watching the 5 Disc set chronicling the career of Muto (which you can find as a review done very competently by Didge on this very blog) I thought it only right to analyze the man, the myth, the Muta.
1) Innovation- 10/10
This is a no brainer. Muta took his look and altered it from the look of the Great Kabuki, an American with crazy face paint who worked in World Class for a while. Muta took his to another level and combine that with the look, the mist, the mannerisms, the move set and the technical expertise and you had one of the most unique individuals that has been seen in this sport. And he knew it- the moonsault may have been done before in America but Muta made it famous.
2) Conditioning- 8/10
In his prime, Muta was at peak physical condition for a human being. He was lean, cut and had stamina out the yin-yang and has remained in such a state for many years. As with everyone, especially over the last 4 or 5 years, he has thickened up and had tremendous problems with his body wearing out, especially given the hard work he puts in, especially his knees. But, he hasn't let himself go, he's just a thicker guy now but his height helps with that tremendously. I'm not sure about drug use and how it's affected the Japanese scene but Muta has remained on top for many years so you can make your own judgements; either way, he's a gifted athlete and he has the conditioning to prove it.
3) Skill- 8/10
Muta, whether you believe this as fact or opinion, isn't the best worker in the world as far as workrate, selling and all that, but he's probably one of the smartest. In his younger days, he was one of the most innovative and compelling guys to watch and became an attraction for any promotion and any viewer in the world for some many years. He kept up a great work ethic and while his bumps are often protected, he can let loose and really go crazy in some matches, although it's rare- Muta's not known as a bumping machine. But, he can work pretty well and even though he went through some lazy years, during the first part of the new century Muta put an emphasis on storytelling in the ring and became probably the smartest, hardest worker in Japan at that time.
4) Psychology- 10/10
Muta is on a list of maybe 5 guys who know how to work an audience as well as he does, especially his hometown crowd. He can get away with doing so much less than most guys and get more of a reaction than they can. Keiji Muto is very capable of crowd sympathy, especially in the mid 90's and worked that very much to his favor and used more of an athletic approach to his work style. When Great Muta, he uses a slower, more methodical pace (a classic heel move to get booed), more dirty tactics(ex. mist, random weapons) and more bizarre gestures and actions to really rile crowds up and get people into the match. His selling is fairly okay, but not the most consistent.
5) American Appeal- 10/10
This is a substitute for the normal "Interviews" category, which is extremely important in the States, but since a lot of Japanese workers don't speak English, there needs to be a common ground for them to meet. As far as Keiji Muto, America became fascianted with him almost immediately when he debuted in 1989 in NWA, even though he worked as a heel during that run. I'm pretty sure he's only exclusively worked as Muta in the States and fans couldn't really get enough of him and his unique character, even garnering an NWA World Title reign in late '92 during one of his stateside trips. He's made many stops in the NWA and WCW over the years, as well as a one shot in ROH and an appearance (albeit a goofy one) in TNA.
6) Character- 10/10
The Great Muta is the equivalent of the Undertaker in the States; just the most unique and phenomenal character that has ever been created in the professional wrestling business. The evolution and metamorphisis this character has went under over the years are phenomenal and the duality between Keiji Muto and his devilish alter ego is at the top of the list among the most compelling and complex story archs one single person can create. There have been so many great storylines that this has created, such as Keiji digging deep inside of him to fight off Muta so he can win singles gold as himself, and Keiji fighting against the NWO as Muta joins them quickly. Definitley in the top 5 of the greatest characters ever created.
7) Fans- 10/10
He's loved. He's hated. He's revered. He's feared. He can be both sides of the proverbial coin and he can get the same reaction every time, whether it's being cheered, booed, ran away from, or patted on the back because he can garner the fan's attention; a lot more if he's Muta than Muto though. He can always get a reaction as Muta, also because the character allows him to behave more towards getting any kind of heat, with no real inhibitions or limits. This character, even if Muto himself is getting older, is still a huge box office draw and will remain until Muto's last day in the ring. Now, that's staying power.
8) Basics- 8/10
Okay, let's break it down: Muto has never really punched, he's always used those strange thrusting chops as his main strikes, but he can kick. He has a good technical background and breaks it out more than you would think. Depending on the opponent and his mood, he can work some really good back and forth spots and he has good ring rope movement and knowledge of the ring as well. He's the kind of veteran that has always maintained his knowledge of the fundamentals and can pull it out when need be, even if he doesn't use it often.
9) Feuds/ Opponents- 10/10
Muto has fought them all in this business, which is exceptionally hard to do when you're a Japanese wrestler mainly. His first big fued worldwide was with Sting, which raged on for a good stretch helping both guys careers immensely. He also fueded with Ric Flair as part of the J-Tex Corp. in '89. In Japan, Muta has had stirring rivalries with Hiroshi Hase, Shinya Hashimoto, Masa Chono, Atsushi Onita, and several more. He's gotten to face the top names in both countries through his political pull and matchmaking skills such as Toshiaki Kawada, Hulk Hogan, Mitsuharu Misawa, Booker T & Steve Austin. Muto's an extrememly easy opponent to get embroiled in a feud with and he relishes the times he gets to be invovled in "dream matches" which have been numerous over the years, fighting top stars in every promotion he can, like WWE, WCW, All Japan, New Japan, NOAH, Big Japan, FMW and the list goes on and on.
10) Gutcheck- 8/10
It takes passion, guts, work ethic, and more than a little bit of knowledge in playing the politics game to get ahead in the wrestling business, sometimes it simply takes an opportunity to make a splash, but to have a career like Muto's, the longevity, the ability to stay fresh and keep up the high workethic and still have great matches, still get crowds of thousands upon thousands cheering for you, or booing you, it takes qualities that few men have. As I've said earlier, he may not be the best pound for pound worker but Muto has to be known as one of the greatest characters and greatest stars pro wrestling has ever seen.
Total Score: 92
Ranking: Icon
PO: Thumbs Up
1) Innovation- 10/10
This is a no brainer. Muta took his look and altered it from the look of the Great Kabuki, an American with crazy face paint who worked in World Class for a while. Muta took his to another level and combine that with the look, the mist, the mannerisms, the move set and the technical expertise and you had one of the most unique individuals that has been seen in this sport. And he knew it- the moonsault may have been done before in America but Muta made it famous.
2) Conditioning- 8/10
In his prime, Muta was at peak physical condition for a human being. He was lean, cut and had stamina out the yin-yang and has remained in such a state for many years. As with everyone, especially over the last 4 or 5 years, he has thickened up and had tremendous problems with his body wearing out, especially given the hard work he puts in, especially his knees. But, he hasn't let himself go, he's just a thicker guy now but his height helps with that tremendously. I'm not sure about drug use and how it's affected the Japanese scene but Muta has remained on top for many years so you can make your own judgements; either way, he's a gifted athlete and he has the conditioning to prove it.
3) Skill- 8/10
Muta, whether you believe this as fact or opinion, isn't the best worker in the world as far as workrate, selling and all that, but he's probably one of the smartest. In his younger days, he was one of the most innovative and compelling guys to watch and became an attraction for any promotion and any viewer in the world for some many years. He kept up a great work ethic and while his bumps are often protected, he can let loose and really go crazy in some matches, although it's rare- Muta's not known as a bumping machine. But, he can work pretty well and even though he went through some lazy years, during the first part of the new century Muta put an emphasis on storytelling in the ring and became probably the smartest, hardest worker in Japan at that time.
4) Psychology- 10/10
Muta is on a list of maybe 5 guys who know how to work an audience as well as he does, especially his hometown crowd. He can get away with doing so much less than most guys and get more of a reaction than they can. Keiji Muto is very capable of crowd sympathy, especially in the mid 90's and worked that very much to his favor and used more of an athletic approach to his work style. When Great Muta, he uses a slower, more methodical pace (a classic heel move to get booed), more dirty tactics(ex. mist, random weapons) and more bizarre gestures and actions to really rile crowds up and get people into the match. His selling is fairly okay, but not the most consistent.
5) American Appeal- 10/10
This is a substitute for the normal "Interviews" category, which is extremely important in the States, but since a lot of Japanese workers don't speak English, there needs to be a common ground for them to meet. As far as Keiji Muto, America became fascianted with him almost immediately when he debuted in 1989 in NWA, even though he worked as a heel during that run. I'm pretty sure he's only exclusively worked as Muta in the States and fans couldn't really get enough of him and his unique character, even garnering an NWA World Title reign in late '92 during one of his stateside trips. He's made many stops in the NWA and WCW over the years, as well as a one shot in ROH and an appearance (albeit a goofy one) in TNA.
6) Character- 10/10
The Great Muta is the equivalent of the Undertaker in the States; just the most unique and phenomenal character that has ever been created in the professional wrestling business. The evolution and metamorphisis this character has went under over the years are phenomenal and the duality between Keiji Muto and his devilish alter ego is at the top of the list among the most compelling and complex story archs one single person can create. There have been so many great storylines that this has created, such as Keiji digging deep inside of him to fight off Muta so he can win singles gold as himself, and Keiji fighting against the NWO as Muta joins them quickly. Definitley in the top 5 of the greatest characters ever created.
7) Fans- 10/10
He's loved. He's hated. He's revered. He's feared. He can be both sides of the proverbial coin and he can get the same reaction every time, whether it's being cheered, booed, ran away from, or patted on the back because he can garner the fan's attention; a lot more if he's Muta than Muto though. He can always get a reaction as Muta, also because the character allows him to behave more towards getting any kind of heat, with no real inhibitions or limits. This character, even if Muto himself is getting older, is still a huge box office draw and will remain until Muto's last day in the ring. Now, that's staying power.
8) Basics- 8/10
Okay, let's break it down: Muto has never really punched, he's always used those strange thrusting chops as his main strikes, but he can kick. He has a good technical background and breaks it out more than you would think. Depending on the opponent and his mood, he can work some really good back and forth spots and he has good ring rope movement and knowledge of the ring as well. He's the kind of veteran that has always maintained his knowledge of the fundamentals and can pull it out when need be, even if he doesn't use it often.
9) Feuds/ Opponents- 10/10
Muto has fought them all in this business, which is exceptionally hard to do when you're a Japanese wrestler mainly. His first big fued worldwide was with Sting, which raged on for a good stretch helping both guys careers immensely. He also fueded with Ric Flair as part of the J-Tex Corp. in '89. In Japan, Muta has had stirring rivalries with Hiroshi Hase, Shinya Hashimoto, Masa Chono, Atsushi Onita, and several more. He's gotten to face the top names in both countries through his political pull and matchmaking skills such as Toshiaki Kawada, Hulk Hogan, Mitsuharu Misawa, Booker T & Steve Austin. Muto's an extrememly easy opponent to get embroiled in a feud with and he relishes the times he gets to be invovled in "dream matches" which have been numerous over the years, fighting top stars in every promotion he can, like WWE, WCW, All Japan, New Japan, NOAH, Big Japan, FMW and the list goes on and on.
10) Gutcheck- 8/10
It takes passion, guts, work ethic, and more than a little bit of knowledge in playing the politics game to get ahead in the wrestling business, sometimes it simply takes an opportunity to make a splash, but to have a career like Muto's, the longevity, the ability to stay fresh and keep up the high workethic and still have great matches, still get crowds of thousands upon thousands cheering for you, or booing you, it takes qualities that few men have. As I've said earlier, he may not be the best pound for pound worker but Muto has to be known as one of the greatest characters and greatest stars pro wrestling has ever seen.
Total Score: 92
Ranking: Icon
PO: Thumbs Up
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