Superstar Sleeze

Given how common the acronym "GOAT" is, I am still surprised they have not played this up as Daniel Bryan's nickname.

I did hear that and enjoyed the booking of the Japanese contingent. The Moondogs/Martel&Garea series has skyrocketed up the list of things I need to see especially for Vince's most human moment. I also want to thank this show (I listened to #23-25 and they all ran together) for finally getting me to plop down and watch the first two Godfathers. I am a cinemaphobe. I could watch wrestling for 2-3 hours easy, but the prospect of giving up that much time to one movie is daunting. I figured Johnny quoted it enough due to Bruno that might as well see what all the fuss is about. The first one maybe the best damn movie I have ever seen. The second one could have been a lot tighter (but what do I know).

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Hiroyuki Ito - U-Style 08/18/04 With the emergence of MMA in Japan, it spelled the end for shoot-style promotions, which were not as differentiated as their pro wrestling brethren. Shoot-style lives in this weird no man's land. It is essentially the worked version of MMA. I have never seen pro wrestling as the worked version of MMA. In fact, I think a lot of non-fan's hangups with pro wrestling come from the fact they are viewing it through the wrong prism. Wrestling is a carnival attraction and it adapts itself to the times. Shoot-style is the sub-genre of pro wrestling that is the closest replication of actual MMA. I have enjoyed what I have seen of the style (Takada's UWFi), but I am no expert. For instance, this is the first Tamura match I have seen even though I know the ballyhooed Volk Han series in RINGS (I have never seen a RINGS match) is very heavily promoted by the shoot-style proponents. Thus it is hard for me to rate this match in the context of this project. I liked this match a lot, but even though all the matches are worked it still feels like comparing apples and oranges. Tamura is the ace of promotion and a well-known talent in the shoot style community and a reasonably successful MMA fighter in Pride and such (sporting a record of 32-13-3). Ito is someone I do not know and I suspect was a heavy underdog. Ito definitely prescribed to the adage "a good defense is a great offense" as he came out swinging on every occasion. In fact, for the first half the match he dominated Tamura forcing him to take two rope breaks utilizing palm strikes, knees to the head, triangle chokes and cross armbreakers. Even though, he was put into an early hole, Tamura never lost his cool and wrangled a leg lace, but Ito was able to get a leg lace of his own, but eventually Ito had to use the ropes to escape. After Tamura caught a kick and applied a heel hook, Ito lost his second point. With the match leveled, Ito concentrated keeping the fight off the ground and tried to win by knockout. They trade knockdowns, but Ito definitely is the more offensive fighter. Tamura presses an advantage and Ito sells his high kicks really well, but Ito is able to sneak in a palm strike to the face to knock him down. One more knock down and Ito wins. Tamura wakes the fuck up and takes Ito to town. He catches Ito's kick and turns it into a half-crab for the win. I loved Ito taking it to the strong favorite, Tamura at every chance. His performance was so urgent and there was a real sense of struggle on the stand-up. No one would confuse this ground game for an MMA match, but they kept it moving. Besides the dueling leg laces, every submission was sold like it could end it. The real highlight of the match is the very dramatic stand-up sequence with both fatigued and just going for broke. It was very well laid out to have Tamura back up against the wall throwing bombs only to finally catch Ito's leg and finish via submission. I would not say a match of the decade contender, but a very good match. ****

GET KAL RUDMAN ON THE SHOW!!!!!!!

I cant believe no one mentioned Misawa dying in the ring. Giving the Dog a Bone as the musical transition out of the Moondogs segment was pitch perfect.

I am afraid I have got some bad news. Honestly, Ditch, the match was not that bad. I really don't like Saito and if that Inoue's career performance than that is just depressing. I was just tired of doing the same straight-laced reviews and this one had plenty of material to have a little fun with it. GHC Tag Champions Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs Atikoshi Saito & Masa Inoue - NOAH 9/10/04 Yoshinari Ogawa is my hero the hair, the sunglasses, the matching zebra vest (sleeves are for zeroes, brutha) & tights, and the attitude. Atikoshi Saito is the polar opposite. He found out a way to be even more destestable. He got himself a femullet and added bangs. What a friggin tool. Now he has some jaybrone partner named Masa Inoue. Misawa take care of this light work. As much I love Ogawa, this really feels like Misawa is slumming it in this match. With Kobashi ruling the roost and Akiyama being his main challenger, it was only logical that Misawa rock the tag division and maintain the prestige of the division, but there just was not that much depth in the talent pool. Saito at best is an inoffensive worker, but when he does stick out in an Akiyama tag match because he was usually sucking at something like striking or moving. Masa Inoue is some jabroni, who throws lariats like am awkward Randy Orton and does a torture rack like a 12 year old version of Lex Luger (who I am kidding 12 year old Lexy Flexy probably would have been a better worker than this dude). Of course, the best part of this match is knowing that there was no way Misawa was going to job to these losers. So you knew they were going to eat a ton of elbows and Ogawa was going to mock them relentlessly. The match starts off so bad with a really badly, awkwardly choreographed bit where Misawa/Ogawa try to jump them, but the Shit Jabronis hit the lamest clothesline to send them out. When Saito goes for a dropkick, Ogawa holds onto the ropes and points to his head because he is clearly smarter than this tool. However, when he goes for a drop toehold he cant get the big man down and Saito gives him the finger wag. Oh my God, Ogawa has done the impossible he has made Saito entertaining. Misawa lights Inoue the fuck up with elbows. Oh how I missed you, Misawa. Misawa stands on this chump and drops a senton on him! Misawa rules the school! After a series of sleepers, Saito tries to the Randy Savage strategy of reviving your partner by hitting them. The only problem is that his partner aint Hulk Hogan. Somehow, Inoue actually avoids Misawa's dopkick and Ogawa's enziguiri. They double torture rack Misawa and then Inoue starts the rake Ogawa's face across the rope. O just you wait, big shot, when Misawa gets in and elbows your face. Ogawa uses his tights to send him to outside when Misawa throws him into the railings. Once back in, Ogawa holds out Inoue's hand to have Saito tag him. Rat Boy wins at life! All good things must come to an end and Inoue hits a DDT on Misawa and Ogawa at the same time. Here comes Saito with an axe kick for Ogawa and an urnage for Misawa. BOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! They do this friggin weird delayed vertical suplex spot on the ramp, which Saito must have fucked up because clearly he supposed to be closer to the ring so Misawa could pull Ogawa down. Someone should have called an audible instead everyone looked like a moron. Of course, when you are in the ring with Atikoshi Saito it is hard not look like an idiot. Saito & Inoue try to prove to me that they are kinda cool by spike piledriving my man, Rat Boy on the floor. Fine, that was kinda cool. Saito & Inoue realize they have no personalities of their own so they copy Misawa & Ogawa and use a series of sleepers. Rat Boy dropkicks both and dragon leg screw on Saito. Hot and I mean double hot tag to Misawa. If you had a face you got elbowed. If you had stupid bangs, you get a diving elbow through the ropes. All Hail Misawa! Saito misses the Mist spray. What a jaybrone! Damnit, he got the second time. Misawa takes two wicked Germans, which makes me uncomfortable. Ogawa saves Misawa from the ultimate shame of being pinned by Saito. HOLY SHIT! Saito powerbombed Misawa! Where was the Misawa-rana!?!?!? What the Fuck?!?! I am still in shocked Saito actually powerbombed Misawa. Inoue busts out the Billy Robinson backbreaker to try to earn brownie points. Randomly, some dude holds Misawa while Inoue hits a lame clothesline. This leads to Inoue running into the turnbuckles and Misawa calmly tagging out. What the fuck? Inoue and Saito hit the Jabroni Doomsday Device from the middle rope. Disorderly Conduct was a more menacing team than these two clowns. Inoue has the audacity to no sell Ogawa's DDTs, but knocks himself out on his own headbutts. Talk about putting yourself over. It is time for Misawa to put end to this nonsense. The finish run is Misawa hitting Inoue in the face with his elbow and Ogawa back drop driving him. This happened about 4 times and it was glorious. Just to add how this match was weirdly laid out Inoue takes all sort of crazy variations of this and a double team version of the Tiger Driver, but gets pinned by a normal back drop driver. In all seriousness, I am going a bit over board in my criticism of this match. I really don't like Saito and Inoue was just lame. He added nothing to the match and was a warm body for Misawa and Ogawa to attack. I actually liked Misawa & Ogawa a lot in this match and they did their best to make it an entertaining match. Hell, they sure gave a lot more offense to these guys than I would have. I thought the Inoue FIP and the finish stretch were well-done. Even though, the Ogawa FIP was too long, he sold really well for them, I wished Ogawa had more time to Rat Boy it up. I will probably never watch this match again. I would say Misawa & Ogawa dragged a pretty good match out of these two, but nothing worth going out of your way to say. ***1/4

All Japan Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada vs Shinya Hashimoto - Budokan 02/22/04 If there is one thing the 00s provided in spades, it is dream matches come to life. It is fuckin Kawada vs Hashimoto in the Budokan for the Triple Crown. I threw out all my misgivings about Hashimoto from this decade because I knew this was going to badass. I had seen this before and it did not quite live up to my memory, but it is still a very good match. I will say as much as I hate to admit it the match felt oddly heatless. All Japan was clearly in a rough place because even with this as the main event they only drew 10,500. Just a year previous, Hashimoto/Muta drew a sell out at the Budokan and Hashimoto drew a sell out against friggin' Arashi. So it was not because the Hashimoto was an unknown commodity. I will have to do some research on this, but the match just did not feel as big as it should. Kawada wins the first exchange with a spin kick, but Hashimoto draws first blood from Kawada's ear. Kawada goes for the head stomp/half-crab too early and Hashimoto gets to his knees and makes the ropes. The exchange kicks to each other's knee and Kawada hyperextends his right knee on a kick and Hashimoto pounces. I liked that unique wrinkle. Kawada uses the closed fist to keep him at bay, but Hashimoto sweeps the leg. Hashimoto attacks the knee hard with seat drops, double stomps and leg laces. Just like the Tenryu match, Kawada drops the leg selling. He goes full bore with the big boot and uses the right knee to knee drop Hashimoto's taped up shoulder. I was not happy with the King of Knee Selling pulling this uncharacteristic bullshit. Kawada goes for the cross armbreaker, but is able to get the stretch plum and really focus on the arm. Hashimoto does some great verbal selling here and for the rest of the match. He sounds like a large wounded animal fighting for his life. Hash catches the right leg and punches it. Kick floors Kawada. BRAINBUSTER! However, Hashimoto is in tremendous pain and cant capitalize. He is able to throw some awesome kicks, but he is in too much pain to brainbuster Kawada again. The story becomes can Kawada put Hashimoto away. Remember, he had fellow Z1 cohort, Ogawa on the run, but could not finish him. Again, he has an opponent severely injured, but he just cant seemed to get him off his feet. He is rocking him, but Hashimoto wont fall down. Finally, after a barrage of enziguiris, TIMMMMMMBBBBAAAAAAAHHHHHH! Kawada slaps on the Stretch Plum, but Hashimoto has too much pride to submit so a Z1 suit throws in the towel to save their ace from permanent injury. The finish is an interpromotional bullshit finish and sucks. Regardless of that, I thought Kawada's performance was pretty lifeless and mechanical. He was just going through the motions. Add that he dropped knee selling, it was a pretty disappointing performance especially at this was right in the middle of his big All Japan Triple Crown run that he had a deserved for so long but booking and injuries had denied him. Hashimoto was in peak 90s form here. He was that rockstar badass that just exudes charisma. From destroying Kawada's knee to selling the arm to fighting back to weeble wobble selling before succumbing to the Stretch Plum, he gave an inspired performance to tell the story of a wounded warrior. Unfortunately, this would be Hashimoto last great match (I could be wrong) as he would pass away in September of 2005. It was an uneven, but overall a very good blowoff to the AJ/Z1 feud. ****

All Japan Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada vs Naoya Ogawa - Zero-One 12/14/03 Non-Title Ogawa is 2 for 2 in terms of badass matches in my book. It has been a limited sample size, but I don't think he is a particularly adept worker, but he is incredibly effective in portraying his character (legitimate judoka/shooter badass) and fostering a big match atmosphere. Just like the Dome tag match, the chaotic flow of the match and the awesome heat made this stand out as something special. Of course, why Kawada is an all-timer is that he did not force Ogawa into the King's Road style, but wrestled the match in a way where Kawada responded to Ogawa in a characteristic manner. It was an interesting clash of King's Road and shoot-style without sacrificing each other's strong suits in a heated bout. What I love about this video is there is a 7 minute recap of the angles at the beginning to clarify why there is an interpromotional match. There was apparently an AJPW vs. Zero-One feud which featured a tag match between Hashimoto/Ogawa vs Mutoh/Kojima. The Z-1 boys were roughing up the AJ boys after the bell was ringing only for Kawada to rush the ring and send the Z-1 crew packing to awesome heat. After that, there were white masked ninjas in service of Ogawa attacking Kawada and tag matches leading up to the big one on one showdown. I read another review that said Kawada played the a great heel in this match. Well, I thought he was a badass babyface even if this was at a Z1 show. He got a shit ton of streamers and there was definitely a Kawada chant at the beginning. Ogawa is such a natural heel. He is a giant especially compared to Kawada and his cocky shooter swagger makes him nearly impossible to like. At the outset, Kawada was selling his apprehension of getting entangled with this badass while Ogawa was egging him on with sarcastic cheers. Kawada was the first one to take it to him even though Ogawa got a nice punch combo out of the corner that sent Kawada reeling in classic Dangerous K fashion. What I really loved about this match was how much struggle there was. If Kawada had a chance to stomp of Ogawa's head on a break he took it. Ogawa seemed like he took Kawada over on a monkey flip whether he wanted to or not. The hook of the match was when Ogawa went to put Kawada away with the STO and Kawada relentlessly kneed his inner leg so that even when he hit it he could not capitalize. When he went for the STO again, he buckled and Kawada pounced. This led to the great exchange where Kawada chases Ogawa around kicking his bad leg and Ogawa is throwing wild double back fists to keep him away. At one point, the back fist catches Kawada in the head so he starts to kick Ogawa's leg from the mat that's dedication. Kawada eventually got the half crab, but not before he stomped on Ogawa's head. Ogawa is so long that it is hard to keep him from the ropes. Kawada gets tired of the double back fists so he cleans his clock with a sweet closed fist. In an effort to survive, Ogawa just tries for the STO and Kawada hits him with a back drop driver. Kawada looks to knock Ogawa out with enziguiris, but Ogawa hits the STO OUTTA NOWHERE! Kawada staggers and falls ass first through the bottom rope onto the floor. Ogawa's leg is fucked, but is able to STO Kawada on the floor. However, neither man can make it back to the ring by the ten count. Hot damn! Wait there is more! They restart the match. Kawada slides right into Ogawa's leg and does not let up. Kawada goes for the leg lace and double stomps on the bad knee. However, Kawada leaves himself open for the STO again. Everyone is out again. Kawada tries to go for the enziguiri for the knockout, but STO AGAIN! Neither man can answer the ten count and it is ruled a double knock out. Kawada had the strategy: find a weakness and exploit. Ogawa had the puncher's chance: STO. At the beginning, it seemed like Kawada was going to be outgunned by the bigger Ogawa, but he is able to block the STO and inflict serious damage to the leg. However, once he got on offense, he was so focused on pressing his advantage he would leave himself opened to the STO. Kawada just did not have a bomb on the same level as the STO to put Ogawa away. I loved a lot of the exchanges in this match especially the leg kicks versus double back fists. Ogawa delivers another great big match and Kawada gives his best performance since the 2001 Champion's Carnival with Mutoh. ****1/4

Yet they have outlasted WCW already. It's amazing. (that also says something about the ultra-slow evolution, or should I say the status-quo in the pro-wrestling scene since 2001) Holy shit. I had not realized that TNA has existed longer than WCW (dating WCW from 1991 not from the '88 Turner Buyout). That is just fuckin depressing.

GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Minoru Suzuki - Budokan 01/08/05 In the Taue review, I said that the Kobashi reign had all but run its course. They did squeeze one more good match out of it before they had him drop the title to Rikio, which is this match against the mercurial Minoru Suzuki. The cackling, invading shoot fighter looked to wrest the time from NOAH's ace using his unique brand of head games and submissions. A lot of people would say this match screams styles clash, but styles make bouts interesting. Suzuki took Kobashi out of his comfort zone and together they had a more dynamic effort than say with Yuji Nagata. However, it just felt like it came to late in the reign. The Nagata match was a Clash of the Titans. The Kobashi reign was running on fumes at this point. Right off the bat, we get Suzuki's head games that frustrate Kobashi and establish why Suzuki is such a lethal opponent. He is like Rat Boy with skills. You think a test of strength would be a bad idea on Suzuki's part, but he turns that into a crazy pinning predicament and triangle choke then into a cross armbreaker. When Kobashi gets out of it, he is laughing and having himself a grand 'ol time at the expense of Kobashi. Kobashi gets pegged as a meat head sometimes, but he aint no dummy. He knows he has the strength advantage and if Suzuki is quicker and shrewder well why not bring back to the basics and Kobashi works a headlock the majority of the opening. He does not let go. He puts a headlock on him outside and brings him with one. You can control the head; you control the body. Two can play that game, Suzuki. Prematurely, Kobashi thinks it is time to unload the chops and Suzuki grabs his arm, sticks out his tongue and puts him in a triangle choke dangling over the ropes. Suzuki is such a badass heel, the perfect blend of cocky and dangerous. Even busting out the Dikembe Mutombo finger wag. You can sense Kobashi frustration over both his arm injury and Suzuki's behavior. Kobashi is able to get a sleeper and hit the sleeper suplex to turn the tide. Tease the half-nelson suplex on apron, but Suzuki slaps on a sleeper and Kobashi collapses off the ramp onto the floor. Nasty bump that puts over how messed up Kobashi is. When Kobashi gets back in, Suzuki lays it in with a cradle piledriver, a wicked back drop driver and an octopus stretch. However, a desperation BURNING LARIAT~! levels the playing field. Kobashi jacknifes off a weak powerbomb and Suzuki grabs a cross armbreaker out of it. Too sweet! Wild left handed lariat saves Kobashi. Axe bombah in the corner and Kobashi accelerates through the hole with a barrage of lariats and back drop drivers to win the match. The story of the match is the story that has continued since Akiyama. Attrition is taking Kobashi down and it is inevitable that soon he will drop the title. Suzuki also accomplished the feat with a sound strategy of taking out the arm and avoiding Kobashi's bombs (like the half-nelson on the ramp). Suzuki just being Suzuki forced him to wrestle very conservatively from the outset with the headlock and once he tried to transition into a Kobashi match Suzuki pounced. The thing with Kobashi is that he always has a puncher's chance so when he hits off-handed lariat he is able to follow up with all those bombs that Suzuki just could not escape. It is an interesting match, but in terms of the reign it is just not at the high end (which speaks volumes about how bitchin this reign was) ****

Navigation Over The Date Line is a close second to Navigation With Breeze as a hilarious wrestling tour/show name. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Akira Taue - NOAH 09/10/04 "TAUE! TAUE! TAUE! TAUE!" Besides the one asshole twerp that screams "Kobashi" every 5 fuckin seconds (seriously it could kill your enjoyment of this match), this crowd is 100% behind Taue to lift the title off Kobashi. After 18 months, it is just the nature of the beast that the crowds start to get restless with Kobashi as a champion. Yes, they still had this match with a fellow Four Corner of Heaven, an invader match with Minoru Suzuki and the final title loss to rookie bust, Takeshi Rikio. However, after the Akiyama match there is a definite feel that Kobashi reign has climax. When you get that sense of climax, audiences tend to want to rush to the final resolution. Remembering back to high school English, they broke a story into 5 fundamental parts and the shortest one usually was the falling action (between climax and resolution). There is a reason it is short people just had their minds blown by the climax and now want the satisfaction of the resolution. Well, Kobashi's reign had a long falling action. It provided us this excellent match against Taue and a very good match against Minoru Suzuki, but I feel this explains the crowd behavior, which was dead in this match unless Taue was doing something awesome. Normally, Kobashi does a little shine in the beginning because he is a macho badass champion well Taue aint having none of that. He boots him off the apron and goes diving through the ropes onto him. Whenever Taue dives outside, it is just so unexpected and ungraceful that looks awesome. Taue loves picking people up and dropping them neck first on unforgiving objects and that is why he is the Man. Kobashi starts firing off some chops and hits a plancha to the outside. Taue like most Kobashi opponents has raw meat for a chest now. Kobashi busts everyone's favorite move the 3-Handled Moss-Covered Gredunza and controls with various holds. Taue steals a move from his Holy Demon Army partner with a spinkick to turn the tide. He goes after Kobashi's knees as so many have tried using the half-crab, kneecrusher and a weird figure-4. Taue's chest is just gross at this point as it already starting to bruise. NODOWA ON RAMP~! Taue going to take no countout win and goes out gets Kobashi. Taue just runs off a huge string of offense. When Kobashi tries to no-sell a German, he just kicks him in the head. NODOWA OFF APRON~! Kobashi keeps falling down, but nothing can stop the DYNAMIC BOMB~! At this point, the crowd relents and starts to cheer for Kobashi. Kobashi chops Taue's hand to stop the Nodowa and gets a Burning Lariat to create space (Vintage Cole). It truly is 2004 because Kobashi steals the Nodowa to no reaction, but hits on of his best powerbombs, but cant keep him down. Kobashi crashes and burns on the moonsault. Can Taue do it? Can he pull it off? The crowd has woken up! Taue busts out a backdrop Nodowa! Taue goes for the Super Nodowa, but Kobashi looks to powerbomb him and it is a Taue-rana!!! HUGE POP! Brainbuster only gets two. The crowd wanted Taue to win so badly there that you had to feel bad for Taue and them. Taue hits a flying friggin bodypress. Giants dont fly, but Taue does! Taue chants echo throughout the Budokan. One Kobashi lariat silences the crowd. He runs through some standard offense while the crowd chants for Taue before he finishes him with the Mutha of all FInishes: Wrist-Clutch Burning Hammer! The fun of this match is undoubtedly seeing Taue get a crack at the title in his waning days and having the crowd fully behind him. He really puts it all on the line here flying through the air, ruthlessly attacking knee and Nodowas galore. The Nodowa is the opposite of the Kojima's Ace Crusher it is bitchin in all its variation. Kobashi sold like a million bucks to make you believe the Impossible Dream could come true. This was the least Kobashi-oriented match of the reign. It makes sense that after Akiyama pushed him into the limit that he was really out of gas. He was just hanging on my a thread in this match taking less offense than usual and being on the defensive early. He also needed to bust out his super-duper finisher to polish this one off. Bot in kayfabe and reality with Kobashi and crowds fatigued, the end was nigh for this historic title reign.

Thanks, brutha. I have rewatched a good chunk of the Shield matches and they never really use the full court press/havoc defense as much they do in this match. They still come off as unique and badass. Granted, if they wrestled every match like that it could lose some its luster and they have done well to settle into six-man action, but still get over the idea of the unit. I will say they definitely still revolutionized how the WWE has presented the six-man and how an audience views a six-man tag. What is really cool about this match in addition to the Shield strategy is how they shine up the babyfaces. Ryback gets over early, but then put through a table. Kane actually fires through his offense and chokeslams Ambrose through a chair, but then speared through the barricade and covered in rubble. Daniel Bryan puts the YESLOCK on everyone before having his head stomped through the chair by Rollins. Ryback fires up again and gets the Shell Shock, but the Shield saves. Ryback is able to take one member but too little too late. However, you never feel like you are watching neat, little segments even though it is actually segmented really well because how organic it is (so organic that I claimed there were no segments because I didnt notice them until I re-read my own post). I am a transition freak. Everybody has their thing that they can get hung up. For me it is transitions. This match has awesome transitions.

GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - Tokyo Dome 07/10/04 The pinnacle of Pro Wrestling NOAH pits the red-hot Kenta Kobashi defending his title against NOAH's second best, Jun Akiyama in a suitably epic encounter. It is a testament to NOAH that they were able to draw 50,000 to the Egg Dome with a main event of two NOAH talents as the big matches of 00s tended to feature a company vs. company rivalry. Yes, All Japan and New Japan were represented on the show, but without a doubt the drawing card was the payoff to the collision course that Kobashi and Akiyama has been on since Kobashi returned from injury in 2002. With a victory, Kobashi cements himself as one of the greatest champions of all time with one of the best reigns ever. If Akiyama wins, it could be a similar torch seizure that took a place just a year earlier when Kobashi finally got the Misawa monkey off his back and took his place in the sun. It has the Clash of the Titans feel you want at a Dome show. It is always a little weird to see the All Japan/NOAH boys at the Dome, but if there were ever two of them meant for the Dome it is these two. Kobashi wins an early exchange with a shoulderblock and Akiyama powders. Kobashi tells him he wants to get this done in the ring. Akiyama has Kobashi scouted grabbing a leg lace out of a Russian Legsweep attempt (that usually follows his short knee lifts). Akiyama looks for the guillotine choke (how he won the August 2000 match), but Kobashi urgently chops Akiyama's neck to stymie him. Kobashi turns Akiyama's neck/chest a nasty purple-red with some of the most brutal chops ever. He misses a spinning back chop and Akiyama capitalizes with a high knee. It is business as usual for Akiyama targeting the neck with knee-based offense and a wicked DDT onto the apron. Akiyama wrangles the choke, but Kobashi pops out so Akiyama goes right back to the neck with a double-arm DDT and a forearm to back of head. Akiyama grabs the choke and Kobashi goes limp, but summons the strength to make the ropes. In a bitchin transition, Kobashi actually clamps on a headlock after being hit with a back suplex. It is such a good headlock that it is a credible pinning predicament. Then in a HOLY SHIT bump, Kobashi suplexes him off the apron, which sounds nasty, but not that nasty. However, when you actually see the landing they fucking bounce off the floor. They milk this for a double countout, but both get in at 15. Kobashi collapses in the ring and when he finally covers Akiyama he barley gets a shoulder up. Kobashi runs off his usual offense, half-nelson suplex and Burning Lariat He knows it is time for Burning Hammer, but Akiyama elbows out and a running knee levels the playing field. They tease finishers off the apron and Akiyama hits his Exploder off the middle rope to the floor. They tease a countout loss by Kobashi, who gets in at 19. Kobashi is able to get his foot on the ropes during the consequent pinfall attempt. More Exploders (top-rope version) are not doing the trick, so he tries choking him out and still only can get two. Wrist-clutch exploder gets two. Kobashi is not human. Akiyama must be like I am fucked at this point. Kobashi brainbuster out of some crazy Exploder variation and trade half-nelson suplexes and exploders. Burning Lariat and finally Akiyama collapses. It is academic at this point and a moonsault and Burning Hammer polish off Kobashi's biggest challenge yet. There is something about the Kobashi/Akiyama that just does not do it completely for me. I like wrinkles and dynamics that add to forumla. I feel like Kobashi and Akiyama are the most proficient practitioners of the epic NOAH style so it is just formula executed as well as possible, but without the wrinkles that other opponents can add to the match. This had everything you would expect from Kobashi/AKiyama: chops, knees, suplexes, huge bumps, big bombs and a badass finish run. It felt like Akiyama pushed Kobashi to his limit moreso than any other opponent yet with his chokeout and Exploder off the middle-rope, but just did not have enough in the arsenal to polish off Kobashi. I can see why people feel like this match is the nail in the Akiyama as an Ace coffin. It was a very decisive Kobashi victory as he take literally every Akiyama bomb and then beat him clean with his two biggest bombs. I don't think this was the point of no return. Akiyama could have worked on a new super head drop finisher or if Kobashi dropped the title on the next defense he could take credit for Kobashi being so fatigued that he was easy pickings for the next challenger. There were options for Akiyama and I don't think this was a must-win for him. It was a great performance that put him right on Kobashi's level, but much like Kawada the resistance to pull the trigger ultimately fucked him. It is hard to explain, but I thought it was missing that little hook that other MOTDCs have had to give this the full monty. I felt Kobashi's desperation, but I just didnt think Akiyama was at the same level of urgency. For comparison, I thought Akiyama's performance in the Misawa '00 match really had the extra sense of urgency that takes the match to next level. I have said it before and will say it again when you are picking the best match of the decade you have to pick nits. ****3/4

With all eyes focused on NOAH in 2003-2004, what the hell was going on New Japan? Shoot fights on pro wrestling cards, 10 champions and 2 vacancies in two years, Chono vs Chyna and then Hogan and Bob Sapp as champion. BOM-BA-YE! That is dying days of WCW levels of batshit insanity, but still there a handful of good matches. I enjoyed the change of pace from the NOAH epics with all but one match (that match featuring a NOAH wrestler) clocking in at a tidy 15 minutes. The matches featured hard-hitting strike exchanges that led to payoff of one or two bombs and were a great representation of Strong Style. http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/04/inoki-bom-ba-ye-new-japan-2003-2004.html Rankings getting out of control, I will post top ten and new additions from now on. 1. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 02/27/00 2. GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi - Budokan 03/01/03 3. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama - All Japan 05/26/00 4. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Keiji Mutoh - Budokan 6/8/01 5. Toshiaki Kawada & Masa Fuchi vs Yuji Nagata & Takashi Iizuka - NJ PPV 12/14/00 6. Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 12/23/00 7. IWGP Jr Hvywt Tag Champs Ohtani & Takaiwa vs Kanemoto & Minoru - NJPW 6/25/00 8. IWGP Champion Kensuke Sasaki vs Toshiaki Kawada - 10/00 Tokyo Dome Non-Title 9. Keiji Mutoh vs Toshiaki Kawada - Champions Carnival 04/01 10. IWGP Jr Heavyweight Champion Minoru Tanaka vs Takehiro Murahama - NJPW 4/20/01 23. Yoshihiro Takayama vs Kensuke Sasaki - G-1 Climax '04 26. Genichiro Tenryu vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan - Vacant IWGP Championship 02/15/04 30. U-30 Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuyuki Fujita - Vacant IWGP Championship 6/5/04 33. All Japan Triple Crown Champ Toshiaki Kawada vs Katsuyori Shibata - NJPW 11/03/04 Non-Title 36. Jun Akiyama vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan - G-1 Climax Finals 08/17/03

The key to this match is right from the outset Mutoh rocked Tenryu with the knee and everything follows in place. It is probably slowest worked of the MOTDC I have seen, but it is so well-executed both from a layout and action perspective that it is hard to deny. It is definitely one of my favorite matches.

I agree wholeheartedly the beginning of the match was really, really good. There is this strange dynamic with Kojima that first 5 minutes are worked really well and then it is just all down hill especially when it is time for him to make his comeback. Kojima doing the leg stretches was boss, best thing I think he has ever done.

While I personally did not rate their 2004 encounter as a MOTYC, I could see someone making the case that was MOTYC (of course in a year when Kobashi was killing it that is a tall task). Sasaki and Takayama do have tremendous chemistry.

I have some sort of hang-up with big match tags. They just feel like they are there to me. Almost like they are just exhibitions for the fans look at this cool dream match rather than titanic struggles. This is a perfectly good match, but much like the dream Hash/Misawa tag on the debut Zero-One show I felt underwhelmed.

It is weird I feel that the April match is a level above the February and August NJPW vs NOAH matches, but it seems that I am the one who has them flipped flopped. I have the April match as my MOTY for 2002, but 2002 was a very weak year in my opinion for puroresu.

WWE World Tag Champs The Shield vs The Brothers Rhodes - RAW 10/14/13 No DQ Tremendous finish, but a pedestrian beginning make this too uneven of an affair to be considered a MOTYC for me. Even though this was a NO DQ match, it was wrestled as a normal mid-show RAW match (it was the main event of RAW). Where was all that energy and urgency that they showed at the PPV? Yes, the finish made for a very memorable moment, but I felt there was too much of a disconnect from the beginning until the finish. For instance, the shine sequence was perfectly adequate with Rollins bumping around until Ambrose trips up Cody and the Shield takes over. It just did not have me popping out of my seat. Rollins seemed subdued bumping and the Rhodes were just hitting their spots. Reigns was awesome asking Rollins if he wanted to get some payback and yanking Cody's nose while Rollins kicked him. They tease the Alabama Slamma, but Rollins rolls through and Cody jumps over him to tag big brother. Goldust lights up me and the crowd moving around like he was 20 years younger. Gotta love the Shattered Dreams/Bulldog combo, the best of Dustin Rhodes and Goldust in one combo. Dustin takes his favorite the missed cross body crashing to the outside to send us to commercial. Goldust is a great FIP really keeping the crowd into it with well-timed hope spots and awesome selling. Since WWE feels like it has turned the clock back, Goldust's use of backslides and atomic drops dont feel out of place at all. Goldust springboard back elbow, but Seth sends Cody flying off the apron. Rollins mocks the Bizarre One and eats a powerslam for his insolence. Tag to Cody and once again he rocks the hot tag pretty well. I love the moment where Reigns does his howl and Cody just fuckin punches in the face, perfect response. At this point, if Cody finished the Shield with the CrossRhodes I would have called this an above average match that was enjoyable, but of course here come the fireworks. Ambrose is in and just attacks Cody. Finally, No DQ! They are preparing for the Triple Powerbomb, but Goldust wreaks havoc with a steel chair. However, as Roman Reigns eloquently points out, he is an idiot and drops the chair and you NEVER drop the chair. Amateur hour from Goldy. But Reigns does not turn it sideways and stick straight up his bizarre candy ass. In fact, he eats a cross-body with it on his chest, great sell by Reigns. Outside the ring, Cody goes for the Disaster Kick, but Rollins catches him and powerbombs him into barricade. Ok, that was awesome, go ahead and chant it. Thank you, St. Louis. It is atomic drop-palooza and Reigns sells it the best since the heyday of the Ravishing One. We end up outside and Goldust is near the timekeeper's table. Ruh roh. REIGNS WIPES OUT GOLDUST! The Shield looks to retain, but here comes THE BIG SHOW! Knocks out Ambrose and Rollins. Reigns duck the Disaster Kick, but eats the Big Show's knuckle sandwhich and the Brother Rhodes win the titles in St. Louis! In October of 2013, WWE was at the top of their game in terms of intersecting storylines and delivering hot payoffs. They would return to the norm of linear storytelling with limited interactions, but for a couple months it was very interesting. Unfortunately, there were a couple miscasts. I think Big Show was a very sympathetic babyface and for him to help The Rhodes win and knock out HHH were great payoffs. However, his main event against Orton was a misfire because at the end of the day it is 2013 and people just dont want to see him in the main event any more. Unfortunately too, after this the Brothers Rhodes became an afterthought even though they would still have great matches at Hell In A Cell and TLC. They were not given any promo time or storyline direction. Regardless, the Authority/Shield storyline was badass and gave two great babyface moments and great matches. ****

Antonio Cesaro w/Zeb Colter & Jack Swagger vs Dolph Ziggler - Superstars 8/30/13 If Antonio Cesaro was the NWA traveling champion, I believe this is how the match would look. Ever since Ziggler turned babyface, he seemed content to wrestle the mid-90s Savage formula take heat for most of the match and then hit the finish. Beside the fact Mr. Livingston recommended this match, I knew something was up because the commentators were saying Ziggler was boasting that he was about to deliver a Mania Main Event level performance. Ziggler all of sudden remembered he had a shit ton of offense that Cesaro gladly bumped and sold for in this match. Cesaro establishes he has the strength advantage early, but Ziggler has the speed when he snaps off a quick dropkick (Ziggler's usual one early offensive move). Thanks to some Swagger distraction, Cesaro throws Ziggler with a gutwrench and when Ziggler tries catch him with a roll-up he double stomps him in a great spot. This is when the match departs from the Savage formula as Ziggler starts rattling off moves like cross-body, roll-up, a facebuster and climaxing with a tornado DDT out of a back body drop attempt. Ziggler's speeds seems to be overwhelming Cesaro. However, Ziggler cant seem to find a way to neutralize Swagger as another distraction allows Cesaro to shake the ropes. Then in the spot of match and maybe spot of the year. Cesaro hits a delayed superplex after grabbing Ziggler from the apron. WOW! Cesaro nonchalantly covers and Ziggler reverses. Ziggler goes around the world to grab a sleeper. Swagger looks to interfere and Ziggler dropkicks him off the apron. Great Payoff! Ziggler gets a fameasser for two. (Why has that not been renamed?) Cesaro shrugs off Zig Zag attempt and true to form Ziggler rushed right back in, but this time ate "throw him up, catch him with a Euro uppercut" and the nastiest Neutralizer I have seen to lose to Cesaro. I don't think is a Match of the Year Candidate, but definitely one of the best free TV matches of the year. I loved the use of Swagger as he was key in both Cesaro's transitions and finally he was knocked out. This was Ziggler's best match of the year as he was just relentless. He knew speed and willpower was all he had. He just kept coming and coming. He pressed every advantage. It felt like a full court press in basketball, but that ultimately cost him because he ran into a huge European Uppercut to set up the Neutralizer. ***1/2

WWE World Tag Champs The Shield vs The Brothers Rhodes w/Dusty Rhodes - WWE Battleground Non-Title Unless he gives an even better performance on the following night, this has to be Cody's career performance. I have nothing against Cody. He is a solid worker. He is a bit bland. He is a bit mechanical. He thinks too much. On this night with teaming with his big brother for the first time, with his father in his corner and fighting for his career and the Rhodes family legacy, he let it all hang out and left it all in the ring in an awesome emotional performance. A lot of the focus of this match, I feel was given to Goldust and his incredible comeback story. I don't want to take away for that. For Goldust to comeback and be the best hot tag in wrestling and one of best workers in the world at the end of year is nothing short of miraculous. This match belonged to Cody and his urgency. The match starts how it should start with the Rhodes ripshit about their treatment at the hands of The Authority and opening a can of whoop-ass on The Shield. For those not up to speed, The Authority threw their weight around and got Cody fired because he could not beat WWE Champion Randy Orton and then Dustin failed to win Cody's job back. So now they have one last shot to win their jobs back against the Tag Champs and the most dominant faction in wrestling, The Shield. Rollins actually pulls Reigns out of the ring to regroup and reset the match by challenging Dusty to a fight. This gives us that great visual of the Three Rhodeses squaring off against The Shield. The battlelines are drawn the best damn three man team in the WWE against one of the most proud wrestling families. Give Cole credit, when he pointed out the Rhodes cant let the emotions get carried away and thus get DQ'd, which really establishes the gravity of this match. However, it was that emotion that cost Cody the advantage because Rollins was able to suddenly drop him on his head into the middle turnbuckle (that move really needs a name). I love The Shield take after Mark Henry and love to lay the badmouth on their opponents during a match. Dean Ambrose was excellent with "Make his dad feel it! Make his sister feel it! Make his mother feel it!" and here come the "We Want Goldust". It is hot in Buffalo tonight! Cody moonsault! Hot tag to Goldust and he moves around better than 90% than the roster, which he is 15-20 years older than. In another shocking twist to this match, Reigns actually out-bumped Rollins in this match. He was making Goldust look like a million bucks. However, in a classic Dustin bump, he whiffs on the cross body and crashes to the outside.Wait are we in St. Paul in 1982 tonight? Because get ready for a double face in peril muthafuckas! They tease a countout loss and the Shield and the commentary team were so great at milking this. One of the best countout teases by the WWE in a long time. Rollins busts out the old Eddie splash over the ropes for two. Buffalo loves them some Goldust and I cant blame them he is kicking some ass selling for the Shield. Powerslam from Goldie and here comes Cody. Cody is a house of fire. Springboard dropkick. Spinning Alabama Slamma. MuscleBuster. He is pissed and kicking ass who is this Cody Rhodes!?!?!?!??!?! Then in the segment we were all waiting for: Dusty takes off his belt whips Ambrose and the delivers the Bionic Elbow. The crowd pops huge! Reigns looks to crush the American Dream, but Goldust tackles him outta nowhere. Cody grabs Rollins and hit CROSSRHODES! 1! 2! 3! The Rhodes family celebrates as the crowd goes wild. How bitchin' was that whole affair. Proof positive that fundamental, badass pro wrestling transcends time. You noticed how there were "This is Awesome" chants that is because people were not popping for moves or the matches. They were chanting for the babyfaces who had been wronged and were getting their retribution. That is how wrestling should be. When you deliver a story people can actually sink their teeth into they wont worry about Flying Space Tiger Drops and Miracle Ecstasy Bombs they will invest themselves in the characters, their motivations, and their actions. Cody and Goldust wrestled like they were fighting for their livelihoods and the crowd returned in kind. Too often in wrestling, there is a disconnect between the story and the match, but here everyone understood their role and kicked ass. Goldust delivered a performance that is the reason he is still on the roster to this day. They highlighted Cody by giving that last hot tag spot taking us home to the finish and he delivered in spades. But wait they might have won back their jobs, but the Shield still has the Tag Titles...****1/2

Not to be a dick, but Gran Hamada is in this match not Naniwa. Michinoku Pro is not style I have delved into too much, but I have watched enough to know this is not the best match of the style. I was just listening to a Steve Austin show where he was talking about rings and how the footage and feel of the ring can cause mishaps until you get adjusted. So I would imagine the uncharacteristic blown spots are due to not being comfortable with the new setting. If I ever met a big time Japanese pro wrestler, the first thing I am asking them (after thanking them for being fucking awesome unless it is Tenzan then I am just skipping to straight to the question), what do you think of the American style and American crowds like? Because based on Ultimo Dragon's performances in WCW and this performance they must think all we care about is spots, spots, spots. I guess following the Eliminators that only reinforced their view of America. I just feel Dragon and M-Pro really dumbed down their style because in their mind American crowds only pop for highspots. I wonder if I am right is all. Also, it was pretty cool of the ECW crowd to throw streamers in the ring. For such an "irreverent" audience, they tended to cheer faces, boo heels, respect other styles of wrestling. I feel like fans of wrestling nowadays are just plain rude and spoiled. At this point in my life, I am not embarrassed by the product, I am more embarrassed by the current fans (not you guys of course. You guys are the bestest!).

So my brain is fried from work and puroresu does not do well with a fried brain. Then I remembered the best wrestling for a fatigued person. E-C-DUB! Never see Barely Legal and courtesy of the Network, here we go! This was a TOTAL SQUASH~! Outside of a couple moves at the very good, it was all Eliminators. I enjoyed how much Eliminators tried to do moves in stereo and together, but it was total overkill. There were literally no transitions. It was a gymnastics exhibition. If they had better teachers, could have been a great team. Joey Styles is as brutal as this match. Name the move by substituting Saturn in move name -> pause -> name the move. I can't believe it, but there is actually such a thing as a spot monkey announcer and it is Joey Styles.

I have been slacking on updating this. The latest post looks at a half dozen matches from the first half of the SHield's run last year. Big ups to Jimmy Redman for posting that Top 100 WWE matches from 2013 helped me immensely in culling together a good match listing. Watched the TLC debut match for first time and absolutely gave it 5 stars based on how unique it was, well laid-out and just great action. Best debut match in promotion I can think of. Thought the Elimination Chamber 2013 match was a high end match, but below a MOTYC. Thought overall they had some very good TV matches with Daniel Bryan. Believe The Hype and Believe in the Shield! http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/04/believe-hype-shield-wwe-2012-2013.html