Posted July 1, 201213 yr comment_5508748 I think I've said before I don't need wrestling to be realistic, I need it to be plausible. This is the perfect example. This is about as far from realistic as you can get, but I believe that if Terry Funk as I know him from wrestling and Atsushi Onita as I know him from wrestling ended up in this exact environment -- a ring surrounded by barbed wire with a referee wearing a metal mask and bodysuit -- this is exactly what would happen. Death matches to me are about exaggerated selling above all else. Milk small movements for big effect and get over the gimmick. This definitely accomplished that. When the 5:00 countdown and sound effect started, this got insane for me. Even more so with the 1:00 countdown. You take something like a spinning toehold or a DDT -- both nice wrestling moves -- and put it in this environment and it seems life or death. Whether this holds up or not, it was definitely everything it needed to be at this point in time, and it's obvious why it's so fondly remembered. Sometimes, being different in wrestling is better than being good. I will always love Onita getting out of the ring, going back in to get Funk and covering him ... followed by the few seconds of total silence and the sold aftermath. More like simulated cinema than simulated sport, but what can I say, it's fun! I bet Quentin Tarantino would love this. I know I did. Oh, and the press conference is incredible!
