June 1995

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This was one of the stiffest matches I've ever seen. Lots of sickening street fighting kicks to head of the downed opponent. I imagine if this had more intelligent transitions and build it would've been a strong match. The early going is fun with near KOs and submissions, but they lose their way and start trying to build to their powerbomb finishers, but not really doing a good job at it. I did like Kansai's leg trip and upkicks and they kept delivering stiff shots to keep me entertained, but Kansai's eventual comeback was poor and they ran out of (good) ideas. Also, funny moment where Chigusa is struggling not to botch a powerbomb and cripple her opponent.

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Pretty good Sousserov showcase match with a bunch of cool throws and kicks, and TK trying to survive, grabbing submissions off of suplexes when he can. He's able to down Sergei with a good knee to the midsection but Sergei pops him silly with a big ass kick and submits him with the armbar.

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This is the Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet match of RINGS thus far, in the sense that they're both trying to do big impressive things, synchronized kicks and shit, completely whiffing a bunch, and it's so silly, it's actually fun. Not a very good match though. It was nice seing Sakata with a little more confidence and aggression, laying in with a bunch of open hands to the head and knee strikes. Yuri loves the big kicks and he hits a pretty sweet shoot enziguri, a spinning heel wkick, a high kick to the head. There's a bunch of tomfoolery with them trying these ridiculous kicks and throwing themselves at each other without anything really happening, which leads to the Yuri's k…

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This is a pretty sweet sub-10:00 mathc. Kaki rocking the sleek purple because he really outshined Takada here. This had that pesky youngster vs. pissy veteran dynamic, which I love, and it created some rather memorable moments. Almost immediately, Sano bitch slaps Takada and Takada seemingly lays down on the mat out of fear for Kaki’s unpredictability. Kaki uses an arm-trap necklock to force Takada to the ropes but when he grabs an ankle and twists, Takada loses his cool and doubles down on the kicks, hacking Kaki’s leg to spaghetti and taking him down again and again. Kaki’s last gasp is great, as he catches Takada’s kick, barrages him with slaps, necklock suplexes him t…

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Sting vs Meng - WCW Great American Bash 1995 Vacant US Title Match STING DID A COFFIN DROP ON MENG!!! THERE WAS A PROPHECY AND IT WAS FULFILLED! I think something wrestling fans get hung up on that US Title and IC Title should be on the Next Big Thing. I dont disagree that is a valuable use of the titles. I think more importantly they should be on people that are over and near the top of the card. I think it is more valuable they are whoever is #2 or #3 on the depth chart of the babyface or heel side. I actually think this is a great use of US Title. Sting for better or for worse has been shut out the main event scene by the a pretty powerful foursome of Hogan,…

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A bunch of legit martial artists and strange masked gimmicks step up to work a more surrealist BattlARTS match. Lots of nasty potatoes and credible shootstyle exchanges. Black Hole was inspiring - a fat dude with a genuinely cool mask, clubbing Vader like blows and judo throws. Hopper King is Super Rider and doesn't hold back with the kicks. Most importantly this had the kind of chippy fighting that elevates pro wrestling. Loved how Kimura wouldn't accept Akiyama breaking up his submission attempts. Then Kimura tried tooling Black Hole only to get rocked by those swinging fists. Even the crowd brawling was fun and the finish absolutely nasty. This was everything.

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This was probably a bad match to start this project with, because it really sets an impossibly high bar. This was on a high school football field in Williamstown New Jersey, and Tarzan Goto is sitting on a folding chair on the track watching the match. This is worked like a super amped up PWFG match, with Severn aggressively shooting in for takedowns and suplexes and Tajiri throwing kicks and using his speed to counter Severn's power, it feels like I was watching an Earth 2 Tajiri where he ends up trained by Funaki and fighting in Pancrase. Tajiri hits a plausible shootstyle enzigiri. Severn is awesome in this, he is totally amped up and just hurls Tajiri with suplexes, h…

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