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G. Badger's Puro + More

A blog by G. Badger in General

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Entries in this blog

You Might Have Missed

NOAH SHINY NAVIGATION 09/06/08 review

In true Mixed up Monday fashion, I'm going to do a whole show review which is all mixed up since, I usually just toss a couple random fun match reviews up.   I bought the official NOAH DVD from Highspots. Its got English commentary. Its not very good commentary but, its not awful either. Its laughable that at every (yes, every kickout), the lead commentator asks, "Did he kickout!?" Does he mean that he literally cannot see the kickout or is that a dramatic phrase? I wonder even as I wr
Spotlight

AJPW You Might Have Missed: Hayabusa

I'm a Hayabusa fan. I think my first exposure was from ECW clips of he & Jinsei Shinzaki vs RVD & Sabu. Then around that time, I bought a used copy of WCW vs the World for the PS1. Awesome game, tons of Japanese stars with fake names. I recognized a few though, Hayabusa being one. Thing is, I probably didn't know he was called "Hayabusa." I just knew he was this high flyer with a mask and baggy red pants...and he could keep up with Van Dam & Sabu in the crazy move department. The vid
Spotlight

AJPW Classics 149 & 150: 1987

I've recently acquired a big chunk of the AJPW Classics broadcast in 1999 & 2000. Generally speaking, I've got a good portion of 1988-early 1990 covered. There are a couple notable matches missing but, I'm more interested in finding hidden gems. I'm looking forward to seeing matches people talked about in the distant past and have since been forgotten or brushed aside for the newer slicker wrestling of today. I'm excited to be able to watch wrestling in a somewhat episodic fashion again too.
Spotlight

Spotlight: Michinoku Pro Masked League '95

I miss watching 90's M-Pro. Its probably my favorite stuff to just sit back, enjoy, and smile. This tournament really helps capture the nature of the promotion at the time. Its just a lot fun. Another important aspect that's lost is the back injury story that Sasuke carries across the tournament. Here a young Naniwa deals a serious blow to Sasuke and this establishes the anyone can win nature of this tournament.   7/27 Iwate: Super Delfin vs. Gorgota Cross (Jerry Lynn)- A fine first ma

SWS & Tenryu in the 2000's

Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara vs Tatsumi Kitahara & Shinichi Nakano (02/14/92 SWS): Tenryu looks jacked here. This was good but, a little one sided for me. Tenryu & Hara really beat the shit outta Nakano (AJPW payback?). This just got a little too samey for me to be really good.   Kenta Kobashi & Junji Izumida vs Genichiro Tenryu & Shiro Koshinaka (12/04/05 NOAH):I'd consider this an overlooked gem especially for 2005 Noah. So much hard chopping machismo fighting s

Wacky Wednesday: JD' & Dragon Gate

Fang Suzuki vs Sumie Sakai - Chain Rope, Chair pit & ladder match (12/29/2000 JD'): Not sure if that's the official name of the match...but, it presents a helluva visual, right? This was a great match. I'll just say that right off the Louisville. There were dives, blood, moves on the chairs...it was right there with ECW, FMW, or WWF at the time, in terms of inventive gimmick and actual execution. Even better, they didn't give us the fucking tour of the arena as was the fashion of the time. I

The 2010's: AJPW 2011 & NOAH 2017

So, below is the final match from the AJ 11/26/11 show which I highlighted last week. Also let's take a look at a couple GHC title defenses from 2017 NOAH.   Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi vs SUWAMA & Takumi Soya (11/26/11 AJPW): Strong BJW have the tag belts but, this is a non title fight. It's a RWTL match-up. So here we go- Takumi smartly WRESTLES Okabayashi...fuck...do NOT get into a power battle with him. Daisuke wants SUWAMA. 'WAMA is a beast eating chops for lunch. T
Quickie

Mixed Up Monday: MUGA & NJPW

Tatsumi Fujinami & Shinichi Nakano vs Osamu Nishimura & Yuki Ishikawa (03/03/98 MUGA): I hope you know what each guy looks like because everyone has black trunks, black boots, and black hair! This ain't your 2018 NJPW strong style with leather pants, dye jobs, and fancy colors! This is '98 MUGA and it's all about true Inoki style grappling and such.   Most of this puppy was fought on the canvas with a slap, knee or suplex thrown for good measure. 3/4 cup of matwork, scrambling
You Might Have Missed

NOAH Matches You Might Have Missed: NJPW vs NOAH

The NJ vs NOAH feud was pretty well regarded in what was considered a down year for puro. This talk was over 5 years ago so, its something I think most people, especially those not hip to pre-Kobashi GHC title run NOAH, may have missed.   Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs Jushin Liger & Wataru Inoue (02/17/02): This is one of the earliest in the feud and its full of stiff shots and heat. Its getting hot in here! Like Nelly! Remember him? Not Nelly Furtadoshe was cute tho
Spotlight

Assorted NJPW from 1987

No one really seems to talk about the 1980's Japan anymore. That ship has sailed and people have moved on to other stuff, I suppose. A few years ago...maybe 5 years...I can't remember, NJPW, AJPW, and essentially UWF were being watched in depth and ranked by a good handful of folks. Pretty awesome stuff. I've got the lists saved on a USB drive. I'm not going to even try to recreate or resurrect the 80's projects with my Saturday posts but, I love the 80's Japan stuff. 1986-1988 NJPW is one of my
Spotlight

Spotlight: AJW 08/19/90

It seems like people are into current joshi and that's cool. I watched some Wave & Stardom a year or two ago. Its not bad. Its cool but, not really my cup of Earl Grey.   Here's a run down of one of my favorite old school joshi shows:   1) Miori Kamiya vs. Etsuko Mita: jip A brief little example of joshi wrestling. There were some nice moves in what was shown.   2) 3 Minutes 5 Rounds: Sakie Hasegawa vs. Kaoru Ito- These are two of my favorite underrated wrestler

Spotlight: Naoki Sano in SWS

Naoki Sano is one of those guys I'll always make an effort to check out if a match comes my way. His feud with Liger was one of the first puro arcs that I watched so, in a way he helped shaped my early opinions and preferences.   OK whatever but, here I am with a new batch of unseen (to me) Sano whilst exploring proto-Wrestle and Romance...SWS.   Two I'd recommend straight up are Sano vs fellow Indy journeyman Masao Orihara and vs Rick Martel. The Orihara match is bananas wit

Wacky Wednesday: Zero-1 & BJW

Isami Kodaka vs Kenji Fukimoto (03/05/17 BJW) - Gusset Plates & Sawed Off Cans 2-Sided Death Match: Stumbled across this match online and the sawed off cans (as in tin cans) caught my attention. Surprisingly un-gory (as modern death matches go) and tons of fun to watch. A ladder shows up and the tin can board spots are cringe inducing. As an infrequent deathmatch watcher, I would highly recommend this.   I've been watching death matches more since I first watched this and it has be

The 2010's: wXw 2010, AJPW 2011

I'm going to dig into wXw's 2010 16 carat Gold Tournament but, am only a few matches in. This is what I've got so far from Day #1:   Ares vs Matt Jackson: Fun 8 minute match with a bit of comedy from Ares.   Munenori Sawa vs Paul Tracey: I'm not familiar with Tracey. Sawa looked good and Tracey was OK. 7 minutes and better than the first bout.   Yuji Okabayashi vs Martin Stone: Best match so far. Very good to see grappling here in this setting. Simple but, effective
Quickie

Mixed Up Monday: AJPW, Dick Murdoch, AJW

Giant Baba, Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada, Masanobu Fuchi & Akira Taue (01/29/94 AJPW): What do ya know!? Another match from today's date Just stumbled across this write up in the back of a notebook.   The 6 man matches of AJPW were really something. I know you're probably a little worried about Giant Baba working a match in 1994. I was too! If you've never seen Baba then, do yourself a favor and watch a couple older matches of his. One of many against Th
You Might Have Missed

AJPW You Might Have Missed (01/28/86)

Its always a bit of fun when you're going back to write about or watch wrestling matches and it's the date of a historically important match. Or is that just me? Today is the 32nd anniversary of the much loved Choshu & Yatsu vs Jumbo & Tenryu tag match in AJPW. It's like a holiday No celebration but, still pretty cool and a reason to be hyped for the day. Plus it's sunny out so, that's nice too!   Here's my take on the match and if you have not watched it, make some time this
Quickie

Assorted NJPW Tags from 1986

Here are some really great tag matches from New Japan in 1986 that don't get much talk. Thought I'd share the love!   Nobuhiko Takada & Osamu Kido vs Antonio Inoki & Keiichi Yamada (02/05/86): Wow what a great little match! The crowd really lets you know what's up since the work isn't mind-blowing or anything. This is the beginning of the legendary UWF/NJ feud and you can tell right here that dammit! It means something. Each guy just does his job well and it really pushes the i
Spotlight

Spotlight: Hiroshi Hase

Hiroshi Hase: Hase is probably the most overlooked great in-ring worker of Japan's 1990's golden era. His abilities and athleticism have been compared to Kobashi in the past. However, he was not regarded as such within NJ. First he was considered an excellent Jr. until Liger and contemporaries changed the style. He was a heavyweight but, would only see tag teams success. That seems very good but, compare that to the successes of his peers in NJ and even AJ at the time. Its clear that he wasn't u

SWS, WAR and Tenryu in the 2000's

This past summer I took the time to learn about the SWS promotion in Japan. I also branched out from the non Tenryu matches of WAR. I was pleasantly surprised. I'd like to go back and revisit those two companies here in my blog. Plus, see what good old Tenryu was doing in the 2000's as a freelancer. Here are some oldies but goodies:   Ashura Hara, Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa vs. King Haku, Shinichi Nakano & Yoshiaki Yatsu (08/05/91 SWS): Fast paced and stiff as a starched shirt.

Wacky Wednesday: Jd' & BJW

My first exposure to Japanese wrestling was through ECW. So, it made sense that once I could get my hands on real to life VHS tapes of the stuff, it was going to be hard core death match stuff. The first tape I got was the awesome yet, grainy as hell History of BJW death matches. This had all kinds of insane and yes, wacky stipulation/gimmick matches. The piranha and cactus & scorpion death match stuck out in terms of that "what the hell?" factor. To lose, you have to get dunked in a fish ta
From the Editor

The 2010's: An Ongoing Project

I am not one to try and keep up with current wrestling- stateside or internationally. I am curious though and will try and watch stuff that's really hyped. The emphasis is on "try."   The new stuff ends up getting pushed aside by some older match or feud that seems way more interesting or less involved. New or current stuff kinda forces the viewers to keep up in order to get the most enjoyment out of it especially if I want to discuss it here on PWO. I just don't have the time to spend

Mixed Up Monday: JWP, Michinoku Pro, W*ING

W*ING 05/09/93 show: Mr. Pogo vs Matsunaga in a Barbwire bat Texas Death match. This is clipped a little but not so much where its jumping around in the match too much. Its exactly what I was looking for with the action. Both guys are bleeding and taking to the bat like champs. Pretty sure Mr. Danger gets hit in the throat. Great finish too! PLUS Headhunters vs Miguel Perez Jr. & Yukihiro (Wing) Kanemura -Barbwire Cage match. I was hyped that I found this. Perez Jr. is a guy that I
You Might Have Missed

AJPW & NOAH Matches You Might Have Missed

I'm a big giant fan of tag team wrestling. I'd say that I prefer tag and 6-man matches over singles competition. All Japan and NOAH are more known for their epic title matches but, have always had great team wrestling. I don't think that's a surprising statement however, there are others worth enjoying besides the classics. Here are some that I've enjoyed:   Steve Williams & Terry Gordy vs Stan Hansen & Joel Deaton (06/03/93 AJPW): Although it was only 6 minutes & 47 second

Assorted AJPW from the 1970's

I love wrestling from the 70's. Its got that actual sense that the guys are engaged in a grappling contest. That the contestants are actual wrestlers. Well, in most cases. You've got Abdullah the Butcher forking people but, even then, it feels real...or real enough. Here are a couple of my favorites from AJPW in the 1970's:   Destroyer vs Abdullah the Butcher - US Title (04/27/74): Put this match behind watching a Dory & Jack Brisco match and you can see why Abby & the Sheik we
Spotlight

Spotlight: Kotaro Suzuki

A couple years ago I found out that my fiancé's college friend (who lives in Japan) was a wrestling fan and regularly goes to shows in Tokyo. Awesome! After talking, it turns out he's good buddies with Kotaro Suzuki. Holy crap, really!? Being the awesome nice guy that he is (both our friend & Kotaro), I received a signed poster and tee shirt in the mail a few weeks later. My mind is still blown   I've become a big fan ever since. So, I'd like to repay his kindness in the best way

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