"Is it better than '94?" THAT is the question. I (along with countless other puro fans) consider NJPW's Super J Cup 1994 to be the pinnacle of Jr. Heavyweight style. Can WAR match or put on a better spectacle than last year's? Let's find out.
Opening Round Matches
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1.) Damien 666 vs. Gran Naniwa - 2
I think it's safe to say that Damien is a fan of puro. The entire match seemed to have been dedicated to Japanese wrestling legends. Before every move that Damien made, he would call out the names of the wrestler he was imitating (Muta = moosault, Misawa = forearms, etc.). This Schick got old rather quickly. As far as the in-ring was concerned, the match had some decent flow, but the only things that really happened were a few dives and some chops. This match was simply a comedy opener to get the crowd warmed up. I wasn't a fan. Damien advances to the quarterfinals.
2.) Ohtani vs. Masaki Mochizuki - 5
I really, really was digging this match. As soon as the bell rang, Moch was on Ohtani like impersonator Rosie O'Donnell on her chocolate whale cake, Fudgie. Sick spinning heel kick started the match, with Moch laying into to Ohtani with stiff strikes that flowed right into some nice leg-work on the mat. Not to be outdone, Ohtani came back with some flourious strikes of his own. Moch came of the rope with an ensiguiri to the side of Ohtani's head, who sold it like Terry Funk on a bender. I was totally digging this match until Ohtani got the pin... at four minutes! I was pretty pissed that such a great match only got four minutes -- I could watch this shit for hours. Oh, oh, Ohtani moves on to the quarterfinals.
3.) Ultimo Dragon vs. Sho Funaki - 4
There was a real sense of respect by both guys that I felt was rather genuine. The fluidity by both men was really great, moving from one body part to another while on them mat. Both men's moves fed into each other really well. Ultimo hit one of the sloppiest hurricanranas I have ever seen which really took away from the match. Sloppier than Steph after the New Year's Eve party in Greenwich, to be exact. There was hardly any selling on mat-work to talk about -- both guys looked like they were going through the motions. Sho really shined here with his smooth transitions between maneuvers. I feel that he is a very underrated wrestler. Ultimo moves onto the quarters.
4.) Masayoshi Motegi vs. Gedo - 3
This match just did not take off. Motegi began by working over Gedo's arm, pummeling Gedo with a belt, then moving onto mat-based submissions of the injured arm which Gedo sold well, vocally. Motegi hit these sloppier-than-hell Germans. He eventually submitted to a double chickenwing that looked like it would be rejected at KFC. The finish came out of nowhere with no previous armwork. Gedo moves onto the q-fins.
5.) Dos Caras vs. El Samurai - 6
I dig Samurai, but I have seen less that 5 Dos Caras matches in my life (is this a sin?). Caras hit this sweet submission in which he tied up Sam's arms and floated over onto his back. Both of these guys' offense is just so polished. Caras hit these really awesome roll-up pin attempts, as well. He's just so fucking clean~! Samurai stuck in there with him, but I think this was really a time for Caras to get over in front of the Japanese crowd. All of the match was mat based and it came off a so damn great. Being an opening round match, it didn't break the 10 minute mark, but damn it was a spectacle. Dos Caras flies into the quarts.
6.) Lion Heart vs. Hanzo Nakajima - 5
The first round finishes strong with Jericho taking on Nakajima. I liked the back-and-forth, "can you top this?" style of match these two had. Jericho seemed to be playing the "cool, sportsman-like American" insisting that the crowd get behind Nakajima. Aside from the very distracting, 80's hair metal band-inspired WASP tights, Jericho looked as good as he's ever been here. Nakajima, pink singlet and all, hung with Jericho, but the lionsault did him in. Nakajima sold his abdomen the whole match really well. The look on his face conveyed more pain than getting a tribal tattoo. Lion Heart moves on to the BIG Q.
Quarter Finals
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7.) Gran Naniwa vs. Jushin Liger - 6
Liger, as always, looked great in this match. His dominance and asshole personality in the ring really shined through against the funny man Naniwa. It seemed as though Liger controlled the entire match, streching Naniwa like a used up Stretch Armstrong. In what seemed to be a one sided fight, Naniwa would try his hardest by busting out dives and power maneuvers. One of my favorite spots in the match came at what looked like a botch: Naniwa put Liger in the powerbomb position, but it looked as though Naniwa dropped him on his head, only to have Liger come back with a rolling Liger kick. Shit was nice. I just loved the control that Liger had the whole match. Liger moves onto the SEMI's!
8.) Lion Heart vs. Wild Pegasus - 7
When you look at the two names going up against each other, Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit, it's hard to imagine the two putting on a bad match. Both of these guys just have such a great technical prowess and ability to pace themselves. This match was such a roller coaster. The mat work and Jericho's vocal selling of being stretched like a new baseball glove was amazing. He even let out this squeal that sounded like a mouse on steroids. Benoit's aggression was on par with everything else he's ever done. He hit a really nice tope suicida on Jericho that he really didn't have to, but hey, it's Benoit. Jericho kept speaking English to the crowd, even calling Benoit a "Motherfucker" which garnered some Japanese "OOOOH'S". I dig it. Both of these guys have stolen the show with this match so far. Benoit moved onto the Semi's, getting the best of the yellow-maned rockstar.
Ultimo Dragon vs. Shinjiro Ohtani - 6
Freaking loved this. The match started off with some great high spots and strikes to get the audience out of their seats. Some of my favorite stuff in this match was the mat-work. I loved how Ohtani tangled up Dragon, and how Dragon retaliated with some tangling and stretching of his own. Both guys turned up the heat with dueling tombstone piledrivers that neither sold. This is an example of good no-selling because it mystified the audience and got them more into the match, catching them in the heat of them moment. Ohtani and Ultimo's ability to go from mat-based to highspots in a split second is awesome. Great back and forth between two junior heavyweight legends. Ultimo slides into the SEMS
Dos Caras vs. Gedo - 3
I can't stand Gedo. He had no business advancing in this tournament as much as he did. Caras looked awesome as always here, bringing his mat-based lucha style to Gedo, twisting him into all sorts of gnarly positions. Gedo was selling them well by screaming. That's about the only good thing Gedo did in this match. Gedo got a lot of crowd heat when he tried to pull off Caras' mask. If anything Gedo looked well in his selling and ability to get crowd heat, but this match really got over Dos Caras and his sweet mat skills. Gedo unfortunately moves to the semi-finals.
Semi-Finals
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Jushin Liger vs. Ultimo Dragon - 8
This. Fucking. Ruled. This is junior heavyweight style at its finest. The ups and downs, the pacing, and the technical and aerial abilities by both men are out of this world. I love both of these guys. The mat wrestling, SWEET CHRIST THE MAT WRESTLING, was amazing! I absolutely adored it. Liger's working over of Ultimo's arm was great, and Ultimo's working over of Liger's leg and Ligers consequent selling of the leg was to die for. The near falls, especially Ultimo's after Liger hit the Liger Bomb, were incredible as well. I would've like to have seen Ultimo sell the arm a bit more, but his selling was still satisfactory. The dives and topes in this match were nastier than your local flea market -- SO GOOD! Seriously, this match was awesome. Liger dives his way to LOS FINALES~
Wild Pegasus vs. Gedo - 4
God I hope Benoit takes Gedo's head off. This was Gedo's best match of the tournament thus far, but seeing as who he was working with, it'd be kind of hard not to have a decent match. Benoit can make a mop doused in genital sweat look good. Gedo just looks so sloppy. I made sure to watch him taking the German suplexes , and damn, he could hardly roll up off of his back. You could make a case that this was really good exhaustive selling, but let's not get carried away. The best element of this match were the nearfalls. They were executed well and seemed as though they fooled the majority of the fans. Gedo, much to my chagrin, moves onto the finals.
Psicosis vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. - 4
The feud moves to The Land of the Rising Sun in a non-tournament match! I dug how Ultimo came out with Rey. I fucking loved their match in WWE. This match struck me as odd, however. It started with some decent mat-based chain wrestling, but moved on to some nonsensical dives. I realize this was put on to get Rey over, but I could have done with a lot less topes. I also wasn't very fond of the finish. Psicosis was basically a crash test dummy for Rey, sometimes obviously showing that he was working with him (e.g. Rey kicking Psicosis, and Psicosis pulling himself up to sit on the top turnbuckle to set up for a hurricanarana. I still liked the action as Rey looks flawless with his dives, but it got a little too repetitive for my tastes.
The FINALS
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Jushin Liger vs. Gedo - 6
While I'm by no means a Gedo fan, I will say this: he's great at selling. Liger worked him on the mat for a good portion of the match and he was screaming. I liked it. Liger also hit some awesome rolling Liger kicks which Gedo sold marvelously. The pacing was my favorite part of this match -- it started off slow and built up like a pressure cooker. All the means for a great match was there, and a good one was put on. I think Ultimo (who booked the tournament) really wanted to legitimize Gedo's chances of winning the mind of the crowd. While I disliked how far he got in the tournament, Gedo did prove himself to be an excellent seller.
Overall, I still feel that '94 was a better all around tournament; however, I will say this: if Beck is looking for where it's at, tell his odelay-ing ass to pop WAR Super J Cup '95 in the DVD player.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
ROH Glory By Honor IX
1. Jay Briscoe vs. Kenny King - 4
2. Mark Briscoe vs. Rhett Titus - 5
3. Ballz Mahoney and Grizzly Redwood vs. Erick Stevens and The Necro Butcher - 3
4. Double Chain Match: Kevin Steen and Steve Corino vs. El Generico and Colt Cabana - 6
5. World TV Title Match: Eddie Edwards vs. Shawn Daivari - 4
6. Christopher Daniels vs. Austin Aries - 6
7. Non Title Tag Team Dream Match: The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli) vs. Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas - 8
8. ROH World Title Match (with Terry Funk as the special ringside enforcer): Tyler Black vs. Roderick Strong - 7
Ring of Honor's biggest event of the year comes by way of iPPV (and later DVD) from New York City.
Scary botch in the opener where Jay held King precariously and tried to flip him over his head into the turnbuckles but Kenny instead nosedived straight to the mat in a heap (see the included image) which elicited a "You killed Kenny!" chant. Physical stuff, a hot crowd, and a believable, clean finish made this a nice way to kick the show off. Where Jay is measured Mark is more chaotic and I've always preferred him, he showcases his wilder side here, including a rolling senton off the top to the floor that saw him land tailbone first on the ground. Mark's "Burning Hammer" to get the victory was brutal and a nice finish to a match that built upon the previous' intensity and crowd fervor.
Next up was the first tag encounter of the evening and while it was mostly fun while it lasted it didn't ever reach a fever pitch. Ballz is just grotesque, Necro looks like a fool sans-hair, etc. The spot of the match saw Stevens press-slam Grizzly to the floor from in the ring and while flying in mid-air Necro, also out on the floor, punched Redwood in the face.
A nice dose of storytelling in the dog collar bout, we've got the magnanimous Generico, Cabana's idiosyncratic quirks silenced (for once!), Steen's ebullient asshole nature, and Cornio who, I've got say it, you're being extremely myopic if in 2010 you're still pedaling him as some lost "great" worker, combining in a wild fight which has finality as its cynosure. Generico eating his former partner's blood off of his mangled head makes sense, I guess? Maybe in some sick Alan Moore dystopian vision. Cornio's used to bleeding on tape, it's how he's bought his son Christmas presents for the last decade.
The post-match spectacle only adds to its score as it's a circus of disturbing visuals, Generico unmasked resembling an ersatz Andy Dick, Steen forcibly kissing Corino's teenaged son on the mouth, and Kevin, Steve, and son writing cryptic messages on a steel chair with Corino's forehead plasma.
Edwards has transformed into one of the guys I most look forward to watching in ROH. Daivari was tragically overlooked and underrated in TNA and fits in better here than other Orlando orphans like Sonjay and Petey did. A nice, basic match, with crisp execution (save for one botched leap frog spot) and nice selling (see Eddie's histrionics after a tornado DDT). I guess if Glory By Honor is ROH's answer to WrestleMania then this would be it's equivalent to Goldust vs. Maven.
Next an encounter between two consummate professionals. One, Aries, I like, had him in my top ten in the world in '09, which was an outstanding year for him, and then there's Daniels, who I've always looked at with a degree of equanimity. A few months ago former NHO employee Adam gave away hundreds of DVDs, including several bags full of commercial releases, one of which contained The Prophecy Foretold: The Best of Christopher Daniels which I started studying one night to reanalyze my somewhat timid position on his work. I found myself coming out of the viewing prepared to admit Daniels is a superb performer, great timing, positioning, execution, etc. While he's not this generation's Steamboat I think you could make a case for him being our Rick Martel and that's not too shabby. My favorite sequence saw Daniels attempt a Quebrada to the floor that Aries dodged, then Austin quickly slid into the ring, off of the opposite ropes, and dove out headfirst onto Chris with his pateneded Heat Seeking Missile dive. At one point after having Aries in a Koji Clutch some idiot in the crowd starting chanting "UFC! UFC!" Right, like anyone's ever pulled off that submission in an MMA fight! Maybe Rafael Dos Anjos will experiment with it in his next camp.
Tremendous crowd reactions elevated KoW vs. WGTT into the stuff hardcore wrestling fans dream of. For a guy who's watched way too much 1950's film in the last few months I felt as though Haas was channeling William Holden. A lot of athletic and physical moments highlighted this wrestling mosaic. Even though the finish felt cheap like a Sarasota hooker's murmuring of "I love you" while you check her prostate with your uncircumcised cock this is still one of the better American tag matches this decade.
Wow, seeing Terry Funk at ringside for the main event, got me to thinking Tyler Black couldn't even wipe Funk's ass let alone perform on the top of a bill like he could. I never noticed before but Strong eats power stuff like suplexes and slams a lot like Terry Taylor, but facially sells pain in submissions more akin to Sunny Beach (or maybe Kuniaki Kobayashi minus the dazed eyes). I've never gotten the Tyler Black appeal, to me, he's a slightly better version of Sick Boy, and come to think of it, would have been a nice fit in Raven's Flock. I think the plain old dull babyface Strong (we'd all come to know and tolerate) making a run at the "sell out" champion would have been fantastic stuff, but this new Roderick, as part of Truth Martini's gang, seems about as conflicted as my feelings on the new season of The Office. Kevin Kelly making Willy Wonka references makes me regret this download. Seeing Martini, a guy who I used to watch wrestle with the likes of Pondo and Rotten right down the street from my house here in Fairfield, bumping for Funk was surreal. Strong winning the belt was a neat moment and the finish was fine save for Funk taking too long to hobble into position to make the count.
Overall, a really good show, offhand I'd say their best of '10, and a better option for your evening than watching Marmaduke or finding new ways to label and re-categorize your DVD collection a la Adam Sanders. Homicide's return post-match after the main gave me chills, too bad seeing him live in Dayton weeks later versus Kenny King failed to illicit the same reaction.
2. Mark Briscoe vs. Rhett Titus - 5
3. Ballz Mahoney and Grizzly Redwood vs. Erick Stevens and The Necro Butcher - 3
4. Double Chain Match: Kevin Steen and Steve Corino vs. El Generico and Colt Cabana - 6
5. World TV Title Match: Eddie Edwards vs. Shawn Daivari - 4
6. Christopher Daniels vs. Austin Aries - 6
7. Non Title Tag Team Dream Match: The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli) vs. Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas - 8
8. ROH World Title Match (with Terry Funk as the special ringside enforcer): Tyler Black vs. Roderick Strong - 7
Ring of Honor's biggest event of the year comes by way of iPPV (and later DVD) from New York City.
Scary botch in the opener where Jay held King precariously and tried to flip him over his head into the turnbuckles but Kenny instead nosedived straight to the mat in a heap (see the included image) which elicited a "You killed Kenny!" chant. Physical stuff, a hot crowd, and a believable, clean finish made this a nice way to kick the show off. Where Jay is measured Mark is more chaotic and I've always preferred him, he showcases his wilder side here, including a rolling senton off the top to the floor that saw him land tailbone first on the ground. Mark's "Burning Hammer" to get the victory was brutal and a nice finish to a match that built upon the previous' intensity and crowd fervor.
Next up was the first tag encounter of the evening and while it was mostly fun while it lasted it didn't ever reach a fever pitch. Ballz is just grotesque, Necro looks like a fool sans-hair, etc. The spot of the match saw Stevens press-slam Grizzly to the floor from in the ring and while flying in mid-air Necro, also out on the floor, punched Redwood in the face.
A nice dose of storytelling in the dog collar bout, we've got the magnanimous Generico, Cabana's idiosyncratic quirks silenced (for once!), Steen's ebullient asshole nature, and Cornio who, I've got say it, you're being extremely myopic if in 2010 you're still pedaling him as some lost "great" worker, combining in a wild fight which has finality as its cynosure. Generico eating his former partner's blood off of his mangled head makes sense, I guess? Maybe in some sick Alan Moore dystopian vision. Cornio's used to bleeding on tape, it's how he's bought his son Christmas presents for the last decade.
The post-match spectacle only adds to its score as it's a circus of disturbing visuals, Generico unmasked resembling an ersatz Andy Dick, Steen forcibly kissing Corino's teenaged son on the mouth, and Kevin, Steve, and son writing cryptic messages on a steel chair with Corino's forehead plasma.
Edwards has transformed into one of the guys I most look forward to watching in ROH. Daivari was tragically overlooked and underrated in TNA and fits in better here than other Orlando orphans like Sonjay and Petey did. A nice, basic match, with crisp execution (save for one botched leap frog spot) and nice selling (see Eddie's histrionics after a tornado DDT). I guess if Glory By Honor is ROH's answer to WrestleMania then this would be it's equivalent to Goldust vs. Maven.
Next an encounter between two consummate professionals. One, Aries, I like, had him in my top ten in the world in '09, which was an outstanding year for him, and then there's Daniels, who I've always looked at with a degree of equanimity. A few months ago former NHO employee Adam gave away hundreds of DVDs, including several bags full of commercial releases, one of which contained The Prophecy Foretold: The Best of Christopher Daniels which I started studying one night to reanalyze my somewhat timid position on his work. I found myself coming out of the viewing prepared to admit Daniels is a superb performer, great timing, positioning, execution, etc. While he's not this generation's Steamboat I think you could make a case for him being our Rick Martel and that's not too shabby. My favorite sequence saw Daniels attempt a Quebrada to the floor that Aries dodged, then Austin quickly slid into the ring, off of the opposite ropes, and dove out headfirst onto Chris with his pateneded Heat Seeking Missile dive. At one point after having Aries in a Koji Clutch some idiot in the crowd starting chanting "UFC! UFC!" Right, like anyone's ever pulled off that submission in an MMA fight! Maybe Rafael Dos Anjos will experiment with it in his next camp.
Tremendous crowd reactions elevated KoW vs. WGTT into the stuff hardcore wrestling fans dream of. For a guy who's watched way too much 1950's film in the last few months I felt as though Haas was channeling William Holden. A lot of athletic and physical moments highlighted this wrestling mosaic. Even though the finish felt cheap like a Sarasota hooker's murmuring of "I love you" while you check her prostate with your uncircumcised cock this is still one of the better American tag matches this decade.
Wow, seeing Terry Funk at ringside for the main event, got me to thinking Tyler Black couldn't even wipe Funk's ass let alone perform on the top of a bill like he could. I never noticed before but Strong eats power stuff like suplexes and slams a lot like Terry Taylor, but facially sells pain in submissions more akin to Sunny Beach (or maybe Kuniaki Kobayashi minus the dazed eyes). I've never gotten the Tyler Black appeal, to me, he's a slightly better version of Sick Boy, and come to think of it, would have been a nice fit in Raven's Flock. I think the plain old dull babyface Strong (we'd all come to know and tolerate) making a run at the "sell out" champion would have been fantastic stuff, but this new Roderick, as part of Truth Martini's gang, seems about as conflicted as my feelings on the new season of The Office. Kevin Kelly making Willy Wonka references makes me regret this download. Seeing Martini, a guy who I used to watch wrestle with the likes of Pondo and Rotten right down the street from my house here in Fairfield, bumping for Funk was surreal. Strong winning the belt was a neat moment and the finish was fine save for Funk taking too long to hobble into position to make the count.
Overall, a really good show, offhand I'd say their best of '10, and a better option for your evening than watching Marmaduke or finding new ways to label and re-categorize your DVD collection a la Adam Sanders. Homicide's return post-match after the main gave me chills, too bad seeing him live in Dayton weeks later versus Kenny King failed to illicit the same reaction.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
The Holy Trilogy: Couture v. Liddell
Alright fight fans, MMA has been dormant long enough here on the blog (although keep your eyes open for Brian's upcoming love letter to the sport on his newest Burger Kang) I did one of these once before with the Rock-Austin series from Mania, the name is merely a shot at the moniker fan boys have given the original Star Wars series but if you considered what feud really ignited the world of MMA as far as main event guys, it would have to be the fights these two have waged. So here i will be reviewing all 3 of their Lightheavyweight Title fights. Actually, I'm going to go one step better and review all 3 complete shows they aired on! I knew you'd like that one. A big shout out goes to Big Lots for selling this to me for $2.50 when Best Buy almost snagged $25 cool dollars from my pocket. Ok, Fight!
UFC 43: Meltdown (June 6, 2003)
1) Pedro Rizzo v. Tra Telligman - 6
2) Matt Lindland v. Falaniko Vitale- 3
3) Yves Edwards v. Eddie Ruiz- 5
4) Frank Mir v. Wes Sims -3
5) Ian Freeman v. Vernon White -4
6) Vitor Belfort v. Marvin Eastman- 3
7) Kimo v. Tank Abbott- 1
8) Randy Couture v. Chuck Liddell - 7
1st fight was a slugfest, Telligman was from a boxing background, he's the guy with the caved in chest and was looking for revenge on Rizzo from an earlier defeat. He didnt' hold back, won the 1st round and these guys were letting the hands fly. Rizzo's leg kicks were sick, even spinning Tra around like a dervish at one point. An unfortunate doctor's stoppage ended this but I came away with a great respect for Telligman's fortitude.
2nd bout didn't go far, Lindland seemed in control against a younger, impressive looking dude, but one mistake on a takedown and he was out cold.
I could see how this bout may not interest the casual fan, it was a calculating ground war with a wrestler v. striker. Edwards was like a young, less dominating Anderson Silva, and Ruiz was a tenacious wrestler, he took some nasty shots throughout but really showed tons of heart. A lot of good technique between both guys in a 3 round battle.
This match will be known for MMA's resident nutcase Wes Sims getting DQ'd for stomping a mudhole on Mir's face in a fight Mir was handily in control of.
Our next fight was a heavyweight war of attrition, it goes all 3 rounds with both guys finding close success with both takedowns and standing, I actually had it as a draw as well, Freeman's hands looked really good in the final round but his wind ran out and White looked well rounded in every area. A short interview with Ken Shamrock between rounds showed how many downers a guy could take and still do a interview without passing out.
Wow, Vitor is as explosive then as he is now, he just waited patiently for the right shot and when he does, it's an A bomb going off. Beastman looked armed too, but couldn't stand up to it.
Tank was an Ultimate Fighting Joke at this point and didn't last long in a subpar choke by Kimo who couldn't even cinch it in right.
The 1st of their battles was an awesome fight. Liddell was the superstar of the UFC at this point, it was hinted multiple times that this was going to be a walkthrough for Chuck since Tito had ducked him for 2 years. But Randy's power is his heart, he toppled Chuck with takedowns in all 3 rounds and then for the last 2 rounds he dominated the standup in a shocking display of boxing. A masterful performance, you can tell Chuck was very surprised by a lot of what Couture brought to him, possibly underestimation. A very awesome moment when Randy gets the stoppage as they pull in close to a bloody Chuck on the ground and he mouths "I'm done."
UFC 52: Liddell-Couture 2 (April 16, 2005)
1) John Marsh v. Mike Van Arsdale - 6
2) Patrick Cote v. Joe Doerkson - 7
3) Ivan Salaverry v. Joe Riggs -2
4) Renato Babalu v. Travis Wiuff -5
5) Georges St. Pierre v. Jason Miller- 7
6) Matt Lindland v. Travis Lutter- n/a
7) Matt Hughes v. Frank Trigg- 5
8) Randy Couture v. Chuck Liddell- 4
Our opening fight featured known great wrestler and prick among pricks Van Arsdale, this was a war though, Marsh i've never seen before, he looked like a bodybuilder gas head, and got owned in the 1st but came back to dominate the 2nd round with heavy hands and expert sprawling. 3rd was a toss up until Van Arsdale used the dreaded "69" position to trap Marsh and make him relive a male college rape he endured, i'm just joking, hopefully.
2nd fight was just a clinic, Doerkson was on his A game with submission and ground wizardy, he had a counter to everything Cote tried to do, and was attempting submissions at every turn. It was an interesting fight because Doerkson had clearly won the first 2 rounds when Cote nearly punched him into defeat, but an amazing comeback by Doerkson. I was really digging his one legged trips that worked time after time. Good example of a ground fight that was really exciting.
Not a lot happened here, quick fight, only thing of note was the crazy upkick Ivan hit right before the finish went down. Riggs prematch fight interview was quite the pat on the back though
This was a really aggressive fight, Babalu has a hot/cold rep and he was in danger of being outclassed with wrestling here but was def. better at submissions which helped him. Saw Tim Sylvia in Wiuff's corner, so that's never a good thing. Also, if anyone was to run into Wiuff today, could you ask him if he still paints his toenails?
Wow, amazing early display of how great GSP is in the MMA game, Mayhem (of Bully Beatdown fame) took a shclacking for all 3 rounds, but the guy is tougher than KMart brand sneakers because he tried everything in the world to stop GSP but it wasn't happening. Another awesome ground fight that never slowed down. Wonder how this fight would play out today? Probably the same but Mayhem would have that ever present smile on his face, i bet.
Unfortunately the Lutter v. Lindland match wouldn't play on my dvd, tried it 2 different players so alas it will not be reviewed. Trigg v. Hughes also wouldn't play but luckily i have a small stash of UFC fights on VHS (yes it still exists, sort of) so plugged it in and watched and was a cool little fight. After seeing it and his latest few efforts, Trigg is talented but way overhyped. He nearly got the win after a low blow wasn't called on Hughes. Real tense moment where Trigg tried to choke out Hughes but couldn't quite get it done.
Our 2nd in the main event series went barely 2 minutes, Chuck came in prepared looked solid in his poise and just plowed Randy's face in with a nasty shot. The electricity in the arena was so huge though, really made this short bout feel like one of the biggest fights of all time. Okay onto the last part.
UFC 57: Liddell v. Couture 3 (February 4, 2006)
1) Keith Jardine v. Mike Whitehead- 2
2) Jeff Monson v. Brandon Lee Hinkle- 3
3) Paul Buentello v. Gilbert Aldana- 5
4) Alessio Sakara v. Elvis Sinosic- 2
5) Nick Diaz v. Joe Riggs-6
6) Babalu Sobral v. Mike Van Arsdale -3
7) Frank Mir v. Marcio Cruz- 4
8) Brandon Vera v. Justin Eilers- 3
9) Chuck Liddell v. Randy - 5
So, apparently Whitehead was this great prospect back in 06, wow, who the hell made that prediction? This 3 rounder didn't do much for me, from Whitehead's really plodding style, with takedowns doing nothing with them and the lazy, unrefined exchanges they traded during the standup portions.
Monson kind of bulls through Hinkle, at one point shoving him like in a hockey fight. Really nice choke though that puts BLH into early nap time.
What a nasty fight, not sure where Aldana is today but despite him running out of gas early, he took a hell of a beating here. Buentello has some sick uppercuts, maybe better than Apollo Creed, and he used them beautifully here.
Another dud, Sakara just owned Elvis on the ground, bursting his face open like he found oil but never being able to finish, Elvis hung in there but this was a snoozer.
Man, Nick Diaz is a tough son of a gun, very close judges decision here, funny because you could hear Goldberg disagreeing with Joe throughout the 2nd & 3rd rounds. Riggs was landing bombs but Diaz slow start didn't come through as usual but with the ground work involved as well, this was a real fun 3 rounder.
Bablu was pretty secure here, Van Arsdale looks like one of the townspeople from the world in Stargate and despite him being touted "the best wrestler in the history of UFC" he got outwrestled.
Mir was just coming back from his horrific motorcycle accident, a whole video montage was shown and this was to be a great return and storybook beginning to his rise again in the UFC. they just left the part out about how he was hooked on painkillers at this time. He was beaten bloody by a big, lanky and never before heard from again giant. This was quick but is notable for the upset.
Vera showed at one point he was a game competitor and completely dominated Eilers with his crazy muy thai.
This would rank near the first fight but didn't get out of the 2nd, at this point Liddell's punching power was on par with Tyson's run in the 80's he was KO'ing everyone, Randy no exception. He tried to play a smart battle and did for the most part, even scoring a go nowhere takedown but Randy at this point needed some time off.
Great trilogy of fights, showed both men's strengths and weaknesses and combined with some of the hottest crowds to ever watch a UFC show, these guys both showed why they are considered among the top dogs to ever compete.
UFC 43: Meltdown (June 6, 2003)
1) Pedro Rizzo v. Tra Telligman - 6
2) Matt Lindland v. Falaniko Vitale- 3
3) Yves Edwards v. Eddie Ruiz- 5
4) Frank Mir v. Wes Sims -3
5) Ian Freeman v. Vernon White -4
6) Vitor Belfort v. Marvin Eastman- 3
7) Kimo v. Tank Abbott- 1
8) Randy Couture v. Chuck Liddell - 7
1st fight was a slugfest, Telligman was from a boxing background, he's the guy with the caved in chest and was looking for revenge on Rizzo from an earlier defeat. He didnt' hold back, won the 1st round and these guys were letting the hands fly. Rizzo's leg kicks were sick, even spinning Tra around like a dervish at one point. An unfortunate doctor's stoppage ended this but I came away with a great respect for Telligman's fortitude.
2nd bout didn't go far, Lindland seemed in control against a younger, impressive looking dude, but one mistake on a takedown and he was out cold.
I could see how this bout may not interest the casual fan, it was a calculating ground war with a wrestler v. striker. Edwards was like a young, less dominating Anderson Silva, and Ruiz was a tenacious wrestler, he took some nasty shots throughout but really showed tons of heart. A lot of good technique between both guys in a 3 round battle.
This match will be known for MMA's resident nutcase Wes Sims getting DQ'd for stomping a mudhole on Mir's face in a fight Mir was handily in control of.
Our next fight was a heavyweight war of attrition, it goes all 3 rounds with both guys finding close success with both takedowns and standing, I actually had it as a draw as well, Freeman's hands looked really good in the final round but his wind ran out and White looked well rounded in every area. A short interview with Ken Shamrock between rounds showed how many downers a guy could take and still do a interview without passing out.
Wow, Vitor is as explosive then as he is now, he just waited patiently for the right shot and when he does, it's an A bomb going off. Beastman looked armed too, but couldn't stand up to it.
Tank was an Ultimate Fighting Joke at this point and didn't last long in a subpar choke by Kimo who couldn't even cinch it in right.
The 1st of their battles was an awesome fight. Liddell was the superstar of the UFC at this point, it was hinted multiple times that this was going to be a walkthrough for Chuck since Tito had ducked him for 2 years. But Randy's power is his heart, he toppled Chuck with takedowns in all 3 rounds and then for the last 2 rounds he dominated the standup in a shocking display of boxing. A masterful performance, you can tell Chuck was very surprised by a lot of what Couture brought to him, possibly underestimation. A very awesome moment when Randy gets the stoppage as they pull in close to a bloody Chuck on the ground and he mouths "I'm done."
UFC 52: Liddell-Couture 2 (April 16, 2005)
1) John Marsh v. Mike Van Arsdale - 6
2) Patrick Cote v. Joe Doerkson - 7
3) Ivan Salaverry v. Joe Riggs -2
4) Renato Babalu v. Travis Wiuff -5
5) Georges St. Pierre v. Jason Miller- 7
6) Matt Lindland v. Travis Lutter- n/a
7) Matt Hughes v. Frank Trigg- 5
8) Randy Couture v. Chuck Liddell- 4
Our opening fight featured known great wrestler and prick among pricks Van Arsdale, this was a war though, Marsh i've never seen before, he looked like a bodybuilder gas head, and got owned in the 1st but came back to dominate the 2nd round with heavy hands and expert sprawling. 3rd was a toss up until Van Arsdale used the dreaded "69" position to trap Marsh and make him relive a male college rape he endured, i'm just joking, hopefully.
2nd fight was just a clinic, Doerkson was on his A game with submission and ground wizardy, he had a counter to everything Cote tried to do, and was attempting submissions at every turn. It was an interesting fight because Doerkson had clearly won the first 2 rounds when Cote nearly punched him into defeat, but an amazing comeback by Doerkson. I was really digging his one legged trips that worked time after time. Good example of a ground fight that was really exciting.
Not a lot happened here, quick fight, only thing of note was the crazy upkick Ivan hit right before the finish went down. Riggs prematch fight interview was quite the pat on the back though
This was a really aggressive fight, Babalu has a hot/cold rep and he was in danger of being outclassed with wrestling here but was def. better at submissions which helped him. Saw Tim Sylvia in Wiuff's corner, so that's never a good thing. Also, if anyone was to run into Wiuff today, could you ask him if he still paints his toenails?
Wow, amazing early display of how great GSP is in the MMA game, Mayhem (of Bully Beatdown fame) took a shclacking for all 3 rounds, but the guy is tougher than KMart brand sneakers because he tried everything in the world to stop GSP but it wasn't happening. Another awesome ground fight that never slowed down. Wonder how this fight would play out today? Probably the same but Mayhem would have that ever present smile on his face, i bet.
Unfortunately the Lutter v. Lindland match wouldn't play on my dvd, tried it 2 different players so alas it will not be reviewed. Trigg v. Hughes also wouldn't play but luckily i have a small stash of UFC fights on VHS (yes it still exists, sort of) so plugged it in and watched and was a cool little fight. After seeing it and his latest few efforts, Trigg is talented but way overhyped. He nearly got the win after a low blow wasn't called on Hughes. Real tense moment where Trigg tried to choke out Hughes but couldn't quite get it done.
Our 2nd in the main event series went barely 2 minutes, Chuck came in prepared looked solid in his poise and just plowed Randy's face in with a nasty shot. The electricity in the arena was so huge though, really made this short bout feel like one of the biggest fights of all time. Okay onto the last part.
UFC 57: Liddell v. Couture 3 (February 4, 2006)
1) Keith Jardine v. Mike Whitehead- 2
2) Jeff Monson v. Brandon Lee Hinkle- 3
3) Paul Buentello v. Gilbert Aldana- 5
4) Alessio Sakara v. Elvis Sinosic- 2
5) Nick Diaz v. Joe Riggs-6
6) Babalu Sobral v. Mike Van Arsdale -3
7) Frank Mir v. Marcio Cruz- 4
8) Brandon Vera v. Justin Eilers- 3
9) Chuck Liddell v. Randy - 5
So, apparently Whitehead was this great prospect back in 06, wow, who the hell made that prediction? This 3 rounder didn't do much for me, from Whitehead's really plodding style, with takedowns doing nothing with them and the lazy, unrefined exchanges they traded during the standup portions.
Monson kind of bulls through Hinkle, at one point shoving him like in a hockey fight. Really nice choke though that puts BLH into early nap time.
What a nasty fight, not sure where Aldana is today but despite him running out of gas early, he took a hell of a beating here. Buentello has some sick uppercuts, maybe better than Apollo Creed, and he used them beautifully here.
Another dud, Sakara just owned Elvis on the ground, bursting his face open like he found oil but never being able to finish, Elvis hung in there but this was a snoozer.
Man, Nick Diaz is a tough son of a gun, very close judges decision here, funny because you could hear Goldberg disagreeing with Joe throughout the 2nd & 3rd rounds. Riggs was landing bombs but Diaz slow start didn't come through as usual but with the ground work involved as well, this was a real fun 3 rounder.
Bablu was pretty secure here, Van Arsdale looks like one of the townspeople from the world in Stargate and despite him being touted "the best wrestler in the history of UFC" he got outwrestled.
Mir was just coming back from his horrific motorcycle accident, a whole video montage was shown and this was to be a great return and storybook beginning to his rise again in the UFC. they just left the part out about how he was hooked on painkillers at this time. He was beaten bloody by a big, lanky and never before heard from again giant. This was quick but is notable for the upset.
Vera showed at one point he was a game competitor and completely dominated Eilers with his crazy muy thai.
This would rank near the first fight but didn't get out of the 2nd, at this point Liddell's punching power was on par with Tyson's run in the 80's he was KO'ing everyone, Randy no exception. He tried to play a smart battle and did for the most part, even scoring a go nowhere takedown but Randy at this point needed some time off.
Great trilogy of fights, showed both men's strengths and weaknesses and combined with some of the hottest crowds to ever watch a UFC show, these guys both showed why they are considered among the top dogs to ever compete.
Friday, November 12, 2010
DVDVR's Best of Texas from the 80's Disc 4
This discs are loaded, so it's taking me much longer than I thought to work my way through them. But be patient, this is happening.
1) Terry Gordy v. Chris Adams (2/3 Falls, November 12th, 1983)- 6
2) Fabulous Freebirds v. Kerry, Kevin & David Von Erich (Elimination Match, November 21st, 1983)- 6
3) Kerry Von Erich v. Michael Hayes (Loser Leaves Town Cage Match, November 24th, 1983)-4
4) Jimmy Garvin/ Terry Gordy v. Kerry Von Erich/ Chris Adams (2/3 Falls, November 28th, 1983)-4
5) Iceman King Parsons v. Buddy Roberts (December 12th, 1983)-5
6) Iceman King Parsons/ Brian Adias v. Super Destroyers (2/3 Falls, January 30th, 184)- 4
7) Jimmy Garvin v. Chris Adams (Steel Cage Match, January 30th, 1984)- 5
8) Ric Flair v. Chris Adams (February 3rd, 1984)- 7
9) Iceman King Parsons & Chris Adams v. Jimmy Garvin & The Missing Link (March 2nd, 1984)-3
10) Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy v. Kamala & The Missing Link (March 16th, 1984)-4
11) Kamala, The Missing Link & Super Destroyer #2 v. The Fabulous Freebirds (March 30th, 1984)-6
12) Jimmy Garvin v. Chris Adams (April 2nd, 1984)-5
13) Jimmy Garvin v. Chris Adams (April 15th, 1984)-3
So first match is a 2/3 falls match, which I love, not fond of the 30 minute draw type, the evidence is in this match, as it peaks a good 4, maybe 3 minutes before the time is expiring and should have ended but it can't because of the constraints of what they are trying to do. that being said, it's still a fun, hard worked wrestling match. 1st round is pretty dull, even for opening holds and feeling out process. 2nd fall is a quickie, then onto the third where it pretty much won me over because it was all based around back suplexes, Saito type. Adams really holds his own against, in my own humble opinion, possibly the greatest big guy that ever laced a pair up.
Fitting this is David's last match on the set and he gets the big win here, he looked real crisp on most stuff but when in control a little lost, like a blind man trying to find his way around a sex club with no braille on the hookers? I don't even know what that meant. Anyways, really lengthy bout that only picked up when they got Kerry and Hayes out of there and it became a tag situation. Roberts bumped his ass off like his paycheck depended on it. Strange to see David being choked with Gordy's Oriental Spike when just weeks later he would choke on 2 giant portherhouse steaks to his death.
This one was clipped, even so, kind of grew sour on the the overblown Hayes-Kerry element to this feud. They get heat like Satan in a sauna, but I prefer the supporting players matches more. This had all sorts of hijinx in it with Fritz getting involved to give his prostate a kick, and Roberts taking a ridiculous and frightening crotch bump on top of the cage for no reason and in the end, the match ends much the way it was built upon: lots of subpar punching.
This match also didn't do a lot for me, i could see maybe how it would for some. 1st fall featured some timid rest holds and Garvin and Kerry working together as well as a corpse trying to put up a Christmas tree. 2nd fall picked up a bit, Gordy sold like the best jobber you've ever seen, he and Adams have great chemistry. 3rd fall was pretty indicitive of a lot of World Class stuff and it's kind of wearing on me, very formulaic to a lot of other tags i've seen.
A fun scrim between two pretty outrageous characters. Lots of classic heel stalling and other tricks Roberts utilized, very fun match for your 8 year old to watch but for some reason I also enjoyed it. Not a lot of content, some solid strikes both men are known for and some real vicious kneedrops from Roberts.
I don't miss the 80's. The Super Destroyers are two masked men who are even more clunky than Demolition were. Iceman and Adias are both young though and keep the match at a somewhat lively pace. This match didn't need 3 falls, it barely had enough good stuff to fill one regular paced match. Akbar's 5 minute period with Iceman afterwards was just as stale.
Adams worked harder than Roy Munson trying to eat crab legs. All his spots were timed perfectly, some good psych with trying to use the same tactics Garvin did and the finish came off well. Some negatives were the women staying inside the cage?, Garvn's selling of the leg (looked like a little kid being tickled) and the flow of the match was pretty leisurely. Adams got some major blood but didn't give it any sort of big match feel.
More I watch of this set Adams just appeals to me more and more. The guy can go, it's too bad he never got a chance in one of the big 2 as the 80's unfolded into the 90's and that he was such a festering boil on society in his personal life because he could go. Offensively, he mis-stepped a few times but his selling for Flair was as good as anyone he got in other territories. Flair offensively was at a high point, all his stuff looked painful and well executed, suplexes, backbreakers and blistering chops. Ending was good too, even if the slow Lubich made the count like he was counting his coin collection at home.
This was sort of a mess, probably like Fritz's nightly diaper changes after he caught Kerry taking pictures of the dog's wang. Iceman was throwing some nasty shots that weren't pulled at all and that was the lone spot to enjoy although Link threw some token big man swipes that looked hurty. Brawl that capped this one off was as tame as a zoo animal. Adams and Sunshine dancing to Beat It coming in made me lose my lunch.
Match was fun in a ridiculous brawl sort of way, the monsters were bumping like gymrats for the Freebirds punches in a fun visual. Slow point was Link and Kamala on offense, which made the bulk of this, but when they were exchanging with the Birds, match picked up steam. Can't rate this too high, was the start of something bigger, so wasn't fully developed.
Can you imagine the propieter's face of whatever bar in Denton, TX those 6 took over after this show? A fun wild brawl, Gordy was just punches, Hazyes was having fun taking cheap shots, Roberts was solid, Link was real stiff and sold his ass off, Kamala was fully engrossed in character and Destroyer impressed me, he was sort of the glue, and pulled off a great dropkick and falling Nash sideslam better than that over payed hack has done in a decade. See this one for a good 10 minute romp.
This was better than most of their stuff, some good near falls, Adams putting on another great performance, cool tombstone and back bridge injected some Japanese flavor in there. But again, they always do long legwork sections in all their matches yet neither of them have a leg submission nor attempt one to win.
Another flavorless match, that seemed mostly built around the women trying to kill each other and the men following the same formula they've been using. Sidestory: Back in June 1999, besides seeing an awesome Rey v. Jericho match that was one of Jericho's last in the company, me, Brian and some other buds got to see "Gentleman" Chris Adams in action agains Vampiro and it was quite a treat for me to be able to catch in action one the guys from World Class I grew up watching live and only a few years before he was murdered.
1) Terry Gordy v. Chris Adams (2/3 Falls, November 12th, 1983)- 6
2) Fabulous Freebirds v. Kerry, Kevin & David Von Erich (Elimination Match, November 21st, 1983)- 6
3) Kerry Von Erich v. Michael Hayes (Loser Leaves Town Cage Match, November 24th, 1983)-4
4) Jimmy Garvin/ Terry Gordy v. Kerry Von Erich/ Chris Adams (2/3 Falls, November 28th, 1983)-4
5) Iceman King Parsons v. Buddy Roberts (December 12th, 1983)-5
6) Iceman King Parsons/ Brian Adias v. Super Destroyers (2/3 Falls, January 30th, 184)- 4
7) Jimmy Garvin v. Chris Adams (Steel Cage Match, January 30th, 1984)- 5
8) Ric Flair v. Chris Adams (February 3rd, 1984)- 7
9) Iceman King Parsons & Chris Adams v. Jimmy Garvin & The Missing Link (March 2nd, 1984)-3
10) Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy v. Kamala & The Missing Link (March 16th, 1984)-4
11) Kamala, The Missing Link & Super Destroyer #2 v. The Fabulous Freebirds (March 30th, 1984)-6
12) Jimmy Garvin v. Chris Adams (April 2nd, 1984)-5
13) Jimmy Garvin v. Chris Adams (April 15th, 1984)-3
So first match is a 2/3 falls match, which I love, not fond of the 30 minute draw type, the evidence is in this match, as it peaks a good 4, maybe 3 minutes before the time is expiring and should have ended but it can't because of the constraints of what they are trying to do. that being said, it's still a fun, hard worked wrestling match. 1st round is pretty dull, even for opening holds and feeling out process. 2nd fall is a quickie, then onto the third where it pretty much won me over because it was all based around back suplexes, Saito type. Adams really holds his own against, in my own humble opinion, possibly the greatest big guy that ever laced a pair up.
Fitting this is David's last match on the set and he gets the big win here, he looked real crisp on most stuff but when in control a little lost, like a blind man trying to find his way around a sex club with no braille on the hookers? I don't even know what that meant. Anyways, really lengthy bout that only picked up when they got Kerry and Hayes out of there and it became a tag situation. Roberts bumped his ass off like his paycheck depended on it. Strange to see David being choked with Gordy's Oriental Spike when just weeks later he would choke on 2 giant portherhouse steaks to his death.
This one was clipped, even so, kind of grew sour on the the overblown Hayes-Kerry element to this feud. They get heat like Satan in a sauna, but I prefer the supporting players matches more. This had all sorts of hijinx in it with Fritz getting involved to give his prostate a kick, and Roberts taking a ridiculous and frightening crotch bump on top of the cage for no reason and in the end, the match ends much the way it was built upon: lots of subpar punching.
This match also didn't do a lot for me, i could see maybe how it would for some. 1st fall featured some timid rest holds and Garvin and Kerry working together as well as a corpse trying to put up a Christmas tree. 2nd fall picked up a bit, Gordy sold like the best jobber you've ever seen, he and Adams have great chemistry. 3rd fall was pretty indicitive of a lot of World Class stuff and it's kind of wearing on me, very formulaic to a lot of other tags i've seen.
A fun scrim between two pretty outrageous characters. Lots of classic heel stalling and other tricks Roberts utilized, very fun match for your 8 year old to watch but for some reason I also enjoyed it. Not a lot of content, some solid strikes both men are known for and some real vicious kneedrops from Roberts.
I don't miss the 80's. The Super Destroyers are two masked men who are even more clunky than Demolition were. Iceman and Adias are both young though and keep the match at a somewhat lively pace. This match didn't need 3 falls, it barely had enough good stuff to fill one regular paced match. Akbar's 5 minute period with Iceman afterwards was just as stale.
Adams worked harder than Roy Munson trying to eat crab legs. All his spots were timed perfectly, some good psych with trying to use the same tactics Garvin did and the finish came off well. Some negatives were the women staying inside the cage?, Garvn's selling of the leg (looked like a little kid being tickled) and the flow of the match was pretty leisurely. Adams got some major blood but didn't give it any sort of big match feel.
More I watch of this set Adams just appeals to me more and more. The guy can go, it's too bad he never got a chance in one of the big 2 as the 80's unfolded into the 90's and that he was such a festering boil on society in his personal life because he could go. Offensively, he mis-stepped a few times but his selling for Flair was as good as anyone he got in other territories. Flair offensively was at a high point, all his stuff looked painful and well executed, suplexes, backbreakers and blistering chops. Ending was good too, even if the slow Lubich made the count like he was counting his coin collection at home.
This was sort of a mess, probably like Fritz's nightly diaper changes after he caught Kerry taking pictures of the dog's wang. Iceman was throwing some nasty shots that weren't pulled at all and that was the lone spot to enjoy although Link threw some token big man swipes that looked hurty. Brawl that capped this one off was as tame as a zoo animal. Adams and Sunshine dancing to Beat It coming in made me lose my lunch.
Match was fun in a ridiculous brawl sort of way, the monsters were bumping like gymrats for the Freebirds punches in a fun visual. Slow point was Link and Kamala on offense, which made the bulk of this, but when they were exchanging with the Birds, match picked up steam. Can't rate this too high, was the start of something bigger, so wasn't fully developed.
Can you imagine the propieter's face of whatever bar in Denton, TX those 6 took over after this show? A fun wild brawl, Gordy was just punches, Hazyes was having fun taking cheap shots, Roberts was solid, Link was real stiff and sold his ass off, Kamala was fully engrossed in character and Destroyer impressed me, he was sort of the glue, and pulled off a great dropkick and falling Nash sideslam better than that over payed hack has done in a decade. See this one for a good 10 minute romp.
This was better than most of their stuff, some good near falls, Adams putting on another great performance, cool tombstone and back bridge injected some Japanese flavor in there. But again, they always do long legwork sections in all their matches yet neither of them have a leg submission nor attempt one to win.
Another flavorless match, that seemed mostly built around the women trying to kill each other and the men following the same formula they've been using. Sidestory: Back in June 1999, besides seeing an awesome Rey v. Jericho match that was one of Jericho's last in the company, me, Brian and some other buds got to see "Gentleman" Chris Adams in action agains Vampiro and it was quite a treat for me to be able to catch in action one the guys from World Class I grew up watching live and only a few years before he was murdered.
Monday, November 8, 2010
TNA iMPACT! 11/4/10
1. Velvet Sky vs. Sarita - 1
2. Shannon Moore & Jesse Neal & Mickie James vs. Generation Me & Tara - 3
3. A.J. Styles vs. RVD vs. Rhino for the TV title - 3
4. Kazarian vs. Douglas Williams - 1
5. The Pope vs. Abyss - 2
6. Matt Morgan vs. Eric Bischoff - 0
A really bad episode this week. I was disappointed in the opener, expected more from the ladies, but there were several miscues and "deer in headlight" looks that made this appear like it was their first match at the local armory in front of Papaw. Six-person tag was best action of the night, Neal's not yet "good", but he's improved, and his selling in the heel control segment was fine. The Bucks' facials and personas have really gotten fun to watch. The three-way, featuring two guys I really loathe, was fine for the time given. They didn't do a lot, but with minimal time, made stuff matter by quality selling and keeping to a simple structure. I thought the Kaz/Williams match outright sucked. Felt like the opening few minutes of a match and nothing more, never got close to even first gear, plus the few simple things they did like clotheslines seemed awfully telegraphed and gave the whole thing a real choreographed vibe. I liked Abyss eating Pope's punches early, but this only got like two minutes, so forget it. I always thought the best stuff with a wrestler attacking a planted fan in the crowd was Pillman back on Shotgun Saturday Night, but I really dug Abyss attacking the fans. The second guy flew back off of a punch and busted the back of his head on the ramp, and the fourth guy, some poor slob, landed right on top of his head when getting dragged over the rail. Abyss mauling him looked strangely like one of those "when animals attack" videos. The "main event" was angle development for the forthcoming PPV and saw Bischoff eat a big boot by Morgan like Eric's wife eats strangers' cocks (I did read they were swingers somewhere).
2. Shannon Moore & Jesse Neal & Mickie James vs. Generation Me & Tara - 3
3. A.J. Styles vs. RVD vs. Rhino for the TV title - 3
4. Kazarian vs. Douglas Williams - 1
5. The Pope vs. Abyss - 2
6. Matt Morgan vs. Eric Bischoff - 0
A really bad episode this week. I was disappointed in the opener, expected more from the ladies, but there were several miscues and "deer in headlight" looks that made this appear like it was their first match at the local armory in front of Papaw. Six-person tag was best action of the night, Neal's not yet "good", but he's improved, and his selling in the heel control segment was fine. The Bucks' facials and personas have really gotten fun to watch. The three-way, featuring two guys I really loathe, was fine for the time given. They didn't do a lot, but with minimal time, made stuff matter by quality selling and keeping to a simple structure. I thought the Kaz/Williams match outright sucked. Felt like the opening few minutes of a match and nothing more, never got close to even first gear, plus the few simple things they did like clotheslines seemed awfully telegraphed and gave the whole thing a real choreographed vibe. I liked Abyss eating Pope's punches early, but this only got like two minutes, so forget it. I always thought the best stuff with a wrestler attacking a planted fan in the crowd was Pillman back on Shotgun Saturday Night, but I really dug Abyss attacking the fans. The second guy flew back off of a punch and busted the back of his head on the ramp, and the fourth guy, some poor slob, landed right on top of his head when getting dragged over the rail. Abyss mauling him looked strangely like one of those "when animals attack" videos. The "main event" was angle development for the forthcoming PPV and saw Bischoff eat a big boot by Morgan like Eric's wife eats strangers' cocks (I did read they were swingers somewhere).
Friday, November 5, 2010
DGUSA Open the Northern Gate
1) Tag Team Grudge Match: Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw vs. Gran Akuma & Akira Tozawa - 3
2) FIP World Heavyweight Title Match: Jon Moxley vs. Phil Atlas - 4
3) Special Challenge Match: CIMA vs. Jimmy Jacobs - 6
4) Special Attraction Match: Naruki Doi vs. Masaaki Mochizuki - 4
5) MPW Showcase Match: Bolen & Tyson Dux vs. Xtremo & Brad Martin - 5
6) 2 out of 3 Falls Match: Dragon Kid vs. Masato Yoshino - 6
7) Tag Team Action: BxB Hulk & PAC vs. YAMATO & Shingo - 6
Opener felt like Chikara-lite and that's as welcomed as a blowjob-lite. Quackenbush often strikes me as a guy who'd rather be collecting Pet Shop Boys bootlegs than actually being involved in anything in any way athletic. Moxley was freaking phenomenal in his match. He had this trashy-looking blonde as his valet and he pulled her hair, would fishhook her mouth, shove her around, etc. like an absolute creep. His antics alone were worth seeking this out for. I'll admit I probably liked the next match well more than most people. What really got me into it was the two distinct selling styles; Jacobs was theatrical, putting emphasis on the pain he was in, while CIMA did the more commonplace in Japan style of fighting through the pain, as if it was just temporarily sidetracking him from his goal.
Doi and Mochizuki was good but a little underwhelming. Doi got little offense in and while I enjoyed both guys targeting the legs (Naruki via submissions, Masaaki via kicks) I'd have preferred this to have been less one-sided. The local showcase was surprisingly good, perhaps the lack of quality tag wrestling in general these days boosts my enjoyment of even fairly standard stuff as the grading rubric in that category has evolved, but I dug this. Xtremo, lame name aside, would really fit in well in a southern-style group, don't know a lot offhand currently, save for XCW Mid-West, but I saw him as the best possible version of Brian Christopher. The Yoshino/Kid series came to a finale and it was arguably fitting of what had transpired before it. The finishes weren't exuberant crescendos but were largely believable and expertly executed. I wish, for their sake, they had gotten to pull this off in-front of a larger crowd then the handful of Ontario natives who showed up. The main event was awesome, balls-out Dragon Gate goodness, while it's not everyone's cup of tea, if you're a fan of fast-paced, crisp, spotty action then this is a tasty morsel. I toyed with grading it higher, but in reality, these guys do this type of thing all the time, on practically every episode of the 200+ backlog deep of their show Infinity, so amazing sprints with neck-crunching drops and amazing aerial wizardry isn't nothing new. I would have liked to have seen PAC get a few more big sequences in there, but I absolutely loved YAMOTO's wobbly selling and would realistically put it up there on par with Terry Funk's.
2) FIP World Heavyweight Title Match: Jon Moxley vs. Phil Atlas - 4
3) Special Challenge Match: CIMA vs. Jimmy Jacobs - 6
4) Special Attraction Match: Naruki Doi vs. Masaaki Mochizuki - 4
5) MPW Showcase Match: Bolen & Tyson Dux vs. Xtremo & Brad Martin - 5
6) 2 out of 3 Falls Match: Dragon Kid vs. Masato Yoshino - 6
7) Tag Team Action: BxB Hulk & PAC vs. YAMATO & Shingo - 6
Opener felt like Chikara-lite and that's as welcomed as a blowjob-lite. Quackenbush often strikes me as a guy who'd rather be collecting Pet Shop Boys bootlegs than actually being involved in anything in any way athletic. Moxley was freaking phenomenal in his match. He had this trashy-looking blonde as his valet and he pulled her hair, would fishhook her mouth, shove her around, etc. like an absolute creep. His antics alone were worth seeking this out for. I'll admit I probably liked the next match well more than most people. What really got me into it was the two distinct selling styles; Jacobs was theatrical, putting emphasis on the pain he was in, while CIMA did the more commonplace in Japan style of fighting through the pain, as if it was just temporarily sidetracking him from his goal.
Doi and Mochizuki was good but a little underwhelming. Doi got little offense in and while I enjoyed both guys targeting the legs (Naruki via submissions, Masaaki via kicks) I'd have preferred this to have been less one-sided. The local showcase was surprisingly good, perhaps the lack of quality tag wrestling in general these days boosts my enjoyment of even fairly standard stuff as the grading rubric in that category has evolved, but I dug this. Xtremo, lame name aside, would really fit in well in a southern-style group, don't know a lot offhand currently, save for XCW Mid-West, but I saw him as the best possible version of Brian Christopher. The Yoshino/Kid series came to a finale and it was arguably fitting of what had transpired before it. The finishes weren't exuberant crescendos but were largely believable and expertly executed. I wish, for their sake, they had gotten to pull this off in-front of a larger crowd then the handful of Ontario natives who showed up. The main event was awesome, balls-out Dragon Gate goodness, while it's not everyone's cup of tea, if you're a fan of fast-paced, crisp, spotty action then this is a tasty morsel. I toyed with grading it higher, but in reality, these guys do this type of thing all the time, on practically every episode of the 200+ backlog deep of their show Infinity, so amazing sprints with neck-crunching drops and amazing aerial wizardry isn't nothing new. I would have liked to have seen PAC get a few more big sequences in there, but I absolutely loved YAMOTO's wobbly selling and would realistically put it up there on par with Terry Funk's.
Monday, November 1, 2010
NHO Hall of Fame Class '10: Inductee #11
My final HoF pick for 2010 is none other than Jaguar Yokota. She is widely considered one of the greatest female wrestlers of all time, and, during her heyday in the early 1980s, was considered one of the best wrestlers in the world, irrespective of gender. She retired in '86 to become a trainer for AJW but returned to the ring after forming her own promotion Jd' in '95 where she competed as the company's top star until '98. Since 2004 she's wrestled freelance, including a stint as part of the "Monster" faction in HUSTLE as Jaguar Y. She utilized many different finishing moves in her career but the most spellbinding was the Shuttle Loop Buster (a high-angle release German suplex).
She held the AJW Championship, AJW Junior Championship, WWWA World Heavyweight Championship (twice), WWWA World Tag Team Championship with Jumbo Hori, was inducted into the AJW Hall of Fame in '98; she also had success elsewhere, winning the AWF and TWF World Women's Championships, as well as TWF World Women's Tag Team Championship with Yuko Kosugi. She was inducted into wrestling's most legitimate HoF, the Wrestling Obsever Newsletter Hall of Fame as part of its inaugural class of '96. Congrats, Jaguar!
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