Wednesday 29 April 2009

WWE: Backlash 2009

I've been watching quite a lot of things, but haven't written much - though the number of drafts I have saved is getting a little silly. There will be more soon, including the rest of the Champion's Carnival, as it emerges, and some lucha.

I realised I didn't even write about Wrestlemania, mainly because I didn't have much to add. Taker vs. Michaels was an obvious highlight, but I'm not sold on it as being WWE match of the year, let alone anything more all-encompassing. First ten minutes are pretty standard stuff, and Michaels submission work is tedious. Everything from the dives onwards is fantastic though - a perfect count-out spot, and excellent selling through the finishers section. This was aided by both men having a number of big moves, but I don't want to take anything away from them here - the best possible version of these WWE clash of legends-type epics. The main event left a bad taste, and was a quite considerable waste of Orton's work and character development since, roughly, the summer of 2007.

But on to this show. Opener is a rematch of my current MOTY between Jack Swagger and Christian. It was another great match, and the best thing on the show. I didn't think it was as good as the TV match, but that was predictable as they were in the opener, but there were a few little bits that didn't click quite as well. That said, the elements that I loved about the title match were present here - like Swagger continuing to grow as a ring general and Christian's selling. Thought they ran out of steam a little bit at the end (and I couldn't reasonable attribute that to portraying fatigue), and the cheap finish is a bit unnecessary, though I understand why they feel the need to protect Swagger like that (maybe if he hadn't taken quite so many pinfalls in February they wouldn't need to). Swagger shows again he can control the middle section of a match with interesting work, setting up an exciting finish, as if he had been doing it for years.

I thought the thing that the Steamboat-Jericho match suffered from, for me at least, was being on the opposite end of the expectations game as before the Mania match. The surprise of how great (relatively) Steamboat looked there increased everyone's expectations and hype to the extent that you almost started to believe he was as good as he ever was. What is actually, objectively true is that Steamboat is an older man, but one who still knows how to put together a match. His offence isn't as crisp or as strong (though of all the 80s legends to wrestle nostalgia matches in this decade, no-one has looked better) but he can still sell like a champion. Watching him this last month has be great, and if this is his final run, it has been a fitting tribute - he's been involved in three really entertaining matches, and not looked out of place with much younger guys. I think we should be wary, however, of seeing them (particularly the two on pay-per-view) as much more than good, really well executed nostalgia matches, simply because others in his position has been so embarrassingly poor.

The Hardy's match was fine, and the ending was an interesting idea. I liked how they didn't go crazy with the TLC spots, instead saving one for the end. Matt's is great as a heel, continuing on a two year streak of being great. Michael Cole manages to come out with the stupidest line of the night when he said that there were no submissions in this match as the only way to win is to say "I Quit". Did you ever even watch Flair-Funk? CM Punk vs. Kane similarly was fine, with some smart arm work, and the double armed chokeslam at the end was maybe the best thing Kane has ever done in a wrestling match. Punk's ability to lose without ruining his push is a useful thing for the bookers, and he has entertaining matches with bigger guys - see his matches with Batista last year.

Main events take up nearly half the show. The six-man was well put together - opening face dominance, two distinct heat sections, hot tag and finisher spots is an established classic, and everyone was working hard (even HHH, who wasn't really in the match until the end, but who impressed with noticeable reactions to the ring action). Nobody (especially on commentary) remembers the 2000 six man tag for HHH title (with Rock, Taker and Kane on one side of the greatest mismatch in history), but this was thousands of times better. Orton is great - he's the best heel in the company (a company which currently employs Chris Jericho). His character is deranged, and vain, but not comically so. I loved the finish - the mistake that cost Trips the match wasn't goofy, they got a great nearfall out of the RKO, Orton looked fantastic lining up the punt, and even better grabbing the belt and marching off with it without even an acknoledgement to the crowd. If he doesn't keep that belt for a long run, they have missed yet another trick.

I thought the last man standing title match was good, but not great. Maybe these matches have been ruined for me by Jericho-HHH, which may still be one of my favourite matches of the decade, but for one thing, I expect at least some blood (I'm a sensible, mild-mannered 25 year old with two degrees from Oxford University, before you judge me). Wrestling grudge matches, especially ones with a violent tradition, need blood. It's not so much about being a gore-fan as much as supporting (in a long-established wrestling way) the story trying to be told. A near thirty minute match, where both guys are trying to render the other unconcious definitely requires something more than the usual main even finishers exchange and announce desk bump. The spotlight stunt finish, while visually shocking, also doesn't sit particularly well with me. It's too overgimmicked and special-effects driven for me. Basically, I thought there was a lack of balance and build - instead of increasingly violent near-finishes culminating in one final can't-top-this-spot, there was WWE main event near-finishes, culminating with an angle.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy the match, nor the performances of both men within those limitations. First of all, I was shocked to find it was a thirty minute match. Secondly, the ten-counts were well-worked - the flipside of them not going particularly violent for most of the match was that they could credibly do regular ten-count spots without it seeming like overkill. Thirdly, Cena is pretty much the only guy I've enjoyed watching Edge go against in a year. It's entirely intangible, but in there with Cena, Edge seems like a main-eventer. Against any other top name, he's always seemed out of place.

Great show, overall - nothing bad, plenty of entertainment and variety and a few surprises, which is exactly what I watch WWE shows for, and which, when they get it right, they can do better than anyone else.

Monday 27 April 2009

DRAGON GATE - Infinity 126!

And now we're into post-Gate Of Anniversary stuff, and on the road to the "DEAD OR ALIVE" PPV.

126

Fukui City Gymnasium
1,250 Fans

Cyber Kong & Yasushi Kanda vs. Naruki Doi & Naoki Tanizaki

First time I've ever seen DG in this building. Pretty cool looking and the crowd rules. So anyway, yeah A NAOKI TANIZAKI MATCH~!, let the greatness roll. Kong looked good being all powerhousy and Kanda was good in the general type roll for his team. Naoki sold his ass off and brought the charisma and energy. The hot tag to Doi was awesome as he's up there with Roderick Strong when it comes to great houses of fire. Real Hazard won after a PINEAPPLE BOMBER, and a newly bald Anthony Dubyah Mori hit the ring to get him some but he was overwhelmed. The save was made by Masato Yoshino of all people, and the crowd went nutrageous.

YAMATO & Ryo Saito vs. Masato Yoshino & BxB Hulk

Yoshino got a ridiculous pop for his entrance. It's not his hometown so I dunno what the deal is. For some reason watching Hulk wrestle seemed very fresh. Maybe he hasn't been on alot of episodes recently, I dunno. YAMMY and Ryo make a heck of a sleaze ball team. Hulk had some new offence such as a Flipping Capture Suplex which was rad. Ryo pinned BxB with a new finisher called THE DOUBLECROSS (picture armed crossed Razors Edge). Post match promo's building to YAMATO and Hulk down the line.

Shingo Takagi, Dragon Kid & Akira Tozawa vs. CIMA, Gamma & KAGETORA

Main event time and this was awesome. W-5 are so entertaining and KAGE is a beast of a worker. The KAMIKAZE side, of course as we all know is beyond awesome. Lots of heat between Shingo and KAGE here, God how much would that singles match rule. CIMA continued to look good since his latest comeback, which is a good sign since he doesn't appear to be getting a reduced role or anything. Anyway finish came down to KAGE and Tozawa and the former Juku leader put up his usual good fight until KAGE put him down with the Ikkitousen.

Afterwards we got a big brawl breaking out between about 12 guys on the roster and it was great because it solidified that all the factions are at war with each other.

Really good episode. Loved all the matches, and the crowd was hot.

Infinity 126 - 8/10

Saturday 11 April 2009

All Japan: 5th April 2009

I watched all of the 2008 Champions Carnival in March, and enjoyed it. The 2009 event just appeared on DVDVR, courtesy of Spin Fly Kick's very own Alan (I don't know how he gets GAORA in Ireland). I watch it, and I opine.

Day one, match one is Hama vs. ZODIAC. Hama is like a Japanese Big Daddy V. He's like a Japanese Kamala. He's big, is what I'm saying. And Japanese. This match is built around the fact that Hama is big. He uses the fact that he is big to do moves which require him to be big. I struggle to care about ZODIAC, but Hama could be a fun in his next few matches.

Match two is between Nishimura and Senada. First half of this is Nish dominating on the mat. Second half of this about Senada targetting Nishimura's leg. The leg work is fine, and Nish sells it to the finish, as I would expect. Senada is pretty focused, and Nish, in keeping with both his old school gimmick and the resorts to a surprise roll up for the victory. A well put together, coherent match. My only complaint is the match lacked a bit of drama or excitement near the end, but it's hard to expect much else from a first day match between two guys I don't expect to win their group.

Joe Doering vs. Kaz Hayashi is an interesting first day match. The way this was put together was clearly to establish junior Hayashi as a credible contender. Hayashi hits a great looking tope early in this - a lot of topes in Japan become more like diving forearms (Sekimoto's is the worst example), whereas in Mexico, a tope is head-first and out-of-control. Kaz skull crashes into Joe's chest, and I am pleased. Obviously enough, Joe dominates most of this match, throwing Kaz around with a huge back body drop and a fallaway slam. Kaz's short comebacks work and looks believeable, and builds through bigger moves culminating in an impressive Air Raid Crash. There is some smart wrestling here - bigger moves like the german is blocked early on, but is hit later when Kaz has managed to wear Joe down a little. Also, each move does greater and greater damage, allowing him to finally hit one of his finishers. Kaz's progress in this tournament could be one of it's best features, if booked well.

I wasn't really all that impressed with Kojima and Suwama. It begins energetically, with Suwama gaining the advantage. They fight on the outside with a teased powerbomb off the apron, culminating with an elevated powerbomb on the outside, which was a pretty big bump that didn't really feature into the rest of the match. In fact, for all the big moves being thrown out in this match, they're wasn't much evidence of long term cumulative selling. Then again, Suwama popped straight up after a Koji Cutter and kicked out at one on the penultimate lariat, so it's probably unfair to expect deep selling when short-term selling wasn't great either. And it's probably unfair to expect short-term selling when your watching a match between Kojima and Suwama.

Next match was between Kea vs. Suzuki. This began well, lots of nice striking, Kea looking good on offence, taking control of the ring with Suzuki trying to get in, leading to Suzuki surprising Kea with a jujigatame to establish the danger of a quick submission. But Kea just kills me by ignoring the arm whenever its convenient. I appreciated the stiffness in this, but Kea (a man with three other limbs) kept using the bad arm to attack, and most of the time didn't even bother to do the intermittent arm clutching that a lot of Japanese wrestlers do in lieu of actually selling. Suzuki's submission stuff is entertaining - he finds lots of interesting ways of working arm locks. Kea adds to his list of bad selling by shaking off everything, including a cradle piledriver, and goes for his finishers. Suzuki decides all this no-selling looks like fun with a kickout at one of one of Kea's finishers, goes down for three after the next one, and that's a match - one that had better ideas than execution.

Last match of the night was between Mutoh and Takayama. Takayama's the new Triple Crown champion, having beaten Muta last month. Adding to the intrigue, Mutoh nearly missed the tournament with an injury. Little surprise how this match goes. Mutoh plays the broken down star with just a couple of very effective weapons still available to him, which he will use on repeat and at all available opportunities until they get a result. This time, its delivers a surprisingly great, coherent wrestling match, as Mutoh is relentless in attacking Takayama's leg with dropkicks and figure fours, completely cutting his offence out of the match, and kept on going until he gives up. Great performance here from Takayama, selling every blow to the leg like he's been shot in the thigh and made the final figure four look like agony. This became a good example of taking something formulaic and making it really work.

Good end to a quite variable show. A lot of effort all-round, but some of the matches were dragged down by the participants not working smartly. I like tournaments because they allow for the possibility of developing little themes, and there's a few nice opportunities for that here. I look forward to the next show.

Friday 10 April 2009

DRAGON GATE - Infinity 125!

So yeah, this Infinity came along, and I guess due to timing there was really nothing major to show so instead we got a bunch of crap that we'd NEVER normally see and it ruled the earth!!

125

Open the Owarai Gate Title: Jackson Florida © vs. "Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa

For those unfamiliar, Jackson's gimmick is that he's the broken down, crippled remains of the 2004/2005 Florida Brothers faction. And he's so crippled that he falls all over the place in dramatic fashion. He wrestles with a crutch that he never lets go of and does many crutch related spots. Perfect for a comedy match such as this. If you don't know Stalker then get the hell out of my column, I don't wanna associate with your kind.

Anyway, the match was hilarious and Jackson took his usual TERRIFYING bumps (eg Undertaker rope walk -> slip -> bounce off ropes -> land head first on apron). A crutch assisted backslide got the duke and Mr. Florida takes home da gold!

Masato Yoshino, PAC & m.c.KZ. vs. Dragon Kid, Taku Iwasa & Kenshin Chikano

Kenshin, of course is one of the two rookies that have debuted in recent weeks. He makes a hell of a babyface on look alone. One of the most glaring things about this match was how much KZ has improved. He's wrestling with a bit of a swagger now which is great to see. The four established guys were as good as you'd expect (i.e. friggin GREAT)..... Yoshino is on a different plane to literally 99.999% of wrestlers, it's getting ridiculous to be honest. And PAC ain't that far off either. He's becoming one of the smoothest flyers ever. The end was based around KZ trying to finish off Kenshin. He looked great doing so, and Kenshin showed some awesome spirit. Unfortunately KZ couldn't get the job done, so Yoshino said "fuck it, watch this" and shotgun dropkicked a hole through Kenshin's chest for the win. Awesome TV six man.

Akira Tozawa vs. Youhei Fujita

Youhei is the other rookie that debuted, and I'm starting to think he's a bit further ahead in the technical department. He looked really damn great here. However he was in there with Tozawa who's WRESTLING WITH A VENGEANCE right now. Crowd got really into this and I don't blame them. Tozawa was breaking out sick Saito Suplexes, and Germans, while Youhei debuted a pretty standing moonsault. Everything was stringed together so well. They built to the token young lion gets stuck in a crab spot, and Youhei fought and fought. I was honestly expecting him to tap, but he survived and the crowd went banana. Unfortunately a Bridging German later and it was all she wrote. Really fun match.

The (Youhei) show ended with a segment from a later show where Warriors-5 came out and introduced Fujita as their new member. They renamed him RYOMA.

Loved this episode. Like it said at the outset, there wasn't much major stuff on it, but we got three REALLY enjoyable matches and the two rookies were established perfectly.

Infinity 125 - 8/10

Thursday 2 April 2009

Kaientai Dojo: 3rd November 2008

I've skipped past a couple of K-Dojo shows since the August show, mainly because there wasn't much of particular interest. The September show has the Genkirin vs. Omega elimination tag which got me interested in Kunio Toshima - he's a guy who doesn't look the part at all, but his offence is ever so slightly rough around the edges and has a high energy and comes across a little bit like an everyman figure, especially fighting against some as douchy as Yuji Hino. He could be useful higher up the card, which I thought this match might have been the beginning of, but it doesn't appear to have happened. October had a big singles between Mashimo and JOE, which was fine, but nothing worth writing about.

Anyway, this November show has a bunch of good stuff. The opener was an exercise in putting over Hino as a.) big, b.) powerful, c.) awesome in all ways. He beats Raito with a lariat in fifteen seconds, then they do a restart. Asahi wants to stop Hino from coming in and ruining everyone's fun by doing the same thing again, but fails, leading to some amusing dissent between the two. The whole match is built around the premise that Hino could beat anyone with his lariat given half a chance, so the other team avoid him at all costs. Honestly, I read the results for this and thought it sounded stupid, but watching it was a blast, and a surprisingly smart one as well.

My favourite match from the show was the double title match between Makoto Oishi and MEN's Teioh. This was a match which had a great build to the finish because of what had been set-up in the previous months - MEN's beat Oishi in August with a number of backdrop drivers and Oishi had established his flash rollup as a match winner in the following months. They re-establish this early on, but it's too soon to get a win. Teioh dominates the middle of this, with Oishi fighting back which works as this whole run since June has been about setting Oishi up as a serious top guy. There's a couple of nice sequences here - Teioh blocking the rollup with the stretch armbar submission was good.

The last two matches were enjoyable enough. The tag title match was clipped down to mainly a long sprint, which featured another entertaining Toshima outing. The main event was Mashimo vs. Mochizuki. This started pretty well, with Mochizuki going after Mashimo's leg. Then Mashimo came back and went after Mochi's leg. Then both guys remembered that their legs were actually fine, and they fought down the stretch. I stop caring about the technical merits after six minutes when I realised how this was going to go, and enjoyed the spots and kicks. Mashimo pulls out a springboard SPIN FLY KICK, which I can't remember him doing before. A competitive indie title match - nothing great or smart, but enough effort to make it fun.

Wednesday 1 April 2009

Lucha Matches of the Year 2008

Apparently I didn't post this. I've put together my lucha match of the year list. 2008 has been a great year personally, having been pointed in the direction of, and having been able to watch, a load of guys I'd never known before. Black Terry, in particular, might be my favourite guy in Mexico, but this year also marks the first time I've watched Negro Navarro, Freelance, Los Oficiales, a bunch of CMLL undercard guys (Arkangel de la Muerte is my favourite of those) and Cassandro.

Access to IWRG television has been an excellent addition to my watching, though I think it will be short-lived. I weep. I've been watching a bit of CMLL from the first half of the year, and it's been OK. I need more Panther stuff from the second half, though.

I went with Blue Panther vs. Villano V for my lucha match of the year. This irked me a little because my puro match of the year is the BattlArts six-man, and I thought it was a bit dull to agree with so many other lists (especially the Segunda Caida guys and other the Wrestling KO guys). But, both of those matches really are a bit special - the intensity, the depth, the violence of the BattlArts trios, and the unbridled emotion, drama and atmosphere of the mask match are unequaled in 2008. Happily (I have decided), it's just as interesting to see what comes after those top two matches on these lists. Plus, a choice between being a bit unoriginal or being a contrarian just to be a contrarian, isn't a hard choice for a credible fan.

Anywhere, here's my final list of lucha. I haven't reviewed much of it here, unfortunately. I will try a do the London show at some point soon - Santo is still a treat to watch, and in 2008, quite a rare treat. Should also put the Blue Panther stuff together at some point as well.

1. Blue Panther vs. Villano V, CMLL 19th September
2. Freelance/Fenix/Pendulo v. Black Terry/Negro Navarro/El Hijo Del Pierroth, IWRG 3rd October
3. Mystico De La Juarez/Silver King/Rubi Gardenia v. Cassandro/Magno/El Hijo Del Santo, Lucha Libre London 9th December
4. Averno vs. Blue Panther, CMLL 4th November (YouTube link, because it's impossible to find)
5. Rey Cometa/Pegasso/Freelance v. Los Oficiales, IWRG 16th October
6. Atlantis vs. Blue Panther, CMLL 11th July
7. Black Terry v. Multifacetico, IWRG 28th February, YouTube link
8. La Sombra vs Ephesto, CMLL 7th December
9. Negro Navarro/Shu El Guerrero vs. Solar/Super Astro, Monterrey 18th May
10. Rey Cometa/Pegasso/Freelance v. Los Oficiales, IWRG 9th October
11. Sombra/Volador Jr./Sagrado vs Hijo Del Fantasma/La Mascara/Valiente, CMLL 30th April
12. Blue Panther vs. Negro Casas, CMLL Guadalajara 3rd August
13. Perro Aguayo Jr vs Hector Garza, CMLL 21st March
14. Mistico/Marco Corleone/Shocker vs. Perro Aguayo/Averno/Mephisto, CMLL 30th April
15. Mistico/La Sombra vs El Averno/El Mephisto, CMLL Guadalajara 27th January