Superstar Sleeze

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs Don Muraco - MSG 4/22/85 The Hulkster who had a red hot 1984, which goes under the radar (in part due to him not having any major angles wen compared to Slaughter/Sheik, Andre/Studd, Piper/Snuka). At the start of the new year, Hogan is at the peak of his powers and is the centerpiece for the build to the inaugural WrestleMania. So what happens after Mania. Well, one big thing is Paul Orndorff's babyface turn which happens at the first SNME. Also, Hogan has his first three match series at the Garden. Vince had an interesting booking strategy for Hogan not using him at the Garden every month sometimes not even for months at a time. The opponent for this big occasion, "The Magnificent" Don Muraco fresh back from his sabbatical in Hawaii and as much of a lazy beach bum as ever. What really impressed me about Hogan in 1984 was his unstoppable and infectious energy. While I could see it brimming to the surface, there is nothing that will quell that fire quite like Don Muraco. Hogan does show his ability to work holds well, sell his leg exceptionally well and his offense (high knee, enziguiri) is great. Muraco really does not do shit until about 3/4ths into the match. I thought Muraco lunging with the Asiatic Spike finally added some drama. Couple good nearfalls. Tombstone attempt, but Hogan's counter was good. Hogan does the big Hulk Up, but Muraco falls through the ropes. We get the countout finish due to some Fuji distraction. Nothing to really see here. I am going to keep watching Muraco, but I ask myself why does Vince keep giving him chances and why do I?

THANK YOU! It was all worth it to have someone send that note along.

WWF Intercontinental Champion Tito Santana vs Bob Orton - MSG 7/23/84 They pretty blatantly telegraph this is a draw with a pretty pedestrian opening ten minutes. They worked the holds well, but you could tell they just wasting time. Orton catches Tito with a punch on a criss cross. This combines elements of workrate (bomb-throwing), but with lots of selling of exhaustion so it feels like a 2010s self-conscious epic. Lots of time in between moves in order to sell exhaustion. Orton busts out a powerslam, backbreaker, Fishermans Suplex and tries a Vaderbomb, but eats knees. Each move is great just lots of time in between spots. Tito instead of having one big burst of fire has a several mini-comebacks. The one after the Vaderbomb was good but went into an ab stretch and then he missed a crossbody and Orton gets a cover. Orton takes a Slaughter like bump over the turnbuckles and some big Tito shots. Orton gets a big reverse atomic drop off the Tito ten count punches in corner. Good nearfall down the stretch. Bell rings shortly after. My big issue is they were selling total exhaustion but they only wrestled twenty minutes! C'mon! They were acting like they went a full Broadway. It is not like they worked a sprint. Over selling and way too much time in between moves. Found this to be disappointing.

WWF Intercontinental Champion Tito Santana vs Paul Orndorff - St. Louis 9/1/84 WWF invades the former capital of the National Wrestling Alliance taking over their TV after Sam Muchnick's retirement left St. Louis vulnerable. It might be happenstance but these two work a very workrate match and I think it has to do with the fact that they are wrestling in the heart of NWA country. Lots of chaining at the beginning and nearfalls down the stretch. As far as the WWF goes these are two of the less gimmicky wrestlers and they wrestle this mostly straight. There is a moment where they break after a chaining sequence and Tito has his dukes up and Orndorff is wheeling back into the ropes. That's the definition of a face and heel right there. Santana and Orndorff are great working the holds and keeping the tempo up. Orndorff shoots Tito off and hits a wicked reverse atomic drop. This must have been a favorite of Tito. Orndorff gets mean knocking Tito out and atomic drop on the floor. Tito is really selling well. A little king of the mountain, an Orndorff favorite perhaps. Lots of good nearfalls down the stretch, back suplex for Wonderful, cross body for Tito had the place rocking. Tito has some really good fired up punches down the stretch. Orndorff did a great jelly leg sell of them before bumping off the last one. Just as I think Tito is going to take this one; Orndorff catches him with a nasty clothesline for two! Bell rings and it is a draw. Wonderful is pissed and I would be too. He had him dead to rites. Very different match than usual for the WWF, heavy on workrate and nearfalls. Nice change of pace, thought these two were great at executing it. ***1/2

Sgt. Slaughter vs Mr. Wonderful - Philly 6/2/84 I love the WWF in 1984. The roster is absolutely loaded and they just do all these random pairings. In the late 80s, you would wrestle the same person for like 3-4 months straight. Here McMahon books more like Crockett/WCW where it does not matter if two wrestlers have an issue. He just puts two over talents together and let magic flow. I have not been kind to Mr. Wonderful in my past reviews. Usually describing him as solid and good at everything without being great. Orndorff gave his best performance yet in this. Easily the best Orndorff match I have seen thus far. Slaughter in 1984 is at the peak of his powers. Orndorff was a fucking heat magnet in this. Doing his best Larry Z impression and Philly was eating it up. They loved chanting Paula and even Slaughter was egging it on. Slaughter was great in this. I loved him atomic dropping Orndorff from the post with the robe still on. Disrobe him but first blasts him with a clothesline. Puts on the robe and does some flexing. Nice! Orndorff is a bumping maniac in this. Orndorff out of desperation rams him into the actual turnbuckle drawing blood. Orndorff is put together and it is weird that both of his arms are normal looking. Orndorff is a nasty heel in this, working the cut. Slaughter's comeback was great. Beautiful punches and that wind up and punch was great. Orndorff is killing it. Just when I am thinking "Wow Orndorff is out-bumping Slaughter", Slaughter takes his totally nutty, out of control bum over the top rope to the floor. I mean that was an insane version. The King of the Mountain that follows is glorious: Slaughter's selling while Orndorff cuts him off at every pass and is posing and taunting. The ref gets bumped so Wonderful hits him with knux. Orndorff tells him to count, but Slaughter is about to get in and Orndorff goes over gets yanked out. SLAUGHTER LIGHTS WONDERFUL UP! OH MY GOD! That was awesome. Slaughter gets a chair. Orndorff heads for the hills. Ref calls for the bell and Slaughter cant use the chair. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Orndorff wins by countout. BOOOOOOOOOO! I really wanted to see Slaughter blast Wonderful. Total bump-a-thon by these two and just awesome 80s wrestling throughout, camp at the beginning, blood, violence and loved the drama of the King of the Mountain finish. They don't make em like they used to! ****1/4

I love Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. He needs to be celebrated more. PTBN is holding a Greatest wrestler in WWF/E history. Greg Valentine is someone that will make my top 5-15, roughly and I think more people ought to seek out his work. Two things: 1. There are more matches I need to watch, but there is always more matches to watch. I decided Voltaire is right "Search for perfection is the enemy of good." I just wanted to get these reviews out there so people could be inspired to watch more Hammer. 2. I want to write a real in-depth 1-3 paragraphs on what makes Valentine great that really unifies all the different threads found in these reviews, but I ran out of steam. Best of Greg Valentine in WWF 1979-1984: http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2017/10/greg-hammer-valentine-best-of-1979-1984.html?m=1 Greg Valentine vs Bob Backlund: http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2017/10/r-e-s-p-e-c-t-bob-backlund-vs-greg.html?m=1 Greg Valentine vs Tito Santana: http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2017/10/bloodlust-tito-santana-vs-greg-hammer.html?m=1 Greg Valentine: Dream Team Era 1985-87: http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2017/10/greg-valentine-dream-team-era-1985-1987.html?m=1 Greg Valentine: IC Champ Era 1984-85: http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2017/10/intercontinental-champion-greg.html?m=1 Greg Valentine: Later Years 1988-1991: http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2017/10/greg-valentine-later-years-wwf-1988-1991.html?m=1

I love Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. He needs to be celebrated more. PTBN is holding a Greatest wrestler in WWF/E history. Greg Valentine is someone that will make my top 5-15, roughly and I think more people ought to seek out his work. Two things: 1. There are more matches I need to watch, but there is always more matches to watch. I decided Voltaire is right "Search for perfection is the enemy of good." I just wanted to get these reviews out there so people could be inspired to watch more Hammer. 2. I want to write a real in-depth 1-3 paragraphs on what makes Valentine great that really unifies all the different threads found in these reviews, but I ran out of steam. Best of Greg Valentine in WWF 1979-1984: http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2017/10/greg-hammer-valentine-best-of-1979-1984.html?m=1 Greg Valentine vs Bob Backlund: http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2017/10/r-e-s-p-e-c-t-bob-backlund-vs-greg.html?m=1 Greg Valentine vs Tito Santana: http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2017/10/bloodlust-tito-santana-vs-greg-hammer.html?m=1 Greg Valentine: Dream Team Era 1985-87: http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2017/10/greg-valentine-dream-team-era-1985-1987.html?m=1 Greg Valentine: IC Champ Era 1984-85: http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2017/10/intercontinental-champion-greg.html?m=1 Greg Valentine: Later Years 1988-1991: http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2017/10/greg-valentine-later-years-wwf-1988-1991.html?m=1

I legitimately did think this was a five star classic when I watched it a couple years ago. I think it is still the best match of the series but not that high. WWF Intercontinental Champion Tito Santana vs Greg Valentine - MSG 6/16/84 They had two matches in Philly that preceded this bout, but this is the first match in MSG so this should be treated as a first match in a series that would culminate in a six match series at the Garden finishing in a lumberjack match in March of 1985, which I think is unheard of in length. This match and these two wrestlers epitomize struggle. Not just in their manly, hard-hitting slugfests, but in the way they tussle in gritty holds. Santana is relentless on the arms and the crowd is going wild as he is wringing it out. Valentine misses a knee into corner and two armdrags into an armbar. That's a great way to create movement by Valentine. He is stodgy on offense, but he knows how to create excitement. Santana has that fire. Valentine bullies him out through the middle rope to the floor. Tempers flare! The fists fly! THE GARDEN IS ROCKING! They should have kept it up, but both go back into the ring. Tito says don't sing it, just bring it. The Hammer misses the elbow and Tito wrings out the arm and DRAGS him to the ground and does it again. That's what I am saying. The struggle is real. Valentine forces you to earn everything. Valentine shoots him off and Santana bulldozes him over. Tito goes for another, but The Hammer picks him up and ATOMIC DROP! Great selling by Tito and as Valentine hits him with those hammer shots. The verbal selling from Tito is incredible. Hammer really connecting with those blows. Knee to the hamstring we all know what that is for. Love Tito's selling! Tito throwing a right so Hammer with those piston shots. Love that reaction by Valentine and he is working the hamstrings. Valentine wants to slam him in the turnbuckle and Santana sends him into the buckle. TITO IS ALIVE! Big shots and TIMMMMMBBBBAAAHHHHHH! Tito sees red, bullies him through the ropes and punching him ferociously. Valentine has no recourse but to poke him in the eye. LOVED THAT SEQUENCE! Tito is the best at those fiery comebacks. Tito into buckles because Hammer ducks, but on the figure-4 attempt he is sent into the buckles. Love how Valentine will throw this nasty forearms to set up move. Tito backdrops Valentine out of the piledriver and a big elbow. I love how Santana has had to earn this comeback and his fire. Crossbody gets two and MSG is roaring. Santana back into an armbar which is an odd choice as the energy was at a fever pitch, but it leads to Hammer picking him up and dropping him throat first on the top rope. Brutal spot! LOVED IT! Made Valentine look amazing. Hammer tortures the arm and Garden is chanting TITO LOUDLY! Hammer working over the arm. I feel like they put this first and the Tito comebacks after that this would be a five star match, but still this is great Valentine arm work. Valentine is just suffocating him. Valentine comes crashing down on his nuts on Tito's knees. Crowd loves it. So do I! SLUGFEST! HERE WE GO! TITO IS ROCKING! THIS IS AMAZING! Tito is pouring it on. The ref is breaking it up because Valentine is on ropes. Hammer gets a hard shot and backdrops him to the floor. Atomic drop and Santana cant respond to the count! Amazing first match! The struggle. The fire. The selling. Brutal shots (reverse atomic drop and drop across top rope were great). Amazing slugfest at the end and red hot finish. Best match of their insanely great series. ****1/2

Hulk Hogan vs Big Bossman - Boston 12/3/88 Bossman is an all time great Hogan opponent because he brings the size and the agility to the ring. By being a way better bumper than most Hogan opponents he adds so much to Hogan's shine. Hogan is a total ball of fire right out of the gate. Bossman takes a great bump to the floor and Beantown is rocking. Hogan keeps it up but some Slick distraction allows Bossman to attack the back. Hogan cant get him up for the slam and Bossman is on top of Hogan. He hits the Sidewalk Slam and only gets two. But a great false finish as Hogan just ran into it. Bearhug is a fine hold here. Bossman does a great job with the weeble wobbles but don't fall down selling really, really good and eventually gets back on offense. Another Sidewalk Slam but gloats like an idiot. HULK-UP! A great one because Bossman is a great seller and BODYSLAM! BIG POP! Slick distraction and Bossman has the cuffs but ends up cuffed to the rope that was like a magic trick. Hogan topples him over and Bossman loses by countout. Great finish that plays off Hogan being cuffed to the railing. Bossman was so great all around especially the weeble wobble selling. Hogan ruled at offense. One of the better Hogan matches. ***3/4

Iconic segment that sparked one of the best drawing Hogan programs of all time. Brother Love is such a great slimeball character. They ought to have a stir the pot character like this now. I love how Brother Love puts on glasses as he starts to berate Hogan about attacking him previously. Cant hit a man with glasses. Brother Love has a benefactor and that benefactor has provided him with protection in the form of the Big Bossman and Slick. Hogan cuts a good promo. Bossman jabs the nightstick in his throat and then Slick sprays him with hair spray. Bossman cuffs him to the railing and beats him down with the nightstick. Hogan hulks up and chases them to the back with railing. Great angle to set up the house show run.

I agree with your assessment of how amazing the finish was. I disagree with your evaluation of the Dallas match. Bayley was not cautious at all. So many top rope moves connecting early, the rana to the outside and then the guillotine choke. The story was wanted Bayley recognized the danger of Asuka and she wanted to get out of Dodge fast. In doing so she left herself vulnerable to Asuka's counterwrestling prowress and ultimately succumbed to Asukas superior submission game. Your point of Bayley failing in Brooklyn due to her not being true to herself was incredible. Great insight!

NXT Women's Champion Asuka vs Bayley -NXT Takeover: Brooklyn Bayley is so insanely over it's scary. She is one of the few characters of the modern times that moves me emotionally. You just want her to win so badly. The story of this match is can Bayley recapture the magic of last year against Sasha because she will need against the undefeated Empress of Tomorrow. I liked how this match contrasted with the previous match. The previous match Bayley was on offense for the majority and just throwing every bomb at the invincible Asuka who had an answer at every turn. Here Bayley looks game early but almost immediately is caught with a knee to the head and has to play catch up the rest of the match. This allows us to see more of that sweet, sweet Asuka offense and this is a more natural role of Bayley. I loved that never say die attitude from Bayley. The ramming of Asukas turnbuckles revved me up. The middle portion was sloppy and awkward. The AJ Styles-slip through the superplex came off awkward. The shoves on the knees were terrible. The powerbomb spot was totally botched and jarring. Which is unfortunate because the beginning and end were great. My Dad walked in during the end and we were both going bonkers. Bayley going crazy screaming at Asuka to HIT ME IN THE FACE! Catching the backfist into a backslide was great. Bayley laying her shit in and Asuka coming back with the backfists was sick. The false finishes were great! You knew Bayley would get out of the Asuka Lock to convert that into a Bayley 2 Belly was smart. But the real genius was to reverse the Asuka Lock into a pinning combination ala Survivor Series '96 and that I bought into a year after the fact even though I knew Asuka would win. Asuka kicks Bayley right in the head and BAYLEY ROARS ala Kojima in Tenryu 2002 Series was a great no sell moment. Bayley is great at utilizing the no sell. My Dad & I were going bonkers only to have Asuka quash with two swift kicks to the head! Amazing dramatic finish run fit for the heart of NXT. A real shame how bad the middle was because the ending truly was incredible. Really great sendoff for Bayley and cements Asukas position at the Ace. ****

NXT Women's Champion Asuka vs Eva Marie - NXT 4/27/16 The first disappointing match I've seen from Asuka. Asuka is a great TV match worker working with Billie Kay, Santana Garrett and Deeana from New Jersey. All were very fun contests with Asuka giving plenty to her opponents but also kicking ass and showing her charisma. Here the beginning was solid with Asuka leading Eva Marie through the basics and Asuka showed off some of that charming playfulness that I love. At the end of the day this was too long with a few Asuka spots and way too much Eva Marie. I go Bank N forth on Eva Marie. She is capable her Senton looked good as did her suplex and she can take a shot so she isn't fragile. She elicited a great response. But she is so stoic. She is missing that extra oomph. I don't know if aloof really works. Maybe it could. Regardless match went way too long and nothing memorable besides Asuka mocking Eva Marie.

WWF Intercontinental Champion Ultimate Warrior vs Rick Rude - Wrestlemania V If there are two things that go together in wrestling it is Rick Rude and Warrior. I gotta say Warrior ain't the greatest but at least he brings a ton of energy to the ring. Warrior coming in like a whirlwind and Rude kneeing the belt was funny. Rude was a ready and willing bumper. That is what Warrior needs. Warrior just crushed him with whips, tackles and clotheslines. The tackles towards the end looked really good. The bearhug was fine first time second time was pointless. The eyepoke/missile dropkick was a great, great heel hope spot. Warrior splash eats knees and finally slows down the Warrior. Pilederive for two but can't complete hip swivel. God bless Rick Rude. Warrior misses charge, Rude Awakening but Warrior blocks. They do the famous Heenan trips and holds foot for three. Loved how chaotic this felt because Warrior is just this ball of unstoppable energy. Give me this over well-rehearsed gymnastics routines anytime. Rude was foreshadowing 1992 as a superworker here as an excellent heel in a bump 'n' run match but with the offense to match. ****

Macho King Randy Savage vs Hacksaw Duggan - WWF SNME 1/90 This whole 89-91 period is my biggest blind spot in Savage's career. His promo with Gene before this match is great. I marked out for Gene namedropping Louis XVI and Savage saying guillotines are what peasants use to get their hair cut. LOVE Duggan in UWF need to see more in WWF. Pretty good match. Duggan is a good power wrestler mostly clotheslines wish we could have gotten an out and out brawl but that's WWF for you. Savage just throws himself into every 100%. LOVE the sedan entrance and Duggan tipping it over. Great use of Sherri. Savage/Sherri maybe the best intergender duo of all time. Duggans finish stretch goes a little long we do get a gratuitous ass shot of Sherri. LOADED PURSE!!! That's how Savage won the crown but not this time. Duggan gets one last gasp, a clothesline of course but Savage goes to outside and Havksaw tries to suplex him in and they do Rude/Warriot FINISH for Savage to retain. Duggan was wasted in not doing bloody brawls. Good WWF cartoon match because Savage & Sherri are the masters of this style. ***

SNME intros are the best of their kind. Vince really should announce for a year or so to close out his on screen career.

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan vs The Genius - SNME 11/89 Huge fan of The Genius' promos. Shockingly I have never seen this match. I LOVED THIS!!! Pure camp but it was well GENIUS!!! The left handed handshake attempt had me rolling. The Genuis frolicking in the ring was too funny. Hogan tossing him out of the ring on the lock up was a great bump by Lanny. Genius slaps Hogan hard does some cartwheels. Hogan gets this wicked look and just blasts Genius great stuff kicking ass. Mr. Perfect waltzes down and Genius takes control with dropkicks and steel posts shot. Genius Moonsault! Hulk up! Genius eye rake and back take stops Hulk Up no one can do that. Jesse calling those moves by the Genius, "Hogan tactics" was funny because it is true. HOLY SHIT BUMP WHERE HOGAN BODY SLAMS HIM OUT TO FLOOR! Mr. Perfect blasts him with the belt and Hogan loses by count out. Popular 89 finish for Hogan. Amazing campy Hogan match with some great action, awesome bump and finish. ****

WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage - Wrestling Challenge 8/9/89 More bells & whistles than the previous matches because Zeus is here to build to Summerslam as is Elizabeth! I popped for that. I'm pretty sure this is a dark match. Savage & Sherri double team Hogan but Hogan gets the best of both of them. Then they move into 89 match template. I can't seem to find the next match in this series. Here we do get Liz slapping Savage and Hogan pinning Macho Man. Hogan Atomic drop to Sherri and a gratuitous ass shot. Zeus bear hug but Beefcake saves. Due to a great finish and the rest being the same this is the one to watch.

WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage - Boston 6/3/89 Carbon copy of the MLG match. This was the first Boston match. Watch this one because of better camera angles and plus Boston is obviously better than Toronto 😋

WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage - MLG 4/23/89 Their usual fun match with each other. Lots of heel chicanery. This like a less over the top version of the Flair Bash At The Beach match. A lot of heat on Sherri who is the lynchpin to any Savage offense: the robe, two distractions, tripping and foreign object. Savage is great in this but much like Flair in 94 takes a backseat to Sherri. His charisma is off the charts wildman throwing chairs to stalling to way he throws himself into every bump and move. Hogan is still a lot of fun and energetic loved the shine once he took of Macho Man robe. 89 WWF is not as gritty as 86 WWF and while this is fun not as good as that original series. Savage gets to outside after big boot. Hogan gets caught up with Sherri and Savage shoves him into railing and beats the count. Sherri of course puts the belt on him. Hogan does the double noggin knocker to get some commuppance on Sherri to send crowd home HAPPY but setting up rematches. Perfectly fine fun Hogan WWF main event. ***1/4

NXT Women's Champion Asuka vs Nia Jax - NXT Takeover 6/8/16 Asuka makes submission wrestling great again. Her chaining into submissions were breath-taking as they were compelling. She makes submissions engrossing because they ought to be done in a flash. Her transition into the Octopus or the triangle were insane. I liked the callback to the Bayley match where she tried to use to guillotine choke to defeat the monstrous Nia. I feel like it has been recently that Nia has found her presence in the ring as a monster. There were great moments early like the headbutt and the awesome biel that sent Asuka flying. But other times, she lacked that killer instinct. That Vader-esque feel even if she has the Vader look. That was the biggest detriment to the match. She kept up with Asuka that suplex out of the choke was great as was the back breaker out of the octopus as cutoffs. Mia acquitted herself well on the mat following her into the triangle. She just was not as menacing as I would hope. After three strong submission attempts, Asuka gets a tight kneebar which always spells doom for these larger wrestlers. Nia missed a legdrop and now Asuka hits a Shining Wizard. This is what Asuka needed was a head shot. By rocking her in the head it opened her to new opportunities. Like missile dropkick and nasty backfists. In the buildup, Asuka went for an armbar and Nia just destroyed her with a powerbomb. Again here Nia hits her with a huge power bomb as a counter. The layout of this is spectacular. So many great Hope spots and cutoffs. OMG! ASUKA CROSS ARMBREAKER OUT OF THE COVER! Asuka flash counterwrestling submissions as Hope spots have been stellar. Nia is too big for the AsukaLock so Asuka just kicks her head off in a great finish stretch. Nia Jax executed the layout well with great cutoffs and actually good selling at the end. She just has no character in between moves. Asuka was stellar in the David role using submissions well as Hope spots but it was head shots, Shining Wizard & kicks to head that won her the day. She was great at selling and firing up. This was a great example of Asuka the ring General and her unique take on David vs Goliath. ****1/4

NXT Womens Champion Bayley vs Asuka - NXT 4/1/16 Asuka is what Shinsuke Nakamura is supposed to be. Asuka has that crazy unique charisma from the Kabuki Theatre inspired entrance, that devilish smile, to playing around the ring. Whereas Nakamura just comes off as a spaz, Asuka comes off as cool. But there is more to it. What made Nakamura work in New Japan was that he was portrayed as the BEST WRESTLER. He was the BEST STRIKER. He was the BEST SUBMISSION wrestler. He was the one with legit MMA Cred. Not Tanahashi, Not Okada. He was the legit King of the Strong Style, the last of the Inoki's vision of pro wrestling. In such a way, Tanahashi & Okada had to react to Nakamura. Tanahashi it was through body part psychology. He would take out a leg in order to destabilize the balance and ability of Nakamura to set up for his own finish run. For Okada, it was all about using the dropkick to keep Nakamura off balance to set up his finish run. But make mistake about it, Nakamura was portrayed as the best and you can see that through his counterwrestling and how he could takedown his opponents at will. However in the WWE traditional counterwrestling does not exist. WWE is all about spots. Nakamura really does not have a lot of spots to be successful in WWE. What makes Asuka work is twofold. One is that she presented as the absolute best, which is what made Nakamura work in NJPW. From the outset, WWE positions her not just the best of the women, but anywhere based on how Regal presents her and the announcers her. In this match, she is presented as a bigger challenge than Nia Jax. I think when you first watch Asuka because she is diminutive in stature this does not come across, but watching a lot of Asuka this makes sense. So kudos to WWE! Secondly, Asuka is like the female AJ. She has a lot of really smart, organic, CROWD-PLEASING spots. She is NOT wrestling a million miles per minute with a ton of modified suplexes and flips. She builds her matches to a crescendo. She has a lot of spots she can go back to and fans will like them. She feels like she has the charisma that everyone tells me Nakamura has and the wrestling ability of AJ Styles. Pretty high praise and she deserves it. I actually watched this match live and was my first Asuka experience. I remember liking this more than the overhyped, overrated Nakamura vs Zayn spotfest. But now that I have sat down a bunch of Asuka, I thought this match is a classic. The thing this match requires you to do is buy into Asuka as an absolute killer. I think if you come in cold and you don't have that belief this match is just good. So I think that one thing the match could have improved is establishing Asuka as a killer in the first two minutes (go for Crossface Chickenwing but have Bayley scramble for the ropes, have her throw a couple more missed roundhouse kicks). We do see Asuka build momentum first against the larger Bayley (this is why I think establishment of Asuka in the match is necessary). But before the match gets out of hand, Bayley avoids an ass shot and attacks while she is in the ropes. You will notice two things: Bayley is suffocating her always on top of her and always coming off the top rope for extra oomph and Asuka is already countering with submissions (armbar, kneebar, remind you of anybody from NJPW?). Bayley's guillotine choke was a nice touch. The announcers put over that this finished Nia Jax (which I was aware of) and was super important to that move. You can get the feeling that even early on Bayley is throwing everything she has at Asuka and now I believe in Asuka it makes the stakes feel higher and makes every Asuka counter could lead to a tap out. There are some awkward moment like what they after Bayley's cool rana from the ring to the floor, the general middle is a little all over the place (the symmetrical strikes were nice, but kind of seemed out of place. Asuka's slap was good). But overall the story is established, Bayley is in over he head, but the best defense is a killer offense and Bayley is throwing everything at Asuka. Asuka is just so good that she can still counter. Bayley goes from the bomb throwing strategy to the Tanahashi strategy of taking out Asuka's leg which came out of a catching Asuka's foot on a roundhouse. Bayley playing Asuka's game, nice! Bayley the Counterwrestler. Whats Asuka's answer, but a FLYING CROSS ARMBREAKER, which is exactly in line with her previous counters. I am loving this. Bayley is just trying to survive and counters an Asuka kick with a small package. Great! Bayley is desperate trying a submission that tapped Sasha nothing doing. Finally goes for Bayley 2 Belly, but Asuka counters and we know it is over now. Bayley, bless your heart. Spin kick, suplex, Asuka Lock and ASUKA RIPS BAYLEY TO THE GROUND! Asuka is God. Bayley passed out. Amazing match. ****1/2

Well in fairness you are being a dick to me just as I am being a dick to the 411mania guys. I am a pretty easygoing guy so you don't have to sugarcoat things. I do think you have a point that this mentality can be just as annoying as the people I was frustrated with, but I was just that... I was frustrated with them. I wrote that post in haste and in anger, but the core point of the post is still valid. There was a big backlash in the late 90s/early 00s to overbooking which at the time made sense, but internet criticism just like WWE seems stuck in 2002-2003. People are parroting the same Scott Keith-isms from the early 00s without really thinking. Your point about a simple run-in or ref bump NOT being overbooking is exactly my point. There have been legions of internet fans trained by the wrestling criticism of the late 90s/early 00s to believe anything but an uber-clean finish Is overbooking and decry its existence. I agree with you I think overbooking can be fantastic and really add to pro wrestling. I can tell we agree, but the tone of my original post was hostile and prickly. That was dumb on my part. Lets all rejoice in the wonders of overbooking because it is one of the many reasons that makes wrestling fun!

So I watched a bunch of Asuka matches on a flight this morning, but I wanted to write some reviews. But I didn't take notes so I used 411mania reviews to jog my memory. I got to the reviews of Asuka vs Emma Takeover match which I loved especially the finish stretch. I thought the ref bump, belt being thrown in and Dana distraction added a ton of drama down the stretch. Really elevated Asuka and was wicked enjoyable. But yet two reviews on the site cited that "the match didn't need the gaga" and that overbooked finish hurt the match. Um if Asuka just submitted her instead of Emma backing her into the ref, how the hell would that have been better. It would have been a ho-hum finish to a solid match. This was way more entertaining and added a lot of fun. Why is still there a stigma to overbooking? It is what makes wrestling fun! Ref bumps, interference and general wackiness. Why do people want wrestling to be like real sports??? Just reasons #1269 why internet wrestling fans sucks in my estimation. Long live overbooking because it can just be good booking!

Asuka vs Emma - NXT Takeover December 2015 Asuka's best match to at least Bayley match. Great setup here as Emma & Dana try to cost Asuka a match to jabroni but doing the entrance interruption instead Asuka kicks the jobber's head off and KNOCKS HER THE FUCK OUT! So of course right at the outset, Asuka swings a wild roundhouse kick and Emma is all scared. Very well played. Again as I stated previously, Asuka is great at using chain wrestling to build to strikes and the excitement of the match. I love how the flying hammerlock into the armbar puts her opponent in the ropes and then she blitzes her with kicks. It is a great way to use wrestling to set up strikes. It is the beauty of Asuka well that and that incredible smile! Emma is pretty highly touted from this NXT run, but I didn't see it. I thought she delivered a very pedestrian heat segment and overall did not do anything seemed special. Give me Dana Brooke any day of the week that girl has charisma. The real charm of this match is the finish stretch. They do a big run up of Asuka's big spots, but adding the missile dropkick as the counter. A nice new addition to Asuka's deep arsenal. I thought they did a great job moving the match back and forth between the two without being my turn, your turn. Asuka built momentum with the spinning backfists, but when she gets into the corner Emma is able to put on the Tarantula. This sets up Emma for a butterfly suplex into the corner and then Emmaite Sandwich to set up Emmalock. I like finish stretches that build to false climaxes of each person's finish. Emmalock is attempted but not completed and Asuka grabs the anklelock and any Asuka fans knows what is next...GERMAN SUPLEX! Now Asuka goes for her Crossface Chickenwing, but is backed into the ref. REF BUMP! YES! I have missed those. They kick the drama into overdrive. Dana Brooke tosses her belt into the ring. The ref thinks Asuka used it. The crowd erupts screaming no. Emma goes for roll up, but AsukaLock, Dana on the apron, ref misses tap out. Asuka KICKS EMMA'S HEAD OFF for the win! Loved all the false finishes down the stretch. Emma is fine, but don't get the praise. Asuka is amazing and this match where she was able to get visual tap out from the Crossface Chickenwing and the KO shot made her look badass. ***3/4