TheBean

Yuki Ishikawa is a big fan of Inoki and has patterned his career after him. So he usually comes to the ring with the jacket & towel and wears the black trunks & boots. Tatsumi Fujinami does this as well so I kind of look at Yuki Ishikawa as a continuation of that wrestling lineage. He trained under Gotch, Fujiwara & Boris Malenko so he's got the bona fides to back it up.

Hello folks! Let's keep taking a look at Mid South Wrestling in 1985. September & October 1985 Dr Death vs Dick Murdoch (09/19 ep.#315) - This was shaping up to be a very good match. Bob Sweetan (who is teaming with Williams while DiBiase is in Japan I think) gets involved. He hits Butch Reed who's also at ring side. Sweetan & Doc start beating up Murdoch. Reed comes into help but no good deed goes unpunished. Murdoch thinks Butch attacked him. And that sets up the next big feud! Butch Reed vs Dick Murdoch (09/22/85 DVDVR#6)- I'm an old man & this is a long match. And I occasionally will watch a long match if I'm not aware of it going into it. Well I'm aware of it so I watched this in chunks. And I thought this was a classic bout! They were working the whole time. Both guys were fighting while on defense. Everything looked snug. Both Butch & Dick were excellent in selling the pain & exhaustion. It was pretty organic and felt like competition. I don't think it needed to be as long as it was (not an hour draw thankfully fyi). It is over 45 minutes though. I think something around 30 would have been perfect. That's a preference though ? Post match is great & kinda why I think match time around 30 + the post match would have absolutely ideal. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED The Fantastics vs. Dutch Mantell & Bill Dundee (9/22/85 Oklahoma City) - A great match for sure! Dutch and Sir William assault the Fantastics as they're getting hugs & kisses from the women. It's a well structured match. There's a good internal story with the ref being unable to keep up with the action. It's a lil annoying but there's a payoff. And the finish is what catapults this into being a great tag match. All four guys worked their butts off. Awesome post match too!! The Fantastics vs Ted DiBiase & Steve Williams (09/26 ep.# 316) - All action tag match with no down time at all. Really fun match. A little rough around the edges but totally acceptable for a 1985 TV match. Dr Death maybe does the first Dangerous Backdrop on Bobby Fulton...its on accident as I think Fulton meant to flip over & land on his feet but landed on his head instead. It works though because Dr. Death was doing a move..Confused? I guess you'll just have to watch this one ? The Fantastics vs. Dutch Mantell & Bill Dundee (10/03 ep.#317) Being old school TV, this probably was taped prior to the above match in OKC. But maybe not? This is a bull whip on a pole match. This is mayhem! Yes! The match and post match are one in the same. This was a trip! Fun, fun stuff! Butch Reed vs Flair (10/11/85 #51 DVDVR) - Now this is more my speed. You young whippersnappers can watch the time limit matches. I will take this 20 minute match. It's a wonderful "keep it simple/Flair working from underneath" match. We get to see all kinds of work from both guys. I think it avoids most of the Flair tropes/cliches...or at least tackles them in a way that's interesting. I felt this was a classic bout with the last few minutes pushing it up on that "classic match" pedestal. I, along with the fans, would have preferred a different finish but it definitely works. And the match as a whole delivers. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Butch Reed vs Dick Murdoch (10/14/85 DVDVR #11)- Great match! It took awhile to get going though. Reed working the arm didn't set my world on fire. They make it interesting as time goes on and this gets good. Dick works over Butch's knee. In response, Reed goes back to Murdoch's arm. And boy are they hurting! Excellent selling again, excellent sense of competition & intensity. The finish is a bit cheeky but it's absolutely something you'd still see on TV today (I bet) so there's no problem there. Tommy Rogers vs Dick Slater (10/17 ep.#319) - Lots of great moves here especially from Slater. This one is fun. Also shows that the Fantastics are greater than the sum of their parts. Fantastics vs Dick Slater & Buzz Sawyer (10/24 ep.#320) - Dark Journey is a great 80's comic book hero name. She's cool & makes Mid South a little hip. She actually reminds you that MTV and a world outside of the Mid South territory exists. It's not all cowboy boots & ZZ Top ? Anyhow, back to wrestling - Vicious back breaker from Buzz! Fun stuff but they're too tough for the Fantastics BUT we're not done...Hacksaw Duggan comes out with his wife/girlfriend for his scheduled match. Then decides to shit talks Dark Journey and Slater. They're in the ring now and they're fighting... Sawyer comes back out to help. In a complete moment of insanity, Duggan's chick tries to help her dude. Sawyer ain't going for it and removes her ass from this plane existence!!! Hacksaw ain't doing too great himself. You gotta see this! ----- Jake Roberts vs Dutch Mantell (10/24 ep.#320) - This is actually before the above match/segment but I thought it would flow better to put in in this order. Good promo from Jake talking about facing Lord Humongous and getting him to remove the hockey mask. The Mad Max movies huge at this time and this is probably the most direct copy of the character(s). Thunder Dome came out in the summer of '85 - two men enter! one man leaves! So Jake is feuding with him. But this match with he & Dutch was a lot of fun. Can Jake catch Dutch in the DDT? Jake the Snake vs Lord Humongous (Tulsa Convention Center 10/27/85)- The lord is managed by Oliver Humperdink. This is a lot of fun. It's Jake trying to chip away at the monster and avoid his grasp. Meanwhile, Humperdink is causing chaos on the outside. Butch Reed vs Dutch Mantell (10/31 ep.#321) - Fun match where Dutch ambushes Butch. Reed can't be stopped. Fun bit of wrestling but it sets up Butch vs Dick Slater. Reed shit talks Dark Journey & she slaps him (rightfully so) but Slater is a shit heel hiding behind his girlfriend. Still, we get to hear some stuff that Reed says that is pretty sketchy regarding race & gender roles etc. ? The fans seem to enjoy it and this definitely 1985 Mid South! This batch of wrestling is phenomenal! Honestly, if you just wanted to jump in here and watch these fall matches, you'll be loving it. Seriously, if you want to dip your toe into the Mid South pool, September and October '85 would be the time to do it. Thanks for reading!

Greetings true believers! We're talking about more Mid South wrestling from 40 years ago! This is great stuff so, let's dive in! July & August 1985 Ted DiBiase vs Terry Taylor (07/04 ep.#304) 1st match on episode, impromptu match...DiBiase legit slaps Taylor in the mouth!! Hahaha oh shoot ? We get a real spirited back & forth match and we get a winner too. Dutch Mantell vs Terry Taylor (07/11 ep.#305) 1st match on the episode. Way to open the show...they know what they're doing! Pretty Boy Taylor vs Dirty Dutch. This was a very good bout for the TV title. These guys really gelled. I could have watched another 3-4 minutes of what these two were doing. Dug the finish too! Jake the Snake vs Ted DiBiase 07/28/85 #42 - wrestle fest '85 - Oh yeah, this was great. Jake is going for the DDT early to end this but Ted keeps slipping out. Eventually the dastardly DiBiase takes over and makes Roberts pay. Just timeless stuff here. Excellent pacing and what a finish even when you think it might go sour. Two of my favorite heels from my childhood. ----- Butch Reed vs Dutch Mantell (07/28/85 Wrestlefest '85) - Tough act to follow Jake & Ted. This was still a fun match but there wasn't anything too memorable. Hector & Chavo Guerrero vs. Ted DiBiase & Dr. Death Steve Williams (1985/07/26) - I like that this starts with Ted jaw jacking with a fan. Like c'mon dude...who would win a fight? You or the big dude in the steel cage & the championship belt? Anyhow Ted & Dr. Death... such a badass team. Hector has bleached blonde hair! The Bros. dominate early on but here comes the beating...this was very good stuff! Not fancy but super entertaining! Too bad about the finish but it keeps their heat! I am pissed 40 years later ? Butch Reed vs Ted DiBiase (07/25 ep.#307) 2nd match on this episode looks like Reed vs Tom Prichard but Ted comes out...Impromptu match! This would be a main event normally and damn! they wrestle this like a TV main event. Two greats put on a show. I loved this! Excellent pacing, teases, the outcome was always in doubt - Great match! Butch Reed vs Dutch Mantell (08/01 ep.#308) - The rematch from Wrestlefest sorta - instead we get a fantastic segment where Mantell is looking to hurt Butch and collect some $$ from Ric Flair. So Dutch jumps Reed with his whip and Chaos ensues!!! It's a couple minutes but is so much more memorable than their match! Butch Reed vs Ric Flair (08/09/85 #24) - It's a long match and am hesitant about watching another long Flair match. I want to mention this in case you're interested but, I'm not watching it. They have more matches coming up... Jim Duggan vs One Man Gang (08/29 ep.#312) - Hacksaw Duggan has been feuding with Skandor Akbar and Kimala after the battle with DiBiase ended earlier in 1985 (see my blog post on that). I'm not interested in this feud & Duggan goes onto better stuff in a couple months but I wanted to represent him. He's still active in Mid South. One Man Gang seems like a good opponent for him ? O.M.G has been hired solely to hurt our hero. The match itself is OK but the post match is what you want! A chain gets involved and things get interesting! Butch Reed has been a great "new" wrestler for me. I'm so glad I finally got to see his work. And Ted DiBiase is definitely the front runner for my 2025 Best Wrestler Watched. More Mid South to come! Thanks for reading folks!!!

Da Vault posted/streamed this a little bit ago:

Thanks for reading folks! This is part #2 of Mid South Wrestling from 1985! April thru June 1985 The Fantastics (Fulton/Rogers) vs. The Dirty White Boys (4/14/85 Convention Center, Tulsa) - This was a great face/heel tag match. Excellent selling from the Rogers, the Dirty White Boys have a great clubbing style, great finish too. They really hooked me with this one! Terry Taylor vs Chris Adams (1985-05-26 - Convention Center, Tulsa, OK) - This was a good match but felt a little bland for some reason. I appreciated Adams' British moves here & there plus his awesome super kick. I think Terry Taylor was just too vanilla in this match. And Taylor's appeal is that he is a cookie cutter baby face but he's got to be in there with a heel who's got character like Ted or Jake. Watching WCW '94, I think Steven Regal would be a good opponent for Terry Taylor. *The Snowman vs. Jake Roberts (06/01/85) - There looks to be plenty of other Jake matches they could have included that were better but Muhammad Ali was involved. Nevertheless it was a spectacle with Ali, John "Barbarian" Nord. It's weird that this was the only Jake content they included on the WWE Mid South DVD but Jake was still in pretty bad shape when this was released so maybe they didn't want to over promote him?? *Ric Flair vs. Terry Taylor (06/01/85) (DVDVR#16) - This was a classic match! I really dug Terry's fire in this match. Flair truly brought out the best in him. He looked like a gutsy, never say die baby face here...trading shots with Flair. Whew, there's a real intensity here. Taylor is really representing Mid South style. It's a Flair title match so you know some of what to expect but in the same breath there's a lot that's unexpected. He had so many tricks up his sleeve and knew when use them. And this was perfectly paced too... Honestly, it might be an all time classic. It just did everything right and was a treat to watch at 30+ minutes... and I don't say that much anymore. MUST SEE ----- Ted DiBiase & Steve Williams vs The Fantastics (06/13 ep.#301) - Badass 10 minute TV match! Bell to bell action that honestly could have taken place in an AJPW ring in '85. This had a great in ring story of Rogers & Fulton needing to use speed & technique to overcome the strength advantage of Williams and DiBiase. I could give it more praise but I'll just say it's a very good match. The Fantastics vs The Dirty White Boys - 6/30/85 - Really fun stuff! Begins with The Fantastics shining and a bit of comedy. Eventually the DWBs get to clubbering & body slamming. Simple tag team wrestling done right! Lots to love with this stuff! More to come next post. Be sure to check out a match or two in the meantime ?

Hi there! I'm getting back to Mid South Wrestling. Thanks for following me with the new name & blog title. I've tried to make it pretty seamless. If you're just seeing this now, check out G. Badger's Puro + More for 7 years of old school wrestling reviews. I'm focusing on Japanese wrestling but review American wrestling as well like ROH, TNA, WCW and Mid South Wrestling. So I'm continuing that here so I can continue to entertain & inform ?. I am most interested in getting folks hyped on watching older wrestling. And if you already do, watch older stuff then, I'm trying to suggest some things that you might have missed or passed over. Mid South wrestling is a great example of something that I passed over. It interested me though. The big names on the roster is what attracted me as an late 80's/early 90's wrestling kid as well as a Japanese wrestling fan - Ted DiBiase, Dr. Steve Williams, Terry Gordy, Hacksaw Jim Duggan & Jake Roberts. It was wrestling that I would get around to and a few years ago I bought the WWE Mid South DVD from a 2nd hand game/CD/DVD shop. If you've read some of my reviews before, you know that DVD sat for awhile in a stack. But the time has come and I started chipping away at my DVDs and this puppy got picked. At the end of Puro + More, I was covering the early 80's by looking at a few big stars of the era like Junkyard Dog, Magnum TA, Rock n Roll Express & others. After looking at the DVDVR Best of Mid South Wrestling, it looked like 1985 was a year worth focusing on though. As I started compiling my watch list, it grew as I saw just how much talent they had coming through the territory. This was going to be a big project and probably my one 1980's deep dive for the year. I've got the big matches but also TV episode matches to fill in gaps. And I'm leaving a bunch of stuff out. For instance, Eddie Gilbert is in Mid South later on in the year but there's no mention of him from me. I just have to skip stuff like that to keep the project lean & mean. January thru March 1985 Dr. Death vs Brad Armstrong (01/10 ep. #279) Good, good main event for TV. The Doc works the arm but Brad stays in the fight. Nothing complex but entertaining stuff. Rock'n'roll Express vs Guerreros (01/17 ep. #280) - Hahaha, the Guerreros have Jim Cornette in their corner! Cornette in a sombrero is priceless. That sets the tone - this match is a blast! Just what you want, tons of action, great spots & bumps (even Corny eats a bump). Two refs but will that stop the Guerreros from cheating to win? Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. Steve Williams (02/07 ep.#283) - This is good stuff and part of the Duggan vs DiBiase stuff as Williams is Ted's tag partner. Nothing earth shattering but it sets up a wrinkle to the story where Dr. Death needs a forearm brace and it becomes another potential weapon like Ted DiBiase's loaded glove. Guerreros vs Rock'n'roll Express (02/14 ep.#284) - The tape is a little jumpy but stick with it. This is a great fucking match! I think it's exactly what you would want between the two teams. Bell to bell action, exciting offense, double team moves, everyone, even the refs, are taking bumps...and I think it's pretty intense too. It's not a gymnastics routine.. they are trying to win or beat each other up. I could rate this higher but for now I'll Recommend this match! Guerreros vs Rock'n'roll Express (02/21 ep.#285) - Fun match and probably a good one too but it's the weakest of the three. Still its the Guerreros vs Rock'n'rolls! Clever finish and some really neat spots. Terry Taylor vs. Jake Roberts (03/07) (ep. 287) - This was a phenomenal Jake performance and really added so many nice touches. Terry, the face, went along for the ride and made everything look like his doing when really you know something this good was Roberts' architecture. Heck of a match & aftermath. Great stuff! Ted DiBiase vs Terry Taylor (03/14 ep.#288) 1st match on episode - The week before was Jake vs Terry and well that plays a part here. This was a lot of fun. Watching Ted work was poetry in motion. There's no wasted movement during one section... my appreciation for DiBiase has greatly improved from this project. Hercules Hernandez & Jack Victory vs Tom Prichard & Brad Armstrong (03/14 ep.#288) Fun, fun action packed match. You really can't settle much more with a TV tag match. Also remember that DiBiase vs Duggan is happening during this period of 1985. Damn! More to come! Thanks for reading!

Cool to see KAORU getting some love! She's a great tag team wrestler more than a great singles performer now that I think of it. Although it can get obnoxious at times, her team with Ozaki was pretty good. For anyone looking for a few more matches. Tag matches: Mayumi Ozaki & KAORU vs. Meiko Satomura & Ayako Hamada (GAEA 10/20/02) Chikayo Nagashima & Toshie Uematsu vs. Mayumi Ozaki & KAORU (05/13/01) Lioness Asuka & Mayumi Ozaki vs. KAORU & Meiko Satomura (02/11/99) KAORU & Meiko Satomura vs. Toshiyo Yamada & Sonoko Kato (06/21/98) although it's more about Satomura vs Kato imo Akira Hokuto & Toshie Uematsu vs KAORU & Kiyoko Ichiki (GAEA 01/19/97) Singles matches that I like are (skipping the Aja one): KAORU vs Mayumi Ozaki (01/30/00) Lioness Asuka vs. KAORU (07/22/00)

I totally agree. I thought, "No way Darwyn Cooke can sustain this level of writing and art the whole way through... " He did ? I'm definitely going to pick up the Compact collection of Catwoman by Cooke & Brubaker as a result.

WCW YouTube page has posted the full show:

Just saw that the official Mil Mascaras YouTube page has this classic up so I thought I'd share it here: Great thumbnail image too!

A very good match that felt a little slow in the middle. When this was cooking, it was hot. But when Starr was working the arm in the middle, it didn't keep my interest. Re-reading SAMS entry, he liked Starr's armwork. So, take that into consideration. That sounds like the lynchpin between this being a very good or great match. I really liked the rest of Starr's offense. He and Fujinami have really good chemistry. He almost felt like the junior version of Stan Hansen...technical when he needs to be but a rough neck at heart. So, it's something I would recommend checking out ?

Classic Inoki Strong Style technical game-of-human-chess duels. Competitive, non-profit cooperative looking. Doesn't rely upon stiffness but instead counters, reversals, escapes and blocking of moves & holds. There's moments where at first you think they've made a flub but they transition into to capitalizing on the "flub" that it was either planned or there's some aspect to this match that it's gentleman's agreement semi-shoot. But that's where the brilliance of this match lies - a long time wrestling fans is questioning what's really going on. I'm sure it's all a work but to put that doubt in someone's head takes skill. And that's why I put this up as a classic example of Inoki Strong Style.

You're watching this for Johnny Londos and how Fujinami works with him. And you won't be disappointed. It's under 10 minutes or pretty close to it so I can't say it's a great match..they could have done a minute or two more. But it reminded me of a Dean Malenko vs Steve Regal match from a WCW Nitro (Londos as Regal)...Just snug, entertaining and technical. Very good stuff!

A near classic technical duel. I loved the fight over the brainbuster/vertical suplex. A match very much about parity that felt fresh and exciting. They didn't over-do it but you could tell that they were equals. I would have liked a little smoother finish as that probably would have made it a classic in my book. Still for fans of either guy, fans of this faster, technically oriented wrestling should watch this. I finally got around to seeing this and am glad that I did! I've seen there's a clipped version out there so, I'd recommend finding the full version. It's a 18 minute run time in full.

This starts out as your typical AJPW Jr. tag style match (not a typo) then around the half way point, Kengo & Mighty Inoue start slapping the shit out of each other. We get some more good action and Kengo does like a slingshot tope and kills(?) Animal Hamaguchi and what is happening!? (in the best way)...very good stuff especially if you like Mighty Inoue husky junior wrestling ?

Hard hitting, technical wrestling. I enjoy Baba vs Stan but, this match is probably better than any of their encounters. Hansen didn't pull any punches and neither did Inoki. Their chemistry is similar to Stan vs Misawa. I'm not sure but, Inoki vs Hansen seems to be the best Japanese vs Hansen pairing (...although Stan vs Tenryu is pretty good too). They just seem so at home working with one another. This was a near classic in my book. Note: They also have a match on 02/07 which is very good but not as good as this one.

Classic junior title fight! Dynamite was so aggressive here and Fujinami really had to dig deep to stay in this match. I believe both guys were bleeding... Fujinami from the forehead and Dynamite from his nose. If you'd want to compare, I would say this was up there with the last DK vs Tiger Mask matches. And I think this match by itself was superior in terms of intensity and competitive nature. This is one I've been interested in for a long time and am glad I finally got around to watching it.

What a first fall! Kid & Keirn do a great job heeling but never get too far away from the junior action. I loved all the rope running and a great Greco Roman knuckle lock sequence! Nice 2nd fall with a call back to the finish of the first. Oh shit!! What a finish! Really good clubbering heel work and the Japanese team is trying to find an opening. Then when they find it, things pop off! And when you think that's the finish, they add a twist! Out of fear of over rating, I'll say this is a near classic tag bout. This is the type of simple all action tag wrestling I love.

Hansen gave Inoki a helluva beating. I mean this was stiff. Those early knee drops and stomps would have cracked a walnut. Additionally, towards the end, we see a couple absolutely crazy spots for 1980. I prefer the 02/08 match but, this feud is awesome. I suppose I had a Stan Hansen in AJPW bias. He is just as great in NJPW. If you're lukewarm about checking Inoki out, this are great ones to start with.

Hara is a lean mean wrestling machine. This was aggressive competitive wrestling throughout... well until Hara starts punching and headbutting. There's the Ashura Hara that I know & love. Like all of the matches reviewed so far, this never overstayed it's welcome. Beautifully paced and full of competitive, snug wrestling. I'm conservatively going to call this a classic match. Hara & Fujinami were nearly flawless.

Just finished reading the Compact Comics edition of DC: The New Frontier. Wow, it's probably one of the best super hero comics I've read in a long while. Reminds me of Watchmen with on a more positive vibe...still not sunshine and roses though. Definitely recommend it

Yamazaki thought he was going to kick his way to an early victory and Billy went ape shit with slaps. That settled that. This was predominantly a mat based match though. In fact, it was a fine example of shoot style chain wrestling in my novice opinion. They didn't over use the rope breaks but really tried to escape or counter first. This kicked into high gear for the final few minutes as both guys smelled blood in the water. They went for broke and we got a great finish. LOVED IT

I've wanted to get back into shoot style for years. Paradoxically, I've wanted to avoid shoot style for years. The reason is that I have a difficult time transitioning back to traditional pro wrestling. It just looks slow or fake after watching shoot style for too long. Another reason is that I don't know if I necessarily enjoy how some shoot style matches are laid out and paced. Somethings are too quick and realistic and I'm unfairly comparing them to a real kickboxing or MMA bout. That or I'm just unable to keep up with what's actually happening. The hook is that I really dig shoot style when it's just right. I believe I prefer technical wrestling more than any other form. Shoot style is the purest form of that. So UWFi and RINGS are two big blind spots for me. My natural inclination is to watch every recommended Kiyoshi Tamura match. Or watch everything that's been pimped over the years. I know that will burn me out. Instead I'm going to borrow a tactic from my 1994 WCW project. I'm going to select a few wrestlers and watch their recommended stuff along with personal picks. Much like WCW '94, I am going to avoid the main event scene and the superstars where/when I can. So little to no Takada or Vader in UWFI for sure. Avoiding Gary Albright too. Instead I want to see what Anjo, Yamazaki & Sano were doing. These are guys that I already know and enjoy. That gives me a firm foundation and should also capture highly recommended matches. But I'm going to limit the amount of Tamura matches with them. Again, I'm a noob so I'm just sampling for now. In RINGS, I'm not blacklisting Maeda or Volk Han for instance but, I am going to focus on the unusual suspects that most first time watchers would skip. I want to see what Nagai, Naruse, & Zaza were doing. Mitsuya Nagai is a guy I'm very familiar with during his time in All Japan. I dug his work there. Naruse is someone I got acquainted with during my look into early 2000's New Japan earlier this year. Dick Vrij & Grom Zaza are two guys that I've seen pop up on recommendation lists but mentally skip over for the shiny Han, Tamura, TK and Yamamoto matches. So I'm purposely avoiding those guys. Like Tamura in UWFi, Han is going to come up here & there so I'm going to limit myself. This method should get me some great matches as well as broaden my horizons without exposing me to bouts that are too rich for my blood. Finally, this plan should also keep the scope of the project within reason. I'm trying for less is more, if I can. Also since I'm relatively unfamiliar with how to rate shoot style, I'm going to use LOVE, LIKE, & OK as my ways to rate. Take'em with a grain of salt. Perhaps as I go forward, I'll be more comfortable putting these in the same boxes as other pro wrestling. All that said, I will probably stop after 1996 when UWFi closed it's doors. If the spirit moves me AND I've made headway on other things, I'll push on with selected RINGS '97-99. This is an internet only project so I've got to put up some firm boundaries ? Enough gabbing! Let's get on with it! 1991 Kazuo Yamazaki & Tatsuo Nakano vs. Yoji Anjoh & Yuko Miyato (5/10/91) - I liked parts of this. Anjo comes off as a prick. Nakano is already scrappy and bleeding from the nose. Yamazaki looked the strongest in my eyes just by how he composed himself. I felt 20+ minutes was longer than they needed to accomplish what they were going for though. I didn't quite like the finish considering this was a tag match either. I'm probably going to shy away from tags..shaky start. IT'S OK Yoji Anjoh vs Kiyoshi Tamura (UWFI 7/3/91) -Yes! This is badass! Anjo is a bad man. Tamura is as slippery as an eel. Dude pulls out some Matrix shit here. A mat wrestling master class to be sure. But the strikes were ferocious at times too. It's Anjo so you know he is nasty and brings the hits as well. Knee drop of doom for instance. Tamura plays it cool but he can stand only so much and unloads on Yoji. This match gets high praise and I agree. LOVED IT ----- Kazuo Yamazaki vs Billy Scott (UWFI 7/30/91) - Billy "TNT" Scott because he's explosive! Yamazaki thought he was going to kick his way to an early victory and Billy went ape shit with slaps. That settled that. This was predominantly a mat based match though. In fact, it was a fine example of shoot style chain wrestling in my novice opinion. They didn't over use the rope breaks but really tried to escape or counter first. This kicked into high gear for the final few minutes as both guys smelled blood in the water. They went for broke and we got a great finish. LOVED IT Kazuo Yamazaki vs Yoji Anjo (09/26/91) - This was fantastic stuff. These two are excellent together. There's an emphasis on laying in kicks then waiting to catch a kick for a take down. It's not that one dimensional as there's some excellent suplexes as well. Anjoh is a helluva striker especially when he blasts Yamazaki's liver a few times. LOVED IT Billy Scott vs. Yoji Anjo (10/06)- Yeah Billy Scott brings the intensity and fire again. Anjo is happy to oblige. This seemed pretty evenly matched where Anjo had an overall advantage yet Billy Scott was able to slam Anjo pretty consistently. So Anjo would lay in some wicked knees to the gut. Billy would absorb them and punish him a good slam or takedown. This was really spirited and entertaining. They were always working. They always looked ready to go in for the win. LOVED IT Now over to RINGS! Akira Maeda v Dick Vrij (5/11/91) - Oh yeah, this was enjoyable. Dick is a dick. That makes this translatable to traditional pro wrestling's heel vs face dynamic. He throws some pretty exciting kicks as well. This felt also very much striker vs grappler. Dick Vrij seemed more competent on the ground than Maeda did striking in this match. But Maeda knew absolutely what he wanted to do when on the ground. LIKED IT Akira Maeda v Dick Vrij (8/1/91) - The rematch was pretty one sided. From a booking standpoint, I completely understand why. I think the guy on offense looked pretty damn impressive. That said this wasn't much of a match from a competitive/enjoyment standpoint. IT'S OK Mitsuya Nagai v Herman Renting (9/14/91) - Wow Mitsuya Nagai with hair and no goatee! It really seemed like they did not like each other. There was good sportsmanship after the match so it was just adrenaline, I guess. Anyhow, Renting was very well rounded. His strikes were good, he had good throws/take downs and he had a ground game. Nagai was no slouch but only seemed to have an advantage on the mat. Still Renting couldn't put him away and Nagai would make him pay. This was exciting stuff. The only knock is that they started running out of steam towards the end. But they were going full stream ahead all match so it made sense..I'm actually surprised that it didn't go to a draw. We get a winner. LIKED IT Dick Vrij v Willie Peeters (12/7/91) -This was the spunky baby face trying to take it to the badass heel. That's fun. Willie was flying all over with leaping kicks and such but it wasn't a compelling bout to me. IT'S OK I love in the online comments people are still like "this isn't a real fight." No fucking duh! I'm guessing these are kids or young people who don't know their history. It's funny because even 34 years later, shoot style still fools people to the extent that they have to let everyone know that they "figured it out" & have to tell everyone ? It's a testament to how serious the wrestlers were about their craft. UWFi has been excellent and I don't feel like I'm missing anything by watching selectively. RINGS has been good but I get the impression that I'm not seeing the best it has to offer. I feel like UWFi starts strong right out the gate in '91 and I'm liking it more than RINGS right now. I'll update with more in a little bit. In the meantime, if you're waiting for more Mid South wrestling, I'll be back with that next post. Thanks for reading!

ROH YouTube posted this the other day. Seemed like a good place to share it:

Hi again! If you've been following my Puro + More blog, you've noticed that I've been getting more & more interested in old school New Japan over the years. Well maybe you haven't. I did do a 1984 & 1985 AJPW deep dive and Muto's All Japan but, just trust me! I've found that I really dig New Japan's heavyweight style. It produces a lot of very good to great matches. Occasionally it offers up a classic as well. I think I enjoy it because the matches aren't as long as All Japan's during the King's Road era. The duration seems to be just right for the type of story they're telling. AJPW needs more time & I wouldn't change that at all. Anyways, a BIG project of mine is to do an overview of New Japan in the 90's. This is one of those projects that I need to be discerning in my picks or it will get out of hand. Even in the planning stages it's daunting. Much like the PWO Yearbook project, I'll be doing this out of chronological order ? I think it will be easier for me that way. Additionally, I don't know how in depth I will go for each year. Some years might be in-depth while others might just be the G1 Climax. More about this in a later post. Here I want to kick it off with early 1990 as a teaser of things to come. I'm super excited for 1990. 1988-1990 puro may be some of my favorite stuff. Let's jump in! Liger vs H. Saito (01/18): Oh man! Loved this finish! This had a lot more in common with ECW than what you'd call NJPW Jr. style. Chair shots, fighting in the crowd, pile driver on a table. Saito's senton's are great and Liger goes off. Very good stuff. Liger vs Akira Nogami (01/20): joined in progress. Now this is your junior vs junior match. And both guys are going for broke on those dives - holy cow! The more that I see of Akira Nogami, the more I like him. Not sure how much we miss but what we see is a ton of fun! Choshu & Hase vs H. Saito & T. Goto (01/25): Fast and furious tag wrestling done right! Everyone was fantastic since the focus was on beating the crap outta each other. Under 10 minutes of uncomplicated action. Masa Chono vs Vader (01/25): jip but not much? Still this was sweet! I love the story of everyone trying to take down the ultimate monster. Vader is just that here. He scoop slams Chono from the ring to the floor! Chono is determined to get the win though. There's a dynamism in this match because both guys are still in good shape in 1990. Big moves, bumps and athleticism... there's a lot to like here. Kiss your ass goodbye Chono! ----- Liger & Nogami vs Naoki Sano & Pegasus Kid (02/10 Tokyo Dome Super Fight): At around 11 minutes in the match, I was beginning to think they were running out of steam. This is 1990 baby - they had a 2nd wind and then some!! A banger of a curtain jerker for the Dome show. This is a harbinger of NJPW Jr wrestling to come for the decade. Great match for sure! If you still dig the style then, check this out! Osamu Matsuda vs Takayuki Iizuka (02/10 Tokyo Dome Super Fight): Yeah this has been slept on because of the other, bigger matches. This is a very, very good technical junior match..heck it's probably a great one. It reminds me of the 1980 junior style - aggressive, with an emphasis on intensity. I loved the final third. Matsuda is El Samurai if that makes sense as to why this is so good. But for real, this is one that probably should have been included in the 1990 PWO yearbook as I think it's right in line with a lot of folks dig. This has been a real strong start. There's variety and an excitement to the wrestling. No one has the "90's style" in place so it's very transitional in the best of ways. Big moves can win just as much as a quick pin. Simple but clean moves are more important than the flashy highspots. Matches aren't just building to a finisher. Additionally, the hierarchy of the 90's hasn't been established so every match feels up for grabs. I'm definitely excited to get back to 1990 but I'm working on 1995 at the moment. So once that's finished, I think it's back to '90. It's actually the year I wanted to watch most - don't ask me why I started with '95 then ? Thanks for reading folks!