ohtani's jacket

Bob Backlund vs. Sgt. Slaughter (WWF, 3/21/81) Full disclosure -- I grew up on WWF cage matches. I like WWF cage matches. I have zero problems with WWF cage match rules. I find cage matches from other territories to be vastly overrated and have greater respect for promotions like AJW who adopted the WWF cage match style instead. That said, this is nothing like your typical WWF cage match. This is Bob Backlund kicking Sgt. Slaughter's ass inside a cage for 17 minutes straight. Backlund is such an oddball. Even Bruno didn't dominate his opponents this much. The match isn't bad per se, but it doesn't maximize the dramatic potential of a WWF cage match. I assume there were other blowoff matches like this whenever Backlund went around the horn, but it doesn't make for a great one off viewing experience. Especially since Sarge is such a good worker. It would be nice to see him actually do something. Matches like this are the reason Bobby is still a bit divisive, I suspect.

I don't hate everything about Kawada. I just have little use for him after '97-98 unless he's having matches against Tenryu, Mutoh, and possibly in MUGA against Nishimura. .

Mascara Sagrada? Jesus, they're bringing everybody back. Sagrada looks... fat. CMLL was preempted for a few weeks in August because of the Olympics. Unlike last time when we missed out on a Dr. Wagner vs. Casas program, I don't think we missed out on anything earthshattering. Luckily, there's plenty of footage available from this 8/13 show. This was the show that was originally thought to have been unaired, but which Phil Schneider found being bootlegged outside Arena Mexico. I don't know if the rest of the show is new footage or not, but it's kind of rare to get so much footage from a single CMLL show, so perhaps it aired in some fashion over the Olympics break. This was an out and out crowd pleaser. There was a bit too much KeMonito, but I did like his schtick with Garza. There was a lot to enjoy about this trios match. Casas and Tarzan Boy went back and forth. I always enjoy it when two guys who were in an apuesta feud acknowledge that they still hate each other's guts. I like the burgeoning Shocker vs. Garza feud as well. Terrible looked wild and is clearly looking for a hair match pay day. Fun way to pass the time.

This was really good. In many ways, it was better than Tamura vs Ito. I would say it definitely had better matwork whereas Tamura vs Ito had the better striking. I guess it helped that it was the main event of this Osaka show whereas Tamura pulled double duty on the next show. Mishima could be a goofy bugger at times, but in a lovable sort of way. Tamura isn't exactly saving our souls with U-Style, but it at least adds some variety to the dull Japanese scene.

This seemed like it would be a great little shoot style bout, but it ended up being a whole bunch of nothing . I can't take Shibata seriously with that goofy stance of his and his stupid facial expressions, and I am done with Minoru Suzuki. Hard pass.

I am really down on Kawada at the moment. I want him to disappear and take Minoru Suzuki with him. I am high on the immortal Tenzan and Randy Orton, though I think Triple H is about to fuck him up.

This was such a beautiful match. It wasn't just the CMLL match of the year, but one of the best matches from anywhere in the world in 2004. The reason for this wasn't because it was a classic Santo performance (although it was), but because it was easily the best Perro Jr performance to date and the first time he's truly looked like his father. The non-finish may bother some, but you have to remember that this was just a mano a mano bout. There's no reason on earth why it should have been these good other than they wanted to honor their fathers by having a match worthy of the famous bout their padres had. The other defining aspect of this bout is that's proof that an old-school lucha bout can get over with the Arena Mexico crowd. They worked a decidedly non-2004 match in front of the Arena Mexico faithful, but had them hooked. This might be one of my favorite lucha matches of all-time. It's definitely the best mano a mano bout I've seen. If you don't want to see these two square off again after watching this then you should probably consult your local GP.

No mention of Kent Walton!

Bruno Sammartino vs. Superstar Billy Graham (WWWF, 4/30/77) Bruno vs. Graham is one of the best matchups in WWE history. I wouldn't have said that prior to Graham's death, but I'm in full agreement with elliott about this. This wasn't their best match together, but it did show more of Bruno's technical side, and while he won't go down in history as one of the great mat workers, he was competent enough. Superstar was fantastic during this period. I always bought into the accepted wisdom about Superstar, or rather, I never had a reason to give a shit about him until people opened my eyes to his WWWF run. The amount of bumping and stooging he does is surprising, and his selling is excellent. There's still a bunch of old-school types who think he never bumped or did much of anything. Those people need to be converted one by one. The better bouts in this feud are when Bruno is chasing Graham, but this is an important chapter in their feud so you best not skip it.

This was an excellent match for the most part. It's not a huge surprise, to me, that Tanahashi became a star as I thought his performance here was better than in the final. The only issue I had with the match was the finish. I don't believe for a second that Sasaki couldn't kick out of that. They should have continued for a few more beats. Tanahashi's crappy celebration didn't help matters, either. That's not how you sell that type of pinfall.

This match was kind of stupid, I thought. It was cool when they were railing on each other, but the rest of the match was meandering and the stuff with the ref was Monterrey-esque.

I keep telling myself I should watch more Chris Hero, but I don't think this was the right place to start. The camerawork was poor and it didn't seem like Hero and Styles were giving it their all. Hero's so tall that he can have problems working small at times, and doesn't have great big man offense either. I could be wrong, but it looked like he was still finding himself at this point. Styles was okay, but not up to his usual standards.

Bob Backlund vs Pat Patterson (WWF, 7/30/79) Backlund sure doesn't mind beating the shit out of a heel. It's an admirable quality in a way as most babyfaces are too soft to beat on a guy. It doesn't make for the best match, though. This bout is exponentially better once Patterson takes over and gets really good once both guys are buggered. I don't think Patterson is a great worker, but he's very good at the nitty gritty stuff and excels at putting over pain and fatigue. They do this really odd finish where Arnold Skaaland hits Patterson with the belt only for the bout to end in a double knockout. Backlund does do this incredibly goofy looking sit up to try to beat the count, but the ref counts 10 anyway.

I had no idea that New Japan pushed a young Tanahashi all to the way to the G1 Final. This doesn't feel like a marque match up, but you know Japanese crowds love an underdog. Tanahashi's already pretty good at this point, but it's Tenzan that does the heavy lifting to ensure that this is a worth final. How about that Tenzan, huh? Didn't know you had it in you. It's amazing to me that both Kojima and Tenzan have managed to find success as singles wrestlers despite the crappy state of the business. This was an exciting match. I absolutely loved the dragon sleeper vs anaconda vice battle. The finish was awesome. Hail, Tenzan!

Game, set, and match, Alcarez.

Bob Backlund vs. Greg Valentine (WWF, 3/26/79) Man, I love Greg Valentine. There are very few wrestlers I love more than the Hammer. Backlund's an acquired taste, but I don't think he gets the credit he deserves for the sheer volume of good matches he had in the WWF. Yeah, he had the ideal stage for it with main events at MSG, but listen to the heat he gets. Don't let anyone ever fool you that Backlund wasn't over in New York. This is a slow match, so much so that there's a fan heckling them about it, but when the highspots come they send a roar through the Garden. Very good match from one of my favorite old-school WWF matchups.

I was never an Otsuka guy, but it's fun seeing him square off against Tamura. It's a shame it's so one-sided, but Tamura had a clear advantage with his stand up game. Would have liked a bit more matwork.

I'm not really sold on U-Style being high end shoot style, or 2000s Tamura being a great worker, but I haven't watched a ton of shoot style over the past several years and I feel out of sync with it these days. That said, this was an exciting fight with some great knockdown sequences. Should have been the final.

Not for nothing, but if you like Megumi Fuji, her MMA career is worth checking out.

I'm late to the party on this stuff, but I do enjoy a old-school WWF match. Bruno Sammartino vs Ken Patera (WWWF, 3/7/77) It's so weird watching old WWWF matches with a young Howard Finkel, a fat Gorilla Monsoon, Arnold Skaaland managing Bruno instead of Backlund, and Lou Albano looking like the splitting image of Mick Foley. Knowing what we do about Finkel's porn collection, you have to wonder if he was frequenting the peep shows at Times Square during this time, or something even dodgier. As always, people watching is a huge part of the appeal of 70s WWF. Not only that but the fashion. There are some cool looking vintage shirts but a lot of crappy looking 70s suits as well. Patera was such an awesome heel. I wish people could still get over as simply and as thoroughly as Patera did. Bruno was sensational. He was a formula guy, but his intensity was through the roof and the heat he drew was incredible. Easily the best kick-punch guy ever, and I'd go as far as to call him one of the best brawlers ever. These guys were so adept at drawing heat that they didn't need to cut loose. They had the crowd eating out of their hands for the simplest stuff. The Patera highlight was the diving elbow to Bruno's back when Bruno was scrambling. That was a brilliant cutoff spot. I loved the finish as well with Bruno pummeling the shit out of Patera until Patera could no longer continue. Ending the bout was such a Monsoon thing to do. Loved it.

A Statement From Terry Funk Regarding Dusty Rhodes (1981) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Terry cuts a fun promo claiming Ed "Strangler" Lewis, Joe Strecher and Jim Londos must be rolling over in their graves at the thought of Dusty Rhodes being World Champion, and how that egg sucking dog Dusty Rhodes ought to win a double C cup brassiere. Fun stuff. Terry Funk Promo (1979) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Terry is wearing braids. Looks a bit like Willie Nelson. Terry Funk (c) vs Manny Fernandez (October 21st, 1979) (Championship Wrestling From Florida -- This is quite the video package. Manny defeats Terry for the Florida Heavyweight title in controversial fashion. Terry goes crazy backstage and loses his shit when he realizes he's being filmed. Manny is about to wrestle a studio bout when Terry interrupts the match to talk with Manny. He wants Manny to admit that he lied about calling Dusty a better athlete than Terry. Manny won't do it, so Terry beats the shit out of him and screams at him with a microphone. There were very few guys better at this sort of thing than Terry Funk. Great stuff. Bunkhouse Match: Dusty Rhodes vs Terry Funk (July 27th, 1982) (Championship Wrestling From Florida) -- Dusty looks badass in a black shirt, jeans and cowboy boots with black gloves. Terry looks like he's wearing wrestling trunks over the top of long johns. This turns into a pier six involving Kendo Nagasaki, King Tonga and Dory Funk Jr. Nothing to see here. Barbed Wire Match: Dusty Rhodes & Terry Funk vs Kendo Nagasaki & King Tonga (August 21st, 1982) -- Dusty commentates over the top of some rough looking handheld footage. I could listen to Dusty talk about his matches all day long. Good stuff.

I'm not sure if this match played a part in Takayama's stroke, but the ending of the post-match interview was some uncomfortable shit. The match was everything you'd want from Takayama vs Sasaki. It didn't appear to be particularly brutal, but who knows?

This match is stupidly long, and never rises above good, but at the same time it's impressive that they were able to maintain the level they did for 74 minutes. Aries isn't really my kind of worker, but I thought his selling was more consistent than Danielson. Danielson would go from selling as though he was concussed to a flurry of offense and back again. The third fall, in particular, was a bit of a mess. Aries hobbled about like his hip was hurting, which was enough to convey the damage that Danielson had done to his back and mid-section. The commentators wouldn't stop going on about blah, blah, blah, psychology, but I tuned them out with music. To the workers' credit, the match was never boring. I watched it in blocks because I can't really hack 75 minutes straight, but it never dragged. Danielson continues to remind me of Bob Backlund. I'm not sure that was what he was going for, but that's the image I get from his duck ass.

Melodrama is one facet of wrestling. It can be done well or done poorly just like any other facet. It generally has a negative connotation, but I don't buy into that. The WWE is generally good at melodrama. Joshi workers have been traditionally good at melodrama. Lucha workers are good at working melodrama into their big matches, but generally not very good at the pre-match build side of things. A lot of the older territories had great melodrama. Indy promotions are often terrible at producing it (in my view.) It's not necessary to have melodrama in a match, however. Often you can appreciate wrestling for wrestling's sake or simple character work.

This is one of those matches that looks awesome on paper but is a whole bunch of nothing. That's mostly because Minoru Suzuki wasn't all that yet (if he ever was?) The striking segments are fun, but the matwork is disappointing. My image of NJPW Suzuki is completely different from this. I always thought of him as a master technician that could torture guys if he wanted to, but he comes across as a fraud in '04.