Superstar Sleeze

Navigation With Breeze is the greatest tour title ever! Yuji Nagata vs Akira Taue - NOAH Budokan 6/6/03 This is one of the best establish a challenger matches I have ever seen. You have New Japan badass, Yuji Nagata coming off breaking the IWGP Title Defense record looking to prove he is best wrestler in Japan by taking on Kobashi, but first he has to get through a Four Corner of Heaven, Akira Taue. This match is all about setting up the Kobashi match, which oddly is not as good as this match. Nagata repeatedly takes Taue's best shot and will not be denied. Early on, he takes three Nodowas including one on the floor (but not off the apron gotta protect the gimmick ), but Taue cant negotiate the pinfall. He is able to mount a mini-comeback by going after Taue's arm to setup his unbreakable NagataLock III, but Taue scores a DDT to turn the tide. Taue hits two big boots to set up the top rope Nodowa, a Nodowa and then a DYNAMIC BOMB~! Nagata still kicks out. You have established he can take a lickin', but keep on tickin'. From there, it is clear that Nagata is going to mow down Taue and showcase his offense, which means exploders, enziguiris and back drop drivers. Credit to Nagata as he starts the finish run with a kick to the bad arm and applying a Crippler Crossface. He works to get the vaunted Nagatalock III on, but has to hit his other moves first to weaken Taue to apply the hold. True to form, he secures the victory and earned the right to face Kobashi at the next Budokan with the Nagatalock III. In a tidy 16 minutes, this match accomplishes that Nagata can take the best shots of one of Kobashi's biggest rivals and that he will be targeting the arm (a huge source of Kobashi's offense) and Kobashi is in trouble if the Nagatalock III is applied. Mix in this is New Japan's hottest star versus NOAH's hottest star and you have yourself some serious box office. ****

Six years!?!?!??!?!?! I will be surprised if we get six months. It is surprising you bring this up, Parv because I was getting ready to make the statement that Bryan wrestles a lot like Backlund, but wanted to watch a couple more matches from 2013 before I said that. In the ring, there are rarely extended heat segments in his matches. He is always struggling. He is always hitting hope spots. He sells, but it is not really his forte. He will occasionally drop selling so he can hit his moves. He wrestles a lot of the match on top. It is very reminiscent of Backlund's scrappiness. The HHH match was the first match in a long time that I remember him taking a lot of offense at once from an opponent and even then it was still a very even match. I think it just standard smart wrestling booking to put the finish in doubt. You have a monster face like Cena or Hogan you have him take heat a lot because it runs counter to their character (during the Wyatt six man tag on RAW, is when I really noticed how much better Cena was at selling than Bryan). If you have a plucky underdog face, you have him work on top to counter the "stigma" that he does not belong. I am more interested in comparing their in-ring work. I actually think John Cena is the Modern Day Bob Backlund in terms of character work even though their in-ring work is night and day. So I do want to expound on this at some point once I have watched more matches.

That makes sense. Whats the deal with Tenzan & Kojima vs Barton & Steele? Looks like a shitty match on paper, but ranked 3rd in 2001. Is worth time to watch it? I have never seen Jungle Jim Steele and he might be my favorite wrestler out of the four (fine Kojima is not that bad, but annoying). Do they really put on career performances?

I have seen them get panned but I am curious to rewatch Mutoh/Kawada and Mutoh/Tenryu from 2002. I cant believe that one year could make that much difference. How the fuck did Akiyama & Saito vs Wild II make the top ten? That has been far away the worst match I have seen. It has been the only bad match yet/ People got the Liger vs NOAH tags mixed up. It is the April tag that rocks! TESTICULAR PSYCHOLOGY~! I feel like I might have short changed Takayama/Nagata and Tenryu/Kojima. I am going to rewatch those. I like my position for Takayama/Misawa. I just dont like that match up. I really liked Sterness vs Kobashi & Shiga. Helluva performance from Shiga. Again, another big all-star tag match that just fell flat for me in the form of Kobashi's return tag, It was perfectly good match, but did nothing for me. 1. New Japan (Liger & Minoru ) vs. NOAH (Kikuchi & Kanemaru) - NOAH 4/7/02 2. GHC Tag Champions Akiyama & Saito vs Kobashi & Shiga - NOAH 10/19/02 3. GHC Champion Yoshihiro Takayama vs Mitsuharu Misawa - Budokan 09/23/02 4. Genichiro Tenryu vs Satoshi Kojima - AJPW 07/07/02 5. IWGP Champion Yuji Nagata vs. Yoshihiro Takayama - Tokyo Dome 05/02

Definitely a dropoff in quality, but not as much as into 2002 from my viewing, which I thought was truly an abysmal year. Each of my top 5 matches from 2001 outranks the best match from 2001. From the stuff that didnt make the spreadsheet, I would be curious to see Mutoh/Doc, Ohtani/Tanaka, and Fujita/Nagata. I should watch Kanemoto/Tanaka vs Wagner/Silver King, Misawa/Taue and Kawada/Sasaki from the list. Should I actually watch Tenzan & Kojima vs Mike Barton & Jungle Fuckin Jim Steele. That seems like the stuff of nightmares, but people voted it over the awesome, awesome Tenryu/Mutoh match? Wow, was not expecting such a big disconnect between my list and the consensus. I thought Tenryu/Mutoh was head and shoulders above the rest of the 2001 output that was not even really close. I know I am really low on the Hashimoto/Misawa tag, but it relies way too much on star power in my eyes. I did not find the work compelling, the layout, how it made Akiyama look. To be fair, I have not liked any of these big tags (Ak&Nagata vs Misawa/Kobashi or Ak/Nagata vs Mutoh/Hase) just dont do anything for me. Misawa/Takayama, I liked, but it feels overrated at the number two position and I am a Takayama mark. I have it at #6 for the year. It was kinda lethargic. Takayama works a lot better with Kobashi. Someone needs to explain the Kawada/Kojima match to me. Outside of Kojima mocking Kawada with the hammy stretches it was just Ace Crushers and bombs. I dug two high profile Mutoh matches a lot, really good work. Tanaka/Murahama was incredible work and really paid off all the work on the cross-armbreaker. That stretch when Tanaka is in it is just so exciting. 1. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Keiji Mutoh - Budokan 6/8/01 2. Keiji Mutoh vs Toshiaki Kawada - Champions Carnival 04/01 3. IWGP Jr Heavyweight Champion Minoru Tanaka vs Takehiro Murahama - NJPW 4/20/01 4. Genichiro Tenryu & Masa Fuchi vs Toshiaki Kawada & Nobutaka Araya - AJPW 6/30/01 5. GHC Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 07/27/01

What a fuckin year 200 was and from the looks of it I just scratched the surface. I should watch Ishikawa vs Murakami at some point to include it on my rankings. I do not get love at all for Tanaka/Sano. I like the placement of Vader/Kobashi. I thought SUWA/Dragon Kid & NJ/Osaka were overrated, the former all over the place and the latter lacked heat. I feel like I missed something with Tenryu/Kawada and really need to rewatch it, but the heat segment was really off for me. I think Tenryu/Sasaki is actually underrated by that poll and me. That was a really good star making/torch passing match. I am surprised at how well NJPW did that year. I have the matches that went #1/#2 at #3/#6 so not far off, but maybe it was the Kawada effect to get that consensus to put two NJ matches over Misawa/Akiyama. I know Im a lot higher than most on Kobashi/Takayama, but the heat segment and comeback are really off the charts. Both are friggin awesome. I think Ohtani&Takiwa vs Tanaka/Kanemoto is missing. I would be curious to see where that placed. I would hope a lock for top ten for the year. 1. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 02/27/00 2. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama - All Japan 05/26/00 3. Toshiaki Kawada & Masa Fuchi vs Yuji Nagata & Takashi Iizuka - NJ PPV 12/14/00 4. Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 12/23/00 5. IWGP Jr Hvywt Tag Champs Ohtani & Takaiwa vs Kanemoto & Minoru - NJPW 6/25/00 6. IWGP Champion Kensuke Sasaki vs Toshiaki Kawada - 10/00 Tokyo Dome Non-Title 7. Shinya Hashimoto & Takashi Iizuka vs Naoya Ogawa & Kazunari Murkami - Tokyo Dome 01/04/00 8. Kenta Kobashi vs Takao Omori - Champions Carnival Final '00 9. Toshiaki Kawada & Genichiro Tenryu vs Stan Hansen & Taiyo Kea - Budokan 07/23/00 10. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Kensuke Sasaki - 01/04/00

You know you are a wrestling fan when you have RAW on (Best Heyman promo since his return) and are watching Takayama/Sasaki '04 on your laptop. So how come in Japan the refs count in English?

Yoshihiro Takayama vs Kensuke Sasaki - G-1 Climax '04 WAR! What is it good for? Well my entertainment of course! Takayama continues his reign as the top freelancer in Japan. Sasaki has had quiet years since his explosive 2000. Of the interim generation between Three Musketeers and Tanahashi/Nakamura etc..., Sasaki is my favorite by a good margin over Nagata, Tenzan and Kojima. He is hard hitting and explosive. He is not a thinking man's wrestler. He is just a bulldozer. The winner of this match is the one was going to hit the other harder, no frills, just really stiff strikes. They start off with tests of strength that shows how even this is with Takayama winning one with a fireman's carry and Sasaki winning a top wristlock battle. Takayama scores first with a big knee lift. Takayama throws his weight around to control the short and stout Sasaki. Sasaki fires back the only way he knows how with some vicious lariats. His strategy throw Takayama into something hard and lariat the shit out of him. The eventual strike exchange happens, but this one is especially stiff. Holy fuck those lariats and Takayama takes them like a man. Each men ends up on one knee from the ferocity of these strikes. With slobber dripping from his face, the Bleach Blond & Bad Giant of Japan kicks Sasaki's head off, but the subsequent knee lift did not get the job done. The Power Warrior hits an enziguiri and an awesome cross body from the top to the floor to the retreating Takayama. The crowd is pumped and Sasaki calls for the Northern Lights Bomb and hits it. BUT KICK OUT!!! I totally bought that false finish. Takayama big knee lift in the corner, dragon suplex and Everest German gives Takayama his only win of this G-1 Climax. I have enjoyed how different New Japan has been than NOAH in this time with their short, but impactful matches. I thought this one really exemplified Strong Style with his no frills, straight forward badass match. Who ever hit who hardest was going to win? The Bleach Blond & Bad Giant of Japan hit just that much harder on this night. ****

Of course, this is the Wrestlemania I do not go to. That's what happens when Orton/Bastista was the advertised main event up until a few weeks ago. "Silverdome" was hilarious. Hogan was real cool about it. Austin is the man. The Rock gave his best promo since returning. Bryan/HHH was fuckin awesome. I need to see more of the hyped matches, but definitely my MOTY so far. I don't want to debate semantics, but I am 100% with 'ol Timbo Slice that was HHH's match and he was the MVP. I am not saying he carried Bryan. I am saying people who may say Bryan carried HHH are delusional and seeing what they want to see. Best. Squash. EVER. Crowd seemed kinda dead for it, but understandably so. Best. Battle Royale. EVER. I loved the finish sequence. Tons of great spots. I was marking out for tons of stuff. Kofi should only wrestle in Battle Royals/Royal Rumbles. Cesaro winning was awesome. Cena/Wyatt was the match I thought would be match of the night. It felt way too cinematic to me. The narrative seemed a bit all over the place. I am just tired of these "Cena Embrace The Hate" angles. At least, Cena sold like he might be tempted to go to the dark side in this match. I was surprised Cena won. I don't really dig the Wyatts. The Extreme Rules street fight between these two may be a MOTYC, but this was not. Brock/Taker this was a match I expected I would like, but the internet would pan. I don't it is as bad people are making it out to be. I think it is by far the worst Lesnar match since his comeback, but I enjoyed it more than Cena/Wyatt. I thought Lesnar has absolutely zero chance to break the streak. I was totally shocked. I don't think you could have Cena break the streak because that would only intensify the Cena hate. It would have to be someone that unified the crowd like Punk, Bryan or potentially Reigns. Otherwise, it had to be a heel. I love Brock. I think he is a badass athlete and am a total mark for his matches. That said, I think WWE vastly overvalues him as their Ace Monster Heel. His matches are usually to silence ala this match. I think Brock/Bryan is going to tear down the house and Bryan should keep it from being silent. Divas were pretty good. Alicia Fox delivered the most badass kick to the midsection I ever did see. The Triple Threat greatly exceeded expectations. Part of me was rooting for a non-Bryan win just to see if they would riot, but by the end I was totally 100% behind Bryan. Once HHH/Stephanie came out, this was just an excellent piece of booking. From Scott Armstrong to wiping out the Authority to the badass RKO/Powerbomb to the best sequence of false finishes they ever had. I think the Taker loss reinforced that anything could happen and I was biting on the false finishes. I thought the false finishes killed Mania last year especially Rock/Cena II, but this year it made the main event awesome. I really think it was the best string of false finishes they ever had. The visual of Bryan with both belts on the announce table with the fireworks and Wrestlemania XXX was bitchin ending to a crazy Wrestlemania.

When you say Tenzan legitmately KO'd Nagata in the semis fucking up the plan does that mean Nagata would have won the title here? Genichiro Tenryu vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan - Vacant IWGP Championship 02/15/04 Incidentally, Tenzan and Kojima both have their best singles matches against Tenryu. Leave it to Mr. Puroresu to get even better match out of Tenzan than Akiyama by keeping it short and staying on offense. Tenryu starts the match with a terrific kappo kick and digging his nails so deep into Tenzan's forehead that he bleeds (most likely a bladejob, but great way to set it up). Immediately, I am already more into this match than the Akiyama match. There are too many chopfests overall, but as far as chopfests go they are pretty entertaining because Tenryu and Tenzan are different than most wrestlers who engage in this macho behavior. Tenryu has his nasty high chop and punch. Tenzan has his Zinedien Zidane headbutt and double chop. Tenryu bodyslams Tenzan off the apron and here comes the onslaught: Spider German, Enziguiri, Norther Lights Bomb and the worst powerbomb ever. That is up there with the Hashimoto wipe out as the funniest botch. Tenzan meets Tenryu with a big lariat triggering another strike exchange. I have to say I was digging the Zidane headbutts. Tenzan wraps him up in the Anaconda Vice, which won him the G-1 Climax, but Tenryu gets the ropes. One last Tenryu hope spot in the form of a backslide before Tenzan headbutt to midsection -> spikes him with a scoop piledriver -> a diving headbutt secures him his second IWGP Championship. Short, bloody and action-packed now that is a recipe for success for any match. I never expect blood in NJPW/NOAH matches so when it happens it is always a nice treat. Tenryu came out early and just pressed his advantage and eventually Tenzan weathered the storm turned the tide in a strike exchange and unloaded his arsenal to win. It may have just been the blood, but Tenzan's performance seemed way more passionate. So far the best non-NOAH match from 2003 & 2004. ***3/4

Jun Akiyama vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan - G-1 Climax Finals 08/17/03 This is the tale of two performances: the cold, mechanical Tenzan and the expressive selling of Akiyama. I really thought this was the one of the best individual performances from Akiyama in basically carrying Tenzan to a great match through selling and bringing Tenzan's offense alive. Tenzan reminded me a lot of Demolition in this match. Everything made sense, but it was delivered so mechanically and without passion (there were brief moments of fire) that I was often disinterested. Nonetheless, the crowd was really 100% behind Tenzan and given that they had run through Nagata and Sasaki, you might as well give Tenzan a shot. The beginning of the match was brutally boring and I really was fearing for the worst. As much as I bitch about Kojima, I was like give me a Kojima trainwreck over the incessant chops and stomps. There really was no sense of struggle. It felt like Akiyama was just letting him do offense to him. The test of strength was the spot of the beginning. The match finally picks up when Akiyama hits a jumping knee and the announcer name drops Jumbo Tsuruta, which was cool. Akiyama does his textbook neck work with a barrage of knees to the neck, which always enjoyable and interesting even if Tenzan is the most boring wrestler ever. Akiyama hits a delayed piledriver, but only gets two. Akiyama goes for the Exploder on the apron to mercy kill this match, but Tenzan backdrops him so his upper back catches the apron. OW! This was at the halfway mark of the match and at this point I was ready to shit all over this, but the second half really salvaged the match and I can appreciate why it is highly recommended. Tenzan is laser focused on the midsection of Akiyama with stomps, chops, diving headbutts, backbreaker, suplexs. What really makes this all special is how Akiyama is selling and really writhing in pain. You put someone else in this role and this match would be the most boring fucking thing ever. Akiyama is making Tenzan look way better than he is. Give Tenzan credit he is building towards his moonsault, which Akiyama musters up enough strength to powerbomb him. Akiyama is able to get a knee lift and a Exploder, but Tenzan backdrops out of a second to put on this ugly as fuck half-nelson/chinlock that looks painless. He hits a gutbuster and then his moonsault. I cant describe how awesome Akiyama's sell is. He is visibly in so much pain while being covered, but still kicks out. I hate to be the asshole that fantasy books, but this match would be so much better if Tenzan had just went up top and hit another moonsault and won. Of course, this being early 00s Japan, Akiyama hits two Exploders to level the playing field and now we hit the home stretch where we depart from the first 3/4 of the match. Akiyama gets the guillotine choke and the elbow to the back of the head. However, the wrist-clutch can not polish off Tenzan. Tenzan hits a Back Drop Driver and a headbutt to the midsection (WAHOO! Callback) to set up the top rope diving headbutt for two. Lame late match chopfest ends with Tenzan spiking Akiyama on his head via scoop piledriver. Tenzan locks in the Anacoda Vice (as called by the announcers) and when Akiyama gets up he throws him down in it to a big pop. The ref calls it awarding Tenzan his first G-1 Climax. The biggest problem with this match was length. Length is not Tenzan's strength. The whole home stretch killed the great story they were telling just hit on the usual Japanes tropes before finishing. They could have run the midsection story early -> run through Akiyama's offense, but he cant hit the Exploder because he is so much pain -> big finish with two moonsaults as the finish. Instead, we get a boring as hell and perfunctory 18 minute, an interesting Tenzan control segment because Akiyama is a wrestling god and a NOAH home stretch. I recommend it for the Akiyama selling clinic and not much else. ***1/2

"I think Mr. T is inducting his mother into the Hall of Fame" - My Brother, absolutely lost my shit and spit out my soda and started crying. I have not laughed so hard in a long, long time. When he was running through the Holidays and ended with fuckin Father's Day that was glorious. Austin and I had the same reaction. Lita's was interesting, but she has a kinda dry presentation so it was not too engaging. DDP was fuckin awesome as usual, I love that snake story. He tells it even better on the Steve Austin Show. Jake's was a tough reminder of the pitfalls of a pro wrestling lifestyle, but he brought us up at the end. Mr. T was bitchin' as all hell. The drawback was that it sucked that it cut into others times. I love Scott Hall and the Kliq in this type of atmosphere. So I have seen like hours and hours of shoots so it was not the end of the world they did not get to talk plus they will be inducted as the nWo so I'll let it slide. I am glad Hall looks as good as he does. Carlito was good, but I thought Primo was pretty damn good on the mic get this boy talking, Vince. Who is this Linda and what did she do with the potted plant I am used to. The Warrior had some real shining moments putting over the enhancement and trainers who helped and pushing for a Crew Wing of the Hall and spotlighting Jimmy Miranda. Then he would get dragged down into the DVD and would repeat himself. It was too long, but better than expected.

Daniel Bryan vs Roman Reigns w/ The Shield & Randy Orton - RAW 9/16/13 First off, this bothered me then and it still bothers me now was the incessant whining of the babyface commentators this or the Big Show match was a punishment match. If Bryan was the A+ player these people thought he was he would have to defend the title against challengers bigger than him. Handicap match, one arm tied behind his back, blindfold matches those are punishment matches. This is just a tough challenge for the undersized, but firey Bryan. That all being said this is a great match and I think the best Bryan singles performance of this project on Free TV (I have the Orton street fight ahead of this overall in 2013). They establish Bryan's quickness and tenacity as the keys to success. He hones in on Reigns' leg and never really gives up on it and Reigns to his credit sells for the majority of the match. All you had to do was throw in a Shining Wizard and I would have thought this was a Mutoh match from 2001. Bryan was great with his barrage of Dragon Leg screws and kicks. I especially loved the inverted Indian deathlock (think Liger) and then him coming down to reign elbows on Reigns. It showed his focus on strategy, but also his intensity. Reigns takes over at this point with a huge Axe Bomber, which is a perfect heel transition because you are hitting from behind and it is violently wicked. When Bryan hits a knee lift, it is right back to the leg and when Reigns tries to stymie Bryan with a knee lift it is immediately a chop block to a leg lace. That is the type of struggle missing from a lot of matches. Great stuff. Bryan gets another of offense with a drop toehold into the middle turnbuckle and a missile dropkick, but Reigns catches him on his diving elbow driving him into the apron and throwing him into barricade in a very nice bump. Bryan crashes and burns on diving headbutt, but kicks out at 2. Bryan's hope spots feel more like he is struggling through pain rather than turning it off. It is his best FIP so far, but again still much better on offense. "You go where I tell you. This is A+. You are just B+" - Roman Reigns, Da Man! Here comes Bryan flying off with a clotheslines and YES! kicks before Reigns quashes that with a true Samoan Drop. REIGNS HOWLS~! Bryan evades and a roll-up, no. Big kick to head, nada. Bryan WIPES ROLLINS OUT WITH A HUGE DROPKICK. The back of Rollins' head cracked against the announce table. Nasty. Dropkick to Reigns and dropkick to Ambrose. Big clothesline by Reigns only to fall prey to the YESLOCK. Orton in and triggers DQ. They beat down Bryan until the locker room makes the save, which is a big deal at this point in the story arc because the locker room had since feared for their jobs from The Authority and this was the first time they rallied around Bryan. The more I watch Bryan the more I see a throwback to old WWF style of booking babyfaces very strong in the ring. There is very little time where Bryan is selling for extended periods of time. He is always peppering in hope spots and he always feels like he is on offense. Whereas, Cena builds his matches around selling and now extended comebacks. I need to watch more Bryan, but off hand I prefer Cena. Reigns was awesome in this as a badass monster. It was a little too back & forth at times, but I liked the leg psychology and thought Reigns gave a strong performance. ***3/4

Daniel Bryan w/Randy Orton vs Seth Rollins w/Roman Reigns - RAW 6/10/13 Much like the Cesaro/Bryan RAW match, I initially thought this match was overrated. Unlike the Cesaro/Bryan match, upon rewatch, I loved it. They went balls to the wall and did not let up. Bryan started off red-hot with a barrage of offense including a surfboard attempt (important later) and Rollins juts bumping all over the place for him especially dug the baseball slide to barricade bump. Rollins uses his head drop on the middle turnbuckle as a transition, which suits him well given his head-related offense and is a good sudden transition. Rollins, who King astutely points out (shocking, I know), likes to rub the salt into his opponent's wounds by trying to use their own moves against them. Rollins gets the surfboard (no Yes! mockery for shame), but Bryan powers out of it like only he can. Bryan proves he is better by getting on his surfboard and modifying it ala Liger or Dragon to have a Dragon sleeper. Even the Richmond crowd was good in this as during the trading of hands they would say Yes! for Bryan and No! for Rollins ala the Yay/Boo chant. Bryan catches a Rollins enziguiri into a half-crab in another cool spot. Remember, Rollins likes to mimic his opponent so after a connected enziguiri he starts doing the kicks to a kneeling opponent's chest ala Bryan (at this point I want to get "ala" into every subsequent sentence). They each tease Germans on each other. This leads to one of my all-time favorite moves the corner powerbomb from Rollins, but it still not enough to put down the fiesty Bryan. Crazy ROH workrate sequence ends in Chaos Theory and a huge Bryan kick to the head that should have been the finish. Rollins shifts his weight on a super back suplex, but cant get two. Orton pulls Reigns' legs out from under him and Bryan gets the small package for two. After the match, Bryan kicks Rollins in the head, who eats the RKO from the newly forged Team RK-No, wonder what happened to that team. Even though, they depart from Bryan's "inferiority complex" (which commentary gets over pretty well in this) this is a very entertaining match in a vacuum. There is not a whole much in the way of storytelling or even selling just hitting big moves, but escalating them well to the finish. Fans of plot advancement over MOVEZ~! do not wring your hands yet because the finish does put over the fact that brand new team of Orton/Bryan are gelling and a real test for The Shield. It was important to demonstrate those two were on the same page. ***3/4

Antonio Cesaro vs Sheamus - Main Event 06/05/13 "Think shoot, but work" - "Stone Cold" Steve Austin These two had to work for every inch of this match. From the outset, Cesaro worked so hard to overcome Sheamus' resistance to have a headscissors applied to him out of his headlock. That is pro wrestling. Once Cesaro was in a control, he bit Sheamus' hand. That is pro wrestling. Sheamus has a Cesaro in a tight wristlock so he covers Sheamus' mouth to back him in the corner and hit a monster European Uppercut. That is pro wrestling. Everything was so gritty from Cesaro and Sheamus is no slouch himself. In fact, I would argue until recently Sheamus was the best offensive wrestler in North America (Daniel Bryan may have earned that mantle now). He throws a great punch, a mean elbow and hits a great flying shoulderblock. Cesaro is able to run Sheamus' shoulder into the post and then running kick his head into post and followed that up with a double stomp from the apron. He would pull Sheamus up by the ear. Sometime they throw around physical in WWE, but this match was physical. Sheamus begins to run through his offense beginning with the Irish Curse backbreaker and getting his receipt on the outside by running Cesaro's arm into the post. Cesaro is still able to grab the crossface chickenwing on Sheamus' bad arm, which is just such a painful looking move. Sheamus elbows out, but these aren't WWE elbows that is a MANS ELBOW that rocks Cesaro's head. Sheamus again looks to go high with a flying shoulderblock, but eats a European Uppercut. It does not look pretty, but nothing looks pretty in this match. Cesaro hits a Bombs Away knee drop, but still get a pin in this fight Cesaro locks in the crossface chickenwing again and man Cesaro needs to bring it back full-time. There is an urgency to every action because each knows the other can hit a knockout shot at anytime. Sheamus goes for White Noise, but Cesaro is still struggling and rams him into the corner and this creates the opportunity to hit the Brogue Kick for the win. My current two favorite wrestlers did not disappoint in delivering one of the best physical contests in the WWE. There was not a lot of typical Southern selling. I am hurt, but if I don't power through this I am going to fucking hurt and that may cost me time down the line. The selling in this resembled something akin to a real fight. Even though, they were a lot of momentum swings, it never felt like an exhibition quite the contrary it felt very much like a war. These guys were really fighting like their careers were on the line. ****1/4

WWE World Tag Team Champs The Shield (Rollins & Reigns) vs. Team Hell No (Bryan & Kane) - RAW 5/27/13 This is not the title change, but the RAW rematch that follows Ambrose's victory over Kingston and Bryan & Kane save Kingston from a beatdown. During this time was my absolute favorite storyline of the year: Daniel Bryan's inferiority complex and much to the detriment of his relationships with Kane & Orton going out of his way to prove he is on the level of his partners. It mixed his natural smaller stature, his already developed anger issues with an interesting character flaw. There is an excellent moment before this match where Bret Hart basically reiterates the same thing as Kane had been saying to Bryan and Bryan is just lapping it up. An exasperated Kane is like "What!??!?! I just said that." and Bryan is all like "Yeah, but youre just Kane." It is such an excellent portrayal of someone who is dealing with tunnel vision. Of course, they sadly dropped this interesting character build-up for Bryan the plucky underdog babyface, which I dont begrudge them, but when he was fucking around with the Wyatts I would have liked to see more of a callback to this work because this was an interesting quality that was established. At the outset, Bryan is a house of fire and he is beating up Rollins so bad in the corner. Kane, of all people, has to simmer him down so they don't get disqualified. In a nice juxtaposition, Kane wrestles calmly as opposed to overzealous, chip on his shoulder Bryan. Rollins hit his enziguiri to escape and tag Reigns, who is right on him. I like Rollins' punches a lot and Kane gets a good hope spot with a delayed vertical (he should add that to his arsenal). The hot tag to Bryan is glorious. After this run, Bryan was one of the best hot tags of all time. In my opinion, it was his hot tag that got him over like a muthafucka in addition to the Yes chant. Running dropkick to Reigns off the apron, huge German to Rollin, big running dropkick to Rollins, super back suplex, but that takes too much out of Bryan. Credit to the commentary team putting over that Bryan's chip on his shoulder may be costing him the match. The search for perfection is the enemy of good, after all. The FIP begins with Reigns' palm strike stymieing Bryan. When The Shield came out, I was a huge Reigns mark and I just knew he was going place, but upon watching this back with a closer eye (when I watch Raw I am usually talking to my brother and/or dad and just enjoying it), Rollins is wicked good. I love how he takes time to always get the crowd into it. He wrestles like it is an actually contest. When he is doing the YES! chant while preparing to surfboard Bryan was wicked and one of the funniest moments of the year was he berated Bryan for being the weak link and Kane says from the apron, "Dont listen to him, Daniel". Bryan is still no Ricky Morton, but Rollins and Reigns did a great job smothering him. Bryan breaks free and here comes Kane. As good as Kane has been at character work, he is a lukewarm tag at best. Bryan rejoins the fracas pretty much immediately with a missile dropkick to Reigns and a diving elbow to the outside. He is going for the running knee off the apron, but Kane tells him to quit it and go back to the corner. Reigns catches Bryan and plants him on the outside, while Rollins his a springboard knee to Kane's temple to win. This is the type of match that used to be the WWF's bread and butter in the 80s establish an angle in the back and show how it affects the match outcome. Too many matches either have a disconnect or don't advance the story. This match did in an compelling way: Bryan's fiery attitude can backfire, how long is Kane's fuse with the irrational Daniel Bryan, Rollins is a huge dick and a Reigns is a beast. That's wrestling understanding who you are and how you fit into the context of a match. With Cena/Punk taking place on Raw in 2013, no match would top that as the best free TV match of the year, but in other years this would be a contender. ***3/4

The Shield vs Undertaker & Team Hell No - RAW 4/22/13 Undertaker decides to stick around after Wrestlemania for the first time in a long time and give a little rub to the hottest, new act they have, The Shield. Even though, The Shield's push would stall over the summer before picking up again with the Rhodes feud, this match went a long in proving that WWE was invested in this group and that kind of cache generates heat with the fans. The London O2 crowd was predictably pumped to see Taker wrestle and the Shield has declared that the Deadman's time has passed and they run this yard now. They tease a 3-on-1 beatdown on Taker because they had attacked Hell No in the back. Here comes Daniel Bryan and Kane running down the ramp. Kane's stride down the ramp is like an exact replica of how he runs down the ramp in Here Comes The Pain video game. It is freaky. It just does not look normal. The match is by no means a classic, but it is fun. If they reorganized some segments, I believe the match would have came off better, but who I am to tell them what to do. The opening was a standard shine everyone looked good against Ambrose and the fans got to see Old School. The heels take over on Kane when Reigns hits a Superman Punch with no fanfare, but man does he move fluidly. I love the revolving door of dropkicks spot and I don't think I have seen it recently. When Bryan comes in is when match gets really interesting. He was such an incredible hot tag during this period just flying around and Rollins, who has taken over as the best bumper in WWE makes him look that much better. Rollins really was on fire during this hot tag with bump off the forearm, bump to the outside and taking the dive. Bryan misses the running dropkick in the corner to set up his FIP. I have noticed as of late the gap between Bryan's offensive skills and selling has really become apparent. In this match, I thought Bryan gave a blase performance as a FIP while the Shield did a pretty good job trash talking the Undertaker (Rollins is always looking to get the crowd involved). It climaxes with a sweet double team as Ambrose holds Bryan in Bow & Arrow and Rollins comes off with a kneedrop. Reigns misses the superman punch and here comes the Deadman. Taker really has one of the better comebacks just so much action and Ambrose takes all of it really well. Taker has the double goozle. SPEAR BY REIGNS~! It does not get quite the reaction it would now, but I thought it was a hot spot. Taker hits Rollins with a clothesline and tags in Kane!!?!??!?!?! Kane runs through his standard offense, yawn. Rollins hits a wicked enziguiri on Kane to avoid the chokeslam so Ambrose takes it instead, but Kane in his weakened state tags in Bryan. Reigns distracts Bryan on top leading to a melee. Bryan misses the diving headbutt and Ambrose covers for the victory. The transitions in and out of this were pretty lame and the selling from the face left a lot to be desired. The layout was weird you want to build to Taker's comeback without putting him over so I get that restriction, but what is with the needless run of Kane offense just kinda killed the finish. Also, the match was too normal and just did not show the differentiating factor that the Shield could bring to the table. There were flashes of the chaos they could create, but not enough havoc overall. Taker looked sweet and The Shield was very good, but not as different as they could. Rollins was a bumping god in this match. ***

MANTAUR~!

All Japan Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada vs Katsuyori Shibata - NJPW 11/03/04 Non-Title The announcer informs us that both men are DANGEROUS~! repeatedly. I believe Kawada is on this tour because at the end he is going to defend against Tenzan as he finally in the midst of his big Triple Crown reign a decade too late. Shibata is a legitimate shoot fighter, but does not have the record of Fujita or Sakuraba. At this point, Shibata was just a New Japan young lion (firmly positioned behind Tanahashi and Nakamura as a prospect). I may have spoke prematurely when I declared Tanahashi/Fujita as the best short match of the project. The story of this match is that Shibata kicks hard, but Kawada punches harder. Shibata catches Kawada unawares by bullrushing him. He posts him on the outside when Kawada tries to escape and they tease a countout finish, Shibata wins a fiery elbow war with a well-timed slap triggering one of those pitch perfect Kawada sells. Shibata then busts out Stretch Plum and Kawada Kicks, which pisses off Kawada. Kawada kicks his ass and then dumps him on his head with a back drop driver. Shibata blocks a kick and is able to win another furious elbow war, but cant put him away with a sleeper. One last vicious elbow war this time with kicks and slaps flying, Kawada wins by knocking his ass out with a sweet right. The ref admonishes him, but the damage has been done and Kawada drops a knee on his head to get the academic three. I loved the use of elbow/slap/kick exchanges. It was not just a segment of macho pissing, it was the match. Shibata's gameplan was the best defense was a great offense and Kawada was more than happy to oblige. It all ends when the crafty veteran says enough of this shit and just knocks him the fuck out with a closed fist. It does not last long enough to contend for a truly great position and I would put Tanahashi/Fujita a little ahead because I enjoyed Tanahashi's babyface performance that much more. In terms of 8 minutes of absolute ass-kicking, it does not get much better than this. ***3/4

So no Bob Sapp matches made the nominations for shame! More seriously, I thought Fujita came off really good in that Tanahashi match. Yeah, his offense is a little bare bones, but I love a good knee lift and all his offense really suited his character much moreso than a Kurt Angle. So how come no more nominated matches from him and why no more praise? Did I just happen to watch his career performance and the rest is shit. Is it because during the Inoki regime he was stuck with shitty opponents? He seemed really different and someone who fit Inoki's vision really well while still being able to execute a great pro wrestling match.

U-30 Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuyuki Fujita - Vacant IWGP Championship 6/5/04 I love polarizing figures so much and I don't think there is a more polarizing figure in wrestling today than Hiroshi Tanahashi. New Japan fans claim he is turning out 5 star classics at a rate that has not been seen since the heyday of All Japan in the 90s. While his detractors assert that the matches are overrated and when they are good he is just being carried like the biggest piece of luggage in the business. I have not really watched a Tanahashi match since about 2010, but I enjoyed his matches with Nagata and Nakamura. That is where the memory ends I just remember liking them, but nothing specific. I look forward to watching Tanahashi progress during this project and once this is done I plan on continuing right through the present day in Japan with a very specific focus on Tanahashi. Here we begin as he returned from being stabbed in real life by ex-girlfriend TV reporter and has been given this vanity title that represents he is best of the youth movement at the time. Bob Sapp (not so surprisingly did not have any nominated matches) was the previous IWGP champion, but lost to Fujita in a shoot fight thus vacated his pro wrestling belt. I love Japan and Inoki. I don't know if there was a tournament or if it was just decided that these two were the top contenders. It makes sense that Fujita would get a crack at the title and Tanahashi as the other heavyweight singles champion makes sense. Fujita, who surprisingly did not have any other nominated matches besides this one, is a legitimate shoot fighter. Like Sakuraba, he is one of the few pro wrestlers to have an above .500 winning percentage in MMA. Thus the match exploits the obvious difference between the two opponents: Fujita the shoot fighter versus Tanahashi the consummate flashy pro wrestler. It is a very similar dynamic to Lesnar/Cena from 2012. After watching a bevy of Kobashi matches, it was nice to watch some New Japan for a change of pace. You could not get much different from a NOAH match than this match. Clocking in at 12 minutes or so with limited suplex and highspots, this felt so refreshing. Fujita was merciless in using his superior amateur skills to quash Tanahashi at every turn and just unloaded with some of the best knee lifts I have ever seen. I have no idea why Tanahashi kept going for double leg takedown when Fujita, a known amateur wrestling expert would just pancake him and go to town. I would not go so far as to say this was a squash like we have seen from Hashimoto in previous matches. They mixed in enough cool spots to show Tanahashi's fighting spirit and his quickness advantage such as Tanahashi almost getting the flash victory at the outset on a roll through on a double leg and catching a kick turning it into a dragon leg screw into a dive. I also liked at the beginning when Fujita just missed a kick to the head and Tanahashi sells the close call. It really put over Fujita as a badass. There is no denying that Tanahashi was very over with the crowd. I thought it was interesting that Fujita donning the "Team Inoki" tights was the clear heel and wrestled very heelish. Inoki strikes me as someone who is very un-self-aware, which part of the charm so it seems weird for him to push his beloved legit shooters as heels. Anyways, that is a tangent to be explored later, since Tanahashi is in a lot of ways the equivalent of a pretty boy babyface like a Martel or Morton, I thought it was very important that he did get moments to stand toe-to-toe with Fujita with a nice elbow and that Fujita at least sold his subpar slaps. The finish sees Tanahashi have one last gasp with the Sling Blade and a running small package, but after that Fujita just saps all his energy with an standing arm triangle choke. After this, he is easy pickings for the smiling, cocky Fujita who kicks his head off and we get the knockout finish tease. Fujita kicks his head off again and this time the ref mercy kills this contest. This match is clearly different from the highly intricate New Japan matches of today as this was a bare bones match with a spunky Tanahashi trying to survive the remorseless shooter, Fujita. Each played their role excellently and sold for each other really well. Fujita is not someone I have ever heard widely praised in a pro wrestling context, but I thought he was really good in this setting. Was this his career performance? It was very good for what it was and will probably be the best match for its short length, but lacks the firepower and extended story of the other excellent matches so it tops out in my book at ***3/4.

The Shield vs Ryback, John Cena, Sheamus - WWE Elimination Chamber 2013 The TLC debut match would lose a lot of its luster if in subsequent matches The Shield reverted to just another team in the WWE. Thus this match had the heightened importance of affirming and securing The Shield's uniqueness in WWE. Once again, the babyfaces do not know what has hit them. They are so used to the semi-respectful style of the WWE. Yeah, their opponents may cheat, but there has never such a full court press. This is like VCU's vaunted Havoc Defense (if that coach went to a school that could procure him better players that team would be one of the most fun in college basketball). Going into this match, Cena, Ryback and Sheamus expect saves from their opponents, but they don't expect that at first sign of trouble at absolute barrage of offense from their opponents like Reigns clothesline (so glad he switched to Superman Punch) or Rollins' sick springboard knee to Cena's temple (where has that move been?). As a huge Sheamus fan, I am a little disappointed he was treated as an afterthought in this match, but given the time constraints and his partners I cant begrudge the layout. I loved the opening with triple delayed verticals on the Shield, reminiscent of the double/triple figure-4 in Horsemen tags. Sheamus was able to give us a small sample of his badass offense, before Reigns cutoff him off on the outside. I love the revolving door of dropkicks on Sheamus. Sheamus creates space with a non-finishing Brogue Kick and tags in Cena. Cena runs through offense on Reigns to a very mixed reaction and as he goes for the STFU, but Rollins smokes him with a flying knee to the temple. As much as I love Sheamus as an offensive dynamo, Cena proves his mettle in this segment why he is the top star because he is just that damn good at selling. There are some lulls, but spots like Ambrose wicked DDT starts up "Feed Me More" chants. The crowd was rabid for Ryback. How the fuck was he not in The Shield match at Wrestlemania? How stupid! Hot tag to Ryback and RYBACK SMASH~! Bodies go flying as Ryback proves he is one man solution to the Shield problem. Sheamus tries to get involved but suffers Kane's fate and gets speared through the barricade, which has Reigns selling and Ambrose was out too. This leaves Rollins with the Monster. Even though, Shield had controlled the vast majority of the match, it looked like the faces could pull it off. Here comes the Shield to save Rollins and they beat down Ryback. They call for the Triple Powerbomb, but they didn't see Cena! Cena goes for FU and Ryback shellshock Reigns spears Ryback and Rollins falls on top for the victory. What a finish! Due to WWE's penchant for babyface victories, you really bought into Cena & Ryback pulling this one out, but once again the Shield use divide and conquer more effectively than any team in WWE history. There are some lulls in the action in this one compared to TLC, but still one of the best matches in the WWE in 2013. ****1/4

Phew! Five reviews in one day. Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat - WCW Saturday Night 05/14/94 Vacant WCW World Championship Flair and Steamboat put on one last classic before Steamboat's forced retirement that contends with the Ladder Match and Bret/Owen for American MOTY. The Spring Stampede match was wrestled a little too straight for me and had its lulls. This really felt like a high-octane match with plenty of cool new spots that built on the classic canon of Flair/Steamboat. Flair playing the heel more strongly in this match avoided them playing it too straight and added more dynamic elements to the match. It also never feels like a nostalgia match. They still are wrestling at a very high level. It is a cardio tour de force and they are adding spots and nuances to their already well-developed series. I love, love the amateur riding sequences that usually start their matches. They just see where it goes and when Flair picks an ankle he turns it over into a half crab, but then misses the flying knee on Steamboat's knee. It is so organic and logical, but when has Flair ever picked an ankle and gone to the half-crab. It manifested itself naturally out of the riding sequence. Flair is so good at creating movement in his matches to let his opponent shine, the press slams and armdrags were great ways to establish Steamboat's control. However when there is motion, there are times to take advantage. A well-timed Flair punch to the gut ends Steamboat's energetic work. From there, it is 1989 again, baby! Flair hits wicked chop after wicked chop. Flair has such an underrated punch. There is one punch after inverted atomic drop that just looked so picture perfect. You gotta love Flair in the corner. It has to be either Flair or Vader as the greatest corner wrestler ever. Steamboat is milking this for all its worth and I thought the Center Stage crowd was behind The Dragon during the entirety of this match. Every time Steamboat starts to light up Flair they are ready to get behind him. These are some amazing chop exchanges, lots of fire and fury behind them. One of my favorite spots ever was when Steamboat had taken so much punishment that he nearly collapses on the apron, but catches the ropes. I love, love that spot. Someone needs to crib that for a big time match. (2017 me is marking out so hard for these chop exchanges) Among the many things I love about this match is they never forget the crux of the match. It is for a vacant championship. There is no championship advantage. So both men are very aggressive and very offensive. Not only that, they are always going for pinfalls to catch their man unawares, but they also work hard to negotiate their pinfalls. Flair is using amateur cradles and jackknifes (using the ropes for leverage when he can) while Steamboat is using flash. Their goal is to win the match and you win the match by pinfall. There is no wasted motion in excessively beating someone up because a mistake on a home run could cost you the title. So many times you will see a disconnect from the story of the match and the action nowadays. Flair and Steamboat always remember that is about pinning a man's shoulders down for a three count. Flair looks to sap all the energy out of Steamboat with a nice long sleeper and the crowd really gets behind the Steamer at this point. They move to the next chapter of the match where Steamboat works over the knee. It begins with a Flair Flip to the outside only to catch Steamboat in the midsection when he comes off the ropes with a chop only to fall prey to a Steamboat suplex on the floor and then float over on a Steamboat suplex and Flair misses a kneedrop. Thus begins the awesome part where Steamboat builds to applying the figure-4 on Flair. So many times the babyface just slaps on the figure-4, which gets a pop, but for Stemaboat to work over the knee to build to it just made it that much better. I am still a sucker for stuff like Flair pushing Dragon away during a series of chops only to do the Flair Flop. (Im rewatching this in 2017 and sprucing up this review. I popped again for this Flair Flop.) Back from commercial break, The Steamer misses a top splash and Flair immediately double stomps him in the abdomen. Flair is still selling so fucking well. Delayed vertical and Flair is still selling like a million bucks. Flair goes for multiple pinfall attempts, but still cant negotiate a win. Flair hits the knee crusher and now we go to school! The ref catches him using the ropes for leverage so he goes for the kneecrusher again, but Steamboat hits an enziguiri. I loved the Flair Flip where he actually ducks the chop on the apron, but gets nailed coming down from the top rope. Huge mark out moment! At about the 35 minute mark, they are still flying around and they do the bridge spot because they are Cardio Gods. Steamboat gets the superplex, but Flair foot on the ropes. Steamboat was the king of the frenetic finish. He is flying off the top rope. He is throwing a ton of cradles at Flair. I am outta breath just watching all this unfold. I loved the finish with the flying around during a criss cross 38 minutes in and Flair headbutting Steamboat in the midsection on a leapfrog attempt. It is simple but stays true to the match being about getting the pin at all costs. I think if Steamboat actually sold it more with writhing it would have helped. The constant thread throughout the entire match was two champions trying to win the match by throwing out everything they had in their arsenal. From beginning to end, it was about negotiating a pinfall. They occasionally lost their way in order to fit in Flair signature bumps and spots, but overall they stayed true to the match. I thought right up to Flair's figure-4 at 30 minutes they were wrestling at insanely high level and had me totally hooked. The first Flair press slam was when they kinda lost it and it started to peter out. I think if they went 32 minutes instead of 36 minutes this would be a perfect match. That's my nitpick complaint. I loved how Steamboat was just pouring it on at the end. Top rope chops, constant motion. You see Flair throw these wicked chops and then nearly collapse. Steamboat had Flair down from almost sheer exhaustion. He was trying to sap Flair's energy with a barrage of quick cradles, but his plan backfired because when he is not able to get high enough on his leapfrog and Flair is able to get the win. They were such equals in every way that it was just a small mistake that separated them. I have this ahead of the Ladder match, just behind Bret/Owen as the number two match in the US during 1994. It is just an excellent championship style match that I wished still existed to this day. ****3/4

The Shield vs. Ryback & Team Hell No - WWE TLC 2012 TLC Match Is this the greatest debut match in a promotion in the history of wrestling? Not only is it an excellent match, but it represented a total paradigm shift in how WWE presented six-man tags and a return to more chaotic matches. On commentary, Lawler stated that Rollins tweeted "Tonight, we change the world" Usually, that is a whole lot of carny bluster, but on this night The Shield completely changed the game. It was not the moves or the spots themselves that changed wrestling, it was the presentation and the strategy. The presentation was utter raucous mayhem, but not in the ECW garbage way or the Southern hate-filled brawl way. It was closer to wrestling's version of a gang beatdown. It was three men attempting to survive a ruthless assault from three thugs. There were no neat little segments laid out like a typical wrestling match, but just constant action for 20 minutes or so. That is when strategy was so critical in making this match so unique in the WWE history. The Shield wrestled as a unit. No one member felt like the standout star. They were all equals united by the goal to decimate and defeat their opponents. This meant constant isolation of the opposing team. They would lose the advantage momentarily only to have another member come flying out of nowhere to reestablish command of the match. While Team Hell No were the Tag Champs at the time they were primarily singles wrestlers, thus it made sense that Ryback & Team Hell No would not know how to combat The Shield except by brute force. The Shield is not an equation you can brute force. Even though, Ryback was on the losing end of the match, I thought he was the standout star of the match. He wrestled huge in this match. Although, he was greeted by "Goldberg" chants early on, by the time he was mounting his comeback the Brooklyn crowd was chanting "Feed Me More". He was one man wrecking ball and the only one that could manage to really string together a combination of offense on The Shield. His heart in trying to battle The Shield essentially on his own and being the only one that was able to take a member of the Shield out (Rollins) made him look like a huge star in my eyes. With Cena, Rock, Undertaker and HHH all taking up spots at Wrestlemania, it is a shame because Ryback was really hosed that year. They set the tone right away with a melee to start. Ryback gains the advantage on Ambrose, but eventually the numbers game overwhelms him (not before he busts out the 'ol burst out of the gang beatdown spot that looks awesome). The Shield is able to press their advantage on Kane & Bryan taking out each using the ladder. The Shield really excelled at using weapons to consolidate. Kane is able to get a pinfall attempt on Reigns so Ambrose immediately starts chopping him down with a chair and then DDT onto a chair. Ryback is able to gain the upper hand on Ambrose & Rollins long enough to try for Double Shellshock, but Reigns saves. I know it is a Cole cliche, but the pack of dogs mentality is such a great way to describe what is going on. Reigns to the Spanish Announce Table "Get up, fools, this my table now", I always knew he was going to be cash money. Triple powerbomb onto the Spanish Announce Table takes Ryback out of picture. Bryan comes flying through the ropes onto all of The Shield. Team Hell No gamely try to battle The Shield, but without Ryback they fall prey to the numbers advantage. I love how as Ambrose & Rollins are dismantling the smaller Bryan they have Reigns patrolling to make sure that Kane and Ryback dont get up. However, when neither Ambrose nor Rollins can pin Bryan after a double superplex, Reigns rushes into pin Bryan allowing Kane to make the save. It is the details that make a classic. Kane is able to get a mini-comeback that climaxes with chokeslamming Ambrose through a chair. Of course just as Kane is starting to cook, Rollins chop blocks his knee and Reigns spears him through the barricade. Then they friggin' bury Kane in rubble. That is so bitchin! Back in the ring. little Daniel Bryan is able to apply the Yes-Lock on Ambrose, but here comes the Shield and gets it on each one of them, but he too falls prey to the numbers game. It looks like The Shield has the match won after Rollins curb stomps Bryan's head into a chair, but Ryback pulls Ambrose out. The Beast has risen! RYBACK SMASH~! Everyone goes flying. Scream for me, Brooklyn! "FEED ME MORE!" Ryback meat hook clothesline, SHELL SHOCK~! The Shield dive on Ryback. On the outside, Ryback just shoves Reigns into some chairs. It was the little spots like that. In wrestling, you expect an Irish Whip into chairs, but when a guy just kinda shoves a guy when he is not totally ready into chairs it just stands out as really cool. Ambrose then literally bounces a chair off of Ryback. It looked sick. Ambrose and Reigns leave Rollins to dive off a very high ladder onto a prone Ryback on a chair, but Ryback will not be denied and Rollins tries to scale the ladder higher to escape, but ends off being thrown onto a bunch of tables. The back of his head clips a table, fuck that must have hurt. Back in the ring, Ambrose sets up Reigns to powerbomb Bryan through a table for the win while Ryback tries to crawl to ring to make the save, but it is too late. Ambrose and Reigns collect their fallen comrade, but can hold their heads high because they accomplished what they set out to do they changed the world. Everything was so well-timed. There was never a minute of downtime. There was no beatdown that ever dragged. Each babyface got their comeback climaxing with Ryback big one at the end and each babyface got taken out. The Shield came off as the most destructive force in WWE history because instead of relying on the power of one, they relied on the power of three. I have seen people only go as high as ****1/2, but someone needs to tell me where the flaws were in this, but given how this match pretty much changed the WWE landscape in one match I am going the full monty *****.

GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yuji Nagata - Budokan 09/12/03 "Mr. IWGP" Yuji Nagata having just broken the title defense record as the IWGP champion (10 defenses, which would stand until Tanahashi's 2011-2012 reign) and defeating Akira Taue at the most recent Budokan show in June looks to wrest the top prize in NOAH from their ace, Kenta Kobashi. A victory here for either would cement the winner as the hottest star in puroresu. Both took part in New Japan's last ever sellout of the Egg Dome in May of 2003 where Nagata lost his IWGP title to Takayama while Kobashi successfully defended against Masa Chono. Kobashi was riding a tidal wave of success as the freshly minted ace of NOAH having defeated Misawa in March and was looking like the biggest star in Japan. However, a loss here and Nagata could easily claim the mantle of the hottest star in puroresu. This just had a big fight feel that the last three matches were lacking. The Budokan crowd was rocking from the outset and never let up. They were lapping up everything from the first chop exchange to the final BURNING LARIATO! Early on, Kobashi asserts his dominance over Nagata with his chop. He suckers Nagata into his type of match: chop exchanges, tests of strength and and bombs. Nagata eventually realizes that is not a game he can win. He just gets tired of Kobashi chopping him and starts unloading with kicks to Kobashi's chopping arm. Nagata even pushes the ref away from him as he works over the arm and that gets the crowd on his case. The Nagatalock III is an armbar variation that has proven to be a death knell for all his opponents and the entire time in this segment Nagata works his darndest to apply the hold and Kobashi works equally hard to stay out of it. This sense of struggle lent itself to great drama and the best Nagata singles performance I have seen yet. Once Kobashi is able to score a bomb (half-nelson), Nagata seems to lose his sense of strategy. Kobashi is able to level the playing field with a lariat. Kobashi is still selling the arm allowing for Nagata to hit his own bombs including a wicked back body drop that only gets two. Kobashi is able to shift his weight on a suplex attempt and after a lot of struggle he hits a corner powerbomb (Im such a mark for that move). They are selling battle exhaustion really well here even if they dropped arm story prematurely. Surprisingly, Kobashi gives a lot of the home stretch to Nagata after Nagata hits a wild spin kick to press advantage. This ultimately helped the crowd dynamics as they are more predisposed to cheer for the underdog so after Kobashi survived the Nagata onslaught of a super exploder, a barrage of enziguiris and a back drop driver, the crowd exploded with a huge "KO-BASH-I" chant. Kobashi reversed an Irish Whip with a Lariat. I love the camera shot of a concerned female fan who is all of sudden ebullient then they cut back and Kobashi has that "This Fucker Bout To Die" expression. Brainbuster gets two and a BURNING LARIAT secures the win. Budokan crowd loved this match and really was hanging on every nearfall. Nagata had been so well-built by NJPW and the win over Taue made him one of the better challengers from a booking standpoint. From a match standpoint, Nagata just is not an elite wrestler. He is missing the intangibles. He does not doing anything poorly, but he is not great at anything. I think they could have had a classic if they stuck with the arm work and told an interesting story. Instead they went with the bomb throwing match, which is something that Kobashi excels at. The match just felt very safe. They performed a match in Kobashi's wheelhouse and delivered satisfaction to those in attendance. The difference between a Nagata and a Hashimoto or a Mutoh would be they would have forced Kobashi out of his safety zone. In turn, Kobashi would have forced Hash and Mutoh out of their comfort zone. If Nagata forced Kobashi to work a little more NJPW style (read: more matwork) I think it could have been a more unique match. As it stands it is just another very good Kobashi match. ****