Superstar Sleeze

WCW TV Champion Steve Austin w/Mad USA vs Ricky Steamboat - Power Hour 2/8/92 Steamboat is at the very least in contention for being the best championship wrestler of all time. I love how his intent is to always win a contest. Now of course, this leaves something to be desired often when he is in a blood feud, but in a nice little TV title defense he is in his element. The opening with him trying a barrage of nearfalls and just hurling his body at Austin looking to pick up the win. I thought this is best I had seen Austin look this early in his career. He is definitely taking a lot from Flair and Arn, but it looks great with him being totally discombobulated by Steamboat's onslaught. They worked a nice transition using Madusa as a distraction for Austin to hit a clothesline. Austin's clothesline was way ahead of his punches and stomps at this point. Austin is a great heel dropping Steamboat neck first on shit and eyerakes. Steamboat's selling was a little comical especially on the outside. I get playing to the cheap seats, but he looked liked a Dad trying to make his baby laugh with his funny contortions of his face. I don't mind the draw finish, but at 10 minutes it is a little short and it is not a very dramatic home stretch with Austin and Steamboat heads colliding and neither one really able to capitalize. It is a good showcase to see how well Steamboat is on offense and how well Austin understood the role of the heel so early on in his career. ***

Is this the tournament final for the IWGP Championship after Lesnar vacated? Bernard says he wanted the belt during the match. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Giant Bernard - NJPW 06/18/06 One of the common talking points was that once Albert went to Japan to become Bernard he magically became a great wrestler. Having never bothered watching his puro output, I had high expectations for Lord Tensai, but he was the same plodding, mechanical Albert. Having watched this match, it seems more like a case Bernard was given better opportunities to have good matches rather than actually getting better. I would say this is the best individual Tanahashi performance. He worked really well underneath the whole match and made Bernard look like Goliath. How desperate he was to avoid any contact from Bernard early and how he sold each blow really made Bernard into a credible giant. I liked the catch me if you can beginning. You know once Bernard can just wrangle this little bugger he would put him out. Bernard removes the turnbuckle pad, but Tanahashi slide by it and there is some good struggle over who is going to hit it first before Tanahashi finally cracks his skull against the unforgiving steel. Tanahashi is bloodied, but not beaten as they tease the countout finish. Tanahashi did a good job mixing in his hope spots and selling for Giant Bernard. At this point, I thought it was a really well-done David vs. Goliath because of how well they respected the size differences. However, in the finish stretch, Bernard felt like got a whole lot smaller. He was grabbing quick pinfall attempts like a powerslam off the ropes or a desperation Baldo Bomb (as called by the announcers). Tanahashi was able to hit a German suplex. The finish proper did reconnect the match back to the first half with Tanahashi being able to pin Bernard via Sling Blade (first two no-sold) so he had to resort to sending Bernard into the turnbuckle that Bernard had exposed (O what a world what world!) and then was able to get the pin. I don't mind Tanahashi German suplexing Bernard. How many times has that happened in Vader matches after all. It is just that during that 5 minutes that proceeded the actual finish it felt like two equal-sized wrestlers trading moves, which was a disconnect from the earlier established story. I really liked the match up until comeback, but also loved the finish. Any person Bernard size could have wrestled this match all he brought to the table was that he is a larger than average wrestler. Tanahashi wrestled really well underneath, but just could not put together a complete match...yet. ***1/2

I am confused by the original premise are we trying to get college educated with disposable income to watch wrestling or are we trying to get TV exces and advertisers to buy into wrestling as a appropriate medium to sell their products. The latter I think WWE already has on lock so I don't understand why those folks need to be retrained. The former would require the WWE needing to be written more in the style of HBO/AMC/Showtime shows that are popular. They would need to write better episodic TV from week to week with longer story arcs and actually have events all connected in a common continuity thread. They need to cut way back how much original programming they deliver. They need to trim the roster down to about 16 key members and have a lot more enhancement talent. I think you could do it 52 weeks a year, but it probably would help if they had seasons. To me the biggest thing they need is Women. If you think of wrestling's core demos in the past and now it is kids (girls have catooies!), geeks (who needs girls anyways), meat heads (women belong in the kitchen). In every other TV show and movie and hell in real life, what is the main driving force: Love. The very first story ever told was because some sneaky dude stole another dude's woman and a big fuckin war happened aka The Illiad. Beyond Savage/Hogan/Liz (I would say the most well-known angle amongst casual and non-fans), wrestling has shied away from women being diving forces in wrestling. I think you have to run at least one angle a year that featured women being fought over or using men to their personal gain or a women's revenge storyline. I don't want to shit on this thread because it is an interesting thought experiment, but the day wrestling actually tries to appeal well-to-do people with a degree is when it dies to me. I want ridiculous. I want campy. I want outrageous. I want color. If you asked me what wrong with wrestling, I would go the exact opposite of what I just said. It needs more color. It needs to be more fun. My non-wrestling hero, David Lee Roth said it best "Wrestling is ultimate wish fufillment". I am a nerd. I don't want to watch a bunch of nerds. I work with a bunch of nerds. I am friends with a bunch of nerds. I like nerds. But I need a break. I want to watch Ric Fuckin Flair and Randy "Macho Man" Savage. Keep wrestling ridiculous, fun and shallow. Leave the pretentiousness at the door, if you don't fuck you.

U-30 Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Shinsuke Nakamura - Tokyo Dome 01/04/05 Tanahashi defends his vanity title against Nakamura in the main event of the 01/04 Dome show in the last NJPW Dome show to draw over 40k. Incidentally, nine years later they main evented this past Dome show and drew 35k together. More things change, the more they stay the same. Even though the main event is a major shake-up from the usual Inoki-ist fare at the time, the undercard featured an "Ultimate Royale" Tournament, which was most likely a faux-MMA tournament where Ron Waterman went over Nagata?!?!?! Also there was the usual Chono old person match where he took on Riki Choshu and Tenzan in a triple threat match. While Tanahashi and Nakamura were clearly the future (they just main evented the 2014 Dome show, which did 35k), New Japan was still taking baby steps towards its current product. Just like New Japan was testing the waters, Tanahashi and Nakamura were still get acclimated to the main event scene in this uneven affair. I would say Tanahashi or Nakamura were pretty even at this point of their careers (I don't know if a gap ever really formed between the two, but looking forward to finding out). Both are terribly inconsistent, but you can see there is enough good in each one to know that once they pull it all together that they could carry a promotion. What is also interesting is that you see a slightly different style emerging from this match that is clearly different than NOAH, but also a departure from traditional New Japan Strong Style. New Japan has always focused on matwork and strikes with each star having just a handful of spots (slams, suplexes etc...). Even before this match settled with matwork typical of a New Japan match. They each hit the other with an early suplex, which seemed oddly NOAH. It did not really fit with the rest of the match, but the match was such a hodgepodge that nothing really fit. The matwork was more in the vein of 80s style matwork that you find opening a Flair match: amateur ride and wrangling for positioning rather than MMA-style matwork. Then Tanahashi totally no-sells a superplex. Not like Luger no selling a Flair move because Luger is a badass. Tanahashi acts like the move literally did not happen. He just brushes it off. It was so friggin' weird. I have watched Tanahashi matches before, but outside of his spots I do not really remember how he wrestles the body of his matches. I was very pleasantly surprised how he worked his control segment on the back. A babyface working a control segment is in my opinion the hardest segment to work and often gets labelled as heel in peril. There is a difference to me from heel in peril and a babyface control segment. A heel in peril resembles a face in peril with extended selling and wear down, but with a heel on the receiving end. I feel Tanahashi was working a match closer to how you would see Backlund would with a clear strategy and looking to close in on a victory. It feels like Tanahashi is building towards a victory rather than the heel gaining command and going into the heat section. I feel like I am not doing a very good job explaining it. It is like the better sports team just gaining the advantage in a game and never really giving up the lead. Nine times out of ten, the babyface is the better wrestler than the heel, but the heel cheats or uses roughhouse tactics to compete. However, wrestling also nine times out of ten tells the story of how the babyface has to overcome the odds even though on paper he is better. Thus this is an interesting wrinkle to actually reflect a sporting contest in a more meaningful way. Of course, I don't know if Nakamura is really a heel here, I know he is by 2006, but if this is just face vs face chock it up to Nakamura just having better heel charisma for why I think that way. Long story, short, I dug Tanahashi's back work. Another odd thing about this match is that it felt oddly slow. It is not like they moved slow. Tanahashi wiped himself and Nakamura in a wicked dive and Nakamura has some really bursts of acceleration of his flying cross armbreakers, but even between moves it was really plodding. The match story became that only way Nakamura could compete with Tanahashi was through these flash submissions. Tanahashi controlled 75% of the match, but could not put Nakamura away. At first Tanahashi is able to withstand the submissions and even get his own dragon sleeper, but Nakamura countered that by using the ropes into his own dragon sleeper in the only spot of the match that gets a pop. This was HHH/Brock Wrestlemania 29 levels of silence. Nakamura does get to showcase his offense briefly and I just love how he puts his unique spin on everything. Nobody does a powerbomb or a moonsault quite like that. He is a very weird guy. Ambrose should watch more Nakamura, if he does not already. Nakamura misses a knee drop to end his offensive spurt. Tanahashi slaps him a couple time to draw the nose-to-nose and you know end game is coming. Tanahashi hits a powerbomb, but Nakamura locks on the triangle choke, Tanahashi escapes to get a dragon suplex. Nakamura gets a cross armbreaker out of nowhere and Tanahashi sells it well to know he is finally in trouble. The sleeper nearly renders Tanahashi unconscious when he looks to break it, Nakamura quickly switches to the cross-armbreaker to win. I liked the basic idea of the story: Tanahashi controls the majority of the match, but Nakamura hangs on with flash submissions. Tanahashi lets him linger and eventually bites him in the ass. Still the execution was just off. It felt slow, cold and uninteresting. I think Tanahashi works on top just fine, but just did not have a commanding presence at the time. Nakamura working from underneath worked in one regard because the flash submissions were an interesting hook, but he was not very good at selling. The beginning was pretty awful or boring. Things did get better after Tanahashi started to work on the back, but they were still a ways a way from delivering a classic. ***

This is the one I use for New Japan http://www.puroresufan.com/njpw/ There used to be sister sites for AJPW, NOAH and Dragon Gate, but they were updated infrequently and I don't think are in use still. If we could just get Ditch to write Puroresu Pulse again...

Just got my ticket in the general admission section. Liger is over the hill blah blah blah. I don't fucking care I am going to see JUSHIN FUCKIN THUNDER LIGER LIVE!!!! I am so pumped. I am a pretty big AJ mark so I will be happy to see him again live. I like Nakamura a lot and from what I remember Tanahashi and Okada are decent (I watched their 2012 matches when they happened but have not watched them since). This will be my first ROH show since like 2009, but getting to see the New Japan contingent without having to go to Tokyo made this must see.

Dangerous Alliance (Rick Rude, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton & Larry Zbyszko) vs WCW (Sting, Ricky Steamboat, Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes) - WCW Saturday Night 2/22/92 If Ricky Morton never existed, I think we would call it "Playing Dustin Rhodes" because hot damn is he just tremendous in FIPs. I saw Steamboat in there and I was like "O they will probably have Steamboat set up by the hot Sting tag", but was very, very pleasantly surprised that Dustin got to play Ricky Morton. I loved when he was mounting a comeback on Larry Z and he was starting to go wild and he stymied himself when he kicked with the wrong foot. He just lost control of himself in the moment and then sold it. Arm really digs the assisted hotshot as transition to a heat segment. I will give him that is very effective, but I would like to see him switch it up. Eaton clipping the knee really set up some great work. Rude busting out the missile dropkick, a wicked Arn DDT and an Eaton figure-4 was a great showcase for the Dangerous Alliance's offense. Especially after the WCW Franchise Players were mopping the floor with him. I would have liked to see Windham show the same intensity that he did in Clash 18, he got in there with The Cruncher and treated him like anybody else. Arm did a great job throughout the match especially trying to rile up Steamboat, but The Dragon was too smart to venture over to his corner. I thought The Living Legend was by far the best bumper and stooge for the babyfaces in this match making Dusting look great and his verbal selling is close to Flair's level. Of course, the entire beginning built to the big marquee confrontation between Rude&Sting. WCW how did you not run this at Havoc or Starrcade (Starrcade he would have been injured so I guess they get a pass). The crowd was absolutely nuclear for this match up. Sting just rocked it here. Everything was simple, but really popped the crowd and was fun stuff. Then he let Dustin handle the heavy lifting of selling for the Dangerous Alliance. I liked the finish with the faces turning the tables on the Dangerous Alliance. In most of the matches to this point, Dangerous Alliance had taken advantage of the chaos to have Eaton nail an Alabama Jam and score the victory. This time Steamboat is able to isolate and pin Larry Z with a top rope cross body. The match is great fun, but disjointed would be my major issue. The shine builds to Rude/Sting. They blow that off to get to heat segment and finish. Each are great, but I think there is a better way to connect them still best tag match of the Dangerous Alliance so far. ****

I cant believe Meltzer rated the 2004 KENTAFuji/Misawa&Ogawa tag at only 3.5 stars. Not only did I love the match, but from what I gathered about Meltzer it seemed up his alley. KENTAFuji has not been as bad as I expected, but I am watching the cream of the crop of their matches. To me at least KENTA >>>> Marufuji.

Thank God! http://i.imgur.com/NH0zEjj.gif

GHC Tag Team Champions Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs KENTAFuji - Budokan 04/25/04 Misawa rushes over to catch Marufuji as he coming down on Sliced Bread and hits EMERALD FLOWSION!!! Ogawa covers. KICK OUT! WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED!!!! KENTA flies in with a springboard legdrop and takes out Ogawa with roundhouse kicks. Misawa restores order with elbows and heads to the top. KENTA hits enziguiris to stun him. Marufuji joins him on top and hits a fuckin Moonsault Rock Bottom on Misawa! KICK OUT BY MISAWA! EVERYONE LOSES THEIR SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED!!!! That is what we like to call in the business "in medias res". If I was not so pressed how time I would craft a Vergilian simile to explain how bitchin this match is. It is like the Light of Love emitting from the Emerald Elbow that vaporizes the Clouds of Despairs in order to guide you on the Righteous Path towards the True Gate of Miracle Ecstasy. That simile is not exactly Aeneas ascending out of Hell, but it is how I felt during this match because this was fucking awesome.Everybody understood their roles to a tee and the output was magnificent. KENTA & Marufuji knew they were going to be outgunned by Misawa, but that does not mean they did not believe in themselves. KENTA & Marufuji definitely gave every indication they could hang with the Almighty MIsawa, but they always respected the Misawa Legend. They were not cocky. They knew this was going to be a tall task and they were going to be forced to preserve and they did. KENTA & Marufuji wasted no time and they just bull rushed Misawa & Ogawa immediately. They dispatched Ogawa relatively quickly, but even though they gained the advantage on Misawa, they were overwhelmed by the Indomitable Elbow of Misawa. That opening really set the tone for the match. KENTA & Marufuji were here to play ball and if Misawa & Ogawa overlook them they will get burnt. Misawa and Ogawa then put on an absolute clinic on how to work control segments. They work two back to back within two minutes of each other. The first is on KENTA, who does his best selling ever in this match and the second is Marufuji and you best believe I loved Misawa lighting that dude up with some elbows. I love the Misawa/Ogawa dynamic. Ogawa allows the match to breathe with some lighthearted moments (I loved the moment when he plays "Made you flinch, bitch" with Marufuji on the apron) and also gives KENTAFuji a point of entry into the match. This is contrasted so well with the heavy hitting, ultra-serious Misawa. Misawa and Ogawa just work over KENTA's back, but KENTA is always struggling. He is always throwing elbows. There is this great exchange between KENTA and Misawa where Misawa goes to pull him to rock him with an elbow and KENTA is always one step back and then moves a step in to hit Misawa. It looks mis-timed if you expect neat chereography, but it fits a real contest so well because it is two people responding to one another rather doing a dance routine. I was really impressed with KENTA's hope spots and just his constant work. I thought the eventual transition to the hot tag was pretty lukewarm. In the first of many, what the fuck moments. Marufuji becomes of the one of the few people to cutoff the heat-seeking Misawa elbow to the floor by dropkicking his knee and hitting his own dive. While I think KENTA is clearly the better wrestler of the two, Marufuji is also the bigger of the two thus why I think he got more of a push in this match. Marufuji looks to hit sliced bread on Ogawa, but Ogawa counters and sends him crotch first into the post. God Bless Ogawa! Thus the heat segment on Marufuji begins and it is not as good as KENTA's because there are some more elaborate numbers, but credit where due Marufuji definitely upped the physicality with nice chops to Misawa and headbutts to Ogawa. At this point of the match it has been 95% Misawa and Ogawa with KENTAFuji just hanging on by a thread. The story becomes how much longer can they last and what if anything can they do to defeat the underhanded Ogawa and the heavy hitting Misawa. Misawa and Ogawa are finally done playing with their food and begin unleashing their series of awesome double teams on Marufuji, which KENTA obviously saves, but then he is taken out. The turning point comes on the ramp where Marufuji hits a wicked superkick and then SLICED BREAD ONTO MISAWA ON THE RAMP! KENTA DEMOLISHES OGAWA WITH THE KNEE! In 15 seconds, the entire complexion of the match changes. It was such a powerful and well-laid out transition. KENTAFuji were getting their asses handed to them and BOOM! They are back in it. It is just like any sports game where you leave a team hanging around all it takes is a well-timed special teams touchdown or a big three-point shot to rattle the cages. They tease the countout finish and then there is an awakward exchange between Misawa & Marufuji that leads to KENTA's tag in. KENTA shows while he may be small, but he has a big set of balls because he starts doing Kawada kicks, Kawada's big boots and the stretch plum on Misawa. Be careful, KENTA, you dont want Misawa having flashbacks to 1994 and really fucking your ass up. KENTA's Tiger Suplex only gets two as Misawa gets up and unloads a big elbow. At this point, we hit a tremendous finish stretch filled with great fireworks. In the opening, I ran down the craziest portion of all time. I can't believe Marufuji kicked out of Emerald Flowsion even if it was Ogawa covering and then for Misawa to take the Inverted Rock Bottom Moonsault. Yes, it is just a front flip, but HOLY SHIT, I did not expect that at all. I loved the finish being Misawa's take on the Steiner Screwdriver with a Spinning Emerald Flowsion to pick up the win. The match checks off all the boxes. Great character work. Great lay out. Great selling. Great Build. Awesome Action. Yes, there are some quibbles with some of the transitions and the overwrought Marufuju sequences, but for the most part it told the tale of two experienced veterans dismantling a young, hot team with a combination of wile and strength. However, they let them hang around and it nearly cost them the match. When Marufuji and KENTA turned the tide, it really affected Misawa & Ogawa's ability to concentrate their attacks. The match became more chaotic, which was a boon to the high-flying and quick team. Still it was too little too late because the match ended in a familiar fashion with Misawa on top of a vanquished opponent. ****1/2

Short of watching it, this was the best way experience it. Not just a simple recapitulation, but added value through thoughtful analysis and comparing it to other angles happening in a similar timeframe.

Yeah, Im a little tardy to the party when it came to watching the Wrestlemania Recap show with Will, Dylan, Kris and Pete, but Dylan made a really, really interesting point about Daniel Bryan and I wanted to bring it up. I agree with Dylan that Daniel Bryan has become a sort of sacred cow in the IWC. He is the last rallying point and we all want to see him succeed. He is a great underdog story and he clearly loves wrestling. Any break in file just seems like a prickish thing to do. Thus he does get off easy when it comes to a lot of criticisms that get levied at other wrestlers. I just wanted to discuss that and see what people thought. I can see where Dylan is coming from in terms of the Daniel Bryan formula. I am not as hung up with that as I just see it as him having a very well-design offensive moveset and especially a couple go to moves on his comeback. However, just because he uses a lot of the same spots, I think the context (the opponent and angle) make it is so that match never feels the same. Yes, most opponents do take similar bumps from Bryan, but I think Bryan responds to different wrestlers by taking what they offer and restructuring his style match. I am open to counterarguments that show him pretty much having the same match with two different opponents that proves the "plug n play" theory. My major hang up with Bryan and I have taken some veiled shots at it in some of my reviews, but I will come out and state it now is that he blows off selling way too frequently in order to get his offense in. Crowds more than ever are conditioned to pop for offense. It is one of the reasons why "You Cant Wrestle" gets directed at Cena. Is Cena an offensive dynamo? Hell no! Is he the best wrestler in terms of selling in the WWE since 2002, I would say yes and it is not even that close. Bryan is tailoring his matches to this new mandate from the fans, When I watch a Daniel Bryan match especially a Free TV match, it feels like the selling is getting in the way of the offense. It is not building drama, it is just the perfunctory part of the match that is required. That is not true in all cases. Daniel Bryan rocked it at Wrestlemania. He sold like a million bucks for HHH and during the main event. He was overcoming obstacles through sheer will power and determination. You were not going to deny Daniel Bryan on that night. However on too many nights recently, he has been focused on getting all his shit in at the expense of the match. Still, I am happy for Daniel Bryan and more often than not he is an absolute pleasure to watch. I just think he could go the extra mile and really achieve rarefied air among the elite wrestlers of all time if he just made his selling during his face in peril segments mean just that much more.

GHC Jr Heavyweight Tag Champs KENTAFuji vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Makoto Hashi - Budokan 9/12/03 The crowd loved this match especially the closing stretch. Yeah, the crowd loved this match. So there's that. It was not horrible, but it just felt interminable (only 26 minutes). They had no idea where they were going and then they just started throwing shit together at the end of the match to pop the crowd. They had control segments, but there were no transitions and everything felt disjointed. I am all for tag teams with complementary styles, but KENTA & Marufuji are basically working two different matches with no connection between the two. KENTA works the stiff Strong Style with some hints of shoot-style. As a quick aside, I was really taken by how similar Daniel Bryan works to KENTA today. The flying all around and constantly hitting the ropes to gain momentum and the kick combos, the same running knee finish not to mention eschewing selling for the sake of offense. Between that and the Go To Sleep, KENTA should be getting royalty checks from WWE. While Marufuji works the Japanese Men's Gymnastics Team style. God, there were two awful tumbling passes between him and Kanemaru. As soon as I saw Kanemaru as an opponent, I knew it was going to lead to some lame choreographed bullshit. Kanemaru would have been better off ball-shotting everybody. KENTA and Hashi were actually pretty decent when they were in the ring together and enjoyed their exchanges. KENTAFuji is not the greatest team in terms of control segments and it is worse when it is just there to kill time. I thought the control segment on KENTA was pretty decent. I liked Hash's Slop Drop on the apron leading to some good back psychology and Boston Crab work. Of course as soon as Marufuji is tagged (KENTA just kicked Hashi's arm) we get that awful tumbling pass. Marufuji totally botches the climax of that pass which is the Bicycle Kick, but Kanemaru sells it. We then hit the finish stretch which was exciting from an offensive standpoint, but was just a lot of MOVEZ~! I liked the Kanemaru frogsplash and Hashi diving headbutt to KENTA, but that is followed by two KENTA brainbusters. There is no rhyme or reason. It is just you hit your spot and I'll hit mine. One Marufuji spot I liked was the missile dropkick to the head of laying opponent. I think that's an innovative spot that can be better worked into a match. Also, kudos to Hashi for selling by wriggling in pain and KENTA adjusting his flight path to still nail knee drop. That is organic. That is Hashi responding to Marufuji and KENTA responds in kind. I am not asking the world here. After Hashi looks like a genius, he gets up and totally whiffs on the Slop Drop, but KENTA falls with him so much for responding in kind. KENTAFuji hits their variation of the Doomsday Device (KENTA hits a knee), but Kanemaru saves of course. KENTA royally fucks up either a hurricanrana or a flying cross armbreaker and then hits a Tiger Suplex for two. KENTA destroys Kanemaru with a running knee and Marufuji takes him out with Sliced Bread. KENTA wins off a kick combo polishing off Hashi. It is not an awful match, but it is not something I really want to watch again. Transitions are the most important thing to me. It is how you connect the segments together to form a cohesive match and this was totally bereft of transitions. They were not even lazy transitions. The match just had control segments because thats what wrestling matches have and then we will throw out spots. That all being said, I can appreciate a good spotfest and this was a slightly above average spotfest with some nice looking stuff. I have only watched two KENTAFuji matches, but I do recommend watching this and the Liger & Murahama match back to back to see Great KENTAFuji against Mediocre KENTAFuji. ***

KENTA vs Yoshihiro Takayama - NOAH 06/27/04 I hope KENTA is still sending Takayama Christmas presents because Takayama made him look like a million bucks. This is a better version of the Tanahashi/Fujita and Takayama is downright Vader-like in how well he shined up KENTA throughout the match. Now granted KENTA is whole lot tinier than Sting or Mutoh, but Takayama was so selfless and really put the kid over as a scrappy, never say die babyface. KENTA did all the right things, but he was just missing that extra something when he was selling to really take it to the next level. This remains one of my all-time favorite NOAH match as it accomplishes what it sets out to do in a tidy 12 minutes and leaves you thinking KENTA is one tough little bugger. Right from the outset, he sets the tone kicking away Takayama's outstretched hand and bringing the fight right to him. Takayama weathers the storm before swatting him away like a gnat. There some huge kneelifts and kicks in this match from Takayama. I loved the spot where he just threw KENTA down to the floor it seemed like a deadlift. Takayama like all bullies gets a little cocky and covers KENTA with one foot. KENTA ain't taking that lying down. Takayama lays him out with a closed fist. KENTA just won't go away a tornado DDT and springboard dropkick get him back in it. He even covers Takayama with one foot, which Takayama promptly swats away. I loved the cutoff spots with huge kicks and knees from Takayama. KENTA was the little train that could and even got to slam and German Suplex Takayama. I have to say that Takayama did this spot a lot better than Vader, who made it too clear that he was helping his opponent. KENTA gets a really shitty looking cross armbreaker before Takayama slams out. He goes for the Everest German, but instead throws him face first onto the mat in a nasty spot and then demolishes him with a knee. This was everything you would want out this match. Takayama is one man wrecking ball and KENTA just won't stop coming. It is one of the easiest stories to tell, but they knocked it out of the park. ****

I am still working my way through KENTAFuji (I find myself enjoying KENTA, but fuck Marufuji is awful), but I am already finished with the second installment of the Dangerous Alliance Chronicles. It is just so much breezy than constant 25-30 minute matches for KENTAFuji. This one just looks at January of 1992, which includes the awesome Arn Anderson/Dustin Rhodes Saturday Night, which I know a lot of people on here have raved about and pointed to show that Dustin deserved his spot on the card. I have watched it three times myself and it has only gotten better. It is a fantastic outing from both men. A match that I think is a little underplayed is the six-man tag team at Clash 18 that featured Barry Windham return after having his hand crushed by Larry Z. I thought that was a really fun, energetic match that whetted your appetite, but left you looking forward to Windham really getting a hold of Larry Legend and exacting revenge at SuperBrawl II. Match Listing: Match Listing Arn Anderson w/Paul E. Dangerously vs Dustin Rhodes - WCW Saturday Night 01/04/92 **** (Arn & Dustin own it in a fantastic match) Dangerous Alliance (Rick Rude, Steve Austin, Bobby Eaton) vs Sting's Squadron (Sting, Ricky Steamboat, Marcus Bagwell) ***1/4 (Sting is over like rover. Definitely peak overness until the Crow Era Sting. Love the build to Sting/Rude confrontation) Dangerous Alliance (Larry Zbyszko, Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton) vs. Dont Step To Sweetwater (Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes & Ron Simmons) - Clash of the Champions XVIII ***3/4 (Barry Windham is back and he is out for revenge, Yep it is as fantastic as that sounds) Dangerous Alliance (Rick Rude & Steve Austin) vs. Dragon's Sting (Sting & Ricky Steamboat) Clash of the Champions XVIII *** (Bit disappointing given the talent, but Rude's selling and the post-match make up for it.) http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/05/alabama-jam-history-of-dangerous.html

Pete, I don't actually find fault with WCW's booking of Pillman until 1991. The Luger series was a great way to be introduced as plucky, upstart underdog that can hang with the big boys, but not there yet. The Zenk tag team was a good idea on paper to have gain some experience work with the Birds and MX, but the start-stop push hindered that team. Dusty did a great job positioning as a rising star at Wargames '91 and against Windham. I think the Yellow Dog angle was genius. It was a great mid-card angle and the bounty made every match mean something. Yellow Dog vs Windham or Arn would have been a great blowoff, but instead they drop the angle and he is pushed as the star of the DOA Light Heavyweight Division. Talk of being fucked. He had to be turned heel as a Blond to resuscitate his career. I think when they decided to split the Blonds is when he needed to win a singles title. Austin seemingly was going to be pushed so I don't fault them for keeping the title on him. As good as Regal is, I think if someone wanted to point to a time when Pillman should have won a singles title that was the only time that made sense. WCW US Champion Rick Rude w/Paul E. vs WCW Light Heavyweight Champion Brian Pillman - WCW Pro 2/15/92 Rick Rude was untouchable in this timeframe as a main event heel. His in-ring work finally caught up to his commanding presence and great character work. Much like the Arn match with Dustin, Rude makes everyone out to be winner by selling his knee like a million bucks. By making Pillman look that good, it made the victory mean that much more and made the match one of the best of this angle. I am a mark for a good drop toe hold especially when it is chained into a hold so Pillman gave me the double whammy and then Rude sold his ass off to make it the hook of the match. Little things like Rude hitting a kneelift with the wrong leg preventing him from capitalizing so he ends up getting that knee wrapped around the post. Or as Rude is working over Pillman's back with slams and a bearhug how Pillman will try to throw shots at the knee. This does not reach the level of Pillman's famous TV matches with Flair because Pillman just does not seem as fiesty and violent as he did in those matches. His comeback featured only two overhand chops, we need more violence. Rude kicks out Air Pillman surprisingly and escapes to the outside, but Pillman wont let him breathe and dives onto him. When Pillman looks to leap off top again, Rude catches him with the Stun Gun and a Rude Awakening is all she wrote. Rude looked like the next main event WCW cash cow in this match. He is different from Flair enough, but still fills the void Flair left in having great TV bouts with babyfaces. If he stayed healthy, the sky was the limit (well with WCW's promotional capabilities who knows, but still). Pillman did not look like the cant miss star like he did in early '91 facing Flair and Windham. I would need to watch more, but it looks like the Light Heavyweight Champion "promotion" may have sapped his zeal. This is a great showcase for how good Rick Rude was at this point. ***1/2

You cant say no to more Larry Z, BABY! In a matchup that if it were have had happened in 1980 WWF would have made the Titans of Wrestling crew cream their pants in 2014, I present The Living Legend vs The Dragon, but unfortunately from 1992. Larry Zbyszko w/Paul E. & Mad USA vs Ricky Steamboat - Worldwide 01/25/92 Madusa, what the fuck? Her fashion sense is truly abysmal. It actually would have been funny if Paul E. appointed Missy as the Director of Covert Operations only she is the biggest blabbermouth and keeps ruining his plans. It had potential to deliver some decent comedy segments. The added benefit of Madusa was clearly physicality, but God from pant suits to being dressed like a 12 year old from the early 90s (in her defense it was the early 90s, but she still she was a grown woman). Enough of all this stalling (see what I did there), lets get to the action. Actually Larry Z gets right to business and takes a page out of Steamboat book with two quick nearfalls early and gloats to the Steamer. The fans sure do love telling Paul E. he sucks and even better when they stop he starts his own Paul E.Sucks chant, but pounding the mat in rhythm. Well played, Mr. Dangerously! Steamboat says two can play that game and gets two quick nearfalls of his own, but instead of gloating he chops him. Larry Z powders claiming to have been chopped in the throat. Returning to the ring, The Living Legend actually strings together some offense catching Steamboat in a criss cross with an atomic drop and then a spin kick, that was pretty neat. Steamboat's comeback was a little tepid and he takes a spill when Madusa pulls down the middle rope. Zbyszko looks to bring him in the hard way, but Steamboat chops him away and propels himself on top of him to garner the victory. After the match in a show of unity, the Dangerous Alliance come out to lay the boots to Steamboat, The crowd calls for Sting as Rude threatens to belt him and Sting & Co. (Dustin, Windham, Simmons) make the save. That was the most Four Horsemen the Dangerous Alliance has looked. Still the Four Horsemen always talked about partying together and it really felt like a close-knit group. This still feels more like five wrestlers that happen to have the same manager, which there is nothing wrong with that business model. I just don't think it is a totally apples to apples comparison. These two had a great match in them, but unfortunately did not have the time to deliver it.

Dangerous Alliance (Rick Rude & Steve Austin) vs. Dragon's Sting (Sting & Ricky Steamboat) - Clash of the Champions XVIII The Rick Rude waddle after the two atomic drops was the highlight of the match. He must have really been in a bad way if he could not have extended his career as a tag team stooge for a couple years. Also I liked Steamboat switching it up and putting his nearfall barrage at the beginning against Austin. Austin did a good job selling exasperation. The crowd went nuts for Sting hip swivel and Im a mark for when the babyfaces illegally switch, the heel hem and haw, the ref asks the crowd and they all say NO! Thats good fun! The FIPs were fine for what they were, but not as good as the shine. Sting leaps onto Steamboat and Austin so that Sting and The Dragon pin Austin, which really works Jesse up into a lather. So that when Rude & Austin beat the living hell out of Steamboat he loves this justified revenge. Two Rude Awakenings has the Steamer paralyzed. Rude starts to whip with a belt. Dangerously with his phone and Austin hold off security. This was a great post-match angle to put some heat on the Rude/Steamboat match at SuperBrawl. It was a fun match, but nothing to write home about. ***

KENTAFuji vs New Japan (Jushin Liger & Takehiro Murahama) - GHC Jr Heavyweight Tag Title Final 07/16/03 After their awful performance in the 8-man Burning vs Sterness tag, I was fearing for the worst from KENTAFuji and I expected that these matches would confirm the worst of what their detractors say about their spot-fu, bereft of selling style. However, I love polarizing figures in wrestling because they challenge me to evaluate the match on its merits not on the reputation. You cant let someone else dictate your opinions. You have to go to the primary source to develop your own. I have seen other KENTA and Marufuji matches, but for the purposes of this project, this is only the second match I have reviewed. I thought they belted this one out of the park. I would call this second best junior heavyweight match I have seen so far and the best of the New Japan vs NOAH junior tags. Funny how Murahama is two of top three best junior heavyweight matches and I had never heard of him until this project. Much like when I watched the New Japan/Osaka trios match, as soon as I saw Murahama hook it up with KENTA I wanted that singles match hell sign me up for a KENTA/Minoru Tanaka singles bout. Another feather in Liger's cap proving that he is the greatest Japanese junior heavyweight and globally I would say Rey Mysterio is the only one who is in the same league as him. KENTA/Murahama kick off the bout with some really neat shoot-style standup and KENTA hits a running big boot on Liger on the apron. This ain't going to be no exhibition there is some bad blood here, baby. I love how Liger swatted the gymnast, Marufuji out of the sky early with a palm strike. Marufuji to his credit went toe to toe with Murahama in headbutts showing that he was not all bad aerials and light offense. After the little shoot-style intro, they hit their dives. KENTA comes up a little short on his, but Marufuji does hit a sweet spingboard moonsault onto Liger to the outside. Then there is a weird heel in peril segment where KENTAFuji works over Murahama and Marufuji hits his first shitty move and it just drags. Murahama wakes us up with a sweet flip dive onto KENTA and here comes THE BOOM! Liger destroys KENTA: frogsplash, wicked Ligerbomb, surfboard, camel clutch (complete with Murahama kicks). Murahama transitions to KENTA's legs and applies a figure-4. KENTA does a pretty good garnering sympathy from the crowd as the New Japan invaders are really laying it on. KENTA/Murahama hit mirror strikes on each other, but Murahama tags Liger in and he knocks Fuji off apron with the palm strike and wallops KENTA with one in the corner. KENTA is finally able to tag Marufuji after a tornado DDT onto the top rope and springboard dropkick. It is not much a hot tag as Liger smokes with a palm strike after a short sequence and then catches him off the top with a wicked powerbomb and then the Ligerbomb looks to finish it. Two more brainbusters cant get the job done as KENTA saves. Marufuji hits a superkick and Liger a palm strike to knock each other out. I am loving the KENTA/Murahama interactions as they just rock it again with the kick combos. Murahama is able to get a brainbuster, German suplex and finally a double wristlock, which is treated as a finish. Murahama kicks KENTA's bad arm so he catches that leg and elbows it. Muraham switches to other leg and KENTA catches that and dragon leg screw. Well done! Tag to Fuji and we hit the finish run. Melee ensues. Murahama actually gets a nearfall on Marufuji after a couple kicks to head. KENTA owns Liger with a wicked strike combo. KENTAFuji hot their version of Doomsaday Device with a knee instead of lariat. Liger saves. The finish is a nice Marufuji shooting star press as they become the inaugural GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. This was one helluva a balls to the wall affair. Besides the weird heel in peril segment (like 2-3 minutes of a 26 minute match), these four brought all the action to deliver a great fireworks spectacle. KENTA/Murahama stood out as a great pairing and I hope there is a singles match between the two of them out there. Liger was the MVP of this for me. He proved that not only could he could keep up with the young guns that his offense was truly timeless. Plus Liger dismantling Marufuji should bring a smile to everyone's face. Nothing has changed in terms of me thinking that KENTA is light years ahead of Marufuji. If someone could slow KENTA down a bit and force him to sell he has some great matches in him. KENTA was great in his FIPs, just long-term selling is what I mean. Marufuji was definitely more reigned in here, but his superkick is weak and his offense is too light. He toned down the dumb shit and was working better, but I don't think he is salvageable. In 2003, the juniors are 2 for 2 in terms of big action blockbusters in my book. ****1/4

Low Ki vs AJ Styles - Z1 01/05/03 AJ Styles as the cocky, douchey show-off heel was one of my favorite things about wrestling in the 00s. He is perfectly contrasted against the ultra-serious, no-nonsense Low-Ki in this match. I have seen this match before and thought it was pretty good, but this time around I was actually blown away how well this came off. The spots were well-executed at a pace that kills, but in addition there were actual transitions and it felt like an actual contest with two combatants struggling for victory. The early matwork was really well done and felt super organic. Each wrestler was looking for a hold, but could never really wrangle one. I dug Ki's kick to AJ's head during a Stampede roll-around on the armbar. Everytime, AJ went to bask in his own glory it usually led to a swift kick to his head (second time he jumps over the railing to avoid contact only for Ki to wipe him and a bunch of fans out was friggin awesome). Or AJ liked to do a kip up hurricanrana at the time and I just watched the ROH 2002 match against Ki where he does it out of nowhere and it looked pretty stupid. Here, Ki has been on offense for the majority of the match, but during a criss cross AJ hits a dropkick to a leapfrogging Ki to hit his kip up rana and it looks so much better since Ki is bending over. AJ was not just some Scotty Steiner doing a spot and then popping for himself. When he nailed Ki with one of his semi-finishers (one of them indy-riffic suplexes), he was pissed off that he did not win and started to unload with a bunch of closed fists. He cared about winning in a wrestling match what a novel concept! Of course, his overzealousness costed him as Ki caught him in a powerbomb. Ki showed the crowd that Styles was not the only one who cared about winning as he unleashed some devastating Kawada kicks. There were a lot of great spots in this one, but spot of the match had to be AJ catching Ki off some crazy flip and seamlessly turning it into Style Clash. AJ, brash as ever, signals he has a three only for a kick out and his face says it all. Now if Ki hit the Ki Krusher and won right there. I think I would have an argument to call this an elite match, but AJ kicks out and the finish sequence goes two minutes longer than it should. AJ counters Kawada kicks with a suplex combination that is indy-riffic in his no-selling and its presentation. He does grab his neck (Ki Krusher) and show some hesitancy to go for Super Styles Clash so I will give him that. Ki is able to take advantage of this to hit his Ki Krusher and roll into a wicked looking Dragon Sleeper for win. There are definite issues in terms of long-term selling and the finish sequence going into spot overdrive, but in terms of a fireworks display with struggle and well-done transitions this hard to beat. ****

Taking a break from Japan going back to where I belong Dubbya-See-Dubbya baby! This is Volume 1 of the Dangerous Alliance Chronicles. Starts off with two matches that technically predate the storyline but set the table with Steamboat coming back and winning the tag titles from The Enforcers in a well-known, badass match and Rude taking the US Title from Sting under nefarious circumstances. A great, great way to book two hotting returning stars and set the promotion afire after the GAB '91 debacle. In addition, standout TV match is a singles affair from Eaton and Steamboat that mixes brawling and technique to build to a hot, hot finish. As a big Eaton mark very happy to find such a good Eaton singles performance. Match Listing: WCW World Tag Team Champions The Enforcers (Arn Anderson & Larry Zbyszko) vs. Dustin Rhodes & Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat - Clash of the Champions XVII ****1/2 WCW US Champion Sting vs "Ravishing" Rick Rude w/Paul E. Dangerously - Clash of the Champions XVII (Not a great match per se, but a great angle) Dustin Rhodes & Bobby Eaton vs Arn Anderson & Steve Austin - WCW Worldwide 11/23/91 (Wonder what happens in this match?) Larry Zbyszko vs Barry Windham - WCW Main Event 11/24/91 (Larryland is the most magical place on Earth. Great heel performance) Bobby Eaton w/Mad USA vs. Ricky Steamboat - WCW Saturday Night 12/14/91 (Chairshots, Barrage of pinning sequences and an awful Madusa suit) ***3/4 WCW TV Champion "Stunning" Steve Austin w/Paul E. Dangerously vs Big Josh WCW Pro 12/21/91 (Poor Matt Bourne) Dangerous Alliance (Bobby Eaton & The Enforcers) vs All Gold Everything (Brian Pillman, Ricky Steamboat, Dustin Rhodes) - WCW Pro 12/21/91 (First of many fun, solid six-man tags) http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/05/rude-awakening-history-of-dangerous.html

My favorite thing on Twitter right now is how much an Adam Rose mark Missy Hyatt is.

I am a little shocked this did not make the '92 yearbook. Dangerous Alliance (Larry Zbyszko, Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton) vs. Dont Step To Sweetwater (Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes & Ron Simmons) - Clash of the Champions XVIII Barry Windham is BACK, BABY! He is coming for you Larry Z! Paul E. cuts a promo before the match saying one of the heroes of WCW will be going to the Magnum TA retirement home, but aint nobody gonna deny Barry. I loved the opening with Eaton rattling off a neckbreaker, big right and a superplex and Barry just no selling it. Crowd and I lost out shit for that. Windham hits a superplex of his own and then we get the triple figure-fours. Ron Simmons does the Ricky Morton/Shawn Michaels flip out of the double top wristlock and double shoulderblock, which is impressive given his size. He then catches Eaton mid-air into bearhug. The more I watch early WCW the more I understand the Simmons push. Then Dustin/Eaton tango and Dustin is awesome. He throws out Eaton onto the ramp and just hurls himself over the top rope onto Eaton. The babyfaces were fired up for this and I love it. Windham and Zbyszko the Reckoning! Big Barry chants. Where was the payoff singles match??? Larry Z sidesteps the lariat and Barry crashes and burns and when Barry tags Dustin he does the same thing. Jeez, Dustin you are supposed to learn from your mentor's mistakes not play Monkey See, Monkey Do. Paul E. get his brick cell phone shot in Dustin, which means we get a Dustin FIP. O yes! Arn runs through his offense: spinebuser and wicked DDT, but cant keep the kid down. Eaton now hits his flying elbow, but Dustin's heart dont pump kool-aid. Eaton crotches himself on the middle turnbuckle -> HOT TAG TO BARRY!!! Melee ensues, but this time there ain't no Alabama Jam opportunity. Instead, Windham swats Eaton right out of the air with a right to pick up the win. What a great, high-energy six-man tag, definitely my favorite six-man tag. I am a big Windham fan, glad to see him back and kicking ass. The match was super tight and efficient no dead spots and everything served a purpose. The heat segment even included some cool heel moves, which is a nice treat. This was a perfect first match back for Windham. He wins, but does not exact full revenge from Larry "The Cruncher" Zbyszko setting up the bitchin SuperBrawl tag match. ***3/4

Since Larry Legend is a hot subject might as well tack this one here. I am a little shocked this did not make the '92 yearbook. Dangerous Alliance (Larry Zbyszko, Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton) vs. Dont Step To Sweetwater (Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes & Ron Simmons) - Clash of the Champions XVIII Barry Windham is BACK, BABY! He is coming for you Larry Z! Paul E. cuts a promo before the match saying one of the heroes of WCW will be going to the Magnum TA retirement home, but aint nobody gonna deny Barry. I loved the opening with Eaton rattling off a neckbreaker, big right and a superplex and Barry just no selling it. Crowd and I lost out shit for that. Windham hits a superplex of his own and then we get the triple figure-fours. Ron Simmons does the Ricky Morton/Shawn Michaels flip out of the double top wristlock and double shoulderblock, which is impressive given his size. He then catches Eaton mid-air into bearhug. The more I watch early WCW the more I understand the Simmons push. Then Dustin/Eaton tango and Dustin is awesome. He throws out Eaton onto the ramp and just hurls himself over the top rope onto Eaton. The babyfaces were fired up for this and I love it. Windham and Zbyszko the Reckoning! Big Barry chants. Where was the payoff singles match??? Larry Z sidesteps the lariat and Barry crashes and burns and when Barry tags Dustin he does the same thing. Jeez, Dustin you are supposed to learn from your mentor's mistakes not play Monkey See, Monkey Do. Paul E. get his brick cell phone shot in Dustin, which means we get a Dustin FIP. O yes! Arn runs through his offense: spinebuser and wicked DDT, but cant keep the kid down. Eaton now hits his flying elbow, but Dustin's heart dont pump kool-aid. Eaton crotches himself on the middle turnbuckle -> HOT TAG TO BARRY!!! Melee ensues, but this time there ain't no Alabama Jam opportunity. Instead, Windham swats Eaton right out of the air with a right to pick up the win. What a great, high-energy six-man tag, definitely my favorite six-man tag. I am a big Windham fan, glad to see him back and kicking ass. The match was super tight and efficient no dead spots and everything served a purpose. The heat segment even included some cool heel moves, which is a nice treat. This was a perfect first match back for Windham. He wins, but does not exact full revenge from Larry "The Cruncher" Zbyszko setting up the bitchin SuperBrawl tag match. ***3/4

Dangerous Alliance (Rick Rude, Steve Austin, Bobby Eaton) vs Sting's Squadron (Sting, Ricky Steamboat, Marcus Bagwell) - WCW Pro 01/18/92 Sting is over like rover and the crowd is molten for the Sting/Rude confrontation. Rude is the God King of Stooging and is the total highlight of the shine selling the Steamboat wristlock and atomic drop like only he can. Bagwell is inoffensive in his section. I was not digging Sting clearing the ring seemed lackluster, but the crowd loved it. Eaton and Dangerously hold Rude back on the apron while Sting stands alone and the crowd is losing its shit at the prospective clash. However, it is not to be as Austin/Sting resumes. To my surprise, the story is not the rookie, Bagwell being in over his head, but rather Steamboat takes the heat. Overall, this is much better for my enjoyment, but I don't know if it is logical. The crowd let us know "We Want Sting" while Eaton hits two nice Billy Robinson backbreakers on Steamboat.Rude comes in hits a move and that hip swivels in front of Sting when Sting goes for the swipe he takes a step back and keeps swiveling. Thats dedication to the craft! Steamboat gets the hot tag to Bagwell!?!?!?!? The crowd goes mild to say the least. Melee ensues and Sting/Rude hook it up and the crowd goes nuclear. Bagwell powerslams Austin, but the ref loses control. Everybody all together now, Bobby Eaton flies through the air with the Alabama Jam to take out Bagwell and puts Austin on top for the Dangerous Alliance victory. It is a fun, popcorn type match that showcases where this angle helped the most and that is delivering good to great matches on a weekly basis. However, there has been a lack of progression, but hopefully with a Clash and Superbrawl coming up we will start to see a change in that front. ***1/4