NintendoLogic

That's like the time he responded to someone who asked if Braun Strowman actually flipped that ambulance.

For those of you worried that politics in America couldn't possibly get any stupider, I've got great news. http://uproxx.com/prowrestling/hulk-hogan-senate-run-florida-roger-stone/

I'm a bit puzzled by all the love Nakamura/Ibushi at WK got. Not that it isn't an awesome match, but I don't see what made it the runaway MOTY. I thought their match at the 2013 G1 was better.

Rah, you seem to enjoy garbage brawls, so I picked a dandy for you (date is January 5, 1997). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnIYDUHVr_s

Reviewed Rey/450. http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/40868-rey-mysterio-vs-mr-450-hammett-wwc-la-hora-de-la-verdad-22716/

Tim Evans picked this match for me as part of the Secret Santo project. I haven't really seen any post-WWE Rey, nor have I seen any non-80s Puerto Rico, so this should be interesting. I'm guessing this match won't feature any pig blood. I did some research beforehand, and it seems that Hammett is the WWC Universal Heavyweight Champion going in, but the match is non-title. We start out with some basic lucha-infused matwork and a fair amount of stalling and playing to the crowd. Interestingly, the crowd is solidly behind Rey. I guess that shouldn't be a surprise, but I thought that the Mexico-Puerto Rico rivalry might come into play. I guess not. Anyway, Hammett gets caught in the ropes while attempting to do a 619. I don't know if that was intentional or not, but it fit with the story of the match. He then takes control by cutting off a Rey 619 attempt with a superkick. I liked how he would throw punches in plain view of the referee and insist that they were palm strikes when the ref admonished him to open up his fists. Rey made a comeback with a drop toehold into the ring steps and hit his slip 'n slide tope, which I always enjoy. After some more back-and-forth, Hammett missed a 450 and Rey hit the 619 and diving splash for the win. After the match, the two hug it out and Rey cuts a promo in Spanish putting over his opponent (I think). Fun match. To a large extent, it felt like a fall-out-of-bed Rey as touring special attraction match. He didn't take any huge bumps or perform any crazy spots, and the story of the match was simple and straightforward. Still, the work was crisp and clean (one botched moonsault spot aside) and the two had good chemistry together. I'd like to see them in a longer match.

Actually, Cornette is the one responsible for the fifth star. The star rating system as originally constituted maxed out at four stars, but Cornette and the friend who came up with the system agreed that the Lawler/Funk no-DQ match broke the scale and deserved an extra star.

Baltimore is not in the South. I like this match a lot. For me, it's a tossup between this and the Desert Storm Match as Hogan's best. And I think Vader kicking out of the legdrop at one and getting a visual pinfall off the powerbomb did a good job in repairing the damage done by Hogan popping up at the Clash. That pre-match promo, on the other hand...oh boy. He said "brother" no less than 23 times (well, "brother" 22 times and "brothers" once) in the span of three minutes. I don't even think Shawn Michaels said "brother" that many times in his Hogan on Larry King parody.

It should be noted that per Hogan's pre-match promo, it was the white sand of Venice Beach that he threw in Slaughter's eyes. Dope match overall, pretty much a poor man's Boot Camp Match. If this had happened at Wrestlemania or Summerslam, it would be legendary.

I finally saw Cody's "New Japan? More like OLD Japan" promo. It somehow managed to be even worse than I had been led to believe. Amazing.

My pick for Tim Evans is Takeshi Morishima vs. Daisuke Ikeda 6/1/04, a kickass brawler vs. shooter match. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7u5ju

I was away from the board when the GWE project was wrapping up. Can someone tell me what exactly happened?

Added my review of Yamada/Funaki. http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/40795-keiichi-yamada-vs-masaharu-funaki-njpw-year-end-in-kokugikan-122787/

Here we have a matchup of two guys who would go on to bigger and better things. Yamada would go on to become Jushin Liger while Funaki would change his first name to Masakatsu and become a pioneer of MMA in Pancrase. At this point, however, they're just a couple of young lions toiling away in prelims. This is a pretty basic match built around a contrast of styles-Funaki wants to establish separation so he can throw his kicks while Yamada would prefer to stay on the mat. The biggest highspot for most of the match is Yamada powering out of a triangle choke. There is some questionable no-selling toward the end. Yamada goes for the shooting star press but gets tossed off the top rope like Ric Flair. He then pops right back up so Funaki can dropkick him out of the ring and hit him with a tope. Yamada wins with that double leg clutch hold that I'm sure has an actual name. Given the huge angle that was planned for the main event (this is the show where a debuting Big Van Vader would beat Antonio Inoki in three minutes, causing a riot that would lead to New Japan being banned from Sumo Hall), these two clearly weren't setting out to steal the show, and they didn't. To be honest, given the trend toward maximalism in modern wrestling, I found the lack of ambition rather refreshing. They stuck to the basics and executed well without overstaying their welcome, so there's nothing to complain about. This isn't a substantial addition to either man's legacy, but it's nothing to be ashamed of either.

I'd also add the Rock match from No Mercy to the list of Jericho matches. I don't think the Omega match is Jericho's best, but I do think it's his best individual performance.

Looks like SANADA is going to be Okada's next challenger. He'll get an opportunity in return for giving Okada a shot at the tag titles with Goto as his partner. That photoshopped picture of HHH holding every championship belt in WWE might actually become a reality in New Japan.

This is something I've been wanting to do for a while now.

I started watching with the 6-man tag match. Good show overall. There's nothing I'd rate as a MOTYC, but there's nothing I actively hated either. A couple of notes. One, I thought Jericho was clearly the better wrestler in the Omega match. I don't recall ever thinking that in a Jericho match before. Two, I wonder what's next for Okada. He's run through the entire division and Jericho and Jay White, who could be plausible challengers if properly built up, both lost. And his bell bottoms were distractingly bad. Who was the chick on the Japanese announce team? She was pretty cute.

I'm most intrigued by the Jericho/Omega match. I'm sure Jericho has enough self-awareness to realize that he can't hang with Omega athletically, which is why it has built up as a grudge match. I haven't seen much evidence that either guy is particularly skilled at working a high-end hate-filled brawl, but it should at least provide a change of pace from the other matches on the card.

Thanks. I'll try to write it up later tonight. For you, I pick Io Shirai vs. Shayna Baszler from Stardom on 2/23/17. You had mentioned wanting to get into joshi, and I enjoyed this match quite a bit. https://rutube.ru/video/ad1961e437db7fd81e86d81f4cb2c6d2/

A new selection for 2006 from out of nowhere. Like the Diamond Cutter, I never saw it coming.

I never imagined that Yoshi Tatsu would be in a MOTYC, but here we are. This match deserves a more detailed write-up than I'm giving it right now, but it's one of those matches that works on a number of levels. You have the veterans torturing a young lion aspect, the regulars defending their promotion's honor against the invading outsiders aspect, and the pro wrestler vs. shooter aspect. Suzuki in particular turned in a virtuoso performance as the uncooperative asshole who refused to play by the rules of fake pro wrestling. Him casually sidestepping Tatsu's flurries was a thing of beauty, as was his strike exchange with Nagata. This was fantastic. I loved everything about this. I have a new MOTY for 2006.

Count me in. I have WWE Network and New Japan World.

As I heard it, Jacques made it known to the locker room that he had put out a contract on Dynamite that was to be fulfilled if anything happened to him. Specifically, he told Dino Bravo, who was even more deeply tied to the mob and could verify its veracity. That was the story in Ring of Hell, so make of that what you will.

Made my final picks for 2017.