Superstar Sleeze

Yuki Ishikawa vs Kazunari Murakami - BattlArts 11/26/00 Stay Calm and Keep It On The Mat is Ishikawa's mantra as Murkami tried to unsettle him with his relentless fury of strikes. Murakami and his WHAM! Eyebrows look to knock Ishikawa out early with strikes, but Ishikawa keeps his head down and before you know it he has Murakami on his back. I loved how heated this was and how Ishikawa was able to counter Murakami's uptempo style by constantly picking for mistakes. Murakami gets a flurry of kicks in and Ishikawa powders. Then we get absolutely awesome crowd brawling with them wiping out a bunch of chairs. I would say the only disappointing element was that the finish was so quick. Murakami bringing Ishikawa back in hardway with a rear naked choke was fantastic, but just as he was looking in command is when Ishikawa caught his foot and punched him in the face. An enziguiri into a rear choke was enough to force the submission. The finish suited the match well enough, but this left me wanting more. ****

Slowly making my way through RAW and I have to say I was quite saddened that they finally phased out the Big Gold Belt. The last vestige of my beloved WCW is finally expunged from live TV. Sad day for WCW fans.

I think you misinterpreted my last sentence. Your last sentence was how I intended my last sentence to sound. Alls well that ends well.

I think we agree regardless of the fact that agent told Rusev to sell throughout the match versus the old school think where Rusev would have had to contributed that on his own that this was good shit and we can't credit or fault Rusev for the current operating environment. So I don't want to belabor the talking point I had in the past with friends on the overemphasis on praising singer-songwriters versus those who just sing. Everybody has their role that maximizes their value. Some great artists like Elvis are best suited for singers and don't make them any less worthy of praise than a singer-songwriter. It is great that wrestlers used to call it in the ring, but now it is time for those who can execute. At the end of the day, even if Rusev was told to do it, it is up to him to execute. How many times have we seen wrestlers blow off selling or forget about it. It could have been very simple for Rusev to get caught up in his offense and neglect to sell. Where we disagree is that if you insert another member of the roster into a similar match that same praise would be given. What made this so impactful was that Rusev has been this unstoppable force, but last month Swagger was able to wound him with the Patriot Lock and almost get a countout. Rusev sold that through his finish and the next night on RAW. From there Rusev tried to jumpstart the match, but it backfired and Swagger slaps on the Patriot Lock again to great effect. It was the perfect confluence of how Rusev had been built up, previous match storytelling and Rusev's excellent execution. If they did something similar in Miz/Ziggler or Paige/AJ I don't think would be as effective because those feuds don't have the same heat and build. To me it does not matter who the brains because you could tell two wrestlers the greatest layout in the world, but as a fan I ain't going to see that. i am going to see the match that those wrestlers put out. Rusev executed the vision of the agent to great effect and deserves all the credit for doing just that.

Finally got a round to listening to this. Lo and behold, I am the subject of the first two minutes or so. Awwwwwww shucks, you sure know how to make a guy feel like a million bucks. I am sorry to disappoint, Johnny, but Katie Bar The Door is not coming back. I just say because it is a cool wrestling phrase and yes I will use it in normal conversation with non-fans to great effect. I don't know how to take the Rocky thing. It was funny on the Boston Garden episode (which I listened to a couple days ago) that Parv thought my people who couldn't pronounce their "r's" were cute. Well, now I don't feel so bad for ragging on DiBiase. Calling us Bostonians cute!?!?! I'll knock your block off, I tells ya! For those who have watched Hansen/Backlund from NJPW 9/80 how do you think the matches compared? I really like the NJPW match, but have not seen the WWF matches yet.

FINALLY, I get to start one of these threads! So a lot of people do not think Roman Reigns will be ready in time for Wrestlemania. If this was the WWF of the 90s, I would say seven months that's plenty of time for Vince to work his magic. However, the WWE of the 00s, seven months does tend to mean that's plenty of time to truly fuck someone up. That is a sad state of affairs, but it is ultimately true. So lets talk solutions! The question at hand is who will dethrone Brock Lesnar not who the next face of the WWE will be. Thus John Cena is eligible for discussion. John Cena - With that lead in, lets talk up the obvious candidate. Cena took two hellacious beatings from Lesnar. At Extreme Rules, Lesnar got cocky and went for a big bomb and missed. He then shook it off went for the same bomb and ate chain, which was his demise. This time Lesnar was laser focused. Can Cena beat a laser focused Lesnar? How is Cena's mental psyche? Personally, I would love to see Cena take a more veteran mentorship role with somebody like his weightlifting buddy, Cesaro. In his mind, he thinks he is done, but he still can give back by mentoring. His protege urges him on to take on the beast. You could even go Achilles/Patroclaus with the protege getting mauled by Lesnar and now Cena has to stand up and fight. I would love to see him do MMA training or Rocky training vignettes kind of like Tito learning the figure-4 to break Valentine's leg so he could taste his own medicine. It is a great story but ultimately it leads us back to the same place Cena on top. Dean Ambrose - He was red hot when I went to Money In The Back live and in vivid color. He has since been cooled off by slow burn booking, but he is still smoldering could be stoked into a raging fire. I see Ambrose wrestling a more wild version of Punk/Lensar and pulling it off quite well. Ultimately, I see Ambrose more in the vein of a Piper or Savage. He could be a strong number two, but he is not your Hogan. I would like to see Lesnar/Ambrose, but as a Lesnar victory. Seth Rollins - I see Rollins as a good shot to fill their desperate need for a strong working heel that can bump around for babyface and shine them up. So many heels are bruisers that there is no one to shine up faces like a Flair would. Rollins could be that guy and no reason to turn him face or put him in the ring with Lesnar. Bray Wyatt - I think Lesnar opens up the possibility of heel vs heel matches because pretty much every challenger will be cheered for. I thought Wyatt should have won at Money In The Bank to resuscitate his career. He needs to get out of this heatless Jericho feud. Another loss to a main event player seems counterproductive, but I think Wyatt standing toe to toe with Lesnar would help. There is no reason why if Wyatt were to win that he would go right back to being top heel. Why not use Lesnar to set up a top heel instead of a top face? Sheamus - Sheamus is my favorite wrestler and one of the most underutilized talents on the roster. He needs to be turned heel and kept away from Lesnar. Cesaro - Cesaro is my second favorite wrestler and one of the most underutilized talents on the roster. He needs to be turned face and paired with Cena. Rusev - See Wyatt. It is Fedor vs. Brock, but in WWE, BABY!!! Dana, eat your heart out! Ok, so maybe not, but I think this is intriguing. Jack Swagger - He is my dark horse. He has the size and amateur credentials to compete with Lesnar. Unlike Ambrose and Reigns, he is on the upswing rather than coming down from a previous high. We all know the big knock on Swagger is that he is utter dogshit on the mic. If you don't go with Cena, then the man who beats Lesnar should probably be the top face. I just don't see Swagger as the top face even if I would love to see a big face Swagger push. Daniel Bryan - Keep him away from Lesnar. I talked myself into Cena after initially thinking I would double push Reigns and Swagger. It is a great story and it gives time for Cesaro, Reigns, Ambrose or Swagger to separate from the pack to be the next face. Who is your pick?

I asked a question in my long Summerslam post, but I have a feeling it may have gotten lost so I thought best to ask here. I feel like the RKO is one of the most protected finishes in the WWE. This is not the FU, which takes a minimum of three on a big PPV to win a match. The RKO seems like one and done to me. Not only that, it is very rarely kicked out of. Now, until I got the Network, I barely watched any of the PPVs so is my feelings true? Is the RKO one of the most protected finishes? Is Reigns kicking out getting underplayed? It was a very big moment for me, but no one seems to care on the web.

Finally finished Summerslam 2014, I don't think anybody on this board declared this the best Summerslam of All Time, but on my twitter feed there was definitely that hyperbole, but I don't even see how this was better than last year, which had two MOTYCs (Punk/Lesnar was my WWE MOTY). This year had one match that really knocked it out of the park (Cena/Lesnar), a fun, fun Rusev/Swagger match and a collection of good, but not great matches. It was basically a barrage of *** matches. It was probably one of the most consistent PPVs of all time, but it lacked the highs that other PPVs have, which probably have lower lows. Ziggler/Miz - I am a sucker for matches with simple character hooks like "Dont punch my beautiful face". It is an easy way to either create two payoffs or make the finish extra sweet. It also allows for a good story at the outset. Ziggler is much better as a face. He has a lot of standard babyface offense and has made his big bumps into a great sympathy device. Miz would be so better off as a manager, but we have to suck it up that he is a wrestler. How come heels dont cheat anymore? Why doesn't Miz eyerake or choke? Superkick made me pop, but should have been the finish because the rest of the match was forgettable. The secondary titles are so meaningless. They should be on Rollins, Ambrose or Reigns. Paige/AJ - It is so WWE to discover a pop culture term years late, totally misuse it and shove it down out throats. Hogan/Savage are frenemies. Paige/AJ are just enemies. The match was better than last month. It was short and sweet. I actually liked the finish. Swagger/Rusev- U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! For me this has overtaken Ambrose/Rollins as the second best feud in the company. I would say besides Cena/Lesnar, the only match that worked in a way that was actually befitting of the storyline. From the opening Pearl Harbor of Swagger backfiring and leading to seriously wounding the Russian Juggernaut, Rusev (sounds better than Bulgarian Brute) with the Patriot Lock, which fits in perfectly with last month's countout finish. Rusev's selling was bitchin' and Swagger is a great power wrestler. Then we get dueling body part psychology with Rusev targeting the injured ribs and the Swaggerbomb slowing Swagger down. The Patriot Lock was a false finish that a lot of people bit on. Rusev winning makes sense, but they have another smoldering babyface on their hands, which they should stoke rather than smother. I would put this right under MOTYC, but I would not argue against someone who has it higher. Rollins/Ambrose - This was so disappointing for me. Pete, my man, I usually agree with you when wrestlers work a match contrary to the stipulations, but this was not Attitude Era wrestling where the stipulation was just randomly ignored. They actively fought through the stipulation. It showcased how out of control this feud was that all these wrestlers could not contain The Lunatic Fringe (Does anybody else always mistake that song for Pink Floyd's Young Lust?). They established that lumberjacks would actively contain the wrestlers until Ambrose lost it. Then when Rollins tries to escape they all carried him back. This part of the story was the highlight of the match. It was everything less I didn't like. The match started off oddly tepid. I never care for crowd brawling. Then the finish just seemed rush. It had a good hook, but not enough meat around it. Wyatt/Y2J - They basically wrestled the same match as last month except with a couple bigger spots (DDT on apron and Top Rope Frankensteiner) and a different finish. It was still Wyatt dominated, Y2J flurry, Wyatt cutoff, rinse lather repeat. I am totally ok with this formula it just lacks heat because there is no real hook. Jericho would be better off in a workrate feud with the likes of Cesaro than a "violent" feud with Wyatt. What bugged me the most was that they did same flash knockout finish with the Codebreaker, but this time Wyatt was able to kick out (yes, he was supposed to get a rope break, but still it was lame). This leads to the big Wyatt finish. Again another fine match, but lame finish. Stephanie/Brie - First, since it came up the Four Horsemen signal was because the Four Horsewomen (Rousey's crew) were at ringside. This match was so weird. It was a complete departure from the storyline, It was wrestled as if Brie was trying to prove herself to Stephanie. It was wrestled more like a heel championship title defense or a strong veteran taking on an underdog rookie. I acknowledge Stephanie is a giant compared to Brie. I would remiss not to mention that Stephanie looked damn fine in that outfit. The match we were given was actually very good match. Stephanie is the best heel (Lesnar is close) on the roster. Everybody else just sort of wrestles their match without trying to cheat, be a coward or be an asshole. I would have liked Stephanie to show a little more ass (no not that ass!) in terms of bumping and stooging, but here comes HHH to sell for Brie! LOL! Best moment of the night. I am disappointed by the turn because I just don't give a flying fuck about Nikki and really didn't want this to continue. I wanted Brie to get her payoff and everybody to go home happy. Brie vs. Nikki sounds like yuck! Orton/Reigns - Another tepid match. I probably like Orton more than most. I think his offense looks good and violent like his headbutts, the Garvin stomp, but damn those chinlocks could kill off the hottest crowd nevermind this LA crowd. I think Reigns is fine at selling, but he needs to open these matches up hotter. He needs some offense at the outset to rouse the crowd. His finishing sequence takes too much time to set up. The Superman Punch and Spear should out of nowhere moves to set up his Powerbomb or something of the such. In my opinion, maybe somebody else can answer this better, but isnt the RKO one of the most protected finishes. It is usually one and done. So for Reigns to kick out clean was a pretty big deal for me. Yet seems totally underplayed on the web. The out of nowhere Spear was a great use as I mentioned above. I am not as down on Reigns chances as many since there is plenty of time to get him ready (and also fuck him, I realize) for the Lesnar match. I would actually argue that putting him in with Lesnar and doing a Hansen/Kobashi '93 match at Night of Champions is the way to go. Then build from there with Reigns getting closer and closer to beating Lesnar until Wrestlemania doing a strong sports build. Lesnar/Cena - Shocking and awesome. The balliest move this company's made since 2011 CM Punk. I love they really shook things up Not as good as the Extreme Rules matches, but few are. I am sure this may sound pretentious and perhaps irritating, but I thought of this more like an angle than a match. It was awesome, awesome angle. I loved the Seahawks/Broncos vibe they went for. As a match, it falls short of MOTYC status for me and I would rate right around the Swagger/Rusev match. The closest two matches I could compare this to are Vader/Sting GAB '92 and Lesnar/Rock '02. In both though, while the monster heel came in on his first crack and mauled the top babyface star, it was still much more competitive than Lesnar/Cena. In both those matches too, each roster had much more depth in terms of talent to combat the new monster heel without stretching the bounds of credibility. This is one of the most shallow rosters since the mid-90s in terms of main event talent. Outside of Cena, they really have no true, bonafide main event stars. Bryan was on his way until he was derailed. In addition, to how you work around this new monster is how Cena reacts to this. Cena should not only be broken psychically, but mentally too. I would love to see Cena build himself back up from the ground up for the rubber Cena/Lesnar rubber match. How great would it be if they started showing Cena training in MMA to try to combat Lesnar ala Tito learning the figure-4 to break Valentine's leg? VINCE BOOK THIS SHIT!!! I agree with everybody that outside a Cena rematch there nobody seems to Lesnar's league. Reigns needs more work in firing up a crowd in the ring. Ambrose is great as a frentic, wild man, but he seems like a Piper to me, not a Hogan. Rollins is their best chance to fill the void of a traditional working heel complete with cowardice. So many heels are bruisers it would be nice to have one to be a bumping machine with big offense ala Flair mold. I love Sheamus and Cesaro to death, but they are so dead in the water. If they double turned those two, I think they could resuscitate them, which rules out Sheamus. My dark horse is Jack Swagger. He has the size and amateur credentials to compete with Lesnar. He is the hottest he is ever been. Of course, the big problem is that he is totally utter dogshit on the mic. If I was running the show, I think you at the very least double push Riegns and Swagger and by December you got to choose. I would go so far to have a Swagger vs. Reigns match on a PPV to really see who the crowd is behind. Like I said this was before, this was a really, really ballsy move. They is much bigger chance they fuck this up, but it really could be a big boon. It was a really consistently good show. There was one great match on the undercard with Rusev/Swagger. Steph/Brie was very good, but inconsistent with the story and finish I am apathetic too. There was a lot of good matches, but they are ultimately forgettable or disappointing. Cena/Lesnar was a big time match that gave Summerslam that big angle they love. As always coming off Summerslam, there is a lot of cool possibilities. In 2011 and 2013, they fucked it up. Third times a charm, right? Right? RIGHT?

I must be out of the loop. Do you the approximate timeframe she was the head of writing?

Watched the 2002 RAW where the brand extension was established on the Network with my brother last night. There are minor production differences, but it is amazing how little difference there is in presentation in 12 years or so. I enjoyed the Angle/Vince backstage interactions a lot. I do wish there was a bit more fun in wrestling now. For the most part, so many things come off as dry, that a lot of the midcard could use some levity. The big difference was the match times. I forgot about the compressed 5 minute match. That was fuckin brutal. HHH vs Jericho vs Steph for World title intrigued me, but was a bit lackluster except for two brutal Stephanie bumps. My brother at the start was like "Do you think she will take anything serious?' By the end, HHH crushed her with a clothesline and squashed with a spinebuster. It was pretty crazy. I guess she was forced to leave and she did a great job hamming it up, holding onto the ropes and then the post while they sang "Hey Hey Goodbye". It is amazing to me that someone who is such an entertaining onscreen character is in charge of a creative team that consistently either botches storylines or present such a dry and bland product.

They went for the Broncos/Seahawks match. Not a great match per se, but an incredibly gripping story for the long term. I love the commitment to Lesnar and think this opens up some real interesting possibilities for Cena.

So hyped for this Cena/Lesnar match! I am going to say Brock does not win the title here to set up the rematch at NOC. That's my crazy prediction. Regardless should be badass.

I forgot my favorite part was when Parv or Chad ever commented on a match almost immediately Will would say but yeah missed the part that was actually was good and it was always a fun hidden gem. I actually looked up DDP's outfit just based on this podcast and it was indeed bitchin' as all hell.

I think the females could wait three months to see their beloved Flyin Brian. After all, absence makes the heart grow fonder. My timeline would have the blowoff be in September or October anyways, so that long after the loser leaves town. The music I am fine with it is the same as having the same moveset to Flyin Brian. It is an homage. The hometown, I agree, is stupid. I actually knew nothing about the original Yellow Dog angle and that actually sounds really cool. Pillman perhaps was throwing that back in the face of Windham. I agree that poor booking sort of made seem like it was shoehorned in there. He would have been better off with a different name. I think the strongest point and a problem I failed to mention was the Loser Leaves Town match being so poorly set up and presented that does take some of the starch out of the angle. The fact it was 4 minutes and JR barely bats an idea would seemingly kill it. I thought the bounty and the way the matches were worked salvaged the angle enough that an actual conclusion would have still been meaningful. WCW booking in 1991 was the shits. I still feel this was Pillman's best shot at the main event. He was working a strong program with the Horsemen and this could have been a great extension of it, but they botched from the get go. It still felt like the hottest thing they had in the summer of '91, which does not say much. If Pillman goes over the Horsemen/Enforcers, it could have led to matches against Luger, but Watts was coming in anyways so it was probably moot. Regardless, the Yellow Dog was a fun angle, but had more potential than it did in the way of execution.

Fuck you all for not liking the Yellow Dog! Seriously though, Yellow Dog is one of those things that it is easy on the surface to shit on, but could have been a huge boon to Brian Pillman. Pillman is coming off his hot feud with Windham, which is the best thing about WCW 1991, but curiously loses a loser leaves town match. Only for the Yellow Dog to arrive on the scene shortly afterwards. The crux of the gimmick is that everyone knows it is Pillman. The fans, the faces, the heels and the announcers, but everyone plays along except the heels, who are infuriated he is back. So the Horsemen put a bounty on his head. Instantly, this gives the midcard direction. Now all these middling heels like Badd, Studd et al. have something to do. They explain away the same moveset by stating Yellow Dog is Pillman's biggest fan and wants to carry on his legacy. What drives me bonkers is that the angle was never properly finished. If they finished this angle, I would contend nobody would remember this as Wrestlecrap. External forces killed this angle though. Windham was hastily turned face to fill the void of Luger turning heel and served as a mentor to Dustin and Simmons. But still they could have salvaged this with Arn and Larry Z, but in the most boneheaded move Pillman was chosen to be the centerpiece of the DOA Light Heayweight Division. I originally envisioned the climax of the angle being a hair vs mask reinstatement match between Yellow Dog and Barry Windham with Pillman going over. Then on the next episode of Saturday Night, Pillman thanks the Yellow Dog for all the help while the Horsemen just seethe with rage. If you have to turn Windham face, then Yellow Dog & Partner (Simmons, perhaps) going over Enforcers. Just bridge off Parv's excellent idea for Sting/Luger that allows you to do Rick Steiner/Yellow Dog/Missy vs Arn/Windham/Paul E, which with time could have been really good and further the angle towards a blowoff. Anyone who is interested about the 1991 Yellow Dog matches here is my blog on it: http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/02/wargames-taped-fists-yellow-dogs-brian.html Here is my review of the Flair/Studd match mentioned (I say ***1/2 is generous, I would probably go closer to ***) WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair & Diamond Studd w/DDP vs. Yellow Dog/Bobby Eaton - WCW 6/91 I believe this Flair's last televised performance with WCW until his '93 return as GAB starts that week according to JR and I know he is gone before the Meadowlands show. I actually liked this match even more than the Flair/AA vs Eaton/Pillman as this match seemed more heated and had more of a focus. The focus was getting the Yellow Dog over like rover. JR aggravates Paul E. with obtuse references to Pillman while the Yellow Dog does moves and Paul E. flips his shit each time. Studd is a little clunky, but hell if he does not sell and bump for Pillman. Pillman does not give an all-time great offensive performance but they way Flair and Studd treat him makes you feel like Pillman is a star. I love the ending where the heels just jump Pillman and try to remove his mask. It puts over the mask and the angle over so much before Eaton makes the save. I would be remiss not to mention that Flair/Eaton segments are so fucking good even better than the last tag. Those strike exchanges are everything you would want out of Flair/Eaton. I would not say a must see match as Flair/Eaton had a better match in 01/90 and Pillman has had better performances. However, it did a really good job getting the bounty angle and making me a believer in the angle even if they ended up botching the end game.

Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue vs Jun Akiyama & Vader - NOAH 1/13/01 Vader is DA MAN~! If NOAH could milk Vader for a couple more years even if just hidden in tags, he would have been a huge boon to NOAH. My biggest criticism of NOAH is the lack of gaijin talent. Stan Hansen and Dr. Death were so critical to the All Japan Golden Years. I know 2001 Vader is not 1994 Dr. Death especially evident in the couple mishaps and the extremely blown finish. However, holy shit did he look great as the monstrous heel who just mauls Kobashi. I also thought this was one of the most Southern style tag matches in Japan with great double heat. Kobashi and Taue have an absolutely great shine segment. Vader and Akiyama look to double team Kobashi at the outset, but Kobashi and Taue have other plans in mind. Kobashi destroys Vader with back fists and Taue hits NODOWA~! on Akiyama on ramp. Kobashi continues the beat down on Akiyama. Akiyama high knee and tags in Vader. Vader is fantastic. After all the flippy shit in the 2007 juniors, this is just mama's home cooking as Vader is just blasting Kobashi in the face. In a weird moment, Vader takes Kobashi out into the crowd and puts him in a chinlock. Alright then, snuggle time in the crowd it is. Back in the ring, Vader gets nearfalls off a bitchin lariat (this is one of those lariats JBL would have an orgasm for) and a Vaderbomb. Taue saves and this gives time for Kobashi to tag out. Taue hits the Mother of All NODOWA~! on Vader. Jesus, the elevation he gets on Vader of all people makes up for Vader's shitty finish. Akiyama hits an Exploder on Taue and now Taue is in peril. Vader and Akiyama kick his ass on the outside with Akiyama hitting a piledriver. Taue hits a nasty big boot on Vader. This match is stiff as all hell. Vader chucks Kobashi across the ring on two Germans. Vader hits a massive powerbomb only for two triggering "Ko-Bash-I". Vader hits a Vaderbomb and then nearly kills himself on a Vadersault attempt, which Akiyama covers and then he actually does it and almost kills Kobashi. All I could think was when Vader nearly fell to off the top rope was if I was Kobashi I would be shitting my pants because he you have no idea where the hell Vader would land. I would have called audible and switched the finish, just for my livelihood. That is why Kobashi is Kobashi. He has Balls of Steel! Incredibly fun match marred by a blown finish. It was entertaining from the excellent Kobashi/Taue shine to the double heat through the finish run with Vader throwing people around. Vader looked like a monster in this match, but I would imagine the finish killed any chance of him getting further chances up the card or perhaps he just didn't have it in him. This match epitomizes what I like in my wrestling. ****

Bryan Danielson vs Go Shiozaki - ROH In Tokyo 7/16/07 The poll is Best In Japan in the 00s, thus any match that took place in Japan qualifies not necessarily taking place in a puroresu card. That being said, Ring Of Honor had a very similar style to Pro Wrestling NOAH. Occasionally this happens to me, I acknowledge I am watching an interesting, well-worked match and it just does not hold my attention. Unfortunately for this bout, I felt that way. I loved Danielson's pacing in this match. He was not flying around and blowing off selling. The beginning of the match showcases Danielson at his best making submission holds look innovative and like they hurt. It is something that is bereft in both WWE and Japan in the 00s. They establish they are equal babyfaces even ending a dropkick simultaneously. Shiozaki takes over with chops and general power, but Danielson catches a break when Shiozaki goes flying into the railing. Again, I loved Danielson's arm work, which effectively used strikes and holds to destroy the arm. When Shiozaki starts to mount his comeback and is still selling might be when I realize what is wrong. Shiozaki is just really bland. He is just a generic, cookie-cutter NOAH wrestler. He is not bringing anything to the table. He is doing the right things, but is nothing special and unique. Danielson goes flying into the crowd on top of Shiozaki and this triggers Danielson's big spots ending with a crossface chickenwing that ends up in the ropes. Shiozaki was able to crotch Danielson on the top rope and hits a weird slam. Here comes the BOOM! Bombs galore. Shiozaki goes for the kill with a moonsault misses and Danielson immediately applies Cattle Mutilation. Shiozaki is able to fight out, but then end is nigh and Shiozaki succumbs to a second Cattle Mutilation. Danielson was really demonstrating why he was one of the best in the world at the time. He paced himself well. He is an amazing offensive wrestler (ground, working body part, bombs) and this really showcased his talents. Shiozaki just feels so mediocre in this match and I just could not bring myself to care. Thus I felt like I was watching a Danielson exhibition. ***1/2

In my defense, I am new to this whole star rating thing. Seriously though, I have no clue why I was so down on this match that I felt that way. Upon rewatch and re-reading my review, I agree with most of what I said, but have a more positive feeling from the match. My biggest departure from what I said was that it was tepid until the finish. That is just flat wrong. The best part of this match was how heated it was and the tension throughout the match. Akiyama was great and I loved how Hashimoto got so sucked into Akiyama's douchebaggery. The match ultimately feels unsatisfying as a match. They payoff one storyline with the finish with Hashimoto being so obsessed with Akiyama that Misawa was able to blast Hashimoto in the back of the head with an elbow and win with a Tiger Driver. However, I just felt like Hashimoto and Misawa was a tease. Nagata was fine in the best match, but everything felt inconsequential. The opening was really good for establishing the storyline and the payoff was excellent. The middle section with Nagata coming in after Hashimoto just did not advance anything and while heated, it did not generate more heat. Revision takes it to ****1/4

Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs Shinya Hashimoto & Alexander Otsuka - NOAH 1/13/01 Holy Shit! A single Tiger Driver actually won a match! Thats Batshit Insane! I really need to rewatch the March tag because I loved this. However, my big problem is that Ogawa makes so much more sense in the role of undersized douche than Akiyama who I thought got destroyed in the match. Hashimoto and Otsuka made their intentions clear that they want Misawa and that Ogawa is just getting in their way. I love Misawa's demeanor. He has total faith in Ogawa. He is not hiding behind him, but he believes in him and wants him to wrestle. For the most part, this does not go too well for Ogawa especially when Hashimoto the Destroyer was in there. Hashimoto vs. Kobashi in 2003:The World Implodes? Hashimoto and Misawa was friggin bitchin. Easily the best strike exchange of the 2000s just great weight and meaning behind each one. Hashimot goes down first, but comes back with overhand chops and stays on top of Misawa with stomps. This draws the young boys to the apron and a great tense staredown. Hashimoto gives one a shove. I would have loved a melee then restart. Misawa comes outta the corner with a big elbow. In a way they worked a mini-match with a Hashimoto heat and Misawa comeback that was very satisfying. The match continues with Otsuka working a solid heat on Misawa who decks him with an elbow. Ogawa does not the sustain the advantage for long. By God, the crowd is chanting for "Ogawa!". Hashimoto is destroying him with these kicks. Hashimoto goes for a brainbuster, but there is struggle, and some more struggle and finally an eyepoke, HUGE POP! OGAWA SUPLEX! Ogawa/Misawa run through some great double teams, but Hashimoto breaks up pinfall attempt. Hashimoto is relentless attacking Misawa until Ogawa pulls him off and Misawa hits the Tiger Driver for the win. Hashimoto just seemed like one mean bastard. He was going out of his way to prove He was The Man to Misawa and it generated so much great heat. Otsuka was serviceable as number two. Ogawa was so perfect for this role in every way that Akiyama was not. He was fit to get his ass kicked, but it all built to him getting an eyepoke and a suplex. It was the ultimate Japanese pro wrestling moment of "He may be an asshole, but he is OUR asshole!" Really need to rewatch March match. ***1/2

KENTA & Taiji Ishimori vs Naomichi Marufuji & Kota Ibushi - Budokan 7/15/07 Briscoes, Marvin and Suzuki, take notes, bruthas, this is how you do a fucking spotfest, baby! Ishimori and Ibushi are the next generation of Japanese junior heavyweight that care even less about strikes and building a strong match. They only care how they can add an extra rotation to any simple move. Standing elbow drop that is so passe. I can do a back handspring, full back flip elbow drop, BABY! If you going to execute those matches, then commit to them and they were committed to having this elaborate gymnastics competition, which made for a great spectacle. It is good eyecandy like a Michael Bay action movie. I don't want to watch a card full of these, but these exhibitions do serve a purpose because they are fun to watch. To me at least, however, they are not very satisfying in the same way a match where opponents are struggling to win a contest. The nice thing about this match is that they laid everything in. They did not treat strikes as givens like in the Briscoe/Marvin&Suzuki. Their transitions still suck like KENTA blowing off leg work to hit a flying knee drop or Ibushi's lame spinwheel kick to exit his heat segment. There was literally no move to move selling. People would take moves, sell, then fly like nothing happened. Even within these segments, they were flying with great highspots. After Ibushi tagged out, it was spots galore with flips and spins on everything. It was like R-Truth, but on steroids. Ibushi's double moonsault gets me everytime because I go years without seeing him, I always forget he has that. I actually enjoyed Ibushi ducking the KENTA strike, kip up and kick KENTA only for KENTA to be wary of it the second time. KENTA went into crazy Ceasro like beast mode to awkwardly catch Ibushi and hit Go 2 Sleep. The past two NOAH juniors tags were what expected all NOAH's juniors match to be like, but really that has not been case. I am curious if this newfound spotfest style is influenced by the rise of Dragon Gate and wonder see how similar it is to this. Usually, when something is mimicked the copiers steal the most glaring obvious traits without the subtle details that make the original so good. Ergo, NOAH guys were like people like flips lets give them flips. Dragon Gate may have done a better job building to the spots. I do not know, but we will see. Overall, I did enjoy this spotfest, but I will be sad if this is the way the NOAH's juniors division goes because it was quite good from 2003-2006. Spotfests have a ceiling in my book because of how much emphasis I put on transitions, selling and struggling. I would say this is one of the better ones I have ever seen though. ****

Kenta Kobashi, Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, Takeshi Rikio vs. Jun Akiyama, Yoshihiro Takayama, Kentaro Shiga - NOAH 9/25/00 The reunion of Kobashi and Kikuchi was cool, but this seemed pretty by the numbers. For once, Akiyama actually looks like the star in a tag match rather than taking the backseat to his team members. He felt like Kobashi's equal coming off choking him out in August. Akiyama was the one who earned the advantage for his team with a big knee to Rikio and later dropkick to Kobashi's knee, which forced Kobashi out of the match. Rikio was the best he looked to me. He was just a raw, strong young dude. All he knew was to use his body as a weapon just throwing it at people and awesome sumo slaps. It is not a sustainable style, but it makes sense for a rookie of his size. However, once the even bigger Takayama was able to use the momentum against him with a knee lift and his partners were detained, Rikio was easy pickings. Takayama and Kobashi is my favorite pairing of the 00s and it was great seeing them lock up. Kobashi was not as overbearing as usual. He was still the weapon of the massive destruction of his team and it was great to see him work with Kikuchi. However, Akiyama was able to detain him with a dropkick to the knee and a figure-4 while Takayama polished off Rikio. Shiga impressed me in 2000 as the plucky underdog. I did not like him as much as the upstart with a chip on his shoulder against Kobashi, but he was servicable. Shiga gets too caught up trying to fight Kobashi on apron that Kikuchi is able to snap off a couple suplexes. The real star of this match is Kikuchi. He worked the short heat segment when he gets too overzealous by challenging Akiyama's team in the corner and Kikuchi suffers for it. He is great at selling, but the beatdown is pretty by the numbers. Surprisingly, Kikuchi works the hot tag and is the best part of the match. He has this crazy spider spot (like Tenryu's Spider German) and just rocks the match. However, Takayama breaks up Kikuchi's rolling Germans, which triggers the Takayama and Rikio finish. If this match happened on RAW, there would be a lot of buzz, but in puroresu we can be a bit spoiled. Kikuchi's performance is standout the rest is pretty much cruise control for everyone else. ***1/4

GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Akira Taue - NOAH 05/18/01 A GHC Championship match that goes 15 minutes, CALLOOH! CALLAY! Taue has Misawa scouted, he ain't going to fall for any of this elbow bullshit. He is absolutely suffocating on offense taking to Misawa obliterating him with big boots and hitting a NODOWA~! from the ramp to the timekeeper's table. This 2001 match is much more aligned with the usual Misawa takes a shitkicking and keeps on tickin. Misawa gets his Misawa-Rana and counters like this, but you got to get up pretty early in the morning to get one over on Taue, who just keeps pressing with boots to the head. DYNAMIC BOMB~! Misawa kicks out and tries to powder, but Taue gets a hold of him on the apron. RUH ROH! Misawa's elbow saves him and he collapses back into the safety of the ring. Taue was not the only one with a scouting report. So much for safety as he eats two NODOWA~!, but kicks out. Misawa spinkick Taue and he powders. INCOMING! Here comes Misawa with two diving elbows. TAUE BACKDROP NODOWA~! only gets two. That is pretty much a death sentence. Elbows rock Taue -> Emerald Flowsion -> Obliteration Elbow ->2->Emerald Flowsion -> 3. Taue was on fire in this match as he had answer for all the usual Misawa tricks. I would have liked to seen Misawa dig deep into bag of tricks to beat Taue instead of just patiently sticking with the elbow, but that is Misawa's modus operandi. I would say that is what hurt the match the most you have Taue hitting huge bombs and really responding well to Misawa, but the finish is just the same 'ol same with Misawa hitting his elbows to set up Emerald Flowsion now instead of the Tiger Driver. Still a very fun, tidy and efficient bout. ****1/4

Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama - GHC Heavyweight Championship SemiFinals 04/11/01 After a pretty ho-hum 2000 (well besides putting on the Match of the Decade), Misawa needed to be re-established as the Man in NOAH especially with Kobashi being out for 2001 and majority of 2002. This leads to a weird retrogression in the Misawa/Akiyama series and again the problem with never totally committing to Akiyama. Akiyama would win the GHC Championship from Misawa, but here he seems like Misawa's whipping boy. Misawa was coming back at will. Where in 2000, Akiyama dominated after Misawa crashed and burned on elbow from the apron, Misawa rocked Akiyama with elbows so he never ever got anything going. Really the match felt like an exhibition for Misawa's offense. Misawa looked fantastic, pretty much best he ever did in 21st Centruy looking nimble and energetic and Akiyama sold and bumped for him great. It just made Akiyama look a little weak. I liked the double countout on the floor with Misawa hitting a Tiger Driver and Akiyama hiitng an Exploder. It protects Akiyama a bit. They restart the match because there must be a winner! The finishing stretch is a great sprint with Akiyama looking to put Misawa away with a big high knee, brainbuster and his new and still lethal guillotine choke. Misawa is able to make the ropes. The actual finish is roll-up reversals with Misawa coming out on top is very fresh for NOAH given ho accustomed we are too definitive finishes. It was a fun exhibition for Misawa and a return to form for The Man, just a bit disappointing it came at Akiyama's expense. ***3/4

All Japan Jr. Heavyweight Champion Shuji Kondo vs Katsuhiko Nakajima - AJPW 2/17/07 Strategy in pro wrestling is often reduced to being very one dimensional. You work a body part to set up your finishing move. You attack an opponents' strength to neutralize their finisher. I am not saying all good pro wrestling needs more advanced strategy or this specific strategy. What this match offered was a rare instance of a multi-faceted strategy. Nakajima established early that his intention was to neutralize Kondo's strength advantage and his lariats by knotting up his arm. However, Nakajima did not have a finishing hold to directly translate this strategy into a victory. In addition, Nakajima took a nasty spill onto the guardrail that severely fucked up his neck. In a nice touch, Hokuto checked on Nakajima. It can not be underestimated how much Sasaki and Hokuto added to the match by being on the outside cheering on Nakajima. It felt like parents cheering on their kid. Nakajima pressed on by kicking the arm to keep Kondo at bay, but Kondo overwhelmed with brute power zeroing in on the injured neck. Nakajima realized that Kondo's arm was too strong and that point of attack would not turn the tide. So he began taking head shots. Finally, Nakajima stymied Kondo's onslaught and with a dive to the outside. He levelled the playing field to finally return to his attack on the arm. He utilized mentor Sasaki's arm drag, but could not get the cross armbreaker as Kondo slammed out on it dropping Nakajima right on the back of his head. As much as this match was about Nakajima, Kondo was amazing at selling the arm the right amount. He was not blowing off Nakajima's work, but at the same time Nakajima really had not done enough to damage the arm so that it was totally useless. Kondo was fighting through the pain in a believable way. Kondo's slams really target Nakajima's neck, who cant seem to get anything started. In a great sequence, Nakajima is deadweighting Kondo on a powerbomb so Kondo blasts him with a elbow. Nakajima's sell would make Kawada proud. Kondo then spikes Nakajima on his head with a piledriver, but Nakajima kicks out. I will say the placement of that move was too early. The big flaw of the match begins here as Nakajima starts selling like Kaz Hayashi meaning he sells after he does a move not as he is doing it, but it is not as egregious. Nakajima at this point has no hope winning this match via arm work (no real submission game) so he goes for head shots to set up Emerald Flowsion and a flying bodypress. Kondo signals for a lariat and Nakajima kicks the arm reversing into a Human Capture Suplex only for 2. I liked how after all the kicks to the arm that Kondo could use his arm properly on his slam so that the full impact was not delivered. It was good selling. I loved the axe kick on lariat arm. Kondo finally gets lariat, but it is not enough. I totally bit on the Northern Lights Bomb finish with Sasaki right there. Nakajima wins the match with a German Suplex. This match had the potential to be a Match of the Decade Contender. The dueling body part psychology, the appropriate arm selling by Kondo, the amazing neck selling of Nakajima, the two-leveled Nakajima strategy all wove together to create a unique, dynamic match. The finish run did depart from this where Nakajima's comeback became a bit incredulous and his selling uneven and the moves excessive. I am not going to penalize the match too much because the base of the match was still there Nakajima defending against the lariat, working through his early match mishap (neck) and using headshots to create big offense. ****1/2

GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champions Briscoes vs. Kotaro Suzuki & Ricky Marvin - NOAH 1/21/07 Nothing screamed 2007 more than a double 619 until they busted out the Springboard Shining Wizard Doomsday Device. If I see another dropsault it will be too damn soon. The excessive jumping into moves is incredibly annoying. Was the Briscoe basically doing a moonsault before the back drop driver even finished supposed to be a bad social commentary joke on the state of 2007 wrestling? I could have sworn the ring said NOAH, but why I am watching TNA. These four give clubbering a bad name. They treat every forearm, stomp, kick, slap as a perfunctory device to get them to their next inconsequential highspot. Watch Yoshihiro Takayama or Dragon Gate! Either make every move count or just commit to a spotfest don't try to pretend to be having a wrestling match when you want to have a gymnastics competition. The best spot of this match was when a Briscoe shoved Marvin out of the ring for breaking up a pinfall. It is the only time I thought I was watching an actual contest where someone wanted to win. It actually had heat to it. Instead they needed to get in every shitty move ever invented after 2000 instead of building heat. The match sucked as a spotfest and a pro wrestling match.