El-P

DAY 3. A Block Tenzan vs. Tonga The one thing I thought watching Tonga : Dollar Bill Y'all ! Dollar Bill Y'all ! So, ok, he's a jobber and dresses like one. Seems to be somewhat of a Randy Orton fan too, which is a no-no with me, especially when using that stupid DDT where the other guy has to pretend he can't do anything while hanging on the ropes. Tenzan's old underdog story is nice and all, but this is a nothing match. Never believed that Tonga could beat Tenzan, never cared that Tenzan would beat Tama. Ishii vs. Goto I wonder if those slugfest Goto match ever get old. They sure don't with me yet. Hit me ! Hit me again ! No, you hit me ! Again ! This is the inheritance of Kobashi vs Sasaki I guess, for better of worse. Ishii is also quick and smooth working fast counter sequences toward the end. This never cease to be brutal. I like Goto's warrior like aura. Really, really good, if you're into two guys really laying it in and asking for more. Fale vs. Marufuji Simple story, executed perfectly. Bad Luck Fale warms my heart of tall & fat monster who know how to finally drop down. Marufuji works both around (geometricaly) and with (as a craftman) big Fale and it's quite fun to see him try to take the big tree down. Stinging like an annoying mosquito. Classic stuff. I sure did not expect that ending either. Very good match, the kind that seems so easy and basic but when done well and with reasonable creativity (those kicks from everywhere) produces the most enjoyable experience. SANADA vs. Okada Damn, that SANADA looks good. He knows when to throw away the T-shirt too. He's got star written on his forehead. And he can work like a mofo. Okada's style is going back to some very basic stuff, like making a dropkick seems big time. Transition wise, a bit on the shaky time early on. Finishing stretch is godlike though, tons of great counters and major offense. Best match of the G1 so far ? Makabe vs. Tanahashi "Makabe" sounds exactly like a french word which means "dead body". Fitting as Makabe looks like he couldn't give less of a fuck for a while. And those punches through the air, ouh, ugly, King Kong Man. Eventually turns into a decent match with heated ending stretch, after a whole lot of nothin'. Not kicking out of a Spider Twist suplex + flying knee = me happy. A bit late to amount to much of anything but hard to sink Tanahashi. So, Tama Tonga looks like the stinker of the G1 already. Don't tell his father I just said that.

Last time I enjoyed Stephy was during the Daniel Bryan feud leading to Mania, and the Mania match in which she did her best Woman tribute, and she was actually really good at it. And like her husband, for once (that applies to both of them), she wasn't afraid to show some ass. It made all the difference in the world too.

No. Sorry. Since I was called a "weirdo" and "mysoginic" when I made that remark, I have to reiterate. No. It's not there at all when I'm taking about it. It says a lot about how standards have dropped off a cliff concerning "promo ability", although we're not talking about that here, really, when Stephy is considered any good. The issue is that we're not talking about promos anymore, we're talking about terrible sitcom sub-porn acting. Look at Dario Cueto in Lucha Underground. He's playing straight telenovela evil (and is great at it), and he looks like Leo DiCaprio compared to anyone on WWE TV.

Maybe another time. Because if I did, then the title of my thread would be wrong, and we can't have that, right ? Plus it's fitting to go through all J Cups now it seems. Plus I really don't have the J-Crown anywhere near me. Old tape probably. But then again, should I be using a VCR in 2016 ? But it's an idea, it was quite the iconic card too (to a lesser degree).

Sammy's got a baby blue mask, totally color uncoordinated with his outfit. He's the most inelegant greatest wrestler ever. Sasuke, it's been a long while. Working the mat, and making it a struggle. Damn, Sammy was great, and Sasuke is up for it. See Delphin, your boss is selling the leg, shaking it off walking at ringside. Turning into one of the best finishing stretch I've seen in a long time. I forgot. This is great. Short, but damn great. How could Sammy be at the same time so awkard looking, so ugly and yet so swift and on the point ? This guy needs reevaluation. Sasuke does look like a major star and super worker. Liger really was all about making these indy guys shine.

Same story as Benoit vs Gedo, basically, expect for the happy ending. Liger brutalize Sasuke so he gets the crowd behind him. Sasuke is a terrific babyface underdog and Liger is wonderfully dickish. Tortuous matwork, punishing arm attack, Liger was about fucking up Sasuke, who's selling is perfect to make him the ultimate crowd favourite. Never know when he hangs his head if he's simply selling or just got another concussion though. Then the flying as a comeback. This is truly a classic match, nothing ages here because there's purpose in every move. And the greatest botch including Liger's perfect on the fly improvisation, which makes it legendary and maybe the symbol or Yamada's brillance. And he managed to make the finish even better than way. MOTYC and one of the best junior match ever. Believe the hype.

Not easy to follow the Liger match. It shows during the early minutes. As it goes along, I think, this is very good, excellent even, but not better. Something too stern about Benoit's work, too much of a machine. Then it starts to make sense when the balance cracks up and Sasuke can't keep up. Sasuke's body language tells stories too. Crowd is fucking hot for this junior match. Sasuke's coming back and he's insane, I forgot how much he was. Some of this spots, no wonder no one does them anymore (that flying kick to the outside !). Escalation and exhaustion and it passes over the "greatness" line. But not brillant like the Liger match. Still MOTYC level probably at the end. Quite eerie to see the celebration for Benoit, him hugging Eddie just like at Mania 20, ten years later (only a month apart). Funny detail though, Malenko making fun of his missing teeth.

Final Wild Pegasus vs Great Sasuke Not easy to follow the Liger match. It shows during the early minutes. As it goes along, I think, this is very good, excellent even, but not better. Something too stern about Benoit's work, too much of a machine. Then it starts to make sense when the balance cracks up and Sasuke can't keep up. Sasuke's body language tells stories too. Crowd is fucking hot for this junior match. Sasuke's coming back and he's insane, I forgot how much he was. Some of this spots, no wonder no one does them anymore (that flying kick to the outside !). Escalation and exhaustion and it passes over the "greatness" line. But not brillant like the Liger match. Still MOTYC level probably at the end. Quite eerie to see the celebration for Benoit, him hugging Eddie just like at Mania 20, ten years later (only a month apart). Funny detail though, Malenko making fun of his missing teeth. Well, yes, the second half of this show was quite awesome with three legit great matches including an all-time classic (Liger vs Sasuke). If you pile up all the goodness around, it makes for quite a card indeed. Forgot how hot the crowd was for this whole thing. The celebration at the end was big time, with Fujinami giving away trophies and other NJ execs lining up. #juniorrevolution. Sorry, sign 'o the times. Clearly a major booking and working accomplishement by Yamada, who proceeded to make two stars out of two indy guys in one night, Hayabusa and Sasuke. Benoit looked like the hardest junior in the world. Sammy reminded everyone why he should be considered a great worker ar his peak. Gedo had a nice run. Only Delphin looked like crap, really, as even Ricky Fuji had his little moment. Well, Motegi looked like Motegi, but he was Motegi after all. Next step, same place, different production. WAR. Expect some randomness.

Semi-finals Wild Pegasus vs Gedo Benoit is beating Gedo into oblivion and three minutes into the match, the New Japan crowd chants for outsider/heel Gedo. This is reverse interpromotional psychology. Again, Gedo's solid work and the match dynamic with poor little red minion getting beat up mercifully makes for a more enjoyable experience than the basic bomb throwing of the Tiger match. There is intent here. But too short and a bit squashing to amount to more than "really good short match". Jushin Liger vs Great Sasuke Same story here, Liger brutalize Sasuke so he gets the crowd behind him. Sasuke is a terrific babyface underdog and Liger is wonderfully dickish. Tortuous matwork, punishing arm attack, Liger was about fucking up Sasuke, who's selling is perfect to make him the ultimate crowd favourite. Never know when he hangs his head if he's simply selling or just got another concussion though. Then the flying as a comeback. This is truly a classic match, nothing ages here because there's purpose in every move. And the greatest botch including Liger's perfect on the fly improvisation, which makes it legendary and maybe the symbol or Yamada's brillance. And he managed to make the finish even better than way. MOTYC and one of the best junior match ever. Believe the hype. At this point, after an underwhelming first round, it becomes obvious again why this show was so revered. Already two great matches involving Sasuke, and Liger being an absolute master all night long, making Hayabusa a star, carrying crappy but sympathetic FMW undercarder Fuji and having a masterpiece with Sasuke, again making an indy guy a star on a major stage. Gedo has been solid all night long. Benoit was involved in two very good matches. This is beginning to pile up, indeed.

No. She's just an awful character and terrible performer. And keep the insults to yourself, you don't know what you're talking about.

Indeed. No needless twisting around, and amazing to watch. Round 2 Gedo vs Super Delphin Well maybe the fact that Ohtani match wasn't that good as less to do with crappy selling and more to do with the fact Delphin simply wasn't very good. Gedo is solid and has another solid match. Much less aesthetically pleasing than Malenko's but with more heat. Delphin has some character, does some comedy and flies around a bit, but nothing impressive. Don't make him sell too much too. Poor Gedo, Delphin kicks out of the pinfall too. So he's a dick too apparently. Black Tiger vs Wild Pegasus Oh. That pairing. This is before Eddie found personnality, so the mask helps. Two machines throwing bombs and trying to damage the other. These two ain't joking around. Crispness is one thing, but they put everything into each spot, Benoit especially. After a while, figue four headlock, a la Choshu. No limn work, no matwork, just throwing bombs and see what happens. It is impressive. It is also a little sterile in how everything seems only physical. Kinda lifeless (no, not saying that because those two are dead). Still, very good match. El Samurai vs Great Sasuke Sammy's got a baby blue mask, totally color uncoordinated with his outfit. He's the most inelegant greatest wrestler ever. Sasuke, it's been a long while. Working the mat, and making it a struggle. Damn, Sammy was great, and Sasuke is up for it. See Delphin, your boss is selling the leg, shaking it off walking at ringside. Turning into one of the best finishing stretch I've seen in a long time. I forgot. This is great. Short, but damn great. How could Sammy be at the same time so awkard looking, so ugly and yet so swift and on the point ? This guy needs reevaluation. Sasuke does look like a major star and super worker. Liger really was all about making these indy guys shine. Speaking of which... Jushin Liger vs Ricky Fuji I'm pretty sure Fuji must have been marking out. Liger's insane, he's making Fuji look like he's never looked before. Fuji is all chubby and full of tassles and for a moment, he hangs on with Jushin Thunder Liger. Outside powerbomb ? Liger will make him pay later, payback being a bitch. Ok, Ricky can't really sell any way compelling, look at his face, he's just having a match, but that's his best match ever. Liger's covering up for spot-blowing. Liger showing crazy respect during the post match. Oh yeah, Ricky's actually marking out. Good stuff. But why wasn't Casas able or willing to do that ? Things are heating up, with one legit great match and one very good match already. Pro-wrestling relativism pretends that "carrying" is a silly notion, well think again. This card is full of carry-job. It's right there. Liger does it twice with the two FMW boys. Spots ? Yeah, Sasuke's flying is still impressive because of the way he works. Those juniors were a lot less about doing a lot of flipping around, they were about little bomb throwing and fucking up their opponents. Now, onto the final stretch. More Benoit. Well, that will have to do.

Sometimes, you have to go back to your past. In 1998, I bought my first batch of japanese pro-wrestling tapes. The IWA King of the Deathmatch, of course (well, thanks for nothing WWF, for putting extracts during those Mankind interviews), an interpromotionnal women's card (we didn't say "joshi" as a generic term yet back then) and of course, both Super J Cups, the "greatest cards of pro-wrestling history" (this side of Dreamslams & Super Egg). I must have bought these 20$ a piece + postage. Well, it took more time and money than to download an MP4 file from a torrent site. I have no idea what I actually thought about them back then, except I was supposed to love them. Which I probably did. When you buy a tape 20$ + 5$ postage and wait for like six weeks to get them, you better cherish whatever's on them. I was 22, never had a glass of alcohol, more or less a virgin and knew jackshit about life. I'm 40, happily semi-alcoholic (just joking, although I can tell lots of stories about alcohol abuse), not that long ago had a gorgeous woman swal… well, 'nough said that I'm 40 and still know jackshit about life. Well, I know a lot about it, but it makes even less sense than before the more I go and learn about it. So, seems like a good time to go back and rewatch those Super J Cups (and more, as you'll see) with a totally fresh mind. What the fuck was that all about anyway ? Damn. Juniors drew back in 1994. And that was damn hot crowd, who made noise. 1rst round : Gedo vs Dean Malenko I wonder if Gedo, chubby in his Fuyuki-gun minion outfit with ridiculous mongolian haircut, was thinking : "One day, this company will be mine, all mine, and Dave Meltzer will worship me." Probably not. Malenko was working pretty much like he was doing at the time, smooth, quick, aesthetically pleasing and in a vacuum. Gedo was always underrated. This is a pretty good Nitro match. I'm pretty sure these two actually had a Nitro or a Saturday Night match. Nothing special either, but nice. With Malenko kicking out of the finish. Vanilla midget bitch that he is. That's Liger's doing BTW, not Kevin Nash. Gedo had more potential anyway. Shinjiro Ohtani vs Super Delphin Damn. Ohtani was great. Like, freaky great. Crisp as fuck, showing tons of charisma. His leg work is on point and brutal. And that Michinoku Pro dick just won't sell it one second. Like, not even shaking his leg. Ohtani is rightfully fucking his leg up, and Delphin won't sell shit. Wow. I have no idea what to say about this. If you disregard that complete lack of selling, I guess it's good, but the only thing I see is Ohtani's great work being shit on by that goofball Delphin, who wins with an awful pinning combination. Yikes. Black Tiger vs TAKA Michinoku TAKA was probably a virgin too. Well, he'll have his Sunny days later (old rumour references, for those living during the pre-Attitude Era). And he's wearing red tights ! Black Tiger Guerrero looks buffed. And he worked crisp and hard on poor young TAKA. Greeness aside, this is pretty damn good, as Tiger is killing TAKA until he pulls all the stops, uses his quickness and amazing flying ability to try and win this one over the monster (yeah, Guerrero looed liked a monster here). That springboard plancha still looks amazing almost 20 years after. TAKA had incredible potential and could have been WWF's Rey Jr. in 97. Instead. Oh, well. So, this is very good and told a simple but effective story. More on this later. Masayoshi Motegi vs El Samurai Ah, Motegi. You had to live through the late 90s to understand. SPWF representative. He must have been part of some yakuza union of something. I don't see any other reason why he was even included in all those Juniors supercards. SPWF, what the hell was that anyway ? In a time Japanese indies actually mattered. And he was crappy too. Oh boy, was he. At one point, Sammy is almost trying to have a match by himself, like this old and great Monty Python routine. Samurai, the forgotten and ugliest greatest wrestler ever. Motegi blowing spots left and right made for half-funny comedy. Worst match yet, but more to come. Ricky Fuji vs Negro Casas You only get to make one good first impression. Maybe I never got into lucha because the legend and great worker (from all lucha fans educated opinions) Negro Casas was first seen in this nothing match against FMW cult undercard crappy worker Ricky Fuji, coming out to classic violin-based folk/country library music (because of the com tape syndrom of covering themes they didn't had clearance to, which were basically most of them), sporting a great "Canada" leather jacket. Don't ask. Casas shows a little bits of brillance here and there, but he's basically squashed. Damn, Onita had some pull. Bad match. I would guess one of the worst of Casas' career on a major show, no ? Jushin Liger vs Hayabusa If I'm not mistaken, this is Ezaki's debut in the gimmick that made him a cult hero. Liger must have had crazy respect for him, and this match totally made him a star in losing. Kinda the same thing as TAKA vs Tiger, although Hayabusa gets to show more stuff and works less in a "young green guy" mode, of course. He does blows a spot or two, but still, resisting to Liger's bomb throwing and doing some crazy flying shit (that tope con hilo in the whole costume was pretty iconic) just made him look like a star. Liger is obviously still at his peak here. Very good match. So. That first round was not that great at all. Two very good matches which were surprisingly worked in the same dynamic, with an established guy killing a youngin' who's trying to fly around and use quickness and spunk to win. One pretty good but generic match, one puzzling performance which ruined what should have been the best match of the first round and two, well, let's say it, bad matches. Of course, two of the best workers in the tournament were still to appear at this point. So, will this turn into that exceptionnal card or not after all ? I have no idea, tired that I was of Benoit vs Liger classic matches by 2001. I don't think I've seen a Sasuke match since the turn of the new millenium either. "Holding up" is really not the question here. The question is, what do I get from this stuff today, because only today matters.

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

B Block. Session 1. Yano vs. Nakajima Still have no idea what the hell is Yano supposed to be. Movie producer ? Evil spirit ? Ace tight though. Nakajima, the adopted lovechild of Sasake & Hokuto ? I'm digging the comedy and sneaky work by Yano. I'm digging the stern kicks. Totally decent for what it is. Yano never gets boring. Omega vs. YOSHI-HASHI Ah, Omega, the DDP-on-coke meta worker. They sure know how to do shit gracefully, although Omega overdoes pretty much everything. Nice trashing YH on the barricades to the horror of some lonely japanese housewifes. Then, stopfest. Spot-spot-spot-spot-spotspotspotspot-spot-spot-spot-spotspotspots. Spots. Stop ! Nice spotfest though. YH is over like a mofo with the Korakuen crowd. Good spotfest. But just that. Elgin vs. EVIL So, Elgin is NJ's Matanza or something ? Bomb throwing hoss match, which I like. Starts kinda slow and not engaging, but eventually kicks into high, powerful, stiff, gear. Kicking out of many bombs. Too many maybe ? STO should not be a finish after this barrage, but what the hell, EVIL is wearing purple, my favourite color. Good power vs power match. Nagata vs. Naito Instead of trying to follow Tanahashi's path in becoming the best Muto ever, Naito became a troll heel. Smart. Classy white tuxedo. Old veteran Nagata, from "try to save NJ from Inoki's insanity fame", always a pleasure, always goofy. Naito's attitude is pretty awesome, laid-back motherfucker and tricky as hell. Yeah, Nagata doesn't sell the leg like Tanahashi & Tanahashi sold the arm, but Nagata never sold that well. He still kicks great and knows how to make for an exciting match. How old he is now ? Damn, these old fucks from the 00's do deliver. Very good match. Shibata vs. Honma Machismo shit and virility contest. Beat. The. Shit. Out. Of. Each. Other. Homna is even more grotesque looking with the balding on the front. Too many failed headbutts I guess. Macho contest = no-selling big spots and "hit me again Johnny". Why not. They do it well, very well. Kinda epic but not too much. Hot finish, Honma is over like crazy too with that Korakuen crowd. Very good indeed, if one likes the testosterone overload. (what the fuck happened to Homna's voice ? Health issues ? Operation ? It gives "raspy" a new meaning)

Watching G1. Japanese puroresu so fresh. Sweet memories of autumn 99. Tenzan vs. Ishii Tenzan, the most cursed of the cursed generation. Old and broken down, his offense looking as crappy as ever. Still love the hissing of the crowd. Ishii I remember from WAR. How in the hell did he get so far ? How in the hell did this match got so good after such a lame beginning ? I forgot that it was always Tenzan's game. Never think it's gonna get anywhere, yet, after some point, it often did. Very good indeed. Liking the touch of Kojima at ringside clapping for his old mate. Makabe vs. Tonga The son of Haku. Way to make me feel either old or wise. Never was a big fan of King Kong Makabe. How old is he by now ? Was part of that gordfosaken mid-00's NJPW before Tanahashi & Co got it back on the tracks of wrestling greatness. Tonga's got some nice phantom running around spots. Match doesn't get good. Tama's got nice make-up, he looks like the bass player for a Trve Polynesian Black Metal band. Make it happen. Bad Luck Fale vs. Goto I remember Hirooki. He looks like a short samurai. Hey ! This is good ! Simple dynamic, well worked. Fale is mix between Abby, Viscera & Fatu. Angry Samoan I would guess, he's good at his role, like they say. Favourite match thus far, minus the epicness of the last minutes of Bulldog vs Bull earlier on. I want more Fale, he's big, fat, ugly and tatooed and works super well with Goto. SANADA vs. Tanahashi Last time I saw SANADA, he was an All Japan Rookie in the Playboy tournament, coming out to Saint Seya theme. What happened ? Tanahashi still looks like one of the best wrestler in the world apparently. Maybe he is. Arm selling, beautiful. Leg selling, not so much, but Tanahashi didn't work on it for too long either. Damn, Hiroshi makes this guy look like a star. Excellent match. Interesting result too. Okada vs. Marufuji The two favourite wrestlers on this board. Marufuji still looks creepy. Okada still looks like an effeminate and sexy version of Christopher Walken in To Live and Let Die. Brutal arm work. Marufuji is ruling it. Yeah, I know why people hate him, but don't count on me. He's sudden, it's a rare breed. Okada is selling his arm with every shot, that's really good. Excellent match again. Apart from Makabe vs Tama, all winners here, with two very strong matches. A Block, nice.

Can we have Kevin Nash doing a wine tasting gimmick instead ? .... like in.... VIN DIESEL .... I know the way...

I remember a reportage on French TV around 1991 or so which was about japanese female wrestlers, and there was a young Aja Kong and Bull Nakano in there. I would LOVE to find this somewhere, as I wonder how the whole thing was treated (probably as if it was real). I remember vividly watching Bull dropping the legdrop from the top of a cage at the end of the story, and I was amazed as I was just watching WWF Superstars at the time (no PPV yet were shown on french TV). But yeah, Aja/Erika would probably be a fascinating interview.

Courage ! The worst is behind you, hopefully ! Watch whatever wrestling makes you happy ! You're getting your comeback now !

I kinda agree with this. That's why it was fun to read and seemed unpretentious too. That's basically what I was doing in my WCW Highway to Hell thread and my TNA stuff too for a while, although it was not divided in two. But yeah.

Great stuff. Thanks. Aja seems to be someone you'd like to hear a 3 hour shoot interview not only about pro-wrestling, but life in general. (Amazingly, she looks exactly the same as she did 20 years ago (and baby Erika was quite cute))

So, they really are gonna have two tag champs and two woman champ... So, they really are gonna push Test/Dallas/Cass to the top eventually... So, Rusev is still clearly a heel and they still are trying to shove Roman... So, WWE still sucks (hi Stephy ! still on TV all the time castrating people ?)... Ok, back to normal activities until the NXT NXT big show.

Battlarts and older shoot style promotion had cards how often ? Once a month ? And really, shoot-style had never been about busting each other hardway with elbows anyway. Anyway, this match was terrible and the finish was dumb as fuck. Just fucking blade a good one instead of this shitty pseudo MMA nonsense that can go nowhere anyway and doesn't do anything for Brock at this point, he's all gimmicked up and his matches suck now, thanks to Suplex Citytm. (on the other hand, the *übersafe German suplex* that has been the norm in WWE since Kurt Angle, whose suplexes looked like shit compared to any japanese rookie's, are indeed not doing Brock any favors. And the WWE stance is totally hypocritical since guys are killing themselves doing really dangerous spots while the freaking piledriver is forbidden. It's not like Jerry Lawler maimed a lot of guys with it...)

The meta conspirationnist in me sees this as a reenactment of the infamous Jericho/Goldy backstage scuffle in 1998. Since we're talking about Lesnar vs Goldy at next Mania already (which is pretty much an awful idea).

It was also obvious as fuck, you could see while Charlotte setting up the move very carefully that it was gonna be a counter. Kid Kash was doing it like on every PPV in ECW in 00. So no, didn't care about that spot especially since yes, I was more concerned about them, especially Charlotte, not fucking it up and killing Sasha for good. Then again, I agree that the match as a whole may be better than I gave it credit the first time around since the botch really took me out of the match completely. Charlotte showing frustration at the end was pretty awful overracting though. If that's her her thing, just don't have her do it.

I forgot to mention Naomi's outfit was ace too. Really, the women were the best thing on this show, overall. Including Eva Marie. (where was Emma ?)