ohtani's jacket

I was excited to see this as it was an ARSION match I hadn't seen and a new Yoshida match for me. Turned out to be more of a regular tag match than I was expecting but I thought there were a number of excellent exchanges and I liked that they kept it in the ring instead of taking a tour around the arena. I'm so used to slow, grinding submission work in Joshi that's more of a wear down or dominance tactic (and borders on a resthold half the time) that it's fun to see zippy submissions worked at a Joshi pace. Yoshida was pretty great in this. I saw her live in 2004 and was really impressed by her talent then. It's kind of a shame that she didn't have a bigger stage to work on at this point but that's the way things panned out. Akino was a hard worker. I loved that frantic pin attempt toward the end. That was cool. I also liked the lucha influence that Hamada brought to the submission exchanges. I was never that high on Hamada but she was solid in this. Aja didn't stand out as much as she did in the KAORU match but she gave another good performance. I'm not sure the finish worked that well as Akino didn't really fight it enough and the camera angle wasn't the greatest, but the match was solid.

I thought this was really good. The dynamic between Hyuga and Maekawa was strong with Hyuga being a more traditional idol type and Maekawa being the boyish shooter. The action was good and at the right level for an All Pacfic title match. There were some great nearfalls down the stretch and even the pinfalla that were a bit wobbly felt realistic in terms of their failure the secure a win. The result was also surprising, but that's me not remembering that it ever happened. Personally, I like Maekawa. I thought she no sold ar the right moments here and was solid down the stretch. Hyuga was good here but not really at an elite level yet, but that didn't matter as the All Pacific title was meant to be the Intercontinental Chanpionship level of All Japan and she was good enough to work that division.

This was a decent work rate sprint. I saw Nagashima and Sato live once and was thoroughly entertained so I always imagine what these sort of matches would be like live. As a match snob I could have done without the garbage elements, but it's amazing how widespread the use of garbage has become in the year 2000. It's downright pervasive. Fun match but only really noteworthy in the running battle between AJW and GAEA for best Joshi promotion.

If this match proved anything to me it's that Ishikawa is a better worker than Ikeda. Nagai looked poor working against Ikeda and Otsuka, but as soon as he faced Ishikawa his mat exchanges were instantly better. I think it's a combination of Ishikawa's selling and the way he mixes traditional strong style into the hybrid juniors/shoot style house style. There's far more movement and selling in Ishikawa's mat exchanges than there is from any other worker in the company. Otsuka tries hard but he's not a natural talent. and Ikeda is a better striker than mat worker. Ishikawa also has a certain charisma that comes from being "shachou" even if he's president of a tiny company. This was a slow burner but I thought it turned into a pretty good match. The Ishikawa vs. Nagai and Ishikawa vs. Ikeda exchanges were worth the price of admission. I have no idea if we get to see an Ishikawa vs. Nagai match at any point, but that's something I'd be keen to see, which wasn't something I was expecting half an hour ago.

I'm not sure you can say Kaoru wrestled a "smart" match here, but it was obvious that she didn't stand a chance if she wrestled Aja in a straight up bout. That's not to say that she introduced any radical new style here. I'm pretty sure she had already been working a ECW inspired hardcore style to differentiate her from two thirds of the Joshi universe, but by taking the fight to Aja in a garbage brawl she showed plenty of nerve. I'm not the biggest fan of Aja Kong, but I do respect her. I thought her selling in this match was excellent. Joshi screaming is often compared to the shrieking in women's tennis, but if you arm hurt as much as Aja's did in this bout you'd probably scream too. The thing I liked most about the garbage elements of this was that they used a piece of square wood instead of a table. It looked like far more of a weapon than the typical table prop. Garbage brawls aren't usually my cup of tea, but I thought this was a great one and the Joshi match of the year so far. Aja's selling was so good that it may have been a top 10 Aja Kong match for me. Definitely advantage GAEA in the AJW vs. GAEA comparison.

This was a bit of a letdown after Satanico vs. Tarzan Boy and the angle with Perro Aguayo, but it was mano a mano, which carries with it a glass ceiling. Clipping or no clipping, the point was for Casas to defeat Black Warrior and earn a title shot or at least prove worthy of one. This was never going to be anything more than build.

I'm back on the CMLL train with this match. I never thought I could be so excited about a "non-match" but this was tremendous. Wagner needs to stop spending so much time in Japan because he turned shit on its head right away by slapping Perro at ringside. I love how Perro's son, or his nephew, or whomever it with him at ringside, looked like Chris from the Sopranos. With their dye-jobs, Bestia and Scorpio look like the Fabulous Ones or some other Southern heel tag team. I'm pretty much a Bestia fan for life at this point as I thought he looked great here. For some reason, Atlantis showed more fire here than in his trios matches against Villano and seemed more affronted by Wagner attacking Perro than the Villanos stomping a mudhole in his own hide. Somebody in CMLL was watching the WWF for clues because Villano III's appearance couldn't have been more WWF unless his theme music dropped. It worked nicely, though. Perro getting involved meant the segment as a whole was longer than most of the trios matches that have aired thus far. It was also a reminder of how great Perro's match with Universo 2000 was. Crash booking lucha style, but crash booking done well.

Here we go! I'm psyched. Satanico's Phantom of the Opera entrance was amazing. Just when you thought the lucha GOAT couldn't get any greater he produces one of the finer Arena Mexico entrances in living memory. Tarzan Boy has lipstick kisses on his torso and upper body. He stops to give us the Rick Martel view of his six pack and I wonder if his valet gave him a kiss on the pecker for good luck. That seems to be the implication. Tarzan Boy seems like he's on a hiding to nothing in the intros. He's busy posing while Satanico is limbering up. And sure enough, Satanico wrestles a perfect fall in the primera caida. Olimpico launching himself at Bucanero was another amazing moment. It's rare that you see seconds fight like that and never as wild and out of control as that was. In true CMLL fashion, I didn't realise that Bucanero had tripped Tarzan Boy until the replay. In real time it looked like Tarzan Boy had slipped and that the rudo crowd were riding him. Olimpico's reaction was awesome. I loved the way Satanico's head jerked when he saw the fight break out. The rudo fans got on Tarzan Boy's case during this match. You can't really blame them since it was at the cathedral where Satanico had fought so many wars. The smaller, less vocal tecnico contingent popped for him. Satanico was amazing in this match. Every time the camera was on him he was selling beautifully or doing something great, and always in the right measure. Such a masterful performer. To lose that way in such amateur fashion was galling. Watch Satanico during the post-match. He is filthy with himself. While he's getting his head shaved you can see him replaying the finish in his mind and working through what he should have done differently. I thought this was tremendous. It was never going to be like Satanico vs. Dandy or that AAA match against Morgan. That was Satanico versus fellow all-time greats. For a match against a young talent like Tarzan Boy this exceeded my expectations. Folks have been arguing that there wasn't enough blood and that Satanico didn't suffer any sort of retribution, but losing hurt more than any cut ever could. It was the ultimate humiliation especially given how dominant he'd been in the feud. I actually thought it was a brilliant payoff to the beatings he gave Tarzan Boy night after night. I don't think it elevated Tarzan Boy in any way but it was beautiful and poetic and Satanico sold it like only he can. Another one for the Satanico GOAT scrapbook. Tremendous.

I don't know what lit a fire under Panther but he is officially the second best rudo in the company. I think it was April and May that Panther had his classic matches with Santo in Monterrey and it's clear now that he was enjoying a rich vein of form heading into those appearances. I loved every second of Panther vs. Ringo regardless of how decrepit Ringo may have looked. I also liked the Casas vs. Black Warrior build. CMLL has a habit of phasing guys down the card after long programs. and after feuding with Bestia and Scorpio for what seemed like an eternity, Casas didn't seem like he had much to do in January. Here they gave him something to do and it was the best he's looked so far. This was edited to shit but still enjoyable. That may be the new barometer of a good CMLL match.

This was the first match from February that felt like it was on par with the January stuff and I don't think it's a coincidence that it takes place at Arena Coliseo. Coliseo seems tailor-made for the Satanico v. Tarzan Boy feud. You sense that it loses something in Arena Mexico kind of like playing a larger venue vs. a smaller, more intimate one. Here you've got fans holding Tarzan Boy signs whereas I'm not sure he's that over Arena Mexico. And Satanico looks king-sized this smaller setting. He looks like he's on a different plane from everyone else. No one can match the ferocity with which he attacks Tarzan Boy. Villano III looks like hes moving in slow motion by comparison and even Fuerza couldn't keep up with Satanico's intensity. The only thing that comes close is Panther licking Olimpico's blood and showing off his kill to the audience. Tarzan Boy is pretty low rent but I liked the fire on his comeback here and I thought the injury storyline off the missed plancha was a nice twist after he'd finally shown some fire. Satanico stomping the ankle was wonderful as was the finger biting. Atlantis vs. Villano can't really hold a candle to the Satanico/Tarzan Boy ringwork, though I did like their punch exchange. I'm sure the mask match is still a classic, but Villano comes across as slower and less vicious than Satanico and Atlantis comes across some squeaky clean do-gooder who can't understand why the Villanos are picking on him. Acting was never his forte, but you've got to be prepared to fight fire with fire in an apuesta match and I don't really get that feeling from him. Which makes me suspect that the mask vs. mask match may be closer to a pure lucha match than a brawl, but we'll see. It's been a long time since I watched it.

This was another match butchered in the edit. This was extra frustrating as we never got a proper look at Pimpenela in CMLL. Instead they clipped the Black Warrior vs. Felino exchanges together even though it wasn't a feud. After an exciting January this company is starting to nosedive.

All things in good times. It's such a big project that it's best not to burn yourself out.

This was so badly clipped in the first two falls that it was hard to get any idea of how the match was flowing. The third caida was slightly better, but the switcheroo made the entire thing seem like an angle, which it was, really. If you ask me, the build to Atlantis vs. Villano has been less than perfect.

I believe this is the first 2000 match from Arena Mexico and oddly it's an atomicos match. God only knows how long this lasted but it as clipped to shit on the TV broadcast. There was enough shown to demonstrate how much better Satanico was at brawling with his partner than Shocker was, for example, and a lot that you could study about his rudo performance. But ultimately it was another asskicking for Tarzan Boy, who hasn't done enough to fight back in this feud, and a disconnect with the other participants in the atomicos. Not that strong a match in my view.

I liked the booking here with Olimpico's DQ victory in the tournament final setting up a mano a mano bout. And I liked the continued viciousness from Panther who has never looked better as a rudo. I also liked the idea of giving Olimpico a huge victory over Panther even if he held the ropes to do it. But you'd think they would have shown more than they did on the TV broadcast. The clipping in February is worse than January.

Not content with two blood feuds, CMLL decide to add a third. This is some old school booking from CMLL. It reminds me of the early 80s when they'd have an apuesta match nearly every week. This was a bit different as it was being booked toward a mano a mano and not a mask vs. mask match, but you wouldn't know from the bloodshed, Olympic bled buckets and Panther's mask was so badly ripped at the end that you could see his face years ahead of his unmasking. I'm often critical of Panther as a rudo, but I thought he was excellent here. When you think of Panther, you don't think of a worker who licks another man's blood from his fingers or parades his bloodied foe for others to see, but that was the Panther we got here and it was quite a surprise. The match was short because it was a one night tournament and lucha tournament matches are notoriously short, but it packed a fair-sized punch for such a short match.

I didn't want to watch this match, but I figured that if so much of my viewing was centered around veterans thus far that I ought to give these guys a chance. And to give the devils their due it wasn't that bad a match. I don't think it was a great match by any means, but it was more than solid when you consider they could have easily stank the joint out. Personally, I hated Mutoh's hair in this, which kept bugging me throughout, but he lay down a marker for the 00s and we'll see if his celebrated 2001-02 run holds up.

Hey guys, I don't listen to a lot of podcasts but I listened to this. It was cool hearing you guys shoot the breeze about the project. I know Loss has been trying to start something like this for a while and with Chad as his running partner I'm sure it will have the legs. For what it's worth, I thought Cactus vs. Hunter was the Match of the Month and Satanico the Wrestler of the Month.

This was a fun match. I don't have time to watch all the Tajiri matches that were included but he definitely looks like one of the better US based wrestlers thus far. I have picked up on the thigh slapping, though. I can't remember who mentioned that in the thigh slapping thread but once you pick up on it forever dogs you. I was also a bit disheartened to see him reuse the same taunt from the Super Crazy match but those are only small gripes.

I liked this a lot. It was a fairly standard Joshi tag, but I didn't mind that so much since at least it was traditional. All Japan Women's roster had thinned out at this point and it was clear that there wasn't going to be any uptick in business with the likes of Maekawa and Watanabe being pushed (notice how immediately more exciting things are when a charismatic team like LCO show up to challenge the new champs post-match), but there was a brief revival in AJW's in-ring product around this time and I thought all four women put a strong foot forward in terms of ring work. On the message boards there were some pretty savage arguments vis-a-vis GAEA vs. AJW. I wonder which side PWO2K will take. Everyone nailed their role in this. Miho was super earnest. Toyota was like a mother wolf. Maekawa was pesky and unlikeable. And Watanabe looked like she was measuring herself against Toyota the entire time. The second crowd brawling spot was the only time I felt like groaning. Aside from that it was engaging, especially considering the length.

More tables. There was some criticism tonight about too many props in the dunk contest. How about too many tables in wrestling at the turn of the century? This was decent enough, but I thought it was weak compared to Tajiri vs. Super Crazy. It didn't help that the heat wasn't that great to start with and that the cameraman kept missing Jeff Hardy's spots. (Seriously, it was weird seeing Hardy literally fly into the frame.) The finish was well done, but there seemed to be some confusion over whether Bubba taking a chairshot and falling through the table counted as an "offensive move" and even after Hardy's nuts spot the timekeeper was late ringing the bell.

This is an underrated period of Manami Toyota's career. I thought she looked just as good here as any of her 90s contemporaries, male or female. The trouble was that she was wrestling Yumiko Hotta, whom I simply do not like. And that made for a mostly boring bout.

This was an excellent match. I'm not a huge fan of workers using tables in matches but at least Tajiri did something novel with one. I can't remember seeing anyone skim chairs across a table before. That's gotta be more difficult than it looked. Tajiri was pretty cool in this. I liked the way he mocked Crazy, although it was a weak transition for Crazy's comeback. Crazy probably could have sold more during his fightback but the action was exciting. I liked the dives a lot and Tajiri maiming Crazy with the ring wrench. The finish was cool too even if it was a table spot. I was skeptical about whether I'd enjoy this but they won me over.

I wasn't going to watch this since I was like "eh, it's Cactus Jack and Triple H, I've seen that one." But I was glad that I did. This is your match of the month right here and the first real MOYTC. Foley has always been good at laying his matches out, so it didn't surprise me that this was put together well. The only doubt I had in the early stages was whether Foley was going to do anything sadistic enough to live up to Ross' claims about him being the sickest, most sadistic individual he had ever witnessed (or something to that effect.) The barbwire baseball bat, thumbtacks and chair shots managed to dispel any doubts that this would be the real Cactus Jack and not some watered down version. I'm not a vampire and I'm not much into garbage wrestling but when that's all the commentators keep talking about then you better hope the workers deliver. It wasn't a great call from JR, but the King was more tolerable than I expected and in the end their commentary synced with the match when Ross said both men gave everything they had. I think the surprising thing was Helmsley's performance. He sold his ass off for Foley and his crimson mask was straight off the cover of an Apter mag. Whether you think of the guy, he has a career match like this you can stick in your pipe and smoke. And I'm with Childs, I popped for Mick kicking out of the pedigree like it was in real time. Hell of a flashback. Great match.