ohtani's jacket

Why is this one particular guy forcing John Cena to change his game plan? Because he beat him? Is this supposed to have been built to in a meaningful way? In a year's time when people are complaining about the way they company have handled Owens and the whole thing is a flash in the pan are people still going to say it as a strong narrative? Maybe it's good TV on a week-to-week basis. I don't know. I was kind of asking for an explanation how it's different from Cena vs. Wyatt or Cena vs. Rusev, since you'd think (or hope) that Cena having to bust out new moves would be a bit more memorable than a string of B show matches, but I'm not pretending to be in the loop.

He's an indy guy who went through development, isn't he? Money in the Bank is a B-show.

Why does Cena need to bust out a new move to handle a repackaged Indy guy on a WWE B show? I don't get it. It's like fan fiction or something. Shouldn't that kind of thing happen on a bigger show or am I hopelessly out of touch? Or he just used a different move and people are overreacting from all corners?

THE ARTHUR PSYCHO HOUR Ep 10 Dave Finlay vs. Masakatsu Funaki (Caernarfon, taped 3/14/89) Y'know who I'm sick of? Dave "Fit" Finlay, that's who. Just wrestle the man, Finlay. Now Masakatsu Funaki was the man in my eyes, but here he was doing all sorts of flippy juniors shit. Even so, he trounced Finlay with his athleticism here. Maybe pre-Paula Finlay could have hung with Funaki, but not the sluggish four-leaf clover version. Boston Blackie & Robbie Brookside vs. Giant Haystacks & Johnny South (Denbigh, taped 1988) For some reason, Johnny South was going by the name Shaun at this point. Fun match if for no other reason than the Welsh fans giving South the fingers when he spilled out to the floor and the local kids being simultaneously in awe of Haystacks and riding their luck with their shit talking. Haystacks in Wales is this mini-novelty like Andre in Japan. The faces plugged into a Haystacks match pretty well and South was a decent workhorse. Plenty of worse Reslo bouts than this. Dave Taylor vs. Tony St. Clair (Corwen, taped 4/5/89) Again these two locked up in a manner reminiscent of the very best of British heavyweight wrestling and the last vestige of everything that was great about the style. And again Reslo edited it down into what amounted to a highlights package; but even in the form it was shown in, this was one for the Greatest Hits package, and Taylor working the way you want to see Dave Taylor work in a British heavyweight setting. I don't think anyone's keeping check at home, but if you are, all St. Clair vs. Taylor matches are worth watching for interest's sake if nothing else. Ritchie Brooks vs. Mongolian Mauler (Corwen, taped 4/7/90) Just looking at the name Mongolian Mauler tells me I would have been better off skipping this one, but I wanna give everyone at least one chance. Still, unless you're Killer Khan nothing good comes from a name like the Mongolian Mauler. Especially against Richie "the Yanks can take our TV spot, but they'll never outgrow our mullets" Brooks. Sandy Scott vs. Steve Adonis (8/24/88) Steve Adonis was a new blonde sensation from the US who attracted a lot of attention from an admiring Kent Walton. In fact, you might say that Walton was as fixated on Adonis as those YouTubers who are into wrestling men. I recently got sent some samples of original ITV stuff a guy had bought from the broadcaster and you get the lead-in to all of the tapings. Walton can be heard on camera making a snarky remark about some Christmas cards members of the audience had given him or he had received in the post or something. I always wondered if there was a dark side to Kent where he secretly had contempt for the audience. Anyway, Sandy Scott had borrowed Bobby Eaton's wardrobe for this and that was about the best thing about is late period worthlessness.

This was more pragmatic than their first encounter, but although it was less sloppy, it took a long time for the hook to come. It wasn't until Choshu hit the superplex and followed it up with the diving knee to the head that I really got into this and that was late in the match. The stretch run had plenty of bombs, but Tenryu's execution on his enzuiguri, powerbomb and diving back elbow was poor. I've really enjoyed Tenryu in these matches, but he keeps flubbing those big moments. The powerbomb he can kind of get away with because of fatigue and Choshu's weight, and he was still selling the head knock from earlier, but Choshu's execution down the stretch was markedly better and that's crucial in a match like this where it's two big lugs duking it out. Choshu didn't really give him that much, either. It looked as though Tenryu was going to reopen the cut at once stage, but I guess Choshu didn't feel like bleeding. He didn't rub Tenryu out, but he was owed a win and set about collecting. It was pretty emphatic considering the build, but that's politics for you I suppose.

This was more pragmatic than their first encounter, but although it was less sloppy, it took a long time for the hook to come. It wasn't until Choshu hit the superplex and followed it up with the diving knee to the head that I really got into this and that was late in the match. The stretch run had plenty of bombs, but Tenryu's execution on his enzuiguri, powerbomb and diving back elbow drop was poor. I've really enjoyed Tenryu in these matches, but he keeps flubbing those big moments. The powerbomb he can kind of get away with because of fatigue and Choshu's weight, and he was still selling the head knock from earlier, but Choshu's execution down the stretch was markedly better and that's crucial in a match like this where it's two big lugs duking it out. Choshu didn't really give him that much, either. It looked as though Tenryu was going to reopen the cut at once stage, but I guess Choshu didn't feel like bleeding. He didn't rub Tenryu out, but he was owed a win and set about collecting. It was pretty emphatic considering the build, but that's politics for you I suppose.

Okay, this was about as awesome as it possibly could be. Tenryu and Hashimoto squared off exactly as you would expect and their exchanges gradually build from violent stares to nose busting strikes. I love the way Tenryu busts a guy open by just kicking away at an eye or a nose. The fact that both Choshu *and* Hashimoto ended up bleeding here was beautiful. The hot tag to Hashimoto where he unloaded on Tenryu was beautiful. And Tenryu beating on Choshu mercilessly while Hashimoto got the pin on Ishikawa was beautiful. Tenryu going after Hashimoto after the bell, shitty talking them on the mic and throwing the microphone at Choshu's face made this a hell of a lead-in to the Choshu rematch. This was another case where Tenryu seemed overwhelmed by the odds (Hashimoto and Choshu?), but didn't give a shit. I liked this a lot as a lead-in bout.

This was fairly simple, but you expect that from a house show match. There were some resoundingly big chopping sounds throughout, and the fans were into the finishing stretch in a big way, but nothing special otherwise. This was a classic 5 on 5 New Japan tag, albeit 2/3 falls instead of elimination, and the first match that looked comparable with the contemporary style in Japan at the time as seen in high end All Japan and Joshi tags. I guess it's a conservative opinion but I preferred this to the faux Memphis brawls they were having in 1992. I also liked the booking of Choshu in this even if it stopped the bout from being an outright classic. Tenryu's side looked hopeless outmatched during the intros. Again it was though he'd brought his poker buddies to the fight; or gotten a few of the dads together to help their sons take on the school from the next district. Hara, in particular, looks like he was right at home behind the BBQ grill before Tenryu enlisted him to take up the fight. WAR punches above their weight in this and it's cool to watch. Okay, this was about as awesome as it possibly could be. Tenryu and Hashimoto squared off exactly as you would expect and their exchanges gradually build from violent stares to nose busting strikes. I love the way Tenryu busts a guy open by just kicking away at an eye or a nose. The fact that both Choshu *and* Hashimoto ended up bleeding here was beautiful. The hot tag to Hashimoto where he unloaded on Tenryu was beautiful. And Tenryu beating on Choshu mercilessly while Hashimoto got the pin on Ishikawa was beautiful. Tenryu going after Hashimoto after the bell, shitty talking them on the mic and throwing the microphone at Choshu's face made this a hell of a lead-in to the Choshu rematch. This was another case where Tenryu seemed overwhelmed by the odds (Hashimoto and Choshu?), but didn't give a shit. I liked this a lot as a lead-in bout.

Wild Man of Borneo & Steve Haggerty vs. Ray Hunter & Al Hayes (Paul Lincoln Promotions 1960s) This was a transfer of an old 8mm Walton Films print presumably from the mid-60s. Unfortunately, whoever did the transfer didn't match the frame rate and the playback is slow. Nevertheless, it's a valuable piece of footage that shows not only the Wild Man of Borneo on tape, but also a look at a young Alfred Hayes and a spry Max Ward. People who think Bárbaro Cavernario does a good job of playing a caveman really ought to check out the Wild Man as he's pretty much the Captain Caveman of caveman gimmick wrestlers. He was a lot smaller than I expected (probably a middleweight by the looks of it) and pretty quick. His offence was obviously designed to match his character, but I liked his rolling bumps. Part of his gimmick was that no-one had ever seen his face so he wrestled with his hair covering his eyes and every time he'd bump you'd get this tiny glimpse of his face, which was neat. Hayes didn't show a heck of a lot of fire as a blue eye, but the tag structure was fortunately better than a lot of the World of Sport stuff. Not as good as the catch matches from the same era, but much clearer tag psychology and a fun bout. There's a short silent version on YouTube, but I have a longer sound version.

Have you seen this, TIm? It degenerates into a cheap brawl like a lot of Tijuana/Monterrey stuff, and Katana is a ridiculous gimmick for Leon Chino, but the first Santo vs. Espanto exchange is quality.

I've seen a few matches of him as a kid. Too young to pass any judgement on.

People keep mentioning how it took Michaels a while to click as a singles wrestler, but both Austin and the guys he worked with are forever mentioning how he was like a chicken with its head cut off for much of the 90s.

Depends what you classify as their start, I guess.

Apparently, Onita was working in the construction industry as a labourer before he got the JWP gig. I think he also had a stint as a delivery man. Shinma Sr wasn't directly involved with the management of Hamada's UWF, but his finger prints were all over it. If you combine JWP, FMW and Hamada's UWF, you'd get Shinma's vision for what his second UWF would have been like. The original JWP's history is quite interesting.

There's a bit of info in the Observer recap forum. WON 11/28/88 WON 12/12/88

They say people die in threes, but Christopher Lee, Dusty Rhodes and Ornette Coleman is one foul swoop. Maybe I'll play some Dusty Rhodes promos over the top of Dracula while listening to some jazz.

The origins of Hamada's UWF are a bit complicated. Hamada had been working as a referee and trainer for the original JWP The promotion was on the bones of its ass and management had begun working with Hisashi Shinma to transition the group from a women's wrestling group to something similar to the original UWF with a mixed roster and different styles of wrestling. Onita was working for the promotion as a sales rep to pay back some debt on a failed business venture, and they ran an angle which was supposed to lead to a Hamada vs. Onita fight, but the crowd reacted negatively and I believe the JWP girls opposed the idea as well. Onita left and formed FMW while Hamada worked with Shinma's son, an advertising industry guy, to found the UWF. I believe the name is in reference to pop's breakaway promotion, which Hamada worked for as its leading lightweight star. Hamada's UWF started the careers of Ultimo Dragon, Gado and Jado, and all of the M-Pro guys. The latter spun off and created M-Pro in 1993 while the former jumped to WAR.

Owen worked short gimmick matches with Shamrock, so unless they had a straight match at some point it's tough to make a comparison since Shawn was liable to make a guy look bad on purpose. Not that Shamrock was a bad worker. He was just more adept at shoot style. It's not like Owen was all that great at the time either. That whole era of WWF is checkered if you're looking for great matches.

It's their 6/18/81 match from Wembley Arena. Joint Promotions, or Dale Martin Promotions in conjunction with Joint Promotions if you want to get really picky. itvwrestling.co.uk is the go to site with dates along with britishwrestlingarchive.co.uk, but you have to use the way back machine for the latter. That's a bollocks version of the "fight" though as they've dubbed over the top of Walton. EDIT: Okay, it was only an intro.

Great Match Theory is okay as a theory, it just has a poncey name. Might as well go all the way and call it Auteur Theory. John Tenta was an auteur working within the confines of the WWF studio system to produce iconic works about the fat man's struggle in post-Regan America.

Tenta was better than Albright, also that is not what I was saying. Williams` resume was greatly padded by his opponents and most wrestlers would have more great matches in that environment than without it. Look at Johnny Ace. Was Tenta better than Albright in UWF-i? Williams was significantly better than Johnny Ace in All Japan. I don't think anyone thinks Ace is a great worker because he had good performances in All Japan. Williams rose to the occasion in All Japan. If he hadn't lifted the standard of his own work, his matches against Misawa and Kawada would have been on the same level as Misawa/Gordy or some other solid albeit less memorable encounter. Besides, if you take away All Japan, Williams still has US work to fall back on. Take away Tenta's best run and his position is far flimsier.

The problem is they stuck him in there with Mutoh, who was more popular than him but wasn't taking this Tenryu thing seriously. They should have paired him with another lower tier guy like Nogami so that he stood out head and shoulders above his partners; the way Tenryu's poker buddies are only ever there to have Tenryu's back. Hashimoto came across as second fiddle to me despite the bout having little to do with Mutoh. It didn't help that he left his feet so often. I don't think Hashimoto trying to bowl Tenryu over with leg lariats is the most bad ass way to kick start their rivalry. You'd expect to see them go nose to nose or something. There was a cool spot where Tenryu was beating on Nogami and Hashimoto broke it up with a kick to the jaw, but after that they flubbed Hashimoto and Mutoh making the save and the War team stopping them a second time. The finish was weak compared to the usual Japanese tag finish because of the mistimed interference, but they didn't coil the Tenryu/Hashimoto issue around it either, which is kind of a running theme with these WAR vs. NJ tags so far in that they're not that sophisticated. Fun and heated, but not that clever. So far, anyway.

The New Japan side were way too peppy in this. Tenryu's team looked like he brought his poker buddies along while the New Japan guys were bouncing around playing to the crowd and reveling in their early-nineties-ness. I don't know what Mutoh thought he was doing on the apron, but evidently a blood feud was the last thing from his mind. That spot where the New Japan guys all dropped elbows on Tenryu was the lamest thing I've seen in forever. Ostensibly, the bout was an excuse for Tenryu and Hashimoto go at it, but only one of them was acting badass and it wasn't the New Japan guy. Tenryu punting Nogami was about the only thing I dug here. Which isn't to say it was a bad match, it just wasn't that cool. Who will step up to the plate and match Tenryu for charisma?

I guess Dave is bored with New Japan this year.

I'll do a full write up later, but it wasn't my cup of tea. I appreciate what Alex says about them going in a different direction but they left me at the station. Thanks for the upload, though!