soup23
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Everything posted by soup23
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Interested Case as to why the aversion to 9/6/97? He didn't give Akiyama enough or what?
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New worst nominee contender.
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The WOTY argument is interesting and I did a quick laundry list of people I thought were WOTY and rather they would have made my list anyway. I will also say that 1998 is a far worse year worldwide compared to 1999.
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Versatility and how much weight I put in it is something I need to flesh out more. For instance, Misawa started out as a junior and evolved to an up and comer and then the man for a decade. After dropping the GHC to Kobashi in 3/1/03, he evolved into slightly more of an elder statesman but I think it is certainly fair to say that his versatility in far as how he potrayed himself is different from most of the other wrestlers in the top 10 including contemporaries like Kobashi (better junior worker) and Jumbo (better elder statesman grumpy area). Kawada would probably be the individual with the least amount of versatility with maybe Hansen dipping slightly too. When I think of versatility, the evolution of character work does play a big role. I like seeing careers and development evolve over time. There is something that is magnificent with the footage we have available where you can see the lightbulb go off for guys like Tenryu, Misawa, etc. On the other hand, someone like Daniel Bryan had versatility in a more micro level that could be tracked throughout his career. He would go do a camp with Regal and you would see more European influence sprinkled in. Ditto when he went to Japan. Having a variety of opponents and creating good to very good matches in multiple settings is a good facet of versatility but I think being able to work in your own environment and showing versatility against common opponents is just as important. Misawa works differently with Hansen in the 3/92 match than he does in the 8/92 and 5/93 matches. This is why the argument that Misawa only did it against the same guys bothers me to some degree. The matches and performances were different. Even the death moves were different and therefore showed versatility for the performer in my eyes.
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WM 17 and 19??? Impressive stuff Dave.
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Glad to see some long matches as it makes this episode of PPW feel important. Kurt gained his bearings as the match progressed and by the end he felt like he belonged. He was able to have the crowd clamoring for him to and they eventually bought into him winning the title and became invested. Kurt winning felt like a big moment. Kudos to PPW. **
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I don't think the dynamic changes to make Kawada more sympathetic. If anything, he gets more over on Misawa in the latter half of the decade than in the first half.
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I do think this is a valid critieria and I think gets around to Parv's main crux for more analysis of some of the holy grail comments. He DOES believe that Clash 6 is a match that transcends wrestling and has multiple layers of storytelling and development. I happen to agree with him as well as someone like Shoe who said he would put that match as the GOAT. We really haven't found that naysayer for 6/3/94, 6/9/95 etc.
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Weird atmosphere again with buildings and bouncy houses in the background. The beginning meandered around a lot but once the explosions came into play, this became a really good spectacle and some of the explosion bumps were filmed better than I have seen almost any bump of that nature be filmed. FMW continues to find its legs. ***
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Some heavy accusations have been thrown Wolfie's way. He gets bum rushed and we have a decent studio match that doesn't get too much time before Bill Dundee comes out with a woman saying that Wolfie hit her. This allows Jaime to wrap his hand in a chain and steal the tv title. General Memphis affair here. *1/2
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This was awesome to watch. Kyoko is gaining weight and this is presented in a unique style that is more of a slugfest than a sprint that you are used to seeing with Kyoko. They do a good job of making it believable that Kyoko can hit some insane strikes on Aja and have her reeling. Kyoko really showed some versatility in this match and Aja was the great bully she usually is. A joshi highlight for 1996 for sure. ****1/4
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I do think Kawada vs. Misawa as an overall series being less than Kobashi vs. Misawa is a reason why I do rank Kobashi ahead of Kawada by a decent margin. This can be dismayed as me just utilizing great match theory and layering that but I have made no qualms that is a criteria I will be using to rank. The rankings for my 90's matches speak for themselves I believe. Misawa vs. Kawada has one all timer (6/3/94). I havent gotten to it yet but I do really enjoy the 7/24/95 match (around ****3/4 when I watched 5+ years ago), 3/93, 5/1/98, 1/22/99 I have all at ****1/2. 10/92, 7/93, 4/97 would all be around ****1/4. Carny 95, Carny 98, 7/99, and 7/18/05 at ****. Misawa vs. Kobashi has one all timer (1/20/97), but also two other ***** matches IMO (10/31/98 and 3/1/03). 10/97 is right behind at ****3/4 and I think it is comparable to 7/24/95. Then you have 6/99 at ****1/4 which is a flawed match I admit. 3/31/96, 10/95 and Carny 95 at ****. 4/97 is ***3/4 but I would have it higher than Misawa/Kawad from carny 94 for example. The rest is either from 1990 which was fun stuff or too incomplete for me to accurately judge. Of the matches we have on tape, at almost every level I prefer Misawa vs. Kobashi. Even as flawed as 6/99 can be at points, it never stepped over the line in the ways 6/97 did which left a sour taste in my mouth.
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I appreciated how different this felt from the 5-4 trios. Black Buffalo in particular seemed to have grown a lot as a worker. Seno was used as the whipping boy in the 5-4 trios, but here he gets to unload more of his offensive arsenal. The structure worked as a more even match until Togo's team takes over on Yakushiji. The transition to the tag and finish was neat with Yakushiji fending off all three members of the opposing team. Finish was well done too as we get a dive train sequence that neutralizes everyone on the floor except Togo and Seno. The angle of Togo's senton is gorgeous and shows how much air he gets. ***3/4
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Johnny Smith busted out a ton of creative offense with Powerbombs and a gorgeous German on Ogawa. Ogawa upped his game offensively too and the final stretch here was really fun showcasing the middle card of AJ around this point. 99 may have not delivered the top tier main events other AJ years have, but the roster does look solid currently moving forward.