Superstar Sleeze

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Satoshi Kojima - NJPW 8/15/10 It is a huge testament to Tanahashi that he rebuilt New Japan with very little support outside of his contemporary Nakamura and Yuji Nagata of the previous generation. The Three Musketeers has Inoki, Choshu, Fujinami to prop their cards. For Tanahashi He had no Musketeers and Sasaki & Kojima had left. Obviously he didn’t wrestle himself but as far as one person carries his wrestling company back from he brink of bankruptcy this right up there with Stone Cold in 1998. Heres the return of one of those Prodigal Sons That New Japan lost when Mutoh defected to All Japan. I don’t think Kojima would have been a game changer for New Japan in fact his time away made him for valuable for this return. They got a G-1 Climax Final and a Tokyo Dome Main Event our of him. That’s a lot of mileage out of a B-player. Kojima has the ability to surprise me. He is better than Tenzan but less consistent than Nagata. He has had great matches with Hashimoto and Tenryu but has a hard time rising to the occasion. He doesn’t have that unique quality that sets him apart well besides his ginger dyed hair. This has to be the most unique Tanahashi match I’ve ever seen. He does NOT work the leg at all! He hits one dropkick to the knee but that is to set a Dragon Screw ARMwhip. You see Kojima had a bandaged elbow and on top of that he kept blasting Tanahashi with lariats from his good arm so Tanahashi decided to try rip off both arms. That made for an interesting wrinkle. The beginning of the match was dueling limb work. Kojima worked the leg (never came back to it) and Tanahashi worked the arm. Tanahashi did a better job and it was a thread throughout the match. Kojima sold it well especially verbally. I enjoyed that part but I really thought the finishing stretch was well executed. They really built their bombs up well. It all starts with Tanahashi somersaulting off the apron and never really lets up. Tanahashi wants Sling Blade to bring his finish run but Kojima delivers Spine On The Pine. Kojima loves his 90s tributes, I mean don’t we all, they recreate 7/29/93 with Kojima blasting Tanahashi off the top with a lariat. Island Driver gets two. Tanahashi uses that dropkick to the knee and starts wrenching the Lariat arm. Then dropkicks the bandaged arm as Kojima cries out in anguish. HIGH FLY FLOW ears knees! This is great! I forgot how much Kojima loves the Lariat! I always associated him with the Ace Crusher. Tanahashi ends up hitting High Fly Flow to the back but crashes & burn on the second one. Kojima musters up the strength for the Axe Bombah and hits a Brainbuster but only two. He needs the Ace Crusher! Capture suplex gets two for Tanahashi but when he goes for the Dragon Suplex, ACE CRUSHER! I popped because I was right and I was annoyed when Tanahashi still hit the Dragon Suplex anyways. Respect the Ace Crusher. That was Tanahashi’s big nearfall. A barrage of big ass Lariats the last one really smoked him takes him down. Perfect booking to set up the return match at the Dome. Tanahashi did not work the leg and didn’t hit High Fly Flow properly so there are two weapons he can bust out in the Dome to change the narrative. Whereas Kojima has established the Lariat as a lethal weapon and he is the man to beat at the Dome. As far as Japanese finish runs go in the 2010s this is one of my favorites efficient, logical and the drama really built. Another great Kojima match who knew! ****1/4

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Go Shiozaki - NJPW 1/4/10 This is the end of the NOAH invasion that started last year when Misawa had a match on 1/4/09. Misawa has since passed away which is why Tanahashi attempted the Tiger Driver, but had to settle for the Butterfly Suplex. It has been a while since I watched Shiozaki. I remember thinking he was solid but bland. Oh yes he is a Chopbashi tribute act but looks like he should be in a J-Pop band. Now I remember. His chops are wicked. He turns Tanahashi chest into raw hamburger. I dont think Tanahashi likes being chopped that hard. There are two occasions where Tanahashi pops him pretty uncharacteristically hard with elbow. This is a bit of styles clash. Tanahashi matches are very formulaic. Opening matwork, legwork, big finish. Shiozaki works the late NOAH style which is just stiff the fuck out of each other and throw a ton of bombs down the stretch. Tanahashi's one weakness is that he doesnt work stiff well and Shiozaki cant really work any other style besides the chop-heavy Fighting Spirit style. It is a very good match in spite of itself. It is entertaining because both men dont give a shit about the other so they just start throwing everything at each other. Tanahashi chop blocks Shiozaki before he can run away. Shiozaki says Fuck You and just will keep chopping until Tanahashi's chest is turned purple. Tanahashi gets Sling Blade early but eats Knees on the High Fly Flow. Shiozaki does sell that. Shiozaki takes over. Botches a weird slam from the top but hits a great moonsault from the top for two, which is his big nearfall. Tanahashi starts throwing out his suplexes and Sling Blades. The Go Flasher attempt into the Dragon Suplex was fucking awesome! Best spot in the match. Two High Fly Flows to Shiozaki sitting up were cool. I think I sound more down on this match than I actually felt watching it. It was entertaining but I would have liked if they just picked a direction and stuck with it. ***3/4

GHC Heavyweight Champion KENTA vs Takahashi Sugiura - NOAH 5/12/13 Now this is more my style. Sugiura's pint-sized Stan Hansen act is great. These are two asskickers to the max. I liked that they keep the fighting spirit bullshit to a minimum and they just there to dish out pain. Sugiura is the first one to establish control with a side headlock. So simple, so effective and they show you can do a lot with it. Sugiura is a tenacious pitbull holding onto it. Once KENTA gets free, they just start rifling each other with kicks. KENTA's were brutal. Sugiura DROPPED him where he was standing with one of the most vicious slaps I have ever seen. The women in the front row eyes popped for that. Sugiura's front facelock is the stuff that would make a 1992 All Japan announcer cream his pants. KENTA struggles to the floor but Sugiura hits a neckbreaker off the apron and a brainbuster in the ring. He is rocking it. I didnt love KENTA's first comeback. He hit a dainty forearm and then a flying clothesline (the flying clothesline rarely ever looks good) and went into the STF. I was happy Sugura re-asserted dominance with a kneelift. Then it became all about the abdomen. Hanging him out to the dry on the top rope, SPEAR, front suplex. He was crushing it. He even did Big E's spear through the ropes to the floor which is insane. Sugiura is feeling it tonight. They brawl on the outside. KENTA saves himself by winning a suplex struggle and suplexing him in the crowd. Double Stomp from the riser to the floor. Then in a spot that popped me huge a Double Stomp from the top rope INTO THE CROWD! That was wicked! Sugiura milks the countout tease. This match is rocking. KENTA is flying a million miles per hour kicking Sugiura ass all over the place. Big dropkicks and kicks abound. Too early for Go 2 Sleep settles for STF. Scary lack of heat for the submission. He nails a Tiger Suplex out of this. Sugiura hits a Frankensteiner from out of nowhere which I totally loved as a sudden transition. Then he goes for an anklelock. It all rushes back to me I knew there was something I didnt like about Sugiura, he wrestles like Angle down the stretch a ton of anklelocks and Olympic Slams. It breaks down into a fucking stiffest. This was glorious. They were slapping the shit out of each other. Both of them were giving as good as they got but as KENTA dove for a takedown Sugiura rocked his shit with an uppercut knee. Wow! In the corner at one point, Sugiura was just cracking with slaps and then a barrage of vicious elbows. KENTA is dead. He is fucking dead. Wow! That was amazing. Olympic Slam and nothing doing. You see they went too far now. They killed the babyface and now his comeback is incredulous. Sugiura starts smacking him around and KENTA just wakes up and tries to submit him. Ugh. They are slapping each other. Fatigue and pain has set in. This is so badass. They start roaring against each other. Through the onslaught, KENTA fights through and hits GO 2 SLEEP! 1-2-NO! Sugiura comes up swinging. This time is CLOSED FISTS! He is throwing lefts and rights and holy shit! KENTA FIRES BACK WITH HIS OWN FISTS OF FURY! Forget what I said. THESE MEN WERE BORN TO BE ALIVE! HOLY SHIT THAT WAS JERRY LAWLER LEVEL EPIC! GO 2 SLEEP ON EXPOSED KNEE! 1-2-NO! What the fuck that should have been the finish. KENTA pummels Sugiura into submissions with wicked slaps it is brutal. Go 2 Sleep! Academic! It has its flaws but fuck this was a WAR~! KENTA earned his man stripes tonight as he went toe to toe with one of the toughest asskickers of all time. Took a lickin and he kept on tickin and he beat Sugiura at his own game standing and banging. Awesome asskicker of a match, the closed fist sequence is an all-timer! ****1/2

GHC Heavyweight Champion Takeshi Morishima vs KENTA - NOAH 1/27/13 Taking a break from New Japan to see what else is going on in Puroresu around this timeframe. It looks like NOAH finally caved and realized they had to put their top title on their biggest superstar, KENTA, even if he is undersized. Morishima has to go down as one of the if not biggest underachievers in the history of wrestling. He grew up in the red hot NOAH promotion, he has the size and athleticism to be the one to carry the torch. You can say what you will about Kobashi getting sick and Misawa dying, Morishima could not step up and he couldn't step up in 2008 either. Besides a randomly great match with Sasaki in 2008, he doesn't have much on his puroresu resume. This match is funny. Morishima is the one using movement to create transitions like a running hip attack or dropkick. While KENTA is the one standing up and striking his way through problems. A very interesting David vs Goliath dynamic to say the least. KENTA is very aggressive to start on his third combination he unleashes a furious onslaught of kicks that fell the Giant. Too early and too easy says I. Morishima uses the aforementioned hip attack to take control, but gets caught going to the top. Who is the heavyweight and who is the junior heavyweight, again? Morishima catches him on the outside and plants him with a Bossman Slam, good. Bodyslam on exposed concrete. Now we are taking. Morishima punishes him with some really good suplex slams. KENTA stars flying around and again some furious kicks knock Morishima down. I love KENTA's kicks, but this is too easy. A Morishima dropkick sends KENTA flying to the outside. They botch a DDT, but KENTA hits it again. They more than make up for the botch when KENTA nails a Double Stomp from the TOP ROPE TO THE FLOOR! WOW! That woke me and the crowd up. Countout tease to sell it. He nails a springboard dropkick and a Top Rope Double Stomp for 2. Great mid-match climax. This has been fine thus far. KENTA logically thinks it is time to finish the champ. He goes for Go2Sleep but get this...Morishima is too heavy...he tries twice, but hurts his back! Yes! Finally using size to tell a story, Morishima headbutts the back and starts going to work. Throws him a round, Camel Clutch, good Lariat for a nearfall. KENTA roars back head kick. He picks him up Go 2 Sleep. Fuck! Wheres the struggle? They are just going through the motions. KENTA uses the YESLock. After Punk/Bryan stealing his moves, good on KENTA to steal one of theirs. Nothing doing. GO 2 Sleep with exposed knee still nothing. Of course, you need drama which means nearfalls. So on cue Morishima nails a clothesline and two BackDrop Drivers they get the nearfall and then KENTA no sells it all to put him into the YESLock with ease for the tap out. There was no struggle. There was no emotions. Just two dudes following a formula and a bad formula at that. Some nice stuff here and there, it means it was average more than bad, but this was disappointing. I hear KENTA vs Sugiura is the NOAH match that gets more hype from this year. That sounds like two asskickers pelting each other with kicks so I will check that. Recommendation to avoid this.

Best Smackdown, best WWE TV of 2020! Gronk Ruled! He is a natural. His exuberance comes across great and once he gets in front of a crowd it will be electric. Corbin is a great, logical first feud. Shoutout to Michael Cole who was great! He felt like modern day Lance Russell holding the show together. Zelina Vega has been rocking some amazing outfits but Sasha was a smokeshow in that Tarzanina outfit! Cesaro/Nakamura vs Bryan/Gulak was an awesome hard hitting match! Alexa Bliss cut a great babyface promo on Asuka! Miz/Morrison comedy segment was gold! One of those rare times WWE comedy was actually funny. The USO impression has me rolling. Miz & Morrisonvs Otis&Tucker was fun and we got great advancement on Ziggler/Otis! “Smitten with my kitten” is an all time great line. Otis snapping was awesome. Roman & Goldberg was short but sweet. Looking forward to this Hoss Fight! Awesome Smackdown best WWE show of 2020! Loved it!

KUSHIDA vs Kyle O'Reilly - NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Final 6/7/2015 Kyle O'Reilly first appeared on my radar when I was reviewing AJ Styles stellar 2014 campaign in 2015. I saw their ROH match and he made an immediate impression. There has been so much going on I don't actively seek his stuff out when I do see him live or on NXT l'll pay extra close attention because he wrestles that hybrid-shoot style I love. KUSHIDA is someone I have seen live I feel like twice I know I saw him at ROH's War of the Worlds in 2014, but cant think of the other time. This should be a great striker/grappler vs speedster match but don't sleep on KUSHIDA's mat prowess. The opening package is important as it reminds me that KUSHIDA's go to submission is the double wristlock (aka Chicken Wing Armlock as Josh Barnett corrected me on Twitter) so I will be on the lookout for that. The first five minutes is really great grappling on the mat. It is intense and tight as they jockey for position. KUSHIDA goes for the double wristlock but O'Reilly slips out into an STF, but that is avoided too. The Time Splitter lets O'Reilly know that a split second earlier he could have taken O'Reilly head off with a missed kick. KUSHIDA comes out ahead in the first athletic sequence with a dropkick to head. I like that he follows up the advantage with a Short Arm Scissors for two reasons one it wears down the arm for the Chickenwing Armlock and it lets him consolidate his advantage. Once they return to stand up, O'Reilly unleashes a furious strike combination that reminds me why I love him. He does a great Hammerlock DDT with leg sweep (way better than Andrade's). KUSHIDA's elbow is taped and this becomes a target for O'Reilly it leads to solid, but brief control segment. I really liked his use of the Butterfly. The Butterfly is a very painful hold and to lift KUSHIDA in it three times and throw him must hurt like hell. KUSHIDA ends up snapping O'Reilly arm across the top rope leading to the some dueling arm psychology. KUSHIDA is looking for the Chickenwing Armlock, but O'Reilly evades. KUSHIDA goes for the double wristlock but O'Reilly springs out into a cross-armbreaker only for KUSHIDA to counter but this leads to an O'Reilly guillotine choke, which KUSHIDA breaks his grasp into a Chickenwing Armlock and rolls back for better leverage, but he cant hold it. O'Reilly hits a nasty Hammerlock DDT from the top where it looks like he lands with his body on KUSHIDA's head and good shoulder. OW! O'Reilly gets a Nagata-style Fujiwara Armbar, but just releases it. Why? KUSHIDA uses this respite to unleash a German and Dragon suplex in quick succession, but O'Reilly grabs a sleeper to slow him down. I thought the next five minutes or so was the best part of the match. KUSHIDA strings together a great combination of moves to assert himself. It starts with a rolling Kappo Kick to head that catches O'Reilly unawares and sends him out of the ring. He follows it up with a Swandive from the top turnbuckle onto O'Reilly and then when O'Reilly tries to get back into the ring as he sticks his head in KUSHIDA dropkicks him in the head. This was great! My favorite spot is that KUSHIDA thinks he has this in the bag and goes for the moonsault and instead O'Reilly catches him in a Triangle Choke! Holy shit! Impressive! I have seen that spot attempted a couple times but that was the best execution. O'Reilly hits a Super Back Suplex and a Human Capture Suplex each for two. I thought if they finished here or so it would have been great but they went another ten minutes. The action was not bad, but they kinda had already peaked and they couldnt sustain the momentum. I really liked O'Reilly Brainbuster into a Cross Armbreaker and then into a Fujiwara Armbar only for KUSHIDA to get to the ropes. KUSHIDA gets the Brainbuster on the apron. They tease the countout and you can tell the end is nigh. Even though O'Reilly is the one who took the Brainbuster will ultimately lose the match, he still gets another nearfall off a Roaring Elbow. It is like why? He already got his big nearfalls with the Fujiwara Armbar. KUSHIDA catches him charging with the Seth Rollins headsnap into the turnbuckles. KUSHIDA whiffs on his big full twist/layout move from the top rope. Chickenwing Armlock, O'Reilly almost gets the ropes, I am screaming "ROLL!" to end the match and KUSHIDA rolls into the center and cranks it for the win. I really enjoyed the first twenty minutes and then it turned into a slog of excess. These two can definitely go and they do a great mixing aerial, ground, strikes and throws into their matches. The dueling arm psychology was a good home base for them to return to in time. They just needed an editor shave off 5 minutes and makes those moves mean a little more and this could have been a match of the year contender. Still plenty of action and smart work to say this safely great. ****

Tomohiro Ishii vs Tomoaki Honma - NJPW 8/12/15 This is absolutely fantastic! Honma is my favorite Ishii opponent. He takes a lickin but keeps on tickin. He has so much personality. He is like Donald Duck and Popeye rolled up into one fabulous headbutting package. He is wicked over with live crowds and you just want the dude to win. Ishii is so strait-laced and no-nonsense, it contrasts so well. They do a great job portraying Honma as overeager he misses three falling headbutts in a row all from different positions. They also establish Ishii's strength advantage. For every half-dozen Honma elbows, it only takes one Ishii elbow to fell Honma. Honma does a great job selling all this. Honma's first ray of hope is an excellent suplex struggle that he wins when he deadlifts (Ishii does a great job making this feat of strength look impressive as fuck) Ishii over. They do a Kobashi/Sasaki chopfest tribute which is the worst part of an otherwise terrific match. Ishii wins when he chops high, which I do love as a finish. Ishii hits his textbook superplex for two. He is thinking Sliding Lariat, but doesnt get it. When Ishii misses, Honma goes for his falling headbutt but he misses. His DDT does NOT miss. There is nobody that sells being spiked on his head better than Ishii. Honma's Popeye windup and Donald Duck hissing, make his great lariat all the better. Honma hits his Island Driver for two and this is when he goes for the top rope headbutt but crashes and burns. I thought for sure at this point that was it for our hero. In typical Honma, he put a good fight, but he was going to come up short. He leaps in for a Torpedo Headbutt but Ishii sidesteps sending him head first into the turnbuckle. Ishii unloads with an elbow barrage and a Mack Truck Lariat. He sets him up for the Sliding Lariat, nails it. At this point, I am thinking this was a good, fun match, glad I watched it. Ishii signals for the brainbuster. BRAINBUSTER! But wait it is HONMA THAT HIT THE BRAINBUSTER! Ishii comes up selling his neck like only he can. They start this crazy Lariat war! Then Honma just leaps at him headlong three times in a row with crazy headbutts including a Sliding version! He is stealing Ishii shit but making it his own! Can he pull it off? Headlong Headbutt from the top, falling headbutt, bodyslam, arms up, SUPER FALLING HEADBUTT! 1-2-3! That was fucking awesome! They had me totally thinking Ishii would win only for an absolutely awesome Honma barrage of headbutts to take it home. I loved this! ****1/4

IWGP Champion Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - NJPW 1/4/16 I am coming into this match with pretty unreasonable expectations because I loved 1/4/15 so much, but if there are two people that can deliver it is Tanahashi and Okada. These two are just textbook to a tee and I love them for it. They are so good at pure pro wrestling. I read my 2015 review right before this match so I caught myself back up on all the things to watch for. When Okada goes to show Tanahashi in the opening rope break by patting him on the chest and then slapping him, Tanahashi first tries to take a swipe at him, Okada ducks and then slap. Okada still got one up on Tanahashi. Someone should gif Okada's response to that he looks like such a cocky douche. Okada looks one step ahead of Tanahashi. Until they get it on the mat, Tanahashi is able to sit out of a couple holds and start to get a rhythm. It is pretty even on the mat. Then it happens early, on a side headlock, Tanahashi picks Okada up and hits a KNEECRUSHER! OH SHIT! Okada was the first one to have a control segment in 2015 but here we go Tanahashi. Tanahashi is the best at working the leg. I could watch him work it all day long. It is an abbreviated control. I really liked the spot that Okada couldnt follow up on an advantage because he gingerly tries to charge but Tanahashi was able to back elbow and hit a reverse crossbody. Okada rolls through and goes for a TOMBSTONE~! The Rainmaker knows thats the key to victory! Tanahashi escapes to the apron. He wants to drive Okada's head into the buckles but he lets go too early and Okada jumps onto the ropes and springboards into a dropkick sending Tanahashi somersualting off the apron. Great transition! I loved how it was a dropkick, Okada's bread & butter and it capitalized one a small error by Tanahashi. Great soaring crossbody over the railing by Tanahashi. I thought Okada's control segment was lacking some oomph but the Corkscrew elbows looked good. My favorite parts were the missed Tanahashi hope spots. Okada goes for his dropkick from the mat to the top rope but Tanahashi blocked. I cheered and it looked like Tanahashi was going to get his senton only to crash and burned and I booed sadly. Tanahashi goes for the dropkick to the knee but Okada picks up his leg, but Okada misses the senton! Dropkick to the knee! Tanahashi presses! Dragon leg screw! High Fly Flow to the floor?!? Okada blocks. Tussle. Struggle. DRAGON LEG SCREW ON THE METAL TURNBUCKLES! I POPPED! Okada sells it so well. HIGH FLYYYYYYY FLOOOOOOOOWWWWW! TO THE FLOOR! YES! YES! YES! Not as epic as the 2015 one, but I still love it. Okada really does a great job milking the countout tease. So far pretty damn good. I am at about the 20 minute mark. Lets see what these guys got in store for us for the grand finale. Back in the ring, Tanahashi hits a mini-High Fly Flow to the bad legs of Okada. He cant negotiate the Texas Cloverleaf and Okada struggles to the ropes. There is a really great moment where Tanahashi ties Okada's leg in the ropes and kicks the knee. We have seen it in a million times BUT Okada has the presence of mind to yell "Ref" and he has the ref get his leg out of the ropes. It is that little touch that tells he couldnt do it himself, he was trapped. Great detail. The match loses a little bit for me. Okada springs into action and hits that White Noise into his knee but it is his bad knee. He sells it but then he is FLYING around doing dropkicks. He was sprinting! Great springboard dropkick to Tanahashi too. The dropkicks looked great and I know that is his thing but he really undercut the drama of the match. He hits the top rope elbow drop which can only mean one thing...RAINMAKER POSE~! Tanahashi naturally evades and goes back to work on the knee. This time he gets the Texas Cloverleaf. Now Tanahashi is feeling it. On his second attempt, he gets SLINGBLADE! This means HIGH FLY FLOW! But he crashes and burns. Red Shoes is bumming. Now at some point in the last 5 minutes, Okada had gone for the Tombstone again, but was thwarted. The third time is the charm, Okada nails the Tombstone! In every previous match, the man who nailed the Tombstone won the match, will history repeat itself? RAINMAKER~! 1-2-NO! Okada steals the High Fly Flow for 2. He is not as good at it, obviously. Tanahashi steals the Rainmaker and we have time travelled back to 2002 WWE. They treat this as a level the playing field spot, but by my count Okada is up a Tombstone and a High Fly Flow. Tanahashi hits Sling Blade out of a Rainmaker, Dragon Suplex, TANAHASHI IS FEELING IT! Tanahasi springing over the top rope is the new Kobashi fist pump before the moonsault. It just fires me up. High Fly Flow connects! 1-2-NO! If it doesnt work, try, try again...connects with High Fly Flow 1-2-no! He is incredulous. He tries to a standing Okada, but he counters with an Anti-Air land to air missile dropkick. Tanahashi sells it like a million bucks writhing in pain. Tanahashi is defiant. Slaps him, but charges into a DROPKICK to the head. The end is nigh. Tanahashi keeps hitting another Smack of Defiance, but Okada maintains wrist control and it is not one, not two, but THREE RAINMAKERS~! that put the Ace of the Universe away. The finish run was electric and it was a suitably dramatic way to end the greatest feud of the 2010s. Okada was able to kick out of all of Tanahashi's big shit, Tanahashi looked defiant in his loss, but it was Okada that dug down deep for the win. I loved that they maintained the tombstone story until the very end. I didnt think this holds up to Invasion Attack 2013 or Wrestle Kingdom 2015. Much like how I preferred Infinity Wars to Endgame, I feel the body of the first was perfect. It was so well-paced and well-segmented. Each segment lasted the perfect amount of time and they transitioned at the right time and really well. This match I feel like the body was an after thought to the finish. They were doing all their usual stuff but the momentum swings were more often, but also less meaningful and less thoughtful. Okada blowing off the knee selling was egregious. However, they do make up for it with a gangbusters ending and these two are so easy to watch work that the time still blew right by. A great capper to the best feud of the 2010s. ****1/2

Tomohiro Ishii vs Hirooki Goto - NJPW NJPW G-1 Climax 8/9/15 Sometimes you just want to watch two big dudes hit each other really hard. These two stalwarts of New Japan's Hoss Division deliver in spades. So many meaty chops and monster truck lariats! The Zidane-style headbutts come from out of nowhere and are hit with full force. Like the Ibushi/Ricochet match there is really not much to this besides the fact that it is two dudes just to tear each other's head off or cave in their chests. Ishii's chops coming out of the first strike exchange stand out. Also, Goto's badass lariat after avoiding the Brainbuster. There are two funny, cute moments where each wrestler leaps onto the shoulders into the fireman's carry position. Jeez at least let the other dude stop and pick you up. This is not as great as those organic, violent brawls of the past, but it good stylized violence and they lay their shit in. Where this falters is the finish. Ishii hits his Sliding Lariat, but cant negotiate his Brainbuster. This allows Goto to make his comeback. Goto hits that FU onto Knee, which I think is a lame move from the top. Then in a terrible moment, Goto hits his finish, but I thought Ishii had reversed into DDT, but it was just Goto's shitty finish. Worst type of move. The beginning scratched my itch but it grew tiresome as it wore on. ***

I could have sworn I made a post. I missed the boat with this one. I will re-watch. I am pretty shocked that I rated it so low. So yes will definitely get a re-watch soon. But here is the original review: Katsuyori Shibata & Hirooki Goto vs Yuji Nagata & Tomomaki Honma - 6/21/14 Picked this match to watch for two reasons: I wanted to watch a modern New Japan tag match and I love the "underdog face paired with a vet face against a bruising heel duo" genre. It looks like the only underperforming part of New Japan is the tag division, which produced pretty much no match of the year contenders. This was the only New Japan heavyweight tag match to even make Voices of Wrestling Top 120 of 2014 countdown. Add in the fact this type of tag match is my favorite type of tags this was a slam dunk to watch. Unfortunately, I was bit disappointed. You think beating the piss out of Honma and a hot finish run would be hard to fuck, but I just didn't think the drama was there. I liked Honma jumpstarting the match. You can't help but be infected by his energy. You want that dude to win a match. He takes it to Shibata early and Nagata/Honma overwhelm Shibata. Shibata finally gets his wits about him and levels Honma with a right elbow and wisely tags out. This is what I am waiting for the beatdown on Honma and it did not last long enough. Goto is just as lame as ever. Shibata was a good dick, but he is no Tenryu. I liked him shoving his boot into Honma's face. Only one knock Nagata off the apron spot? Honma is already making his comeback. Nagata, who is GHC Champ at this point, does feel electric as the vet face bursting on the scene. Shibata tags out and he immediately grabs his armbar. Honma wants in and kicks some Goto ass, which gets me and the crowd rocking. Nagata is a great cheerleader for all this. Honma misses diving headbutt and Goto hits his finishes while Shibata detains Nagata to win the match. It felt really abbreviated and WWE-esque. Like this is one of the better WWE tags of 2014, but happened in NJPW. Where was the usual chipiness and constant shots to the apron guy or holding someone back or the constant saves. It was nice little character piece for Honma, Nagata was a good cheerleader, Shibata is a good dick and Goto is whatever. Honma is entertaining, but not at the level of heat I expect from puro tags. ***

IWGP Jr Heavyweight Champion Kota Ibushi vs Ricochet - NJPW Dominion 2014 Ricochet is fresh off winning the Best of the Super Juniors less than a month ago and they waste no time giving him his title shot against the Champ, Ibushi. These two are the kings of the "stylized action violence" style that has permeated the 2010s. The style is polarizing to me. The highspots can be eye-popping or they can be eye-rolling. These are two of the more impressive high-flyers in a generation of wannabes. So the really key highspots WOW: the opening sequence of evasive maneuvers, Ricochet's Swandive over the ringpost, the Top Rope Standing Frankensteiner Somersault Sticks The Landing for the Perfect Ten, and the finish was an incredible. I dont know what to call it. Maybe a small package suplex! I loved it! Once you distill down to those highlights, there is not much meat on the bone. Ricochet picking up his opponent into a Fireman's Carry only to put them back down on their feet is so, so fucking lame. That is a terrible spot. Because they are in New Japan the layout of this match is better than most of this genre. There is sustained momentum for each wrestler. Ricochet gets a couple nearfalls in his loss and Ibushi misses the Phoenix Splash once and gets a couple hope spot. There is more efficiency in this match than in the typical 21st century match so this raises it above your standard 21st century workrate match. Matches like this rely totally on the highspots are exciting for the moment of the highspot but otherwise leave you cold. ***1/2

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Tomohiro Ishii - NJPW 8/1/14 This was a really fun Greatest Hits, bomb-throwing sprint match. Maybe not a sprint, but very efficient clocking in around 15 minutes. I love how they build to both guys bigger spots and really make each other earn it. The spot of the match has to be Nakamura doing his signature taunt before the Bom-Ba-Ye Knee only for Ishii to NAIL him with a dropkick. Each man really had the other scouted. They establish each man is going for the killshot early as the very beginning, Ishii goes for the Sliding Lariat and Nakamura goes for the Bom-Ba-Ye Knee. Both miss but both let the other know they arent here for a long time, they are here for a good time. Everything is centered around building to that. Nakamura is in the lead most of the match with Ishii playing catch up. Nakamura is using his knees and strikes to the head to control. Ishii gets his standard offense like the superplex and powerbomb in but for the most part he is reacting to Nakamura. Such as dropkicking him on the taunt, later he would Lariat to counter Bom-Ba-Ye Knee and then headbutt all to evade. There was a time where all these counters did give Ishii an opening and he hit the Sliding Lariat, which is the prelude to his Killshot, the Brainbuster. Nakamura had this scouted and evaded and hit a backstabber and then a Bom Ba Ye Knee to the back of the head. Smart, Ishii couldnt counter because he couldnt see it coming all the other times were head on. After that the end was nigh, they did some counters here and there, but Nakamura was firmly in control and it was a couple more vicious knees to put Ishii away. I like that about New Japan they dont swerve for swerve's sake. Ishii got his Sliding Lariat that was his nearfall, his oh so close moment. Once Nakamura hit the Knee, Ishii can be game, but it was Nakamura's game. When you respect the moves and the wrestlers, the fans respect the match. I enjoyed this one. ****

NEVER Openweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii vs Tetsuya Naito - NJPW Invasion Attack 2014 God, Naito was so fucking lame before his heel turn. Honestly, I have not seen much of his post-heel turn work so he could still be lame. There is one moment where he does this is an incredible lame push off Ishii with his foot to hurdle over the top rope so Ishii just SMOKES with Lariat. I was like "MY MAN!". I am so glad Ishii didnt sell that dainty kick. Hell, the crowd booed Naito twice when he was on offense at the start. The match did feature the worst of both wrestlers. Way too much unnecessary running and movement because of Naito and way too many strike exchanges because of Ishii. I did like how efficient it was and when a wrestler did get the advantage he pressed it. The best part of the match was Ishii exploding out of the corner with a Zidane headbutt to Naito's head. That was awesome! Even when Naito did get on offense it was good. He hit a dropkick to the back of Ishii's neck who did his customary great sell of it. Naito zeroed in. Nice dropkick that caused Ishii to bump into the turnbuckles with the neck. Then he hit a DDT and spiked him on his head with a nice Top Rope Frankensteiner. The psychology was there and there were good stretches but there too many meander stretches to call this more than good. Ishii hit some great offense down the stretch. I liked Naito building to the Stardust Press, crashing & burning, but he gets a Koji Clutch as a submission nearfall so he still gets his nearfall. The finish was efficient as hell, sliding Lariat -> Brainbuster! The layout of the highspots was great, but Naito is so dainty and lame that he kills the match then on top of that everything in between the highspots was so boring. They had an awesome 5 minute match in their 20 minute match. ***1/4

Im MDK All Fuckin' Day! Realest muthafucka in pro wrestling! Honestly I think its his authenticity. I went to a ton of Beyond's Unchartered Territory. You can see the love and admiration he has for the fans in his eyes. It really means something to him that we turn out and chant "Nick Fuckin Gage". It comes across in his wrestling. He is a gritty, rough n tumble pro wrestler. He is just a really genuine dude and really likeable. I have no idea if it translates across on the videoscope because all the Nick Gage matches I have watched are live, but he is most of the best live wrestlers I have ever seen.

Ric Flair vs Randy Savage - WCW Nitro 6/17/97 This kicks off the second hour of the hottest wrestling show on the planet (sorry about been watching so much Nitro that Tony is stuck in my head). The night before Mongo turned on Kevin Greene & Savage to join the Horsemen in a good angle where he sold out for money. It is too bad Mongo sucked and the NWO came along because the '96 Horsemen felt hot at this point. Well actually I shouldnt say too bad the NWO came along as the NWO was absolutely molten compared to anything the Horsemen could have done in 96, but Flair was still the top main event heel in WCW with the most mic and air time even though Giant was champion. With the NWO, Flair would take a backseat, but this match still feels huge. Flair vs Savage in WCW was each man's best stuff in the mid-90s. This was a great brawl. Typically awesome crazed Savage performance. Crawling under guardrails, chasing Flair down, shoving Flair's face into fruit and pouring champagne on him. He was not GAB '95 levels of possessed but still very energetic. Flair was bumping and selling. Mid-90s heel Flair was a cartoon but he was entertaining as hell cartoon. Liz gets a slap in and Flair uses a foreign object at one point. Savage crashes and burns to start the heat segment. Solid stuff. Savage makes a comeback so that when Flair busts out the foreign object. Flair wastes too much time jawing with the ref. Savage high knees Flair but ref bump. Macho Man Elbow. Here come the girls, but Savage dont give a fuck and he comes flying again onto Flair. Horsemen hit the ring. Benoit eats a piledriver, AA over the top, but the Halliburton from Mongo does the trick. Throws Flair on top and the ref thrown in for the 1-2-3. I like that it was not just a no contest. Flair got the win even though he was destroyed. A lot of people said Flair/Savage was being phased out. Didnt feel that way to me. Flair getting a tainted win over Savage does not feel like the end even though thats what would happen. The Horsemen beatdown and the announcers reaction is eerily reminiscent of the NWO. Fun Nitro match. ***1/2

Steiner Brothers vs Fire & Ice - WCW Great American Bash 1996 I have been rewatching the Nitros from spring of 1996 and I got to see my first Ice Train match a couple weeks prior to this and really enjoyed him. Great power and good charisma. This is the Steiners' specialty: big, dumb meathead jock wrestling. I enjoyed their first Nitro match. I thought their second Nitro match was ok. This match was really fun at the beginning. Lots of throws, power and hard-hitting. The Rick Steiner-Scott Norton interactions were really good. Scotty played FIP because of a shoulder injury. Really good stuff throughout the heat segment. The highlight of the match was Norton hits a big Shoulderbreaker on the bad shoulder and immediately goes for the Fujiwara Amrbar. Rick Steiner comes into save and Norton does NOT let go. Steiner kicks and kicks and then finally STOMPS him and Norton lets go. It was awesome. Norton goes for another Shoulderbreaker but gets too close on Rick, who tags in. STEINERLINE! HOLY SHIT! THAT WAS AWESOME! The finish was a clusterfuck. It was all over the place. The Steiner Bulldog should have been the finish, but instead it was the worst Frankensteiner in history on Norton that was the finish. The body of the match was great power wrestling and makes this worth watching even if the finish was a shitshow. ***

Wow this is kinda sad. I have been going to this site since I was 8 years old in 1997. What I love about it is that it still looks exactly the same. It is such a warm, nostalgic feeling to see a website that looks the same since the late 90s and not only that it is so informative. He really has done a great job on such a wide variety of pro wrestling. Great website. Another favorite website I found as a kid was Hisa's Wrestling-titles.com. I love how that has the same format and layout too. Just for nostalgia went back on both sites. Two of the greatest websites of all time. We are so lucky that pro wrestling adapted to the internet so quickly and really did a great job archiving information. What are some of the other great websites from the 90s that are still around?

WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs The Giant - WCW Nitro 4/29/96 Nitro is so fucking good at this point. It is one hour and mostly focuses on six characters: Flair, Giant, Hogan, Savage, Sting & Luger. They have done such a great job weaving together all their different relationships. Flair & Giant are coming off the Alliance to End Hulkamania at Uncensored which I have not seen but sounds dumb as fuck admittedly. The Hogan stuff is definitely the worst stuff in April. They are leaning hard back into Red & Yellow after they tried Dark Side Hulk in late 95. He is paling around with the Booty Man which is so ridiculous. The name is got to be worst in wrestling history and the fact that Brutus Beefcake is still pushed. Kevin Sullivan as his arch rival is an interesting pick I guess good on him booking himself into that. Hogan beats Sullivan & AA in a tag only to beat them in a handicap squash then intimidate Womam & Liz, humiliate Jimmy Hart, no-sell Giant’s Chokeslam and bodyslam. It was some of them most sickening self-pleasuring pro wrestling booking I have seen in quite some time. But the rest of the show is really good I swear. Macho Man has really good short matches with Finlay and Eaton preferred the Finlay match but Eaton taunting by wrestling like Flair was great. Macho Man’s promo against the WCW Suit was awesome “I think the Suits & Ties are getting a little too comfortable around The Macho Man.” Why is he so pissed? Well you see Ric Flair has The Whole World In His Hands. I love Flair’s gimmick of singing in the middle of his promos. Should I be afraid of The Giant or should I be saying “O Woman, O Woman Won’t You Marry Me Now” popped me huge. His schtick with Woman & Liz is phenomenal. Mid-90s Flair gets a bad rap yeah he’s a total cartoon villain but he is very entertaining and committed to the character. I love the little touch that Flir kept Savage’s nameplate on the belt to remind that he has his Belt, his Woman (Liz) and his Money (divorce money). While Savage is being kept separated from Flair until Slamboree. Flair has main evented Nitro 5 weeks in a row. The first match against The Giant was great and I need to review that. The Luger match transported you back to 1988 so much fun. Then back to back weeks against the tag champs Sting & Luger with The Giant. The Giant has been interesting there’s been a lot of hot coffee involved in the lead up to this. I would have stuck to Women’s high heels personally more plausible and I just think the spike to eye is brutal. Hot coffee is definitely bad but why the fuck is there hot coffee at a nighttime show. Flair ends up throwing the coffee in Giant’s eyes and it is on! They make the match for next week which is this one. Cartoon Flair in full effect and it is super fun. Why do people think Flair has to be booked strong? That doesn’t always make sense. He is a cowardly heel. Giant is playing avenging monster in a de facto babyface role. They came up with a plausible way for Flair to take control, a ball shot, he laid some shit in, knux, hide the knux. Figure-4 NO-SELL CHOKESLAM! 1-2-3 and a huge pop! The reason the No-Sell works is because Giant has been put through so much but he is so much of a monstrous badass that he can’t be kept down. There is a difference between “Not Selling” and “No Selling”. No selling is overcoming significant punishment, showing great fire and inviting the people in. Luger flexing through Flair’s chops is great form of No Selling. Not Selling is ignoring what happened to get to the next move. Luger let’s you know the chops happened but he is Too Much Man for them. I will say I think Giant oversold on the knux, I think a more woozy, cloudy head would have been better. I liked the beginning too. Flair bouncing off him. The chops! God they sound like gunshots. No effect. Lots of press slams and powders. Good shit. They did the Stalking, movie monster which was fine because Giant was so green. Sometimes I think Giant is the least imposing 7 footer in the world. Not a great match, but it is not bad either. It is fun and takes the show in a new direction. ***

Watched this again as part of watching some full Nitros. So cutting edge. Nitro feels so innovative. Co-sign my original review. The seat belt choke out spot was really good. Really cool how they had to work & sell the match pretty much always standing up. Finish is awesome. Would have loved some blood. ****

Stan Hansen vs Kenta Kobashi - AJPW 7/8/92 This is non-title even though Stan Hansen is the Triple Crown Champion. Definitely their least interesting match thus far. It looks like it was very hot on July 8, 1992 in Aomori, Japan as these two are sweating profusely like two minutes in and all the fans have their hand fans going. I dont know if the heat played a role in them taking it easy or if it was because Hansen had Triple Crown defenses coming up. Kobashi controls with the side headlock early. Hansen tries a number of different tactics to re-establish control (bullying in corner, attacking the bandaged knee, sleeper hold, and just straight bludgeoning), but Kobashi is a pugnacious pitbull and will not be denied. It is a back suplex that buys Hansen some time. He starts to hitting Kobashi in the head with knees and elbows. Kobashi starts a comeback on the outside with some kicks to the head. There were a lot kicks/strikes to the head in this match by both men. I really liked Hansen sliding tackle at one point. There were a lot of good Hansen tackles in this match in general really bowling Kobashi over. Business picks up on the outside when Hansen bounces a chair off Kobashi's back not once, but twice. Kobashi retaliates with a tackle of his own off the apron then sends Hansen ass over tea kettle on the guardrail. DDT ON THE FLOOR! Kobashi looks back in control, but in the ring he leaves his feet and Hansen makes him pay takes his head and driving into the mat. I love that spot. Hansen has a great powerbomb. His second powerbomb could be the first ever Turnbuckle Powerbomb and it is fucking gnarly. He signals for the Western Lariat, but Kobashi evades and SLEEPER! I love how they work the sleeper into their matches. You really feel like Kobashi has a chance as Hansen sells the Sleeper like he is KO'd. Fist pump! Moonsault! 1-2-NO! Kobashi makes the cardinal mistake of trying to pick Hansen up into an abdominal stretch. He was doing so well LegDropping Hansen to the death. Hansen starts hitting gnarly elbows and a tackle. Kobashi just keeps coming but on one charge Hansen SMOKES HIM WITH THE WESTERN LARIAOTOOOOOOOOOO! The finishing stretch was awesome as usual but a very pedestrian opening makes this the most skippable of the Hansen vs Kobashi series. ***1/2

Toshiaki Kawada vs Akira Taue - AJPW Champions Carnival 4/12/93 Definitely feels like they are going 30 minutes in the Handheld I have found. Mind you, the work is really solid, but they are clearly presenting a story of eveness and symmetry. They are also not going balls to the wall. Taue is definitely the more dynamic performer (pun fully intended). He baits Kawada to the outside where he whips him into the railing. He dropkicks him off the apron, he does one of his crazy Taue dives. Kawada is more content to do his usual Kawada stuff. Bodyslam->Rifle Kick. Kneedrop, Single Leg Crab attempt, lots of back drops from Kawada as counters. I have seen their glorious 1991 brawl this is not that. This is much more respectful which pushes the angle of the Holy Demon Army forming at the end of this. Taue is still playing the heel in this taking control and getting heat. He is hotshotting Kawada, single leg crab. My favorite moment of the opening section is the NODOWA~! on the floor. Since it is NOT 1995, this is NOT a death sentence. I feel like the transitions are solid, but they do not grab me. Kawada just goes back to trying to kick him in the head. I have enjoyed this, but reading the reviews, it seems like business picks up in the second half. I am pretty sure I have seen the clipped version because I known I have seen The Handshake. Just as I hit play again, boy did business pick up in a big way! Super symmetrical. Very-well scouted. They kicked into 6th gear and really rocked it. I dont know if it was because it was a 30 minute draw or they knew ahead of time this would be JIP on TV they definitely took it easy in the first 15 minutes or so. Taue had the kicks scouted. Kawada had the throwdowns scouted. Taue hits a powerbomb and immediately goes for a rear naked choke when that does not get the job done. Next moves, Kawada gets a powerbomb and immediately goes for a rear naked choke when that does not get the job. It was like this throughout. Taue had a great block of the Fujiwara armbar as Kawada was taking him down Taue hit an Enziguiri why did Takada never do that. Nodowa, no dice, Kawada gets the Fujiwara armbar and then a stiff clothesline for two. After that Taue gets his NODOWA~! for two. They both hit clotheslines simultaneously to level the playing field. Again the symmetry through the end is outstanding. Taue goes for the Octopus Stretch and hits a missile dropkick. Kawada gets the Stretch Plum and hits Tenryu's top rope reverse elbow drop. Great symmetry! Taue Big Boot and one more NODOWA~! 1-2-NO! Lots of Taue fans in the crowd even though he is the heel. Now heres comes their transitions that couldnt hit before. Kawada hits the Spinning heel kick and goes for Stretch Plum. You could say Stretch Plum was equal to NODOWA at this point. Kawada does his jumping high kick. Kawada Kicks and Taue does his eyerake/head throwdown. Kawada hits one last powerbomb, but the bell rings before he can win. Draw! Strong reaction for The Holy Demon Handshake! I like how it was symmetrical right up until then. Kawada got one more big bomb than Taue. He was also in the dominant position compared to Taue at the end. But still it was a draw. The idea was to make Kawada a first among equals. He is slightly better than Taue, is higher on the pecking order, and will be Misawa's archrival, but Taue is right behind it. It makes the Holy Demon Army the super team. They needed to band together in order to have a chance against Misawa. The draw finish also fuels The Handshake of Respect. Great angle and really well done finish stretch. ****

Stan Hansen vs Kenta Kobashi - AJPW 3/27/92 Championship Carnival Hansen vs Kobashi RULES! Hansen is the Champion going into the Carnival and Kobashi came pretty close to beating him six months ago. Lets see how this breaks down. At first glance, I thought this was going to be another spirited, sprint brawl. Hansen bounces a chair off Kobashi back very early on. There are their trademark spots: Hansen powerbombing Kobashi on the floor and Kobashi DDT'ing Hansen on the floor. Overall, this does not reach the level of their '91 classic. Still I would not complain if this was on RAW every week and this was still awesome. Kobashi is going after the Lariat arm and Hansen goes into Grizzly Bear mode and mauls Kobashi. Kobashi gets his hope spots in but this is a drubbing. The crowd comes alive for Kobashi after he kicks out of a second powerbomb. Hansen pours it on with a big suplex and a piledriver. He signals for the Western Lariat, but Kobashi grabs a DDT. Crowd is pumped. Kobashi pugnaciously grabs a Sleeper, shades of their '91 match, he is so overzealous I think he busts his nose on the top of Hansen's head as he is bleeding after that. He weakens him enough to hit a top rope legdrop, fist pump, YES, Moonsault, no one home! Too bad! Hansen goes for his third powerbomb but collapses under the weight! Great selling by Hansen he really put Kobashi over. Kobashi goes head-hunting and pours it on with a ton of leg drop variations he cant get it done. Hansen is fighting back but Kobashi is just chopping through it. Kobashi tries a backslide and inside cradle. On an Irish Whip, Hansen reverses, Kobashi ducks the Lariat, but Hansen SMOKES him on the rebound! Awesome finish! Great TV match! Efficient and compact! These two are just plain awesome together! ****

All Japan Triple Crown Champion Stan Hansen vs Mitsuharu Misawa - 8/22/92 I have seen a couple of their matches and didnt think much of them at time and cant even remember which ones I have seen. At the very least, it is a monumental match as Misawa wins his first Triple Crown and basically replaces Jumbo as the Ace of All Japan. As is customary, it is gaijin doing the honors of transitioning the championship. I am surprised this match has such a bad rep. The first 15 minutes have been great thus far. It is really gritty and tight. Lots of effort. Everything feels like a struggle. Apparently, Misawa had a shoulder injury coming into the match which is why Hansen is targetting the left shoulder. Misawa is right hand dominant. They set the tone early. A very stiff exchange up against the ropes. I liked the holds early, really tight. Hansen really wrestled him down with the top wristlock and when Misawa POPPED him with that Elbow to the head there was no need to sell because that looked like it fucking hurt. We got a close up camera angle, he fucking rocked Hansen with that Elbow. Awesome, awesome side headlock by Misawa, super tight, great struggle. Loved Hansen's counter, moving his body so that he butt Misawa's chin with his head. It looked violent. Hansen knows how to get under a Japanese audience's skin they hate when he does moves when it should be a rope break. Again, we see Misawa use the Elbow to bail him out this time going after Hansen's arm with wicked shot. Hansen is really great at using his size to bully Misawa. He is not doing his Bull In The China Shop routine but he still uses his mass effectively. He really goes to town on the arm now. The shoulderbreaker on the guardrail popped me huge. Hansen is now in full bully mode. He wont let Misawa back in the ring and the crowd is pissed. Misawa is fighting from his back on the apron just throwing stiff knees to the head. This is a fucking fight. Slingshot back in for two. Misawa is trying to tear Hansen's arm off as revenge! Hansen pops Misawa in the head with a wicked elbow. Receipt! Yeah, people who call this a "chore", "Awful", "boring" or "lazy", I have no fucking clue what you are watching. This is a nasty fight where everything is a struggle and it is dripping with effort, but it has been only the first 15 minutes. Finish is very strong making this an easy slam dunk great match. I dont think it ranks high up in the pantheon of great All Japan 90s classic but in any other promotion this would be lauded as something special. The struggle over the arm psychology is really good around the 15 minute mark. Misawa is really trying to work that angle. Hansen and him end up in some really stiff fire fights standing up. I love how Misawa has to switch up so many strategies before he fully gets control which is realized when he smokes Hansenin the back of the head on an Elbow when Hansen was blocking an German. That was wicked! It is 1992 so we get FACELOCK! Misawa missed the frogsplash. Now we get the big Hansen finish stretch. He goes back to the shoulderbreaker and even busts out a Cross Armbreaker and when he does not relinquish upon a rope break, the Japanese crowd really lets him have it. I dont think I have ever heard the Japanese boo so loudly. He goes for another arm attack, but he leaves himself open for a wicked Elbow to the head. Hansen keeps coming and throws a kick, but he is not covering up and BOOM KO ELBOW! Hansen's sell is awesome! He totally puts Misawa and that Elbow over like death. I am shocked that people do not like this. It is not typical All Japan 90s workrate with a lot of strikes and bombs. It is grittier and more minimalistic. It was a strong Misawa formula match. Misawa took a lot of heat and had to dig himself out of a hole. Hansen was great at using his size, staying focused on the arm, creating a mountain for Misawa to climb and getting heel heat. Misawa just kept coming with that Elbow and withstanding all the punishment. I wouldn't say it was fluke per se. I would say this match showed that Misawa had a Puncher's Chance in any match he was in. He would go onto show he was the Ace, but it was firmly established that the Elbow was the key to victory. ****1/4

Stan Hansen vs Toshiaki Kawada - AJPW 2/28/93 Man when Youtube really started to get going in what like 2005/2006, this was one of my favorite matches to watch again and again. I had read so much about All Japan through the late 90s and early 2000s. I was so excited to finally see it and it delivered in spades. Funny though I have not watched this match in a good ten years I would say. It is matches like this that remind me I did have some damn good taste as a teenager. There are two things I remember about his match the beginning and the end. This maybe the greatest bar room brawl in the history of pro wrestling. This is match pretty much universally praised, I have run across some criticisms of it being disjointed and/or aimless. I would replace those words with "chaotic" and "mayhem". This is what a bar room brawl should feel like. If you are caught flat footed, someone is going to bowl you over. Hansen is the king of that. Anytime Kawada thought he was safe, Hansen would just lunge at him and wipe him out. Kawada was fighting for his life in there against Hansen at the outset. There was a great Kawada sell. He was trying to bottle Hansen up with a front facelock, but got clipped by a punch and just went down on his ass. Even though at first, it felt like Kawada was fighting for his life against the human version of the Tasmanian Devil. Soon Kawada turned the tables on him. At first, it was something like ramming his head into the post. You knew Hansen was hurt because he was stomping around outside. Kawada kicks him in the brutally in the ropes. Then it was Kawada going for the leg. This however backfired and inspired Hansen to target Kawada's leg. This was Kawada's second great sell around his knee which is his bread and butter. There was some great verbal selling in this from Kawada. Kawada ends up kicking him off his leg and sending him crashing into the railing. I just need to say this somewhere. This match is crazy fucking stiff. Especially those KICKS! Each men was just rifling the other with these crazy stiff kicks. It sounded like gunshots going off. When Hansen starts going for pinfall attempts after punting Kawada in the mouth a kick I knew Hansen was in trouble. It sounds counter-intuitive. Hansen was not his usual confident self. When Hansen goes for a pin, it is usually over because he has kicked so much ass. Here, Kawada gave him a helluva fight and it feels like Hansen wants to get out of this match with the win rather than mauling his opponent. Hansen's heat segment here feels more like a normal monster heel (big move, cover, big move, cover) less of his style of Bull in the China Shop. Hansen gets more and more desperate. Busting out a dropkick and then A SUICIDE DIVE THROUGH THE BOTTOM ROPE! HOLY SHIT! MARK OUT CITY! You really get the feeling that Kawada has pushed Hansen to the limit forcing him to take these high risks. Hansen wants to slam Kawada on the exposed floor, but Kawada blocks and it is Hansen that is slammed on the floor! Amazing selling from Hansen...clutching the ribs and verbal selling. Kawada hits a stiff clothesline to the back of Hansen's head on the apron. Kawada's clothesline is so wicked. Hansen sells it like he is KO'd. Hansen has really put Kawada over. Kawada knee drop 1-2-No! See these pinfalls feel different. This feels like a man in the dominant position looking to get the win. STRETCH PLUM! A great one at that. Looks really tight! Kawada Kicks! Anyone who says Stan Hansen cant sell, needs to watch this match and tell me that. Kawada SLAPS THE TASTE OUT OF Hansen's mouth. So Hansen punches him right in the face! KAWADA IS OUT COLD! Great Kawada sell #3! Honestly that should have been the finish or shortly thereafter the Western Lariat. My slight criticism of this classic is they go a little overboard in the finish making sure you know that Kawada is just inches away from beating Hansen, but I think it was clear in the body of the match and we didnt 5 minutes to remind us of that. Hansen throws down the defiant Kawada head first multiple times and then delivers a big time Powerbomb! He signals for the Western Lariat, but we get all sort of evasions. This is what I mean it was a little much. Kawada was throwing clotheslines and kicks at Hansen trying to win, but it seemed too much. The one spot I remember from this match that I still think is epic is when Hansen hits that first Lariat and he hits it so hard that he is going flying out of the ring. He was so out of control! You knew the end was nigh. Hansen comes up selling his head so well. Kawada again puts up token offense (his patented Spinning Heel Kick to get two) but Hansen nails him in the back of the head with a right handed lariat. The first twenty minutes of this is just excellent. It is a 5 minute bar room brawl sprint that feels uncooperative, chaotic and like a shoot. Then as each man becomes fatigued it becomes a slugfest first trying to take out each other's legs and then just hitting each other as hard as possible. Hansen sold his ass off for Kawada and really busted out some neat stuff. Kawada felt like a superstar in this match. He was at a disadvantage and turned it around and made you feel like Hansen was the one that was surviving. I think they could have cut out 2-3 minutes of the last 5 minutes of the match and tightened it up. One nearfall for Kawada would have been plenty. Regardless, this match is epic and really shows Hansen's range all in one match and how much of an asskicker Kawada is. ****3/4

Stan Hansen vs Kenta Kobashi - AJPW 9/4/91 To think the only Hansen vs Kobashi match I have ever watched before today was 7/29/93. What have I been doing with my life? This was fantastic and a total contender to make my Top 100 matches of all time list. Hansen OBLITERATES Kobashi with the Western Lariat. Covers him, but wait it happened before the bell! Joe Higuchi refuses to count the pin. We have the ultimate underdog Kobashi in a 6 foot hole against the Grizzly Bear from The Revenant. It is every bit as epic as you would hope it would be. Hansen MAULS Kobashi. He is besides himself that Kobashi is kicking out. Then it becomes Kobashi just getting his foot on the ropes. He powerbombs him on exposed concrete. He hurls a table down on him. He exposes the knee smashes it into his head. He steps on his head for great heel heat. Kobashi just will not die! I loved the touch of Hansen starting to sell exhaustion. Kobashi is weather the storm and Hansen is starting to slow down. We see little openings for Kobashi here and there where he will get a strike in. It is the full nelson by Hansen when we know he is fatigued. He is going for a hold so he himself can recover. Once Kobashi gets out, thats when he starts his onslaught. It is gradual. Kobashi is selling an epic beating. He will hurl himself at Hansen but need to stop to collect himself in between. Eventually Hansen powders, Kobashi gives chase and slams his head into the post. Then it is enziguiri on the apron that sends Hansen head first into the exposed part of the turnbuckle. Finally it is the DDT on the exposed concrete. It took 5 minutes but Kobashi EARNED that comeback. Now it is a level playing field. Sublime pro wrestling. Is there a better moment in pro wrestling than Kenta Kobashi's fist pump before he goes for the Moonsault. It is so electric. It is so passionate. How could you root against Kobashi? Kobashi HITS the Moonsault! 1-2-NO! Awesome! He goes for another top rope move. You need to take risks against a Monster like Hansen, but they need to be calculated. This time Hansen is standing so he evades the dropkick and immediately goes to work on the back with a Boston Crab. Kobashi makes the ropes and powders. Hansen BODYSLAMS Kobashi on top of the railing and then puts him in a Boston Crab on the floor. Thats when the match from ok this is a great novelty match to stone cold classic. Hansen then Oklahoma Stampedes Kobashi's back into the post. WOW! Back in, Hansen starts lighting Kobashi up in the corner, but the ref tells him to break and this is Kobashi's chance. Great stuff to break up the onslaught. Then the match takes yet another interesting twist. Hansen misses wildly on a chop and Kobashi wraps him up with a sleeper. Hansen suplexes Kobashi, BUT Kobashi HOLDS ONTO THE SLEEPER! I am such a mark for that spot. Kobashi puts the Grizzly to sleep! 1-2-NO! Kobashi does his barrage of leg drops, still no dice. Right back to the sleeper. They end up rolling to the floor, but Kobashi will not relinquish the sleeper in the crowd. He does however to beat the count. Kobashi is the personification of determination and perseverance. However, his honor gets the best of him. He goes back out so that he can collect Hansen so he can beat him in the ring. Hansen SMOKES Kobashi with a Lariat on the floor! MARK OUT CITY! They do a second countout tease this time with Kobashi. I think it could have ended there and I would have been happy. They tussle on the apron. Kobashi shifts his weight on the back suplex into the ring. I love that finish and it was a great nearfall here. Kobashi dodges the first Lariat, but Hansen FUCKS HIM UP ON THE REBOUND! 1-2-3! I love Pro Wrestling! ****3/4