1001 MATCHES: We Got You Covered
by PHIL RIPPA
In this installment – besides getting us to a tidy 200 – features matches that had been reviewed at some point in various DVDVRs. Other than that, there really is no rhyme or reason to them.
182) CIMA vs. MAGNUM TOKYO vs. DARKNESS DRAGON vs. MASAAKI MOCHIZUKI vs. DRAGON KID – TORYUMON (9/30/01)
“The TORYUMON gets the scathing attacks from the Puro Dork Kingdom for being too US in it’s booking but the heat TORYUMON generates is the Watts in Houston level not the cheap Stamford kind so it’s okay in my book. I actually love that kind of shit. Heel and face stables is the coolest form of wrestling if done well and this is all done pretty well. The match itself is fucking brilliant from a story standpoint and from a wrestling standpoint. It’s laid out allegorically like a good GAEA match- without all the real or imagine lesbianic archetypical overtones, but with overt religious overtones.
…
This is how you book a feud. This is how Bill Watts would have booked this feud except Bill Watts could never have pulled off having a perfect babyface like Magnum Tokyo. He would have gotten the heels over big like this, but Magnum in this match was the babyface Dusty Rhodes always tried to pull off- the Christlike figure. This is a great match.”
Dean – DVDVR #135
~!~
183) FABULOUS ROUGEAUS vs. LOS SUPER MEDICOS (7/7/1990; Bayamon, Puerto Rico)
(It can easily be found via Google. I just didn’t feel comfortable linking to sites that may or may not try and raw dog your computer)
Phrases used by Dean when reviewing this in DVDVR #149
“So of course he would be the one to bring us the Rougeaus being hit in the heads with dirty diapers and paper cups.”
“… the Puerto Rican crowd puts all their guns and knives back in their coats. I wish all wrestling crowds were that fucking insane.”
~!~
184) KAZUO YAMAZAKI vs. NOBUHIKO TAKADA- UWF (5/4/89)
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xpzc4c_kazuo-yamazaki-vs-nobuhiko-takada-uwf-ii-5-4-89_sport
In the 80s Poll results (which again – not saying is a perfect metric to use just something to compare to) this was the 3rd Takada/Yamazaki match to show up and, to me, this makes it a perfect choice for this project as it is quite ease to miss matches from the feud. Poor poor red headed step child.
From Dean’s review:
“The best thing so far has been the GREAT, GREAT, GREAT, GREAT, GREAT, GREAT, GREAT Yamazaki vs Takada match where Yamazaki is as amazing as Takada and Takada is as amazing as he has ever been… Yamazaki is so stiff and awesome by the end of this, when he is really kicking the fuck out of Takada, that I’m amazed he wasn’t instantly summoned to wrestling Hercules at Mt Olympus. Takada, who has already achieved wrestling godhood, is more than up for the challenge. It really gets no better than this. This is just a great match.”
~!~
185) BRET & OWEN HART vs. RICK & SCOTT STEINER – WWF (1/11/94)
The best WWF tag match of the 90s? Probably. For those who grew up in the tape trading era – this was one of the Gold Standards. Released on a Coliseum Home Video word quickly spread that it was amazing and a must watch (complete with Scott Steiner breaking out the Steiner Square Drive). I think – THINK – this was my #1 on the comically bad WWF Best of the 90s Ballot.
Reviewed by Phil Schneider in DVDVR #107
~!~
186) MINORU TANAKA/EL SAMURAI/NARUSE/KAKIHARA/JUSHIN LIGER vs. GEDO/JADO/BLACK TIGER/EDDIE GUERREO/KOJI KANEMOTO – NEW JAPAN WPW (4/13/2002)
This makes the project because of what Dean dubbed “The Greatest 10 Man Heel Team Ever”. You can find it the same way you find all your New Japan now.
Reviewed by Dean – DVDVR #138
~!~
187) HIROYUKI ITO vs. RYUKI UEYAMA – U-Style (10/6/03)
(I can’t match the dates up with videos that are already online so yeah… you are on your own for this one.)
Not that he remembers it but Dean called this the 2003 Shootstyle Match of the Year. (Though to be fair – I did find a Wrestling Classics post from Tom saying it was the best match he saw that year too.)
“Ito vs Ueyama is the reason you get the U-Style. Ueyama is like the world’s greatest Tango dancer- he is just graceful and flawless, the next great shootstyle fighter. Ito is the 2004 Shootstyle Dynamite Kid- the true carrier of the young shootstyle prodigies. Ueyama is like the first time you ever saw Rey Misterio Jr- you just say HOLY MOTHERFUCKING FUCK, WHAT THE FUCK AM I LOOKING AT AND WHY THIS SECTION OF THE WORLD BEEN WITHHELD FROM ME FOR SO LONG? Ueyama will make you hate Smackdown, Raw, Velocity and Jakked. You will understand why you look for the foreign wrestling because he is as fucking alien as a Martian landing in the ring and getting a triangle choke on Bradshaw. Ito is God-like because he takes the absolute weirdness of Ueyama and makes it digestible for the mere wrestling fan- adding context and psychology and what have you.”
Dean – DVDVR #144
~!~
188) YOSHIHIRO TAKAYAMA vs. OSAMU NISHIMURA – New Japan G1 Semifinals (8/10/02)
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2avl8v_osamu-nishimura-vs-yoshihiro-takayama-njpw-2002-08-10_sport
As you can tell just by the review I am linking to there was a lot of Takayama I could have picked from. This one goes for now because it was the first one I found online. (And I have no idea why I called it the Finals in the review outside of me being dumb).
“Perfectly done underdog vs. monster match, as good as any similar style match Vader ever worked.” – Schneider
“Schneider and I talked for a while about how excited yet leery we were of a Takayama/Nishimura match. Because it is two wrestlers who we love and are really great. And as opposed to Dean Malenko and Steve Regal who inexplicably had bad matches against each other, their styles at least meshed in theory. Here you are looking at a potential train wreck. That is part of the reason why the G1 Climax match is so great to watch.” – Rippa
~!~
189) REY MISTERIO JR/PERRO AQUAYO vs. LA PARKA/ULTIMO DRAGO vs. CIBERNETICO/PIERROTH JR vs. HEAVY METAL/PSICOSIS – AAA (06/02/96 – “Single” Elimination Match)
(Like the Rougeaus before – easily findable I am just not linking to a site that may or may not cosign your machine to Dutch hackers)
First – I am using the quotes on “single” just so you understand that it means that each wrestler gets eliminated individually. So guys can keep going when their partner is eliminated.
This is a great example of differing opinions and the passage of time. 1997 Dean LOVED this match. 15 years later PWO crowd… not so much. Watch and decide for yourself.
DEAN – DVDVR #9
~!~
190) MITSUHIRO MATSUNAGA vs. ATSUSHI ONITA – FMW (12/08/93 – Electrified Barbed Wire Match)
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5wekr_fmw-mitsuhiro-matsunaga-vs-atsushi_sport
Pete’s review which was buried away during the lamentable Foghat vs. Hollendaise years
“Really good death match with something of a different feel to it.”
~!~
191) TAKESHI MORISHIMA vs NIGEL McGUINNESS – RING OF HONOR (4/14/07)
https://vimeo.com/24365454
Witnessed live by Dean, Schneider, Tom K along with Rob Naylor
“I dig a hideous beatdown in the ring and this definitely brung that.” – DEAN
“This was right up there with Cena v. Umaga as your 2007 cream of the crop.” – Schneider
Road Report buried in DVDVR #166
~!~
192) JUSHIN LIGER vs. YOSHITSUNE – Michinoku Pro Fukumen League 2007 Quarter Finals (9/1/07)
“Oh yeah… this is an outstanding match… that last three minutes. I always say that Raven/Kaz Hayashi from Worldwide was my favorite three minute match. This might be number two.”
Rippa – DVDVR #170
~!~
193) RANDY ORTON vs. REY MISTERIO JR – WWE SMACKDOWN (Taped 04/04/06, Aired 04/07/06 – World Heavyweight Title)
I hate Randy Orton. That isn’t really a secret. But I do want to be fair and it is appropriate to probably his best match in this project.
“Boy this was one hell of a way to kick off Rey Mysterio’s title reign. 20+ minute epic main event title match… This is easily the best match of Orton’s career. Rey and Orton were really working some high end timing spots and they hit all of them perfectly. He also did a great job selling all of Rey’s stuff.”
Reviewed by Schneider – DVDVR #157
~!~
194) VILLANO III vs. ATLANTIS – CMLL (03/17/00 – Mask Match)
“What follows may be the most emotional unmasking in the history of lucha libre.
I’m not ashamed to admit that I was starting to cry myself.
Too bad this is all fake, right? Jim Rome can kiss my ass. Vince Russo can blow me, and he’s gonna need that gig after burning his bridges everywhere else he’s gone. VIVA WRESTLING.”
Reviewed by Pete – DVDVR #120
~!~
195) JUNGLE JACK (Aja Kong/Bison Kimura) vs. BULL NAKANO/KYOKO INOUE – All Japan Women (01/11/91 – Hair Match)
http://www.veoh.com/watch/v163766486eEkygrB
Reviewed by either Ray or Pete in DVDVR #116
~!~
196) MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (Bobby Eaton/Stan Lane) vs. RIC FLAIR/BARRY WINDHAM – WCW Clash of the Champions IV (12/07/88)
Reviewed by Schneider in DVDVR #106
~!~
197) YUTAKA YOSHIE vs. TOMOHIRO ISHII – New Japan (03/15/09)
New Japan is always going to be a tough walnut to crack now in terms of you – the gentle reader – being able to watch these matches. But there are ways and I am not going to stop including the matches. Especially ones that make Dean react as follows:
“MY DICK IS ON FIRE WITH ROCK AND ROLL”
“…HOISTS HIMSELF OFF THE TOPROPE CRUSHING ISHII LIKE A METEOR THAT WOULD ANNIHILATE THE DINOSAURS. YOSHIE IS FUCKING GOD. TRILLION ZILLION STARS.”
DEAN – DVDVR #168
~!~
198) JUN AKIYAMA vs. MASAO INOUE – NOAH (04/23/06)
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x384vpg
Schneider had this as his 2nd best match of 2006 and he reviewed it in DVDVR #158
~!~
199) JUSHIN LIGER vs. HIROSHI HASE – NEW JAPAN (05/25/89)
(Another super easy to find match – just Google their names and it is in the Top 5 results. I am just hesitant to link to a site that I can’t understand.)
Here is Dean’s entire review
“Jushin Liger vs. Hiroshi Hase was absolutely great, despite the horror of what Liger is wearing (the Monkeyboy outfit). Hase is the greatest wrestler in New Japan at this point and he supplies the goods hitting all the moves that Malenko stole from him and perfected. Liger is spunky and tough and flew a whole lot back then. I don’t recall a giant swing so maybe this was the perfectest Hase match ever. DON’T GIVE AWAY THE INCREDIBLE ENDING!”
~!~
200) SGT. SLAUGHTER vs. IRON SHEIK – WWF (6/16/84 – MSG Boot Camp Match)
I left this off the “Number Ones” section partly because I forgot about it and partly because I know there is a lot of debate surrounding the results of the WWF poll. However – since this was reviewed in DVDVR #156 I can put it here. LOOPHOLE~! It is something that should be watched no matter its final voting placement.
~!~