WingedEagle
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Everything posted by WingedEagle
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JT Southern looks like one of the Nelson boys. Clips of Tommy Rich turning heel on Ricky Morton with a chain letting the Gilberts beat the RNR. Then Tommy Rich walks out on Dundee during a tag team battle royal. Promo from Dundee, then Rich from ATL talking about winners and joining the Memphis Mafia. Tommy Rich is good at this whole "wrestler on TV" thing. -
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Not a ton to add here, as I seem to agree with the consensus that it doesn't measure up to either man's best, which means its just a good match and a monumental moment. I always love Hansen yelling "ask him" at the ref to check if Misawa wants to quit while working over his elbow. Matches like this help build the elbow as much as all the times its used as a finisher because Hansen essentially treats it as as great a threat as the rest of the company always treated his Lariat. The finish was a little flat as there was a huge delay before the count that seemed to suggest it'd keep going. ***1/2
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Taue far and away the the best performed in this match, and seemed to get over as a heel even against foreigners. Pretty surprising to see Jumbo take the fall here, even with Taue the standout. Combined with the main event result and this was a pretty big night in All Japan. ***3/4
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Panther looks solid on the mat early, but nothing stands out as especially excellent or heated. I ate up the comedy and dancing spots with Astro and the heels in 2nd fall. Astro's dive on Rambo was really nice. Post-match angle with Azteca ripping off Panther's mask. ***1/2
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Han is such a superstar to this crowd and he doesn't rest on his reputation, throwing all sorts of awesome spinning strikes and creative submission attempts. He's easily one of the most innovative guys you'll ever see in a ring. Vrij stays strong with a couple knockdowns but Han capitalizes on one of his own and gets the win with what looks like some kind of STF variation. ***3/4
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I wasn't particularly looking forward to this as a random shoot style match b/w guys I didn't know at all, but was never disappointed as this felt fresh and different from the rest of the set. Cool jumping takedown and early suplex by Zaza, with a number of fun takedowns throughout before a submission finish. ***1/4
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Yes and yes. Jumbo looks to have aged noticeably, and this was clearly the second best 6-man behind 5/22, which means it was really, really good. Taue is such a great heel. Even though he looked like hell, Jumbo really got into destroying Kikuchi. Kikuchi also delivers a textbook Kikuchi performance here, taking quite the beating from Jumbo & Taue. ****1/4 Hell of a match to end the best disc of pro wrestling I've come across.
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I loved Tanahashi/Ishii. For folks coming into it cold, it definitely wouldn't mean as much. But the Korakuen crowd and presumably many watching via the all in G1 sub package are quite familiar with the product and thus the upset came across as a big deal precisely because he didn't dominate the whole match and thus the likely outcome of Tanahashi winning wasn't threatened early on.
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That Desperado scene in the cemetery was amazing. If you weren't sold after that nothing was going to get you there.
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Christopher complaining about a chain, then clips of Tommy Rich beating Doug Gilbert before both Gilberts take him out post-match. Eddie says the 3 of them are the new Memphis Mafia. Tommy Rich is still one of my favorite discoveries on this set, even if he's not even remotely prominent.
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Savage promo that he's not getting help from Perfect, who comes out saying Savage wants him in his corner and that the best man will have him in his corner. Interesting dynamic in that its unclear which face the crowd should get behind. When I watched this as it played out back then I wasn't too invested in it at all, but this time around I've enjoyed it a lot more. Go figure.
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Its not Dump/Chigusa nor is it the the tag match from earlier in the night. But its still pretty damn good. Surprisingly little heat for the predictably fast start which sees dropkicks raining everywhere. The crowd gets into things as the near falls start coming pretty early. Tons of great high spots and counters playing off their previous encounters. I normally don't go for Toyota bridging out of falls but it felt right here. The post-match was intense, emotional and just as big a part of this as anything that took place during the match. I wish I'd know a bit more about what led up to this as well as that Chiguys was Yamada's idol growing up. As great as this was, it didn't compare to the tag from earlier in the night. It deserves its own recognition, but man that match blew me away. ****
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Flik didn't leave much to cover. I absolutely loved this, much moreso than the hair match later that night. Bull & Aja plays monsters perfectly, while Yamada & Hokuto take a thorough beating while staying determined and never laying down. Hokuto's brawling was just awesome. So much to love here, there's really no good place to start or stop identifying it all. You have to question the booking a bit because given the beating she takes here I don't know anyone can give her a chance to win the hair match later. Kong & Bull bust out a couple dives that put heavyweights around the world to shame. Just such great storytelling with different roles on the Yamada/Hokuto team, the big vs. small element, high spots, brawling and a killer finish -- everything you could ask for. Was there ever a big Hokuto/Yamada match coming out of this? ****1/2
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When does Pogo jump back to FMW? Pogo takes his cowboy boots off to use as an early weapon, and one Hunter springs a gusher right away. Headhunters' matches always read better than they watch, and that's no different here. Pogo accidentally nails Matsunaga with chair and they need to be separated afterwards w/ challenges issued. **
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This was pretty decent and kept my attention throughout. That may be more due to the setting and atmosphere, but what's wrong with that? They keep things simple and do simple very well. Charming for what it is in front of dozens of people. Looking forward to PG13, but Jamie can definitely work underneath and throw a punch. **3/4
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Best part of this was Manny Fernandez on the mic pre-match. Unique, but forgettable and stupid. They also should've shot it during the day as the lighting here was poor.
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Rude with his usual pre-match schtick that seems to go over well, though he was apparently compelled to include a a pretty derogatory term that hopefully the live crowd didn't pick up on. We get both national anthems to set the stage for the tourney's climax. Rude went out of his way to bump really well for Chono throughout the match to put him over as strongly as possible. Loved him taking Flair's face first bump after eating a ton of offense. Things slow down a bit which was probably necessary given how long they were going. I actually thought Rude could've sold quite a bit more here, as Chono spent a lot of time on his knee and arm, and Rude was right back with a jumping piledriver and top rope dropkick showing no ill effects. The crowd really got into things after they traded superplexes, before kicked out of a sleeper like Austin/Hart for a near fall. After Rude used the top rope kneedrop as a finisher throughout the tourney, Chono kickd out to a massive pop. By the time we get to the STF spot that followed, it even looks like Watts & Dusty are marking out. Great finish and post-match celebration as well. No question this was a great match but it didn't rise to MOTYC level for me, even for Rude, as I preferred the Steamboat Iron Man match. ****
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After a brief Scott/Muto exchange to start, the Steiners clear the ring with power moves and you can tell right away just how hot their act is. The natives then pull the same move and mock the Steiner's barking & crawling in a great spot. I thought this was a really great performance by Muto, as he had his working boots on but also didn't hesitate to throw in a lot of the Muta showmanship responsible for that great character. Strong finishing stretch that put the Steiners over big after Muto really held his own for a while. ***3/4
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Between these and the Samurai matches, Liger's record of quality on the year holds up against just about anyone. Can't ask for much more out of an extended sprint between these two, with awesome power moves a cut above juniors anywhere else in the world. Benoit really looked like as much of a monster / powerhouse in the division as was possible here. Awesome finishing stretch with reversals on big moves including a tombstone and near falls before the awesome power bomb off the top for the finish. ****1/4
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Really focused arm work by Charles in the first fall which Atlantis sells well and sets up the marathon armbar in the third. I enjoyed the the quick second fall even if I just can't buy a stretch as a finisher. They did a really spectacular job working the arm in the third, with Atlantis making his way around the ring seeking a rope break for nearly 5 minutes. Its tough to argue with Atlantis working underneath for almost all of the first and last falls before the finish, but I didn't mind it because of how strongly and consistently he kept selling the arm into and after the finish. Really great. **** This started off what at least for me has been by far the blow away disc of the set. Six ****+ matches by my count with one falling just short, and not one of them stateside. Such a comp would make quite the international intro, and that's before you explain it all took place over 9 days.
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Really sad news, especially leaving behind such a large family. Best wishes to all of his loved ones.