Secret Santo in August 2022

[Matt D]

Hi all,

Due to some scheduling things, we weren't able to do this in July but we are 100% on for August. As always, the deal is that we are randomly paired up and pick matches for one another. If you can commit to finding a match for someone else and watching a match yourself once a week, then sign on up. You don't have to do every week but the most important thing is communication. If you're going to be out a week, that's ok, just let us know. We'll probably go the 5 weeks of August (starting July 31 since that's the Sunday of that first week), but if we have momentum we can always go longer.

Here's the last one in case you're new to the board and want to see how we've done it:

So put down your interest in participating (we'll begin July 31 or so) in this thread when you get a chance. I'll remind everyone in a week and we'll go from there.

Edited July 16, 2022 by Matt D

[Gordi the former AEW fan]

You know I'm in! And I appreciate you holding off until August as well, Matt.

To everyone else:

It's always  a lot of fun. I recommend giving it a try to anyone who is reading, on the fence, and open-minded about watching different kinds of wrestling. You're almost guaranteed to learn about/think about/enjoy matches and wrestlers you'd never paid close attention to before. And you can get interesting takes on matches you recommend to other participants.

Decent way to develop internet friendships, too!

Edited July 16, 2022 by Gordlow

[porksweats]

you know what? I'll join if you'll have me

[Matt D]

Bumping this. We're going to start a week from today. It's a match a week. Sign up everyone. You (the hypothetical DVDVR poster) know you always enjoy yourself when you participate. @DEAN, what's one more match and a train-of-thought review a week given all that you're watching these days? Toss your hat in the ring.

[DEAN]

Sure, I'm in.

[DEAN]

So I just make one of you watch a lot of Johnny Valentine?

[Curt McGirt]

*raises hand* I'll take the hit. 

[Octopus]

I’ll do my best at fun and adventure.

[thee Reverend Axl Future]

Lay it on me. I feel creative. I have no shame (obviously) and several gaps in my watching habits.

[Matt D]

Dice roll tomorrow. If anyone else wants to jump in, let me know.

[Gordi the former AEW fan]

Here's what I'm hoping for from all y'all, and I'm looking forward to reading everyone else's (presumably much shorter) version of this:

Please don't worry about giving me "great" matches. In particular, I don't wanna watch any of the kind of matches that you think of when you think of what Scott Keith and Dave Meltzer would give 5 (or more) stars. No self-conscious epics. No endless finisher kick-outs. No overly contrived and super-gimmicky plunder matches. Please please please no Sports Entertainment.

Sub-20-minutes, bell to bell, if possible.

I watch a lot of AEW. It's G1 season, so I am also watching a crazy amount of New Japan. I like it! I dig that stuff! But, I really hope to be given a wide variety of matches here in this thread that do not fit what we might consider a general AEW and/or NJPW "great match" template type of match. I am here for the crazy variety! 

Oh boy I have been given a crazy variety of matches here in the Secret Santo-verse in the last couple of years! Johnny Valentine vs Wild Bull Curry! Les Kellett matches! Monster Andre! Face Andre! Comedy Andre! A Don't Spill The Beer match! An apuesta that went well under 15 minutes but still told a compelling story! Antonio Honda and Dick Togo doing a full on Memphis tribute! And on and on. So many wildly different and genuinely interesting and entertaining matches. 

What I haven't seen a ton of recently: Argentinean wrestling, stuff from anywhere in the world - including the USA and Canada - from 1983 or earlier, Mexican minis, SWS/WAR, Toryumon, DDT, Strong BJ, Classic Southern Formula tag matches...

Wrestlers I (would) like to watch whom I haven't watched recently:

Phil Hickerson, Dynamite Kansai, Ashura Hara, John Tenta, Lord James Blears, Survival Tobita, Kantaro Hoshino, El Felino, Pimpinella Escarlata, Toshiyo Yamada, Johnny Saint, Aoyagi, Kikutaro, Otsuka, Aja, Jaguar, Super Porky, The Road Warriors, Hashimoto, Finlay, Murakami, Eddie Guerrero, Giant Baba, Mad Dog Vachon, Fuminori Abe, Takumi Iroha...

And here's what I mean about great matches: If you're gonna give me a John Tenta match, thank you! But: Don't give me either of the Vader and Tenta vs Albright and Yamazaki matches. I love those matches! But they are the only Tenta matches that show up on those internet ****+ match lists. Use your imagination! (Or: Use the YouTube search engine and scroll around some). Find me a decent *** Tenta match I might not have watched at least once a year for years already. Doesn't have to be epic! "Fun" is good enough for ol' Gordlow here. Please believe me!

Another example? Sure! There are a zillion fun Eddie Guerrero matches! Don't give me Eddie Guerrero & Love Machine vs. El Hijo del Santo & Octagon '94 from When Worlds Collide, or the Halloween Havoc match vs Rey. Halloween Havoc is amazing!  I really love it! Please do me a solid and give me something I might only have seen once or twice (or never) before. If you can find a rare and interesting (or bizarre) match up, so much the better. 

If other people would prefer classic all time great matches then I will be happy to oblige! I know where to find those lists. If you'd prefer something more obscure but still worth a watch, or something straight up weird, I will do my very best to have your back. Just let me know what you'd like. If you say "anything" you will probably end up getting something weird from me. 

 

Give me any of the following and I will be happy: Clubbering, harrowing violence, something that tells a little story in there, good character work, big meaty men slapping meat, nice ladies trying to murder one another, very old black and white footage, actual giants, over the top bomb fests, ridiculously athletic wrestlers flying around, technical wizards twisting one another in knots, people literally punching each other right in the face, hilarious comedy jokes, a bloodbath, a slugfest, precision striking, anything mind-bogglingly stupid, professional wrestling that is actually very very good, or something with neato suplexes.

Thank you! 

Edit: I am pretty much limited to YouTube

 

 

Edited July 31, 2022 by Gordlow

[SirSmUgly]

Yeah, I will do this for at least a month.

Special request: Nothing after 1997, please. Pre-1980 preferred. I have Peacock as well as your typical stuff like YT access.

Ooh, let me add some guys/territories I would love to see.

Muta/Mutoh, but not in WCW

Verne Gagne

Jerry Blackwell

John Tenta, but not in WWF or WCW

Interesting Puerto Rico work from JCP/WWF guys that I might not have seen.

WWF/JCP guys in Germany

Otto Wanz

Larry Z., but none of the Sammartino or Dangerous Alliance stuff that I have seen a million times.

Pre-WWF Rick Martel

Anything from Montreal territory. Actually, anything from Canada, though please prioritize stuff outside of Stampede. Give me some Leo Burke please. The Hitman thinks highly of him, but I have only seen his work in passing.

 

 

 

 

Edited July 30, 2022 by SirSmellingtonofCascadia

[Matt D]

I'm tempted to put Smelly McUgly here every week with porksweats just for making me write out these usernames in the randomizer but I won't do that.

As for me, you know the deal. You give me flippy no-sell pop-up stuff and I am going to be honest and harsh. That may be a pro or a con depending on who you are.

Otherwise, I'm cool with most things. Some people new to me from AEW (the Starks and Ethan Pages of the world) in pre-AEW stuff might be interesting. Extrapolate forward into the 90s guys I've watched in the 80s like the Tenryus/Fujinamis/Maedas/Takadas/Fuyukis could be interesting. I have serious gaps when it comes to World Class because I resent the good people of Dallas actually. Really good CMLL from the last couple of years? Rush in ROH if he had a great match. Some WoS I haven't seen in ten years. Anything that you just want to see me write up for any old reason. I'm good with whatever.

[Octopus]

@Gordlow, you get the 2 hour Inoki vs Saito Island Death Match and @SirSmellingtonofCascadia, you get a match from last week. 

—-
I think I might be the opposite of the Gordained Minister in that I’m hoping for something epic. I get less time to derp and I’m hoping to be wowed by over-indulgence. I love a long match as long as there is a story there. 

Other styles I’d enjoy to receive: I love lucha (especially Satanico who just tickles my fancy) yet I’ve watch so little of it compared to the mass sea of decorative masked bouts that are highly praised. I need more trios, bloody punches, older guys doing neat submissions, etc. I hope to someday do a @Matt D style journey through the wonderful world of lucha libre but that might be in a year or so. Or if I can get into a good routine of watching a match after baby sleeps then maybe sooner.

I’ve always been a Giant Baba fella and irrationally wasn’t an Inoki guy. Maybe as a hot teen I’d create divisions of fandom when it didn’t matter. I was always (and still am) a Jean-luc Godard mark, so I didn’t like Truffaut because they weren’t buds. I’m a Minnesotan regularly broken heart sports fan, so I didn’t like the Packers or the Yankees or [insert team that beats us up here]. At the time, the wrestling forum I was on didn’t like Inoki and his booking and Giant Baba was an oddly shaped genius that changed the landscape of head drops everywhere with a booking sheet and a dream. So I raaaaarely watched Inoki. Reading through Matt’s New Japan ‘s From Mars and Gets All the Candy Bars; All Japan ‘s From Jupiter and Gets More Stupider thread has made me realized that the Japanese Leno Chin is something I’ve missed out on and my prior need to create divisions is exactly what has ruined the country I loved. Am I Fox News? Am I MSNBC? I am ashamed of myself and the monster I once was.

Classic Joshi goodness. I love Akira Hokuto but that’s all I know. I’ve watched a few zingers in the Wrestling Machine thread but really that’s it. I just don’t know where to start. Bull Nakano maybe? Dump don’t remember the last name maybe? Akira Hokuto vs Shinobu Kandori is possibly top 5 favorite match for me (I should make that list, hmmmm) so I know I would absolutely eat up that time period of fun. 

I love Regal’s podcast. It’s such a meandering endless joy. I want more European fun. Most of my experience in that world is D’Lo Brown’s European title run. Give me Fit Finlay or Regal himself. I want to experience rounds in my wrestling matches. Not enough breaks where I assume wrestlers sit on a stool in the corner while a manager sprays their face with a water bottle. One of my favorite things is wrestling is a good struggle. Especially grappling. I assume WoS and like promotions (maybe even modern if that’s neat?) would be up my alley. 

Death Matches. Something something light tubes something something.

I could go on because I have maaaaany gaps in wrestling. But that’s fun. I like the idea of having unread books on your bookshelf because you’ll always have something to go to that you can experience for the first time. 

[Curt McGirt]

Okay, here's my list of need-to-knows. 

Mid South, AWA, Texas, current Joshi, US indie feds, and as always more classic Crockett/early WCW. Hell gimme some CHIKARA if you want. And of course I love shoot style and death matches so if you think I haven't seen it, shoot it over. AND if you have a particular French Catch match you wanna see, shoot it, but aside from that I'm averse to really long stuff a la Gordi. 

[SirSmUgly]

32 minutes ago, Matt D said:

I'm tempted to put Smelly McUgly here every week with porksweats just for making me write out these usernames in the randomizer but I won't do that.

 

That's Sir Smellington to you, Matt. 

 

21 minutes ago, Octopus said:

 @SirSmellingtonofCascadia, you get a match from last week. 

Mean.  

[Matt D]

@Octopus
@Curt McGirt

@porksweats
Matt D

@Gordlow
@thee Reverend Axl Future

@SirSmellingtonofCascadia
@DEAN

Ok, 8 is a fine number to last a month on this. Pairings are above. Octopus and Curt, me and Super Porky, Gordi and Axl, Smellington and DEAN. Give me something to work with, ps. Otherwise, I'll scan through some posts of yours and try to figure something out later today. Remember, most important thing is to give your partner a match ASAP. If it takes you a little while to watch and review your match, that's ok, but don't leave the hot tag hanging or whatever.

[DEAN]

What's the standard operating procedure for notifying my Watch Partner of the lunatic match I want him to watch?

[Matt D]

5 minutes ago, DEAN said:

What's the standard operating procedure for notifying my Watch Partner of the lunatic match I want him to watch?

Toss it in here and tag him. 

[Octopus]

My main man, @Curt McGirt! You like rough n tough and also don’t mind some CHIKARA. 

Eddie Kingston vs Hallowicked: Falls Count Anywhere. 

 Kingston is killing it in AEW so it’s fun to rewatch him in CHIKARA.

[DEAN]

Well,  @SirSmellingtonofCascadia,  have you seen this Puerto Rican street fight between Super Black Ninja, future Great Muta, against Invader #1, future murderer?

 

 

[Curt McGirt]

Ah, the good Mr. @Octopus! Whadda pair. Let's see here. I'm gonna go stream of consciousness: 

because for some reason the first thing I thought of was that clipfest of MVC and Steiners blasting into each other the other day. *whispers* I don't think I've actually seen this match either so it's a good reason to watch it...

[SirSmUgly]

I have @DEANthis week. What do you show a person who's seen most all of it? 

I decided to pick a matchup that I've probably shown before, but maybe not this match. A few months ago, I went on a Davey Boy Smith (but not in WWF) run in which I basically wanted to see his development as a worker. His rep is as a) the lesser of the British Bulldogs and b) a crackhead who had to be led through matches who c) flopped as a headliner in WCW. I basically wanted to see if it was that simple, really. 

This match is one from when he first started out, like he's about sixteen here. I watched the whole series he and Breaks had over '79-'80, and you can see Davey getting better each time, but what this particular match shows is that Jim Breaks is all-time-great. The guy could get something good out of a folding chair or a fallen tree limb or, hell, me if they threw me in there wearing spandex. He's a top-five guy ever to do it, IMO. 

Review of Muta/Ninja vs. Invader:

This is the sort of novel, weird stuff that I love to watch even if it sucks. And suck, it did! Muta is generally awesome, but he's a below-replacement-level brawler from what I've seen. But I will say that what I found weirdly interesting about this match is the contrast of it actually being a ponderous brawler that, if you just list out the elements of it, would look amazing on paper. It's got double-juice, it goes inside and outside and inside and outside, chairs and boots and cords are used, etc. Then you watch it, and there's like no passion or struggle or anything. It's just two guys wandering around, doing shitty strikes and hitting each other in the head with chairs to no artistic effect (though to very real physical damage). 

The cool stuff is all Muta, like when he does a moonsault after a very long, boring choking spot. Then he does a long, boring sleeper spot. In a brawl!  But yeah, at least he does things like has these great facial and body expressions when he's being hung. Gonzalez is wearing a full mask, so okay, he can't rely on facial expressions as much, but he loves laying around, doing zero to struggle out of that long cord choke. 

Anyway, this was a really passionless, meandering garbage brawl. It sucked. BUT I was glad to watch it because it was weird. If I had been told this existed before seeing it, I would absolutely have invested time to watch it because of the very idea of this matchup. I'm not sorry that I watched it for the novelty alone. I just watched Zeus/Abby in PR for the same reason.

One last note: Truly, this might be the worst commentary I've ever heard on a wrestling match. The color commentator, Rip Rogers, was especially shitty. That was late-era Stampede level shitty commentary. It made me long for heel Michael Cole. 

 

Edited July 31, 2022 by SirSmellingtonofCascadia

[Curt McGirt]

Oh god Rip was horrible. HORRIBLE. And yeah the match sucks. There is way better on the PR set.

[Web Conn]

Too late to sign up?