May 28th, 22.03: I must apologise for the lack of posting in the past month. I've been busy with a number of things, and also, a very little bit, I wanted a bit of a wrestling watching break. Anyway, getting back into things with last Sunday's WWE PPV - Over the Limit. I haven't watched any WWE tv since the RAW after Wrestlemania, so this is really going to be a catch up. By the way, the name of this PPV is odd. There can't be such a shortage of names that you need one that close to another which they will obviously never use again. (Has this been noted elsewhere? I am out of the loop)
22:10: Roll intro. Wait, was that Warrior in the opening video?
22.18: Kofi Kingston vs. Drew McIntyre is the opener. I am excited, but it has nothing to do with the opener, Kofi Kingston vs. Drew McIntyre.
22.28: Nope, didn't like that at all. Kofi's offence is just the worst. At least he's added an overly elaborate Japanese indie ripoff finisher to increase his credibility. McIntyre is bland. He should consider adding an overly elaborate Japanese indie ripoff finisher.
22.40: R-Truth vs. Ted Dibiase is next. Ted has the Million Dollar Belt and is accompanied by Virgil, circa 1990. That guy has not aged well. In that, he has not aged at all. That's some incompetent ageing.
22.55: I don't think Virgil loves this anymore. The commentators manage to interpret many emotions (concern, disgust, panic, lust, enuit) from that one expression. Maybe that's why he looks like he hasn't aged. It's a mask. It's a man in a Virgil mask. In the good old days of wrestling, black men got put in masks. Today, a black man has been put in the mask of a black man. This we call progress.
22.57: Match was fine. I enjoy some Ted Dibiase bumping and a bit of old-school glassy-eyed selling. The finish was underwhelming and looked a bit rubbish though.
22.58: I pause the show, and move to bed, to annoy my wife with tapping keys whilst she attempts to sleep.
23.21: Drew McIntyre goes crazy in Teddy Long's office when he doesn't contravene the rules of sports. He doesn't destroy the picture of a man in a Martin Luther King mask, however.
23.23: Rey vs. Punk next. This is what I most regret about not watching WWE over the past couple of months.
23.32: Man, there's some great bumps in this. Punk's head first into the railings and Rey's slide into the chair both looked awesome. What could be more appropriate in a quasi-lucha stipulation match, that they do a medical stoppage spot? The answer is: letting Punk bleed like a Brazo. The fans annoy with the 'boring' chant. Ignore them, guys, I love actual selling.
23.35: They must have annoyed Punk as well, but that little bit after Rey got in the ring and they'd fixed Punk's head was awesome violent. That suplex on the outside was, like, the greatest thing I've ever seen.
23.45: Really good match. It had a simple story, with both guys looking for their finishers, great selling from both guys and a good build. I love how violent a match they work together - it shows a great deal of trust in each other abilities, because there was plenty of kicks and other stuff (like the corner powerbomb) that looked nasty, and probably could have been. The finish was out-of-nowhere, but in a good way. Post-match activities went as you would expect, yet another testament to Punk's acting abilties.
23.50: I develop The Fatigue and sleep for a number of hours.
May 30th, 21.35: Annnnd...back. Yes, I slept all that time. I wake up and go straight into Hart Dynasty vs. The Miz and Jericho. This Bret Hart US title angle is a little silly, but I guess it might help get the younger three over, after a year of jobbing them out to everyone. And they're the champions as well? I lost track.
21.56: Nothing actively wrong with the match, but not much that stood out. There was a surprising number of near falls, including a couple that actually would have made satisfying finishes (like the role up from Miz's attempted sharpshooter). The Hart Dynasty's version of the Hart Attack isn't as good as the original.
22.00: Edge is a heel now. That is an improvement. The justification for the turn, however, makes absolutely no sense or either real life or wrestling terms. Or is a convoluted way of saying 'just fancied a change'. This match could be OK though, with the Rated RKO history and the finisher vs. finisher build giving an obvious storyline.
22.13: That was an odd finish, it looked a little like they made it up on the spot, which suggests that wasn't a worked injury. But maybe the would know I'd think that, so they worked a finish which looked like it wasn't a worked finish, so maybe it wasn't a worked injury. But then they would know that I'd think that, so they would have wouldn't have worked that finish unless they had to, so maybe it wasn't a worked injury. Of course, they would know that I would think that they would think that so - sorry, out of time. This concludes today's episode of 'If wrestling booking was like the Princess Bride'. The match wasn't much. I liked how Randy worked a couple of Edge's restholds, looking for escapes, but the rest was just typical Edge and Randy Orton moves, performed by Edge and Randy Orton.
22.20: Big Show in the world title scene is a welcome return, after a year of him propping up the tag division. Big Show as a serious face is an intriguing proposition.
22.38: I got over-excited. It's an intriguing proposition if WWE didn't always resort to the most tediously uninspiring booking. There was some fun bits in this - Big Show running ropes and knocking guys all over the place always looks great, and Swagger and Big Show are well matched, with Swagger getting in a moments of credible offence (limited by the time constraints), which bodes well for a longer match.
22.45: The Divas title match slot is filled with a Divas title match. Maryse comes to the ring displaying some of poses that earned her a spot on the WKO 100 countdown. Michael Cole goes over the history of the feud between Maryse and Eve (three weeks old today!). Maryse attacked Eve at a photoshoot. Eve gets payback at the makeup table. You see: they are women. Next month, Maryse attacks Eve during a cosmetic surgery consultation. Eve gets revenge whilst shoe shopping. Maryse challenges Eve to a rematch whilst parking badly.
22.50: Maryse kicks the ring post. I agree with Matt's analysis (Ooooooooooo. Oooooo etc.) Maryse displays some of the selling that earned her a spot on the WKO 100 countdown, and ignores it.
22.58: I Quit match for the main event. I didn't watch the Last Man Standing match, but that finishing spot was a pretty imaginative way to finish a match never has imaginative finishes. That said, its not really in keeping with Cena's character. Cena's a battler and an overcomer of adversity. They should have saved that for an Edge match.
23.02: Pro-Cena crowd on a PPV. Unusual.
23.14: Striker attempts to build drama (his job) by suggesting that delays in responding suggest Cena and Batista are considering quitting. Cole ruins it (his job) by suggesting they might just be winded. When does Michael Cole's try-out period run out? Seems to have gone on quite a long time now.
23.30: Decent spotfest, if a little gimmicky at the end. Not the dramatic piece of performance art Cena-Orton was, of course, but they couldn't recreate that.
23.32: An underwhelming show overall. Punk-Rey was really good, but the main events felt like they were treading water, and the booking was dull and not at all creative. Maybe the writing staff should change their name to Uncreative, amiright?
Thursday, 27 May 2010
Friday, 14 May 2010
Kaientai Dojo: June 9th 2009
A couple of short quick six man matches to start. Yuji Hino was a lot of fun in his match against three of K-Dojo's young guys who I can never distinguish because they are essentially the same guy. I always like his no-sell which backfires spot, and he basically squashes his opponents at the end, setting Randy Takuya (I do, in fact, know the names) up for his powerbomb, temporarily discarding him to lariat Takizawa, then going back to the powerbomb for the win.
Next match is a three-way for the WEW hardcore tag titles, and features Quiet Storm tagging with JOE, Kashiwa and PSYCHO, and the Brahmans. These matches are semi-serious at best, and this had plenty of goofy comedy and a decent share of casual unprotected head shots. This had a couple of spots with the barbed wire board at the end, but the whole thing was pretty uninspired.
I liked the Monster Plant vs. Gurentai six man a lot. There are guys in the Japanese indies that are really at ther best either fighting up or fighting down. Evenly matched matches tend to bring out the worst in people like Sekimoto - they through selling and structure out of the window and replace it with a thousand meaningless repetitions of the same moves. Kengo Mashimo is another decent example. I think he's better than Sekimoto as he tends to tell simpler stories with a more streamlined moveset, but even so, I've seen some thirty minute Mashimo matches where I just want to grab him by his loose fitting trousers and tell him to stop it. All of this is my way of saying that Mashimo vs. Minoru Suzuki works really well. They trade matwork pretty evenly, but once Suzuki stops being sporting and heads outside, Mashimo is always on the backfoot, so the match becomes about the nefarious Gurentai and how Mashimo might make a comeback. Suzuki, for his part, seemed motivated, and doesn't forget to work as well as all that gurning and dickishness. Everyone else plays their roles well - NOSAWA and MAZADA are essentially henchman, triple teaming Yamato then bumping for KAZMA's power stuff, which ensures that the focus remains on Mashimo and Suzuki. The brawling was pretty solid and the finish didn't go on too long - Yamato was the obvious guy to take the fall, and he didn't kickout excessively once he got isolated.
I found myself enjoying the TAKA vs. Sasuke match almost despite my better instincts. Early leg work being blown off for high spots is basically a cliche of current Japanese junior wrestling, and I'd be the first to point this out as bad wrestling in promotions I like less with guys I like less. So, let's try and justify a hypocrisy. Firstly, I liked the build - they went from the leg work, which I liked as it seemed really fighty, with both guys stomping on each other knees in between holds, to less grounded stuff with much less of a clear break. I hate those matches where both guys seem to basically reset, like they fufilled some quota of matwork. The first out-of-ring spots seemed to happen more by accident, which I can buy. It never felt like a match of a thousand finishers, more like a steady progression through bigger and bigger moves. Secondly, they did bring the weak legs back in later - not technically perfect, but a nice touch. I always like Sasuke's borderline comedy exaggerated selling, and the final run of TAKA kicking him in the head before the Michinoku Driver II had plenty of wobbly-legged, glassy-eyed moments. The dives were all suitably insane - TAKA's top rope quebrada took plenty of audience with him. I love how visibly happy Japanese fans are to almost be knocked out in the course of the match. Finally, I think there are intangibles going on here. These are two guys who just match up well, and have so much history together that any match is going to be slick and pleasing to watch. I don't know if TAKA has ever beaten Sasuke in a singles - all those mid-90s matches I watched seemed to have the same finish (and often the same finisher run, which I thought they might be playing off here with the kickouts) - so I guess this might have been presented as a big deal. One of those things lost in translation.
Next match is a three-way for the WEW hardcore tag titles, and features Quiet Storm tagging with JOE, Kashiwa and PSYCHO, and the Brahmans. These matches are semi-serious at best, and this had plenty of goofy comedy and a decent share of casual unprotected head shots. This had a couple of spots with the barbed wire board at the end, but the whole thing was pretty uninspired.
I liked the Monster Plant vs. Gurentai six man a lot. There are guys in the Japanese indies that are really at ther best either fighting up or fighting down. Evenly matched matches tend to bring out the worst in people like Sekimoto - they through selling and structure out of the window and replace it with a thousand meaningless repetitions of the same moves. Kengo Mashimo is another decent example. I think he's better than Sekimoto as he tends to tell simpler stories with a more streamlined moveset, but even so, I've seen some thirty minute Mashimo matches where I just want to grab him by his loose fitting trousers and tell him to stop it. All of this is my way of saying that Mashimo vs. Minoru Suzuki works really well. They trade matwork pretty evenly, but once Suzuki stops being sporting and heads outside, Mashimo is always on the backfoot, so the match becomes about the nefarious Gurentai and how Mashimo might make a comeback. Suzuki, for his part, seemed motivated, and doesn't forget to work as well as all that gurning and dickishness. Everyone else plays their roles well - NOSAWA and MAZADA are essentially henchman, triple teaming Yamato then bumping for KAZMA's power stuff, which ensures that the focus remains on Mashimo and Suzuki. The brawling was pretty solid and the finish didn't go on too long - Yamato was the obvious guy to take the fall, and he didn't kickout excessively once he got isolated.
I found myself enjoying the TAKA vs. Sasuke match almost despite my better instincts. Early leg work being blown off for high spots is basically a cliche of current Japanese junior wrestling, and I'd be the first to point this out as bad wrestling in promotions I like less with guys I like less. So, let's try and justify a hypocrisy. Firstly, I liked the build - they went from the leg work, which I liked as it seemed really fighty, with both guys stomping on each other knees in between holds, to less grounded stuff with much less of a clear break. I hate those matches where both guys seem to basically reset, like they fufilled some quota of matwork. The first out-of-ring spots seemed to happen more by accident, which I can buy. It never felt like a match of a thousand finishers, more like a steady progression through bigger and bigger moves. Secondly, they did bring the weak legs back in later - not technically perfect, but a nice touch. I always like Sasuke's borderline comedy exaggerated selling, and the final run of TAKA kicking him in the head before the Michinoku Driver II had plenty of wobbly-legged, glassy-eyed moments. The dives were all suitably insane - TAKA's top rope quebrada took plenty of audience with him. I love how visibly happy Japanese fans are to almost be knocked out in the course of the match. Finally, I think there are intangibles going on here. These are two guys who just match up well, and have so much history together that any match is going to be slick and pleasing to watch. I don't know if TAKA has ever beaten Sasuke in a singles - all those mid-90s matches I watched seemed to have the same finish (and often the same finisher run, which I thought they might be playing off here with the kickouts) - so I guess this might have been presented as a big deal. One of those things lost in translation.
Sunday, 11 April 2010
A Bunch of: 1993 Michinoku Pro Commerical Tapes (part two)
A few more (near-complete) matches from some DVDs. First up, a trios from August 19th, pitting Sasuke, SATO and TAKA against Super Delfin, Gran Naniwa and Jinsei Shinzaki. This had a nice opening exchange between Naniwa and SATO - they match up well, especially where Naniwa is taking impressive looking bumps off of SATO really quick takedowns. There was a short rudo section and I've got to say that TAKA isn't really impressing me in that role, and his selling of the beating is lacklustre at best. They do some comedy - the arm-wringer spot and the fake defection by Naniwa - and everyones trademark dives. I was hoping for a little more Sasuke vs. Shinzaki, but they just skirmished early on.
The August 20th show had a title match between Sasuke vs. Shinigami. This was very by numbers. The opening few minutes stuck to the mat - there's a definite distinction between workers like SATO, whose opening sequences are usually quick, more lucha-inspired and based around takedowns and kipups, and workers like Sasuke whose matwork is slower, more technical and based around submissions or holds. Delfin adapts well to both styles. They blow that off soon enough and, probably due to some clipping, the match felt rather like one of those 'The best ten moves of Sasuke' YouTube videos, and Shinigami, whoever he is, did not come off as a threat.
Finally, there were two SATO and partners vs. Delfin and Super Boy tags, the first from August 11th with Gran Hamada, and the second from August 20th with Piloto Suicida. I've seen SATO and Super Boy match up a few times now, and they have some really fun spots. I particularly like the monkey flip spot where SATO lands on his feet - Super Boy looks away, only for Delfin to tell him to look back, where upon he does this completely over-the-top sell of his surprise where he falls over into the ropes. It's much as if SATO didn't just land on his feet, but in the process, he also morphed into Rikidozan.
Weird thing about these two matches was I liked Hamada a lot more than Piloto, who is a second-rate luchadore at best and whose moveset mainly seems to consist of raising his arms in triumph, but the Piloto match was probably better (or at least, more enjoyable), as it gets a lot more time to build up. I guess it felt like a houseshow match as it was heavily into crowd pleasing, with a few short rudo sections. The Hamada match did have just some really slick matwork at the beginning. Above I mentioned the different types of opening exchanges within the promotion - Hamada is definitely a technical holds kind of a guy, but he moves more interestingly from holds and exploits little bits of leverage in a way only old Mexicans do. Final point, I don't want to undersell how much I've been enjoying Delfin during this time-period, but it is Super Boy who is the most fun to watch bounce around the ring. Consider me a fan.
The August 20th show had a title match between Sasuke vs. Shinigami. This was very by numbers. The opening few minutes stuck to the mat - there's a definite distinction between workers like SATO, whose opening sequences are usually quick, more lucha-inspired and based around takedowns and kipups, and workers like Sasuke whose matwork is slower, more technical and based around submissions or holds. Delfin adapts well to both styles. They blow that off soon enough and, probably due to some clipping, the match felt rather like one of those 'The best ten moves of Sasuke' YouTube videos, and Shinigami, whoever he is, did not come off as a threat.
Finally, there were two SATO and partners vs. Delfin and Super Boy tags, the first from August 11th with Gran Hamada, and the second from August 20th with Piloto Suicida. I've seen SATO and Super Boy match up a few times now, and they have some really fun spots. I particularly like the monkey flip spot where SATO lands on his feet - Super Boy looks away, only for Delfin to tell him to look back, where upon he does this completely over-the-top sell of his surprise where he falls over into the ropes. It's much as if SATO didn't just land on his feet, but in the process, he also morphed into Rikidozan.
Weird thing about these two matches was I liked Hamada a lot more than Piloto, who is a second-rate luchadore at best and whose moveset mainly seems to consist of raising his arms in triumph, but the Piloto match was probably better (or at least, more enjoyable), as it gets a lot more time to build up. I guess it felt like a houseshow match as it was heavily into crowd pleasing, with a few short rudo sections. The Hamada match did have just some really slick matwork at the beginning. Above I mentioned the different types of opening exchanges within the promotion - Hamada is definitely a technical holds kind of a guy, but he moves more interestingly from holds and exploits little bits of leverage in a way only old Mexicans do. Final point, I don't want to undersell how much I've been enjoying Delfin during this time-period, but it is Super Boy who is the most fun to watch bounce around the ring. Consider me a fan.
Tuesday, 6 April 2010
A Bunch of: M-Pro 1993 Commercial Tapes (part one)
I have four commercial releases from 1993 that I thought I'd put together in one post. First one has matches from July. I enjoyed the clips from Shiryu vs. Terry Boy. One of the things I've been enjoying most about Terry is the styles he brings together. Obviously there's the lucha-inspired offence, but he also drops in several American spots, like a long side headlock sequence or inside cradles off the ropes. The finish to this is Terry doing Flair's corner bump then coming off the other turnbuckle with a crossbody. Other thing I've enjoyed is the body language. The DVD I'm watching is fairly bad quality, yet his mannerisms - like the bemused turn of the head after Shiryu flips onto his feet off of some takedown - tell me what look I could expect to see on his face if I could see that much detail. It's interesting to be essentially watching like someone in the cheap seats on a DVD, yet reveals which guys really know how to convey a story to the whole crowd. Shiryu has a great tope.
Main event tag was Delfin and Naniwa against SATO and Sasuke. This was entertaining stuff, they paired off to start and switched after two sets of exchanges, so we got some opening mat work and typical lucharesu stuff, followed by the rope-running sequences. Delfin was in fine form, kicking Sasuke in the face after his does his backflip corner attack, then teasing a dive before blowing it off due to crowd cheers. SATO was a little off on a couple of his highspots, but he's still impressive to watch. Sasuke was doing his usual spots so that was completely fine by me. Naniwa is the only one I don't have much sense of as a wrestler. They do the comedy spot where Delfin does over-the-shoulder armbreakers without looking at whose arm is given to him, leading to the inevitable switch where he gets Naniwa's arm by mistake, while Sasuke and SATO cheer him on. They finish with some dives and Sasuke wins with his in-ring quebrada on Naniwa. Nothing exceptional, and I got the impression they mistimed a couple of things (like the breakup of the Delfin Clutch), but even by-numbers M-Pro from this period is fun to watch.
Second show is the commercial release of the July Champ Forum show I reviewed before, with clips from a few other matches. One thing I realise between my first and second watch is that Sasuke's in-ring quebrada press was pretty much his finish, which adds to the finish because he after Delfin kicks out of that at two, he tries a top-rope version (again for a two-count) then the pinning rana for the win. I'm always a fan of super-finishers in big matches, especially when convential weaponry has failed.
Main event tag was Delfin and Naniwa against SATO and Sasuke. This was entertaining stuff, they paired off to start and switched after two sets of exchanges, so we got some opening mat work and typical lucharesu stuff, followed by the rope-running sequences. Delfin was in fine form, kicking Sasuke in the face after his does his backflip corner attack, then teasing a dive before blowing it off due to crowd cheers. SATO was a little off on a couple of his highspots, but he's still impressive to watch. Sasuke was doing his usual spots so that was completely fine by me. Naniwa is the only one I don't have much sense of as a wrestler. They do the comedy spot where Delfin does over-the-shoulder armbreakers without looking at whose arm is given to him, leading to the inevitable switch where he gets Naniwa's arm by mistake, while Sasuke and SATO cheer him on. They finish with some dives and Sasuke wins with his in-ring quebrada on Naniwa. Nothing exceptional, and I got the impression they mistimed a couple of things (like the breakup of the Delfin Clutch), but even by-numbers M-Pro from this period is fun to watch.
Second show is the commercial release of the July Champ Forum show I reviewed before, with clips from a few other matches. One thing I realise between my first and second watch is that Sasuke's in-ring quebrada press was pretty much his finish, which adds to the finish because he after Delfin kicks out of that at two, he tries a top-rope version (again for a two-count) then the pinning rana for the win. I'm always a fan of super-finishers in big matches, especially when convential weaponry has failed.
Monday, 5 April 2010
Michinoku Pro: 10th December 1993
There's lots of clipping in the early matches (Shiryu vs. Yakushiji, Wilkins vs. Hoshikawa, Gran Naniwa vs. Nakajima) leaving plenty of action and spots but not much sense of whether the matches were put together well. Probably somewhere in the middle. The Shinzaki and Damian vs. Predator and Yone Genjin had some nice bumping by Damien (who may or may not be the Perros del Mal affiliated Damian 666) and some surprisingly quick lucha sequences from the larger Predator, then a bunch of comedy spots which seemed to revolve around lots of miscommunication leaded to Shinzaki calming everything down with his powers. Again, this was clipped, but was fine for what it was.
Moving onto the matches that were more or less complete, Terry Boy, Battle Ranger and TAKA took on Ricky Fuji, Crazy Boy and Super Boy. This had plenty of quick exchanges and a lot of dominance by the technico side. The finish stretch was highspot heavy, but also featured a number of the sort of contrived bits I don't normally like (like synchronised toeholds and hurricanranas). You get the impression TAKA is starting to stand out - his dives are the most spectacular, and he takes the pinfall. That said, Terry Boy is by far the best for working for the crowd - his moveset is simpler and he openly interacts with them more. This was followed by a Sabu vs. Jerry Lynn match that was basically a spotfest. The most annoying bit was Sabu not breaking the table on his somersault dive, then Lynn being first up to try a powerbomb on the table. I'm always struck by how Japanese tables are actually made of tables.
Next up, Great Sasuke and Tarzan Goto vs. Mr Pogo and Masaru Toi. Nothing say's mid-90s Japanese indies like Tarzan Goto and Mr Pogo. This match was fantastic. It starts out as a brawl, and they keep an incredible pace when they finally get to the ring, with Sasuke running through his highspots and Goto being absolutely awesome punching and headbutting everything that got in his way. Sasuke goes for his quebrada, only to be hit with a cane mid-flight. What completely makes this match, however, is the heat section, where the heels tear up Sasuke's back with a splintered cane and the crowd are tremendous. Part of this is down to Goto, whose frustrated apron work allowing triple teaming in the ring was really great, and part is down to sticking to traditions- Sasuke manages two brief comeback, but is cut-off, before his third leads to a all-or-nothing dive to his corner and a genuinely hot tag. This leads to a great chop battle between Goto and Pogo, with the former finally running rampant, dropping Toi with a brainbuster, and bending a chair multiple times over his back. This all leads to Sasuke's revenge, bringing the crowd to it's peak, which was a couple of quick nearfalls, and a submission victory - a pleasingly short conclusion to an utterly wild match, which had a distinctly Southern feel, including the crowd. I'm sure Sasuke's selling and underdog act against the FMW guys is important to how much I liked this, but nothing compares to how into Tarzan Goto I was coming out of this match. Completely badass.
Main event is a mask match between Super Delfin and SATO. Not a huge amount of suspense over the outcome here. I was struck by the speed of some of the exchanges, especially watching SATO float around on the mat and some of the sequences off the ropes. I liked the build up of this, moving from Delfin being in control with a series of submissions, to SATO's run of near falls, interspersed with a couple of great highspots. SATO's no-hands somersault plancha is breathtaking. I did start to feel like the nearfalls were gettinga bit excessive, as moves started to get repeated for the same two-count result. However, I liked how Delfin finally regained the advantage, with an increasingly frustrated SATO risking everything on a top rope senton and missing, making him an easy target for a flash pinning german suplex.
A highly enjoyable show. The FMW tag is probably my favourite Sasuke match up to this point. Be warned: the quality of a lot of these shows is much lower than perhaps people have gotten used to. You are all spoiled. It's good for the soul to strain your eyes watching one blocky Asian leap at another, like we always used to (Note: it's not good for the eyes).
Moving onto the matches that were more or less complete, Terry Boy, Battle Ranger and TAKA took on Ricky Fuji, Crazy Boy and Super Boy. This had plenty of quick exchanges and a lot of dominance by the technico side. The finish stretch was highspot heavy, but also featured a number of the sort of contrived bits I don't normally like (like synchronised toeholds and hurricanranas). You get the impression TAKA is starting to stand out - his dives are the most spectacular, and he takes the pinfall. That said, Terry Boy is by far the best for working for the crowd - his moveset is simpler and he openly interacts with them more. This was followed by a Sabu vs. Jerry Lynn match that was basically a spotfest. The most annoying bit was Sabu not breaking the table on his somersault dive, then Lynn being first up to try a powerbomb on the table. I'm always struck by how Japanese tables are actually made of tables.
Next up, Great Sasuke and Tarzan Goto vs. Mr Pogo and Masaru Toi. Nothing say's mid-90s Japanese indies like Tarzan Goto and Mr Pogo. This match was fantastic. It starts out as a brawl, and they keep an incredible pace when they finally get to the ring, with Sasuke running through his highspots and Goto being absolutely awesome punching and headbutting everything that got in his way. Sasuke goes for his quebrada, only to be hit with a cane mid-flight. What completely makes this match, however, is the heat section, where the heels tear up Sasuke's back with a splintered cane and the crowd are tremendous. Part of this is down to Goto, whose frustrated apron work allowing triple teaming in the ring was really great, and part is down to sticking to traditions- Sasuke manages two brief comeback, but is cut-off, before his third leads to a all-or-nothing dive to his corner and a genuinely hot tag. This leads to a great chop battle between Goto and Pogo, with the former finally running rampant, dropping Toi with a brainbuster, and bending a chair multiple times over his back. This all leads to Sasuke's revenge, bringing the crowd to it's peak, which was a couple of quick nearfalls, and a submission victory - a pleasingly short conclusion to an utterly wild match, which had a distinctly Southern feel, including the crowd. I'm sure Sasuke's selling and underdog act against the FMW guys is important to how much I liked this, but nothing compares to how into Tarzan Goto I was coming out of this match. Completely badass.
Main event is a mask match between Super Delfin and SATO. Not a huge amount of suspense over the outcome here. I was struck by the speed of some of the exchanges, especially watching SATO float around on the mat and some of the sequences off the ropes. I liked the build up of this, moving from Delfin being in control with a series of submissions, to SATO's run of near falls, interspersed with a couple of great highspots. SATO's no-hands somersault plancha is breathtaking. I did start to feel like the nearfalls were gettinga bit excessive, as moves started to get repeated for the same two-count result. However, I liked how Delfin finally regained the advantage, with an increasingly frustrated SATO risking everything on a top rope senton and missing, making him an easy target for a flash pinning german suplex.
A highly enjoyable show. The FMW tag is probably my favourite Sasuke match up to this point. Be warned: the quality of a lot of these shows is much lower than perhaps people have gotten used to. You are all spoiled. It's good for the soul to strain your eyes watching one blocky Asian leap at another, like we always used to (Note: it's not good for the eyes).
Monday, 29 March 2010
A (Possible) Wrestlemania Live Blog
Monday, 18.17: By my reckoning, Wrestlemania actually finished 14 hours ago, which makes the use of the word 'live' in the title somewhat erroneous. To compensate, I'll be blogging not only on the wrestling I'm watching, but the life around me (small flat, wife watching awful celebrity ice skating TV, sausages cooking). A Wrestlemania/Life Blog, perhaps.
18.19: I press play on the legally obtained video on my computer. It's Wrestlemania. Wrestlemania! Wrestle! Mania! The Wrestlemania-ness of it all is overwhelming. The reception to Fantasia is underwhelming. Well done, universe. You remain in a perfect balance.
18.20: I hate patriotism. Not just the nauseating brand of US patriotism currently being shoved down my throat in this opening video. All patriotism. Hate it all. Except British patriotism.
18.24: Man, every year the introduction video gets more absurdily grandiose, yet still I get the chills. I don't know how they do it. Sausages are cooked.
18.25: I eat a sausage. It is good. My wife tells me to put the laptop down and concentrate on my dinner.
19.07: Let's try again. Tag title match first. Weeeellll....AWESOME....Big Show.
19.14: Rushed, but that was quite fun, especially (perhaps entirely) when Show was doing stuff. Pulling Miz out of the ring, throwing Truth into the post, bumping off the top, punching Morrison out.
19.18: Legacy triple threat next. One thing I like about this card is that there are a bunch of non-title feud matches. Most PPVs usually have one at most. Orton as babyface feels not right. Expecting the Breakdown 98 formula triple threat here.
19.26: I don't like fantasy booking, but it occurs this would have been better as a tag match, where Randy has to find a partner. And in my head, that partner would have been Dustin.
19.36: Predicable story aside, that was actually quite well done. Not much down time, some cool spots as Orton works out how to outsmart two opponents and there is apparently a lot of people that have been waiting a long time to cheer him. I'm glad he's still just doing his old character against heels, rather than turn face in some obvious, cliched way.
19.41: Money in the Bank. Not sure who I think is going to win this. What I do know is that Shelton Benjamin is the most athletically gifted Shelton Benjamin. I'm cheering on Christian.
19.54: I take a perverse amount of pleasure watching dumbass Kingston powerbombed headfirst into the ladder. Don't tell anyone how I live.
20.06: Kofi using the split ladders as stilts, hobbling across the ring, then slowly moving up the two is the most retardedly amusing thing I can remember in a WWE gimmick match.
20.14: Yeah, that was just a Money in the Bank match, and even by those standards, the spots weren't particularly crazy, and the finish was a little anticlimatic. This is a match that needs
20.29: I take a break to test my wife's new iPhone Shazam app. What an age. It got AFI, Phobia, and Akercocke ("Of Menstrual Blood and Semen? Gross"), but did not manage Sisters of Mercy. Or more correctly, it did not identify the right Sisters of Mercy. Ah, those similar bass-lines. Back to the show.
20.59: More distractions. How is Sheamus' first year unprecedented? WWE champion within the 12 months? That's been done. He's not even headlining Wrestlemania, placing him a rung behind Lesnar. He appears to be wrestling a black man. No, wait, that's Triple H.
21.05: Triple H and Sheamus are like night and day, except they wrestle the same minimal mobility weak brawling and resthold style. Triple H and Sheamus are like night and a particularly well-lit night.
21.16: Ugh. If there's an inverse relationship between match quality and how much Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler feel they need to talk afterwards about match quality, then I should note that Lawler says we just witnessed 'a classic'.
21.20: Hey, it's Wrestlemania 26. And I'm 26. I'd never really noticed before. I bet it's always been like that.
21.23: CM Punk is great.
21.25: I will say it again. CM Punk is great.
21.38: Punk vs. Rey was full of nice little moments, both guys laying into their kicks, Rey's moonsault DDT, several long complicated sequences that came off really smooth and all the setups to the 619. Far too short though to tell much of a story. Hopefully a precursor to a great rematch.
22.07: At some point in your life, you realise that you've just been watching one old man beat up an older man slowly for about twenty minutes, for no discernable reason. I guess the idea is that it was supposed to be cathartic to see a one-sided story of revenge, but it got tiring quickly. This didn't have the usual overbooking of a McMahon Wrestlemania match, partially because all the garbage stuff is probably not compatible with Bret's physical health. That said, if anything was crying out for distracting overbooking or people to fight as proxies for the two physically limited guys, it was this match.
22.18: Edge vs. Jericho. As the entrances happen, I check, and yes, I was 19 years old for Wrestlemania 19. When was the last time the Rumble winner actually main evented Wrestlemania, rather than just got a title shot? Answers on a postcard, not to be mailed.
22.42: As you would expect, this was a match with no body, because Edge can't work as a babyface. He can't really work as a heel, but at least his heel persona papers over the gaps. And this is the match you throw in all the gimmickry? - ref bumps, belt shots, multiple improbable kickouts. Even the post match fight used a gimmicked bump high spot, something he wouldn't need if Edge had credible looking offence. Basically, don't help out the old cripple whose at least earned the right for someone to cover for him, but do cover for the perfectly healthy guy who just can't put a match together. Jericho was fine here, he does his usual stuff and schtick (although a little downtuned). I actually liked the finisher theft stuff, for a change, given the build-up story of the spear being Jericho's constant come-uppance.
22.56: Divas take turns to do finishers. I can do maths, so I should be able to work out who wins. Mickie's DDT looked spectacular. Vickie pulls out the Malenko frogsplash. Points for getting that joke.
22.58: And they are actually going to main event with HBK and Taker.
23.02: This show needs to two great main events. By the way, I was seven during Wrestlemania 7. Curiouser and curiouser.
23.31: The wife has gone to sleep next to me, so I am typing less. Cena vs. Batista was no great surprise. It had the selling of a heavyweight clash, which I liked, and then the predicable counters of finishers which is fine, but not particularly exciting. Thought Cena's selling of the neck left a lot to be desired. On the other hand, I enjoyed Cena laughing his ass off with the pathetic-looking Cena haters.
Tuesday, 00.14: I will need to watch the main event again, but here are my initial thoughts. Firstly, this was clearly superior to last years effort. Last year's match has three sections. Ten minutes of meaningless mat stuff, the dives, the finisher stretch and selling. This might have been Taker's greatest performance, his selling both of the leg and of fatigue were incredible. The opening exchanges starting really energetically and felt meaningful - both going for weaknesses and fighting for positions. Possibly HBKs best performance since returning in 2002 as well, I can't really find fault with it. He's not the seller that Taker is, but his early stuff was really focused and believable, he was not afraid to bump all over and the moonsault spot was crazy. I'm glad they didn't repeat last year's dive section, opting instead to tease it and work in new spots. The final stretch became finishers and they probably stretched it out too long, but in the context I didn't really care. Main event of the biggest show of the year, leading to a retirement storyline permits you to stretch believability a little more than usual.
My major point about the match last year was that they more or less coasted on the vast resources given to the match - the buildup, the atmosphere, the time and the booking - and didn't create anything truly exceptional. I didn't feel that here. There was a strong sense of a real battle, a tremendous performance by Taker, and the feeling that the various elements came together as a gradual escalation than the preliminary section-dives-finishers layout of last year.
00.46: Time for sleep. Overall, a fairly middle of the road show, with just one excellent match. That said, I'll probably always watch Wrestlemania. I'll be there, watching Wrestlemania 80; God only knows how old I'll be then. Night.
18.19: I press play on the legally obtained video on my computer. It's Wrestlemania. Wrestlemania! Wrestle! Mania! The Wrestlemania-ness of it all is overwhelming. The reception to Fantasia is underwhelming. Well done, universe. You remain in a perfect balance.
18.20: I hate patriotism. Not just the nauseating brand of US patriotism currently being shoved down my throat in this opening video. All patriotism. Hate it all. Except British patriotism.
18.24: Man, every year the introduction video gets more absurdily grandiose, yet still I get the chills. I don't know how they do it. Sausages are cooked.
18.25: I eat a sausage. It is good. My wife tells me to put the laptop down and concentrate on my dinner.
19.07: Let's try again. Tag title match first. Weeeellll....AWESOME....Big Show.
19.14: Rushed, but that was quite fun, especially (perhaps entirely) when Show was doing stuff. Pulling Miz out of the ring, throwing Truth into the post, bumping off the top, punching Morrison out.
19.18: Legacy triple threat next. One thing I like about this card is that there are a bunch of non-title feud matches. Most PPVs usually have one at most. Orton as babyface feels not right. Expecting the Breakdown 98 formula triple threat here.
19.26: I don't like fantasy booking, but it occurs this would have been better as a tag match, where Randy has to find a partner. And in my head, that partner would have been Dustin.
19.36: Predicable story aside, that was actually quite well done. Not much down time, some cool spots as Orton works out how to outsmart two opponents and there is apparently a lot of people that have been waiting a long time to cheer him. I'm glad he's still just doing his old character against heels, rather than turn face in some obvious, cliched way.
19.41: Money in the Bank. Not sure who I think is going to win this. What I do know is that Shelton Benjamin is the most athletically gifted Shelton Benjamin. I'm cheering on Christian.
19.54: I take a perverse amount of pleasure watching dumbass Kingston powerbombed headfirst into the ladder. Don't tell anyone how I live.
20.06: Kofi using the split ladders as stilts, hobbling across the ring, then slowly moving up the two is the most retardedly amusing thing I can remember in a WWE gimmick match.
20.14: Yeah, that was just a Money in the Bank match, and even by those standards, the spots weren't particularly crazy, and the finish was a little anticlimatic. This is a match that needs
20.29: I take a break to test my wife's new iPhone Shazam app. What an age. It got AFI, Phobia, and Akercocke ("Of Menstrual Blood and Semen? Gross"), but did not manage Sisters of Mercy. Or more correctly, it did not identify the right Sisters of Mercy. Ah, those similar bass-lines. Back to the show.
20.59: More distractions. How is Sheamus' first year unprecedented? WWE champion within the 12 months? That's been done. He's not even headlining Wrestlemania, placing him a rung behind Lesnar. He appears to be wrestling a black man. No, wait, that's Triple H.
21.05: Triple H and Sheamus are like night and day, except they wrestle the same minimal mobility weak brawling and resthold style. Triple H and Sheamus are like night and a particularly well-lit night.
21.16: Ugh. If there's an inverse relationship between match quality and how much Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler feel they need to talk afterwards about match quality, then I should note that Lawler says we just witnessed 'a classic'.
21.20: Hey, it's Wrestlemania 26. And I'm 26. I'd never really noticed before. I bet it's always been like that.
21.23: CM Punk is great.
21.25: I will say it again. CM Punk is great.
21.38: Punk vs. Rey was full of nice little moments, both guys laying into their kicks, Rey's moonsault DDT, several long complicated sequences that came off really smooth and all the setups to the 619. Far too short though to tell much of a story. Hopefully a precursor to a great rematch.
22.07: At some point in your life, you realise that you've just been watching one old man beat up an older man slowly for about twenty minutes, for no discernable reason. I guess the idea is that it was supposed to be cathartic to see a one-sided story of revenge, but it got tiring quickly. This didn't have the usual overbooking of a McMahon Wrestlemania match, partially because all the garbage stuff is probably not compatible with Bret's physical health. That said, if anything was crying out for distracting overbooking or people to fight as proxies for the two physically limited guys, it was this match.
22.18: Edge vs. Jericho. As the entrances happen, I check, and yes, I was 19 years old for Wrestlemania 19. When was the last time the Rumble winner actually main evented Wrestlemania, rather than just got a title shot? Answers on a postcard, not to be mailed.
22.42: As you would expect, this was a match with no body, because Edge can't work as a babyface. He can't really work as a heel, but at least his heel persona papers over the gaps. And this is the match you throw in all the gimmickry? - ref bumps, belt shots, multiple improbable kickouts. Even the post match fight used a gimmicked bump high spot, something he wouldn't need if Edge had credible looking offence. Basically, don't help out the old cripple whose at least earned the right for someone to cover for him, but do cover for the perfectly healthy guy who just can't put a match together. Jericho was fine here, he does his usual stuff and schtick (although a little downtuned). I actually liked the finisher theft stuff, for a change, given the build-up story of the spear being Jericho's constant come-uppance.
22.56: Divas take turns to do finishers. I can do maths, so I should be able to work out who wins. Mickie's DDT looked spectacular. Vickie pulls out the Malenko frogsplash. Points for getting that joke.
22.58: And they are actually going to main event with HBK and Taker.
23.02: This show needs to two great main events. By the way, I was seven during Wrestlemania 7. Curiouser and curiouser.
23.31: The wife has gone to sleep next to me, so I am typing less. Cena vs. Batista was no great surprise. It had the selling of a heavyweight clash, which I liked, and then the predicable counters of finishers which is fine, but not particularly exciting. Thought Cena's selling of the neck left a lot to be desired. On the other hand, I enjoyed Cena laughing his ass off with the pathetic-looking Cena haters.
Tuesday, 00.14: I will need to watch the main event again, but here are my initial thoughts. Firstly, this was clearly superior to last years effort. Last year's match has three sections. Ten minutes of meaningless mat stuff, the dives, the finisher stretch and selling. This might have been Taker's greatest performance, his selling both of the leg and of fatigue were incredible. The opening exchanges starting really energetically and felt meaningful - both going for weaknesses and fighting for positions. Possibly HBKs best performance since returning in 2002 as well, I can't really find fault with it. He's not the seller that Taker is, but his early stuff was really focused and believable, he was not afraid to bump all over and the moonsault spot was crazy. I'm glad they didn't repeat last year's dive section, opting instead to tease it and work in new spots. The final stretch became finishers and they probably stretched it out too long, but in the context I didn't really care. Main event of the biggest show of the year, leading to a retirement storyline permits you to stretch believability a little more than usual.
My major point about the match last year was that they more or less coasted on the vast resources given to the match - the buildup, the atmosphere, the time and the booking - and didn't create anything truly exceptional. I didn't feel that here. There was a strong sense of a real battle, a tremendous performance by Taker, and the feeling that the various elements came together as a gradual escalation than the preliminary section-dives-finishers layout of last year.
00.46: Time for sleep. Overall, a fairly middle of the road show, with just one excellent match. That said, I'll probably always watch Wrestlemania. I'll be there, watching Wrestlemania 80; God only knows how old I'll be then. Night.
Sunday, 28 March 2010
Michinoku Pro: August 24th 1993
Sasuke sings well (and my audio is out) or lip syncs really badly to open the show. Then, Wellington Wilkins debuts against Naohiro Hoshikawa in some form of time-limit multi-fall worked shoot match. This was a complete squash, and not really a fun one. Wilkins takes the match 8-0 or something similar. Next match is a trios, with TAKA, Terry Boy and Jiraiya against Shiryu, Leopardo Negro and Mercurio. This started with some typically enjoyable exchanges. TAKA and Leopardo started out with some pretty stiff strikes. I particularly liked when Jiraiya and Mercurio would matched up, where they started off with Mercurio easily overpowering Jiraiya, tossing him over the ropes and throwing him around,. Then Jiraiya demands Mercurio not tag out and match up again, before working some cool little guy overcomes bigger guy spots. Mercurio was really fun stooging for Jiraiya both times they matched up, the second time bumping all over the ring of a series of unlikely armdrags. This sort of starts to develop a heat section on TAKA, but that ends after he backflips off the turnbuckle and the finish is a little messy, with Terry Boy doing a rolling pin where he kept banging into the guys in the middle of the ring. Still, this was a nice little undercard match.
Jinsei Shinzaki has a handicap match designed to make Jinsei Shinzaki look all-powerful. The semi-main is SATO and Piloto Suicida vs. Super Boy and Gran Naniwa. SATO is Dick Togo and he is pretty spectacular in his stuff against Super Boy. They're two chunky guys doing some really cool speedy matwork exchanges and, second time they match up, SATO pulls out a couple of no-hands top rope moves. Then they do a nice series of dropkicks where Super Boy repeatedly ricochets off the ropes before taking a nutty backwards over the top rope bump. I got the impression that this was a match where Piloto was supposed to be the star, given all his posturing to the crowd, but by comparison, his actual work with Naniwa is a lot less impressive and basic. SATO's first exchange with Naniwa were much more exciting, a bunch of quick takedowns, and handstand into a headscissors and (because this is Dick Togo) just punches him in the face. Actually, this was quite a one-sided - the rudos had a few sections in control, but that mainly seemed to be filler. I am excited for all the future SATO/Togo.
The main event is a rematch for UWA Welterweight title between Sasuke and Super Delfin. This starts off a lot more technical and mat-based than the first match, and relies at lot less heavily on Delfin's rudo stuff. Delfin, as challenger rather than champion, is a lot more focused, postures less and is noticeably more aggressive. There's a lariat in the middle looks to hit really hard. Sasuke, I notice particularly in this match, is just an exceptional bumper - each little bump seems to be done in such a way to maximise how impactful moves look, even if it's just an armdrag or hiptoss. He has this great way of bumping off taking armdrags his arms and legs are spread wide so it looks completely really quick and reckless, and he goes over the top moreso that round to the side wherever possible, so to fall flatter on his back. A minute detail, but I appreciated it.
I mentioned in the first match how there was some odd structuring decisions, like how they'd go from picking up the pace to more feeling out matwork, which runs contrary to usual ideas about build. I'm not sure I dislike it per se, but it struck me as a little strange. There was a few similar things here, like how Sasuke's comebacks were often a submission hold or takedown, but overall that fit better because this was a very in-ring match, which led to a few nice moments of tussling for position on the submissions. These are two guys who just work well together - it's not a very deep match in terms of story or ideas, but all their interactions are just pleasingly well put together and it feels like they move naturally from one bit to the next. Shinzaki causes Sasuke to lose the title, and I am really looking forward to that match because while I permanently love Sasuke, I'm really into the 1993 Jinsei Shinzaki.
Jinsei Shinzaki has a handicap match designed to make Jinsei Shinzaki look all-powerful. The semi-main is SATO and Piloto Suicida vs. Super Boy and Gran Naniwa. SATO is Dick Togo and he is pretty spectacular in his stuff against Super Boy. They're two chunky guys doing some really cool speedy matwork exchanges and, second time they match up, SATO pulls out a couple of no-hands top rope moves. Then they do a nice series of dropkicks where Super Boy repeatedly ricochets off the ropes before taking a nutty backwards over the top rope bump. I got the impression that this was a match where Piloto was supposed to be the star, given all his posturing to the crowd, but by comparison, his actual work with Naniwa is a lot less impressive and basic. SATO's first exchange with Naniwa were much more exciting, a bunch of quick takedowns, and handstand into a headscissors and (because this is Dick Togo) just punches him in the face. Actually, this was quite a one-sided - the rudos had a few sections in control, but that mainly seemed to be filler. I am excited for all the future SATO/Togo.
The main event is a rematch for UWA Welterweight title between Sasuke and Super Delfin. This starts off a lot more technical and mat-based than the first match, and relies at lot less heavily on Delfin's rudo stuff. Delfin, as challenger rather than champion, is a lot more focused, postures less and is noticeably more aggressive. There's a lariat in the middle looks to hit really hard. Sasuke, I notice particularly in this match, is just an exceptional bumper - each little bump seems to be done in such a way to maximise how impactful moves look, even if it's just an armdrag or hiptoss. He has this great way of bumping off taking armdrags his arms and legs are spread wide so it looks completely really quick and reckless, and he goes over the top moreso that round to the side wherever possible, so to fall flatter on his back. A minute detail, but I appreciated it.
I mentioned in the first match how there was some odd structuring decisions, like how they'd go from picking up the pace to more feeling out matwork, which runs contrary to usual ideas about build. I'm not sure I dislike it per se, but it struck me as a little strange. There was a few similar things here, like how Sasuke's comebacks were often a submission hold or takedown, but overall that fit better because this was a very in-ring match, which led to a few nice moments of tussling for position on the submissions. These are two guys who just work well together - it's not a very deep match in terms of story or ideas, but all their interactions are just pleasingly well put together and it feels like they move naturally from one bit to the next. Shinzaki causes Sasuke to lose the title, and I am really looking forward to that match because while I permanently love Sasuke, I'm really into the 1993 Jinsei Shinzaki.
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Craig's Puro matches of the year 2009
The DVDVR poll is finished, here's my final top 20 for 2009:
1. Kenou vs. Fujita "Jr" Hayato, (M-Pro, September 5th)
2. Koji Kanemoto vs. Hayato "Jr" Fujita (New Japan, December 19th)
3. Daisuke Ikeda & Takeshi Ono vs Takahiro Ohba & Manabu Suruga (FUTEN, April 9th)
4. Yuko Miyamoto & Takeshi Sasaki vs Isami Kodaka & Mashashi Takeda, (Big Japan, March 26th)
5. Fujita "Jr" Hayato vs. The Great Sasuke (June 19th, M-Pro)
6. Alexander Otsuka vs. Yujiro Yamamoto (BattlArts, February 15th)
7. Kenou vs. Fujita "Jr" Hayato, (M-Pro, December 12th)
8. Super Tiger II vs Katsumi Usuda (Battlarts, August 30th)
9. Yoshihiro Takayama vs Satoshi Kojima (AJPW, September 26th)
10. Munenori Sawa vs Yujiro Yamamoto (Battlarts, August 30th)
11. Katsumi Usuda vs Yujiro Yamamoto (Battlarts, July 27th)
12. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs. KENTA & Jun Akiyama (NOAH, October 3rd)
13. Fujita "Jr" Hayato vs. The Great Sasuke (November 8th, M-Pro)
14. KENTA vs. Jun Akiyama (NOAH, May 17th)
15. Alexander Otsuka vs. Akira Shoji (RJPW, September 11th)
16. Yuki Ishikawa vs Yuta Yoshikawa (Battlarts, August 30th)
17. Taiyo Kea & Minoru Suzuki vs. Suwama & Shuji Kondo, (All Japan, March 14th)
18. Shinsuke Nakamura & Hirooki Goto vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Takashi Sugiura (NJPW January 4th)
19. Kota Ibushi vs Shuji Ishikawa (DDT, November 29th)
20. Yuki Ishikawa vs Tiger Shark (Battlarts, July 27th)
1. Kenou vs. Fujita "Jr" Hayato, (M-Pro, September 5th)
2. Koji Kanemoto vs. Hayato "Jr" Fujita (New Japan, December 19th)
3. Daisuke Ikeda & Takeshi Ono vs Takahiro Ohba & Manabu Suruga (FUTEN, April 9th)
4. Yuko Miyamoto & Takeshi Sasaki vs Isami Kodaka & Mashashi Takeda, (Big Japan, March 26th)
5. Fujita "Jr" Hayato vs. The Great Sasuke (June 19th, M-Pro)
6. Alexander Otsuka vs. Yujiro Yamamoto (BattlArts, February 15th)
7. Kenou vs. Fujita "Jr" Hayato, (M-Pro, December 12th)
8. Super Tiger II vs Katsumi Usuda (Battlarts, August 30th)
9. Yoshihiro Takayama vs Satoshi Kojima (AJPW, September 26th)
10. Munenori Sawa vs Yujiro Yamamoto (Battlarts, August 30th)
11. Katsumi Usuda vs Yujiro Yamamoto (Battlarts, July 27th)
12. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs. KENTA & Jun Akiyama (NOAH, October 3rd)
13. Fujita "Jr" Hayato vs. The Great Sasuke (November 8th, M-Pro)
14. KENTA vs. Jun Akiyama (NOAH, May 17th)
15. Alexander Otsuka vs. Akira Shoji (RJPW, September 11th)
16. Yuki Ishikawa vs Yuta Yoshikawa (Battlarts, August 30th)
17. Taiyo Kea & Minoru Suzuki vs. Suwama & Shuji Kondo, (All Japan, March 14th)
18. Shinsuke Nakamura & Hirooki Goto vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Takashi Sugiura (NJPW January 4th)
19. Kota Ibushi vs Shuji Ishikawa (DDT, November 29th)
20. Yuki Ishikawa vs Tiger Shark (Battlarts, July 27th)
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Craig's Top 100 wrestlers of 2009 - numbers 13 to 20
Number 21 to 100 here.
13. Todd Morton - I never got to see any of Todd Morton's matches against Bull Pain or Mitch Ryder, but I did see him matched up against Bill Dundee and Chase Stevens, which was enough to switch me on to his act. He is what modern wrestling should be about: not trying to invent a new style, but taking something timeless and making in contemporary. In Morton's case, he has the schtick and mannerisms of a old Southern heel, but with the hard bumping and speed of a junior heavyweight. I think you have to work hard to get the same schtick over with modern audiences more hip to the functioning of pro wrestling, and I don't think there's anyone in the US who will work as hard as Morton. Like all the greats of US wrestling, he gets so much mileage out of the smallest things.
14. Dr. Cerebro - As part of the trio with Black Terry and Cerebro Negro, Dr Cerebro has been in some of the best lucha matches of 2009. One of the reasons they are a great trio is that they can scale back or ramp up the degree of rudoism depending on their opponents (less vs. Oficiales, more vs. Zatura and Traumas), which gives them a wide range of roles within the promotion. I've been a big fan of his matwork in particular all year, his exchanges with Trauma II and one of the Piratas on par with that of his trio captain. He is a rock-solid hand as a brawler (check either of the two Dinastia Navarro revanchas from April) and as a bumper. I'm enjoyed his singles match with Juvi from June and I'm looking forward to 2010 Dr Cerebro flying solo more often.
15. Trauma II - There have been enough people who have already said that Trauma II is the most improved guy of the year. Plenty have pointed to his seeming need to be carried through mat sequences in the early Navarro/Terribles match, and how his abilities in this area have grown out of all proportion since that time. They point to his title match with Zatura as a truly modern lucha libre match, a blend of classic title match that works lots of other ideas (targetted limbwork, finisher stretch), as one of the most creative and satisfying matches of the year. All these things are true, and they get him this placing on my list.
16. Yoshihiro Takayama - 2009 was a year Takayama had a number of opportunities, after winning the Triple Crown, and he took them. Had possibly the only good Mutoh match of the year, where the selling of the leg gave a purpose to Mutoh's usual repetitive act. The title change with Kojima was a really good heavyweight match, probably his best match of the year, and the finish to the Suwama match was possibly the most unearthly violent thing I've seen in 2009 (review of both matches here). I'm someone who enjoys facials, and Takayama always brings great facials, as well the sort of simple yet violent moveset and match layout I prefer.
17. Great Sasuke - It's no secret to regular readers of this blog that I'm a fan of current Sasuke (my full Sasuke project match index is here). As far as 2009 goes, I recommend both his serious work (had great matches with Hayato "Jr" Fujita and a good one with TAKA) and his comedy work (his Sumo Hall match was a delightful bit of absurdist theatre). He was the best guy in an otherwise tedious tag match in Kensuke Office too. He still does impressive highspot, bumps like a guy half his age, is one of the best sellers in Japan, is highly creative and plays a great gullible mark in comedy matches. So there.
18. Arkangel De La Muerte - Arkangel usually works rudo captain in undercard trios with his Tuareg stable, which are where my favourite CMLL matches are found. Nearly on Virus' level as a rudo carrying someone through long mat sequences, he's also a great bumper and base for the bland flyers he's often paired with. The best Arkangel matches in 2009 are probably during the feud with the Angels trios, especially the one with Virus and Bronco from December.
19. Yujiro Yamamoto - I've rewatched a couple of BattlArts matches since I submitted this ballot, and think I may have underrated Yamamoto even at this position. A fantastic matworker, as shown in his matches with Otsuka and Usuda (both top 20 Japan matches for me), he's the only young BattlArts worker who look on the level with their older elites, especially when carry lesser guys on the mat. His match was Sawa was as stiff a contest as I saw anywhere else this year. He, like the best BattlArts guys, is a details wrestler, the intracies of a hold or the way he works into a dominant position are perhaps the most satisfying part of his matches. A future potential number one.
20. Valiente - As well as being a spectacular flyer (his no hands top rope quebrada is possibly the most breathtaking highspot in lucha, if not all of wrestling), Valiente has produced some of the best matwork falls in CMLL this year, and is more than up to the task of keeping up with Virus in both trios and their cool little lightning match in April. I have a bias towards rudos in rankings like this, because they do more of the things I care about in wrestling. Valiente is a technico is just as able as any rudo at holding a match together, especially as a captain, knowing when to hold off and when to let loose with something dazzling.
13. Todd Morton - I never got to see any of Todd Morton's matches against Bull Pain or Mitch Ryder, but I did see him matched up against Bill Dundee and Chase Stevens, which was enough to switch me on to his act. He is what modern wrestling should be about: not trying to invent a new style, but taking something timeless and making in contemporary. In Morton's case, he has the schtick and mannerisms of a old Southern heel, but with the hard bumping and speed of a junior heavyweight. I think you have to work hard to get the same schtick over with modern audiences more hip to the functioning of pro wrestling, and I don't think there's anyone in the US who will work as hard as Morton. Like all the greats of US wrestling, he gets so much mileage out of the smallest things.
14. Dr. Cerebro - As part of the trio with Black Terry and Cerebro Negro, Dr Cerebro has been in some of the best lucha matches of 2009. One of the reasons they are a great trio is that they can scale back or ramp up the degree of rudoism depending on their opponents (less vs. Oficiales, more vs. Zatura and Traumas), which gives them a wide range of roles within the promotion. I've been a big fan of his matwork in particular all year, his exchanges with Trauma II and one of the Piratas on par with that of his trio captain. He is a rock-solid hand as a brawler (check either of the two Dinastia Navarro revanchas from April) and as a bumper. I'm enjoyed his singles match with Juvi from June and I'm looking forward to 2010 Dr Cerebro flying solo more often.
15. Trauma II - There have been enough people who have already said that Trauma II is the most improved guy of the year. Plenty have pointed to his seeming need to be carried through mat sequences in the early Navarro/Terribles match, and how his abilities in this area have grown out of all proportion since that time. They point to his title match with Zatura as a truly modern lucha libre match, a blend of classic title match that works lots of other ideas (targetted limbwork, finisher stretch), as one of the most creative and satisfying matches of the year. All these things are true, and they get him this placing on my list.
16. Yoshihiro Takayama - 2009 was a year Takayama had a number of opportunities, after winning the Triple Crown, and he took them. Had possibly the only good Mutoh match of the year, where the selling of the leg gave a purpose to Mutoh's usual repetitive act. The title change with Kojima was a really good heavyweight match, probably his best match of the year, and the finish to the Suwama match was possibly the most unearthly violent thing I've seen in 2009 (review of both matches here). I'm someone who enjoys facials, and Takayama always brings great facials, as well the sort of simple yet violent moveset and match layout I prefer.
17. Great Sasuke - It's no secret to regular readers of this blog that I'm a fan of current Sasuke (my full Sasuke project match index is here). As far as 2009 goes, I recommend both his serious work (had great matches with Hayato "Jr" Fujita and a good one with TAKA) and his comedy work (his Sumo Hall match was a delightful bit of absurdist theatre). He was the best guy in an otherwise tedious tag match in Kensuke Office too. He still does impressive highspot, bumps like a guy half his age, is one of the best sellers in Japan, is highly creative and plays a great gullible mark in comedy matches. So there.
18. Arkangel De La Muerte - Arkangel usually works rudo captain in undercard trios with his Tuareg stable, which are where my favourite CMLL matches are found. Nearly on Virus' level as a rudo carrying someone through long mat sequences, he's also a great bumper and base for the bland flyers he's often paired with. The best Arkangel matches in 2009 are probably during the feud with the Angels trios, especially the one with Virus and Bronco from December.
19. Yujiro Yamamoto - I've rewatched a couple of BattlArts matches since I submitted this ballot, and think I may have underrated Yamamoto even at this position. A fantastic matworker, as shown in his matches with Otsuka and Usuda (both top 20 Japan matches for me), he's the only young BattlArts worker who look on the level with their older elites, especially when carry lesser guys on the mat. His match was Sawa was as stiff a contest as I saw anywhere else this year. He, like the best BattlArts guys, is a details wrestler, the intracies of a hold or the way he works into a dominant position are perhaps the most satisfying part of his matches. A future potential number one.
20. Valiente - As well as being a spectacular flyer (his no hands top rope quebrada is possibly the most breathtaking highspot in lucha, if not all of wrestling), Valiente has produced some of the best matwork falls in CMLL this year, and is more than up to the task of keeping up with Virus in both trios and their cool little lightning match in April. I have a bias towards rudos in rankings like this, because they do more of the things I care about in wrestling. Valiente is a technico is just as able as any rudo at holding a match together, especially as a captain, knowing when to hold off and when to let loose with something dazzling.
Monday, 1 March 2010
Lucha Libre Mexicana in Brussels: A Day
Ah, Brussels. To me, the very name conjures up an image of the people of Brussels going about their lives and their work in the city where they work and live. Of course, whatever else you may think, there is one thing we can all agree on - Brussels is not in Oxford. Yet, that is where I found myself on Sunday morning, nine hours before the Cirque Royal hosted the second of two Todo X El Todo shows which I had a ticket for.
I set off at half five of the morn, first by car (Suzuki Swift, my flat to the bus stop), then by bus (Oxford Espress, bus stop to Baker Street) then by underground train (underground train, Baker Street to London St Pancras). I have never travelled on the Eurostar before, and it was an enjoyable experience. Recent air journeys has conditioned me to associate checking in and passport control with invasive personal searches and ludicrous restrictions on hand luggage contents, so it was refreshing to meet the bored eyes of an attendent who couldn't care less if I went through the scanner laden with metal coins and have packed in my bag a bottle of (non-clear) Apple Tango. Ha! The fools. They won't be so care-free when I work out how to make an explosive device out of metal coins and (non-clear) Apple Tango. I concede that the prototypes have been failures, mainly looking like damp metal coins.
I watched some of disc three of the New Japan set on the train (Killer Khan vs. Andre is a really great match, Bret Hart vs. Tiger Mask is a really bad match) and listened to Immortal's 'Pure Holocaust' on the iPod, then arrived at Brussels Midi at 12.30pm, Belgian time, and took the metro to Madou, the final leg of the journey. It was at this point I stepped outside for the first time since Baker Street. The first thing you notice about Brussels is how cold and wet it is during a freak storm which killed fifty people in France that day. I walked towards Grand Place for a quick ham and cheese omlette, chips and a Tongerlo Dubbel (brune, if you're asking), Belgian beer being a secondary reason for making a day trip to Brussels. Back to the theatre for 2.30pm, collected tickets, took seats.
The Cirque Royal was a really nice venue, seating down to floor level all the way around the ring, then a huge ring of balcony seats going up a long way. According to Santo, the Saturday show was a sell-out. This was not, however, but most of the lower seats were full. The crowd was a mixture, plenty of masked children in Rey Mysterio t-shirts with parents, some older rowdy teens and then plenty of couples both young and old who had gone out for the Sunday to watch some lucha libre. There was no-one there who looked liked they be chanting at a wXw show, for example.
The show started about twenty minutes late, which is practically early by most lucha shows standard. There were two annoucers, one in French and the other in Flemish due to the biligual status of Belgium's capital. I was waiting for Terry Wogan to summarise it in English (a niche joke, at best). They were probably doing the standard "lucha for non-lucha fans" spiel about lucha being about good vs. evil, technicos vs. rudos and then, out of nowhere they are both saying "Black Terry", and I shot out of my mental happy place where I retreat every time foreign languages are spoken around me. Black Terry is my favourite luchadore in the world, I was thinking only last week how I may never see him live as he doesn't seem to be one of the guys who does Santo's European tours. And there he is, first guy out. In a referee's top. Mother of fuck. Who flies Black Terry out to Belgium just to referee? I will tell you now: it was not a Jesus who loves me.
Anyway, we are five paragraphs in, so let's talk about the wrestling. The opening match was the minis title match, with Octagoncito against Mascarita Dorado (who, unless I've forgotten what he normally wears, was dressed as a mini el Hijo del Santo. A Santitocito, if you will). I thought this worked well as an introduction to the style, which is a good idea on a show promoted as much to art fans as to die-hard lucha fans. They started simple, with the rowdy teens ironically cheering every takedown and moved on to some arm drags and other lucha rope running stuff. They seemed to be having some problem with the ropes, which were too loose. Also, Dorada ended up botching a springboard moosault after slipping off the top rope. Octagon drew boos by pelting Dorada in the chest a bunch of times, and it was nice to be amongst people who aren't desensitised to that. Slaps to the chest, as we shall see, were a great way of getting heel heat on this show. I think I was hoping for something more spectacular though, Dorado seemed quite restrained. This wasn't, for example, the exhibition that Dorada vs. Pequeno Damien 666 was from last year, but then Octagoncito is nowhere near the base that Damien is.
Next up was Solar vs. Negro Navarro. They were wrestling an una caida match, so we got a sixteen minute matwork masterclass, as they worked through some of their extensive repetoire. They build up from simple takedowns to longer counter wrestling sequences and more unlikely submission and while I'm aware this may be a minority interest - it did not strike me that many people around the arena were watching this thinking to themselves, "here's the WKO100 third best wrestler of 2009" - I found it mesmerising. I think I may have been sat agog because I had the sense that the little Mysterio-shirted kid next to me was looking at me as if to say, "Whats so great about this? Where's the 619?". "Screw you, little kid", I said back inside my brain, "and watch these two guys take each other down in 619 different ways". Yes, I'm quite the quick thinker when I have time to write down an imaginary conversation nearly a day later.
I guess, objectively, it was about standard for them, but there were a couple of thing I found from seeing the live version. Firstly, they never stop talking. It's either meaningless noise or Spanish (the happy place again beckons), but it really adds to the competitive one-upmanship. Secondly, one of the reasons they work so well together is the way they split to roles. Solar is constantly interacting with the crowd, posing, encouraging them to cheer, whilst Navarro is nearly stoic, occasionally nodding his head when he knows he's been bested or sniffing in derision. Standing there, he looks like the toughest human being on the planet, it is an aura that almost can not be quantified, and only live performances do it justice. After about fifteen minutes of matwork, Navarro slaps Solar in the chest and the audience really react, whilst he slowly turns his head around to look at the most vocal with a slight smile and menace in his eyes. Just a tremendous performance.
After an interval of thirty minutes, they introduce a title match between Angel Blanco and Hurracan Ramirez Jr. This wasn't particularly good, and was the time during the show when my brain really went, "you booked this over a Black Terry match? He's standing right there, and he would have made Ramirez look amazing". Angel Blanco did some decent bumping, but this mainly struck me as not having many ideas, and the ones they did have weren't really well executed. They even did two near identical tope spots.
The main event was Cassandro and El Hijo del Santo vs. Magno and el Hijo del Solitario. Right up front - this was the most fun I have ever had watching a wrestling match ever. Before I start wheeling out superlatives, this was a best of three fall match with a classic formula: technico fall, rudo fall, comeback technico fall. Cassandro comes out and I will say (as a tribute to Eric), he was wearing a fabulous two piece robe radiating the same brilliant blue as the heavens from where he descended. This is what he was wearing the night before. He had unreal hair both days, looked truly beautiful and felt a confusion I had not felt since my corporal beatings in the headmasters office during my boarding days at Repton. I have seen two recent Cassandro matches previously, yet from those and (mostly) from this, I have no problem calling him the most spectacular wrestler, anywhere, in the world.
I love the reaction he got, which was identical to the first time I saw him in the London show. I didn't understand the tradition of exoticos in lucha libre, assumed he'd do an entertaining gay or drag queen act with a load of schtick. What nobody expected is the extent of his athletic gifts. His first armdrag and flip up are met with a collective "Wha?". From then on he continued to amaze a crowd that was already won over. His execution is perfect. His workrate is tireless - he'll go from one takedown, to a quick hip shake at the crowd then run straight into the next sequence. He drops in comedy spots before doing something else. I loved his rope running bit where he prances over Solitario. I got the impression from the short video on Belgian TV that on the first night Santo, maybe the luchadore with the all-time most beautiful opening fall work, did a lot more of his spots in the first caida. In this match he took a back seat and allowed Cassandro a complete showcase. They also both seemed to be having a great time, Cassandro was smiling almost constantly between bits, which could only add to the enjoyment.
Santo is someone I love watching so much that providing I see him once in a year, for long enough to go, "yeah, he's still El Hijo del motherfucking Santo", he'll appear in my list of the best wrestlers alive. I also really enjoyed the rudos. El Hijo del Solitario was hugely entertaining, from the moment he camply ran to the ring lip-syncing to AC/DC's 'You Shook Me All Night Long', thrusting himself into the turnbuckle. He ran up into the crowd at the start to shout at a teen, followed by Santo who walloped him in the middle of the people. Both rudos bumped all over and did everything they needed to do in a match all about the technicos. They both also had some really stiff strikes, I remember Cassandro taking an audibly nasty right hand from Magno to the side of the head, and Santo ends up sprawled across the front row while Solitario chopped him right in the chest. In fact, the rudos were so aggressive in the second fall that they had the old lady (and many others) next to me covering her eyes after a series of strikes, then a senton, then a double team assisted front lungblower.
The deciding fall finished with stereo topes (the ring rocking as our technicos hit the ropes at the same time), Santo's like a dart and Cassandro's with a little giro. Our seats were above to exit right in front of the ring, so the dives came towards and then under us. The visual of seeing Santo and Cassandro dive out of the ring and then right out of sight was amazing. The whole theatre, young children and elderly couples alike, cheered and laughed and clapped in awe and it was just a fantastic moment.
After the show I followed a similar route to the one I took there, only in reverse. I forwent stopping around afterwards for photos to make sure I made my train, only realising when I got there how much time I would have had to spare. In keeping with a theme I listened to Immortal's 'Sons of Northern Darkness' and watched a couple more New Japan matches, but mostly half-slept. I got home at half ten, British time, and then did the other half of the sleep. A good day.
I set off at half five of the morn, first by car (Suzuki Swift, my flat to the bus stop), then by bus (Oxford Espress, bus stop to Baker Street) then by underground train (underground train, Baker Street to London St Pancras). I have never travelled on the Eurostar before, and it was an enjoyable experience. Recent air journeys has conditioned me to associate checking in and passport control with invasive personal searches and ludicrous restrictions on hand luggage contents, so it was refreshing to meet the bored eyes of an attendent who couldn't care less if I went through the scanner laden with metal coins and have packed in my bag a bottle of (non-clear) Apple Tango. Ha! The fools. They won't be so care-free when I work out how to make an explosive device out of metal coins and (non-clear) Apple Tango. I concede that the prototypes have been failures, mainly looking like damp metal coins.
I watched some of disc three of the New Japan set on the train (Killer Khan vs. Andre is a really great match, Bret Hart vs. Tiger Mask is a really bad match) and listened to Immortal's 'Pure Holocaust' on the iPod, then arrived at Brussels Midi at 12.30pm, Belgian time, and took the metro to Madou, the final leg of the journey. It was at this point I stepped outside for the first time since Baker Street. The first thing you notice about Brussels is how cold and wet it is during a freak storm which killed fifty people in France that day. I walked towards Grand Place for a quick ham and cheese omlette, chips and a Tongerlo Dubbel (brune, if you're asking), Belgian beer being a secondary reason for making a day trip to Brussels. Back to the theatre for 2.30pm, collected tickets, took seats.
The Cirque Royal was a really nice venue, seating down to floor level all the way around the ring, then a huge ring of balcony seats going up a long way. According to Santo, the Saturday show was a sell-out. This was not, however, but most of the lower seats were full. The crowd was a mixture, plenty of masked children in Rey Mysterio t-shirts with parents, some older rowdy teens and then plenty of couples both young and old who had gone out for the Sunday to watch some lucha libre. There was no-one there who looked liked they be chanting at a wXw show, for example.
The show started about twenty minutes late, which is practically early by most lucha shows standard. There were two annoucers, one in French and the other in Flemish due to the biligual status of Belgium's capital. I was waiting for Terry Wogan to summarise it in English (a niche joke, at best). They were probably doing the standard "lucha for non-lucha fans" spiel about lucha being about good vs. evil, technicos vs. rudos and then, out of nowhere they are both saying "Black Terry", and I shot out of my mental happy place where I retreat every time foreign languages are spoken around me. Black Terry is my favourite luchadore in the world, I was thinking only last week how I may never see him live as he doesn't seem to be one of the guys who does Santo's European tours. And there he is, first guy out. In a referee's top. Mother of fuck. Who flies Black Terry out to Belgium just to referee? I will tell you now: it was not a Jesus who loves me.
Anyway, we are five paragraphs in, so let's talk about the wrestling. The opening match was the minis title match, with Octagoncito against Mascarita Dorado (who, unless I've forgotten what he normally wears, was dressed as a mini el Hijo del Santo. A Santitocito, if you will). I thought this worked well as an introduction to the style, which is a good idea on a show promoted as much to art fans as to die-hard lucha fans. They started simple, with the rowdy teens ironically cheering every takedown and moved on to some arm drags and other lucha rope running stuff. They seemed to be having some problem with the ropes, which were too loose. Also, Dorada ended up botching a springboard moosault after slipping off the top rope. Octagon drew boos by pelting Dorada in the chest a bunch of times, and it was nice to be amongst people who aren't desensitised to that. Slaps to the chest, as we shall see, were a great way of getting heel heat on this show. I think I was hoping for something more spectacular though, Dorado seemed quite restrained. This wasn't, for example, the exhibition that Dorada vs. Pequeno Damien 666 was from last year, but then Octagoncito is nowhere near the base that Damien is.
Next up was Solar vs. Negro Navarro. They were wrestling an una caida match, so we got a sixteen minute matwork masterclass, as they worked through some of their extensive repetoire. They build up from simple takedowns to longer counter wrestling sequences and more unlikely submission and while I'm aware this may be a minority interest - it did not strike me that many people around the arena were watching this thinking to themselves, "here's the WKO100 third best wrestler of 2009" - I found it mesmerising. I think I may have been sat agog because I had the sense that the little Mysterio-shirted kid next to me was looking at me as if to say, "Whats so great about this? Where's the 619?". "Screw you, little kid", I said back inside my brain, "and watch these two guys take each other down in 619 different ways". Yes, I'm quite the quick thinker when I have time to write down an imaginary conversation nearly a day later.
I guess, objectively, it was about standard for them, but there were a couple of thing I found from seeing the live version. Firstly, they never stop talking. It's either meaningless noise or Spanish (the happy place again beckons), but it really adds to the competitive one-upmanship. Secondly, one of the reasons they work so well together is the way they split to roles. Solar is constantly interacting with the crowd, posing, encouraging them to cheer, whilst Navarro is nearly stoic, occasionally nodding his head when he knows he's been bested or sniffing in derision. Standing there, he looks like the toughest human being on the planet, it is an aura that almost can not be quantified, and only live performances do it justice. After about fifteen minutes of matwork, Navarro slaps Solar in the chest and the audience really react, whilst he slowly turns his head around to look at the most vocal with a slight smile and menace in his eyes. Just a tremendous performance.
After an interval of thirty minutes, they introduce a title match between Angel Blanco and Hurracan Ramirez Jr. This wasn't particularly good, and was the time during the show when my brain really went, "you booked this over a Black Terry match? He's standing right there, and he would have made Ramirez look amazing". Angel Blanco did some decent bumping, but this mainly struck me as not having many ideas, and the ones they did have weren't really well executed. They even did two near identical tope spots.
The main event was Cassandro and El Hijo del Santo vs. Magno and el Hijo del Solitario. Right up front - this was the most fun I have ever had watching a wrestling match ever. Before I start wheeling out superlatives, this was a best of three fall match with a classic formula: technico fall, rudo fall, comeback technico fall. Cassandro comes out and I will say (as a tribute to Eric), he was wearing a fabulous two piece robe radiating the same brilliant blue as the heavens from where he descended. This is what he was wearing the night before. He had unreal hair both days, looked truly beautiful and felt a confusion I had not felt since my corporal beatings in the headmasters office during my boarding days at Repton. I have seen two recent Cassandro matches previously, yet from those and (mostly) from this, I have no problem calling him the most spectacular wrestler, anywhere, in the world.
I love the reaction he got, which was identical to the first time I saw him in the London show. I didn't understand the tradition of exoticos in lucha libre, assumed he'd do an entertaining gay or drag queen act with a load of schtick. What nobody expected is the extent of his athletic gifts. His first armdrag and flip up are met with a collective "Wha?". From then on he continued to amaze a crowd that was already won over. His execution is perfect. His workrate is tireless - he'll go from one takedown, to a quick hip shake at the crowd then run straight into the next sequence. He drops in comedy spots before doing something else. I loved his rope running bit where he prances over Solitario. I got the impression from the short video on Belgian TV that on the first night Santo, maybe the luchadore with the all-time most beautiful opening fall work, did a lot more of his spots in the first caida. In this match he took a back seat and allowed Cassandro a complete showcase. They also both seemed to be having a great time, Cassandro was smiling almost constantly between bits, which could only add to the enjoyment.
Santo is someone I love watching so much that providing I see him once in a year, for long enough to go, "yeah, he's still El Hijo del motherfucking Santo", he'll appear in my list of the best wrestlers alive. I also really enjoyed the rudos. El Hijo del Solitario was hugely entertaining, from the moment he camply ran to the ring lip-syncing to AC/DC's 'You Shook Me All Night Long', thrusting himself into the turnbuckle. He ran up into the crowd at the start to shout at a teen, followed by Santo who walloped him in the middle of the people. Both rudos bumped all over and did everything they needed to do in a match all about the technicos. They both also had some really stiff strikes, I remember Cassandro taking an audibly nasty right hand from Magno to the side of the head, and Santo ends up sprawled across the front row while Solitario chopped him right in the chest. In fact, the rudos were so aggressive in the second fall that they had the old lady (and many others) next to me covering her eyes after a series of strikes, then a senton, then a double team assisted front lungblower.
The deciding fall finished with stereo topes (the ring rocking as our technicos hit the ropes at the same time), Santo's like a dart and Cassandro's with a little giro. Our seats were above to exit right in front of the ring, so the dives came towards and then under us. The visual of seeing Santo and Cassandro dive out of the ring and then right out of sight was amazing. The whole theatre, young children and elderly couples alike, cheered and laughed and clapped in awe and it was just a fantastic moment.
After the show I followed a similar route to the one I took there, only in reverse. I forwent stopping around afterwards for photos to make sure I made my train, only realising when I got there how much time I would have had to spare. In keeping with a theme I listened to Immortal's 'Sons of Northern Darkness' and watched a couple more New Japan matches, but mostly half-slept. I got home at half ten, British time, and then did the other half of the sleep. A good day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
