El-P

Well, you did warn me. It was like the worst LU show ever. It never really felt like a true lucha libre show like CMLL was anyway, with zero trios match. Johnny Mundo's entrance was gold though, but the match with Pentagon was not very good. Usual Mundo spotfest without heeling (he looks much better in 6-men matches in LU). Pentagon kinda working face didn't do much for me either, although he looks like a star. The three-way was just that, a three-way with its share of clunkiness. Still don't think much of Texano Jr. He's solid. I don't see anything special in him. The four team tag team title match was a total clusterfuck, with some great diving sequences. What else... The LU match I liked, although it lacked heat, only Rey Jr. was really over (and damn, was he over). Vampiro totally fucked up on announcing was classic though. Had me rolling. The only thing I enjoyed in the undercard was the Apache match, probably because it was cool to see Faby still looks like a excellent worker. Going back to the ARSION days, when Mari Apache broke the mold of crappy luchadoras before Faby became even better. Well, it was different and clusterfucky but it did tell a story, and Faby is a trooper. The old FMW fan in me enjoyed the bloodletting. Speaking of which, I did love the main event. Crazy, insane brawling which actually built into the insanity, although one can argue the selling was not exactly consistent (it wasn't, but it was all about the insanity). I could have done without the run-ins at the end (damn, Damian is still around ? And Psychosis has become kinda fat), pretty useless, especially the swerve with Doc Wagner, but the final spot was grand in its ECW stupidity. Dunno if I'd call this a great match, but the seediness, dirtyness and plain crass violence was something else. Gotta love the fact kids are in the audience. Mexico. A different kind of culture. I admit I like my pro-wrestling in its non-hygienist glory. So there. Great intros too BTW, especially Psycho Clown. Well, I'd probably call this a MOTYC anyway. So, pretty clusterfucky card, with tons of stuff that didn't look too good and wasted potential, but one memorable match/angle in the undercard and one amazing crazy main event. AAA does look like a completely different product than CMLL. I'm sure the pure lucha fan hate AAA. Is Konnan involved with them still ?

Ok, but will Steve Austin face Brock Lesnar ?

So I decided I was gonna watch both lucha libre supershows from this year. Because why not ? First, start with CMLL 83 Anniversario. Well, this would go down as the first complete lucha show I would watch. Only watched isolated matches over the years. And it was a blast. No bad match, although the luchadoras match wasn't exactly good, although good in spots. The first trio match with the exotico and Shocker, who's now 1000% beer gut it seems, was quite fun. Quite a bit of comedy but also got me into the mood and pace. Old-ass Shocker seems fun enough. That Corleone guy is the blow-job babyface and knows how to throw a punch. Mephisto seems like a good worker. Super Crazy vs Rey Buccanero was rough in spots, especially Rey doing the worst Canadian Destroyer ever, followed by the second worst Canadian Destroyer ever. Until then, it was quite the good old, fat & ugly luchadors match. Crazy is still that. I enjoyed it despite the blown stuff. Nice nearfalls toward the end. Yeah, nearfalls ! How foreign. First big trios match was very good. So, Mistico came back under another name. It will get confusing later. I guess Negro Casas really is Mexico's Jushin Liger, he still looks mighty fine for his age, and in great shape to boot. Felino and his mascot was all goofy and shit, but I did laugh. Doradas I've seen before in Japan, and damn, that guy is amazing. So seems to be Cavernario, in his own style. Really good stuff. Second big trios match was, well, great I guess. I had seen Los Guerreros once before, in Japan too. They rule. Ok, so who the fuck is this Mistico ? Plus he's basically wearing the old Mistico mask, isn't he ? So he kinda looks like Caristico. Isn't this awkard ? Volador directly endears himself to me by coming out to DM's "Personnal Jesus". Valiente is a stocky guy who can do tons of cool shit like Silver King, kinda. Well, I loved every minute of this. How can anyone not become a fan of Los Guerreros after just one match ? Hard to get ? To get what ? Come on people. No idea what is the consensus of the main event. I thought it developed nicely into an excellent match. Holy shit, apron spots. Brutal. Are they going puroresu on my ass already ? You don't need to see a hundred match to feel how a low-blow aka foul is still *huge* in Mexico. This is nice. BTW, the heat is tremendous, and I'm not talking about the constant buzzing and horns that can be distracting for the first 20 minutes or so. I'm talking about heat for the babyface and against the bullshit. Yeah, well done epic match, although I have no idea who these two are, again, it doesn't take much "work" to get what is more or less happening there. So yeah. Maybe because it's totally fresh to me, but this was the most fun current show I have watched probably all year (loved the NXT Takeovers but there was always some bad undercard match I didn't care one bit about, and some NJ undercard matches are kind of a chore to get through). Again, not to sound like an asshole, but the whole "lucha is hard to understand" seems a wee bit ridiculous to me. It took me about one match and a half to get used to the pace and get the oh-so-complex rules of the trios matches, complete with the way the first two falls usually happens. Yeah, it's a bit different. But on the other hand there's so much that is so obvious to any random pro-wrestling fan. More than when you get yourself a UWF-I show for the first time. Anyway. This was excellent. Gonna watch Triplemania next, with a bunch of Lucha Underground people so it should be just as easy. I did say it was probably too late at this point for me to "get into" lucha, after not caring to do so until then, but since I do contradict myself quite a bit IRL (especially about stuff I like to be wrong about), hey, maybe actually 2017 will be the year when I watch lucha libre on a regular basis. Why not ? It's fresh to me. And it's easy to do so now. So. There's more I could say about production (which kinda sucked, with TNA level fuck up by the director), or the overall atmosphere of the show (which I loved), but hey, if I buy myself a lucha mask for next year, I'll have more chance to adress those.

Hirose Hase & Kensuke Sasaki vs Rick Steiner & Scott Norton sometime in 1990 is an excellent match and a thousand times better than the überoverrated Dome show match from the same year. The fact Norton subbed for Scott gave the match a whole new dynamic instead of just being a stupid Steiner spotfest, and it turned into the natives vs two gaijin monsters. Hase being the worker he was back then, and Sasaki being game as hell made it a most surprising quality match. Probably best Norton match ever too. And yeah, that Cat running gag was quite funny. Then again, The Cat was gold. Always liked Norton too.

Raven vs Monty Brown vs Abyss vs AJ Styles vs Sean Waltman (King of the Mountain match) It's official, the King of the Mountain match is my favourite overthought gimmick match. It should not work. But it's the second one I see, and it's even better than the first. It's both insanely convoluted yet makes perfect sense in execution. And it's *fun* because you can actually tell stories amidst the crazy spots. The fact people get send in the cage allows startegies to take place. The cage + ladder makes setups for crazy shit, and does it deliver. Amazingly, Jeff Jarrett gets "arrested" before the show, so he doesn't get to do the job in his own gimmick match. What a great carny Jarrett is. I guess it makes for a better match, as everyone contributes in a very positive way. Monty Brown pounces people left and right and throw bodies around. This guy had so much potential. AJ Styles and Sean Waltman are making plans while being stuck in the cage at the same time, but of course Waltman crosses Styles at the right time, so it sets up a feud between the two. Raven bleeds like it's ECW 97, Abyss does his share and, well, the final is awesome, with a serie of spectacular, brutal spots which actually *make sense* and allow Raven to win the NWA title. Whoever booked this must be praised. Yeah. I say it, this is a great garbage gimmick match, with stories, insane shit and a truly chaotic feel, while never going overboard on the ridiculous. And Raven winning had me mark out eleven years after the fact. Great cap off a nice PPV which had the debut of Samoa Joe, and a few really good segments like the best use of Jimmy Hart in eons and a fun send-off for Scott D'Amore who will get busy backstage booking, apparently, TNA's best era ever. Plus a good triple threat match (rare enough) in Daniels vs Bentley vs Sabin, a cool matwork/tricky Shocker vs Alex Shelley match. One of TNA's best show thus far, easily, which sent a positive vibe for what's to come to.

The Queen Bee shows were the mixed tag-tournament stuff ? If so, I always enjoyed them. The Apache sisters and AKINO kinda ruled in those. And you had the sexiest couple tag-team ever (not that there is much competition) in Minoru Tanaka & Yumi Fukawa delivering the smooth shootstyle stuff. Haven't seen those in eons, but it was quite the novelty at the time, and mostly successful (despite Yuki Ishikawa playing token pervert worker I think). IBUKI I've never seen. Always heard nothing but good things about Yoshida as a trainer, and on a personal level too.

Ah, that moonsault combo... So, you think Ohmukai is not on the level as the others ? Interesting. Back then, she was a big favourite, while Tamada was taking a while lot of shit (although that came later, in 98 she was still solid). As far as no-selling stuff, well, Chama ad Futagami would go on as do that on a regular basis, sadly. I really enjoyed Reggie in ARSION. She's been mostly forgotten about, which is kinda sad honestly. Put her in WWE today and she works circles around that poor Nia Jax thing. She also looks much better, and since they want their monster to be attractive, she would fit right in. Love me some Reggie. Candy was so much fun when she came back in ARSION. For a while. Then she wasn't as much fun. But her first year is pretty ace.

Just like in the G1, Marufuji was God-like in this. I'm not a huge fan of Okada, although I concede he does deliver on big matches, but I have been a huge fan of old-ass Marufuji. His execution was at an all-time best, even with the infamous combo kicks. Great match. MOTYC without a doubt in my book.

Actually, the Great Kojika (I think, or maybe it was Kendo Nagasaki), destroying a small town market while beating on rookies on a special BJPW video tape may take the cake of fucking bizarre and awesome.

IWA Bathhouse Death matches. HeadHunters vs Tarzan Goto & Mr. Gannosuke. In a bathhouse. WIth nekkid women running scared. What else ?

Charles, basically Yoshida was doing her own thing and trained the rookies until the end. But the style of the promotion had basically reverted back as early as 2000. Yumi Fukawa having to retire in the summer of 2000 (I *think*) was the last nail in the coffin, as she was the one carrying the style with Yoshida. When Lioness Asuka came in to "save" the company, ARSION was a mess of styles. It was still fun, but the uniqueness of the first 18 months when they were trying to establish something new was lost. I never got to the point of AtoZ. Yumiko Hotta is one of my least favourite worker ever anywhere, so really I had no intention of watching her fucking up what was left of my former favourite promotion. Oddly enough, you can say the highest point of ARSION hype had nothing to do with Yoshida, as it was the infamous LCO vs HamaKINO bloodbath in late 99. Yep. Feels like in another life to be honest. I have never saw that one. Happened after I dropped off. But I've heard about it many times. I really should watch it eventually.

Well, if you look at the GWE results, I can concede that point to you. I was the one launching the infamous "mainstream US wrestling comeback" talking point. In a way, yes, maybe these are reactionnary times even for pro-wrestling criticism. As far as your first point go, it's interesting because it would mean WWE is considered high-brow in the realm of pro-wrestling in Mexico. ANd the idea that WWE is considered high-brow on any level is kinda… well. But the fact there would be two different social classes following the two different companies is quite intriguing, especially when the "high-brow" one would be the more americanized one while the "low-brow" would be the most traditonnal, truly Mexicon one. Rings a bell, doesn't it ? The anecdote about the Korean woman is classic. Racism. It's everywhere. The fact pro-wrestling never developped in Korea is interesting to me. Especially when a bunch of the guys who revolutionnized puroresu in the 80's were actually Korean. Now that K-pop is going for the Japanese market (right, Dan ?), you'd think maybe a version or puroresu could emerge in Korea and become a tool of "cultural" assault too.

Wrong. Places like TOA, Spider-Twist (yes, I said it), the old Smarckchoice had plenty good and constructive discussions and were great places to discover new things during the first half of the 00's. DVDVR was just one spot. And clearly not the best in term of content and attitude if you ask me. I know, I've been there. PWO has mostly been a great place for discussions, with people being overall a lot less excitable and way more open than before (ok, this thread not being a exemple of that). Peaking in the late 90's ? Nah. Peaking by the first GWE poll ? Maybe. But there have been some great stuff not too long ago. So.

One of my favourite company ever. I was a huge fan as it was happening, until about 2001 when Fukawa had to retire and Lioness came in. Fun to read about it today. I thought about revisiting it one day. ARSION was indeed extremely well versed into marketing the looks of its worker (well, when you have Fukawa and Chama (aka Ohmukai)), probably thanks to Rossy Ogawa, but it was also kinda revolutionnary with Yoshida's new style. It didn't last, as it reverted into a more plain joshi style after about 18 months, although with a lucha influence (thanks to the Apache, Ayako Hamada debuting). It was a super fun company, much better to me than the ever overrated GAEA.

In my arms ! (damn, one great thing of my 90's I had almost forgot about)

Of course there would, because plenty of people don't consider his 80's work as great as it's pimped to be. The fact he was a terrible wrestler in the 00's (yes, terrible) and gets a pass for it when other guys are being lambasted for their post-prime bad work doesn't help the perception either for those of us who don't consider Flair to be that absolute icon of great work. Like I said, I had it at #20 and I am an old Flair fan, but that doesn't mean I can't be objective...

Funny, it's a great point. And don't forget the great hair. Charlotte is everything HHH ever wanted to be, and more.

This explains that. Glad for them then.

No.

The Scott D'Amore booked era might already have begun for all I know, although Dusty's still on board. This episode of Impact, one of the last on Fox, was easily the best in a long while, maybe ever. It was capped off by a really good TV match between Abyss, whom the crowd want to cheer despite his alignement with Jarrett, and Chris Sabin, who is in the middle of a feud with Michael Shane/Matt Bentley (the name is changed on PPV at this time, oddly enough). Abyss proves again he is actually a good worker when he's given the right guy, and Sabin bumps like hell, making the mad trucker turned SM fetichist look like, well, a monster. Excellent, spectacular beatdown, with nicely timed and paced hope spots and comebacks. Abyss also has no issue bumping for Sabin's offense. Mea culpa maxima on Abyss, I was wrong about this guye. Sabin is also on point here, not doing anything stupid. It almost comes down to Sabin going for a win when Micheal Shane jumps in and screws him. Post-match has Abyss turning Jarrett's handshake into a Black Hole Slam, which had the crowd pop big time. Jarrett's maneurism leading to the spot were perfect. So there, an excellent segment overall. Maybe indicating of the best months of the company to come under D'Amore's booking ?

'member when American Alpha had MOTYC matches against the Revival ?

I had not seen this before. Chuckling irrepresibly !!

That six-person tag on E3 was a whole lot of ga-ga and fun. I forgot how awesome Fenix is. I know some people questionned the fact that Puma was leaving LU after S3, and how it was gonna affect the product, but the fact is Ricochet has never been the best worker or character on the show. Fenix was always ahead of him in every aspect. So, this was exactly what it needed to be, without enough bullshit to factor in Taya, who really grew on me with time. That vignette with Mascarita Sagrada visiting Son of Havoc was glorious in its ridiculousness. Lucha Underground has got that GTA San Andreas quality to it, in some ways. Which makes me think that the Mack is one of my favourite guy on the roster, has been for a while, and his match with Matanza was quite good for what it was. Matanza sells more than he used to, but you can't go not-selling everything like in the beginning for ever. The Dario Spin the Wheel warms the old WCW fan in me. Never really got into Texano (apart from the fact he looks exactly like his father), but I can take a best of 5 serie with Cage. Bomb throwing spotfests, why not. Good episode.

And what's bad about nearfalls (it was before it got ridiculous with the indie mentality mindlessly aping japanese wrestling), stiff work (like in Texas or Mid-South, those Japanese stronghold) and clean endings ? I mean, when I dove into puroresu in the late 90's, yeah, I was disgusted with mainstream US wrestling (mostly the work of Vince Russo ruining both the WWF and WCW for me), but what I got from japanese wrestling as a whole was a ton of variety. Yes, there was the stiffness and great AJ epics, but there were also the NJ juniors, the NJ heavies working a different style, the shoot-style, the lucharesu insanity, FMW and the garbage leagues, the entire joshi realm which itself had more variety and style you'd think (between a Toyota spotfest epic and an Ozaki bloodletting, or a Yoshida ARSION matwork clinic). There were different colors and shapes, many many different styles, from the most serious "pure sport bullshit" of shootsyle to the most absurd and ridiculous stuff (lucharesu comedy, FMW matches with people jumping in a pool) and everything in between. Talking about "puroresu" like it's one style is absurd. I guess it's kinda true with lucha libre too, although to a lesser extent (especially today, where it seems everything is getting mixed).

I was about to quit watching wrestling altogether. After 25 years. Seemed okay. Then again, I watched more current stuff than I ever did since the late 90's. WWE sucks ass as a TV product. But they do deliver some legit great matches regularly. Sasha vs Charlotte being the feud of the year. HITC was a legit MOTYC to me. Loved most of the NXT Takeover big matches too. Lucha Underground got me excited about following a current TV show. It's the kind of wrestling I want in 2016. Fuck tradition. I want ridiculousness to the infinite degree. That and a cool aesthetics. Speaking of which, that Total Deletion deal. Head scratching and completely awesome. Finally got to watch old TNA, as a way to cope with… suff. And don't regret it. In the mids of so much crap, there are some great stuff there. AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels are terrific workers. I'm having fun following Raven's last years. This is all new to me and feels fresh. Quickly browsing through the mud gets you some really nice surprises (Abyss as a terrific piece of luggage, AMW the hidden team of the 00's, Ultimate X actually being a terrific gimmick when used right). Watched some NJPW (vade retro satanas), especially the G1, which was kinda mind burning at point. But it made me a fan of Tetsuya Naito, who delivered a bunch of MOTYC and one of the very few ***** match I've ever seen, against Kenny Omega of all people (despite that fact, Omega can still be totally overworking when he's not with the right guy). Loved Marufuji and Tanahashi (bye-bye PWO cred, if I ever had any) and enjoyed a bunch of other people (like Ishii, who's much more than I thought he was). Didn't try my hand at lucha (although I thought about it honestly) or other japanese companies (no real urge) or US indies (no urge at all), but this year was clearly a Revival (pun intended) for me as far as really enjoying both current and new (as in, never seen before) stuff. So, I'd say 2016 was one of the most fun year I had as a pro-wrestling fan in a long, long time.