Phil Schneider Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 We Chose as our First Champ Yoshiaki Fujiwara v. Kazou Yamazaki UWF 7/24/98 SC REVIEW Nominate some contenders, discuss the match ect. below Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 Great, great match. Just as that is so good for its length this, on the other hand, is one of the best short matches ever: I still think this was at least halfway a shoot. Inoki brings in barely-trained Soviet amateurs, feeds them to Hashimoto. They don't know how to work and go way hard on him so he has to basically cripple them in-ring. Don't remember the Salmon Hashnikov (or whatever) match was but this is so heated. The look in Victor's eyes when Hash spits at him says it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 '89 was an extremely loaded year, btw. You got the Steamboat/Flair trilogy, Jumbo/Tenryu, Flair/Funk, Vader's big run in NJPW with the awesome match against Choshu, Muta in WCW, a shitload of All Japan tags, los Brazos and a couple of great hair matches in Mexico, more Fujiwara, a fairly stacked WWF roster (Savage, Brainbusters, Rude)... this one could go on for awhile haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacelle Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 I love Rude vs Warrior from Summerslam 89, probably not as good as Clash 6, but I just never get tired of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Schneider Posted December 21, 2016 Author Share Posted December 21, 2016 The most frustrating thing about 1989 is the total lack of Mid-South Coliseum footage, look at this list of matches!! MOTY is probably one of these 1/30/89 Jerry Lawler v. Ricky Morton 2/13/89 Jerry Lawler/Robert Gibson v. Ricky Morton/The Master of Pain 2/20/89 Jerry Lawler/Bill Dundee v. The Rock-n-Roll Express 3/6/89 Jerry Lawler v. Tommy Rich 4/24/89 Jerry Lawler v. Shogun (Shinya Hashimoto) 8/7/89 Jerry Lawler v. Bam Bam Bigelow in a "coward waves the flag" match. 9/4/89 Jerry Lawler v. Buddy Landel in a "title vs. limousine" match 10/30/89 Ricky Morton/Bill Dundee v. The Fantastics 11/19/89 Jerry Lawler v. Dutch Mantel in a Texas Death Match 12/4/89 Jerry Lawler v. Bill Dundee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Yeah, 1989 is a total murderer's row. Matches like Flair/Steamboat and Jumbo/Tenryu are no-brainers, so here's something a bit more obscure. For my money, this is Vader's first great match. Do you want to see two fat guys club the shit out of each other? Do you want to see Vader do a sunset flip? Do you want to hear random 80s pop songs in between rounds? Of course you do. Drop what you're doing and check this out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 LAWLER VS. HASH?! Whoa! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Wait, so did Hash work the Dome show and then hop on a plane to Memphis to wrestle Lawler on the same day? That's must've been how Hulk Hogan worked 400 days a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zev Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 1 hour ago, NintendoLogic said: Do you want to see two fat guys club the shit out of each other? Do you want to see Vader do a sunset flip? Do you want to hear random 80s pop songs in between rounds? Of course you do. Drop what you're doing and check this out. I'm honestly checking out this match only because of that write up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 He busted out a dropkick in his match against Hansen in AWA. Granted that was pre-Vader gimmick and he was a lot lighter but it was still pretty nifty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Watched Fujiwara/Yamazaki for the first time in a long time just now. It wasn't the match I thought it was (they have a couple others on the external and one that I recall being better) but this is, again, great. Couple things: 1. I forgot UWFi had pinfalls so the desperation German was pretty cool to throw in there (pardon the pun). 2. Yamazaki gets overlooked as one of the first "kicker" wrestlers with Sayama being his only predecessor to my recollection and Takada and Maeda as his peers and this match is all about that. 3. Fujiwara is such an endearing clown that can turn on a dime. Who knows why the old DVDVRs are filled with disparaging comments about him. Usually his matches have a lot of him selling for body shots as his Achilles heel more than dishing them out but they flipped it around here. Unlike watching Volk Han throw crappy palmstrikes in RINGS, though, he knows how to work mean strikes into the shootstyle. Everything looks like a cheap shot and looks like it hurts. 4. Speaking of which, this might be a challenge for some if they aren't used to said style, and it really doesn't fully pick up until halfway through, and Yamazaki's exhaustion might take a notch or two off your rating but it's still more than deserving of a watch, and the praise Phil and Eric gave it. Also, and this is more true for RINGS where the crowd is seemingly more drunk or Yakuza affiliated and laughter is more redolent, but I still dig the nearly dead silent crowd with people yelling at random after too much beer and sake. "YAMAZAKI, KILL!" was a good one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 1 hour ago, Curt McGirt said: 3. Fujiwara is such an endearing clown that can turn on a dime. Who knows why the old DVDVRs are filled with disparaging comments about him. It depends on who the comments are coming from If it is Dean - well his wild changes in opinions are what make it great If it is Phil - I am going to laugh and laugh and laugh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 I mostly remember Dean regarding him as the dessicated old guy that should retire. If Phil shared that opinion once upon a time too I will also laugh and laugh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricR Posted December 22, 2016 Share Posted December 22, 2016 I think Phil based a lot of Fujiwara work on that Kawada match. As in, who the hell is this old guy dragging down peak Kawada?? The same as Dean always talking about what a load Tamon Honda was. I think Fujiwara really was a genuine revelation when the nominating for the Other Japan 80s set started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted December 22, 2016 Share Posted December 22, 2016 Phil and I did a whole Digging in the Crates podcast on Fujiwara and he talked about that there. http://placetobenation.com/digging-in-the-crates-7/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted December 22, 2016 Share Posted December 22, 2016 Okay - back to 89 specifically and since I have a feeling you two are ignoring the Flair matches (Steamboat and Funk) then I will fight UWF with UWF Yamazaki/Takada Per Dean Quote “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.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted December 22, 2016 Share Posted December 22, 2016 '89 was so good it was the first time Eddy was nationally televised. Bless Terry Funk for trying to get him a spot and failing... for the time being. EDIT: Note, I'm not nominating this match, just wanted to remind everybody about it. Funk got Eddy the spot and WCW in their great wisdom sent him back to El Paso. Also, it's relevant because it was a great lead-in to the Funk/Flair I Quit which when the guys get around to it is gonna be a hard one to beat. PS Eddy bumps like a maniac in this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted December 24, 2016 Share Posted December 24, 2016 Speaking of non-Flair WCW matches, I rate this as Luger's best match. Even more so because he's the one who called the match according to Steamboat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricR Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 I think Luger is one of the lost great workers. Even through 1996 TV stuff he looked really good. Luger is a guy who needs a proper reconsideration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted December 27, 2016 Share Posted December 27, 2016 I'm on my phone right now so I can't post the link, but Jumbo/Yatsu vs. Tenryu/Hansen is a lock. Amazing, smash mouth wrestling with a hot crowd and multiple stories going. A little sloppy but you don't make a work of art without spilling some paint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenalysis Posted December 27, 2016 Share Posted December 27, 2016 20 hours ago, EricR said: I think Luger is one of the lost great workers. Even through 1996 TV stuff he looked really good. Luger is a guy who needs a proper reconsideration. I think people say pre-WWF Luger is good, it's WWF Luger and beyond who wasn't as good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Post motorcycle crash, he certainly wasn't consistently good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyld Samurai Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Oddly enough I just watched Havoc '89 today. Pillman vs Luger is pretty fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now