I've started to ignore, for review purposes alone, Men's Club matches. That may be trickier with this show, which is entirely Men's Club. This may be quite brief. Only reason I'm writing it up is I'm looking forward to the Dick Togo match at the end. Let's give this a go.
Opener has six guys, of whom I know only KUDO from previous Men's Club matches, and I vaguely know Kotoge is from Osaka Pro. The latter is the only one in this who leaves any lasting impression on me, and that purely for how fast he was between the ropes. The rest is largely personality-less flying.
Next match is...distinctly uglier: Sekimoto and Ito vs. Kasai and Numazawa. I wish I knew what they were saying in the pre match interviews. If the last match lacked personality then this one doesn't. Kasai is phenomenally watchable. His stuff isn't always good, and he can be annoying, but in the right setting, he has remarkable presence. This is wrestled as a comedy match, meaning I don't mind Kasa and Numazawa's goofy stuff here - it's just in the middle of a proper deathmatch it seems incongruous. Sekimoto manages the most anguished sell of broom handle penetration, to the extent that it must of actually hurt, because Sekimoto isn't the guy to sell anything that much. Ito has some really weak kicks these days. Fun stuff: Kasai failing to get the aerosol to work, before realising a kick in the stomach was probably just as effective, and Sekimoto standing up as Kasai was on the top for Pearl Harbour, with Kasai signalling for a time-out.
Dick Togo could have plugged any pretty junior into his match with Yuki Sato. This was an impressive display - the range of attacks on Sato's midriff, the punches, the bumping for the short comebacks. They worked a nice little section with a leg-scissors, with Sato fighting out using his elbow in Togo's knee. Sato sold exactly enough to fufill his end of the bargain - he pops up a couple of times, but generally he seems to have kept the chest injuries in mind throughout, and I thought his forearms were weak looking on purpose. The final senton looked great, as did the slick magistral pin into a crossface. I would say this was a marked success.
And finally, a fourway tag match, featuring, unusally, some fairly regular team mates (Oishi and Asahi, Speed of Sounds, Madoka/Ibushi and MEN's/Shinobu). One thing I notice is that hardly any of these guys, for all their jumping around, have good dives. Shinobu has an OK quebrada, and Ibushi has a range of impressive acrobatics, but no-one has a dive that looks like a great weapon. That's the biggest difference to me between modern lucharesu and lucha - there's no bases to make dives look great (and keep them safe still) and no divers who'll throw their whole body into it like a lot of luchadores will, which is probably at least partially because of the first point.
Anyway, this was an enjoyable romp through some well-worn spots, with an great pace. Yet, it's the little elements of story I remember the most. I love how Ibushi continually forgets that in these matches Teioh is king and everyone humours him with the silly stuff (after Ibushi gets the win, Teioh himself comes in a points out the Men's Club logo on the mat, and the fact the he is Men's Teioh). I also love the relationship between Teioh and Shinobu - comedy requires a fall guy, and Shinobu plays the role earnestly. The bit where Teioh tried to pin Shinobu because everyone was doing it was very funny.
Nice little show. I even found enough worth writing about.
Friday 30 October 2009
Big Japan: 13th February 2009 (part two)
They manage to squeeze four matches into this show, and three of those came in the first twenty five minutes. Takeda and Isami vs. Okabayashi and Kawakami is joined in progress. I thought this was pretty fun for what aired. Isami has a fairly unique demeanour - he almost seems like he's holding back on some of his strikes. A lot of young smaller Japanese wrestlers look like their bursting out of their faces with the strain of each forearm. Isami doesn't particularly, and it comes across punkish. Theses younger guys can work a decent tag match without all the Big Japan gimmickry - they have a couple of double team spots, and interesting non-deathmatch offense (I love Takeda working quasi-shoot style or amateur spots into his matches, the takedown like suplex looks great). Both guys, Takeda in particular, make Okabayashi's Sekimoto like offence look great, the bump off the wild lariat was a highlight. Still, this was six minutes of a nine minute match, but I felt they put in a good effort.
Abdullah Kobayashi & MASADA vs. Shadow WX and Ohashi was nearly a squash, with WX marginalised and Ohashi taking a beating. Nothing particulalry exciting, although I did enjoy Abby cartwheeling the referee to break a submission hold halfway through. This is the reason for Abby - completely dumb stuff. Also, increasingly creepy moustaches. The final Masada powerbomb was head-bouncingly brutal.
I didn't realise, foolishly, that they were playing for the draw in the main event - I should have. This is exactly how those tiring Sekimoto vs. Tanaka matches go. I'm really not interested in watching a never-ending cycle of finishers without any build or purpose, but there's about ten minutes of that nonsense at the end of this. Only thing I particularly liked about it was Shuji Ishikawa playing his role well. He had a bunch of great knee based strikes and running attacks, which were doubly pleasing every time they cut off a badly timed Sekimoto flurry. His few in-ring exchanges with Mammoth were good and properly conveyed the sense of two big men clashing. Ito isn't really the guy to really sell nearfalls, despite the magnitude of offense he took, so I never felt drawn into the finishing stretch.
This entire show wasn't great - the headline stuff from the tag tournament was quite underwhelming, and not smartly worked. I expect better match ups later on.
Abdullah Kobayashi & MASADA vs. Shadow WX and Ohashi was nearly a squash, with WX marginalised and Ohashi taking a beating. Nothing particulalry exciting, although I did enjoy Abby cartwheeling the referee to break a submission hold halfway through. This is the reason for Abby - completely dumb stuff. Also, increasingly creepy moustaches. The final Masada powerbomb was head-bouncingly brutal.
I didn't realise, foolishly, that they were playing for the draw in the main event - I should have. This is exactly how those tiring Sekimoto vs. Tanaka matches go. I'm really not interested in watching a never-ending cycle of finishers without any build or purpose, but there's about ten minutes of that nonsense at the end of this. Only thing I particularly liked about it was Shuji Ishikawa playing his role well. He had a bunch of great knee based strikes and running attacks, which were doubly pleasing every time they cut off a badly timed Sekimoto flurry. His few in-ring exchanges with Mammoth were good and properly conveyed the sense of two big men clashing. Ito isn't really the guy to really sell nearfalls, despite the magnitude of offense he took, so I never felt drawn into the finishing stretch.
This entire show wasn't great - the headline stuff from the tag tournament was quite underwhelming, and not smartly worked. I expect better match ups later on.
Tuesday 27 October 2009
Big Japan: 13th February 2009 (part one)
This is the first batch of shows featuring the Maximum Tag League, which goes on until the end of May. I like how they have teams from all their 'divisions', and adjust the type of match depending on the participants. The first match between the team of Inoue and Hoshino and team Yoshito Sasaki & Shinya Ishikawa was easy enough to watch. The only thing that I particularly like about the littlest S. Ishikawa is his dropkicks, which look great. They do two short heat sections, neither leading to a particularly hot tag. I normally like Hoshino for bumping and underdog selling, but they didn't seem to be going for that here.
Next match is a big deathmatch of Sasaki and Miyamoto vs Jun Kasai & Numazawa. This had some weak brawling to start. They'll do crazy things with weapons, but the older deathmatch guys are generally terrible in-crowd brawlers. Miyamoto does his moonsault over the stairway, which is a pretty insane spot, given the risks from missing, but the camera never picks up on that. I'm also a little bored of Kasai and Numazawa's broom-based comedy spots. Thankfully, this eventually settled down into a simple, bloody spotfest - not well put together, but fun at least. Kasai and Numazawa go together into the lighttube cage in an overly contrived spot. They do a superplex and a Frankensteiner off the side cage, the later onto tacks. After loads more weapon assisted moves, Sasaki brings out a bucket of kenzans, but the final Yankee Driver doesn't really seem to make contact with any (I've never gotten over watching Sasaki wrestle Abby Jr with one stuck in his skull for fifteen minutes). Kasai's appeal is crazy highspots, and Numazawa needs them to disguise he can't wrestle (watch how weak the few non-hardcore moves he does to see this).
With the pretty poor opening ten minutes, its not surprising this was nowhere near as good as their match last June (which was highspots and highspots and huge energy for twenty five minutes), but the final stretch was entertaining in the car-crash kind of way. My favourite touch, and its such a small thing, but Miyamoto got the jump on his opponents at the start - its seemingly the oldest booking cliche in Big Japan that the champion gets attacked during his introduction. I thought that played nicely into the ongoing theme of Miyamoto's development as a champion.
Next match is a big deathmatch of Sasaki and Miyamoto vs Jun Kasai & Numazawa. This had some weak brawling to start. They'll do crazy things with weapons, but the older deathmatch guys are generally terrible in-crowd brawlers. Miyamoto does his moonsault over the stairway, which is a pretty insane spot, given the risks from missing, but the camera never picks up on that. I'm also a little bored of Kasai and Numazawa's broom-based comedy spots. Thankfully, this eventually settled down into a simple, bloody spotfest - not well put together, but fun at least. Kasai and Numazawa go together into the lighttube cage in an overly contrived spot. They do a superplex and a Frankensteiner off the side cage, the later onto tacks. After loads more weapon assisted moves, Sasaki brings out a bucket of kenzans, but the final Yankee Driver doesn't really seem to make contact with any (I've never gotten over watching Sasaki wrestle Abby Jr with one stuck in his skull for fifteen minutes). Kasai's appeal is crazy highspots, and Numazawa needs them to disguise he can't wrestle (watch how weak the few non-hardcore moves he does to see this).
With the pretty poor opening ten minutes, its not surprising this was nowhere near as good as their match last June (which was highspots and highspots and huge energy for twenty five minutes), but the final stretch was entertaining in the car-crash kind of way. My favourite touch, and its such a small thing, but Miyamoto got the jump on his opponents at the start - its seemingly the oldest booking cliche in Big Japan that the champion gets attacked during his introduction. I thought that played nicely into the ongoing theme of Miyamoto's development as a champion.
Friday 16 October 2009
Michinoku Pro: 5th September 2009
All I have from this show, at present, is the main event, but as I tend to enjoy Michinoku Pro undercards without feeling the need to over analyse them, it's not that much of a problem.
So, this is a Tohoku Jr. Title match between champion Fujita 'Jr' Hayato and challenger Ou Kobushi. Kobushi returned at the last TV show, and now he gets a title match. I don't know him, but a little research reveals he debuted in 2008 in openers, so as this is a return match after a lengthy absence, this would be consider a mega-push by any standards.
In the Sasuke match in June, Fujita is the secondary character to Sasuke's broken down ageing junior attempting to compete with the new generation story. This match, however, is all Fujita's. After the inital water-testing exchanges, the first ten minutes of this have Kobushi looking strong, and this is made by Hayato's selling. It's not delayed, first-I'll-fight-back junior type selling either - it's each strike is carving in my chest, this hurts type selling, right from the beginning. I loved the distance he attempted to put between them in the first half, especially where after being rolled back in the ring, he rolls straight out the other side. It really helps the pacing and impact of a strike based match if they can be spread out. I never got the feeling of becoming desensitized to striking during this match.
The second half starts with one short comeback. Pleasingly, the early damage remains a constant, even during the brief moments of quick activity. By dropping, fatigued and clutching the chest after a series of kicks or rope running, these feel like desperations spots, and unlike the thousands of other times this is said, genuinely conveyed a story of fighting through the pain (the secret, it turns out, is actually demonstrating the "pain" part, as well as the "fighting" part). There's a point, nearer the end, where Hayato seems to say "enough". He has a great pissed-off face, swings a kick and invites Kobushi to kick back. Often when these exchanges are done, it seems contrived - here it seems designed to remind the audience who the champion is, and is used as an actual turning point in momentum, rather than an exhibition of stiffness. Each strike is sold, which again distinguishes it from lots of these types of spots.
I loved the final run of Fujita offence. I don't want to undersell the fact that I thought Kobushi more the decent throughout, and this is demonstrated best in the finish. He eats a load of nasty offence, and sells the damage like he's done, which makes his kick out of the knee strike impressive. Often, in junior type matches, a finisher kickout is ignored by the guy on offense, who will just go for another move, and another, until something else happens. Fujita looks genuinely aggrieved and disbelieving that he didn't win. The knockout finish, given the match, was really appropriate - the first head kick was brutal, and basically won the match - Fujita staggering, knocked loopy sell tells that story, and Ou looks, in that moment, ever inch champion-elect. The follow-up roundhouse served merely to finalise it.
It many ways, this is a very simple match. The movesets are stripped down to just to most effective weapons - the kicks, stomps, submissions and a couple of suplexes. For a strike-based match, each strike or series of strikes felt important, rather than filler. The ways they are used tell a strong story, and the individual performances, particularly (but not only) the selling of damage, give credence to that story. I am sorely tempted to call this my match of the year. I can think of no other match in 2009 which is so viscerally impressive, yet so smartly worked and excellently performed.
So, this is a Tohoku Jr. Title match between champion Fujita 'Jr' Hayato and challenger Ou Kobushi. Kobushi returned at the last TV show, and now he gets a title match. I don't know him, but a little research reveals he debuted in 2008 in openers, so as this is a return match after a lengthy absence, this would be consider a mega-push by any standards.
In the Sasuke match in June, Fujita is the secondary character to Sasuke's broken down ageing junior attempting to compete with the new generation story. This match, however, is all Fujita's. After the inital water-testing exchanges, the first ten minutes of this have Kobushi looking strong, and this is made by Hayato's selling. It's not delayed, first-I'll-fight-back junior type selling either - it's each strike is carving in my chest, this hurts type selling, right from the beginning. I loved the distance he attempted to put between them in the first half, especially where after being rolled back in the ring, he rolls straight out the other side. It really helps the pacing and impact of a strike based match if they can be spread out. I never got the feeling of becoming desensitized to striking during this match.
The second half starts with one short comeback. Pleasingly, the early damage remains a constant, even during the brief moments of quick activity. By dropping, fatigued and clutching the chest after a series of kicks or rope running, these feel like desperations spots, and unlike the thousands of other times this is said, genuinely conveyed a story of fighting through the pain (the secret, it turns out, is actually demonstrating the "pain" part, as well as the "fighting" part). There's a point, nearer the end, where Hayato seems to say "enough". He has a great pissed-off face, swings a kick and invites Kobushi to kick back. Often when these exchanges are done, it seems contrived - here it seems designed to remind the audience who the champion is, and is used as an actual turning point in momentum, rather than an exhibition of stiffness. Each strike is sold, which again distinguishes it from lots of these types of spots.
I loved the final run of Fujita offence. I don't want to undersell the fact that I thought Kobushi more the decent throughout, and this is demonstrated best in the finish. He eats a load of nasty offence, and sells the damage like he's done, which makes his kick out of the knee strike impressive. Often, in junior type matches, a finisher kickout is ignored by the guy on offense, who will just go for another move, and another, until something else happens. Fujita looks genuinely aggrieved and disbelieving that he didn't win. The knockout finish, given the match, was really appropriate - the first head kick was brutal, and basically won the match - Fujita staggering, knocked loopy sell tells that story, and Ou looks, in that moment, ever inch champion-elect. The follow-up roundhouse served merely to finalise it.
It many ways, this is a very simple match. The movesets are stripped down to just to most effective weapons - the kicks, stomps, submissions and a couple of suplexes. For a strike-based match, each strike or series of strikes felt important, rather than filler. The ways they are used tell a strong story, and the individual performances, particularly (but not only) the selling of damage, give credence to that story. I am sorely tempted to call this my match of the year. I can think of no other match in 2009 which is so viscerally impressive, yet so smartly worked and excellently performed.
Monday 12 October 2009
IWRG 18th June 2009: Trauma II vs. Zatura
I had a few other Trauma singles matches lined up to watch, but I ended up only watching this, and then a couple of other minor matches from the same card. The Piratas trios has its moments, but was pretty standard fare. I'll try and watch Dr Cerebro vs. Juvi tomorrow.
This is a title match, and it is a deeply, deeply pleasing one. The mat work here is focused on injuring bodyparts, which is somewhat unusual in this setting. I thought both guys looked great moving around on the mat, and the holds all were designed for submissions, not the kind of one-upsmanship you often get (to be clear, I like that style, especially where used to tell a story, but sometimes feels a little disjointed). The first fall is predominantly Trauma II in control, and he uses a number of painful looking arm submissions on Zatura's taped up shoulder. He's also not afraid to punch Zatura right in the arm in between. I liked the suddeness of the finish, with Zatura locking one of those all-limb, inescaple holds that is completely lucha. In a nice touch, the hold was predominantly controlled using the legs.
Over the course of the first and starting again in the second fall, Trauma develops (or possibly redevelops) a shoulder injury also, which is the focus of Zatura's second fall control. There's a moment where Trauma exits the ring to get a breather, and he seems to convey a frustration over how close he's come to losing in two straight falls. The second fall finish was beautiful - a rope assisted rolling takedown into a (again predominantly leg-controlled) arm submission.
The third caida is where they drop the mat stuff and go for broke. Trauma does a great corner powerbomb, Zatura later responds with a gorgeous top rope moonsault. They spill to the outside - Trauma gets a (OKish) tope. The last few minutes are really good. It descends into both guys throwing punches - a long way away from the early matwork - before Zatura tries for a pin with some takedowns. I feel like I'm in danger of over analysing the finish, but how I would like to see it would be that Zatura had to break his tapatia due to his injured arm (if you watch, you see he releases that arm first). This allows Trauma to reverse the move and secure the win.
The match feels like its included a mixture of different influences - the control and transition of the matwork is distinctly lucha, but the submission work feels a lot more puro/shoot-based. The extending selling of a bodypart as the main story isn't typical either. I thought they really managed to pull it off and achieve something that felt, for want of a better word, new and exciting.
This is a title match, and it is a deeply, deeply pleasing one. The mat work here is focused on injuring bodyparts, which is somewhat unusual in this setting. I thought both guys looked great moving around on the mat, and the holds all were designed for submissions, not the kind of one-upsmanship you often get (to be clear, I like that style, especially where used to tell a story, but sometimes feels a little disjointed). The first fall is predominantly Trauma II in control, and he uses a number of painful looking arm submissions on Zatura's taped up shoulder. He's also not afraid to punch Zatura right in the arm in between. I liked the suddeness of the finish, with Zatura locking one of those all-limb, inescaple holds that is completely lucha. In a nice touch, the hold was predominantly controlled using the legs.
Over the course of the first and starting again in the second fall, Trauma develops (or possibly redevelops) a shoulder injury also, which is the focus of Zatura's second fall control. There's a moment where Trauma exits the ring to get a breather, and he seems to convey a frustration over how close he's come to losing in two straight falls. The second fall finish was beautiful - a rope assisted rolling takedown into a (again predominantly leg-controlled) arm submission.
The third caida is where they drop the mat stuff and go for broke. Trauma does a great corner powerbomb, Zatura later responds with a gorgeous top rope moonsault. They spill to the outside - Trauma gets a (OKish) tope. The last few minutes are really good. It descends into both guys throwing punches - a long way away from the early matwork - before Zatura tries for a pin with some takedowns. I feel like I'm in danger of over analysing the finish, but how I would like to see it would be that Zatura had to break his tapatia due to his injured arm (if you watch, you see he releases that arm first). This allows Trauma to reverse the move and secure the win.
The match feels like its included a mixture of different influences - the control and transition of the matwork is distinctly lucha, but the submission work feels a lot more puro/shoot-based. The extending selling of a bodypart as the main story isn't typical either. I thought they really managed to pull it off and achieve something that felt, for want of a better word, new and exciting.
Dragon Gate Infinity 146!!!
146
Sandwiched between the best pro wrestling TV show of the year the week prior and a Korakuen show the next week, Infinity 146 looked to be a pretty low key show. However it turned out to be one of the most solid episodes of the year from start to finish. The show featured the two main matches from the tour show at the always lively Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium #2.
Shingo & YAMATO vs. Naruki Doi & Naoki Tanisaki
This match pitted the company’s current singles champs (who did a lovely double belt pose pre-match) against the #1 contenders to the tag titles. If you didn’t get enough Tani last week, there was plenty more for you here. The KAMIKAZE team isolated him early and he did what he does best – create sympathy. Doi eventually got his usual hot tag and we got a very fun finishing stretch which came down to Shingo and Naoki. They laid it in hard, including some sick headbutts which Naoki busted himself open with. The finish was awesome as Shingo turned him inside out, and I mean INSIDE OUT with an insane lariatoooo and then put him down with the Made In Japan. Good match.
RealHaz attacked post-match to build to the Twin Gate match at Korakuen and also Tani’s first Brave Gate defence against “Mr. Brave Gate” Genki Horiguchi.
Non-title Match: Masato Yoshino, BxB Hulk & PAC vs. CIMA, Gamma & Susumu Yokosuka
Crowd was H.O.T. for this from the get go. Lots of things going on here. Yoshino and PAC were having a personal game of one-upmanship for the title of GREATEST WRESTLER ON PLANET EARTH AT THIS VERY MOMENT, Gamma appeared to have taken the last protein bar at lunch and BxB was NOT happy about it so he was all uppity at him, CIMA was working his ass off as he usually does in multi-mans and Susumu was just being Susumu – keeping everything flowing as it should, catching flying dudes and throwin’ some choice lariats.
The match was quality, your typical really good DG 6 man. Not quite the level they get to when in front of a crazy US crowd or at a big DG PPV, but still better than 95% of the wrestling than you saw this month. Like I said, PAC and Yoshi were just outstanding. These guys are just the most mindblowing athletes in the world. We got the big finishing stretch that you’d expect and it was Susumu (who’s getting a push) who got the deciding pin over PAC with the Mugen.
Over the credits we got footage of Ryo Saito tying up Yoshino in a rope while Araken posed. I love Real Hazard.
I should mention that the new Infinity theme by THE PIXY CHICKS is without doubt the grandest wrestling TV show music going. You just have to hear it.
Infinity 145 – 8/10
Sandwiched between the best pro wrestling TV show of the year the week prior and a Korakuen show the next week, Infinity 146 looked to be a pretty low key show. However it turned out to be one of the most solid episodes of the year from start to finish. The show featured the two main matches from the tour show at the always lively Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium #2.
Shingo & YAMATO vs. Naruki Doi & Naoki Tanisaki
This match pitted the company’s current singles champs (who did a lovely double belt pose pre-match) against the #1 contenders to the tag titles. If you didn’t get enough Tani last week, there was plenty more for you here. The KAMIKAZE team isolated him early and he did what he does best – create sympathy. Doi eventually got his usual hot tag and we got a very fun finishing stretch which came down to Shingo and Naoki. They laid it in hard, including some sick headbutts which Naoki busted himself open with. The finish was awesome as Shingo turned him inside out, and I mean INSIDE OUT with an insane lariatoooo and then put him down with the Made In Japan. Good match.
RealHaz attacked post-match to build to the Twin Gate match at Korakuen and also Tani’s first Brave Gate defence against “Mr. Brave Gate” Genki Horiguchi.
Non-title Match: Masato Yoshino, BxB Hulk & PAC vs. CIMA, Gamma & Susumu Yokosuka
Crowd was H.O.T. for this from the get go. Lots of things going on here. Yoshino and PAC were having a personal game of one-upmanship for the title of GREATEST WRESTLER ON PLANET EARTH AT THIS VERY MOMENT, Gamma appeared to have taken the last protein bar at lunch and BxB was NOT happy about it so he was all uppity at him, CIMA was working his ass off as he usually does in multi-mans and Susumu was just being Susumu – keeping everything flowing as it should, catching flying dudes and throwin’ some choice lariats.
The match was quality, your typical really good DG 6 man. Not quite the level they get to when in front of a crazy US crowd or at a big DG PPV, but still better than 95% of the wrestling than you saw this month. Like I said, PAC and Yoshi were just outstanding. These guys are just the most mindblowing athletes in the world. We got the big finishing stretch that you’d expect and it was Susumu (who’s getting a push) who got the deciding pin over PAC with the Mugen.
Over the credits we got footage of Ryo Saito tying up Yoshino in a rope while Araken posed. I love Real Hazard.
I should mention that the new Infinity theme by THE PIXY CHICKS is without doubt the grandest wrestling TV show music going. You just have to hear it.
Infinity 145 – 8/10
Saturday 10 October 2009
A Bunch Of: Black Terry
It's coming towards the end of the year, and I'm catching up with some matches for some guys who'll appear near the top of my WKO 100 ballot. This one is all Black Terry.
First up, the trios between Cerebro Terribles and the team of Zatura and the two Traumas, from June 15th. This had a great matwork first fall. Zatura and Cerebro Negro had a nice long section with nice matstuff and armdrags. Trauma II looks really useful matching up against Dr Cerebro - I like flowing matwork where it looks like the moves between holds seem to involve some work, or leverage. Trauma I isn't quite as good, but he's in there with Terry, who leads him through some nice sequences. There's a great reaction by Dr Cerebro near the end of the fall after Trauma I gets Terry in a leglock straight out of his father's playbook. The technicos take the fall. The rest of this match is a little odd, as the Cerebros take the second fall and dominate most of the third falls, without much of a technico comeback. Terry works on Trauma I's arm for large parts of this, and Trauma does a good job selling his arm, although it doesn't matter for much for the match. There was a couple of time Terry seemed to be missing punches to Trauma, before I realised he was punching him in the arm, not the chin. Cerebro Negro seems to legitimately injure himself, leading to medical attention, which seems to throw everyone off. Overall, solid but not that special.
Moving forward to August 10th, and we have a Cerebros trios not involving Navarro or his offspring. Almost as good though, because this was the pirates. Who doesn't love pirates? I really liked this. It has a great opening - Terry ends up in los Piratas corner, and fights off all three with elbow, before Hijo del Pirata Morgan ends up in the same position, and does the same, and they have a huge standoff, and I thought it was glorious. Really long matwork fall to start. Terry and Hijo seem to really be working hard in their section, fighting for each hold. There's some cool stuff in there too - Terry stands on Hijo's hand to move behind him. Loved the faceoff with Barba Roja on the apron. I'm never sure who I like more out of Dr Cerebro and Cerebro Negro. Dr Cerebro does a lot more arm-drag type stuff (although there was a lovely long sequence in the middle with at one point the Doctor leveraging Morgan Jr over with a complicated looking leg entwinement), while Negro does a lot more holding on to limbs, moving between numerous holds in one sequence. I don't really have a strong preference either way, especially as their sequences always look good and they are working slightly different roles within the trio. The matwork breaks down with another Piratas breakup of a submission, and soon after a short rope running exchange between Morgan Jr and Dr Cerebro, the Cerebros take the fall with two submissions and a pinfall, all simultaneously. Very much a classic fall, with a classic finish.
The second fall breaks out of the matwork pairing, and moves into more intense brawling sections around the ring, with the rudos taking control. Los Piratas looked like a great unit here, during the triple teams. This ends with the Dr Cerebro and Negro getting back into the fall sending two of the Piratas to the outside, followed up with great topes (Dr Cerebro's is a real head first suicidal) before Hijo del Pirata Morgan throws his mask at Terry. Terry's reactions here are delightful, slowly working out what the mask in his hand means, then his protests to the referee as he was disqualified.
The final fall begins with the rudos in charge, but this switches over and then the Cerebros get to control with their triple teams, which are very slick. Cerebro Negro does a nasty looking double foot stop over the rope to the apron. I really liked the pacing of this match, especially the way brawling and triple team work was used as a basis to build upon towards the finishes. Each falls felt like a seperate encounter with an real sense of momentum and control. It was interesting to see the Cerebros working crowd favourites here, but also to see Terry win with a low blow - both equalising the cheating in the second fall, and a nod to old rudo habits. I wish the revancha the following week had been aired, because this is one of my favourite lucha trios of the year.
Finally, I've got Black Terry, Cerebro Negro and Fantasma de la Opera vs Dinastia Navarro (this is from IWRG on 9th July). This had an inauspicious start, as they break straight into brawling. I didn't think it was particularly bad, like ohtani's jacket did, just not very interesting. There is a point in the second caida, however, where Navarro gets really intense and starts fighting back, throwing great punches, which Terry takes exactly like he always does, rocking about yet still standing up. I love this sort of brawling - so often you see one person punching another, and the other running away, so it looks very weak. Here, Terry and Navarro are right up against each other, and it looks great. The fall ends with Navarro staring out the referee, and he looks like the biggest badass on the planet. The third fall is good, with a sequence of submissions and breakups, before the dives leave Terry and Navarro alone for the finish, which is exactly what you want. Good stuff.
First up, the trios between Cerebro Terribles and the team of Zatura and the two Traumas, from June 15th. This had a great matwork first fall. Zatura and Cerebro Negro had a nice long section with nice matstuff and armdrags. Trauma II looks really useful matching up against Dr Cerebro - I like flowing matwork where it looks like the moves between holds seem to involve some work, or leverage. Trauma I isn't quite as good, but he's in there with Terry, who leads him through some nice sequences. There's a great reaction by Dr Cerebro near the end of the fall after Trauma I gets Terry in a leglock straight out of his father's playbook. The technicos take the fall. The rest of this match is a little odd, as the Cerebros take the second fall and dominate most of the third falls, without much of a technico comeback. Terry works on Trauma I's arm for large parts of this, and Trauma does a good job selling his arm, although it doesn't matter for much for the match. There was a couple of time Terry seemed to be missing punches to Trauma, before I realised he was punching him in the arm, not the chin. Cerebro Negro seems to legitimately injure himself, leading to medical attention, which seems to throw everyone off. Overall, solid but not that special.
Moving forward to August 10th, and we have a Cerebros trios not involving Navarro or his offspring. Almost as good though, because this was the pirates. Who doesn't love pirates? I really liked this. It has a great opening - Terry ends up in los Piratas corner, and fights off all three with elbow, before Hijo del Pirata Morgan ends up in the same position, and does the same, and they have a huge standoff, and I thought it was glorious. Really long matwork fall to start. Terry and Hijo seem to really be working hard in their section, fighting for each hold. There's some cool stuff in there too - Terry stands on Hijo's hand to move behind him. Loved the faceoff with Barba Roja on the apron. I'm never sure who I like more out of Dr Cerebro and Cerebro Negro. Dr Cerebro does a lot more arm-drag type stuff (although there was a lovely long sequence in the middle with at one point the Doctor leveraging Morgan Jr over with a complicated looking leg entwinement), while Negro does a lot more holding on to limbs, moving between numerous holds in one sequence. I don't really have a strong preference either way, especially as their sequences always look good and they are working slightly different roles within the trio. The matwork breaks down with another Piratas breakup of a submission, and soon after a short rope running exchange between Morgan Jr and Dr Cerebro, the Cerebros take the fall with two submissions and a pinfall, all simultaneously. Very much a classic fall, with a classic finish.
The second fall breaks out of the matwork pairing, and moves into more intense brawling sections around the ring, with the rudos taking control. Los Piratas looked like a great unit here, during the triple teams. This ends with the Dr Cerebro and Negro getting back into the fall sending two of the Piratas to the outside, followed up with great topes (Dr Cerebro's is a real head first suicidal) before Hijo del Pirata Morgan throws his mask at Terry. Terry's reactions here are delightful, slowly working out what the mask in his hand means, then his protests to the referee as he was disqualified.
The final fall begins with the rudos in charge, but this switches over and then the Cerebros get to control with their triple teams, which are very slick. Cerebro Negro does a nasty looking double foot stop over the rope to the apron. I really liked the pacing of this match, especially the way brawling and triple team work was used as a basis to build upon towards the finishes. Each falls felt like a seperate encounter with an real sense of momentum and control. It was interesting to see the Cerebros working crowd favourites here, but also to see Terry win with a low blow - both equalising the cheating in the second fall, and a nod to old rudo habits. I wish the revancha the following week had been aired, because this is one of my favourite lucha trios of the year.
Finally, I've got Black Terry, Cerebro Negro and Fantasma de la Opera vs Dinastia Navarro (this is from IWRG on 9th July). This had an inauspicious start, as they break straight into brawling. I didn't think it was particularly bad, like ohtani's jacket did, just not very interesting. There is a point in the second caida, however, where Navarro gets really intense and starts fighting back, throwing great punches, which Terry takes exactly like he always does, rocking about yet still standing up. I love this sort of brawling - so often you see one person punching another, and the other running away, so it looks very weak. Here, Terry and Navarro are right up against each other, and it looks great. The fall ends with Navarro staring out the referee, and he looks like the biggest badass on the planet. The third fall is good, with a sequence of submissions and breakups, before the dives leave Terry and Navarro alone for the finish, which is exactly what you want. Good stuff.
Thursday 1 October 2009
DRAGON GATE - Infinity 145!
145
Yup, we haven’t had too many of these in recent weeks, due to pesky real life issues clogging up my time, but I have been INSPIRED to write a new review this week. That inspiration has come from one man named Naoki Friggin Tanizaki, my absolute favourite wrestler in the history of the world (this week). Infinity 145, eminating from Hakata Star Lanes, was the Naoki show. Well actually it was the Naoki & His Daughter Show. The show centered around the Open The Brave Gate tournament to crown a new champ. We had two semi final three ways with the winners meeting in the final.
Naoki Tanizaki vs. Kzy vs. Super Shiisa
I’m not the hugest fan of three ways and triple threats anymore, but this was fun and kept nice and short. Kzy heeled it up with the help of his Real Hazard buddies at ringside (he’s really fitting into the rudo role nicely) and I think most of the crowd expected him to advance past veteran lower carder Shiisa, and the man who Kzy beat at World, Tanizaki. They were right as far as Shiisa went, as he was pinned after a mask-jacking by Kzy. However they were very wrong as far as Naoki went. He battled past the RH interference to snatch a win and move to the final. Post match he was beatdown bigtime by chair shots and a Kzy-Time (Canadian Destroyer from the corner).
KAGETORA vs. Tozawa vs. Super Shenlong
Again, same kinda deal. Short snappy three way. Shelong did some funny stuff before being booted and it came down to the two more senior members. Both KAGE and Tozawa have been kept pretty strong this year so it was anyone’s guess who’d advance. Lots of cool stuff exchanged down the stretch with Tozawa’s Germans being particularly choice. KAGE hooked him out of nowhere in his high speed cradle of doom that he’s been beating people with, and Tozawa was done.
Final – KAGETORA vs. Naoki Tanizaki
Tani is of course banged up coming in after the RH attack, and KAGE doesn’t waste any time getting control by working over the injured neck. Basically the first 7 or 8 minutes are all just KAGETORA picking him apart with innovative holds and other hurty stuff. With certain guys this could be boring, but when you have Naoki selling like he’s being water-boarded by Jack Bauer, it’s all good. Add in the bonus of young Yuki Tanizaki (who couldn’t have been more than 3 years old) in the crowd with Mom, looking completely worried for Daddy and the scene just gets that bit more dramatic. They started teasing comebacks throughout the middle of the match and then by the time they got down to the last 5/6 minutes the Lanes fans were starting to rock. Down the stretch it was just all big moves and 2.999999999 cradles. Naoki kept looking for his knee strikes out of desperation and KAGE just kept looking to deliver that one big final blow that would keep the pesky Tanizaki down. A DDT on the apron didn’t do it, an Ikkitousen didn’t do it and even Naoki’s own Beach Break being used on him didn’t do it.
Poor Yuki was in floods of tears at this point and a more humane individual than myself may feel that was not good. I thought it was pretty great. PRO WRES EMOTION~!!~!! Little kiddies SHOULD be crying. God knows I cried when Earthquake cut a promo saying he was coming to MY town. She even mouthed “Papa” at one point during her distress. Awesome. Naoki was meanwhile selling his guts off in the ring and just looking for any opening to give him even a small chance of winning. A HYOOOGE Beach Break of his own got him back in the game but he was too tired to hold the cover. Damage was done though, as KAGE was looking pretty out of it. The next big nearfall came, ingeniously, with the high speed cradle of doom and every man, woman and child in the building bought it. Such a huge pop for Naoki kicking out. A series of running knees nearly put KAGE away, but more was needed. A killer rolling sole butt to face got a 2.999, but Tanizaki FEELING THE MOMENTUM, hoisted KAGE up for a second Beach Break, this time holding the pin for the 1-2-3. The crowd erupted, Naoki collapsed with joy, Doi, Yoshino and Hulk (who were going batshit insane at ringside) hit the ring and then in maybe the wrestling moment of the year, the camera cut to Yuki looking overjoyed, raising her arm in the air, and then later cooly making a peace sign towards the camera. Naoki brought her into the ring for the post match speech and it was one of the happiest scenes I’ve ever seen in wrestling.
Gotta give credit to the man who was kind of overshadowed following the match – KAGETORA. He wrestled a hell of a match, guiding the thing from start to finish and really putting Tani over huge.
Not just the best Infinity this year, but one of my favourite ever.
Infinity 145 – 9.5/10
Yup, we haven’t had too many of these in recent weeks, due to pesky real life issues clogging up my time, but I have been INSPIRED to write a new review this week. That inspiration has come from one man named Naoki Friggin Tanizaki, my absolute favourite wrestler in the history of the world (this week). Infinity 145, eminating from Hakata Star Lanes, was the Naoki show. Well actually it was the Naoki & His Daughter Show. The show centered around the Open The Brave Gate tournament to crown a new champ. We had two semi final three ways with the winners meeting in the final.
Naoki Tanizaki vs. Kzy vs. Super Shiisa
I’m not the hugest fan of three ways and triple threats anymore, but this was fun and kept nice and short. Kzy heeled it up with the help of his Real Hazard buddies at ringside (he’s really fitting into the rudo role nicely) and I think most of the crowd expected him to advance past veteran lower carder Shiisa, and the man who Kzy beat at World, Tanizaki. They were right as far as Shiisa went, as he was pinned after a mask-jacking by Kzy. However they were very wrong as far as Naoki went. He battled past the RH interference to snatch a win and move to the final. Post match he was beatdown bigtime by chair shots and a Kzy-Time (Canadian Destroyer from the corner).
KAGETORA vs. Tozawa vs. Super Shenlong
Again, same kinda deal. Short snappy three way. Shelong did some funny stuff before being booted and it came down to the two more senior members. Both KAGE and Tozawa have been kept pretty strong this year so it was anyone’s guess who’d advance. Lots of cool stuff exchanged down the stretch with Tozawa’s Germans being particularly choice. KAGE hooked him out of nowhere in his high speed cradle of doom that he’s been beating people with, and Tozawa was done.
Final – KAGETORA vs. Naoki Tanizaki
Tani is of course banged up coming in after the RH attack, and KAGE doesn’t waste any time getting control by working over the injured neck. Basically the first 7 or 8 minutes are all just KAGETORA picking him apart with innovative holds and other hurty stuff. With certain guys this could be boring, but when you have Naoki selling like he’s being water-boarded by Jack Bauer, it’s all good. Add in the bonus of young Yuki Tanizaki (who couldn’t have been more than 3 years old) in the crowd with Mom, looking completely worried for Daddy and the scene just gets that bit more dramatic. They started teasing comebacks throughout the middle of the match and then by the time they got down to the last 5/6 minutes the Lanes fans were starting to rock. Down the stretch it was just all big moves and 2.999999999 cradles. Naoki kept looking for his knee strikes out of desperation and KAGE just kept looking to deliver that one big final blow that would keep the pesky Tanizaki down. A DDT on the apron didn’t do it, an Ikkitousen didn’t do it and even Naoki’s own Beach Break being used on him didn’t do it.
Poor Yuki was in floods of tears at this point and a more humane individual than myself may feel that was not good. I thought it was pretty great. PRO WRES EMOTION~!!~!! Little kiddies SHOULD be crying. God knows I cried when Earthquake cut a promo saying he was coming to MY town. She even mouthed “Papa” at one point during her distress. Awesome. Naoki was meanwhile selling his guts off in the ring and just looking for any opening to give him even a small chance of winning. A HYOOOGE Beach Break of his own got him back in the game but he was too tired to hold the cover. Damage was done though, as KAGE was looking pretty out of it. The next big nearfall came, ingeniously, with the high speed cradle of doom and every man, woman and child in the building bought it. Such a huge pop for Naoki kicking out. A series of running knees nearly put KAGE away, but more was needed. A killer rolling sole butt to face got a 2.999, but Tanizaki FEELING THE MOMENTUM, hoisted KAGE up for a second Beach Break, this time holding the pin for the 1-2-3. The crowd erupted, Naoki collapsed with joy, Doi, Yoshino and Hulk (who were going batshit insane at ringside) hit the ring and then in maybe the wrestling moment of the year, the camera cut to Yuki looking overjoyed, raising her arm in the air, and then later cooly making a peace sign towards the camera. Naoki brought her into the ring for the post match speech and it was one of the happiest scenes I’ve ever seen in wrestling.
Gotta give credit to the man who was kind of overshadowed following the match – KAGETORA. He wrestled a hell of a match, guiding the thing from start to finish and really putting Tani over huge.
Not just the best Infinity this year, but one of my favourite ever.
Infinity 145 – 9.5/10
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