Superstar Sleeze

Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada - Tokyo Dome 7/18/05 It is hard to declare one particular matchup or feud as my all-time favorite, but it asked to rattle a handful off, you best believe that Misawa/Kawada would be listed. It had been five years since their last match due to the All Japan/NOAH split of 2000. I could not think of a better way for them to go out then in front of 52,000 fans in the Dome. All Japan never even ran the Dome until 1998 and what was the feud that propelled them to believe they could pop a big number: Misawa/Kawada. In a full circle moment, this matchup headlined the last NOAH Dome show. Much like a big 70s/80s hard rock/heavy metal act touring on their big hits, Misawa and Kawada seek to deliver the best of Misawa/Kawada one last time. A nostalgia match really will never be an all-time classic, but when it is Misawa/Kawada you can't deny how good it makes you feel to watch them work on last time against each other. A long staredown between the old rivals is broken by Kawada's fear of the Almighty Elbow. In a change of pace, Misawa is the early aggressor and it is Kawada trying to weather the initial storm of elbows. There is a great moment where Kawada goes bezerk after a couple elbows by slapping the shit out of Misawa and kicking him in the face. Kawada knew he could dig himself into a hole early and it was like he woke up and just freaked out. It was relaly good stuff. He goes for the piledriver on the floor, but Misawa hits a Tiger Driver on concrete. Kawada collapses on the Irish Whip. After years of dominating Misawa early and not being able to put him away, it looks Kawada is being blown out by Misawa. Kawada's answer to Misawa's elbow has always been his feet and with some timely kicks begins to turn the tide. Misawa is looking for the Tiger Driver on the apron, but it settles for elbowing him off the apron. INCOMING! Kawada elbows Misawa out of the sky. Game-changer. Misawa misses his first big bomb and Kawada hits a powerbomb on the ramp. I didn't really care for this because the amount of walking done to get to the ramp and then Kawada having to walk Misawa back to the ring to avoid countout finish. Kawada survives an elbow war with a kick and wins a suplex struggle to be able to apply the Stretch Plum and get two. Kawada firmly in control even works in his bicycle kick counter to the German and it looks like the beginning of the match is long gone with Kawada rocking and rolling. Brainbuster gets two. Powerbomb gets two. Whiffs on the home run knee. You sense something big is coming and BANG! GANSO BOMB~! Tough to watch regardless what happened to Misawa later. You know once Misawa kicks out of the Ganso Bomb that this not going to end well for Wile E. Kawada. Misawa-rana right out of his own pants in a funny moment. Elbows reestablish his control and Emerald Flowsion onlyu gets two. Rolling kappo kick sets up the Tiger Suplex and Tiger Driver '91. It is the merciless onslaught of elbows and eventually Kawada can no longer resist. As a one last time, "Best of" match, this really hit the spot. You do get a curve ball early with Misawa being so domintant early and really setting the tone with his elbows and Tiger Driver. Kawada was really put on his backfoot, but made the most out of expoliting Misawa's mistake. In the story that is as old as time, Kawada try as he might could not put away the resilient Misawa even with the ultra-dangerous Ganso Bomb. Then it became 'ol reliable the best stretch in wrestling Kawada jelly leg feeding Misawa and Misawa elbowing him into obvilion. ****

X-Division Champion AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe Greatest AJ Styles Performance Ever? I am willing to hear arguments against, but I dont think I can be convinced. When Styles does a float-over off a Joe suplex attempt onto the apron instead of doing it fluidly he lands on the ropes to sell the exhaustion. I was in awe. Consequently instead of immediately following his forearm on the apron he sold more exhaustion before finally to trying to hit a springboard and ate a Joe powerbomb. Sublime. What I think stands out the most about this match compared to so many X-Division matches is the physicality. My biggest issue with a lot of the flippy guys is how light they work (Kofi, Morrison). This match was a fuckin war and AJ got a nice busted up lip for it. AJ did that sick bump off the apron onto the floor again and took Joe's offense like a champ. Unlike the previous match, AJ seemed game throughout the match and still made Joe work for all his moves. I loved the transition to AJ's comeback as it was Joe being overzealous and AJ having the presence of mind to back body drop outside the ring. Then he capitalized with a beautiful shooting star press dive. I love how after each move AJ was going after pins because he knew he was weak and this was his shot. It really sold the urgency, you could feel that his time was fleeting and if he didnt capitalize now everything was lost. I loved the cat and mouse game they did late in the match with AJ duckin and diving before Joe caught him in the corner with a couple bear paws. The busted lip happens here and it really had a big fight feel and that moment epitomized it. AJ follows that up with early kicks out off a wicked lariat and wicked Tiger Driver. FIGHTING SPIRIT~! The one flaw is the fact that AJ tried twice to setup Joe for moves on the top turnbuckle. The second time it led to an awkward sequence and a lame AJ powerbomb, which only existed to give AJ a way to hit the Styles Clash. It was a minor flaw. AJ goes for a victory roll, but Joe traps him in the clutch and it is Goodnight Irene for AJ. After the match, Joe beats up AJ and tries to give him a musclebuster on a chair, but Daniels saves. I liked this match a whole lot, but I think I liked AJ/Abyss a hair more, but both are neck and neck for Best TNA match ever at this point. I have no idea why the Unbreakable match is the more famous match. This match blows that match outta the water. Tremendous effort by both men, this is definitely one to watch.

Kenta Kobashi/Kensuke Sasaki vs. Genichiro Tenryu/Katsuhiko Nakajima - Kensuke Office 2/11/06 Kensuke Sasaki is out to teach his young protege, Katsuhiko Nakajima, some tough love at what I believe is the first Kensuke Office show. I believe Akira Hokuto, Kensuke Sasaki's wife is on commentary, and his children are shown in the crowd. I loved how everytime Sasaki lit up Nakajima there was an insert window that shown Hokuto's conflicted reaction. The beginning was great with Kobashi and Sasaki pumping each other by chopping each other and then giving out a bellow and shaking hands. If I was their opponent, it would be rubber pants time for me. Nakajima hits a spinwheel kick right off the bat to get a quick two and Sasaki bails. After that, it is all Sasaki who throws him half way cross the ring on a headlock and Sasaki is not taken off his feet by Nakajima's kicks. Kobashi wants Tenryu. Tenryu at first avoids the chop by ducking under ropes, but then instigates the chop war. Bad idea. This time Tenryu only has a trickle of blood come down his chest. Tenryu says enough of this bullshit and kicks his knee. DDT on the floor. Kobashi is all like WTF, MATE!?!?! Tenryu holds the ropes open, but then blasts Kobashi with an elbow and then grabs some woman's chair and blasts Kobashi with it. Tenryu and Nakajima are clearly outgunned by the dream team of Kobashi and Sasaki so they need to fight dirty. Nakajima can not contain Kobashi. Tenryu is in quickly to choke Kobashi with his tape. Kobashi is madder than a hornet and makes a beeline for Tenryu. Tenryu retreating into the crowd grabs a chair and jams into Kobashi's mouth. OW! Kobashi is bleeding profusely from the mouth. Nakajima takes a wicked bump off a Kobashi chop. He hits the back of his head hard. Kobashi has to tag out due to his mouth. The same Nakajima cant get the brickhouse down. Tenryu comes around the corner and whips a full water bottle at Kobashi. At the Sasaki family show, things are getting heated. It is the point of the match where they lose me. I was loving all the Tenryu's prick work and Nakajima as spunky underdog. Then the match just turns into a legalized mauling of Nakajima. This is not the heat segment where you are like I cant wait for the hot tag. It is more like I feel really bad for Nakajima and Tenryu please just end it because you are pricks for running the score up on them. At one point, Tenryu tries to save Nakajima, but Sasaki chops Tenryu down in the corner and he just seems so helpless. It is more hopeless and depressing. Again Tenryu tries to save, but Sasaki bulldozes him and puts him in an amrbar while Kobashi has Nakajima in a Texas Cloverleaf. All of sudden, Nakajima just out of self-perservation starts throwing big boots and avoids Sasaki, who bulldozes Kobashi! TAG TO TENRYU! Lariats for everyone. Enziguiri and punches to Kobashi. Tenryu gets a wicked abdominal stretch on Kobashi, but once Tenryu starts chopping it is all over. It is now the legalized mauling of Tenryu by the two powerhouses. Northern Lights Bomb Nakajima Saves! Tenryu blocks a Northern Lights Bomb and hits a Brainbuster. Tag to Nakajima! Give em hell, Nakajima! Nakajima finally takes Sasaki down with kicks. He elbows Kobashi off the apron. He ascends to the top. Can the kid do it? Missile dropkick for one? FUCK YOU KENSUKE! Sasaki blocks the Northern Lights Bomb so Tenryu punches him in the face. Nakajima Northern Lights Bomb gets two. Goes for his German, but Kobashi hits the half-nelson. Tenryu hits a lariat on Kobashi. Sasaki lariats Tenryu. Nakajima German for two on Sasaki. Again another "This is Awesome" chants moment. Nakajima controls Sasaki with kicks to head, but Sasaki catches axe-kick into powerbomb, which should have been the finish. Hey Masa Saito is there! That's cool. Kobashi and Sasaki do the Bash Brothers. Wicked lariat with Nakajima basically taking a headdrop off of it gives the win to the all-star team. In a cool moment after the match, there is a group picture with the likes of Keiji Mutoh, Takayama, Kojima and the M-Pro guys with Sasaki, Kobashi, Nakajima, Hokuto and Sasaki's kids front and center. As much, I really enjoyed the NOAH heavyweight tag team matches from 2005, this was a clear step down. This was more of an exhibition of how Kobashi and Sasaki are the baddest men that ever lived. The take away from this match was there could be an alien invasion in 2006, but they would have no chance because the human race has Kenta Fuckin Kobashi and Kensuke Fuckin Sasaki. There was enough from Tenryu and Nakajima that this was not a total squash. I loved the early heeling from Tenryu, but we really never got the heat segment on Kobashi to make you want to see Kobashi beat the living shit out of Nakajima. If you restructure the match with a Kobashi FIP segment, this had the potential to be a real classic. Instead, it may have been a feel-good match if you are a Kobashi or Sasaki fan. Nakajima was the MVP of the match with his crazy bumps and selling. By the end of the match, Nakajima was rocking and rolling, but just did not have enough firepower to compete with Sasaki. It is a very good match and worth the watch, but could have been so much more. ***3/4

Yes, Kobashi was the worst wrestler of the four, but still thought this was a badass match. Sasaki is really good as the powerhouse you cant get off his feet. Shiozaki is the best young lion in Japan in what seems like a decade. I just love everything about Nakajima. The ending is great with Shiozaki demanding into the match, but just is not there yet in terms of firepower to compete against Sasaki and Nakajima. Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiozaki vs Kensuke Sasaki/Katsuhiko Nakajima - NOAH 11/5/05 In 2009, there was no wrestler I was a bigger mark for than Katsuhiko Nakajima, who I just thought was a tremendous talent. I really can't wait to watch his series with KENTA again to see if it holds up. Of course, when I heard he was coming stateside courtesy of ROH to Detroit, I just had to go. It was one of the most awesome experiences seeing him wrestle and one of the best pure mark out moments. Even though, I always stayed a wrestling fan my last two years of undergrad were pretty heavy so puroresu was the hobby that got cut. Unfortunately, it seems like Nakajima never rose the ranks to reach the level of a Liger or a KENTA as a top junior heavyweight. I am proud to say that in 2009, I did have some semblance of good taste because Nakajima is still fucking awesome. Nakajima reminds me of a young Kobashi or Ohtani with his emotional selling and his never say die attitude. This time around Shiozaki has a peer in the match in the likes of Nakajima so that changes the heirarchial dynamic to showcase more of Go's offense. Nakajima and Shiozaki have a really energetic and hard-hitting sequence that establishes they are equals. Kobashi and Sasaki have the same equality sequence, but in the mold of their style playing off the Dome Chop War, trash talking and the test of strength. Shiozaki tags in and like all challenges in life, he meets them head on and gets slapped the fuck down on first pass. Nakajima lights him up, but Go hits a dropkick to get Kobashi in. Kobashi easily handles the undersized Nakajima. Sasaki chops Go off when he has the camel clutch in. A nice spot sees Go have Nakajima up in the surfboard and Kobashi chops Nakajima in the midsection. Nakajima uses a dropkick to get the powerhouse, Kensuke Sasaki into the match. Sasaki has a great intensity chopping and now lariats to Kobashi. It is always impressive to seem someone overwhelm Kobashi even if only lasts briefly. Here comes the Chop War! Sasaki chest turns a nasty shade of purple-red with these strange ripples. Sasaki hits a Back Drop Driver, but still engages in chopping. Thats just plain stupid. Kobashi chops Sasaki's chopping hand. Kobashi tags in Go. Shiozaki just cant get Kensuke off his feet, who swats him away. Sasaki ain't messing around and brutalizes him with fists. Nakajima roundhouse kick nearly KOs Go Shiozaki and Go does the fall on the Irish Whip, which I am a mark for. Shiozaki actually has a really good suplex struggle with Sasaki and gets him over in what looks like a deadlift. Given that Sasaki seems the worse for wear compared to Kobashi, I don't think Nakajima will be able to make up the difference. Kobashi hits two half-nelson suplexes, but Nakajima stops the bleeding with a timely German on Kobashi. Shiozaki hits the Back Drop Driver on Nakajima and Sasaki hits the Dragon Suplex on Sasaki. I am ready for "This Is Awesome" chants but thankfully we are in Japan in 2005. Sasaki armdrag and armbar combo just is not a very good spot for him to keep going back to. One of the best spots of the match is Kobashi blocking a Nakajima dropkick by chopping his legs mid-air. BEHOLD THE MIGHTY HAND OF KENTA KOBASHI! Kobashi follows up with a Texas Cloverleaf, you gotta love the psychology. Shiozaki wants in and he is a firecracker and he takes out both. GO GO GO! Missile Dropkick! Fisherman Buster! GO GO GO! Nakajima hits a ridiculous spinwheel kick to knock him off the top. Wicked high angle German by Nakajima, but Kobashi chops him on the bridge. Nakajima whiffs on the KO Kick to head and Shiozaki Germans him into the turnbuckles! Shiozaki goes for the kill with the moonsault, but eats knees. Tag to the Brickhouse, Sasaki. Go superkicks Sasaki. Sasaki blocks the Dragon Suplex. Shiozaki slaps him a whole bunch, but Sasaki gives him the "Dont Bring That Into My House" Lariat! Sasaki directing traffic slams Nakajima into Kobashi. Wicked high angle powerbomb only gets two?!?!?! Sasaki turns Shiozaki inside out with a lariat to give Kensuke Office the victory. Again, the opponents of the Kobashi/Shiozaki tag team, weather the Kobashi storm, isolate Shiozaki and pick up the victory. This time I thought with Sasaki coming out the worse for wear in the chop war that Nakajima would not be able to make up the difference like Akiyama would for Tenryu. Nakajima was able to hit a timely German just when Kobashi was about to get on roll and after that Kobashi was basically a non-factor. Shiozaki bit off more than he could chew when he demanded to get in. It was the right thing to do given Kobashi's state, but he stayed in against Sasaki when he should have tagged out, but pride got the best of him. We all want to prove ourselves to the veterans to earn their respect, but sometimes we try to do too much and in this case it was Shiozaki's downfall as Sasaki ate him up. Sasaki is a great powerhouse with a low center of gravity. He is not going to fall unless you earn it. Nakajima was so versatile in selling and bumping around for Kobashi/Shiozaki, but hitting timely spots to keep his team in it. ****1/4

I didn't feel that Kobashi stole the spotlight. He was there to be the heavy hitter. He was comes in red hot, but then overwhelmed. Shiozaki saves him and looks like he is going to start stringing things together, but Tenryu is too much for him. Shiozaki is spunky, but still biting off more than he can chew. Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiozaki vs Jun Akiyama & Genichiro Tenryu - Budokan 4/24/2005 I want a Revolution 2005 shirt too! After an over two year title reign as GHC Heavyweight Champion, Kenta Kobashi settled into a sort of legend's dream match role against the likes of Genichiro Tenryu (WAR/NJPW/AJPW) and Kensuke Sasaki (NJPW). He was still the big drawing card on the shows, but like Misawa in 2002/2003, it was clear that the title and the push would be going to the younger generation. This certainly did not pan out for Takeshi Rikio or any of the younger generation. There was no watershed 3/1/03 match for the younger generation in part because that generation did have a decade plus of backstory like Misawa/Kobashi did. I dislike fantasy booking, but it is clear to me that Akiyama who had history with Kobashi and still young enough to develop history with a Shiozaki or a Morishima could have been a great bridge champion. I think the Rikio victory over Kobashi could still work as it is blamed on sheer exhaustion of the two year reign, but then have Akiyama beat Rikio pretty much immediately and build to Kobashi/Akiyama II at the Dome in 2005 or 2006 with Akiyama going over. I believe Akiyama could have been salvaged after 2004, but the booking from 2005 onwards became very remscient of 2002 WWE or 2012 WWE where they are booking dream matches instead of progression. This match and the rest of the matches nominated from this time period prove this as the main focus is Kobashi/Tenryu or Kobashi/Sasaki and poor Akiyama takes a backseat. I have no idea what the hell Tenryu did to Kobashi back in 1989, but boy does Kobashi hold a grudge because he is madder than a hornet at Tenryu. It could just be that Tenryu is the biggest prick in wrestling history and pearl harbors Kobashi early and fucking just chucks a table at him like the edge of the table. 2005 NOAH you are alright. Kobashi is just ripshit at this point. Akiyama is controlling Shiozaki, but Tenryu comes around the corner and whips a full water bottle at Kobashi. Kobashi is all like "Who the fuck you think I am? Satoshi Koijma?I ain't no jabroni." Tenryu lets Shiozaki tag in Kobashi. Tenryu would never make that mistake. What unfolds is one of the most brutal and barbaric events in wrestling history. With each Kobashi match, I am forced to attempt to describe these chops in different fashions. I will leave the reader with the the end result, it looks like a murder scene and that Tenryu had just been shot in the chest. Go Shiozaki comes in with a missile dropkick. He gets derailed with a closed fist because Tenryu has had enough of this shit. Shiozaki does some fighting spirit bullshit to try to take down Akiyama who quashes him with a jumping knee. A melee ensues on the outside and Akiyama is able to DDT Kobashi on the floor. This leaves Go isolated and Akiyama hotshots him onto the railing and murders him with a jumping knee. The story of the match is pretty much Akiyama and Tenryu will win if they can isolate Go, but Kobashi is a weapon of mass destruction that they need to neutralize. Then add that Kobashi hates both Akiyama and Tenryu while Go Shiozaki is trying to prove his worth by taking out one of the big dogs and you have yourself a pretty neat story. Go is much better at selling and the fighting spirit bullshit than other "junior" tag partners I have seen. He is a pretty decent size, a little lean, but young so he will fill out. He is very scrappy, which is exactly what you want from him at this stage in his career. I have never watched any of his matches before I enjoyed him in this. Tenryu is now in and just hits some wicked stiff chops on Shiozaki. Taking out your anger on someone else is just wrong. Weirdly botched slingshot suplex from Tenryu and a piledriver from Akiyama only gets two. Go gets all fighting spirit-y, but focuses on Tenryu who is on the apron, which is not very smart. Akiyama hits an Exploder and Shiozaki powders and milks the countout. Kobashi exhorts Shiozaki to get up. Go wins a suplex struggle and AAAAHHHHHHH SHIIIIITTT, Kobashi is in! Akiyama tries to head Kobashi off at the pass, but eats a sleeper suplex and a Burning Lariat. Tenryu saves and wins a chop war with a closed fist. After teasing finishers, Tenryu hits an enziguiri and Akiyama knees Kobashi in the head and goes for the choke. Shiozaki saves! Shiozaki is hot against Tenryu, but does not have an answer for the closed fist. Kobashi helps out his buddy with a DDT. Go slaps Tenryu and goes for the moonsault, but Tenryu throws him down. No Spider German? Huge lariat with a great sell by Shiozaki gets two. Powerbomb polishes off the young whippersnapper. 2005 NOAH is off to a great start as Tenryu is a shot in the arm they needed. Kobashi is always at his best against a wrestler who is willing to heel like Ogawa or Takayama. Tenryu is such an asshole. I thought this was an effective use of Kobashi as the weapon of mass destruction. He came in, saw, and conquered, but he was never so overwhelming that the match became all about him. So I don't end this on a bad note, while Akiyama was effective, he was not a stand out. His role was just standard opponent that is a couple levels above Shiozaki. In such a pivotal period in his career, you would like to see Akiyama stand out more. Shiozaki knocked it out of the park as the plucky up and comer. He had his moments to shine, but most of the time he was getting the snot beat out of him, but he just kept coming until Tenryu finally overwhelmed him. After the Kobashi title reign, I don't know much about the heavyweight scene in NOAH, but this was a great start. ****1/4

I have been absolutely terrible at updating this thread. I finished and posted this blog on 2005-2007 New Japan Pro Wrestling a while ago. With Inoki being ousted, the company has a fresh, reinvigorated feel. Nagata seems more confident as the Ace and makes for a good interim Ace for Tanahashi to take over. Nagata versus Makabe was a really great bloodbath was the best New Japan match since 2000. I thought Tanahashi and Nakamura put together a pretty damn good bout in 2006. Things are looking up for New Japan. 1. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 02/27/00 2. GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi - Budokan 03/01/03 3. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama - Budokan 04/25/04 4. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama - All Japan 05/26/00 5. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Keiji Mutoh - Budokan 6/8/01 6. Toshiaki Kawada & Masa Fuchi vs Yuji Nagata & Takashi Iizuka - NJ PPV 12/14/00 7. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - Tokyo Dome 07/10/04 8. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshinari Ogawa – Budokan 11/01/03 9. Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 12/23/00 10. IWGP Jr Hvywt Tag Champs Ohtani & Takaiwa vs Kanemoto & Minoru - NJPW 6/25/00 12. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yuji Nagata vs Togi Makabe - NJPW 07/06/07 22. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Shinsuke Nakamura - NJPW 12/10/06 33. Yuji Nagata vs Koji Kanemoto - NJPW G-1 Climax 08/12/06 42. Yuji Nagata vs Giant Bernard - New Japan Cup Finals 04/30/06 56. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Giant Bernard - NJPW 06/18/06 Vacant IWGP Championshi 69. U-30 Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Shinsuke Nakamura - Tokyo Dome 01/04/05 http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/06/new-japan-05-06.html 2005 Heavyweight NOAH Blog should be up soon!

Will re watch this match. I have this behind the Ogawa , Akiyama, Takayama, and Misawa matches for the Kobashi reign , but given comments this warrants the rewatch. Are there any good Honda matches before this to get a feel for him?

Will re watch this match. I have this behind the Ogawa , Akiyama, Takayama, and Misawa matches for the Kobashi reign , but given comments this warrants the rewatch. Are there any good Honda matches before this to get a feel for him?

1984 WWF bug has bit me. Going back to watch the Hammer/Santana matches I have not seen. WWF Intercontinental Champion Tito Santana vs Greg "The Hammer" Valentine - Philly 3/31/84 I am pretty sure this is their first major encounter with each other. This bout did not have the "I want break your fucking leg because you broke mine" element to take it to the next level, but still this is physical as all hell. These two are just so different from the rest of the WWF roster and just had such great chemistry. Everything is such a struggle. Little things like Valentine swinging and actually missing because Tito moved. Unlike most wrestlers who will half-ass their misses, if Valentine connected he connected; if he did't he didn't. During some of the comebacks, it really felt like Valentine would just wrangle Tito and drop a vicious elbow. You really got the feeling how much the Intercontinental Championship meant to each competitor. Santana frustrates Valentine with speed like the armdrags, moving from elbows and dropkicks. Valentine catches him with a kneelift, which is one of my favorite transitions. He does some quick great work in the abdomen including hanging him out to dry on the top rope. Santana starts to mount a comeback and Valentine finally drops a huge elbow to quell him. It feels almost shooty. Valentine starts to work over the legs with Indian Deathlock and then attacking legs. Santana would grab a headlock and a kneecrusher would stop him. I loved stuff like Santana launching his body at Valenine just any thing he could do. Santana was selling so well, but always working hard from underneath. Valentine even took time to revel in his glory while Santana is crawling around the ring. Santana goes for the leg, but Valentine quashes that with a inverted atomic drop. Valentine of course misses his second rope elbow. Huge rights by Santana and slams his head into turnbuckle. TIMMMMBBBBBAAHHHHH! I love Valentine because he is an ornery, mean asshole during his control, but when it comes time for that comeback he is always game for bumping, stooging, and begging off for the babyface. Santana works some side headlocks pinfall attempts, but is always energetic. I love the spot where Santana does an atomic drop, but did it on the hurt knee and Tito sells it so well. HUGE ATOMIC DROP BY THE HAMMER! Wow, I don't think I ever seen a heel hit that move. Tito sells the fuck out of it and you really believe Valentine has a shot now. Valentine big butterfly suplex, repeated shots to abdomen and a toehold as the 20 minute time limit expire. What?!?!? Valentine delivers some heavy shots, but repeatedly misses elbows and Santana challenges to come back and finish it. The finish really threw me a loop because you expect the babyface to end the match on top before the time limit expires. It is also interesting that Santana was making his comeback and Valentine was actually able to surmount this surge in momentum and regain control. The whole finish was a real curveball. Add on top of that the whole match had a real anything could happen feel to it. You never knew who was going to take control at any point. There were no neat little segments where one guy who take control and then a nice little transition would cause the next control segment. Still it never felt back and forth because of how well Santana sold everything from the abs to the knee to fatigue and how Valentine sold he could be overwhelmed. I really enjoyed this match, but I think the next matches in their series benefit from having extracurricular heat. ****1/4

Still by any name he is a Dick. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka - Philly 7/7/84 Instead of Piper's Pit, it is Rudman's Rendezvous hosted by Killer Kal with Rowdy Roddy, who talks some good smack, but can he back it up? Snuka is ripshit and overwhelms Piper with chops and headbutts. He rams Piper's head into hard objects. How does your own medicine taste, Hot Rod? Piper calls for timeout, but Snuka drags him over the top rope by his hair and then throws him down face first into the mat. Snuka is a roll, but cracks heads with Roddy slowing him down. He goes for a Thesz Press, but he and Roddy go over the top and Superfly takes worst of it. Piper slams him into the steps and bites his forehead, but no blood. Piper only gets a one off his signature kneelift. Piper recognizing the match is getting away from him, drops Snuka on his coconuts on the top rope triggering the DQ and hightailing it out of there. This a great first match in the feud. You get over the hatred and the chaos. Snuka is not looking for a victory, he is looking for revenge. Piper is hoping to survive. It sets the tone for the rest of this blood feud. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs Tonga Kid - Championship Wrestling 10/84 YES! YES! YES! TAMA IS BACK, BABY! For those who don't know, after watching pretty much every Islanders match ever, Tama became my man, but before that he was the plucky young cousin of the Superfly looking to exact revenge on Rowdy Roddy. After Piper broke Snuka's neck at MSG, The Tonga Kid had been pleading for a crack at the Hot Rod and he was finally granted his opportunity on TV. At first, it looks like The Kid had bitten off more than he can chew as he gets to close to Piper and Piper trips him. Piper punches, chokes and spits on Tonga Kid, but then makes the mistake of trying to trying ram Tonga Kid's head into the turnbuckle. Here comes Tonga Kid with headbutts and a stomp to low, low, low abdominal region that triggers a big pop from the crowd. Piper in desperation sends Tonga Kid flying over the top crashing to floor. Just another big ass bump from one of the most underrated wrestlers of the 80s. Piper looks to break Tonga Kid's neck like he did The Superfly with a chair, but connects with the turnbuckle. Diving headbutt by Tonga Kid, but he does not go for the pinfall. This has gone way beyond pinfalls and submissions. He goes to town on Piper with the chair and would not let up until the heel locker room (Valentine, Sheik, Volkoff) restrain him. What a badass angle to reinvigorate the feud as Snuka was set to return and also create a brand-new red-hot babyface star in the Tonga Kid. Great, great TV!

Johnny Sorrow, I have seen the light, Dick Whirrly is the worst ref ever, but on this day he gets his comeuppance courtesy of the head of the Superfly. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka - Meadowlands 7/15/84 Holy shit what a friggin awesome brawl! You hear all about the Piper's Pit with the coconut-smashing, which is such a great angle from little details like Piper making sure to drop the coconuts on the table to prove they are legitimate to absolute obnoxious delivery. Piper is just so good at getting under your skin. We need a heat-seeking little fucker like him nowadays. However, I have never heard anyone talk about the consequent series that resulted from Coconut Pit. I was expecting a typically fun WWF match, but just did not hold enough water to be considered a classic. I would say this blood-filled, hate-dripping brawl stacks up pretty well during the time period. They both start off red-hot and Snuka overwhelms him early. Piper is begging off and Snuka is just relentless. Snuka is doing a great job keeping everything filled with hate and energy to pop the crowd. Piper gets his first break with an eye-rake. That does not last, but he crashes into the most hated referee in the universe, Dick Whirrly. The opportunity presents itself to crack the Superfly with a chair and of course he comes up sporting quite the gusher. Piper rams his head into the steel post and does a little King of the Mountain. Piper punches and bites the cut. Snuka is bleeding profusely. Both he and Piper are covered in Snuka's blood. Snuka finally realizes he is bleeding. He goes into that Coked Out Zone and it is rubber pants time for the Hot Rod. Snuka looks downright terrifying chasing Piper covered in his own blood, his shredded physique and crazy hair. Snuka beats the living shit out of Piper. Piper tries to escape outside the ring. Snuka follows him BY JUMPING CLEAR OVER THE TOP ROPE CRASHING RIGHT ON TOP OF HIM!!!!! Dick Whirrly lives up to his name and is a total dickwad and counts both men out. So Snuka headbutts Whirrly!!!! SNUKA IS THE GREAT WRESTLER EVER! Snuka continues to exact revenge on Piper until the JTTS crew restrain him. We get the official word that Piper actually won by countout. WHAT THE FUCK? Dick Whirrly is the worst ref ever. Piper sucker punches Snuka as he is being restrained and high tails it is out of here. Awesome, awesome heated brawl that sets up many more rematches. It eventually morphs into a tag feud with Snuka/Tama vs. Piper/Partner, but I hope there is an even better singles blowoff first. Given that is the 80s there probably isn't, but still this is a badass match. **** -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Rowdy" Roddy Piper vs Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka - MSG 8/25/84 The big return match for the hottest feud of the summer finally hits Madison Square Garden. 1984 had Sheik/Slaughter, Santana/Valentine and Piper/Snuka. That is not mention all the Hogan matches and Murdoch & Adonis tag match. 1984 WWF was stacked like a brick house. After digging a little deeper, turns out Snuka was having issues with the White Lightning and needed to head to rehab thus stalling out this red-hot feud until coming back for the tag iteration of it later in the year with the Tonga Kid (Tama). Snuka is ready to jump right on Piper, but Piper is cautious on the outside. Piper lets a yell and is ready to do combat, but is easily overwhelmed by the strength and determination of the Superfly. Snuka is definitely more methodical this time around, but Piper does such a great job selling and stooging for Snuka. Piper's only offense comes after the eyepoke, but Snuka is able to gain control with chops. In a scary moment, the ropes are so loose that when Snuka goes to shoot him in, Piper's head gets caught behind the top rope and is almost decapitated. Snuka applies the sleeper to the shock of Lord Alfred and Gorilla. Piper escapes by dragging him outside. Here Snuka sends him into the post and blasts with a chair. This time around Rowdy Roddy is the one bleeding. Until like Snuka, Piper does not enter the Coked Out Zone when he realizes he is bleeding. He just freaks out. Big headbutt by Snuka. Snuka goes up top for the Superfly Splash, but Piper standing directs him into a hotshot on the top rope in a nasty bump to the floor. The ref counts Snuka out, but Piper is not done there. After being bloodied, Piper wants to sends a message to the Superfly and rams a chair into his neck, which the announcers say may have broke Snuka's neck. This is all to write him out to go to rehab. I am loving this feud and as a huge Tama mark I can't wait for him to get involved. I thought the Meadowlands match was a better brawl, but this had a great finish and post-match angle. *** 1/4

Andre The Giant & Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka vs Roddy Piper & "Dr. D" David Schultz - MSG 3/25/84 "You don't throw rocks at a man with a machine gun" - "Rowdy" Roddy Piper after Andre humiliated him on Piper's Pit. Andre is highly amused at how terrified Piper is of him and how Piper keeps forcing Schultz to wrestle Andre. Andre does a drop-down on a criss-cross and gets up, sticks his ass out and Schultz runs into the "immovable object". Thanks, Gorilla. Fun spot. Andre turns his back and Schultz blasts him with an axe-handle. Piper seeing his opportunity comes in and starts throwing combinations in the corner, but the Giant is unphased. He wallops Piper with a right then sends him across the ring to a huge pop. Piper charges again and again. He realizes he ain't getting anywhere and here comes Schultz, who has the presence of mind to stick his knee up to connect with Andre's head. Piper busts the prone Andre open with the knuckledusters and they work Andre over. Eventually, the ref has to call it and send Andre to the back. Snuka is red hot and demands to take on Piper & Schultz himself. He kicks both their asses until Piper pokes him in the eye and his trademark knee lift. Here comes a steaming mad, out of control Giant. Andre sporting a huge bandage comes in and clears house. This is a really fun match that makes everyone look good. I loved the spot with Piper coming in all cocky and Andre sending halfway cross the ring. The brass knuckles was a great way to get that extra heat on the heels. Snuka got to shine a little too. This is the kind of match the WWF excelled at in the 80s fun, but still getting everyone over.

I would be really interested to hear Matt D's opinion on the following match. From a psychological/narrative perspective, it is flawless. It is boring as fuck though. Andre The French Giant vs Kamala The Ugandan Giant w/Friday - MLG 10/21/84 Steel Cage Match Andre and Kamala were in the midst of a blood feud at the Maple Leaf Gardens dating back to September. Andre won the first match by DQ, but lost the second by countout, but, but, but, Vince told me Andre was undefeated for 20 years in 1987. Skipping right the blowoff because I was oddly intrigued by the matchup even though my brain knew it would be very, very, very wicked sloooooooowwwwwww. The announcers loved calling Andre The French Giant maybe because it contrasted well with Ugandan Giant. I have only seen two Kamala matches in my life. You can say what you want about to the gimmick, but he was committed to all the facets of the gimmick. He was vicious, confused and scared all throughout the match. He clearly had no understanding of the concept of a cage match and established his apprehension of the cage early. Andre took advantage of this early and sat on him. After Kamala sort of chopped him off him, he realized he was trapped in a cage with this big fuckin' giant and freaked out. Now Andre was able to ram Kamala head into the cage. From a psychology perspective, the only lame part of the match was the transition as Andre set to early and Kamala knocked him down with the chop. Why would Andre go for a back body drop? Kamala splashes Andre twice and gets the visual pin, but you silly Ugandan Giant you cant win that way! Friday did not do a very good preparing his charge. Kamala rams Andre's head and busts him open. He is choking and biting Andre. It is vicious, but still pretty slow. In a brilliant move, pretty much always keeps his massive body between Kamala and the door. Even when Kamala had an open lane, Andre is so big, he can always grab a foot. Friday and the ref actually get into a lot about the door. Andre eventually starts chopping Kamala and a headbutt and then the big bodyslam. Andre sits on Kamala awkwardly. The French Giant goes way up top and does a seated senton on the Ugandan Giant. Kamala does his seizure-like selling and the bloodied and battered Andre walks out the door for the victory. From a layout perspective, this is pretty much flawless. Kamala is actually pretty multi-faceted for what looks like a really one-dimensional gimmick. He is apprehensive at first, which gets him beaten up. So he gets violent and bloodies Andre, but then is confused about winning. Andre plays excellent defense and outlasts him to make a big comeback. This looks great on paper, but they wrestle in ultra-slow-motion. It is a hard match to rate or recommend, but I think it is worth a look for novelty of the match.

WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs Iron Shiek - Philly 6/84 Hogan excels in these type of extreme cartoony matches even if they are not my favorite type of match. You can't get more of a great cartoon villain in pro wrestling than mustachioed Iron Shiek with the loaded boot. Sheiky Baby informs us that of course Iran is Number 1! I like the Flock of Seagulls too, Shiek! Hogan comes out guns blazing and does not even let Shiek take off his attire instead Hogan chokes him with it. Hogan just kicks his ass sending him into the post, raking his body with his finger nails even gnawing at him. Hogan was always good for throwing it back in the heel's face. Hogan sets too early for a back body drop and in a counter I have never seen Shiek rakes his eyes. That's commitment to his heel character. Shiek wrestles a great heel heat section throwing Hogan into railings and tables, choking with the cables and his hands. He hits his great gutwrench suplex. Then with no Hulk Up. Hogan hits a clothesline and leg drop for the win. I have been liking the non-formulaic nature of the finish stretch, but that was too anticlimatic. Hulk Hogan is apparently still FABULOUS~! and has not transitioned to Immortal yet per the ring announcer. Shiek attacks him with the boot making me think I did not see the finale, but Hogan chases him off. No one will confuse this with excellently violent Shiek/Slaughter series, but still a fun, popcorn match. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs "Dr. D" David Schultz - Minny 6/84 McMahon invades the AWA Capital cites, The Twin Cities, with former AWA Ace, Hulk Hogan in the vanguard. Akin to Price Eugene of Savoy leading the armies of the Grand Alliance against The Sun King and his native France (Eugene was born and raised in the court of Louis XIV), Hogan is the main draw for the WWF to gain a foothold in AWA territory. He is running against an overlooked figure in pro wrestling, David Schultz. Schultz is more famous for his incident with 20/20 reporter, John Stossel, as he tried to protect the integrity of the business, but to many crossed the line in getting physical. I don't know all the details so I am not weighing in, but this did cause him to get blackballed. I had always known of Schultz for this, but thought he was a lower-tier wrestler. In actuality, he was one of the most frequent Hogan opponents of 1984 and a member of Roddy Piper's gang with Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff. Schultz from his most famous TV vignette is portrayed as a mean, nasty redneck. He comes off as one of more real Hogan opponents and I would say the one with widest mean streak. Orndorff is cocky and Piper is crazy, but Schultz was a mean-spirited individual. Can I say "mean" anymore? The match is the inverse of the Shiek match. Instead of the vast majority of the match, Hogan doing the ass kicking in this match Schultz jumps Hogan and chokes him with his bandana. Schultz grabs a chair on the outside and bust him out. The blood definitely helps this match a lot. Schultz hits his big second rope elbow, but parades around for too long. HULK UP! Hogan picks him up at 2 after an elbow to dish out more punishment. Hogan drops the leg. 1-2-Hogan picks him up. HAVE MERCY! Schultz actually turns the tide, but misses a top rope elbow and Hogan hits a big clothesline for the 3. I think if Schultz combined his mean streak with the physicality of a Valentine they may have had something special, but this was not much at all. Schultz attacks him after and tries get away with the belt, but Hogan rakes his eyes and gets his belt back. I liked elements of this match, but there was not enough struggle for me in this match.

Putting it watch later list (probably will watch in 10 years ) WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs Big John Studd w/ Bobby the Brain - Meadowlands 12/10/84 Best Big John Stud Match Ever! EVAH~! Ok, so that is not exactly high praise, but I am still pretty sure it is a true statement. My favorite part of the MSG match was the bodyslam psychology and it is like my comments traveled through electromagnetic cosmic worm hole to the ears of Big John Studd, who said to Hogan lets have an entire match worked around bodyslamming each other to please this 25 year old kid 30 years in the future. Hogan said Brutha, that's all well and good, but how are going to pay it off if the 24 inch pythons can not run wild on you because the Vin Man says Andre is going to slam you. I'll take care of it, Hulkster. I truly believe that's how the magic of this three star match was born. Capetta is still in WWF at this point and Fink is on commentary??!?!?!?!? I loved the psychology of this match. It was one giant macho pissing contest. Who could slam the other first? All these early spots were really energetic with great cutoffs and building tension to what I thought would be an anti-climax since the Big Slam moment was being saved for Andre. Hogan was so obsessed with this that eventually Studd was able to draw him outside and crack his head against the table. Studd stayed away from the bearhug and worked a solid King of the Mountain. Then he picked up Hogan like a sack of potatoes and slammed him. *GASP* It was pretty lame that Studd did not follow up this big moment and I thought they were going to lose men. When all of sudden, they end up on the outside and HULK UP-> BODYSLAM ON THE OUTSIDE!!! WHAT THE FUCK!!?!?! BATSHIT INSANITY!!!! Crowd goes bezerk and I lose it in 2014. However, since it did not happen inside the ring, he does not win the money and the slam challenge continues. BRILLIANT! I was planning to be disappointed because all that great bodyslam psychology was not going to get the proper climax and then BOOM Hogan slams him! Somebody needs to crib this Studd Slam Challenge gimmick as it is such a great hook for the matches. Then to top it all off Hogan picks up the most hated ref in history, Dick Whirrly, into a military press. That's almost worth an extra 1/2*, but alas he didn't slam him to pay that off. The match is about as basic as you can get but Hogan has so much energy and the build to the payoff and the payoff are excellent. ***

Should I track down the Philly Valentine match? Is it substantially different from the MSG match? WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs George "The Animal" Steele w/Mr. Fuji - St. Louis 8/10/84 The swooning was in full effect here from Vinny Mac: "Never has 300 lbs looked so good" and "He not only has to worry about his title, but the possible demise of his physique". Yes, Hogan's life is not worth living if he were to lose his physique. O, Vince! I liked how in 1984 when they invaded St. Louis they tried to run an angle for Hogan much like the three defense rule in MSG. It was a strong strategy to cement this new foothold deep in NWA territory and prove to the St. Louis audience that WWF promotion was treating the city on the level of NYC, Philly or Boston. They ran a strong Studd program early on and then Orndorff and have now moved to George Steele. I have never seen Steele as a heel so this piqued my interest. He is a very campy, horror film-esque character. I like cheeze as much as any wrestling fan, but the beginning was even too corny for me. However, once Steele took over with rakes to the eye the match was pretty decent actually. Steele was the consummate, vicious lunatic. He went after the eyes and choked Hogan. He played hide the foreign object from the ref, which he used to stab Hogan in the eye or throat. It was pretty effective heel work. Hulk-Up. I like the idea of left-hand backfist from Hogan, but the execution is not always there. Hogan goes for the Atomic Leg Drop, but Fuji trips him. Fuji takes his sweet fuckin time to get to the apron and throw salt into his eyes. Hogan reels from this and falls out the ring to lose by countout to set up the rematch. Weirdly, Hogan never seemed to get his win over Steele, but instead over Fuji. After the salt throw, the real heat was on Fuji as St. Louis crowd littered the ring with garbage. Hogan was fuckin over and including with the old timers who I am sure saw Thesz and O' Connor in their prime. It was a fun Hogan by the numbers match and Steele was a solid vicious heel. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs Big John Studd w/ Bobby The Brain Heenan - MSG 9/22/84 The debut of Bobby the Brain and thus the beginning of the feud that would carry the WWF through Wrestlemania IV Hogan versus Heenan's charges. This match reeks of AWA as Okerlund is on commentary and you have old foes Hogan and Heenan squaring off. Studd is a deceptively big guy. Everytime, I look at him, he does not look that big, but he is considerably larger than Hogan. I think it is because he is so well-proportioned. He just looks normal, but then when he locking up Hogan you realize how big he is. This is the worst Hogan match so far from '84 and it has nothing to do with Hogan. Studd is a terribly boring worker. The Bodyslam Challenge gimmick is a really good hook and is the only thing that makes his matches interesting. Hogan was trying his damndest with a terrific back elbow at the beginning, juicing and a hot lariat towards the end. Studd was content to just lock on the bearhug. I liked the transition of Hogan going for the bodyslam costing him and Studd bodyslamming Hogan. That really put over the gimmick and how much of a threat Studd was. The King of the Mountain stuff was boring and Hogan blading seemed forced just because Studd was kicking him. Meh. Hogan goes for the bodyslam after the Hulk-Up and the crowd is pumped. Studd is able to get tangled in the ropes. Hogan attempts on the outside. Studd rams him into the apron and Heenan pushes Studd in to get the countout victory. Studd and Heenan have the audacity to walk out with the title to set up the rematch. It was supposed to be Ventura in this spot, which probably would not have increase the match quality, but those would have been so great character work. The Studd/Heenan pairing makes sense and I can see why they would draw as a top heel act against Hogan and then against Andre even if I find Studd to be one of the most boring workers ever. You can blame this match on Hogan. Everything he is doing is just dripping with effort. Hulkamania is running wild!

Should I track down the Philly Valentine match? Is it substantially different from the MSG match? WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs George "The Animal" Steele w/Mr. Fuji - St. Louis 8/10/84 The swooning was in full effect here from Vinny Mac: "Never has 300 lbs looked so good" and "He not only has to worry about his title, but the possible demise of his physique". Yes, Hogan's life is not worth living if he were to lose his physique. O, Vince! I liked how in 1984 when they invaded St. Louis they tried to run an angle for Hogan much like the three defense rule in MSG. It was a strong strategy to cement this new foothold deep in NWA territory and prove to the St. Louis audience that WWF promotion was treating the city on the level of NYC, Philly or Boston. They ran a strong Studd program early on and then Orndorff and have now moved to George Steele. I have never seen Steele as a heel so this piqued my interest. He is a very campy, horror film-esque character. I like cheeze as much as any wrestling fan, but the beginning was even too corny for me. However, once Steele took over with rakes to the eye the match was pretty decent actually. Steele was the consummate, vicious lunatic. He went after the eyes and choked Hogan. He played hide the foreign object from the ref, which he used to stab Hogan in the eye or throat. It was pretty effective heel work. Hulk-Up. I like the idea of left-hand backfist from Hogan, but the execution is not always there. Hogan goes for the Atomic Leg Drop, but Fuji trips him. Fuji takes his sweet fuckin time to get to the apron and throw salt into his eyes. Hogan reels from this and falls out the ring to lose by countout to set up the rematch. Weirdly, Hogan never seemed to get his win over Steele, but instead over Fuji. After the salt throw, the real heat was on Fuji as St. Louis crowd littered the ring with garbage. Hogan was fuckin over and including with the old timers who I am sure saw Thesz and O' Connor in their prime. It was a fun Hogan by the numbers match and Steele was a solid vicious heel.

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Bob Orton - Nassau Coliseum 9/7/84 When I was looking over Hogan's 84 challengers (lots of Big John Studd & Dr. D), this match immediately jumped out at me. Orton is someone that I have been meaning to watch more and he did not disappoint in this outing with Hogan. He is just at stooging and shining up the babyface as he is in control of the match. Hogan just know how to get a crowd rocking in the beginning with his punches and then the big boot sends Orton to the outside. Orton no sells the tap on the shoulder twice so Hogan wallops him and when Orton retreats via the ring to the other side Hogan runs around wallops him there. That was fun. Hogan telegraphs two elbows and Orton goes to work on Hogan's arm. Showing us the fan that Orton can only get the advantage because Hogan hurt himself, but at the same time Orton is savvy enough and proficient enough to pick apart Hogan's weakness. Anytime, Hogan looks to get something going Orton goes for the hair. Hogan is just so much more energetic and really working hard from underneath. Orton impresses me with a Volkoff like backbreaker on Hogan. Hogan is able to crotch Orton on the top turnbuckle and this allows him to mount a comeback. It is an arm for an arm in Hogan's Law of the Jungle as he wrenches Orton's arm over the ropes and sends into the railing. I love that type of revenge. The match veers off track as Hogan looks like he has it won, but stalls and all of sudden Orton retakes command with an inverse atomic drop. Nothing of note really happens until Hogan more traditionally Hulks-Up with the punches, but instead of the big boot Orton whiffs on a kick sending him onto his back prone for the Atomic Legdrop. Again another really good Hogan match with a heel that could work a strong control with Hogan working hard with hope spots and struggling underneath. What hurt this match was it seemed regress back to Orton's second control to kill time before going home. This is where Orton either teasing or hitting his finisher would have helped build drama for the Hogan comeback. Still this was another great showcase for how good and vibrant Hogan was in 1984 and how Orton was a great hand in the ring. ***1/2

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Greg "The Hammer" Valentine w/ Capt. Albano - MSG 7/23/84 You don't think "physical" when you see Hogan's name on the marquee, but then Valentine could make a man out of anyone in that ring. Valentine and Hogan went to war in MSG and Hogan gave as good as he got. His punches looked like some of the best he ever thrown and once he took over from Valentine's initial sneak attack, he was all over him. His follow-up back elbow in the corner looked great and his bodyslam over the ropes into the ring was impressive. Valentine takes over with a back suplex out of a side headlock. One of my main complaints of later Hogan is that he sells too much too soon. Here Hogan, powers out of Valentine reverse chinlock as a hope spot only for Valentine to beat him back down with great forearm and elbow shots. Valentine is so brutal. Again, at the right opportunity, Hogan fights from underneath with the suplex and then takes it out to the floor with some great, great punches. Hogan throws his carcass back into the ring first. Rookie mistake as Valentine cuts off Hogan with a wicked knee. This has been a fight from the beginning. There is a great exchange after the failed Valentine sleeper with Valentine clubbering and Hogan throwing rights and back fists. He throws this massive right and Valentine falls on his ass, but in desperation grabs Hogan's leg trips and yanks it against the apron. Then he goes to hit it with a chair and a fan grabs the chair out of his hand. Now worries as there is another. So now we get some nice leg work, but it is for naught as Hogan knows of the power of the figure-4 and pushes him off twice. Work like that puts over a finish just as much as winning with it. The Hammer drops the Hammer elbow, but just for two. Hulk Hogan does one of the most subdued Hulk-Ups ever catching The Hammer coming off the top and hitting the legdrop for the win. Tack on a classic Hulk-Up and this match would be one of my all-time favorite Hogan matches. As it stands, I would submit this as one of his best matches from the peak Hulkamania period 84-88 as it does not feel like standard Hogan. There are two reasons for that as Hogan still has not refined his formula yet and how Valentine always brings people out of their comfort zone. Hogan has a lot of Clash of the Titans, summer blockbuster like matches, but rarely does get gnarly and rough. Valentine will bring that out of you. Hogan went toe to toe with the Hammer and it was one entertaining fight. ***3/4

The New Japan vs NOAH junior tags were great. Which one was your favorite? I feel like I ma in the minority, but I thought April was the best. I feel like I might short-changed Tenryu/Kojima and Nagata/Takayama may watch those again. I thought 2002 has been by far the weakest year of the decade. 1. New Japan (Liger & Minoru ) vs. NOAH (Kikuchi & Kanemaru) - NOAH 4/7/02 2. GHC Tag Champions Akiyama & Saito vs Kobashi & Shiga - NOAH 10/19/02 3. GHC Champion Yoshihiro Takayama vs Mitsuharu Misawa - Budokan 09/23/02 4. Genichiro Tenryu vs Satoshi Kojima - AJPW 07/07/02 5. IWGP Champion Yuji Nagata vs. Yoshihiro Takayama - Tokyo Dome 05/02

WCW Light Heavyweight Champion Brian Pillman vs Tom Zenk - Wrestlewar '92 From the promo on Saturday Night, it seems like they were foreshadowing Zeman turning heel, but thankfully it would be Pillman trying heel and eventually forming the Hollywood Blonds with Steve Austin. I seem to like this match a little more than most, but happened to watch this one with my Dad. Whenever, I watch with someone I tend to be less critical and just have a more fun with it all. When your Dad is marking out for a crucifix pinfall attempt you can't help, but get more into it. Still, this is one of my favorite style of matches: the civil babyface wrestling at the beginning before tempers flare and it turns into a heated battle attacking injuries and going for the win. At the beginning, they establish they are former partners and current buddies going for the same moves like dropkicks or a flying hammerlock at the same time. Pillman is one to finally let loose after Zenk gets a couple nearfalls with some wicked chops, which JR points out is legal, but Jesse says the tempers are starting to get best of them. Pillman executes his fluid drop toehold into some great leg work. He crashes and burns on a somersault intended for Zenk's knee. JR lets us know Pillman's back is previously injured. Zeman is pretty proficient at working the back over and the best he has ever looked in my opinion. We get some dueling psychology as Pillman is able get back on the knee, but Zenk hits an enziguiri for 2. The Boyd implores him to go back on the back, but Zeman misses a knee into the turnbuckles and Pillman takes him to school. They exchange a couple good slaps and my Dad has just been loving this action and finds Pillman really entertaining. I raised him so well. After this, Pillman is ready to hit the finish stretch of big bombs and nearfalls. You can tell how much Pillman loved Puroresu because at this point in the US I would say he is the most Japanese-influenced. The Steiners are naturally Japanese-style wrestlers, but I don't feel like they went out there way to watch puro tapes where I think Pillman would watch them. This is speculation on my part feel free to confirm of deny. He definitely seems to wrestle in the mold of a New Japan Junior, matwork to start and high-octane finish. Pillman gives Zeman a ton of nearfalls with a powerslam, crucifix and a cross-body. Zenk is looking great from an athletic perspective. The leapfrog collision came off really bad and it seemed like they either were not committed to it or wires crossed. Like the intent with like minded partners thinking same thing, but poor execution. Then in the Holy Shit moment of the match that had my Dad and me going insane was Zenk caught Pillman coming off the rope with a big boot/savant kick. It was full extension of his leg and it looked wicked bitchin. After that badass move, Zeman feeling cocky goes for the missile dropkick to get the win, but Pillman side-steps him and jacknifes him for the win. Pillman carried Zenk in this, but this is the most Zeman has ever contributed to a match. In the Flair match, he was the proverbial broomstick and Flair just plugged him in. Here Zenk was contributing cool spots like savant kick counter and his nearfalls during the finish run. The selling did leave a lot to be desired in this match, which did feel exhibition-y at times. Pillman is such a great fiery worker and knows how to lay out an exciting match , but these two matches he seemed more focused on offense sometimes to detriment of the match. Transition between the body of the match to the finish could have been better developed. Overall, still I enjoyed the match as strong offensive performances from both that kept you engrossed in the match at all times. ****

Watched this match for the first time, just now, and thought it was way more cooperative than I expected given what I had read on here. It was definitely brutal and stiff. They were working typical pro wrestling sequences that would only work if everybody was on the same page. Also, if you listen closely, Rick asks the ref during a chinlock "if Iizuka is alright". Not the big, bad demonic pricks they were made to be now are they. I thought they were just working a very friggin' good New Japan match albeit in a WCW ring. Did the Steiners botch some shit, yes, they did. Were they unprofessional in this match? I did not think so. Before, I write up a full review I am going to watch this again. My first reaction was this one helluva a great match and on par with the Doc/Gordy match from the Clash. EDIT: Just wanted to add this does not excuse the Steiners from other unprofessional behavior in and out of the ring. They do strike me at the very least difficult people to work with to probably being assholes. Kudos to Iizuka for sticking with it and Fujinami giving as good as he got.

WCW World TV Champion Steve Austin w/Paul E. Dangerously vs. Barry Windham - WCW Saturday Night 05/09/92 Saturday Night Austin cut off his golden locks, but retained the shitty birthday part tights. You changed the wrong part of your presentation, brutha. Apparently though, Austin has said that his long hair was nuance in the ring because it was so thin that it easily tangled and pulled. Plus it was starting to thin all compounded into obvious need for a hair cut, but still a major upgrade to the tights is still necessary. I have watched this match a couple times before and have always been lukewarm on it. I finally can put my finger on it. There is really no comeback. Windham gets his ass kicked for the majority of the last two falls and then Austin swings and misses and it is all over. Windham clearly had the fire in his belly for the Clash and SuperBrawl matches, but here treats it as just a regular match. Don't get me wrong, he puts on a great showcase of selling, but he seems content, just to sell whereas Steamboat as this time was constantly struggling and making the heel earn it. Also, much like the SuperBrawl II match Austin ran out of offense in the third fall. He looked great in the second fall, but in the third fall he resorting to chinlocks. There is a decent enough kayfabe reason that time is on Austin's side because he retains the title in the event of the draw so it is behooved of him to wrestle conservatively. It just is not very entertaining. For me, the first two falls were by far the best work and the third fall was very anticlimatic. The first fall was actually a pretty solid TV wrestling match unto itself. I would give that fall the same rating that I would give for the entire match. Austin works the headlock early, but Windham puts more effort into keeping moving with a back suplex, pinfall attempts and a top wristlock attempt, before cracking it with a second back suplex. Windham is so crazy athletic that when Austin sets early he just steps over him and hits a dropkick. That's wild. Windham hits a lariat and a floatover suplex (he won the first fall against Austin a couple weeks ago with that move) for a pair of nearfalls. Austin hits with his game-changing clothesline (ask Dustin) and looks like he busts Windham's lip open. Austin works a headscissors to keep Barry at bay using the ropes for leverage. I prefer holds like this to sap a babyface's energy rather than when you already have the babyface down and out. Upon the ref breaking it for the cheating, Barry hits the DDT, but before he can capitalize Austin nails him with a right. However, Windham is able to hit his beautiful floatover superplex to pick up the first fall. Really great work with Barry hitting big bombs looking for the win and Austin trying just to hang on. In the second fall, with his back against the Austin really ratchets up his intensity. This is the best he look in the ring at this point in his character. He hits a stiff back elbow that sends Windham reeling through the ropes to the floor. Austin is just suffocating with his full court press on Big Barry: double axe-handle, gutwrench suplex, vertical suplex. Austin applies a camel clutch and Barry uses his head to hit Austin in the nether regions. Austin's game-changing clothesline keeps it in his favor and he hits the Stun Gun to even it up. Windham made Austin look like a million bucks with his classic glassy eye sell. The third fall is pretty mundane as it consists of Austin trying to milk the clock with holds and occasionally hitting an elbow drop. When the ref is inadvertently caught with a boot, Austin looks to blast Windham with the belt, but whiffs and Windham rolls him up to win. I was like all for that finish. No big comeback. I guess you want to protect Austin, but it was literally all Austin for the last ten minutes and it seemed like Windham just backed into a championship. Austin is rightfully pissed off and whips Windham with the belt, hits the Stun Gun and leaves with the TV Title in hand. I would put his match with Dustin at Havoc '91 over this, but this is still a solid TV match. ***1/4

Arn Anderson (w/ Paul E Dangerously) vs Ricky Steamboat - WCW Pro 3/28/92 Steamboat has answered all his criticisms from me in this feud. Steamboat is one of the greatest championship match workers, but sometimes leaves something to be desired in a blood feud. In the Dangerous Alliance angle, he has been red hot and taking it to the Alliance members with unwonted aggression. When AA jumps him at the outset with his robe still on, The Dragon fires back with kicks, chops and even eye gouges. Even when Anderson starts to connect with punches and a backbreaker, Steamboat is still coming at him. This is a perfect time for a chinlock as Anderson needs to slow the match down, catch his breath and sap Steamboat's energy. When Steamboat comes back off those rope with that high-energy attack and Anderson catches him in midsection is such high-quality wrestling. Steamboat is looking to keep it uptempo and at every turn Anderson is looking to slow it down. The spinebuster is another excellent sudden cutoff that keeps the match in Anderson's favor. Unfortunately for Anderson, he knocks his back into Steamboat, which is a great trademark Anderson spot. When he comes off the rope for double axehandle and he is caught in the midsection and flips over. I have to give them credit with how seamless this looked. So many times, the heel will stop short or it looks like he could never hit a move, but here it looked like Anderson would have hit the move if not for Steamboat connecting. The finish and post-match with Steamboat actually getting his hands on Paul E. and hanging Rude really surprised me. Paul E. does not strike me as someone to get physical (I know that changed with Punk and he took a mighty good asskicking) and I just thought it never happened on WCW TV. It was look to see Steamboat get in some licks on the loudmouth yuppie. Then hanging Rude after all Rude had done to him just shows how deep under his skin Rude had gotten to the Steamer for that to happen. Steamboat and Anderson should have a gotten a chance to have a classic on PPV, but still this was quite good. Each played their roles fantastically and worked at an excellent clip. The post-match really but over the new asskicker Steamboat in a real crowd-pleasing way. ***1/2

WCW US Tag Champions Greg Valentine & Terry Taylor vs The Fabulous Freebirds - WrestleWar '92 The only reason I even watched this match was because I was curious to see The Hammer's performance this late in his career. It turned out to be a pretty entertaining match. It ain't going to set your world on fire, but the Freebirds were over like rover. I don't when they turned them face, but Jacksonville was lapping up what they were selling. There were constant chants of "Freebirds" and "DDT". Hayes really knows how to work up a crowd playing from either side of the tracks. Taylor came off as a generic create-a-wrestler. I am not a super Taylor hater as I do enjoy his Mid-South matches with Flair, but outside of that I have never found him all that interesting and even in those matches it came off as a bit "plug n play". In the beginning, we do a little strut off and it is not even close as Hayes destroys Taylor's bush league strut and they have a little fun with Valentine and Taylor colliding on a criss cross. Valentine says enough of this bullshit and starts throwing forearms and chops. Valentine had definitely lost some mobility, but he still had a heavy hand. The face control section involves arm work on both the heels, but all four keep things moving. Garvin has a tendency to sit in holds, but he tagged out to Michael a lot to keep things moves while Hayes would usually work the spots with the heels. I am also a sucker for the babyfaces doing a little cheating (tagless switches, hair pulling) and the crowd all screaming "YES!" or "NO!" depending on the question to defend the faces. They tease Garvin as the Freebird in Peril, but TIMBBBBBAAAAAAH off Garvin's boot. Garvin has to further earn his tag (got to love Valentine makes you work for every inch) and when Hayes comes in he looks for the DDT, huge pop, Taylor comes in blasts him with a forearm. That cutoff really hooked me into the match. Hayes is a pretty good as the Freebird in Peril as he keeps the crowd interested while the heels are overall the place in their work. Valentine is working the back and then return to work the legs to set up the figure-4. Taylor busts out the gutwrench powerbomb for a nearfall. Hayes with a Left and down goes Taylor! Garvin in and he is a surprisingly good house afire. Garvin goes for the DDT on Taylor backdrops Valentine over and hits it for the victory and a massive pop! I really liked some of the cutoffs like the Taylor forearm and Hayes left. The finish was hot and everything built to that crowd-pleasing DDT when he hit that what a satisfying ending. This match relied on two things: the crowd loved the Freebirds and these were 4 savvy veterans. They stuck to a fundamental layout get the Freebirds over early, have Valentine beat the shit out of them in the middle and go home short and sweet. It ain't five star restaurant, but sometimes all you want is Mama's home cooking. ***