Matt D

It’s Top Flight.

I feel like someone could make a bunch of money on the indies with a "Bluey's Dad" gimmick right now.

8/20/87: Maeda vs Super Strong Machine: So this is just a really good show so far. Fujinami tries to make peace between the two NOW members before the match. Remember that Super Strong Machine basically returned by bloodying Maeda before a match. Hopefully this settles it, I guess. It's one of the best Maeda singles matches I've seen. SSM just has his number. It's wild. It starts with Maeda kicking him, SSM just tripping him and then casually walking around to hit a German. They'd do a deal where SSM would do something Maeda would turn it into a hold expertly, and the SSM would find a way out. Just rinse and repeat building to escalating strikes and Maeda swinging wildly with all of his big stuff. Eventually, he finally gets the spin wheel kick in the corner damaging SSM's arm, but Machine just won't stop and won't give up and he keeps fighting through it until he can just take no more. Some of the jockeying for holds in the middle may have went a little long but there was such a mood and struggle to it that it was ok. I love that this is Maeda vs a guy in a mask but also totally gripping and credible because I'm not sure how many more opportunities there would be for that in the years to come. 8/20/87: Fujiwara vs Kimura: Kimura ambushes to start and Fujiwara just starts absolutely dismantling his bandaged leg. This is a mauling, a total mauling. At one point, Kimura hangs on to a cheap sleeper through the ropes and gets a momentary advantage, but Fujiawara just breaks him. Just catches a kick in the corner and shatters him. Kimura eventually, somehow, starts firing back with his speciality, his fists. I think he was wary previously in the match because Fujiwara had jammed him in the 5x5 with the armbar. It works for a minute but just that as Fujiawara crushes his leg again. Then he takes him to the outside and just shatters the knee on the ground. Sometimes he's just gingerly walking around kicking the knee for fun. Sometimes it's absolute cruelty. Anyway, Kimura beats the count the first time but can't the second. A mauling in the best way.

Here's my write up of the show: http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2024/05/dean.html

This is basically how the match starts. Hoshino is awesome here.

8/19/87: Takada vs Yamada: Hey! Yamada is back. I had read this as Yamazaki at first and this is much more interesting. Yamada had grown his hair out and really presented himself as Takada's equal in a way that would have been more dubious a year before. This is clipped, but when we come back, he really presses him down the stretch with a butt butt, a superplex (super rare in NJPW at this time and it's Takada taking it!) and the diving headbutt. He then valiantly tries to get the crossface chicken wing on, but can't fully get it. Takada turns the tables and gets one but Yamada gets free. Takada's still in charge and plants him with a jumping tombstone and then a half crab for the win. They were building that move up it seemed. 8/20/87: Inoki/Muto vs Choshu/Fujinami: Pre-match Inoki seemed to be ready to face them two on one. All of NOW came out and Inoki eventually picked Muto to be his partner which felt like a big deal. This was back and forth for the most part. Muto kept trying submissions. There was a lot of fighting over the Scorpion Deathlock and it felt established like one reason why is that it's much harder to roll out of than the Figure Four and that you can't reverse it as easily as the UWF kneebar/leglock. Muto got both after he couldn't get the scorpion on Choshu and both ended up reversed or escaped from. Eventually they started to work on Inoki's leg for a while and then on Muto's. Fujinami and Choshu did an awesome tandem move, a belly to back knee drop off the top combo and maybe Muto recovered from it a little too quickly? They went into the stretch soon after with Muto missing a dropkick that let Choshu put on the Scorpion. Inoki broke it up, but Choshu hit a belly to back for the win immediately thereafter. Good elevation for Muto though. 8/20/87: Kobayaki vs T. Goto: Goto actually came off like Kobayashi's equal there, both in the early slaps and then, post clip (we only lose two minutes or so) just hanging in there. Kobyashi had an advantage for a bit but Goto got a German and then the Cattle Mutilation of all things. Some nearfalls down the stretch where you really thought Goto was going to get it but Kobayashi hooked him with a body scissors sleeper combo for the win.

It's been a year today. Not a day goes by where I don't miss the big guy and his presence. I don't watch a new match without wondering what his one line thought on it in a massive stream of consciousness paragraph would have been (though, I can imagine it at least because you learned to anticipate the patterns, which is its own sort of blessing). I should have my review of the Action show going up tonight on SC. I talked to my parents this morning. Took the 6 year old to swim lesson. Am reaching out to you guys now. Nothing is assured in this life. Go say hi to your loved ones today.

Tried uploading it to youtube that that was a no go. Here's the file though. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IGVreNv_AN4Ujf1yS9w7gN7XiaHO4mOU/view?usp=sharing

@Casey Let's start easy. Mid-South Brawls First off, the follow up with Duggan and Sawyer: A chain match as you surmised: And here's Dibiase vs the freebirds in a cage: I'll find you the tuxedo match later. Also the concession stand brawls and some moondogs brawls for Memphis among other things.

Hangman was on the very verge of being a bad guy when he left. Some people would say he was already there. I'd like to see a third side to this with Hangman/Moxley/RUSH. Just the maniacs banding together to see the world burn.

I think she's doing her absolute best at being genuine. Take that as you will. As for the paradise lock, I'm ok with it but it shouldn't be on for more than a few seconds without some sort of interaction, be that rolling someone around or a much quicker dropkick. It is a suspension of disbelief issue, still worth doing if it gets a reaction, but worth getting through quickly.

My biggest worries for wrestling for 2024 are AEW doesn't get a good enough renewal Danielson gets hurt really bad and can't finish his retirement run Seth Rollins signs with AEW Thankfully, crisis averted on #3.

8/19/87: Inoki/Fujiwara/Sakaguchi/Hoshino/Muto vs Choshu/Fujinami/Maeda/Kimura/Super Strong Machine (ELIMINATION TAG): 11 on the 80s set. And it's awesome. How do you even cover this? I haven't fully bought the build of NEW vs NOW and there's a bunch of stuff you miss in the margins like Muto joining with NOW and Fujinami and Kimura figuring out how to coexist (let alone any of these guys and Choshu! or Super Strong Machine and Maeda). You got it with the NOW guys but far less so with the NEW. This was the Kimura show for the most part. He got to be the brazen asshole punching star that Choshu's return disrupted up until now. His knee was taped up. His fists were taped up. He was an absolute bastard throughout just gut punching everyone. Loved it. Fujiwara took a lot of this too. When he came out, he tossed the flowers into the crowd without even looking. Pure Fujiwara. At one point Kimura and Fujiwara came together and Fujiwara took a few of his punches and just dropped him into the armbar. Obviously with these, what matters are the eliminations and the big crowd buzzing moments. You got the latter the most when it was Inoki and Maeda. They held Inoki back for the first third of this and had two exchanges between them. Maeda really had Inoki's number on the mat and had to slow things down. Some of that is Inoki just being stubborn and not playing to his strengths. Maeda would have done pro wrestling bullshit with him, I bet, but Inoki had to push. They ended up eliminating one another by going over the top. Other than that, a lot of the eliminations were good. Sakaguchi (Who had some great moments of pummeling people in the corner) for instance, was Fujinami flipping back as he tried to give him the atomic drop, hitting the enziguiri and then setting him up for Choshu's lariat. Just seeing those two work together was wild. Hoshino looked great in this too. He started out so hot with Fujinami (after a brief Muto/Fujinami exchange) that even Inoki was super into it. Super Strong Machine was the first on his side to go but he looked like a tank while he was in there. Anyway, this ended up as Muto and Hoshino vs Choshu and Fujinami, obviously a mismatch, and Hoshino didn't last too long there. Muto got some shine, including surviving the lariat and some scorpion deathlocks, and his entire team was rooting for him, but he still went down. It was an elevation but I'm not sure he made the best of it. I think there's another one of these in September.

Quick thoughts: I think I liked the Copeland match on paper with the limb focus but no one wants to see evil spooky Copeland teases. Shibata looked so happy the first time he dropped Jericho on the hockey pucks! Pandering babyface Serena Deeb trying to connect with the audience is something. No one else except for MJF was acting that way though so it kind of works in the moment because it's so over the top and the audience really wants to be pandered to.

They added a Joe vs Kassidy mauling, Claudio vs Brian Cage, and a Cassidy interview for Dynamite and White vs Dante for Rampage.

Here you go: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aPsPV7QmONYRacXs5N0XeEhSxyHZi7nM/view?usp=sharing

On to August 8/2/87: Inoki vs Bigelow: This is it for Bammer in NJPW for a full year. He couldn't beat Maeda because Inoki had to beat him of course. I said his 1987 felt like a prelude to Vader coming in and I'll stick with that, but we'll see when we get closer to the end of the year. This was really good. Just Inoki vs Monster stuff with a super competent monster. No press slam to start, which I appreciated too because it meant Inoki wasn't just going the easy route. A lot of feeling out. A lot of Inoki getting overpowered and Inoki trying to overcome with technique. There was a great bit early where Inoki worked for an armdrag and Bigelow was aghast. Bigelow hit a double legdrop splitter to the legs, followed by a headbutt and elbow drop and a great pose. He eventually missed the leap off the top though and that was the beginning of the end for a clean Inoki victory. Just the usual epic stuff by a true master when he wanted to be. 8/2/87: Takda/Maeda vs Super Strong Machine/Kobayashi: This started with Kobayashi slapping Takada instead of shaking his hand. What a guy. Takada returned the favor in the ropes shortly thereafter. Just a great great match. Super Strong Machine wrestled this like Grumpy Jumbo, really jamming Maeda in a way I've only seen a few people do (later in the match he caught the spin wheel kick into a boston crab). Maeda returned the favor by dropping him on his head on a front chancery suplex. Kobayashi looked great. All of these guys matched up well. It was fairly back and forth overall with more advantages from SSM and Kobayashi probably. Machine hit this crazy dive from the top to the floor onto Maeda. There was a wild finishing stretch where everyone got to hit a German suplex before Takada really stole it with a backslide on Kobayashi. One of the best matches of the year for NJPW. 8/19/87: Hiro Saito vs Yamazaki: This was ten minutes and we maybe get four of it clipped. Yamazaki feels like a UWF guy who when he got to put his stats into different areas (Suplexes like Maeda, takedowns like Kido), put it all into kicks. He had some great ones until Saito jammed him. this jumped around with the clipping but every member of the UWF guys have the special move of the Fujiwara armbar and he got one late only for Saito to escape and immediately get rolled up. Too clipped to really tell. 8/19/87: M. Funaki vs Kobayashi: Kobayashi wasn't slapping anyone here. (He didn't have to as Funaki's cornerman slapped him on the way to the ring) Right at the bell, Funaki rushed right in with two dropkicks. Kobayashi quickly came back and tombstoned him. They matched up quite well, trading kicks. I imagine Kobayashi was at least partially leading him through it but Funaki looked like he belonged in there. Late in the match Funaki dropkicked him off the top to the floor and then hit a dive. He hit a fisherman's suplex but Kobayashi knew the answer (a whack to the gut), and Kobayashi quickly got him again in the gut with a kick and hit a fisherman's suplex of his own for a win. Good 5 minute sprint. 8/19/87: T. Goto vs Honaga: I have no real idea who these guys are. Goto had black tights and slapped early so I liked him. They were a little wild over all. This was clipped and we get three minutes. Goto had a nasty belly to back. Honaga got a rana late but Goto rolled through for the win.

I can see the logic in having Swerve Ospreay Okada Copeland as your singles champions if you're calling this the Dynasty era. I'm not sure I agree with it, but I get the logic at least. It gives you 4 important seeming matches each PPV. In some ways, it's a question of whether you think main events sell PPVs/shows or if you think it's fleshed out cards. Swerve instantly feels like the least important of the four maybe though. That's the problem.

She’s too natural a face. She should be Willow’s pal.

Stat, Bayne, Kamille, Stoke. That’s the play.

Definitely glad you liked it. There are more hard-nosed slobberknocker Bill Watts promoted Mid-South Wrestling matches along those lines. Give me a day or two and I'll start to pull things together for you, with some Memphis matches too, including some of the other non-Lawler players.

They cut to Ogogo and you could see Nigel and Tony giggling at one another about the comment in the background.

Imagine if he went 10 matches without doing it and the first time you saw him do it was in a big title match on a PPV though. Part of the problem is that AEW is run by a matchmaker instead of a booker. This criticism is not about “story” so much as it is about build and payoff. I am pretty sure that the management does not think about holding back to mean more in key moments. They want to promote as many great matches as possible.

Mortos should save the dives and agility spots either for bigger opponents or just hold them back for really important moments. He already stands out with the look, size, and power offense. Just hold the rest back for when it means the most.

Liked GYV fine. From what you guys said, I think the commercial break did them a favor structurally.