Superstar Sleeze

Did this make tape, NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Tiger Mask II, Tokyo, 3/8/87? If so what are people's thoughts on it?

Last week, I posted my blog looking at all the great post-split All Japan matches from 2000-2004, when coupled with 2005-2009 and 2014 blogs means I am just missing 2010-2013, which I hope to remedy by the end of the year. Post-Split All Japan was great in the short-term but destined to not be sustainable when it relied heavily on Tenryu, Mutoh and Kawada. Kojima just was not enough especially by himself to ever carry the promotion into the future. Match Listing for first-run matches in this blog: Genichiro Tenryu & Nobutaka Araya vs Taiyo Kea & Kazushi Miyamoto - AJPW 4/27/02 **** #61 of 100 One of the best Prick Heels vs Main Event Face & Young Lion tag match. Miyamoto was incredible. Genichiro Tenryu & Nobukazu Hirai vs. Satoshi Kojima & Kaza Hayashi - AJPW 10/06/02 *** Good version of the previous which I am a sucker for, but did not hit the same levels. AJPW Triple Crown Champion Shinya Hashimoto vs Satoshi Kojima - AJPW 6/13/03 ****1/4 #54 of 100 Hashimoto The Destroyer in all his glory. He punches the fuck out of Kojima's lariat, so awesome! Satoshi Kojima vs Shinjiro Ohtani - Budokan 9/06/03 Good match but they go overkill on Ohtani only to have win the match. Never liked that. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Satoshi Kojima - AJPW 7/18/04 Depressing match. AJPW Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada vs Takao Omori - AJPW 7/18/04 Really great Kawada selling and offensive performance almost carries bland Omori to Top 100. http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2015/03/chop-chop-chop-toshiaki-kawada.html --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Also I threw up a blog on the best matches of 1995 WCW, which is a pretty barren landscape, but does feature my favorite match of all time Randy Savage vs Ric Flair in a incredible, chaotic and hate-filled brawl at the Great American Bash. I thought to myself that match which I think is wildly underrated as a crack at top ten best matches of the 90s in WCW and of course this has now led me down the path of reviewing all the usual suspects of great WCW matches to see where it would place just the beginning of that road. Match Listing: WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs WCW US Heavyweight Vader **** Superbrawl V Great Hogan vs Monster match where Hogan actually adapts to the situation. Vader is a beast. “Macho Man” Randy Savage vs “Nature Boy” Ric Flair - Great American Bash 1995 ****1/2 Think shoot, but work and I am not even sure they were working. Hate-filled fight. WATCH IT! Brian Pillman vs Johnny B. Badd - Fall Brawl '95 **** Japanese-influenced bombfest that was a harbinger of wrestling to come. Highly influential Ric Flair vs Arn Anderson - WCW Fall Brawl 1995 **** AA proves he is Flair's equal. Flair cheats only for AA to out-Flair Flair with a little help from a friend. http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2015/03/fathers-day-fracas-randy-savage-ric.html

Chris Benoit vs Kevin Sullivan - WCW Great American Bash 1996 Two years in a row (they make it three the following year with Page/Savage II), the Great American Bash delivers another a great brawl between two opponents that hate each other. Benoit picking up the slack for the departed Pillman challenges The Taskmaster in a falls count anywhere match. Obviously, the match is most famous for the fight in the Men's Bathroom and Dusty's hysterical call of the woman in the men's bathroom. It features some really good action from Sullivan. I loved his short right jab to Benoit's eye. He was just nasty this entire fight with eye gouges, slamming the stall door on Benoit's head and throwing Benoit down a flight of stairs. Hell, my favorite part was probably the double stomp on the bathroom floor. I think Tony's call of a cover near the commode is pretty funny too. The reason I don't think this is an all-time great brawl was a surprising one. I did not feel like Benoit's comeback or offense had a lot of fire. I think Benoit's greatest strength is that he is an awesome asskicker. I just did not feel like he is kicking much ass in this match. Sullivan was also taking bumps really gingerly so maybe he was trying to protect Sully. Loved Dusty's call of "You just gotta that plundah, right, baby" when Benoit was mounting the table in the corner. Superplex off the table gets a huge pop, which strikes me as weird because it was not any extra height, it was just extra dangerous because table wobbled. Maybe Benoit was just that over! He definitely was not with the Sturgis crowd. AA proves he is Horsemen 4 Life when he kicks The Taskmaster ass and the crowd pops mad. Very entertaining match. ***1/2

Rey Misterio Jr. vs Psicosis – Bash At The Beach 1996 Growing up, Psicosis was one of my favorite wrestlers just based on look alone. I would argue that he had even cooler costume than La Parka, but La Parka had the dance moves & chair so it was a close call. I was always disappointed that he was never featured at the same level of Rey Misterio or Juventud Guerrera. It turns out these childhood feelings have been validated by the fact that Psicosis is really fucking good. Both going back through the old footage and reading other people’s opinions that Psicosis is one of the best workers in the world in the mid-90s. Unfortunately, he was not able to sustain his greatness in the late 90s while his arch-nemesise, Rey Misterio Jr. really took off. Misterio and Psicosis have a history that dates back to Tijuana wrestling scene of the 90s. Psicosis was the clown, base and vicious heel to Rey Misterio’s undersized underdog with revolutionary high-flying. They were the perfect mix and they took their act on tour. From their home promotion of AAA (an upstart lucha libre promotion challenging CMLL think the American League or AFL), they travelled to Japan to wow the crowds there and then came to Philadelphia to the little promotion that could, ECW. In 1996, in an effort to further differentiate WCW from WWF, Eric Bischoff brought in a small army of luchadores to populate the fledging WCW cruiserweight division. So logically, the hottest match of 1995 was featured for the first time for a wide scale American audience when Rey Misterio and Psicosis locked up at Bash At The Beach 1996. It would be so easy for Misterio and Psicosis to just hit a myriad of mind-numbing highspots to astonish and amaze a virgin audience, but what makes these two among the all-time greats is how they transition and build to those highspots for maximum sensory impact. For that reason, this match holds up as one of the best matches in the history of WCW and one of the best PPV openers in any company of all time. Psicosis is consummate heel in this match. He knows when to let Rey shine and when to get vicious to put that heat on Rey. It is a great selfless performance that makes Rey look one of the biggest stars of the world, but in doing so elevates himself and the match. It was surprising to me that first highspot went to Psicosis with a gorgeous suicide dive over the top rope. Unlike all the wussy dives through the ropes recently, this one really wipes Rey out. Psicosis is just great laying down a wicked beating on Rey. Rey is so great at verbal selling as Psicosis whips, chops and slams him. Psicosis nails him with a top rope guillotine leg drop. There is a definite sense of Psicosis attacking the neck and looking to take the wind out of the high-flying Misterio, which is a great strategy against the quick Rey Rey. Psicosis takes his first crazy, hellacious bump, which is a monkey flip on the apron that propels him into the post. WOW! Misterio hits a rana off the apron and then a springboard hurricanrana spikes Psicosis only gets two. The match never feels like an exhibition even the objective of the match is to showcase these crazy spots. The competitors still care about the win and loss. Psicosis does a great job selling his knee after a Rey dropkicks his knee. Trying to chop down the bigger man is not a bad strategy for Rey especially after getting his ass kicked for a good chunk there. Psicosis quashes the Misterio comeback with a droptoehold and locks on a nasty headscissors. I loved Rey’s screams. One of the best worked headscissors I have ever seen and a perfect use of it: a heel who needs to stop the bleeding and sap the energy from a babyface. Good stuff. Psicosis is targeting the neck again as he sends him flying into the top rope. Rey powders to catch his breath, but Psicosis is right on him dropping him neck first on the railing. Then he hits a senton from the top rope to the floor. WOW! Psicosis’ offense is breath-taking and violent, perfect. Back in the ring, Psicosis applies a camel clutch and fishhooks him. Psicosis is just fucking killing it. Misterio is like Woah, woah I am pretty fucking good too so he busts out a cartwheel into a hurricanarana and a mind-blowing top rope hurricanarana onto Psicosis that was standing on the apron. Holy shit, I think all these spots would still blow the majority of WWE’s current audience’s mind in 2015. Psicosis takes one of my favorite bumps when he gets dropkicked in the back of the head, he slides belly first onto the floor. Misterio hits a twisting corkscrew Asai Moonsault and everybody loses their shit. You can tell how much Tenay loved calling that while Dusty and Bobby were just like What the Fuck. I think while Bobby would vacillate between not giving a shit and putting over the crusierweights, The Dream seemed to be really entertained by them and in his own way put them over at every chance. Psicosis is able to catch Rey with a powerbomb and it actually looks really good. Psicosis is looking for Splash Mountain and Rey hits a crazy rana to win the match. WOW! I have seen this match a couple times before and I am always blown away by how good it is. Matches that revolve around showcasing spots usually don’t age that well, but this match was as character-driven as it was spot-driven. Not to mention, these spots were crazy awesome and hold up totally. To me a heel is selfless, big bumping and vicious. Psicosis just had that in spades. He took two crazy bumps and hit some amazing highspots. He was always vicious with how he attacked Misterio. Misterio is just an all time great. His verbal selling was off the charts and he was great as a ragdoll for Psicosis to throw around, but when it came to blow people’s minds. He never failed. That finish run is just one incredible highspot after the other all with the purpose of winning the match. Definitely a contender for best WCW match of 90s and a testament to the greatness of the Rey Misterio/Psicosis series. ****1/2

“Macho Man” Randy Savage vs “Nature Boy” Ric Flair - Great American Bash 1995 This may be my favorite match of all time. My two favorite wrestlers competing one of the greatest hate-filled, relentless, fight to survive matches I have ever seen. I remember being so excited to finally see Savage vs Flair, my two favorites of all time, when I finally started searching youtube 2006 and immediately it was the Wrestlemania VII match that I wanted to see it. It is a great match and a great moment in the culmination of the overarching Randy Savage Wrestlemania story arc dating back to Wrestlemania III. Something was missing. It was missing that truly out of control feel and energy that Flair and Savage can bring. Watching this match in shitty quality on dailymotion in 2008, I was transfixed. Savage was a relentless ball of fury. Lunging at Flair at ever turn. There were just these little things that made it feel like a shoot. Savage attacking Flair from behind in such a way that was scary. Or Savage just suffocating Flair even on the begging off section. There just was not the customary time. The selling was selling of exhaustion of a fight. Savage's selling of the knee was spot on and why he was one of the greatest of all time. While Savage gives a truly special performance, it would be an amazing match without Flair. Flair sells the match as a fight to survive. He is blasting the fuck out of Savage and he dives onto Savage from behind, which is another wicked bump. The way he sells. He is in pain and fatigued, but if he even takes one moment to breathe, he may not last. So he just keeps fighting. I can not say how much I love this match. My video includes opening remarks from Savage with the interview being conducted by “Mean” Gene Okerlund. He vows revenge against Flair and the momentum is on his side. Incidentally, today is Father’s Day and a happy accident for this storyline He finishes with one of my favorite lines from him: “Too hot to handle, too cold to hold”. Flair is adorned in a black and white sequined robe decorated with Monarch Butterflies in white diamonds. Savage is also donning the black and white and HE IS NOT ALONE. His father, Angelo Poffo, is with him after the attack from the Horsemen, but with the aide of a cane. This is NOT FAIR TO FLAIR. DOUBLE A! DOUBLE A! Where art thou? Once Poffo is settled in, Savage hits the ring and Flair heads for the hills. Savage gives chase. Savage wants to kill Flair and any offense Flair can muster is because Savage is overzealous. Savage is hitting hard tonight. This aint a wrestling match. THIS IS A FIGHT~! Flair stops Savage’s momentum by sending him into the steel ringpost and then the guardrail. Flair with an uncharacteristic axe-handle off the apron to the back of Savage. The bump Savage takes was just violent and gripping to watch. I love it, Flair knows that Savage wants to kill so he adapts by pulling out all the stops. Angelo Poffo gets out of the chair with a look of concern as Flair is taking Savage apart with his trademark moveset of chops and kneedrops. Savage connects with a flurry of jabs and in a fit of rage chokes Flair and grabs at his nose. Flair takes the Bret-bump into the corner more choking. Flair tries to powder out, but Savage nails him from behind wicked hard. These are the moments that make it feel like a shoot. Flair takes his usual bump off the top rope. How does he not have crippling back injuries? Flair flip now onto the outside and now he goes after daddy. The Brain and I share the same sentiment as us that was fuckin dumb. Flair is smarter than both of us because he suckered Savage into checking on his Daddy and then clipping the knee. What follows is a shinbreaker across the guardrail, which is another crazy bump. The Brain wonders if “Did Daddy bring two canes because his son is going to need one.” The Brain continues to the tell story well, “Flair was smart he knew he was going to be able to slug it out with Savage, a man possessed. So he went to take a body part out. Flair has a plan.” Savage throws punches from his back in a show of valor and courage. Kicking and clawing at Flair with whatever he can muster and Flair like the prick he is just keeps going back to knee. This is masterful psychology. Savage is killing it right now with his selling. NOW WE GO TO SCHOOL!!! Flair of course gets to the ropes for that additional leverage. Savage is fighting only for his father and in a truly moving spot, Mr. Poffo attempts to get the ref’s attention that Flair is cheating. This is one of the most emotional matches I have ever had the pleasure of watching. SAVAGE REVERSE THE PRESSURE!!! Savage hops on one leg only to dive on Flair and keep punching. Flair and Savage are just laying it all on the line. Flair flip for a second time, runs down the apron but Savage hits him in the gut as he comes done. SAVAGE HITS HIM WITH BIG ELBOW!!!! He pins Flair, but pulls him at 2. NOT ENOUGH SAYS MACHO MAN as he grabs the ring bell (shades of Ricky the Dragon) and the crowd is whipped into a frenzy. The Brain says Savage is out to maim Flair. At some point, Savage has been busted open under his eye. Holy shit, what a brawl so far. The ref saves Flair from the bell and Savage crashes and burns hard on the guardrail. What a bump, the fans in the front row are freaked out because he hit so hard. Flair is pissed off because Savage has tried to maim him. Flair goes for Angelo, Poffo chokes him with cane, but Flair knocks out Angelo and gains control of the cane. Savage having checked on his dad does not realize this. Flair waffles him with cane. Flair picks up the tainted victory. This match epitomizes why I love wrestling: Raw hatred for each other with stiff shots, high-energy no resting with brilliant story-telling and acting. WATCH THIS MATCH! Contender for best WCW match of the decade. The last Match of the Year contender, Flair or Savage would ever have. I would say the best babyface Savage performance of his career in WCW or WWF. ****3/4

Really loved this series. Moment of the series was Chad getting all snarky at the beginning of his Owen/Bret review in retaliation to nitpicking on HBK/Angle. I laughed pretty hard. Grimmas poking fun at himself about being taken out of the Eddie/Rey match because Rey mask was attached to the bodysuit was also pretty damn funny. Good stuff all around.

As the First Ever Winner of the First Ever Pro Wrestling Trivia Internet Podcast, BRAINBUSTER!,I would like take the time to sincerely apologize to all the members of the Sleeze Synod such as Will who eagerly anticipated to hear my melodious, dulcet voice bring to them the most riveting content on the internet and another championship victory (I lost to someone who knew the exact number of fucking victories that The Gambler had, cut me some slack!). When you are the biggest star in the history of a nascent, burgeoning phenomenon, you have a certain responsibility to the show and the fans and last night I failed that responsibility. The exact same computer and microphone were used that I have used to exact record all my podcasts and I could not have predicted such a catastrophe. From the booming voice of God to sounding like I was a lost soul in a fishbowl. OH! How The Mighty Have Fallen! WAIT! A second I think I got it, for the first time I did not record in my mother's basement (where all good wrestling fans belong) rather in my ex-girlfriend's bungalow! So blame her because Lord knows I do for a whole host of things. :P I kid, I kid, I kid. Seriously, I am sorry about it and like I said I was using the exact same equipment as always and really could not have predicted the audio issues. Thank you Johnny for standing by me when the going got tough, I appreciate it. I have total confidence that Johnny and the show will continue to sweep nation even with this little hiccup of me losing.

I have read it six times and I still am not sure the meaning of it. Alright, alright, alright you two Canadian numbskulls step aside and let me, The First Ever Winner of the First Ever Pro Wrestling Trivia Internet Podcast, Brainbuster answer the good doctor's question. You see he is wondering where the clip of Hulk Hogan shaking the hand of a unknown kid in wheelchair seen in Hulk Hogan's Real American Story originated? After much deliberation and careful thought, I came to the conclusion that clip in question is from none other than Hulk Hogan's Real American Story! The BrainBuster Kid strikes again! Like you two even have a prayer against me.

Actually, I think I am the only person hyping it as such. Pretty much everyone else seems to think it was very good to great, but I have yet to hear anyone else call it a MOTYC (Will & Johnny liked it a lot, Pete thought it was good and Dylan seemed to like it well enough, but I don't think he thinks it is a MOTYC). It is just I have been very persistent in talking about because I think it is a very interesting match and I like hearing other people's opinions on it. It is nice to know if I post something enough I become the personification of PWO. Being The First Ever Winner of The First Ever Pro Wrestling Trivia Internet Podcast, Brainbuster has brought me unforeseen power and respect! Now if it had only brought me unforeseen pussy...

For 2003, I highly recommend Kobashi vs Yoshinari Ogawa. It was my personal favorite match of the decade from Japan and just a super, super fun performance from both wrestlers. Kobashi is just at his best against a pure heel. Kawada vs Naoya Ogawa from Z-1 was MOTYC for me that year and was a terrific chaotic brawl. 2004 - I agree. 2005 - I recommend watching Kobashi/Taue vs Tenryu/Akiyama if you have not seen as that was just an awesome performance from all four people. Tenryu and Kobashi want to kill each other and Taue just owns it. Also, Ishikawa vs Ikeda from FUTEN if like ultra-stiff, ass-kicking shoot-style. For 2006, I recommend Taue vs Akiyama for the GHC title as last great All Japan Pillars of Heaven singles match and Danielson vs KENTA was my runner up in what was a very weak year. 2007 - I agree with you. 2008 is all about the BattlArts resurgence my two favorites were Ishikawa, Sawa & Otsuka vs Ikeda, Usuda & Super Tiger II, Battlarts July 26th & Ishikawa & Sawa vs Hara & Super Tiger II, Battlarts November 16th 2009 - Fujita Hayato Jr had a crazy awesome year. His best match was against Kanemoto, but check out his match with Sasuke too. The only other contender for me is KENTA vs Kotaro Suzuki, which is awesome chickenshit heel performance from Suzuki and then a great asskicker performances from KENTA. 2014 - Tanahashi vs Nakamura 4/6 Invasion attack and Styles vs Suzuki G-1 Climax. Other would recommend Nakamura vs Okada, which I thought was excellent, but a step below those two.

It is more interesting that you only found that last few minutes great when they established a great story with heated exchanges from the outset. I loved Rusev suffocating Cena and never letting the match get away from him. Cena had to resort to wild swings and awesome double leg takedowns. It was just Cena's indefatigable resolve to win that kept him in it. Just when that willpower looked to win Rusev had the answer with a ballshot. It was an incredible dramatic and heated contest between two combatants struggling to win a match and were invested in its outcome that established a story early based on their strengths, never wavered and delivered a great finish. That's great wrestling to me beginning middle and end The narrative you thought up to best depict your viewing enjoyment means nothing to me though. Pro wrestling isn't a great storytelling medium so when it does tell great stories I feel it tells them in spite of its nature, not because of it. But what you described to me isn't a great story. It's a C level action movie scenario. I expect a sequel titled Cena 2 where the good guy gets his win back. Story interpretations can make for interesting reads-but I'd rather discuss what actually happened. The work that they did was subpar-Rusev's control segments were reduced to stomping, Cena's facial expressions were preposterously bad as were his punches, Rusev's Spinning Heel Kick missed, the match featured the weakest Alabama Slam I have ever seen, the AA has been killed and meant nothing....need I go on? The WWE is super micromanaged-if there was a story they were trying to sell they would have made it known-just like they did in the main event. A lot of the complaints I made may seem like "the usual stuff", but in general Cena has been reliable in performing on a high level despite limitations that come with issues that are engraved in his performances. But there was nothing to salvage the match here-the only interesting bits that happened (big counters and transitions) did so late in the match, and that particular part of the match I did enjoy. If Cena could've matched the sympathetic selling Zayn displayed against Owens or if Rusev made better offencive choices the first half would've been different-but as it stands I see no merit in it. (sorry if I came off as a dick but that was kind of essential in the point I was making) I did not think that narrative up, it was the narrative they told. I beg to disagree in that I think pro wrestling is a great and versatile storytelling medium. Even if I think that is not the most important element to pro wrestling. Pro wrestling in my estimation it is two competitors struggling to win a contest driven by their characters or the surrounding story and in turn reacting to one another (which is a story in of itself). Both Cena and Rusev had a sense of urgency to each of their actions and their movements that what piqued my interest. It generated a big match atmosphere and a hot bout to me. I remember Rusev's heat segment being more compelling than stomping because he was reacting to Cena's constant chippiness and hope spots. He had to cut Cena off at the pass on multiple occasions. I like Cena's facial expressions and his wild punches. They feel larger than life and that's what I like in my wrestling. I can see why that bothers somebody, but it does not to me. I thought he connected on all his kicks. Yes, Nikki Bella did hit a better Alabama Slamma, but I did not think it was egregious. The FU was killed long before this match and I do think Cena needs a super finisher, but it is not like the Tiger Driver was getting Misawa a ton of victories, sometime it requires repetition and different combination. It was clearly Cena vs Monster story as someone pointed out. I can see your point if you want to say this movie is played out and I have seen it before, but don't act like there was not a story. I like that story a lot and I though the urgency of the actions differentiated it from Cena vs Monster matches. Nah, brutha, you were not a dick. You had your point of view and you explained it well. Ain't nothing dickish about that. Oh and Cena's double legs are not always great, but in that match it was perfectly timed. It was a good lunge.

It is more interesting that you only found that last few minutes great when they established a great story with heated exchanges from the outset. I loved Rusev suffocating Cena and never letting the match get away from him. Cena had to resort to wild swings and awesome double leg takedowns. It was just Cena's indefatigable resolve to win that kept him in it. Just when that willpower looked to win Rusev had the answer with a ballshot. It was an incredible dramatic and heated contest between two combatants struggling to win a match and were invested in its outcome that established a story early based on their strengths, never wavered and delivered a great finish. That's great wrestling to me beginning middle and end

In defense of Johnny, I actually do agree with him to extent and I think he has a point, but he get so overwhelmed that is hard to defend and think of the spot with so many voices coming down on him. There are tons and tons of counterexamples that show passing the torch to be a totally overrated means of generating new stars. When did Bret Hart job for Stone Cold? That Bret Hart guy was sure better off once Hogan did the job for him? Who made The Rock? I must have missed that awesome Ultimate Warrior three year run. The key to making new stars is presentation and hot angles. Stone Cold did not need to beat Bret Hart because he was presented as a huge deal and was constantly involved in hot angles throughout 1997 against the Hart Foundation, The Rock and Vince McMahon. The Rock did not need some old legend to make him. He got over with his personality, being positioned as the Corporate Champion and being presented in hot angles. Losing to Cena at a Wrestlemania and then being shunted into a makeshift tag team with a goofy, but lovable character would be the death knell for almost anybody today. The Rock lost to Austin at Wrestlemania XV and wrestled the end of 1999 in the Rock n Sock Connection. The Rock not only survived he thrived. It is because The Rock was consistently presented as a big deal and a star. It is all about context. With correct booking, people's heat can be maintained even in a loss. It is about cycling people up and down, hot angles and not falling into the same groove. It took situations now that look like inevitable failures to being ways to cycle people up and down the card without anyone's heat evaporating. So no the key is not to have some legend job to you. The key is to present interesting characters in compelling situations with hot angles. It is all about heat and the key is to decouple heat from wins & losses. Wins and losses should matter because it dictates where you go next. But no single loss should ever be insurmountable. You are booking like dogshit if that is the case and WWE has been booking like dogshit for the better part of a decade. That is one specific example where I was rooting for Johnny and this has happened in the past where I was like Johnny you are almost there, brutha just take the next step, but it is overwhelming. It is easy for me to type out a response. I too would get fucked up with 2-3 people yelling in my ear on the spot.

I agree with you, Will & Johnny on Rusev & Cena. The Rusev finish was great because Cena was making a comeback and we have all seen the story before. Cena gains momentum and Rusev hits his best shot and Cena just won't give up! John Cena is the babyface he should be the one to power up and look like he is going to win. Cena powers up and just when everything seems to slipping out of Rusev's grasp BANG! Ball shot! That is great desperation heel work. It is not a a a bad finish, it is a fantastic finish! Why should Rusev go over clean? He is the bad guy that has shown to be vulnerable time and time again and he pulls it out by any means necessary. The Bray Wyatt and Ryback feuds with Cena were fucked because Cena crushed them. Rusev looked like a massive mountain for Cena to climb unlike the other two who liked a numbnuts. Just as Cena looked like he would, it was snatched from him. They both looked awesome with Cena fighting from underneath like a boss and Rusev kicking ass on top. Easy WWE MOTYC.

WONTON VIOLENCE~! had me cracking it up. I liked the tag match, but agree with Dylan that they needed to add a little meat on the FIP to propel this to the next level. Naomi and Nattie both looked Dynamite! Wow! Thanks for the heads up on the Nikki/Paige Main Event match. I was really looking forward to the Paige/Nikki match (huge fan of both) and I liked it as a bomb throwing sprint, but yes that blown spot was egregious and the finish sucked. I will check out the Main Event match. If he was going to be a maniac, then stomping in the corner triggering the DQ was lame as all hell. Where is the WONTON VIOLENCE????

I think Cena/Rusev is neck and neck with the triple threat and I was there live for the triple threat. I think they are the clear one-two punch for the WWE in terms of the best matches of the year so far.

WWE heels cheat all the time. Excessively IMO. I liked the way that was done because Rusev doesn't need to cheat, it was an even match that he was winning on points, but he heard Lana on the apron and the ref going over, so he kicked Cena in the balls. why not? that's what heels do I'm really not sure where you're coming from with "in the context of a company where heels don't really cheat" when EVERY heel in WWE cheats. I like it better when it's like Rusev tonight, or Mr. Perfect....where these guys are really good and can beat anyone on any given night (cept for Hogan in Perfect's case).....but they are heels because they don't care about breaking the rules when the going gets tough No they don't. Not by traditional wrestling standards. Heels win cleanly all the time, especially dominantly booked heels in Rusev's position. I agree with you, brutha. Heels don't cheat during matches like ever. It is just boring, pedestrian transitions. There are guck finishes here and there but no one really wrestles like a heel. Cesaro and Barrett are the ultimate culprits of wrestling totally neutral. The Rusev finish was great because Cena was making a comeback and we have all seen the story before. Cena gains momentum and Rusev hits his best shot and Cena just won't give up! Cena powers up and just when everything seems to slipping out of Rusev's grasp BANG! Ball shot! Great finish!

I agree with this 10000000%

Match of the night easy and a contender for best WWE match of the year. GREAT FINISH! That is how a heel should win with a vicious ball shot and then humiliating Cena in the Accolade. Best finish in forever. Rusev was awesome suffocating Cena and Rusev modulating his selling so well. Cena was so urgent. Loved, loved this match!

Liked Nikki vs Paige as a bomb throwing sprint wished it was longer and had a better finish. The ladies deserve better

They have switched directions for the better. It is Triple H angry that he lost his job because of Sting which is a legit reason to be pissed. He threatened to efface Sting from history if he didn't play ball since WWE owns history which is a douchey thing to do. I think they have crafted a really smart narrative for this feud. Still don't care about the match

What? It was totally disjointed. I didn't know if they wanted to do a straight wrestling match, a character piece or a fight. Dustin says he is going to beat the Stardust out of him. Then he just sort of wrestles him, but with a ton of awkward pauses and no heat. Cody acted weird then cheated and then went for pinning combinations. Did these two want to win or hurt each other? Then Dustin gets a fluke roll up and we are supposed to believe we get Cody. One of the worst matches I have seen in a while.

I wrote a companion piece to the Tag Teams Back Again podcast with Ricky Jackson (Kelly). I highly recommend listening over reading, but I thought this would also be a good way to highlight a lot of my WWF Tag Team work over the years. I have been postponing The Rockers piece and I really need to get it done because I think they are the best team in WWF history. Hart Foundation Vol. 1 http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2013/08/history-of-hart-foundation-1985-1987.html Killer Bees http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2013/08/killer-bees-compendium.html The Islanders http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-islanders-hidden-gems-of-wwf.html Greg Valentine with both Brutus Beefcake & Dino Bravo http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-best-of-dream-team-hammer-swings.html British Bulldogs http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2013/09/history-of-british-bulldogs-1985-1988.html Fabulous Rougeaus http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2013/09/fabulous-rougeaus-all-american-boys-wwf.html Demolition Vol. 1 http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2013/09/demolition-vol1-here-comes-ax-here.html Strike Force http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2013/06/strike-force-rick-martel-tito-santana.html Brainbusters http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2013/10/brainbusters-nwa-in-wwf-1989.html Demolition Vol. 2 http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2013/12/demolition-vol2-walking-disaster-1989.html Hart Foundation Vol. 2 http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2013/10/history-of-hart-foundation-1988-1991.html

This weekend posted twice. One looking at Dolph Ziggler his limitations from a layout, execution and character perspective, but how it looks like he has been improving recently coinciding with his renewed push. I really like the Harper ladder match, which I think was a bit underrated and thought it was a contender for a top ten match of the year. Match Listing: WWE Intercontinental Champion Bad News Barrett vs Dolph Ziggler - WWE RAW 6/23/14 Disposable RAW mid-card match. Ultimately forgettable. Crowd worked the workers. WWE Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler vs Cesaro vs Tyson Kidd ***3/4 Fun Spotfest. Tyson Kidd got to shine. Cesaro great strength spots. Ziggler looked strong as champ. Team Cena (John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, The Big Show, Ryback, Rowan) vs The Authority (Seth Rollins, Luke Harper, Rusev, Kane and Mark Henry) WWE Survivor Series 2014 ****1/4 Big match feel. Great use of characters. Exciting narrative. Logical, cool swerve. Great Ziggler run. WWE IC Champion Luke Harper vs Dolph Ziggler WWE TLC 2014 Ladder Match ****1/2 Awesome sadistic performance by Harper. Great heroics by Ziggler. Felt like a BIG win! http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2015/02/kid-ego-dolph-ziggler-wwe-2014.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The other is the written companion piece to the Tag Teams Back Again Podcast with Ricky Jackson: http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2015/02/1985-tag-team-wrestling.html

I thought you'd be taller. Ishii reminds me of Arn Anderson or 1980's Bret Hart more than just about anyone else. In that, he is a midcarder who can have an entire match unto himself. He basically plugs his opponents into his formula and produces dramatic, hard-hitting classics. For Honma, he put over how close NJPW's miracle underdog could come close to winning a match by showing his vulnerability through his trademark neck/shoulder selling. For Naito, the struggling hot new upper midcard babyface badly needed credibility with the fans and by standing tot to toe with the stiff powerhouse Ishii he re-earned the fan's respect and his career while not fully rehabilitated is back on track. For Ibushi, he had a great heavyweight vs. junior heavyweight match where Ibushi showcased not only his high-flying offense, but his nastier side too. When I say formula, I don't mean every match is same, but rather Ishii uses his spots in the match how the context dictates to enhance his opponent and himself. You know there are going to be a lot of strike exchanges and that somehow Ishii will be dumped on his head. What separates Ishii from his contemporaries is his commitment to selling his neck/shoulder injuries to build drama in the late match strike exchanges and have you wondering how he will pull this one out. For all the great positive attributes, Ishii does represent the New Japan style moreso than probably any other wrestler. Having watched a lot of Japan 2008-2009 and reading what New Japan critics had to say, I was terrified that NJPW was just filled with strike exchanges and endless nearfalls. I have found that not to be the case at all. It is a minimum of one strike exchange, but usually no more than two and even more importantly, these are matches that build to a satisfying conclusion without a barrage of nearfalls watering down the finish. What I found interesting is that my nightmare New Japan was found in Ishii matches when Ishii seems to be the unifying force of all New Japan fans. It is easy to see why he is the big tent candidate when he combines great offense with selling. But calling a spade, a spade, he relies on strike exchanges way too much especially in the beginning of match are very boring. He is also the king of the nearfall and the one count. Don't get me wrong, I have been impressed with Ishii and I think he is the best midcard wrestler in the world. I just thought it was interesting that New Japan wrestler everyone loves is the most New Japan-y of all the wrestlers on the roster. NEVER Champion Tomohiro Ishii vs Tomoaki Honma - NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 5/3/14 I am a total sucker for the underdog Tomoaki Honma character. After he hit that crazy diving headbutt onto the floor and he gets into the ring and goes crazy, you just can't help but you root for a guy that wants to win so bad and is putting out such great positive energy. Ishii to his credit, he did a great job making Honma not just look like a credible challenger, but like someone that could really win the match. Early on, Ishii was in full control by using high chops and seemed to underestimate Honma with little kicks to the head. The turning point came early when Honma scored a DDT out of a lariat attempt. Until the end of the match, Ishii was digging himself out of the hole. Ishii did a great job modulating his selling. You knew the DDT hurt him, but it was not a blinding or insurmountable pain yet. He was able to recover with a backdrop driver. Then Honma hulks up after a lariat. I loved the urgency of this part of the match with each one following the other into ropes to cut the other other off with a strike. It really felt the match was going to be decided in that sequence and BANG! Honma nailed Ishii with a suplex that dumped on his head. Now that shoulder/neck pain just became excruciating and he powders. Honma presses his advantage with that crazy headbutt from the top rope to the floor where he bounces off the floor. God Bless Death Match Wrestlers! Honma is pumped, I am hyped and the crowd is whipped into a frenzy. He hits the top rope headbutt in the ring!!! Can he do it? One-Two-No! Ishii hits a desperation lariat, but clutches his shoulder and collapses. He can't take advantage. Two bulls ram into each other with Ishii winning. Ishii hits his powerbomb, but can't put the underdog away. Ishii goes for his Brainbuster finish, but the tenacious Honma will not be denied. One of the best suplex struggles ever (only to be topped by their one at G-1 Climax), Honma avoids the Brainbuster with a knee to the top of the head and hits one of his own! Honma Driver! C'mon ref! That was three, how much money do you have on this! Ishii is deadweight and collapses twice. Honma crashes and burns on the diving headbutt. Ruh Roh! Ishii drills him with a wicked Zidane headbutt to the head and a German suplex levels the playing field. During the strike exchange, it looks like Honma has Ishii on the ropes, but Ishii manages to hit an enziguiri, a sliding lariat and then his Brainbuster to quash the dreams of Honma and children everywhere. This was a superb performance by two great wrestlers that understood their characters. Ishii went a different route than the usual beat the underdog down and let him comeback. Instead, he got his ass handed to him and looked like he was dead to rites, but was able to fight through the pain to hang onto the title. Ishii never looked weak. It just so happened that the DDT and suplex injured him badly, but he kept fighting. The crowd was so excited for the possibility of Honma winning it never felt like Ishii babyfaced himself by fighting from underneath. I think I like the Shibata match a tad bit more, but this was tons of fun also. ****1/2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tomohiro Ishii vs Tomoaki Honma - G-1 Climax 2014 Bring on the rematch BABY! I actually preferred the offensive layout in this match as opposed to the previous because they really built to the Honma offense well and it was a tighter match, but this match does not have the same level of world-class Ishii selling. Ishii sells in this one per usual, but the 5/3 match was something special. There is definitely a ***** match if you combine the two of these matches, but as it stands still a badass set of matches. Honma misses his falling headbutt early and Ishii pounces with headbutts and chops. I prefer that opening as opposed to boring opening strike exchange of the previous match. Then there is incredibly awesome suplex struggle. You really get the feeling that if Honma does win the suplex battle that it is fucking over for him and this is going to be a blowout. Honma gets some offense in, but again misses the falling headbutt. They go all Kobashi/Sasaki, but unlike those two it is not pure masturbation. Honma beats back Ishii, wins the exchange and finally hits the falling headbutt! A strike exchange that goes somewhere! YES! Ishii tries to salvage this with a back drop driver, but Honma comes roaring out of the corner with a lariat and then a piledriver. For somebody with no neck, Ishii's certainly gets hurt a lot. They repeat the urgent sequence from the last match where they are on top of each other, which seems weird after a piledriver. Honma hits his DDT and then Ishii goes into classic Ishii selling mode. I don't like Ishii using the delayed superplex in every match or at least how he sets it up. If it creatively happened by chance in each match that would be one thing, but to actually give your opponent the high ground is just stupid to me. Ishii is looking for his powerbomb, but Honma deadweights he gets it. Now is looking for his brainbuster, roll through by Honma 1->2->NO! We all went crazy for that. In all the discombobulation, Honam dumps Ishii on his head via suplex. Go Honma Go! Honma brainbuster gets two and he is looking for the Honma Driver! They have another great stand up exchange where they look like they are fighting through each other's shit, but again Honma falls prey to Ishii's enziguiri/lariat/brainbuster combination. Honma needs to scout that enziguiri. It has done him in twice. This is a fun little sprint which Honma gets in his hope spots to rile up the crowd, but ultimately falling short. Honma's offense is set up really well early on. Both wrestlers are so great at generating drama late and that standup exchange was awesome. One day Honma, one day! ****1/4