How Great is Sasuke? (part three of more than three)

Magnum TOKYO vs. Great Sasuke, Toryumon, February 17th 1999

A widely lauded match, but one that surprised me a lot. The opening ten minutes is very mat-based, more so than anything I've seen Sasuke in before, and a lot moreso than I would expect from anyone in Toryumon. I guess Michinoku Pro were working with BattlArts at the time, so maybe that explains it. I liked the mat work - it was the more realistic looking sort with lots of struggle, rather than the more graceful lucha variety. Sasuke appears to be bleeding from the lip or nose, which only emphasises how tough the grappling was. He also has a couple of submissions he keeps attempting to work in, but Magnum blocks the jujigatame successfully. This doesn't feel like juniors killing time in the same way as it often does - predominantly because of the struggle between holds and the sense that the two are really jostling for position. I'd rather that the armbar became important later, but not massively so.

The second half of this is driven by highspots. Tokyo ends the mat section, where he was predominantly on the losing end, with a tope followed by an spectacular top rope quebrada. These high spots were well paced, with plenty of downtown and recovery to make them seem important. Sasuke responds later - first with suplex onto a table from the apron, then a somersault senton over the top rope to Tokyo who is lying on the table. While this was both crazy and beautiful, the follow up top rope springboard dropkick to Tokyo standing on the table was utter madness, as after making contact Sasuke had a huge drop, hitting the table on the way down.

I'm a fan of huge highspots when treated with enough respect in the aftermath. Sasuke, rightly, seemed just as badly damaged by the last one as Tokyo, if not more so. This leads into the final finishers stretch, with Sasuke bringing out all his big moves to finish off his opponent. I was starting to feel that the end was too long and a little meaningless, until the finish, which was brilliant and very unexpected. Tokyo comes back with some of his big moves, cumulating with his shooting star press. However, the moment of impact is sold as the final straw on his back, which was worn down with those table spots, and he rolls off Sasuke before he can make a pin, visibly pained. Sasuke then capitalises, first with a senton atomico to the back for a great near fall, and then a thunder firebomb for the three count.

Overall, a really excellent match. A satisfying finish like that will do a lot to raise my opinion of a match. Add that to in the well executed mat work and the breathtaking highspots before it, and there's no scope for anything but little complaints. Sasuke, I'm starting to think, really was at his best in more indy-ish settings. His matches in M-Pro or here in Toryumon seem a little more unconstrained and less formulaic than something he might have done during his New Japan appearances, and this can produce some spectacular results.

Great Sasuke vs. Yuhi Sano, Super J Cup 2000, April 9th 2000

I think the version I saw of this is clipped, as the match is pretty much all highspots. Sano has a great tope, Sasuke throws in a Space Flying Tiger Drop, Sano suplexes Sasuke over the top to the apron. The match was pretty even until the end, which is both great and not a little lunatic. Sasuke takes a top rope German, a dragon suplex and a roundhouse kick. I loved that they did a shoot-style KO finish for this, and Sasuke’s failed attempts to stand up and beat the count were great. There isn’t much transition into the last few killer moves, it feels almost like Sano decided that he was done with niceties. Actually, I think I like that – the top rope German is opportunism, and essentially decided the match, and the two moves that followed just capitalised on a near-dead Sasuke.

Sasuke, Liger, Ibushi and Tiger Mask vs. Taguchi, Togo, Kanemoto and TAKA, New Japan, August 30th 2009

This had fun moments, and not surprisingly, mainly from the veterans. I enjoyed first Togo and then Kanemoto controlling the match against Liger – Togo throws some great punches, a beautiful dropkick and looks slick on the mat too, whilst Kanemoto is entertaining striking Liger and taunting his team mates in between. Togo is probably the most impressive in this. He even manages to land squarely on his feet flipping out of a german suplex in a flash of improbable athleticism. There’s a couple of nice Sasuke touches – his sell of the facewash is very over-the-top, and after a cool spot where Taguchi pulls Tiger Mask in the way of Liger’s Shotei thrust, Sasuke’s little “what are you doing?” reaction was delightful. The last few minutes were pretty exciting, especially Sasuke’s missed apron senton, followed by Togo’s somersault tope.

ECW: 21st September 2009

I loved the Regal stuff at the beginning of this show. Most defeated heel title challengers come out and demand another chance like it's their right. Regal comes out with a menancing politeness, attempting to charm his way into another shot whilst barely containing his anger at the perceived wrong to him. Regal's got the facials and the acting ability to pull this level of detail off without forcing it down anyone's throat. He was great in his short match with Hurricane, doing everything humanly possible to make make a cruiserweight comedy guy look like a credible opponent. Just a great display of bumping and selling, which also served to supplement the little story about how he was unprepared for a match.

The Zack Ryder-Yoshi Tatsu match was OK. My favourite thing about it was Striker referencing Misawa after the roaring elbow. Oh, and Ryder's music, which is just heinously catchy. The match itself is pretty generic TV fodder - fast stuff to start, chin locks in the middle, a few near falls. Yoshi's is seemingly getting his choice of puro junior spots, which makes his offence seem fresh, and he's continuing to learn how to work the crowd. Ryder's a guy I am just entertained by. He plays the gimmick brilliantly.

The battle royal suffered, like they all do, from meaningless stuff early on. Once the ring cleared, though, there was lots of enjoy. Goldust in particular was a blast. He has great babyface offence, hits it hard and fast and times it right. His rope running stuff at the end with Ryder was fun. Shelton skinning the cat and pulling Jackson over the top was a cool little spot. The finish was surprising (for everyone who didn't see the results before), and providing they're not actually lining Ryder up for the belt now, I approve - he's not the right guy to win, but he'll make a fine challenger. A decent little show, and no mistake.

WWE Breaking Point: 13th September 2009

I've been rubbish at writing up WWE PPVs of late. I'm genuinely excited by this show though, especially the Punk-Taker match. I think they made a bad choice in booking Taker vs. Punk so soon, as Punk is on a roll, but I can't see Taker submitting. I'd jump out of my seat if he did, however.

Tag titles to begin. I haven't really been watching RAW, but Henry vs. Big Show is quite the matchup. This follows the Jericho-Show formula, with Jericho doing the lion's share of stuff in the ring, bumping and stooging, especially at the beginning and at the hot tag, with Big Show being sparingly. The knockout punch finish from the outside is such a great spot. It feels like the heels stealing a victory, even though it's (broadly speaking) legitimate.

The Legacy-DX match was kind of ludicrous. I didn't dislike it, partially because I'm thrilled Legacy were given an almost equal footing in the match, and won cleanly. But there was a lot that was just done badly. First of all, Rhodes and Dibiase were holding this together. I like that in a storyline sense, as the proper tag team, but really, without them being very very energised, this would have dragged awfully. Shawn Michaels is a terrible brawler. I liked the fight at the top of the steps, with the crowd forming a circle and chanting and having a great time. The ending took far too long. If your aim is to do the 'good guys lose in a two-on-one' situation, having HHH layed out for, like, an hour, after being hit once in the head looks stupid. It needs to be decisive, with Legacy quickly capitalising on their advantage. The endless Michaels comeback spots ruined it. Also, they were playing for the drama of having HHH almost make the save, but the submission they went for was so hard to apply that by the time HBK tapped, it barely looks like a submission at all (quite aside from the fact that the Dream is a knock out move anyway). The positives are all with Legacy, who took the opportunity to shine. Dibiase, in particular, looks like a credible main eventer. Unlike Michaels and HHH, whose puerile schtick is about my least favourite thing in all wrestling. The Montreal comeback was sort of amusing, I guess.

The ECW title match was truly excellent. They threw in a bit more mat stuff at the beginning, which looked great. This was less strikey (although still very strikey) compared to the TV match, but Regal brings outs a couple of great suplexes to fill up the violence quota. Christian myriad selling talents are less necessary against Regal, who makes his own offence look great - instead, it's Regal's selling ability which is more prominent here. Doesn't stop Christian setting up the middle with one of his over the buckle bumps to the outside. Working with Regal seems to have improved Christian's striking, which was his only real weak point. I liked the body shots in particular, but I particularly like how they are able to lay into each other during transitions. It makes the whole thing seem like a more legitimate fight and a tougher struggle. Match of the show, and one of the WWE matches of the year.

The Cena-Orton I Quit match is less a wrestling match, and much more a piece of performance art. The story was strong, and in this bloodless WWE environment, the level of physical violence was as much as they could realistically achieve to tell it. The cane shots to Cena's exposed ribs seemed legitimate, and Cena should be commended for his commitment here. Its not met uniform approval, but I like Orton's evil persona overacting in this setting. I also loved the symbolism of the key, being tauntingly out of reach - made me think of The Life of David Gale, of all things. These sorts of dramas need the hero to overcome the antagonist, and a sense of poetic justice, which we certainly got with the handcuff assited STF inches away from the key. I didn't love it all - Cena has developed a worrying tendency to go from great selling to no selling, which he does near the end. It detracts from his excellent performance all the way through the body of the match.

I don't know how to talk about the main event. I mean, even though deep down I remember enjoying how the smaller Punk matched up with the bigger Taker, the ending is so deeply unsatisfactory that it's all that I can think about. Repeats of the Montreal screwjob are not clever. It needs to be said, in a loud voice to whoever it is in the creative team who thinks they are. Not because I feel angry about the first one, but because they are now tired and cliche, especially when they insist on repeating them in the same city. I assume they realised the massive booking mistake they made in having this first match up between the two be a match which Taker could never lose, and decided that a short-term negative reaction from a screwjob finish would be compensated for a better long term feud narrative. I assume that, because the idea that this was always the long term plan is far too unpalatable. They'll go to Hell in a Cell next. What I actually want, however, is to see a singles match between the two.

How Great is Sasuke? (part two of lots)

I turned back to some older stuff last night - I had planned to watch an Ohtani vs. Sasuke match from 1994 (taped from Eurosport, apparently) but that was a no-go as the downloaded file was corrupted or something. So, I content myself with these guys.

Great Sasuke vs. Ultimo Dragon, WAR, 17th July 1994

I didn't get much out of this. First of all, parts seemed a little clumsy and sloppy, which is never good when working the quick stand-off spots they begin with here. I also didn't like the two identical asai moonsault spots. I get that Sasuke was stealing moves a little bit, but Ultimo's version, although happening after, looked weaker in comparison, and didn't make the they were going for at all. By about seven minutes in, it already felt like they were hitting finishers, with loads of powerbombs and headscissors.

Overall, it all felt a little mindless - there didn't feel like there was a solid body or story of the match to build from for an exciting finish. Instead, they basically kept with the back-and-forth stalemate stuff which opened throughout, just using bigger moves. It felt repetitive, and even Sasuke's top rope somersault dive couldn't pick it up. I also thought Ultimo in particular looked a bit lethargic, but I can't really find anything particularly excellent that Sasuke did here, so it's not like I can just blame Ultimo.

Great Sasuke vs. Jushin Liger, New Japan, 8th July 1994

The rematch to the Super-J Cup semifinal. This is really great. There is a real intensity to the entire match. Sasuke comes flying out of the blocks, sending Liger outside, then following up with a wild over the top tope/plancha. Back inside, and Sasuke dominates for most of the first ten minutes, and looks great doing it. His arm work is far from perfunctory - there's this sense that he's pulling back particularly hard. I wish they armwork became important later, but that's an old complaint. Liger seems no less competitive here, firing back early on with a somersault dive off the apron to the outside. The asai moonsault spot and top rope plancha are placed perfectly - at a moment where Liger seems to be getting back into it, Sasuke cuts him off and fires off a couple of his big moves. Sasuke looks to hurt himself from the latter (if it wasn't legitimate, then this was some excellent selling).

I really loved the sense of fatigue and desperation in the finishers and near falls, and the top rope finisher makes the perfect conclusion. This feels like the right length, has great pacing and two excellent performances, making it one of the best juniors matches I can remember. It'll be interesting to see how it holds up when I rewatch more junior stuff.

Actually hard to believe these matches were a week apart, given my diverging opinions of them. I've never been a huge fan of Dragon, and that match just never clicked for me, even though I tried watching it a couple of times. Massively impressed with the Liger match though.

How Great is Sasuke? (Part one of many)

I’ve been thinking about the Great Sasuke recently. He’s a guy who I watched when I first got into puro, through the usual gateway tapes. He’s one of the guys whose got a long list of must-see 90s junior matches, and when you’ve seen no puro before, it’s kind of perception changing. Then I watched him in 2007 and at first I have a lot of trouble getting into the absurdist comedy brawls and general ridiculousness he now fosters.

Lately, though, I’ve really been starting to think about him as one of my favourite guys in Japan. The point where this happened was the Puroresu Summit show where Sasuke works a light tube death match as an almost surrealist piece of performance art. I’ve really liked his two title matches in June, and there’s plenty of minor performances as well. Even at 40-years old, he takes insane bumps, and will carry an otherwise unremarkable match purely by the lengths he’s willing to go to create excitement. Despite the mask, he places great emphasis on selling and facials, sometimes excessively so – the silliness of some of the brawls lead to some fairly bizarre weapons which can’t possibly cause the amount of damage he suggests. But, given the choice, I’d rather watch someone oversell than undersell. Maybe more than anything, he commits to everything. Watch the way he plays the gullible mark throughout the Minoru Fujita feud.

So, I’ve decided to take some time and try to get a measure of his entire career (20 years old this year). Partially, I’m interested in the evolution of his style. Partially, I’m interested in going back and rewatching those mid-90s junior classics and seeing how they hold up given how my opinion of junior wrestling has shifted over the last few years. It’s also an opportunity to finally get around to watching Michinoku Pro’s glory years. I get the impression when watching him that some time ago Sasuke decided that while he might never be considered the greatest junior from the peak period in the mid-1990s, he was always going to be the most interesting. Let’s find out if that hypothesis holds up to my deadly scrutiny.

Great Sasuke vs. MIKAMI, Michinoku Pro, March 2nd 2003

The highspots in this were pretty spectacular. I don’t know that there was an issue here, but both guys go for the violence straight away in a way that felt more heated than a regular singles match. Take your pick for highlights – the german suplex into the ladder looked nasty, and I love how Sasuke barely rolled out of a cover. One thing I notice is that Sasuke conveys pain much more strongly than many guys - in an age when it is fashionable to undersell or ignore it in favour of fighting spirit spots, this is refreshing. The missed somersault senton to the ladder was made to look agonising (probably aided by the fact that it definitely was agonising). MIKAMI brings an impressive array of high flying moves – his own somersault senton to the outside was unbelievable and one of the most lunatic highspots I can remember. I appreciated Sasuke selling all the chest-crushing damage. The finish is classic last burst of energy series of Sasuke finishers, which works for me.

For what was basically a spotfest, I felt that they made an effort with the transitions, and that the spots were well placed and had some sense of structure rather than the less satisfactory your turn-my turn stuff that often pervades high end junior wrestling.

Masaaki Mochizuki & Great Sasuke vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima & El Blazer, Kensuke Office, May 21st 2009

This match was kind of fascinating. Its major purpose was the kick off the Mochizuki-Nakajima feud. You can tell they are feuding because they kick each other, over and over. Not hard, of course, because if they had, you’d expect there to be some evidence of cumulative damage or wearing down. They probably would have carried on kicking each other until they got hungry and had to leave for dinner. In the meantime, Sasuke, who has a minor role here, puts in a delightful performance. I loved little details like him diving at Blazer from his corner whilst Blazer was positioned waiting for Mochi to finish his rope running and kick him. It makes so much more sense that a guy standing idly by just because his partner is mid-sequence.

Also, and perhaps obvious, but when he’s hit on the head, he reacts like he’s been hit on the head (for comparison, when Mochi is kicked in the leg, he reacts like his leg has been surgically enhanced). At one point, Mochi hobbles around after a reasonable length of time on defence, then boots Blazer, walks a few steps and THEN he shakes his knee. Ghastly. I like that Sasuke didn’t throw in crazy spots to overshadow the main story, as poorly executed as it might have been, but keeps the body together while the main guys are brawling around. I’m not sure there’s a sell in wrestling I find more splendid that Sasuke’s “Oh God, what did I do that for” contorted mouth after a missed somersault senton. He’s an ageing junior, and he sells like it. Even after a successful spin kick, there’s a little hobble. Sugi is fine here – he does a poor job while he’s on defence, but he’s good for quick burst of spectacular flying, even though it was pretty standard El Blazer spots here, and this provides an effective counterpoint to all the kickbag stuff.

Not enough to outweigh the bad for the match, but great to see Sasuke outwork the more fashionable juniors, predominantly with his mind.

Great Sasuke, CIMA and Gamma vs Tanizaki, Oishi & Asahi, Dragon Gate, July 8th 2009

There’s not enough goofy Sasuke bits to drag this comedy match towards being good. Sasuke is a great stooge for these sort of matches – he plays his part earnestly, perpetually gullible, his well-meaning actions usual backfire for everyone’s amusement. The majority of this is a combination of fast-paced lucharesu spots, dodgy comedy spots and CIMA and Gamma doing something that makes the camera pan away. Pretty much what you expect. Forgettable.


Great Sasuke vs. Sanshiro Takagi, DDT, August 23rd 2009

Utterly ludicrous match. A new weapon is introduced every minute or so. They range from hot water, trashcans, a bike (Sasuke slowly circles the ring, only for Takagi to knock him off with a bat in a ridiculous spot), several women, a barrel (cue the somersault senton back bump that will probably kill Sasuke one day), a cupboard full of mummies, a pre-recorded message from Sasuke encouraging the crowd the jeer Takagi and cheer Sasuke, and a camera phone (with Sasuke refusing to have his photo taken, shielding his face with a badminton racquet). They throw in some crazy spots at the end – Sasuke sets Takagi on the cupboard, places the barrel over his head and does another somersault senton; it took so long to set up Takagi had moved ages before, and just watched as Sasuke plunged head-in-a-barrel first into the cupboard. I can tolerate DDT’s special brand of parody wrestling in short doses, and this also benefits from a few moments of lunacy and several more that are just patently absurd. Fun stuff.

BattlArts: 5th July 2009

A new BattlArts show at last, courtesy of Lenny. Because they are a puroresu organisation, they are running a tournament this summer. Here's some matches.

Yamamoto vs. TAGAI was OK. The early matwork was decent. This is Yamamoto's match - TAGAI doesn't do much outside of his moves, while Yamamoto is selling and building up small themes. I like how Yamamoto sets up the finish by attempting earlier his big submission holds when he has opportunity - the leg bar, the jujigatame and the rear naked choke. His counterwork is really impressive. TAGAI is fine on the mat, but not very good when standing up - that corner clothesline was very weak. I loved the battle over the armbreaker at the end, with TAGAI blocking, and Yamamoto working out a way to leverage the block apart. I'm not the first to say it, but Yamamoto is where the future of BattlArts should lie, not the indy juniors they have.

The Ishikawa vs Walter match gives us a brilliant performance by Ishikawa to bring to bring the whole thing together. Walter's got stiff strikes, but it is apparent that he hasn't got much else. Opening few minutes have Walter punching and Ishikawa putting over how deadly they are. He targets Walter's arm - a minute or so later, Walter starts kicking, and Ishikawa (like a king) switches his submission attack to the leg immediately. It's stuff like that which convey a sense of strategy, and hence a story. As the match progresses, Walter's limited arsenal becomes his weakness, and Ishikawa takes control. You get the sense that Walter would have lost without the time limit. I really liked how Ishikawa conveys the struggle on the mat with the larger opponent - each counter or roll-through looks like hard work. Ishikawa is excellent at selling things like that. There are two hugely violent right hand from Walter which Ishikawa sells like gunshots, but the nastiest spot was the headbutts. The sound of the first one made me feel as little ill. Would have been really great if it wasn't such a one-man show. Walter seems to have no idea about allowing for underdog comeback spots, cutting several off with awkward transitions.

I liked the Sawa vs. Super Tiger match too - not as much as the Ishikawa match, but it built into a surprisingly good match. Sawa will still throw in a couple of his goofier spots, but he leaves it until later, and concentrates on striking and matwork, which he is good at. Super Tiger is someone I don't really like much outside of short bursts in tag, or opposite someone who can build a match around great selling of strikes. But I liked the way he let the balance shifted in this match. Super Tiger really puts over Sawa's comeback in the middle, and the match develops into a very even, pacy affair. I loved the finish - Super Tiger finally lands one of his big kicks, and he repeats this until Sawa can't answer the ten. Sawa looks strong in defeat, selling the strike but giving the crowd something to cheer for. Probably the best Sawa match I can think of.

Nothing high-end from this show, but these three matches are worthwhile.