Microstatistics
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Everything posted by Microstatistics
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The best match of the series. Underdog family man challenger vs. arrogant and cocky yet resourceful champion. Classic storytelling and classic wrestling. -
In my opinion out of all the New Japan juniors matches considered great/classics, this ages the worst. Don't get me wrong, this is a great match but in my opinion it doesn't hold a candle to the match structure and storytelling of a bunch of Liger bouts, Benoit/Eddie and Ohtani/Samurai. This has that pointless matwork/submission stuff to highspots transition that bugs a lot of juniors matches. Still Ohtani's excellent performance and the sharp spot/counter-spot wrestling make this really good. ****
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I never completely understood the story of this match, even though the match is really excellent. From an action/workrate standpoint this is as good as it gets. How they managed to cut that kind of pace while still sold everything for extended periods of time is insane. Also Misawa's performance is out of this world great. He wrestled with even more authority than usual and his selling and display of vulnerability during the 2 on 1 were outstanding. Akiyama's growth was also really good in how he was able to go toe and toe with his opponents and didn't need Misawa to bail him out. Also HDA redeeming their previous tag league failures was also great. Still this match makes Kawada look like a complete chump. He loses almost every exchange against Misawa, has to be repeatedly saved and needs Taue to essentially serve the win on a silver platter for him to take it home. There is a difference between having trouble against Misawa (great post by dawho5 btw) and not being able to hold up your end against him at all. It made Taue look like a worldbeater, which is fine, but Kawada was just kind of there for the ride. I don't think it was the best payoff to a year of matches between the two teams and to the Kawada's year of hell booking. Obviously more good than bad but the Misawa vs. Kawada part of the story just lacked something, especially compared to the other super classics, so this is a tier below them for me. **** 3/8
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Etsuko Mita/Mima Shimoda vs. Kaoru Ito/Tomoko Watanabe (AJW, 9/21/1997) Incredible match with a nearly unmatched level of violence, intensity and hatred. Also perfectly incorporates submission holds and limb work in with the wild brawling and the finish is iconic.
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Footage issues be damned, what a great wrestler. Amazing technician, tremendous babyface.
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"I need to beat you Rock, I need it more than anything that you could ever imagine" Nothing sums up the story of the match better than this Anyways this is the perfect attitude era style match with excellent storytelling and great heat. Austin's facial expressions and his depiction of how his character degenerated over the course of the match were ridiculously great, without coming off as cartoonish. ****
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I've noticed the definition of workrate varies depending where you go. Here I guess the general definition is emphasis on spots, athleticism and offense compared to basic psychology/storytelling/character work. The GWE list was posted on other sites and the main question people were asking was "is this a workrate list or a drawing list"? So to many others anything and everything related to in-ring work and matches comes under workrate. There is no differentiation like there is here. I thought that was interesting.
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I am probably the only one on the planet who is not high on this match. I've seen it about 3-4 times to see what others see in this match but haven't been able to yet. It's still a good match with good selling, some cool moments and a great final few minutes. But I found the majority of the match to be kind of aimless and disjointed. In my opinion the best brawls ever, even the wildest ones, still maintain some sort of structure or progression. Here I thought everything was jumbled together and so I had trouble getting into it. *** 1/4
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An intergender comedy match. Probably way overrating this but I thought this was a really well done match, combining really goofy comedy with classic storytelling. *** 3/4
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I have always considered the Tamura/Han series to be the Flair/Steamboat of shoot-style, but in fact even better (by a small margin though). Was wondering what others thought about it. Also I know Flair and Steamboat had some matches in March 89 but I am specifically referring to Chi-Town, Clash 6 and Wrestlewar for this.
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The most brutal match ever? Some of the strikes are so ridiculously stiff, they would make Ikeda and Ishikawa wince. And on top of that you have all that work on Hotta's cut hand. The violence is perfectly incorporated into the fighting underdog vs. ultimate bully story. Incredible match. **** 1/2
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Always really liked the dynamic of this match. Misawa's former two tag partners vs. him and his latest protege, whose style is completely different. I think this is the closest Kobashi's come to working as a heel. He is so aggressive and vicious in this with just amazing offense. I also agree with everything Loss and tim said about Ogawa in this match. All the false finishes near the end are some of the best I've ever seen. Misawa' selling was kind of spotty at times but that's my only complaint. **** 1/2
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One of the 3-5 best matches in the history of the company. Shockingly violent and stiff with top notch action and a great build to Reign's comeback. I know sometimes Brock is perceived as an offense machine but his character work, mannerisms and selling can be as good as anyone's. If only this had a proper finish. Screwy finishes in things like Shawn/Foley or Fujinami/Maeda don't usually hurt the matches but here the match felt incomplete because of the run-in. Still this is fantastic. ****3/4
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Can you point to specific example for those? I don't think I have ever seen a Satanico performance that was less than good so would like to see if that's true. There are few things in wrestling I like more than Negro Casas stomping on people's heads but Satanico is maybe the best brawler I have ever seen. Just pure aggression and viciousness combined with that Hansen quality of no breathing space. Also the best punches in history. Satanico had much greater peaks for me. Also think his character work is better. I had Casas in my Top 5 so am not exactly down on him but Satanico takes this.
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Agree with this. Visited some other message boards during the match and almost everyone is convinced Styles carried him to those matches while Reigns held him back. Plus they literally make up stuff to criticize his performance. I totally get not liking someone's character or presentation. But to absolutely refuse to acknowledge anything good they do and insist they are still terrible just because you don't like them/it's uncool to like them is a line of thinking I don't get.