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Secret Santo - Winter 2022/3!


Matt D

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Curt! Here's the match that stole WM weekend back in 2018. It's probably less astonishing to watch now than it was back then, considering most of us now know what a maniac old man PCO is and ALL of us are well aware that WALTER is the greatest practitioner of BMMSM in the postmodern world. 

It's still a VERY fun watch, though. Nice surprises keep popping up in my YouTube feed and I am happy to pass them on. 

 

Once again, my request:

NO "GREAT" MATCHES FOR ME, PLEASE! No ***** Meltzer/Keith-style epics that go long, have tons of (empty) flash and multiple finisher kick-outs. I have seen too much of that. I am here for interesting/weird matches. I love Kenny. I love Okada. I loved Kenny vs Okada at Dominion. I DO NOT WANNA WATCH THAT KIND OF MATCH HERE. I wanna watch Kenny vs Little Girl. Gimme weird. Gimme crazy. Gimme violent. Please don't gimme self-consciously epic and flashy. Also do not give me Sports Entertainment. No WWE. WWWF is fine, if it's weird and/or involves Andre. Also, unless you specifically ask, I won't be giving out great matches, but rather weird or interesting or nostalgic ones.

 

Edited by Gordlow
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Gord Dog, I bestow upon you...

I haven't watched it in awhile but the first couple seconds showed me a crowd of Japanese fans losing their shit in a California auditorium and that is definitely weird enough to qualify. I WANTED to find the Hijo del Santo match in I think Michinoku Pro or some other indie Japanese promotion where the end is a chaos of rudos being evil but I can't remember what/where it was. It was actually probably in Hamada's UWA. Can somebody help me out with this one? 

PCO vs. WALTER

Well this is funny, I went on a WALTER watching spree earlier this year and saw this already, and yes it seemed a bit tame at the time in comparison to what we've seen from both since, but I'll give it another viewing and detail those thoughts. 

...

Okay, now I remember what was so jarring to me about it and it wasn't any kind of "tame" work -- it's the lack of PCO being a zombie. The insane glee he seems to have performing that character is missing from this match. Everything else, though? Just as you'd expect. I think the chest-purpling here might've been the start of that current fad/style. PCO (I still think it in my mind as "pee-co" instead of P. C. O.) himself seemed to be starting his run... or his heart... again. It's been too long for me to remember the specifics of when the buzz around his return started but I bet it was with this match. These guys go Kobashi/Kensuke on each other and get a legit standing O from an audience that couldn't seem more ready to hit the sack at times. PCO hits all his big spots minus the cannonball in the corner, but instead subs that out for a Finlay Roll that you think is gonna be a DVD and isn't. And then 

Spoiler

HE WINS!!!

Now if you wanna have a real shock looking back, that's the one. And WALTER, as always, was WALTER. I'd love to see a rematch with these two, skinny giant vs. Frankenstein's monster, yelling at each other in German and French (which was a lost opportunity here for sure). It's a wonder what five years can do. 

BTW, anybody who wants to see Darby vs. WALTER needs to search those matches out, I'm too lazy right now but they're on Youtube or Dailymotion. 

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The Fantastics vs. D C "Mad Dog" Drake & Damien Kane

You were at this one @thee Reverend Axl Future, weren't you? 😉 One of the all of 100 (maybe) at a Philly ballpark. Well I won't begrudge you any nostalgia whether or not. This was pretty fun. It's an interesting snapshot of the changes that wrestling was in at the time. The territories were dead so you could do more indie stuff without, I imagine, stepping on anyone's toes. Bigger talent like the Fantastics had a chance at being at the head of your card and making some money for you if you're a promoter and if you're a worker you might get slightly more than a hot dog. The super indies like ECW hadn't started yet... and speaking of which, here is an indeed skinny and frankly not sounding like his balls had dropped yet Paul E. jabbering all over the commentary, then helping his heel team along with taking a bit of a bump! Short match but the Fantastics still looked good including a double monkey flip. You can easily see how the style of theirs and the Midnights and Rock'n'Rolls and Rockers transmogrified into the Bucks of today, with us just lacking the sense of awe that I'm sure people in that crowd felt to see it in its formative stage. Even if it's only eight minutes with intros and six in ring I'd go grab a couple Mickeys to drink behind the bandstand before paying to see it. '88 must've been a blast.

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So, yeah, if anyone had tried to tell me, "Hey, Gordlow! The first match you watch in 2023 will have Horace Boulder in it, and also you will LOVE that match," I believe I might have been sceptical. Gotta love DVDVR and Secret Santo. Where else you gonna hear about stuff like this? Hulkster's nephew is UNRECOGNIZABLE in this, slender and long-haired. He and Atsushi Onita IMMEDIATELY brawl into the crowd, and all over the gymnasium. In the meantime, EL HIJO DEL SANTO and NEGRO CASAS are having a Santo vs Casas match in the ring! And the crowd is going CRAZY. And I am thinking about Tim Patterson. I am assuming he has this in common with Rick Fuller: a guy who was "just a jobber" in WWF/WCW but a main event local hero in their home territory. He seems to be here just to bleed and do one "malfunction at the junction" spot with Santo and Boulder. I wonder, when he's at the bar, does he talk more about the time he shared a ring with Casas, Santo, AND Onita, or about that time he did the job for Hacksaw on Superstars or whatever. Here's my memory of him: Jesse or Brain or someone jokingly asking if he was Pat Patterson's son and me and my friends having a hearty "we get that reference" laugh about it. And before I finish that thought, the match is over. And I am thinking , "That was extra succinct," but it turns out the match is 2 outa 3 falls which makes me unreasonably happy. More craziness! If I have a complaint, it's that the match is mostly Onita and Boulder brawling FMW style while Casas and El Hijo del Santo play the hits. If they crossed over more, the match might have been even more insane. It's still pretty nutzoid. For example: there are two refs (I think 1 Japanese and 1 Mexican) and their poorly synchronized double-dive-to-the-mat three counts are a genuine highlight. And there is the insane indeed visual of Santo standing high in the corner triumphantlywaving a JAPANESE flag at the end! What a way to start the New Year! Thank you, Curt.

Edited by Gordlow
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33 minutes ago, Gordlow said:

So, yeah, if anyone had tried to tell me, "Hey, Gordlow! The first match you watch in 2023 will have Horace Boulder in it, and also you will LOVE that match," I believe I might have been sceptical. Gotta love DVDVR and Secret Santo. Where else you gonna hear about stuff like this? Hulkster's nephew is UNRECOGNIZABLE in this, slender and long-haired. He and Atsushi Onita IMMEDIATELY brawl into the crowd, and all over the gymnasium. In the meantime, EL HIJO DEL SANTO and NEGRO CASAS are having a Santo vs Casas match in the ring! And the crowd is going CRAZY. And I am thinking about Tim Patterson. I am assuming he has this in common with Rick Fuller: a guy who was "just a jobber" in WWF/WCW but a main event local hero in their home territory. He seems to be here just to bleed and do one "malfunction at the junction" spot with Santo and Boulder. I wonder, when he's at the bar, does he talk more about the time he shared a ring with Casas, Santo, AND Onita, or about that time he did the job for Hacksaw on Superstars or whatever. Here's my memory of him: Jesse or Brain or someone jokingly asking if he was Pat Patterson's son and me and my friends having a hearty "we get that reference" laugh about it. And before I finish that thought, the match is over. And I am thinking , "That was extra succinct," but it turns out the match is 2 outa 3 falls which makes me unreasonably happy. More craziness! If I have a complaint, it's that the match is mostly Onita and Boulder brawling FMW style while Casas and El Hijo del Santo play the hits. If they crossed over more, the match might have been even more insane. It's still pretty nutzoid. For example: there are two refs (I think 1 Japanese and 1 Mexican) and their poorly synchronized double-dive-to-the-mat three counts are a genuine highlight. And there is the insane indeed visual of Santo standing high in the corner triumphantlywaving a JAPANESE flag at the end! What a way to start the New Year! Thank you, Curt.

Is this the match that's supposedly an unofficial Meltzer five-star joint? God damnit this match rules so hard. It played a part in Negro Casas establishing himself in my forever Top 10.

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@The Natural you said you haven't seen much Joshi, then let me hip you to Sendai Girls, Meiko Satumura's promotion.  This is my OVERALL 2022 match of the year- Ryo Mizunami vs the unbelievably great Chihiro Hashimoto.

 

 

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@Matt D
Happy New Year and Happy Secret Santo! I honestly had no idea what to give you, so I settled on a show from earlier this year that I attended live. Maki Itoh and Miyu Yamashita from the 5/29/22 Prestige Wrestling show here in town. Also on the card was Alex Shelley vs Bandito and I think that's worth a look too. 
 



Edit: I shouldn't post at 2am after NYE drinks, so I thought this got posted by someone else already but I just can't read good. and so I posted a backup, another match that I saw live. Well, sort of. I definitely saw a Scott Norton vs Al Madril match but it might have been at a house show in Salem. I was just a little 6-year-old baby Sammo back then and the only enduring memories I have from this era are that my dad really liked Roddy Piper and the overwhelming certainty that Scott Norton was the largest human being to ever walk the face of the Earth. 
 

 

Edited by Sammo~!
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10 hours ago, DEAN said:

@The Natural you said you haven't seen much Joshi, then let me hip you to Sendai Girls, Meiko Satumura's promotion.  This is my OVERALL 2022 match of the year- Ryo Mizunami vs the unbelievably great Chihiro Hashimoto.

 

 

Thank you, @DEAN. Happy Secret Santo and Happy New Year. I'll get my thinking cap on for what to send you and I'll watch this ASAP. Another one from my pile of shame getting snapped Thanos' style. Cheers, Paul xxx.

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6 hours ago, Sammo~! said:


Happy New Year and Happy Secret Santo! I honestly had no idea what to give you, so I settled on a show from earlier this year that I attended live. Maki Itoh and Miyu Yamashita from the 5/29/22 Prestige Wrestling show here in town. Also on the card was Alex Shelley vs Bandito and I think that's worth a look too. 

First match first. Second match later. This was a fun way to start the year. I only ever dabble in modern Joshi, but I know enough to tell you that I'm much ore of a TJPW kind of guy than a Stardom kind. The later probably has better 'workrate' and higher conventional star ratings and whatever else, but it's all too loud and too much for me. Miyu is real good at letting things breath and settle in and it's all more methodological and ... yeah, a little more sports entertainment-y, but in a good, balanced way. They really telegraph the meaning of things before and after something happens. Maki lets everyone in the world know she's going to go for the falling headbutt, but so long as you're willing to go along for the journey, everything just means more in the end because of that. The crowd was a little chant happy early, but they settled down and got into things and it meant that the wrestlers were able to respond to a fight forever chant and adapt accordingly instead of it just being this detached, gratititous thing (which honestly, may be something I've never, ever seen before; you could see Maki sort of switching on a dime as she heard it). Maki's reactions are great in general. She's a performer through and through and she completely inhabits the character. As much as anything else, the story of the match was Miyu knowing she needed to crack the skull in order to take Maki out but bouncing off of it as she chipped it down. It meant that she'd go for the stomach instead to create opportunities and Maki's selling of it was quite good. She couldn't put her away with that alone though, so things built to the kicks, backfiring right until she was able to push past the resistance and pick up the win. Again, it's never quite the smoothest thing you'll ever see, but the effort's there and the meaning's there and the heart's there. This went on a while but never wore out its welcome. It kind of made me want to track down Maki vs Yim at least. Hopefully we see her on Elevation next week or the following. Thanks!

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@SirSmellingtonofCascadia I was trying to do a no-Japan run through this but you said UWFi midcard and I can't help myself. I love that there's a sixty-something episode TV version of a majority of UWFi's run with relatively professional English commentary, very very worth a binge.

It's five in the morning, I'll whimsically format this later.

MASAHITO KAKIHARA vs. TATSUO NAKANO - UWF-I "World Heavyweight Title Match" Osaka, Japan 9/21/1992
https://youtu.be/d466NmHdCIA?t=2071

They didn't have to go this hard. Nakano is a tree and Kakihara is a woodchipper and this match is reprehensibly violent for the short time it happens. In my sub-five Hall of Fame, first ballot. If this seems like a lack of content, here are the two later matches Kakihara and Nakano had against each other.

2/14/1993 - https://youtu.be/fuKo0a3EKxc?t=3098
12/5/1993- https://youtu.be/xiS3YiPGa1I?t=700 (English commentary)

The trilogy definitely tells a complete story, <25 minutes all together. Second match is good. Third match is real good. But they're still standing in the shadow of the first one's absurd stiffness.

Edited by John E. Dynamite
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10 hours ago, John E. Dynamite said:

@SirSmellingtonofCascadia I was trying to do a no-Japan run through this but you said UWFi midcard and I can't help myself. I love that there's a sixty-something episode TV version of a majority of UWFi's run with relatively professional English commentary, very very worth a binge.

It's five in the morning, I'll whimsically format this later.

MASAHITO KAKIHARA vs. TATSUO NAKANO - UWF-I "World Heavyweight Title Match" Osaka, Japan 9/21/1992
https://youtu.be/d466NmHdCIA?t=2071

They didn't have to go this hard. Nakano is a tree and Kakihara is a woodchipper and this match is reprehensibly violent for the short time it happens. In my sub-five Hall of Fame, first ballot. If this seems like a lack of content, here are the two later matches Kakihara and Nakano had against each other.

2/14/1993 - https://youtu.be/fuKo0a3EKxc?t=3098
12/5/1993- https://youtu.be/xiS3YiPGa1I?t=700 (English commentary)

The trilogy definitely tells a complete story, <25 minutes all together. Second match is good. Third match is real good. But they're still standing in the shadow of the first one's absurd stiffness.

You mentioned not seeing enough Syxx-era WCW, so here's a match that I saw with fresh eyes a couple months ago and LOVED. Maybe you won't feel as strongly as I did about it, but I don't think I've given it to anyone else, and I dug it so much that what the heck, here you go:

Lex Luger vs. The Giant

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7ujxw8

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On 1/1/2023 at 5:14 AM, DEAN said:

@The Natural you said you haven't seen much Joshi, then let me hip you to Sendai Girls, Meiko Satumura's promotion.  This is my OVERALL 2022 match of the year- Ryo Mizunami vs the unbelievably great Chihiro Hashimoto.

 

 

 

On 1/1/2023 at 3:20 PM, The Natural said:

Thank you, @DEAN. Happy Secret Santo and Happy New Year. I'll get my thinking cap on for what to send you and I'll watch this ASAP. Another one from my pile of shame getting snapped Thanos' style. Cheers, Paul xxx.

I've had to retype this post I made on Tuesday as it didn't go through. Bugger.

Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Ryo Mizunami. Sendai Girls', 3rd September 2022. Note the correct day, month, year format, you Americans!

I do like me a good robe. Hashimoto wins that round. Liked the start to the match, the minute long collar and elbow particularly the test of strength spot with both women using their heads for leverage. I'll always mark out for the Kenta Kobashi chops in the corner used by Mizunami. New to me, an Alabama Slam straight into a cover. Really liked the spot when Hashimoto had Mizunami's back only for Ryo to counter with the Stone Cold Stunner, a famous spot from the Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin ***** match at the 1996 WWF Survivor Series. Two release Germans followed by a bridging one by Chihiro brings the win. I tend not to do revised Best of lists after the year is over but if I were to, this would place well in my 2022 MOTY list. That's another off my pile of shame. Thank you!

@DEAN, I've had difficulty picking you something for the man who's seen so much. My choice came to me this morning and from the aforementioned WWF Survivor Series 1996 spot. Hopefully it's new to you. Here's my pick:

Sting vs. Cactus Jack. WCW Power Hour, 21st November 1991. Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin from WWF Survivor Series 1996 gets overshadowed by their WWF WrestleMania 13 match. Both are *****. I feel this Sting/Cactus Jack is slept on compared to the WCW Beach Blast 1992 match. Personally I think this is the better of the two by far and a hidden gem of both men's career. A match that needs talking up more. I hope you like it.

Edited by The Natural
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3 hours ago, Super Ape said:

Alright, let’s go.

for @DEAN, have yourself some mid-2000s Southern indie goodness, as Acid Jaz takes on LT Falk. It’s USWO! It’s 2005! Let’s get it!

For @The Natural, I have for you, Nick Bockwinkel vs. Chavo Classic himself, in Houston from 1983.

 

 

Thank you for your pick, @Super Ape. It's a match Matt D chose me earlier. I wasn't sure whether to say that because I didn't want to hurt your feelings. Here's my review:

On 12/24/2022 at 1:15 PM, The Natural said:

 

@Matt D: Cheers, mate for the match itself and your last post.

Nick Bockwinkel vs. Chavo Guerrero. Houston, 25th February 1983. Note the correct day, month, year format, you Americans!

As noted when I signed up for this, I'd seen very little Nick Bockwinkle. I think this might have been my first match of his. I liked how the collar and elbow tie up had a struggle to it, a gravitas if you will. One of my favourites things in wrestling is limb work with Chavo going back to the arm. Liked how Chavo really wrenched on the arm at the 5:27 mark as an example whereas sometimes wrestlers apply a submission and that's it. The body scissor is one of my least favourite submission moves but I overcame that here thanks to Bock selling the effects of the armwork Chavo's put in grabbing at his bicep. I want more of that in wrestling, selling. Biggest testament I can put into the match is that my jaw dropped at the finish as I thought Bock would win even though it was a non title match. Cheers, Matt. Will get a match out to you.

 

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On 1/1/2023 at 4:39 AM, Sammo~! said:

@Matt D
Edit: I shouldn't post at 2am after NYE drinks, so I thought this got posted by someone else already but I just can't read good. and so I posted a backup, another match that I saw live. Well, sort of. I definitely saw a Scott Norton vs Al Madril match but it might have been at a house show in Salem. I was just a little 6-year-old baby Sammo back then and the only enduring memories I have from this era are that my dad really liked Roddy Piper and the overwhelming certainty that Scott Norton was the largest human being to ever walk the face of the Earth. 
 

 

Second match second.

Norton wasn't quite there yet, and he would get there. Norton's been quite the favorite over at the GWE discord actually. There was a watch party for him at some point and everything. Madril here, however, was awesome. As slimy as could be with stooging and disengaging and hiding the object and causing a ruckus. I love, absolutely love, this eye poke, and I've never seen anyone do it like this before:

Brmj72.gif

 

I'd say he was working for the very last row but I don't think anyone was even in the last row in the territory at the time. So he just sort of continued on and survived and chipped away and had moments of eye rakes in between getting tossed around and bouncing off of Norton.

Norton's big comeback in the end was pretty amazing, just open mouthed King Hippo style screaming and the weirdest shoulder attacks.

gpENGD.gif

My big takeaway here is that Madril would have been perfect for 88-89 Memphis, like when they had the aforementioned Chavo in. Apparently he never worked the territory though?

Edited by Matt D
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Going to double post, but it's my thread so I can.

We're through 4 weeks here. There's a big number of people, so there's no reason we can't do one or two more weeks depending on people's availability. And we probably will. But if anyone wants to jump off or jump on before I reroll tomorrow, let me know. No worries either way. Life is life.

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1 minute ago, Matt D said:

Going to double post, but it's my thread so I can.

We're through 4 weeks here. There's a big number of people, so there's no reason we can't do one or two more weeks depending on people's availability. And we probably will. But if anyone wants to jump off or jump on before I reroll tomorrow, let me know. No worries either way. Life is life.

I'm game. Thanks for running this.

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30 minutes ago, Matt D said:

Going to double post, but it's my thread so I can.

We're through 4 weeks here. There's a big number of people, so there's no reason we can't do one or two more weeks depending on people's availability. And we probably will. But if anyone wants to jump off or jump on before I reroll tomorrow, let me know. No worries either way. Life is life.

I'm in for more and will have my backlogged reviews up this weekend!

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29 minutes ago, The Natural said:

I'm game. Thanks for running this.

Thanks. While you're waiting on @Super Ape to rethink what he gave you (Great minds thinking alike and all that). Here's a really short match (basically 5 minutes with a bit before and after) to give you a totally different side of Bock.

 

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5 hours ago, Matt D said:

Going to double post, but it's my thread so I can.

We're through 4 weeks here. There's a big number of people, so there's no reason we can't do one or two more weeks depending on people's availability. And we probably will. But if anyone wants to jump off or jump on before I reroll tomorrow, let me know. No worries either way. Life is life.

I'm up for more

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