dawho5
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Everything posted by dawho5
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Good and violent (strange for WWF TV), but way, way too long. Even if those suits don't want to get in the ring and mix it up with the guy they would have to do something resembling their job. Not only that, why would Nailz not even change out of the convict uniform before coming to the taping? I did catch J. J. Dillon (JoJo?) at ringside.
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I am in with the good, not great rating on it. It can't compare to the earlier tag at all. This match does illustrate why I think this is the best era of AJPW wrestling-wise. The crowd reactions area absolutely amazing and every matchup has it's own dynamic. Waht's better is that every wrestler seems 100% of what that dynamic is with everyone else and they play their roles in it so well. Kikuchi's role does get a little old on repetition and it's probably why he became so much less prominent once Jumbo is out of the picture. As Loss mentioned, Jumbo/Kikuchi is such a great mini-feud within these matches. With better offense over time I think Kikuchi could have continued being relevant. I do wonder if his body started to maybe break down a little early due to the sheer amount of punishment though.
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This is in my top 10 matches of all time, has been since I saw it the first time. I love me a good southern tag and this is probably the best version of that match ever. Also, as a first wrestling match for the day it is pretty damn sweet! There are a handful of matches where Kikuchi is at his absolute best and looks like he could weather whatever kinds of sick, murderous bumps or torturous holds come his way and keep fighting back effectively no matter what. And of course garner as much sympathy as humanly possible. This happens to be one of them and it kind of makes the match. I think the thing that works for me about this match is that it takes a really simple narrative structure like the southern tag and puts a ridiculous good workrate match on top of it while staying true to that form. The fact that Kroffat and Kobashi are in it is no surprise, since both are tremendous workrate guys who understand how to work that into the narrative of the match. And you have one of the all-time FIP candidates (Kikuchi) to keep that crowd molten hot all the way through. As well as the previously mentioned team dynamic that Kobashi and Kikuchi have. So many factors converge to make this a really, really great match even if it is not exactly "King's Road style". Which, by the way, was a thing of later years (maybe end of '93 or middle of '94 on) and, honestly, I think AJPW from 91-92 is better than the "King's Road" matches in terms of consistent match quality. As a postscript, matches like this are a very big part of why Kobashi will continue to go to the moonsault late-match years later. One part of AJPW booking I have always loved.
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These are 4 amazing athletes. They cut a ridiculous pace from beginning to end and it is certainly fun and really well-executed for what it is. I also enjoyed the Hasegawa/Yoshida pairing. That giant swing is really beyond description. I've been watching Dragon Gate matches of late (trying to get a feel for the modern variants of things I used to like) and I have to say that DG owes more to this style of wrestling than it does to the NJ juniors. It's not near as focused as this either, even if the highspots are just as or more breathtaking.
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I liked the first fall a lot, the heels really shined up the babyfaces as mentioned. Both Eaton and Arn were phenomenal. second fall I was expecting the heels to take control. I get what they were going for with how they wrestled this match though. Larry is supposed to look like the guy who is causing all of the problems in the DA. I just love me a good southern tag is all. The FIP on Steamer is great and the finish just drives home the story the match was supposed to tell. Had this just been another tag match they could have had the shine-FIP-hot tag structure that would probably have gone over a lot better and been a lot more exciting. As it was, the story is the most important part and it works really well when you look at it from that angle.
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I loved seeing Bischoff treated like this too. We all have our petty moments. Precious was the best part of this segment by far. It seems like WCW has lost all direction and is just throwing stuff at the wall and hoping it works. And then quickly reversing itself in puzzling ways when it doesn't.
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My guess is that they wanted Pritchard do get a visual pin on Christopher in case he ever came back. Billy Travis is back, yes! Looking forward to that match-up.
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On yet another rewatch I still love this. The crowd HATES TAUE so bad. He looks at a babyface funny and he gets booed. The punishment and then antagonization of Fuchi (and Fuchi's later revenger) by Kawada were fucking great. Fuchi's expression when he was heeling it up on Kawada was priceless. The later year of the Jumbo/Misawa era of AJPW is my favorite in-ring acton-wise. Everyone knew their role so well and played it to perfection.
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I am no big fan of the Steiners, mostly due to the fact that their match structure tends to involve them suplexing people to death and guzzling them unless they make their own openings. The suplexes and double teams are cool and look really good, when they don't damn near kill someone. Maybe the reason this one looks so different from their matches against American opponents is they know how tough Fujinami and Iizuka actually are. They aren't holding back as much s normal. And yes, Scott does give Iizuka some really good offense early on. I tend to fall on the side of not as unprofessional as first glance due to the Japanese wrestlers playing along for the finish, which would not have worked without them going with the move. As a whole I do not love this match. Watching the Steiners guzzle another tag team just doesn't do it for me.
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Masaaki Mochizuki defends the Open the Dream Gate Title There is a nice escalation early on leading to a Yokosuka slap after a rope break. Both end up ramming their primary weapon (Mochi's leg, Yokosuka's arm) into the post early. The selling is not what I like, but it works into the story of the early match. Mochi using kicks to the arm is a really good way to use his strength against a targeted bodypart. Yokosuka really works over Mochi's leg and I am digging this match as an arm vs. leg match. Yokosuka countering Mochi's knee counter to a leg grab is a nice nod to their history as partners. I liked seeing a figure four not get turned over. The second figure four has a great Mochi counter. I do like how Mochi tends to fight back against things, unlike a lot of DG/Toryumon guys who just jump on into the hold/move if it isn't being reversed. After the first part of the match they forget about the limb damage (Yokosuka does remember once) unless it is being worked on. I guess it's kind of a difficult proposition working the leg on a guy who is 50% kicks. Immediately after 5-7 minutes of legwork they are doing the high speed corner running spot. They do briefly go back to leg vs. arm and I still really like this match. Finishing sequence forgets all that and we see a Hansen to Kobashi lariat out of the corner from Yokosuka! That had me marking out. Way too many lariat no-selling and kick/lariat exchanges as we reach the end. Especially considering Yokosuka throws a nice lariat and if he did it a couple times a match it would be HUGE. Overall I appreciate a lot of aspects of the style so far. I just think that there are a few really glaring issues for me, such as the blowing off of the leg (don't work the leg so heavy) and the need to do the macho, let's-hit-each-other-to-prove-who-is-tougher nonsense. I realize these come with the territory and I can still enjoy the positive aspects of the match. I will say Mochi is really a giving wrestler and he always seems to make his teammates/opponents look really good.
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Not many matches from Toryumon/DG have clean starts. Don't love that. Shingo looks like he wants Mochi to come to the floor and brawl early on, probably wise not to take the bait. For a short time it looks like this could be really good with an arm vs. leg battle. I liked Mochi struggling to get power on kicks due to using the wrong leg even if it didn't last. Some of the no-sells in the middle-to late-middle portion were good, blow off a kick/lariat to hit something then sell. Those work with both getting up at relatively the same time. Shingo's offense hasn't impressed me in the few matches I've seen. It's all lariats and power moves that look like they should be somebody's finisher. The counter roll-up ending after all the big offense may seem a little anti-climactic. I like to think that those kind of endings are especially important in juniors wrestling though. Decent match with some impressive highspots. Some of Shingo's power moves literally require a guy to do a specific thing to set him up in a situation where it makes no sense to do that thing. I wish they would have kept things a little simpler and stuck with arm vs. leg instead of having to get their shit in. My gut tells me I will see plenty more of that from DG.
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I liked Jesse trying to stir things up. Despite the one major blown spot (crossbody) the finishing run was really good and I also prefer it to the Liger match. And as an aside, JR mentions Lance Russell is on the hotline. You have Lance fucking Russel and you man the hotline with him? One of the best wrestling announcers of all time and he is on the hotline. WCW had some genius types working there, let me tell you.
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