El-P

Fun fact there has never been an American Universal Champion. Well, if you believe Stephy, Kevin Owens is the *first* Universal Champion. So I guess that Finn fella never won it. Like, a week ago.

You are all awful mysoginist pigs for not worshiping Stephy and her Steve Austin-like promo ability and character work. Shame, shame on you all. (can't wait until she taps Bailey on the shoulder after her biggest win ever)

Nash's answer about Greg Gagne is glorious. Levy's interview will probably will very interesting. He looks good for someone who should have been dead a long time ago. He doesn't for a guy who's basically only 12 years older than me. But hey, I love me some Raven and Sean will probably get the best out of him. Oh yeah. S : "Are you a genius ?" R : "Probably more of an idiot considering the stupid choices that I've made." S : "Do you have an IQ of 143 ?" R : "Yes. … Probably not anymore though." Maybe that's why I love Raven. I can relate. (not to the ability to get women naked though easily though, let's not be kidding. IQ a little bit lower too, although not that much)

I'm still frustrated about not getting that Reigns vs Rusev match at SS. He's good. He can have really good matches. He's certainly not a super worker.

Yes. It's the Contrarian-to-stupid-contrarian-meta-mainstream-WWE-fans-&-Evil-Meltzer-japaneseshit-workrate-culture attitude. That's the way now. Be in on it. #lolmovez.

Ok ok OK PEOPLE ! J'ai rien dit ! Putain… Well, he's still the first UNIVERSAL champion from Montreal. (and don't give me shit about Koloff being champ in WWC. Everybody knows this doesn't matter. The WWE Universal title is the only one, ever.) Do we need to say more about Stephy "This is a woman revolution" bullshit on Monday ? Or don't we ? (ah, beaten by a few seconds)

Day 5 A Block Ishii vs. Fale Fale as Samoan One Man Gang, I like. Fale trying to exchange a-la Vader, much less. Ishii's style can get repetitive and weary if you see too much of him, I can see that now. Don't mesh that well together, the two bullies. Fale looked plodding for the first time. Ended up decent. Disapointment. SANADA vs. Makabe Makabe more motivated it seems. Too much crappy elbow/punches exchange. Nice finishing stretch like with the Tanahashi match, but Makabe doesn't do a whole lot for me at this point. SANADA without a really worker doesn't deliver quite the same way. Yup yup, weakest G1 card yet, including the rather dismal undercard. What city were they in ? Tenzan vs. Marufuji Hey, the 00's guys are saving the day. Fuck, Marufuji knows how to chop. Kobashi-like brutal. Tenzan's skin is melting away. Niiiiiice. Tenzan's such an odd beast. He's not very good at anything, yet manages to have good matches with everyone, mostly. Maru is pushing the old vet, who doesn't give in. This is Strong Styletm. Counters and shit, hit me again and I'll headbutt you in the stomach, rat faced punk. Some of those kicks are safe like Lance Storm, but crowds eats it. Very good. Hell, maybe excellent after all. Yeah ! Respect match of sorts. Tonga vs. Tanahashi Tonga is doing the Stalker gimmick. I wish this was Windham. Dearding Tonga's match at this point. Well, Tanahashi does a Liger here, giving his opponent way more than he deserves. Tonga just isn't a good worker, sorry. Still his most watchable match, because Tanahashi looks like one of the best worker in the world, still. That upset didn't go over too well. Deflating actually. Goto vs. Okada I see some Rock influence on Okada. Which are not the best parts of his work. This feels like a routine my-turn your-turn 10's NJ match, from what I've seen. It's really good action but… something is missing for me. Crowd wakes up though. Dunno, this show was though to get through, so this was still a hot finishing stretch at least. Very good stuff, overall, but unengaging to me. Weakest G1 show, undercard & G1 matches. Isn't the G1 way too long these days ?

Trips acting like NXT's godfather and giving one of his babies the title is different. In some ways. Who cares. Give me Owens vs Zayn at Mania, and I'll be happy. Wait, is Owens the first WWE champ from Montreal ? He should speak French now and feud with Cesaro (who speaks a few words himself).

No idea who she is. But I'm all for it.

Well, actually, it is a great match. And Liger made my buy Gedo could get the absolute upset again. This man was brillant. And Gedo had the performance of his life, after three other matches. Nice, crisp matwork leading to one of the best nutshot I've seen. Build and timing goes a long way. Then : finishings stretch, the third amazing one for Liger in the same night, with callbacks to how Gedo won the other two big matches against Caras & Pegasus. Hence, it was believable even on Liger. Love the participants around the ring cheering for both guys, especially Fuyuki & Jericho cheering on Gedo. The finish looked brutal. Liger, yes. I had forgotten.

Final Jushin Liger vs Gedo Well, actually, it is a great match. And Liger made my buy Gedo could get the absolute upset again. This man was brillant. And Gedo had the performance of his life, after three other matches. Nice, crisp matwork leading to one of the best nutshot I've seen. Build and timing goes a long way. Then : finishings stretch, the third amazing one for Liger in the same night, with callbacks to how Gedo won the other two big matches against Caras & Pegasus. Hence, it was believable even on Liger. Love the participants around the ring cheering for both guys, especially Fuyuki & Jericho cheering on Gedo. The finish looked brutal. Liger, yes. I had forgotten. No classico, but on the whole, it was more balanced, with a better first and second round. The final did deliver because the Gedo rise was compelling and over as hell with this crowd. I'm really surprised how much I enjoyed this, although probably in a different, deeper way than I did 18 years ago. Above everything, these two cards, which were indeed awesome, were a showcase for Jushin Liger, mastermind and genius pro-wrestler, who got his hand on a bunch of guys from indy promotions, from the worst (Fuji) the great (Sasuke) and made them all look much bigger than they are and got the best of them inside the ring, without using a formula. I really ranked Liger from memory during the GWE, but if I had just watched this stuff again, I would have had him higher than I did (because I really had not watched much junior puro in the last 15 years). He was brillant. One of a kind for sure. The Man. Enough of the nostalgia, done looking back now.

Special attraction. The match that got them, Rey mostly, famous both in Japan and in ECW. I've seen this called a "touring match". Is that a nice way to say they were doing an exhibition ? Well, it is the Rey Jr. showcase, and it's amazing more than twenty years later. This guy was gonna be a star anywhere. Too bad he never got that nice sting in Japan somewhere. Would have been something. Psic(h?)osis plays basis rudo. Rey flies the fuck around and gets that crowd unglued. Terrific stuff. A bit too much "routine" maybe ? Well, their routine was **** minimum back then, so...

The Sasuke all-time classic it isn't. Dragon just isn't a very good babyface underdog, and he's much respected anyway to be an underdog at this point. I'd have him go heelish on Liger. Kidna useless (because didn't lead to anything) leg work, but no big deal, didn't last too long. Then they go into the finishing stretch, which is where a junior match makes its money. And it's really fucking good. Not enough exhaustion sense from Dragon though, so you don't get the epicness Sasuke would bring. The work around la majistral is terrific though, with a great finish. Great match maybe ? Of one Ultimo's best without a doubt.

Semi-finals Wild Pegasus vs Gedo Feels somewhat familiar. And Benoit does beat the shit out of Gedo again. Gedo is a terrific bumper. He can take a beating like no one's business. WAR crowd going crazy for Gedo resisting NJ outsider Pegasus makes sense this time. Nice match, as it shows the progress of Gedo both as a worker and a character. He does show more big time offense. Gedo Clutch = one of the best submission finisher. Looks so painful. Gedo's feet hits the top rope on a tope, and the fall looks brutal. Escalation to an major upset. Really good. Jushin Liger vs Ultimo Dragon The Sasuke all-time classic it isn't. Dragon just isn't a very good babyface underdog, and he's much respected anyway to be an underdog at this point. I'd have him go heelish on Liger. Kidna useless (because didn't lead to anything) leg work, but no big deal, didn't last too long. Then they go into the finishing stretch, which is where a junior match makes its money. And it's really fucking good. Not enough exhaustion sense from Dragon though, so you don't get the epicness Sasuke would bring. The work around la majistral is terrific though, with a great finish. Great match maybe ? Of one Ultimo's best without a doubt. Intermezzo Rey Mysterio Jr. vs Psychosis Special attraction. The match that got them, Rey mostly, famous both in Japan and in ECW. I've seen this called a "touring match". Is that a nice way to say they were doing an exhibition ? Well, it is the Rey Jr. showcase, and it's amazing more than twenty years later. This guy was gonna be a star anywhere. Too bad he never got that nice sting in Japan somewhere. Would have been something. Psic(h?)osis plays basis rudo. Rey flies the fuck around and gets that crowd unglued. Terrific stuff. A bit too much "routine" maybe ? Well, their routine was **** minimum back then, so... So yeah. No classico in the semi, but Benoit vs Gedo was better than last year. Of course Gedo can't keep upsetting everyone, so the final was a double giveaway, that Liger would win and that it wouldn't be the MOTYC the previous year was, as good as Gedo is.

Wild Pegasus vs Lionheart. That how they are actually introduced. Is this a Canadian version of Saint Seya now ? "Come on motherfucker !" Wow. That's no Gold Saint talk, Jericho. Mechanically not as slick and swift as that match with that non-Saint Tiger fellow, but the whole story of Jericho wanting to upstage Benoit and show off some amazing offensive move and getting frustrated in the process makes it better to me. More dynamic. And I admit I "Come on baby !" Jericho cracks me up. Benoit, well, is a machine. Very good match in a formative way. Oh, and of course, at the end, Seya wins.

Liger's eternal quest to make some indy schmuck look like a King, new episode. And does he succeed again. Crab Boy jumps Liger from the start. Fuck that Crab. I'm glad Liger won't let him do his crab spot successfully. I'm even more glad that Liger makes fun of that stupid crab walk. But does Naniwa looks good here. Is it the Liger effect or had it that much potential. I remember him being nothing a few years later. Didn't he die pretty young too ? That was pretty much his most glorious night. Liger was that great, I had kinda forgotten.

Finally, Ohtani gets his chance to shine. Ok, so he was already awesome by then. Crisp matwork and counters. Amazing execution and fire. And spunk. The road to "great match" was all there, until they… no-sell a tombstone piledriver. Twice. In the most casual way. Ugh. Then they get back to work, but it took some time to put me back in after this puzzling affair. Ultimo kicking young Ohtani around was good, but he wasn't as fierce as he would be a bit later in his career. And he overshots the last spot. Badly. That was classic Ultimo from that time right there, always having to blow something important. Well, still an excellent match because the before and after that no-sell nonsense. It could have been great.

Round 2 Jushin Liger vs Gran Naniwa Liger's eternal quest to make some indy schmuck look like a King, new episode. And does he succeed again. Crab Boy jumps Liger from the start. Fuck that Crab. I'm glad Liger won't let him do his crab spot successfully. I'm even more glad that Liger makes fun of that stupid crab walk. But does Naniwa looks good here. Is it the Liger effect or had it that much potential. I remember him being nothing a few years later. Didn't he die pretty young too ? That was pretty much his most glorious night. Liger was that great, I had kinda forgotten. Wild Pegasus vs Lionheart Is this a Canadian version of Saint Seya now ? "Come on motherfucker !" Wow. That's no Gold Saint talk, Jericho. Mechanically not as slick and swift as that match with that non-Saint Tiger fellow, but the whole story of Jericho wanting to upstage Benoit and show off some amazing offensive move and getting frustrated in the process makes it better to me. More dynamic. And I admit I "Come on baby !" Jericho cracks me up. Benoit, well, is a machine. Very good match in a formative way. Oh, and of course, at the end, Seya wins. Shinjiro Ohtani vs Ultimo Dragon Finally, Ohtani gets his chance to shine. Ok, so he was already awesome by then. Crisp matwork and counters. Amazing execution and fire. And spunk. The road to "great match" was all there, until they… no-sell a tombstone piledriver. Twice. In the most casual way. Ugh. Then they get back to work, but it took some time to put me back in after this puzzling affair. Ultimo kicking young Ohtani around was good, but he wasn't as fierce as he would be a bit later in his career. And he overshots the last spot. Badly. That was classic Ultimo from that time right there, always having to blow something important. Well, still an excellent match because the before and after that no-sell nonsense. It could have been great. Gedo vs Dos Caras Caras is playing Twister with Gedo. This is torture. Gotta love Gedo not playing to the homecrowd and still being a sneaky bastard, trying to unmask Caras. And eventually doing it at a crucial moment, which sends Caras into a frenzy. That was cool. One-sided, but this is freaking Gedo vs legend Dos Caras, and they worked it really smart. Gedo litteraly sneaks is way into a major upset after getting his ass stretch to no tomorrow for most of the match. Very good stuff. Was Caras always that good ? Ok, there's no Sammy vs Sasuke, although Dragon vs Ohtani comes close at one point before derailing, but Liger vs Naniwa >> Liger vs Fuji, Gedo vs Dos Caras >> Gedo vs Delphin and although it's a most subjective choice I prefer Benoit vs Jericho to the Tiger match. Overall, that second round was better than the 1st J Cup too. Interesting. The Gedo story is good as it leads to the return match against Pegasus and Ultimo is booked like Sasuke so the question remains for the semi-final, will the upset happen again ? Was Liger booking this again despite being hosted by WAR ?

Indeed. If true, it's downright perverted and sadistic.

So, following year, WAR puts on a J Cup on its own. More indy feel. Less people in the Kokugikan. Those classic mid-90's graphics and library music on the com tape. Yeah, COMMERCIAL TAPE. Damian vs Gran Naniwa FMW/AAA representative Damian does a cosplay of popular wrestlers : Choshu, Tenryu, Megumi (Kudo), Muta. Gran Naniwa does a shitty version of a comedic wrestler. This could be Damian vs a broom, really. Some lucha looking spots. Ok, Damian is funny, and judging by his AAA work at the same time, he was also quite the worker. I remember that story about 19 year old dick Naniwa refusing to job, thus preventing Damian to work a match with his idol Liger. No idea if any of this was true. I remembered this match well. Uniqueness does that I guess. Shinjiro Ohtani vs Masaaki Mochizuki Ohtani does great, brutal leg work and Mochizuki isn't selling shit as soon as he's on his feet throwing kicks. Wait ? Is this a rib on Ohtani ? Same shit that the first J-Cup ? Mochizuki learned from the best. Koji Kitao. Who's backstage. How does it feel being back from where you got fired as a rikishi ? Intense exchanges, Ohtani looks awesome. But Mochizuki isn't quite there, being green as grass. The famous "good for what it was" match. Ultimo Dragon vs Shoichi Funaki Pre-Mpro, pre Kaientai Funaki. So it's not as good as it could have been. And people rag about Takada's leglock. Look at this too laying around holding their legs. Well, Ultimo does kick Funaki in the face to prevent him from falling alseep. Going nowhere fast. Going to a horribly blown spot actually, so Dragon kicks into highgear of spots to the quick finish. That wasn't good. Dragon had better matches against cruiser jobbers in WCW. Funaki looked bland as hell. He probably did the best decision of his life when he bought that ranch in Texas. Gedo vs Masayoshi Motegi Motegi is wearing a dark version of Gedo's outfit. Love fashion trolling. Motegi also beats on Gedo pretty well. And badmouths him. And badmouths the audience. He's making the in house heel a babyface, and does a solid job working the arm, flying around and being a dick. Wait, when Motegi did get good like this ? Gedo had slighty better hair that time around. Still way removed from the slick body he had from his FMW days. Don't run too fast Motegi, that's not for you, but this match is actually the best thus far. Good, solid pro-wrestling match, with heat and purpose. Color me satisfied. Dos Caras vs El Samurai And now I picture a guy looking like Alberto under the mask. Kinda hurts the myth. Oh, yeah, this is Dos Caras tying knots with Sammy's body. I thought this is what lucha lire was all about. Then I saw average lucha libre and… well. This is what was called "a sprint" back then. And a damn good one, with Caras' funky submission holds (although that first one where he slips Sammy's leg from behind was very, very awkward) vs Sammy's inelegant but efficient offensive strikes and spots. I can't think of two more opposite style, yet it geled. I guess because Sammy was a great worker, he does that brutal dropkick in the corner. Sammy was all about hurting. Very good. Hanzo Nakajima vs Lionheart Nakajima, the MPro ninja, a forgotten really good worker. Jericho is fun to watch at this stage. He's all "Come on baby ! Allright !" and shit. Makes the audience claps for his opponent on the outside. Busts out those typical Jericho flying spots that you really didn't see back then. The star potential was already there. That guy was getting himself over doing some "japanese shit", as Corny so eloquently said once. Another sprint, these Japanese indy guys weren't about killing time with matwork, NJ style. Another really good one. Despite no star making match like Liger vs Hayabusa, this first round was actually more fun that the previous J Cup's. More diversity (Damian's comedy, Caras matwork, Mochizuki's kickfest), no really bad match and Motegi actually bringing it and more than redeeming himself. Typical WAR randomness in the pairing too. With Liger & Benoit (…) thrown in, I would guess the next stage won't disapoint, although from memory, there's no classic in this card (wait, Ohtani vs Dragon maybe, or am I mistaking it with the same match from another card ?)

I think "big fat guy" doesn't get in their current scheme at all in term of presentation. Kevin Owens is actually a rather decent looking guy with hipster beard and who does tons of cool shit. Samoa Joe is FAT! as Scott Steiner would say, but not that kind of fat. Braun is just a a poor version of Kurrgan. But when I see Bad Luck Fale in the G1, well, yes, there are still big fat guys who can work in today's wrestling landscape. And yes, it should never go away. Pro-wrestling needs his OMG, Tenta, Bundy's and such.

A Block B Block ****+ as they say Elgin vs. Naito Quite excellent SANADA vs. Tanahashi Nakajima vs. Shibata Okada vs. Marufuji SANADA vs. Okada Damn fine Tenzan vs. Ishii Nagata vs. Naito Fale vs. Goto Shibata vs. Honma Ishii vs. Goto YOSHI-HASHI vs. Honma Fale vs. Marufuji Omega vs. Yano Good it is indeed Omega vs. YOSHI-HASHI Elgin vs. EVIL Unoffensive Makabe vs. Tanahashi Yano vs. Nakajima EVIL vs. Nagata Not good Makabe vs. Tonga Tenzan vs Tonga

DAY 4. B Block YOSHI-HASHI vs. Honma I don't get YOSHI-HASHI. At all. Please, NJ regular fans, explain YH to me. I don't get the random capitalization of his first name. I don't get the giant cheerleader baton. He's with CHAOS,so I guess he's a... popular heel ? He's got average ability, average body. He's average ugly. He's like a WAR midcarder. Still, this gets really good, because, as grotesque as he is, Honma is actually that good, even if he's a dick. Interesting how even against ugly, lumpy, average YH, Honma manages to get sympathy for himself. EVIL vs. Nagata EVIL is quite the generic name. Only in Japan. He's wearing purple though, my favourite color. Nice follow-up attack on Nagata's injured knee. Nagata sells, Nagata feeds and EVIL goes onto other things. EVIL is all over the place here. Nagata still delivers. No, really, EVIL's work is going in every direction. Decent little match. I like old Nagata, he's still way good. Omega vs. Yano So, what is Yano all about ? I have no clue. He's got great timing though, which is essential for comedy. Omega made an interesting career choice. He told to himself : DDP-circa-95. On-coke. That's what I want to be. They manage to do some really funny goofy shit. Yano is clearly knowing what he's doing. Omega is more than willing to play along. And they still work a match around the ga-ga. I laughed. It worked. Really good actually. Nakajima vs. Shibata Kickpads that actually mean something. Nakajima looks stoic in classic All Japan style, then has some kind of shit eating grin when he fucks up Shibata. Nice. Shibata is a bit of a machismo show-off though. No-selling here, no-selling there. Hey, Shibata, you can register a bit more than this at times. Intensity and stiff kicks, harite & busting a shoulder. Some of this is excellent. Some would need some pondering. Still very, very, good. Elgin vs. Naito Love legit strenght feats, so Elgin is my guy. Wonderful hipster beard too. Naito's laid back style leads to slow build, with excellent and focused work on the knee. Which will play a part in the finishing stretch. Good selling by the big guy. Yeah, Naito does blow one spot, and so ? Shit happens. This builds and builds. This is a great match. False finish ! A true false finish, not just a stupid finisher kick-out. Oh yeah, this is a legit great pro-wrestling match. I love Naito's character. I love Elgin's modern agile power man's work. This ruled. First great match of the tournament. And yes, I enjoy comedy.

Futagami used to be really good before she went all GAMI and comedic. I haven't watch any of her match in ages, but her first year of so in ARSION is pretty damn good from memory. But yeah, I used to really enjoy GAMI too.

Well, that too. This is a stain that will never go away as far as her being seen as despicable (in a non kayfabe way I mean). Recently the whole mother hen shit is another one. She sure is really good at coopting the work of other people, in this case, other women who didn't wait for her benevolence to make a so-called "diva revolution" and worked their asses off to capture the crowd, have terrific matches and get over as fuck. They are the ones who deserve 100% of the credit.