Zenjo
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Everything posted by Zenjo
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There were a number of themes going on. Partners colliding, youth vs establishment, Aki trying to improve upon his unsuccessful effort from September. I was having to remember these things however, as they weren't telling much of a story in the ring. It just felt like two guys having a big main event. If you judge it like that then it was a good match, but there's a lot they could have done better. The crowd were that uniquely Japanese mix of crazed excitement and pin drop silence. Down the stretch Jun had an offensive flurry which had the fans believing. Once Misawa had survived that then the result was inevitable. He busts out the Emerald Frosion to retain. I'm not sure when he dubuted that particular move?
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Given the harsh time constraints they did a good job of producing an entertaining contest. No hot tag meant it was all action and they worked hard. There was unpredictability over what was going to happen at the finish. Like Chad I'd have loved to have seen this matchup be given full length.
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This capped off a well booked feud between two legends. They certainly didn't produce a classic here, but it was good enough to satisfy expectations. Flair was obviously past his prime years, of which there were many. The basic structure was decent enough, they had full length and a clean finish. Flair adopted the heel role, although both of them had mixed reactions at this point in time. An old school NWA type of contest. I would've preferred a longer stretch. Certainly not perfect, but I was entertained. A successful WCW debut for Bret.
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Let's get this party started! It didn't take long to get hot and, by Rings standards, had a generous duration. Tamura is such a gifted athlete with extraordinary instinct and movement on the deck. The Russian also stood out, the hours spent sparring with Han paying dividends. The Maestro was even dispensing advice from the apron in a nice touch. The noisy crowd were fully behind the native. They produced some fantastic submissions and reversals. During the standing exchanges Ilioukhine simply defended and tried to get back to the mat. The only downside was that it peaked a little too early and they were flagging the last couple of minutes. It's only in shoot style wrestling that you regularly see guys legit worn out. The best bout of January.
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Ripping off ECW T-Shirts is real low grade indy. You don't have to be a major promotion to get televised in Japan however. I'd have preferred to see Gedo in one of those aforementioned shirts rather than his Godawful outfit. I thought this was an adequate bout. It featured an extensive amount of shoulder work. Tajiri's selling was so exaggerated and mindful it was almost comical. Grabbing it after every move, desperate to show fans it hadn't been forgotten. It reeked of inexperience. He never got that good either. Not having the grounding of the NJ or AJ Dojo and bouncing from one promotion to another in his formative years.
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It's weird having a 5m bout that felt long. I quite enjoyed seeing Goldberg meet some resistance for once and have to take a few shots in return. I didn't think Regal was being unprofessional at all. Since when did he ever flip and flop the whole time? He always tried to make moves look like more of a struggle. And he did sell and bump for Goldberg's big moves so I don't see what the problem is.
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The first 18m of this was a good brawling style encounter with anything goes. An established and heated rivalry was an important factor. The changes in momentum were well timed. I'd say that despite some fun spots, the stipulation was an impediment overall. Then as we head towards the climax there's a lengthy 3m of interference. Then the result is swept under the carpet as the focus is firmly on the post-match angle. This is a perfect illustration of why my yearly best match lists are hardly overflowing with WWF, or in this case will be ranked lower than it should be. Even the times when they've showed ambition and produced a strong match they have to go and fuck it up at the finish. It's like sportz entertainment has to be opposed to match quality, and there's only one winner in that war.
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Lasted the best part of 10m which was long for a TV bout. It still felt rushed though as they tried to shoehorn too much in. Some entertainment but they've both produced plenty better. The thing that stood out to me here was how dangerous the style was they were working. It's no wonder Rey's knee got fucked up. And Juvy did this diving legdrop from inside the ring to the floor. It looked terrible as he didn't land it properly, but if he does land it properly he could easily injure himself. The risk to reward ratio on some of these moves is way out of whack. You have to remember that it's a 23 year old and a 21 year old who are living the life, so they're not going to be thinking long term health. And the promoters sure don't give a shit if they get hurt pushing the envelope.
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Got to love the bookers approach here. Just stick 8 (or 7.5) random Mexicans together and tell them to fly around for a bit. Fortunately they were able to get on the same page and provide an entertaining PPV opener. Some of the execution early on was a bit dodgy, but business picked up with the dive train. People are only going to rate this highly if they haven't watched any authentic Lucha.
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Here I was, ready to recite one of my favourite lines and what happens? The crowd goes and gets hot. A quite reasonable build. Nothing spectacular but they kept things moving. Then an elongated stretch with multiple references to La Majistal. It was a good effort from both guys. Ohtani's desperation was now feeling like an act rather than authentic emotion. He was hanging onto his prime.
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I should point out that Johnny Ace sold out Da Budokan for his main event. I'm not going to bother rewatching it though. There's certainly been early evidence of 'the drop'. Ironically that was an appealing factor to me going in. It's the great matches that slow me down. I stalled on disc 2 of the 97 Yearbook. Stalled in early 1994 as well. Am nowhere near ready to start on 1995 with all the Broadways. On the other hand I'm racing through 98 thus far as it's so easily digestible.
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Yep. If anyone watches this Yearbook without doing their own DX crotch chops from time to time they should be ashamed of themselves.
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You forgot to mention Kane beating up the Plant outside the ring. I hope that he picked the right guy from the crowd anyway. The Undertaker returns, and I love when he starts to talk about reaping souls and suchlike.
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Interesting that they had an Austin vs McMahon segment that had little to do with the upcoming Wrestlemania match. Clearly they were thinking ahead and laying the groundwork for what was to come in the next few months. Really good booking and a red hot confrontation.
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This was really good because Lane looked so much like Jericho. They had the fans fooled, who started with a "Jericho sucks" chant. Before this Yearbook I probably hadn't even thought about Lenny Lane for one second this decade.
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The structure of this makes no sense at all. The first 7m of the bout is wild tornado brawling with no rules and lots of weapons. Then all of the sudden the eight wrestlers turn into law abiding citizens and it's a conventional tag format. The other way around would've been logical with tempers getting out of hand. This was strange. The fans just wanted to see Stone Cold kick some ass, which they delivered easily enough.
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I would've preferred to see Juvy lose the mask in a match with Jericho's hair at stake. They could've had some fun with that, but Mexican traditions weren't too high on Bischoff's list of importance. Guerrera would've lost the mask in Mexico as well because he had a good look. It was a different situation when Rey was forced into unmasking and it really hurt him. I didn't feel like the two wrestlers combined well during the match. Jericho was too big to fit in with the Cruiserweight division at the time.
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