Superstar Sleeze

Totally agree with Pete this some excellent usage of Choshu booking. Akira TAUE vs Jun Akiyama - AJPW 1/20/97 Neat upset sprint! Noting spectacular in the ring but from a booking perspective just perfection. You get the double curveball of a 5 minute match and Akiyama's win. Akiyama goes all out and has come to play. TAUE realizes he is in a fight and starts busting out his big weapons, Akiyama catches hot shot but after big kicks and a wicked German it looked like TAUE has this in order. Akiyama might have started off too hot, high risk high reward strategy and it is backfiring against him. Until TAUE gets greedy and goes for Nodowa off apron which is high risk high reward. Love Akiyama half-dive/half-collapse into Taue's midsection and rolls back into the ring. The high knee/Exploder finish was wicked hot. Crowd popped huge on surprise three and Akiyama celebrated the big victory with gusto. TAUE kicked out right after three and kept his heat. Better booking than a match but a fun watch. ***

Holy Demon Army vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama - AJPW RWTL Finals '97 Pretty big letdown after the awesomeness of the November match. This feels like more of your typical great AJPW tag. There is always a lot of energy and drama and cool moves, but it just felt more of run of the mill. Like I have seen this AJPW tag match before, where the last match had that awesome hook, everybody just killed it in the ring. Much slower start to this one, which is fine, the first big moment is Taue gets the NODOWA in the turnbuckles. Some good heat was built up on Misawa's neck. I love All Japan's use of the throw down as a counter to moves. Taue just throwing Misawa down disdainfully is great. TAUE PILEDRIVER! Taue gets greedy and wants the Nodowa off the apron. That's a really dangerous move for him and he ought to wait for when his prone opponent is trying to escape out there. By dragging Misawa out there, he does not know how injured Misawa is. It is a really high risk, high reward situation. Here he ends up off the apron and eating a somersault from Misawa. This allows Misawa to tag out. I wouldn't say Taue squandered the advantage completely but now with a fresh Akiyama it could be difficult. Akiyama is good firecracker; Taue one of the better tag wrestlers of all time muscles Akiyama into the corner. Brilliant tag wrestling, much smarter than the apron spot. Redeems himself. Fun little random amateur sequence with Akiyama and Kawada. I fucking love Kawada's spinning heel kick. Akiyama gets a dragon leg screw, but on suplex attempt, Taue hits the injured back and Kawada gets the bodyslam/kick combo. Taue has basically completely redeemed himself. He is did the outright cheap, dick thing and hit Akiyama in his bad back putting Holy Demon Army back in the drivers seat. Kawada does a great job collapsing on the way to tag Taue selling a SINGLE Dragon Screw Leg Whip. You respect the move and I will respect the match. Loved the massive suplex slam from Taue. Taue Scorpion Deathlock and Kawada stomps on Akiyama head before putting him in a deeeeeeeeepppppp Boston Crab. Misawa had saved on Scorpion Deathlock so Taue makes the heads up play to cut Misawa off at the pass here. Taue is wicked smart. Akiyama gets a desperation dropkick to Taue's knee and he is crawling and Kawada sprints over and stomps the back. AXE KICK~! Lord Have Mercy! Akiyama catches the foot and hits an elbow to tag out. Not the most exciting way to set up the hot tag. Misawa is awesome here. So much fire on those elbows love him catching Kawada spinning heel kick and THROWING HIM DOWN! Massive rana out of Taue powerbomb. Armdrag out of Nodowa. It is two on one, but Misawa don't give a fuck. Misawa is here to win. Misawa runs through his opening salvo of finish shit until Kawada hits that reverse kick on a German attempt. You cant German suplex Kawada. Taue hits a massive dropkick upon entering the ring and then when Misawa goes for a diving elbow, he throws him down on the mat. Taue has way more of a presence in this match. Misawa pops up and elbows Taue to tag out to AKiyama. It is transitions like that are robbing this from being an all-time great match. Akiyama's does really well with strikes, but cant do suplexes. This allows Taue to tag in Kawada. Akiyama MANS UP and hits Exploder on Kawada. Misawa & Akiyama are in the same bad spot as last time. Akiyama's back is fucked and Misawa had his one shot to win basically and blew it not hitting that German suplex on Kawada. Misawa hits a Tiger Driver on the constantly interfering Taue to give Akiyama some breathing room. Akiyama tags out. That's pretty smart. Lets see if Misawa can pull it off this time. Misawa is fired up and is barking out orders. I love this Misawa. Really cool sequence where Akiyama hits a German and then Misawa back rolls him into another German. American Alpha should do that. Taue comes in and hits a NODOWA on Misawa. That's the problem really for Misawa & Akiyama. Holy Demon Army are so good at turning tag matches in to handicap matches. Kawada tags out and Taue Nodowas Misawa into Akiyama, great spot. Akiyama act as a screen for Misawa elbow and Misawa tags out. I just don't feel like that is wise. I think Misawa should have tried to hang in there longer. Akiyama does well against Taue even hits a German and Misawa is there to cover him by firing off elbows to Kawada. Then Taue just throws Akiyama on that German. Ruh roh. Quick tag out by Taue very smart and Kawada pounces on that back with nasty knees and a wicked back drop driver. DANGEROUSSSSS! Kawada folds him in half with that powerbomb. Oh Kawada how I have missed you! Kawada hits an enziguiri on Misawa and STRETCH PLUM that's how he won the last match. Kawada lariat, Tag out, Dynamic Powerbomb, Misawa saves. I feel like Misawa is over selling. Like what he has really taken that is causing him to be so useless kayfabe. I like he flips both over on the Nodowa/Powerbomb with an armdrag/rana at the same time. ELBOWS GALORE! He is barking at Akiyama to make the tag, NODOWA ON AKIYAMA! Where the fuck is Misawa? Akiyama Exploder is last gasp, Big Time Nodowa and a BIG High Kick and Taue wins!?!?!? FInish came out of nowhere. Felt really abrupt. Where the fuck was Misawa? if I was Akiyama I get a new partner too. From a kayfabe strategy point of view, Misawa fucking blew it. Way to trigger happy to tag out to the injured Akiyama and then does not save him. Maybe Misawa was like me and was actually shocked that was the finish! Great, entertaining match, thought some transitions were weak kinda like hey this segment has gone on long enough lets go to next one. Back work was typically great and so was Akiyama's selling. Kawada was a monster again and Taue was the MVP of the match. What it came down to is there is no tag team better at turning a match into a handicap match like Holy Demon Army. They are the ultimate front-runners. They get a lead and they don't squander it. It is the exact opposite of Kawada the singles wrestler, the ultimate choke artist. By putting the team in a hole by maiming one wrestler, it makes the uninjured wrestler work doubly hard and ultimately he cant overcome both Kawada and Taue. Leaving Kawada and Taue in the winner's circle again and again. Great showcase for what makes Kawada & Taue great as a team, but leaves a lot to be desired. ****1/4

Holy Demon Army (Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue) vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama - AJPW 11/28/97 Holy shit! This was incredible! Like how I have never heard or seen this before, Tremendous individual performances by everybody. When Taue is the least impressive in a tag match, you know you are watching something really special. The urgency, the unique set up, the selling of Akiyama, the will to win from Misawa and the outright sadism of Kawada make this an elite AJPW tag match, which says a lot about this. This has to be a contender for the hottest opening two minutes in pro wrestling history. Just dripping with urgency and struggle. Both teams want to land a death blow early and they are all running around. Loved the double dropkick from the babyfaces, that massive Spinning Heel Kick by Kawada that sends Misawa to the apron. Of course, the climax, Taue depth charging Akiyama through the table. I love a match where the beginning matters. This beginning sets up everything. Misawa is left to fend for himself. This is a great heat segment on Misawa. Nice hope spot the reverse springboard headbutt but then realizes he is all alone with Akiyama still out over by the table. All by myself, don't wanna be all by myself. Good balance between Misawa showing life to stave off Holy Demon Army's big moves and Kawada & Taue kicking the shit out of him with their basic, but hard-hitting arsenal. It is basically a great Misawa extended comeback handicap style with the endgame being the hot tag. He finally tags out and Akiyama hits this massive diving elbow, but is clearly favoring his back. He tries Northern Lights but his back gives out. From there, you see some of the best back selling and back work you will ever see. It is cold and merciless as Kawada and Taue zero in on his back and just pound the shit out of it. One of the best vertical suplexes ever by Taue, Kawada stretches Akiyama and two double stomps to the back. Kawada RIFLES Akiyama's back with kicks. He sets up the stretch plum right in front of Misawa, cocky or just bad strategy. That "will he or wont he tag" is so dramatic and when Misawa gets the tag, if you don't get Misawa, this is the match to watch. He comes in just blasts muthafuckas with that elbow. You really feel that sense of pride and that sense that winning means everything to Misawa. I love how he elbows Kawada off the apron of one side of the ring and then goes flying out the other side of the ring with a diving elbow. Insane sequence in terms of electricity. Tiger Driver for Kawada. Taue saves and here come the double teams on the isolated Misawa, NODOWA~! Misawa blocks the next two and a Tiger Driver allows him to tag. Lets see what Akiyama can do. Akiyama mans up hits Northern Lights but no bridge, Exploder and Kawada stomp his bad back on the cover. OW! Akiyama hits a massive high knee which I lost my shit for. Just a great babyface spot. Exploder attempt but Taue hits a Rock Bottom Nodowa. Massive Kawada bodyslam and kicks him really fucking hard in the back. In the background, Taue hits a DDT on Misawa on the exposed concrete so now it is Akiyama by himself. Akiyama has one less gasp when he tags Kawada in the head and Kawada drops ot his knees running the ropes (great Kawada selling) Dropkick to the back of the head, German, on second one, Kawada does his reverse kick to the bad back and Taue attacks the back. Wicked lariat, how is that not the finish. FUCKING HUGE AXE KICK TO THE BACK! That Powerbomb Goddamn! How s that not the finish. Misawa has nothing left and Akiyama succumbs to the best stretch plum ever. Everyone gives an all star performance. Best Kawada match that I have seen in forever. He has had great matches in 98-99, but not those next level performances that I remember when I ranked him #10 of all time. This was that next level extraordinary performance. Incredible sadistic, hard hitting, energetic, great selling down the stretch. One of the all time greats at working on top. Awesome selling by Akiyama. Misawa trying to dig the team out of the hole was awesome. Loved that early hook, that hot beginning and the table spot totally hook you in. Everything follows naturally and effortlessly from that. Really having trouble reasoning why this is not ***** so it is *****.

Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - Champions Carnival 1999 A very macho Kobashi match and I loved it. I currently have this #3 on the year from AJPW (behind Misawa/Kawada and RWTL Finals). Kobashi and Akiyama feed into each other's worst excesses in NOAH, but here it was incredibly compelling to try to watch Akiyama meet Kobashi in a meathead match before turning to destroying the knee. The beginning is pure Kobashi: shoudlertackles, test of strength and Akiyama running through chops. Akiyama changes it up with a flying crossarmbreaker. Great arm work and great arm selling by Kobashi. Akiyama going after the chop and the lariat and really trying to deprive Kobashi of his weapons, his strength and his machismo. Kobashi hits a spinning back chop and literally chops through the pain. That's why Kobashi is the best ever is his way of selling I am really fucking hurt, BUT IM A MAN and I am going to dish it out anyway. Very Macho. Kobashi slowly starts selling arm less and less as he is more and more in control. It looks like he has the match in hand. He misses a spinning back chop and Akiyama dropkicks the bad knee, which was his strategy in both of the 1998 matches. Now there is a paradigm shift Akiyama is no longer meeting Kobashi man to man, he is taking the low road and attacking the leg and a weakness. Now Kobashi has to really fire up. This is great Mutoh 2001 type work, dragon leg screws, STF, missile dropkick to knee, rolling kneebar. God the selling in the knee is incredible. Some of the best selling you will ever see in a single hold. My biggest pet peeve is when a wrestler releases a hold, Akiyama does just that with the Scoprion Deathlock. Kobashi is trying to scoot away and Akiyama is stomping the knee and verbally berating him. Very macho match. This is really great of a random All Japan Carnival match. Kobashi fires up and hits the Half Nelson suplex to give us some hope and him some life. Knee is too hurt capitalize. Another one now, but when he tries the powerbomb, he releases prematurely because his knee gives way on him. Great stuff! Tries to press his advantage but Akiyama kicks him in the bad knee and then again on the apron and bulldogs him to the floor. Big Akiyama finish run with Exploder for two getting a big reaction and then a wicked German/Exploder gets another nearfall. Third Exploder and is countered with Sleeper Suplex and this is the leveling the playing field moment. Kobashi wants the Burning Lariat baddddd, Akiyama tries for Exploder, BURNING LARIAT~! Damn what impact! Akiyama tries escape to ropes and is throwing back elbows, quick cradle after a kick to knee is a good nearfall before Spinning Back Chop/Burning Lariat finishes him off. Awesome macho powerhouse match. So much pride in this match. Great transitions, great selling by Kobashi, amazing offensive run by Akiyama with great focus. Kobashi's offense was the perfect combination of power and vulnerability. Once the Exploders started up it was typical hot AJPW finish run. In my opinion their second best match ever together. ****1/2

AJPW World Tag Team Champions Burning (Kobashi & Akiyama) vs Untouchables (Misawa & Ogawa) - 3/6/99 A match that is not really a part of the AJPW canon (in 99 I would say only Misawa vs Kawada 1/22 is a part of the canon due to Ganso Bomb), but has been highly praised upon the release of this yearbook. I watched and I thought it was great, but did not think it was the classic everyone made it out to be. Lets go to the match. Ogawa is definitely more of a babyface here in this match than Rat Boy of NOAH. He shows up Akiyama (his rival from last fall) on the mat and then throws him into Kobashi climaxes with a drop toehold. I love those types of sequences. Lots of fun. Both tag out. Misawa and Kobashi have a great sequence where Misawa elbows Kobashi out who then with the tenacity of a pitbull keeps trying to climb back into the ring and each time Misawa smashes him with an elbow and then finally hits a diving elbow. Another great sequence that really epitomizes the two characters. There is a nice square dance spot where Akiyama goes to whip Misawa into the railings and Ogawa hooks his arm like a square dance and allows Misawa to be whipped back into Akiyama. Definitely something that needs to be stolen. One thread of this match is that Ogawa is the master scout. He sees Akiyama middle rope dropkick coming (common Akiyama transition to tag out). Chinlocks drag here a bit. Akiyama uses his size advantage to reverse atomic drop Ogawa and tag out. Ogawa then avoids Kobashi spinning back chop. Ogawa, master scout. He actually knocks Kobashi down with punches, which surprises the hell out of me. He is smart enough to tag out to heavy-hitting Misawa. Ogawa back in and he avoids the Kobashi atomic drop. He is learning. However, he cant avoid Akiyama on the apron. Finally, Burning gets their hands on the little pipsqueak. They just beat the shit out of him. Burning is definitely heeling themselves, but God if those are not glorious chops. Ogawa gets his own middle rope dropkick and tags out. I think extended heat segment would have been nice there. Misawa needing three tries to hit a senton was a nice touch. Then in 1999, Misawa busts out a crazy athletic, flippy, workrate sequence I have never seen him do before. Kobashi quashes that with a Sleeper Suplex. Even Misawa feels extra babyface now, which is weird with Kobashi who is usually the ultimate babyface. Kobashi tags out and now it is an Exploder/Tiger Driver tease, Exploder wins and big German, Ogawa saves. Here comes the finish run. Misawa takes the turnbuckle powerbomb (vicious), Akiyama high knee and double arm DDT. Misawa has a great transition out of the heat with his Ricky Morton-esque headlock/headscissors takeover or both and then elbowing them both. Ogawa's hot tag is fucking awesome. Eyepokes, backdrop driver, OGAWA TIGER DRIVER, Sharpshooter on Akiyama and he then takes Kobashi's chops like a man while holding onto the hold. Fracas and we are left with Kobashi & Misawa. Kobashi finish sequence now with half-nelson suplex, powerbomb, but Misawa blocks moonsault and hits an elbow as Kobashi is diving. Missed Spinning Back Chop ROARING ELBOW~! Misawa ends up with Tiger Driver after multiple tries, Ogawa hits a double stomp 4 times and Misawa with a nice flying bodypress and back drop driver, but Akiyama saves. Elbow/Backdrop Driver combo only gets two. Ogawa accidentally swings Misawa into an Akiyama exploder. Kobashi tags out and here is the real finish stretch. Ogawa gets his eyepoke on Akiyama and tries a barrage of nearfalls especially then one that got him the upset victory last year. Akiyama hits his Exploder. Kobashi beats off Misawa with Spinning Backchops and a Burning Lariat where he also clotheslines himself on top rope. One last Ogawa hope spot when Akiyama misses charge into the corner and Ogawa gets the school boy, which got crazy heat. Akiyama hits the Exploder for the win. Incredibly great action-packed match, but I did not feel like it was that unique compared to a lot of AJPW 90s. It was a really strong beginning (Ogawa, Misawa shine), kinda lull with chinlocks, Ogawa heat segment was pretty short (I think that's what gets most of the praise), Misawa heat segment was very good, Ogawa hot tag was fucking awesome and then a typically awesome AJPW finish run. I did not feel there was a unique narrative to this, just a bitchin tag team match by four pros. ****1/4

Great title, Kelly! Everybody has got to watch Demos vs Bulldogs from MSG 7/88, pretty killer.

This reeks of Hogan/Warrior in 1998. However, it keeps Brock away from members of the current roster, maybe his best use. American Inoki sounds cool, but probably wouldn't work in 2016 unfortunately.

So I mooch off my parents for cable (I have my own house, but when I want to watch TV I go over to my parents), Smackdown conflicts with my parents watching Dancing WIth the Stars & some FOX comedies. Whats the best way for me to watch Smackdown without the USA network?

Best Jericho run since like 2009. He might be mediocre at best in the ring and horrible at worst, but he is consistently the most entertaining thing on WWE TV this year on the mic. Really that is Jericho at his best. I'm very happy to be a stupid idiot again that drinks in Gift of Jericho and to watch "it". He is great with Enzo and Owens. Excited to see what he does with New Day from this past RAW.

That's the Gift of Jericho...Drink it in, MAAAAAANNNN

Is Ditch alive? Whatever happened to this? I had a ton of fun doing it so I don't need to see the results, but it would be nice to know what they were.

AJPW World Tag Team Champions Holy Demon Army (Kawada & Taue) vs Burning (Kobashi & Akiyama) - AJPW 1/7/99 Pro wrestling is just the best, isn't it? This was incredible and just so much fun. Burning defeated the Holy Demon Army at RWTL and went on to win the tournament so they naturally get a title shot. Unfortunatey we are JIP about 6-7 minutes in, Burning is working over Kawada's knee with solid work and Kawada is selling well. Kobashi has a giant bandage over his forehead kinda covering his right eye. Kobashi goes for a German on Kawada, silly Kobashi you cant German Kawada, who hits his enziguiri. He tags Taue. I know exactly what is going to happen. Taue zeroes in on that injured eye and it is glorious. Taue chops, kicks and rams that eye. Kobashi's selling is great. Taue is very energetic. Loved Taue slamming his head so hard into the table it breaks. Akiyama tries to save goes into the railing HARD, he threw himself into that. Kawada takes his fucking head off too with a kick. Kawada was definitely in a take no prisoners mood. He was looking to decapitate people with some of these kicks. After about 5 minutes, Kobashi gets a spinning back chop to tag in Akiyama who ends succumbing to a Taue DDT. Kawada tries to kick his head off. Holy Demon Army go for some of their finish sequence stuff on Akiyama like Nodowa/BDD. On Kawada powerbomb, the injured Kobashi saves. Kobashic catches the spin kick and blasts Kawada with a lariat. Electric! He is just so fired up. He has the ridiculous bandage, he is exhorting Akiyama to get his ass over here for a tag and is ready to rock. Hot tag to Kobashi! Taue meets him at the pass with a MONSTER DROPKICK! Ducks spinning back chop and HITS A REVERSE NODOWA ON THE FACE!!! FIVE FUCKING STARS1!! TAUE IS A GOD AMONG MEN! DYNAMIC BOMBS GETS TWO! Nodowa off the apron, not Akiyama grabs the leg and Taue settles for DDT on the apron. Nodowa in the ring? Kawada kicks Kobashi in the head and taue this it, Akiyama saves. This is high drama! Spinning back chop breaks up Nodowa and Akiyama runs in for an Exploder. This is frenetic! Bodyslam...Fist Pump... Akiyama restrains Kawada...MOOOONSAULT...2. Kawada on apron...Burning Lariat! Awesome strike exchange where Kobashi is so fucking pumped to hit the Burning Lariat and Taue keeps blocking like a pesky jerk. Double LARIAT!!! Dramatic Cover. BURNING LARIAT!!! NEW WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS!!! One of the best finish sequences of all time and super unheralded. Knee work on Kawada is fine. The face work on Kobashi awesome and really well sold. Holy Demon Army's run on Akiyama is great and fired up injured Kobashi is the best. Once it is down to Taue vs Kobashi it is just the fucking best. Just an incredible bomb throwing run...That NODOWA on the injured face is up there for greatest spot of all time. Kobashi just dying to hit that Burning Lariat was just so invigorating. We are missing a quarter of the match so I don't think I can go higher than ****1/4, but really fucking good.

Mitsuharu Misawa & Akira Taue vs. Kenta Kobashi & Toshiaki Kawada - AJPW 6/4/99 Yes, you read that right! The first time the Four Corners had been in the same ring in 3.5 years and the last time ever (there may have been some six-mans, but last time as a foursome). Misawa is defending the Triple Crown against Kobashi in a week so this a buildup to that. Kobashi is currently 0-4 against Misawa in Triple Crown matches. Kawada has won his last two against Misawa. Taue is Taue, the best number two in history. To me this is a great house show match. Don't kill yourself before the huge Budokan show in a week. They have it in cruise control, but for the Four Corners that's a higher level than most, The beginning is a ring around the rosie with each pairing being highlighted and each wrestler having a time to shine. Important to note, Misawa won his segment against Kobashi, but lost his to Kawada. We end up with Misawa/Kobashi and a big elbow Misawa tags out to Kobashi and we get a nice Taue control segment on Kobashi. Misawa looks for the early kill with a Tiger Driver. Kawada intercedes. They eventually overwhelm Misaa with spinning back chops, kicks and Half Nelson Suplex in the ring and then on the floor cements their advantage. Kobashi/Kawada work really well together. Kinda disappointed we did not get more of them together. I like Kawada selling his bad arm on elbows and then just turning to kicks to the head. Kobashi/Kawada are using very conservative but effective offense (lots of strikes to the head). When Kobashi goes for the Dragon Suplex, Misawa freaks out and elbows out and tags Taue. Taue really starts cranking and it is his time to shine. NODOWA CITY~! Really fun stretch sequence with my favorite spot being the Taue powerbomb on Koashi and Misawa frogsplash combo. Kobashi was the ragdoll and Kawada played savior. They wanted the Elbow/Nodowa combo, but Kobashi broke free and hit the Burning Lariat on Misawa. Then Kawada and Kobashi overwhelmed the isolated Taue until Kobashi hit the Burning Lariat for the win. Just a great fall out of the bed match, everyone played their role to a tee, Misawa was the Ace, Taue was the MVP and Kobashi/Kawada were the well-oiled machine. As with most All Japan tags, it is a game of isolation, first Misawa is isolated then Kobashi and finally Taue and it showed that better teamwork won the day. Kobashi gets his wins, but individual battles still felt like Misawa was the Man. ****

Vader vs Kenta Kobashi - AJPW Championship Carnival Final '99 Vader is the Man! I am so glad I got around to watching all this great post-prime Vader in All Japan. I think he could have been way better utilized in early NOAH. I think this even better than the Year 2000 Kobashi/Vader match, which is another great one. I thought they really put together an action-packed match that really felt like it could either way throughout the match. I loved the struggle over the German suplex early ending in a cradle by Vader and then a cross armbreaker. Kobashi really did not want to go over. It was cool to see Vader swallow his pride and do the smart thing and try to get a win by unconventional methods by Vader's standards. Then we get typical Vader punching him really hard in the bad eye. Kobashi throws a Fuck You lariat and then some serious Fuck You punches (Kobashi does not really throw punches) so Vader pokes him the bad eye repeatedly to be a dick. Then just sits on him with all his weight and then a big middle rope splash. I love when fat guys use their body weight as a weapon. Kobashi dropkicks the knee and tries some work on the knee but Vader gets to the ropes on a single leg crab. I really liked flying Vader body attack off the apron to the floor. Vader goes for the moonsault so Kobashi powerbombs him off the top and Vader BOUNCES off the mat. Kobashi gets a German, classic Vader spot, bodyslam, fist pump, MOONSAULT CONNECTS!!! 1-2-NO! Signals for Burning Lariat, but Vader ducks and wrangles him for a MASSIVE GERMAN SUPLEX! You could see the "OH SHIT!" in Kobashi's eyes as he is going over. Kobashi never really recovers. Overkill AJPW finish with Vadersault, Massive Powebomb and then a Fucking Tackle to win the match for Vader. It is a breezy fun heavyweight slugfest no real David vs Goliath feel. Just one of those Watts' Mid-South era bomb throwing hoss fights, I liked the emotion from Kobashi early but did get loss. I really Vader going to the eyes. The finish run was typical All Japan greatness and excess at the same time. Meaty and hossy just how I like it. ****

Burning (Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama) vs. Stan Hansen & Akira Taue - AJPW 12/3/99 I don't know how I left this one sneak up on me again after that bitchin' 1998 Real World Tag League Final. I figured Hansen in 99, Taue & Hansen never teaming and this not being pimped that would be great (I mean these are 4 of the 25 of the best workers of all time), but not a classic. Wrong! This was badass. Another incredible tag league final, not as great as 12/3/93 or 12/6/96, but I would say 98 & 99 are in the Top 5. In the Hansen/Vader final, I thought Vader was the real unstoppable force, but here I thought Hansen contributed a lot more and loved the dynamic with Taue. I would not say the performance from Burning was as urgent (did not need to be because it is not the same bulldozing team), but damn this was wicked energetic and cut a great pace. Hansen sets the tone early by attacking before the bell. Hansen bulldozes Kobashi and DOOOOOOOMMMM!!! KO-BASH-I KO-BASH-I KO-BASH-I! Those would actually die down into outright booing upon every save by Kobashi and cheering for Hansen. Kobashi is being overwhelmed by the sheer might of Hansen & Taue. Akiyama is not forgotten as he eats a big boot over the railing. It kinda feels like 1993 in a good way with Kobashi desperately struggling against the bully Hnasen who is dragging him to the apron by chopping him hard to the head and then hitting a monster leg drop on the outside. There is progression because Kobashi is better than Hansen, but there is still that old relationship. Or how much struggle Kobashi needed to take Hansen over on a vertical suplex. Kobashi with some advantage finally tags in Akiyama who slaps the shit out of Hansen, but eats a wicked elbow well that did not last long. Taue has been great in holding this together and really moving everything along while being the dick we know and love. Hits a nice DDT on exposed concrete. Akiyama finally hits a high knee to Taue and tags out immediately. I love that about All Japan tags. The urgency to make a tag rather than the slow American dramatic crawl. Taue hits an enziguiri as Kobashi enters and then TWO AXE KICKS! Tag out to Hansen to a big pop! Huge chop by Kobashi and Hansen crumples to the match. Hansen is good at making that stuff look great. Immediate cover by Kobashi, love the urgency, quick Russian Legsweep and immediate cover, again this is what I find really compelling. Akiyama fucks up again pretty quickly goes flying over the top rope and Taue pounces and drops him on the railing. Kobashi is pissed and ends up in railing too. Taue is such a great number two heel. Taue drops Akiyama on the top rope and then it is AIR TAUE!!! Flying bodypress from Taue, LOVE IT! Kobashi starts saving Akiyama to boos! WOW! Akiyama gets a middle rope dropkick and tags out to Kobashi. Awesome hot tag even if the crowd has turned on Kobashi out of respect for Hansen. Spinning Back Chops to Taue, Hansen tries to go all Bull in China Shop, but Kobashi him collide on a shoulder tackle. HUGE! DDT on Taue! Powerbomb On Taue! Legdrop! Bodyslam! FIST PUMP! I LOVE ALL JAPAN PRO WRESTLING! Hansen stops moonsault and having flashbacks to 7/29/93 with Kobashi on top rope and Hansen on the apron. Taue gets back suplex and tags in Hansen. They do lose a bit of steam here because that felt red hot, but they bring it back down before really kicking off a molten finish sequence. Kobashi tags out to Akiyama and the fun begins. Northern Lights by Akiyama to Hansen is impressive. Hansen headbutts to Akiyama and feels like a war and powerbombs Akiyama, but Kobashi saves to boos. Here is where Taue takes over and kicks all sorts of ass. Jumping big boot into a badass German Suplex. Then he drags Akiyama to the apron to hit the Nodowa and the drama is at a fever pitch. Hansen drags Kobashi away. Taue huge overhead chops on Akiyama. This is crazy. Akiyama elbows him mid-air to block the move! But Taue hits NODOWA on the floor anyway because he is a boss. Awesome last second save. Like it really felt last second. Then there is an awesome struggle over the next Nodowa in the ring. Akiyama tenaciously holding onto the top rope, Taue kicking off the top rope, Hansen hits a wicked elbow to break Akiyama's clasp on the ropes and Taue hits the MOTHER OF ALL NODOWADS!!! KICK OUT!!! WHAT THE FUCK!!! Totally lost my shit! Taue whips Akiyama into Hansen and Akiyama hits a high knee on Hansen! BURNING LARIAT ON HANSEN! Exploders for Taue, knee to back of the head and Wrist-Clutch Exploder with Kobashi counting along does Taue in! Awesome bomb throwing tag team match that harken back to the glory days of All Japan 90s tag wrestling. Excellent pace, everything so urgent, just constant struggle to win the match. Everything was geared towards winning. Again the heels try to feed a babyface in for a Western Lariat, but again Burning thwarts their plans. Thought Hansen was even better than last year. Taue was a great addition that Nodowa drama was off the charts hot. I would say not as urgent or as gripping as Burning trying to overcome Vader/Hansen, but this was a different match but closer to the fast-paced All Japan epics. Loved this! ****1/2

The Hashimoto match from 89 and Mutoh '91 I like better for singles and Vader/Takada is the best Vader in Japan match for my money and the 98 Real World Tag League Final is probably my favorite though. AJPW Triple Crown Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Vader - AJPW 10/30/99 Rematch from the May match sees an even shorter contest with Vader actually defeating Misawa going back to the tradition of gaijin transitional champions between natives (a role Taue & Kawada had been playing for Kobashi). I am a total sucker for these matches. They are big, dumb and tons of fun. I love Vader landing a haymaker in the corner. Trying to get the German but Misawa resists applies a sleeper for a little bit and then sends him fucking flying on a German. He launched him on another one. Holy shit! He looks to end it early with Vaderbomb, but Misawa tries to attack so he punches right in the face between his legs. Damn! Misawa elbows through this all, and sends Vader flying with Germans goes flying with a top rope elbow to the floor and a somersault placha. Then eats a huge foot on another diving elbow and massive powerbomb on the floor. BRAINBUSTER! You cant powerbomb Misawa in the ring though, he escapes, elbow, missed charge and wicked back elbow. I love Misawa's flying bodypress. HUGE ELBOW ONLY FOR TWO! TIGER DRIVER '91! HOT DAMN VADER FUCKING TOOK IT LIKE A CHAMP! After years of being caught with the bodyslam off the middle rope, Vader catches Misawa and then sits his fat ass on Misawa a couple times. I love when wrestlers just use their body weight. Misawa looks to mount a comeback but Vader is took much man and he catches with a huge bear paw that knocks him silly. HUGE FOLD UP POWERBOMB AND VADER WINS! I would call this an upset. I really liked that Vader finally got to catch someone else with a bodyslam. Tiger Driver '91 was sick. As was all the suplexes. There is really not much thought that went into this. It was Vader the Mastodon vs. Misawa The Ace and they just threw bombs for 12 minutes. If you don't love that, you should get your motor checked. ****

AJPW Triple Crown Champion Vader vs Mitsuharu Misawa - AJPW 5/2/99 Baba passed away on January 31st of the year and this is his memorial show at the Tokyo Dome drawing 50,000 and $5 million, up a million from the year previous. Vader had the incredible RWTL and then a so-so performance against Kobashi in singles in January so lets see what he does here. He defeated Taue for the vacant title in March (Kawada vacated due to the arm injury sustained at 1/22/99, his title victory). The first ten minutes is a glorious Vader extended squash. He controls the match with haymakers and it just builds from there. Throwing Misawa around at will. I loved the struggle over the powerbomb on the floor. Vader earned that monstrous powerbomb on the floor. Damn! Splash from the apron connects to. So my big problem is Vader basically destroyed Misawa so badly after the first ten minutes that he really should have won the match and I felt like it hurt the credibility of the match that Misawa was able to kick out. I think Vader missing the plash from the apron would have been a nice transition. Instead once Vader is done killing Misawa for our enjoyment, he slaps on a lame STF and Misawa makes the ropes. Misawa's cue to hit rock Vader with an elbow that sends him out. Awesome diving elbow and even better plancha to a prone Vader! HUGE POP FOR THE MISAWA GERMAN! Misawa kinda runs out of steam and Vader starts throwing him around with some massive Germans. VADERSAULT CRASHES AND BURNS! Vader still gets up first that is depressing as hell. Misawa gets a superplex and then a flying bodypress. Misawa may be the greatest ever at the flying bodypress. So much impact. Super DDT! Pops Vader good with a Roaring Elbow! Vader tries to mount a comeback with those haymakers that helped him gain control but Misawa ducks and blows him away with elbows. Excellent chop down the monster match. Really great display of offense by both men. I think the first transition could have been better as Vader had really destroyed Misawa. I liked Misawa first comeback only for Vader to launch him into Suplex City to set up for his big bombs then when those missed Misawa just kept coming him at him with an onslaught of elbows. Definitely proof Vader had plenty left in the tank as late as 1999 and that Misawa is still the Man. ****1/4

AJPW Triple Crown Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada - AJPW 1/22/99 Kawada breaks his arm about 10 minutes into the match on a Tiger Driver of all things. You can actually see him clutch on camera if you pay close attention. On the second Tiger Driver he pays closer attention to how he falls. He basically has not use of his right arm for the rest of the match. What a trooper. Misawa is coming off his first loss in the series and it is important he gets out to a big lead. Kawada tries a leg attack (which worked in 98) and Misawa elbows through it. Nice diving elbow through the ropes. Nobody is better at this than Misawa. Kawda kicks him hard in the head as he is coming off the top rope. Misawa sells this so swell rolling to the outside writhing in pain. He is only topped by Kawada's selling of his foot. He sells it so well I thought Kawada broke his foot. I knew he broke something in this match but couldn't remember what. So I stopped the match to look up that he broke his arm. Now that's great selling. Kawada basically kicks Misawa in the face a lot like a lot and it is glorious. Wicked spinning back chop by Kawada to Misawa's back of Misawa's head. Misawa is pissed and rattles off a wicked Roaring Elbow. Misawa comes out with a pair of Tiger Drivers (arm-breaker is the first one) Kawada powders and he is clutching arm in pain. Somersault plancha and then a Tiger Suplex inside. OW! Kawada gets up and flops like a fish. Roaring Elbow misses and it is a BACKDROP DRIVER! Kawada looked like he was about to get squashed before that opening. He pounces on the leg with nasty roundhouse kicks to the knee. Misawa is able to keep Kawada at bay from applying a figure-4 or a single leg crab at first. Kawada hits a kneecrusher and Misawa is left standing elbows the shit out of Kawada and Kawada reverse the Tiger Suplex with ONE arm and hits kick to the knee to set up two stretch plums. The knee psychology has been really good to set up Kawada's headshots and bombs. It is not too overwhelming either. Misawa has established a certain level of selling and is sticking with it. I like the elbows, missile dropkick, only for Kawada to roundhouse kick the knee and get a figure-4. Basically it becomes can Kawada leverage the knee injury to a victory or can Misawa basically elbow through it to a win. They leave a lot of the Misawa and Kawada spots out of this. Misawa pissed at Kawada kicking his leg and starts furiously kicking Kawada's leg. Epic flick of sweat from the brow. Roaring Elbow but cant capitalize due to knee and he walks into a barrage of enziguiri, wicked spinning heel kick. Misawa has one last gasp with a German suplex but cant hold bridge due to knee. Kawada powers out of Tiger Driver with one arm and the Kappo Kick sets up the BRAINBUSTER!!! Misawa never really recovers. Here we go! Why this match is famous...GANSO BOMB~! It is every bit as sick as I remember it. Should have been the finish. I remember it as the finish. Kawada hits the Brainbuster to win after some token Misawa elbows (great sell of the enziguiri falls right into the ref). Incredible match! I was expecting it to be all about the GANSO BOMB~! but this was a vast improvement over 1998. Kawada's whole objective was to kick Misawa's head off and if Misawa gets any momentum he just kicks him in the knee. The first transition was all because Kawada knows Misawa so well. Besides the one Misawa control segment around 1/3-1/2 point, this was all Kawada. Misawa looked like he was going to blow Kawada out of the water. Again Kawada knows Misawa so well and ducks the Roaring Elbow to hit the backdrop driver. Before using the knee for the rest of the match to set up his bombs and headshots. When Misawa is poised to make the world-famous comeback, he cant follow up the Roaring Elbow and he cant hold the German Suplex pin this leaves him open to the Kappo Kick and finally the GANSO BOMB~! Not a perfect match, but a classic nonetheless and early All Japan match of the eyar candidate for 1999. ****1/2

Kenta Kobashi vs Vader - AJPW 1/15/99 Vader's first major singles match in All Japan and after that double hot performance at the Real World Tag League Final, I had high hopes for this one. Kobashi vs. Monster is one of my all time favorite match types (vs Hansen in mid-90s and Takayama in 00s) and it is a shame we did not get more. This was a bit more sluggish and kind of mechanical than I expected, but it still delivered on the things we expect. At the Real World Tag League, Vader felt like a rabid grizzly bear with Kobashi & Akiyama urgently doing all they could to survive the vicious, relentless onslaught. Here Vader is a monster, but he is more the kind that stalks his prey. I felt like they were very respectful of each other's control segments. I am going to beat you up now and transitions and then you beat me up. There is nothing wrong with this. It is just quite basic. Big Kobashi chants to start as he has a massive bandage over his head. Vader wrestles him to the ground and smothers him. I do like that Vader forces the Pillars to change up their style as the house style was getting stale around this time. Kobashi blocks head shots and beats the mask right off him. Big shoulder tackle and then cross armbreaker attempt, but Vader makes ropes. I like a little bit of shine early. Vader powders and he is making a big show of the ref moving Kobashi back, he takes a wicked cheapshot at the bad right eye/forehead of Kobashi. That was awesome. Dragon sleeper by Vader, he is trying to keep up. Splash only gets two. Kobashi dropkicks the knee and dragon leg screw. This is when I feel like they are matching that same energy before. When it happened in the last match, it felt like the biggest deal ever because Kobashi & Akiyama FINALLY had an opening. Here it just felt like any other match. Vader comes up swinging with a wild right and connects. I loved injured Vader. Vader powerbombs the shit out of him on the floor and then smashes a chair right into his head unprotected. Damn. Instead of the Holy Shit chant, "Ko-Bash-I" chants rings out, I love Japan. Vader misses a charge and Kobashi hits a DDT. Spinning back chop and Vader yelps and falls to the mat. Vader is so great. Kobashi hits a slingshot plancha and is giving Vader no room to breathe. The vertical suplex on Vader gets a pop. Missile dropkick. BODYSLAM! FIST PUMP! Crowd roars...crashes & burns on moonsault. Weirdly he gets up and hits a Russian Legsweep. Rips off bandage and double clothesline knocks both men. Vader takes his bodyslam off the middle rope and now the moonsault connects, but not much of a pop. It did not feel like he earned it. It felt given. The whole match feels like a gift by each man. Not the Gift of Jericho, DRINK IT IN, MAAAAANNNNNN, either. Vader smacks Kobashi in the bad part of the head. VADERSAULT!!!! Gets two! KO-BASH-I Chants...MONSTAH GERMAN SUPLEX...drags the limp carcass for not one, but two Vaderbombs, kick out, Vader splash wins it. That felt very backwards. If you were to lay out a match between Kobashi & Vader listed these moves, it sounds like a classic, but I just did not feel all the little pieces were there. The struggle, the urgency, the emotion were missing. I think Vader has lost a step and Kobashi did not step up his game. He was content with being Kobashi and Vader did his best. Like I said I felt like everything was given by each man to the other. It felt like a respectful war with each man allowing the other to hit stiff shots on the other. Also, the Kobashi false finish run was just really weird. Did not quite get to great but still featured plenty of badass spots and told the basic story of Vader as a world-beater and Kobashi as a resilient underdog. ***3/4

Awesome individual Kevin Owens performance. Great control segment on knee and trash talking. Great cutoff coming back to knee. Looked like an ass with Suck It and then missing the senton on the table. He was not that great at making Rollins shine, but heel bumping, stooging and heel selling is a lost art. Still a great Owens performance. Rollins has horrible instincts. I really thought turning him face would make him great. He has great babyface offense when he really turns it on. The shine was lukewarm. Then after all that knee work he does his KENTA million miles per hour tribute. They do this AJPW sequence with a Package Piledriver attempt, high knee, superkick, enziguiri. In AJPW that would have taken a minute with all the struggle, this was done in 10 seconds. When he should speed up, he does not and when he should slow down he speeds up. Finish run after the senton was a ton of fun. The Gift of Jericho, Drink It In, MMMAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNN! He should be Owens' full time manager. Nothing Ill ever want to watch again, but hey I have think I have totally come around on Kevin Owens so that's a plus. ***1/2

So I am right before the main event now...quick thoughts... New Day/Club was an awesome bomb throwing sprint. Great urgency and everything was about winning from the get go. Best New Day match in a year. **** Perkins/Kendrick started fine but became way too much gymnastics. *** Sheamus/Cesaro is why I am a pro wrestling fan. Match #2 was the best match of the series, but this was pretty friggin awesome. I hope this leads to a Sheamus/Cesaro heel tag team that runs roughshod on RAW like a modern day Road Warriors (a tag team that can main event) **** I drink in the Gift of Jericho, MMMAAAAAANNNNNNN when he is on the mic, but when he is wrestling I zone out. I have been really agreeing with Winged Eagle...Zayn needs to be the WWE equivalent of a blood feud. Women's triple threat was great, another **** affair on a very good card. Call me crazy, but Charlotte is the best womens wrestler on RAW. Banks is "all flash, no cash" (thanks Charlotte). Charlotte is way smoother in the ring now, works awesome control segments and was totally directing traffic. I feel like Banks has really retrogressed. Becky is still best woman on the roster, but Charlotte is closing the gap. Reigns/Rusev that hot brawl at Summerslam got me excited, but this was just a very good RAW match in fact the real RAW match from August was better than this. I am a huge Reigns fan, but winning the US Champion feels like a step backwards. They really ought to turn him heel. Should have stuck with him Hunter/Steph, cant beat him, join em deal. ***1/2 Ok, main event time, here we go...

Burning vs Vader & Stan Hansen Big monster gaijin is exactly what has been missing from AJPW since about 1995. Vader is looked awesome here. By 2001, I thought he was showing his age, but he definitely had no trouble keeping up with the All Japan boys. Hansen has lost a step, but he brought the sadism when it is called on. Vader & Hansen felt like two big bulldozers and we were transported back in time where Kobashi was that plucky underdog babyface. Everything in this match felt so urgent. Kobashi & Akiyama recognized they were up against an unstoppable force. They had to press any advantage given to them lest they be swallowed up whole by these two Great White Sharks. Vader initiated a test of strength against Kobashi you dont see that too often. Kobashi throws some vicious chops and Vader does not even flinch. Vader throws one haymaker and sends Kobashi flying. Kobashi tries to fight fire with fire but Vader is just Too. Much. Man. Vader & Hansen double team. Their double shoulder block looked so good. Kobashi comes charging and hits Vader from behind. I like how chippy this is. Kobashi tags out. Akiyama tries his best but ends up in the corner taking those big Vader bear paws. Akiyama gets a high knee from the middle rope and quickly tags out to Kobashi. Kobashi comes flying in, hits a couple bombs tries for the pin. Nada. Goes for suplex and Hansen hits him hard in the side. There is way more respect for Vaders size in this match (three early suplex attempts and none landed). Kobashi gets his ass kicked by Vader & Hansen. It is all simple, but wicked effective. Just using their body weight and hard parts of their body to beat him up. It is like Vader & Hansen are the best possible Demolition. Kobashi gets a quick lariat and tags out. Akiyama gets a missile dropkick. He is flying around, but ends up taking a wicked back elbow from Hansen. I am loving how the faces cant get anything started against these two monsters. Just when you think there is hope, It is extinguished by sheer brutality. Vader flying body attack on the outside. Vader misses a charge in the corner. Akiyama dropkicks the knee! Akiyama tags out. Kobashi charges at the knee! Here is their chance! Single leg crab. Hansen saves. Kobashi charges. Hansen is persistent. DDT and then Vader splash. This is so not fair! There is a real sense of injustice that after all that work to gain the advantage that not it being taken away from them. Now we enter the finish run with lots of double teams from the Big Boys. Vader splash and hard Hansen elbow on prone Kobashi. Hansen throws Akiyama into a Vader body attack and Hansen DDT on Akiyama on floor. Things do not look good for out heroes. Hansen with douchey kicks to the head. Vader body attack into Back Drop Driver and then Vader powerbomb only gets two. They set up for Vader to whip Kobashi into Hansen lariat, but Kobashi fights out and Akiyama hits a flying knee to the back. Kobashi clobbers Hansen with a clothesline for the win. Excellent monster vs plucky underdog match. Kobashi & Akiyama wrestled with the urgency necessary to beat these monsters. Hansen & Vader really did feel like an unstoppable force. I thought the finish run was a bit overkill that all those moves should have killed Kobashi. I did like the actual finish with Akiyama hitting the knee from behind. It felt like a fun action movie finish. I thought they did a really good job making you doubt Burning would win. One of the all-time great Summer Action Blockuster matches . Definite top 5 1998 All Japan match of the year. ****1/2

AJPW Triple Crown Champion Holy Demon Army vs Burning - AJPW 10/11/98 I can see people's point that this is a retread and that there shows a clear lack of progress. Akiyama goes from Misawa's junior partner to Kobashi's junior partner. At best it is a lateral move, at worst he is being demoted to being the junior partner of the second best babyface rather than the Ace. I actually think Akiyama is best suited to being a slight heel like Kawada and that NOAH got it right in 2000. I think Akiyama leading a second heel army would have been great. I thought this was great as we have seen many times before. Holy Demon Army overwhelms Akiyama by cutting him off as he is getting in the ring with DDT and then double teaming on the floor. Holy Demon Army both had been recently defeated by Kobashi in Triple Crown match so you know they are looking for revenge. They work over Akiyama's leg and then Kobashi saves in the submission holds. Taue runs into a belly to belly and here comes Kobashi. Spinning back chops for everyone! Kobashi goes sleeper and Kawada comes running at him. Taue wants the NODOWA and we go into the long, very entertaining finish stretch. I will say the back end of this while very familiar is a ton of fun and great stuff. The Nodowa/Backdrop Driver combination is attempted but Akiyama saves. Kobashi powerbomb & Akiyama double arm DDT on Kawada, but Taue saves. Kobashi bodyslams, fist pump, but crashes and burns on moonsault. It is a pile up of bodies. Akiyama EXPLODER on Kawada! Great dead weight selling by Kawada. NODOWA BELLY TO BELLY! DDT ON APRON! NODOWA INTO TURNBUCKLES!!! NODOWA OFF TOP ROPE! DYNAMIC BOMB~! That was fucking awesome. God Bless Taue! Kobashi saves. Akiyama tries an Exploder on Kawada, but Taue comes flying in with a NODOWA! Taue is the MVP of this match. NODOWA/Backdrop Driver only gets two! I feel like they are toast but this has been pretty much all Holy Demon Army. Kawada powerbomb is broken up by Kobashi and BURNING LARIAT TO TAUE! Well that solves that problem. Powerbomb, elbow out of Exploder, Brainbuster, Akiyama does stagger around sell before an enziguiri drops where he stands for the victory. Super hot finish run. Holy Demon Army looked impressive against the newly minted super team of Burning. No new ground was broken, but it was good fun. ****

WWE World Tag Team Champions New Day vs The Club - WWE Clash Of The Champions 2016 Holy Shit what a sprint! I came in expecting another mediocre New Day tag and this was awesome! I am pretty indifferent to all four of these guys (used to love Big E, but now he is kinda meh). They came out throwing bombs and never looked back. Gallows decked Big E on the outside and Anderson hit a running Liger Bomb. The Club came to play! Gallows really laid in his punches in the corner. Loved Kofi dropkicking to create separation in doing so he still kept Gallows in between him and his own corner. Everything felt urgent and desperate. Once Big E gets in he just throws muthafuckas around and then hits his big splash. I am loving this pace and the bomb throwing. Big E goes for his spear through the ropes, but Anderson meets him with a knee. Big E just keeps on trucking. Anderson smokes him with a single leg dropkick. Hell Yeah! Big E is now FIP. Club quickly sets up the Boot of Doom. Everything is focused on getting the victory quickly. I love that urgency to win. You can see how much more the crowd is into it. Gallows hits a MASSIVE CHOKESLAM on Kofi. Now they go for the Magic Killer and Kofi desperately fights out. But there is no one to tag. Big E pops up and tags himself in like a good tag partner. Good shit. Kofi flies and Xavier hits Anderson with Francesca and The Big Ending double team version wins. No wasted motion. Everything was building to the climax, great use of bombs and awesome pacing. Great match! Best New Day match in forever! ****

Volk Han vs Yoshihisa Yammamoto - RINGS 6/17/95 To me what separated Han from Yammamoto was his selling. When he got trapped in a submission hold, the way he squirmed, lunged for the ropes or would quickly counter made that hold matter so much more. Yammamoto is just 24 at the time of this match and at the beginning it shows in a completely kayfabe way. He is just doing things that are stupid and giving Han opportunity after opportunity to put him away. He drops to his back like he is a fucking Gracie and Han shows him up completely stepping on his ankle and applying the craziest single crab. He was all over Yammamoto before he got to the ropes. For a while Yammamoto just felt outclassed by the technical wizardy of Han (the way he finds organic ways to put on pro wrestling holds is great) however Volk Han does get caught napping. In a Scorpion Deathlock, Yammamoto picks the ankle and applies a heel hook that sends Hand scrambling for the ropes. I love that selling there. Treat the holds with respect and the match gets treated with respect. That is the story of the match in a nutshell, Han is clearly superior, but he is giving Yammamoto enough rope to hang himself. You see Yammamoto come up with some very nice counterwrestling that makes you believe Han could lose. I really liked the Han STF. Han loves using the double wristlock as his base to create offense and one time just rips Yammamoto down in the hold. Wicked takedown that gets the doctors involved. I thought this was a red herring and that Yammamoto was going to get the win. BOOM! Blast him in the face with a palm strike and Han was down for a 8. Han gets right up shakes it off, but is clearly woozy. Yammamoto actually applies a tight guillotine choke that looks to be it, but Han wriggles out and gets the cross armbreaker for the submission victory. Told a great little story of Han's dominance, but Yammamoto perseverance through counterwrestling, but ultimately coming up short. The last 90 seconds after the double wristlock takedown was sweet and you totally did not know which way it was going to go. Great shoot style match ****1/2