January 18, 201213 yr comment_5492513 Kobashi's run with the belt has always been highly regarded by a lot of ppl. I actually prefer 00's NOAH to 90's All Japan.
January 18, 201213 yr Author comment_5492523 I think NOAH should have just folded after the KENTA/SUWA match. There's no way they'll ever be able to top SUWA heeling on Joe Higuchi.
January 18, 201213 yr comment_5492552 I think I have a GHC comp of Kobashi's title reign. Maybe I'll give that a look and see what I think of the matches now.
January 18, 201213 yr comment_5492553 I honestly don't remember any of his title defenses other than the Nagata one and when he lost the belt. He and Jun got a ***** or MOTY or both. John
January 18, 201213 yr comment_5492554 FWIW, I have no love for NOAH Kobashi... or even much of Kobashi after 1996. John
January 18, 201213 yr Author comment_5492555 The 2003 match where he won it from Misawa and the 2004 defense against Akiyama both got ***** and MOTY. I like his defense against Takayama the best.
January 19, 201213 yr comment_5492600 Actually that reminds me, Minoru Suzuki annoys me. A lot. Probably a visceral thing, but yeah, feels liek a guy I "should" like. His oddball hair is terribly distracting though. The thing with Suzuki is, he should be the easiest guy in the world for a good babyface to work against. Pretty much every single spot/mannerism is a payback spot in waiting. And very few people seem to do it.
January 20, 201213 yr comment_5492679 Rip Rogers. I realize he's fun and all, but something just doesn't click with me. I'd like to enjoy him. I still don't care.
January 20, 201213 yr comment_5492680 From watching the All Japan set Masa Fuchi. Don't get the love for that guy at all. Ditto Joe Malenko. Ditto Pete Roberts or indeed ANY boring mat-based wrestler. It's a style I just don't understand at all. Crowds are always dead for it. It looks fake. It's often not logical. My bottom 3 matches on the set are Roberts vs. Fuchi, Joe Malenko vs. Dean Malenko and Joe Malenko vs. Fuchi.
January 20, 201213 yr comment_5492681 Come on Masa Fuchi ! How come anyone not love Masa Fuchi ? He's such a sadistic dickhead. Masa Fuchi punching Tuyoshi Kukichi in the nose and making him cry is the greatest thing in wrestling ever.
January 20, 201213 yr comment_5492682 It's more more Fuchi in those specific matches, Fuchi the boring mat-wrestler.
January 20, 201213 yr comment_5492704 Rip Rogers. I realize he's fun and all, but something just doesn't click with me. I'd like to enjoy him. I still don't care. I'm fairly indifferent to his inring work but I will forever love him for that episode of SMW where he did squats for the entire show.
January 20, 201213 yr comment_5492705 Rip Rogers. I realize he's fun and all, but something just doesn't click with me. I'd like to enjoy him. I still don't care. I'm fairly indifferent to his inring work but I will forever love him for that episode of SMW where he did squats for the entire show. Sounds great. SMW TV is piling up on my hard drive, so, whenever I'm burning out on WCW...
January 20, 201213 yr comment_5492707 Come on Masa Fuchi ! How come anyone not love Masa Fuchi ? He's such a sadistic dickhead. Yeah Fuchi's the man, easily my fave All Japan guy Fuck being a nice sportsman, he'll just punch you and step on your throat, I apreciate that
January 20, 201213 yr comment_5492711 That's not been the Fuchi I've seen on the 80s set. Which matches of his would you point to?
January 20, 201213 yr comment_5492725 Fuchi is fun, but you've got Fujiwara sitting right there doing all the exact same stuff and doing it better. Kinda hard to get excited about the Nise version when the original is still going strong. Fuchi had a great run with incredibly strong opponents in the early 90s, which helps him look better... dammit, now I've gone and had the thought "what would a Fujiwara vs Kawada match look like?", and I fear I shall never know the answer. One guy I've never given much of a damn for is Tito Santana. He does everything right, and doesn't do anything to actively annoy me, but somehow I find myself just not caring one little bit about any of his matches. Same thing with Alex Wright too, come to think of it. I'm not even sure why I don't give a fuck about them; in theory I should, but they simply don't do anything for me at all.
January 20, 201213 yr comment_5492727 It's within the first 8 episodes so you'll get to it quick. Since I have less WCW TV for 1992 (only Saturday Nights), I may do WCW and SMW TV at the same time once I get there.
January 21, 201213 yr comment_5492733 I can fully understand someone not liking Rip Rogers, but I also have no idea how I could find common ground with that person. Rip is basically everything about wrestling I love.
January 21, 201213 yr comment_5492744 Fujiwara had a match with Kawada. It was bad.Aw. Not surprised, those dream matches which happen years too late are often pretty disappointing, but still. When/where did it happen?
January 21, 201213 yr comment_5492746 I'm willing to admit that I probably just haven't gotten to the right stuff yet, but while I have enjoyed some Fujiwara, I have yet to have a "Holy shit, this guy is incredible" moment watching him wrestle. Looking forward to the day that happens.
January 21, 201213 yr comment_5492750 Fujiwara vs. Kawada was from All Japan, March 2001. To be fair, it might have been more disappointing than truly awful.
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