SECRET SANTO 2023~!

[The Natural]

Will watch my pick from Curt ASAP. Been a tough Christmas Day in parts.

[Curt McGirt]

Take all the time you need bud! Your personal business is more important than watching a wrestling match. 

[Matt D]

Week 4. Ok here goes. If you're behind it's ok. Just get your partner their match. We'll see how we're all doing next Tues.

@HeadCheese
@porksweats
----
@Casey
@Zimbra
----
@The Natural
@Sammo~!
----
Matt D
@Gordi the former AEW fan
----
@John E. Dynamite
@Curt McGirt
----
@AxB
@brynn9292

Gordi, Got something coming your way soon.

[Curt McGirt]

Mssr. Dynamite: You cool with Dailymotion?

[onelegbrynn]

Hey @AxB ... any preferences on what you're looking for?

I'm pretty much good with anything.

[Matt D]

@Gordi the former AEW fan

Here is a match.

It's maybe the best single match we saw out of the Panama footage and another chance to see their hero Sandokan and maybe your first look at LA Park well well before he was LA Park. (We covered it here: https://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2023/06/espectaculos-promociones-panama-best.html) Also Idolo, as a rudo, who was another iconic figure in Panama. I say that because if you want a bonus, it'd be this...

which we covered here: https://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2023/08/espectaculos-promociones-panama-idolo.html

This is really just a rudo miscommunication special with a turn at the end, but it's Idolo going tecnico after a lengthy rudo run and I swear to you, it's crazy to watch. It feels like we're watching something that doesn't belong to us, something that we're sneaking a look at. There's something kind of voyeuristic to it, like we're peeking into a neighbor's window to see some moment entirely heartfelt to them. We understand it because we understand wrestling and we can tell how special it is because we see what it means to them, but it's still a little strange, but sort of in the best way, a way that I imagine you'll appreciate.

So you can watch one or both. Up to you.

[AxB]

1 hour ago, brynn9292 said:

Hey @AxB ... any preferences on what you're looking for?

I'm pretty much good with anything.

Surprise me. I'm pretty much good with anything too.

For you, I have... Drexl vs Kidd Bandit, in a Devil's Playground match:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Cg5-Vedv4Q&t=16s

You might have seen a Gif or two from this match before. If you haven't... you'll know the giffable spots when you see them.

[Casey]

On 12/18/2023 at 12:34 PM, Sammo~! said:

This isn't Japanese, but it is a madlibs tag match: King Kong Bundy and Rick Rude vs Jerry Lawler and Randy Savage in Memphis hope you enjoy: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEnvZh4h3vU

I watched the 2v2 brawl they had on TV before this match, which I presume leads into this tag team match. Lawler just fucking HURLS the trophy that (I think?) Jerry Jarrett was going to give him at Bundy, good lord. In classic Memphis fashion, this is just chaotic as all hell and they’re destroying the entire set. This should be fun, I’ve never seen any of these people outside of WWF television. Savage looks like a wild man, holy shit. So this Savage is pre-WWF, but post-ICW outlaw promotion stuff I believe? Savage and Bundy would all be WWF bound within a year, Rude would bounce all over the place for the next 3 to 4 years. Lawler is Lawler and to his credit, loves this shitty little state and tried to make Memphis a thing long past it’s expiration date.

I found a better quality video of the same match, so I’m gonna do that. Classic Wrestling on YouTube if anyone is interested.

I need to say this again: Savage is a fucking wild man pre-WWF. Wow. I love Lawler’s punches, but I think that’s always been a positive a lot of people say about him. I’m not digging his ugly ass orange tights with a blue singlet though, yikes! I think I’ve pinpointed why I hate 80s wrestling - or why I thought I did, as it were. Because in my mind’s eye, 80s wrestling is forever linked to WWF. And while there are bright spots and matches for that promotion in this area… it sucks, honestly. Leave it to a fucking Memphis match to possibly change my mind on 1980s pro wrestling, who would’ve thought. But that’s why we all do this, right? To maybe be given a match that expands our tastes beyond what we thought we liked? Like… Memphis goes absolutely APESHIT for a Bundy/Savage stand off midway through the match. So loud I hate to turn down my TV. In a match involving Jerry Lawler, who even my grandparents know who he is and they’ve never watched wrestling. He’s a Tennessee icon. And Savage & Bundy get a bigger reaction than him here. Savage is just electric all through this match, and he barely has to do anything. It’s fantastic stuff.

It’s no five star affair, but it does what I love about wrestling: made me feel something. It made me want to see more Lawler in Memphis (and King Kong Bundy, which I never thought I’d say). It made me want to see more pre-WWF Randy Savage. The big takeaway here is that, maybe I don’t hate 1980s US wrestling, but rather I just hate what WWF turned it into and warped my mind into thinking all 80s stuff was like that. Good on ya, Sammo. I’m sure @Matt D will be pleased with my revelation.

Oh and if you didn’t know, that match in the post you quoted of mine was what I gave you, not just an example of what I like. I realized it might not be clear with the way I worded it.

—

@Zimbra

Continuing my theme of really weird matches (to me): Abdullah the Butcher versus… Billy Robinson. That’s a styles clash, and I love that type of shit obviously.

[Gordi the former AEW fan]

9 hours ago, Matt D said:

@Gordi the former AEW fan

Here is a match.

It's maybe the best single match we saw out of the Panama footage and another chance to see their hero Sandokan and maybe your first look at LA Park well well before he was LA Park. (We covered it here: https://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2023/06/espectaculos-promociones-panama-best.html) Also Idolo, as a rudo, who was another iconic figure in Panama. I say that because if you want a bonus, it'd be this...

which we covered here: https://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2023/08/espectaculos-promociones-panama-idolo.html

This is really just a rudo miscommunication special with a turn at the end, but it's Idolo going tecnico after a lengthy rudo run and I swear to you, it's crazy to watch. It feels like we're watching something that doesn't belong to us, something that we're sneaking a look at. There's something kind of voyeuristic to it, like we're peeking into a neighbor's window to see some moment entirely heartfelt to them. We understand it because we understand wrestling and we can tell how special it is because we see what it means to them, but it's still a little strange, but sort of in the best way, a way that I imagine you'll appreciate.

So you can watch one or both. Up to you.

DO NOT READ THIS YET!  (OK, you can read it now ) I (had) to post this in stages. Type it up on Chrome, so I can have paragraph breaks. Post videos on Firefox. It's gonna take a moment to finish anyway. First I'll type up my general thoughts on Sandokan. Then the matches I picked for you. Then FINALLY specific thoughts on the two matches.

ALWAYS  a real pleasure to be matched up with you MattD, and a challenge. A late Christmas gift, if you will. My goal  this time is to find something nifty you have never seen. I have been tucking stuff away. In particular, matches featuring wrestlers you like in unusual place and/or vs unexpected opponents. Plus one more weirdly-Japanese-sexualized match that can ONLY be appreciated by keeping a VERY open mind (in the tradition of Kana/Fujiwara potatoing each other or Alexander Otsuka's sex addict comedy gimmick Otokosakari). The particular Stardom match I will provide as a last-ditch option if you've seen everything else I found, seems to be entirely structured around boobs-based psychology. It's an extremely weird match which has the form of an offensive attitude era ladies match but  not, in my opinion, the substance of one.

I found an Onita & Murdoch vs Kurisu & Leduc match and thought "That will be PERFECT for Matt! Then I saw that it was you who posted it.

General thoughts on Sandokan

My first exposure was a match DEAN wrote up on a previous Santo, that ended in an absolute riot. I think Curt posted a bloody singles match (maybe vs LA PARK?) in the bloody matches thread. Then you gave me a match with Sandokan and friend vs Giant Tataki where the good guys absolutely cheated to win and the crowd went crazy with joy when they did so.

And there was also that Argentinean (?) match where the shepherd gave his sheep to the mummy and they hugged. Which was the greatest thing ever. Which was also the first time I really felt that "looking through your neighbour's window" feeling.

My thoughts on Sandokan at the time: I haven't seen a ton of Panamanian wrestling (maybe ONE other match also connected to Secret Santo and/or Matt or Segunda) but it LITERALLY seems like someone explained it to Sandokan and he kind of got it and explained it fairly well to some other Panamanian dudes and they kind of tried to work it out as they went along. This as opposed to what happened in Japan where dudes like Blassie were present and involved and therefore the pacing and storytelling in Rikidozan matches are miles better than in Sandokan matches. 

So, that. Plus, the somewhat disturbing similarities to what I have seen of Sandokan so far to that era of Hulkamania where Hogan essentially WAS America and so anyone going against Hogan was by definition in the wrong, regardless of their motivation, and anything Hogan did to an enemy was automatically justified and cheered even if he was straight-up cheating to win.

So I am stoked to see more Sandokan! And surprised to read that he got to the point of being legitimately good! 

Sandokan vs LA Park trios match:

Good Lord! The pacing, timing, and structure here are so much better than the Panamanian matches I have seen before! It's night and day. 

It occurs to me how lucky the Panamanian fans of this era were as contrasted with, let's say, Argentinean fans who were stuck with Kardagian, or maybe central European fans of the Otto Wanz era (or, according to Jericho's book, the late-era Rene Lesartasse), or in particular  British fans when Big Daddy ruled the roost. In the sense that Sandokan was fit and athletic, but moreso in the sense that he was willing and able to learn and grow, and also willing to bump and sell and put other wrestlers over at his own expense. I was NOT expecting him to eat two falls here. And one relatively cleanly, even! 

I have to assume it was the visiting Mexican heels who taught him the art of psychology at such a high level. Possibly the future LA Park, in particular. Park vs Sandokan is by far the best thing in all three falls as far as wrestling, "per se" goes. And unfortunately a lot of Sandokan vs Park takes place on the floor while the camera is focused on the lesser wrestlers fighting in the ring. In particular: Sandokan's partner in the blue gear seems pretty limited athletically,while Idolo really seems to lack intensity and fire, here. The other two wrestlers in the match are pretty good, though. 

Between the second and third falls, there is a long dramatic sequence where Sandokan takes a harrowing beat-down, and... I honestly wonder if maybe Hangman and Swerve might have watched and been inspired by this match? It's certainly cool to see how awesomely creative Park was this early in his career. Hats off to Sandokan for recognising that and putting the young man over so strongly here.

There's a cool bit in the third fall when the camera shifts to show Sandokan and Future Park brawling on the floor and you can clearly see that the arena is also used for basketball.

There's a legitimately funny bit where the ref starts to count three on Sandokan while he is lying bloody on the mat with nobody covering him and Park flies in knees first to make the cover.

An insane riot (once again) erupts after this one! I was there live when Mox and O-Khan brawled into the crowd at Edion Arena and it was wildly exciting... But there was nothing like the sense of danger that we get here. The crowd seems perpetually on the verge of erupting into chaos and anarchy here, and it is not the least bit surprising when that's how the video finishes. Keep an eye on the (I'm assuming security staff) in the yellow t-shirt. Yikes!

also I am going to pretend his name is Sand O-Khan and he's Great O-Khan's father.

This was really excellent and I enjoyed it so much. There is a real evolution going on here. What a treat to be able to bear witnesses to it!

Idolo turns face!

Oh, this was tremendous fun! I think that this structure, this particular story being told, at this level, is damned near unique. 

As Matt says, it's basically just heel miscommunication leading to a face turn. But it's a near-perfect version of that.

They run through so many "malfunction at the junction" spots and Exterminador 1 goes from being apologetic to begging off to trying to make up for it, while Idolo goes from being forgiving to being totally fed up. Eventually Idolo will no longer take the bait when his partner sets a good guy up for a double team. Nor will he cheat to even the odds when the good guys regain the advantage. 

So then SOME OTHER GUY in a zip hoodie comes in to help Exterminador cheat and that leads to Idolo finally turning on his partner to re-embrace the Light Side of the Panamanian Force. So then the tag match just kind of ends with the good guys victorious, and we transition into a long back and forth brawl between Idolo and his former partner in crime. And that REALLY riles up the crowd. The crowd gets entirely out of control again but more in a "rushing the field after a victory to tear down the goal posts" way than in a "riot" way. And the absolute climax is Idolo and Sandokan embracing in the ring while the fans go into joyous rapture. 

THIS is pro wrestling at its very finest. Damn!

TO BE CONTINUED

Matches I hope Matt hasn't seen yet:

JARRETT in WWC

ANDRE!

MY MIND IS BOGGLED THAT THIS MATCH EVEN EXISTS! And I don't remember it being covered in your 80s AJPW/NJPW thread.

As a last resort: BEWBS!

ALTERNATIVELY: One I imagine you must have seen, but I would like your opinion on it:

 

 

Edited December 27, 2023 by Gordi the former AEW fan

[John E. Dynamite]

9 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

Mssr. Dynamite: You cool with Dailymotion?

we can do anything. archive.org, bilibili, rutube, facebook, we can hack the pentagon and watch big show do a moonsault. we can hack the pentagon jr.

Edited December 27, 2023 by John E. Dynamite

[The Natural]

On 12/25/2023 at 5:02 PM, The Natural said:

Will watch my pick from Curt ASAP. Been a tough Christmas Day in parts.

 

On 12/25/2023 at 6:14 PM, Curt McGirt said:

Take all the time you need bud! Your personal business is more important than watching a wrestling match. 

Thanks, man. Appreciate that xxx.

[The Natural]

23 hours ago, Matt D said:

Week 4. Ok here goes. If you're behind it's ok. Just get your partner their match. We'll see how we're all doing next Tues.

@HeadCheese
@porksweats
----
@Casey
@Zimbra
----
@The Natural
@Sammo~!
----
Matt D
@Gordi the former AEW fan
----
@John E. Dynamite
@Curt McGirt
----
@AxB
@brynn9292

Gordi, Got something coming your way soon.

Sammo~!: Anything you do/don't want specifically?

[Curt McGirt]

Alright then Mr. Dynamito, I got two for you. First, you gonna review the 5-on-5 that Natural couldn't watch

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7to7v5

and holy crap I just found this while going back in the BLOODSUCKING FREAKS thread to find that elusive IWRG match 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzADuUaxIjw&t=1725s&ab_channel=CactusBackWrestling

So, considering the popularity of The Iron Claw, you get to see... the Iron Claw.

[onelegbrynn]

22 hours ago, AxB said:

Surprise me. I'm pretty much good with anything too.

For you, I have... Drexl vs Kidd Bandit, in a Devil's Playground match:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Cg5-Vedv4Q&t=16s

You might have seen a Gif or two from this match before. If you haven't... you'll know the giffable spots when you see them.

I see your Drexel vs. Kidd Bandit match and raise you the original Gringo Loco vs. Psycho Clown match from GCW in 2022:

https://youtu.be/phAs-CIU4Lg?si=T6CwRKkRMnHhHR1m

[Zimbra]

On 12/26/2023 at 4:42 PM, Casey said:

I watched the 2v2 brawl they had on TV before this match, which I presume leads into this tag team match. Lawler just fucking HURLS the trophy that (I think?) Jerry Jarrett was going to give him at Bundy, good lord. In classic Memphis fashion, this is just chaotic as all hell and they’re destroying the entire set. This should be fun, I’ve never seen any of these people outside of WWF television. Savage looks like a wild man, holy shit. So this Savage is pre-WWF, but post-ICW outlaw promotion stuff I believe? Savage and Bundy would all be WWF bound within a year, Rude would bounce all over the place for the next 3 to 4 years. Lawler is Lawler and to his credit, loves this shitty little state and tried to make Memphis a thing long past it’s expiration date.

I found a better quality video of the same match, so I’m gonna do that. Classic Wrestling on YouTube if anyone is interested.

I need to say this again: Savage is a fucking wild man pre-WWF. Wow. I love Lawler’s punches, but I think that’s always been a positive a lot of people say about him. I’m not digging his ugly ass orange tights with a blue singlet though, yikes! I think I’ve pinpointed why I hate 80s wrestling - or why I thought I did, as it were. Because in my mind’s eye, 80s wrestling is forever linked to WWF. And while there are bright spots and matches for that promotion in this area… it sucks, honestly. Leave it to a fucking Memphis match to possibly change my mind on 1980s pro wrestling, who would’ve thought. But that’s why we all do this, right? To maybe be given a match that expands our tastes beyond what we thought we liked? Like… Memphis goes absolutely APESHIT for a Bundy/Savage stand off midway through the match. So loud I hate to turn down my TV. In a match involving Jerry Lawler, who even my grandparents know who he is and they’ve never watched wrestling. He’s a Tennessee icon. And Savage & Bundy get a bigger reaction than him here. Savage is just electric all through this match, and he barely has to do anything. It’s fantastic stuff.

It’s no five star affair, but it does what I love about wrestling: made me feel something. It made me want to see more Lawler in Memphis (and King Kong Bundy, which I never thought I’d say). It made me want to see more pre-WWF Randy Savage. The big takeaway here is that, maybe I don’t hate 1980s US wrestling, but rather I just hate what WWF turned it into and warped my mind into thinking all 80s stuff was like that. Good on ya, Sammo. I’m sure @Matt D will be pleased with my revelation.

Oh and if you didn’t know, that match in the post you quoted of mine was what I gave you, not just an example of what I like. I realized it might not be clear with the way I worded it.

—

@Zimbra

Continuing my theme of really weird matches (to me): Abdullah the Butcher versus… Billy Robinson. That’s a styles clash, and I love that type of shit obviously.

Awesome!  I thought I had seen this, but I watched the other Abby/Robinson match.

Keeping with the theme of random matchups skip to about 1:15:30 here for Masashi Aoyagi vs Bob Backlund.  I deeply apologize that the angle of the handheld obscures Aoyagi's pre-match karate demonstration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzkt8PcgTu8

[Sammo~!]

9 hours ago, The Natural said:

Sammo~!: Anything you do/don't want specifically?

Nothing in particular, I'm wide open for matches this year. 
How about you? Anything you're looking for?

Also I plan on catching up on writing up the 2 matches I have in my backlog later this week. Holidays are very busy for me between work and family. 

[John E. Dynamite]

14 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

 

I was gonna do a 85 AJPW deep-ish cut but it's been written up by segundacaida and Matt in the Treadmill thread and has been posted on this board a couple of times so INSTEAD, here's this freakin' classic that I stumbled across that doesn't even have a single cagematch rating.

Javier "Monarca" Cruz vs. Ciclon Ramirez Hair vs. Hair 6/10/1994 Arena Mexico
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_M5iuZXLsI

Cruz had been losing his hair about every year-and-a-half, in matches against El Dandy, Emilio Charles Jr., Jerry Estrada and especially Apollo Dantes. Ciclon Ramirez had long been saddled with a weird gimmick and had lost his mask less than a year earlier to El Felino. But this match doesn't require a ton of context outside of two dudes without much to lose and willing to beat the shit out of the other guy to keep their luscious locks intact. Blood. Topes. BLOOD. TOPES.

[Matt D]

@Gordi the former AEW fangave me a bunch of stuff, so I figured what the hell, I'd just watch it all..

Ivan Koloff vs Jeff Jarrett: I'm useless without Esteban to help me with context for PR, but I assume this was ~1990 and in my future for the SC project. Jarrett just missed out on Aniversario 1989 and challenging Super Medico for the Jr. Title due to the hurricane and that was a big disappointment, especially considering how random it was to see Simply Irresistible Jeff Jarrett next to Hugo. Glad he does finally get there. Koloff in 89 PR really showed how much value he still had. He was a top guy and a secondary title holder with El Profe at his side and you can still see the value here. They go ~16 and the first ten is all in and out chain wrestling. Jeff had been wrestling for a bit and had wrestled guys like Bockwinkel, for instance, but this was still a good education for him. We've seen babyface Jarrett so little over the last twenty-five years but it was probably his true calling in general. That he's so good as a heel in 2023 is more that the world has changed really. There are less people with his skillset so it makes it standout more. He was probably always a better babyface. He was great working in and out of holds here, even if was probably Koloff directing traffic. Koloff hits a belly to back at that ten minute mark, but Jarrett has no die and no quit and keeps trying to fire back only to get cut off with eye rakes and by Koloff's superior size. They do a chain shot finish with the ref figuring it out. This didn't feel like PR at all, but I also think that in Memphis, they wouldn't have been able to work this specific match either. It was only in a sort of "neutral" territory that they could have something like this and it was probably very good for Jarrett to go through these motions.

Andre/Parsons vs Super Destroyers: I have a lot of time for the Irwins. They were big, imposing stooging heels who could give a ton in a match but still be credible when the time came. They had a big task here. Parsons and Andre came out to "We Are Family" which is just what you would imagine might happen in Dallas. Lots of the Irwins bouncing around for Andre and Parsons in the first 2/3rds, including a very fun spot where Andre does a dropdown and is slow to get up so a Destroyer runs right into his butt. It's broken up a bit by a minute or two of them getting lucky and beating on Andre (he put his head down). He just stoically comes back on a Hulk Up though. The real heat is on Parsons which leads to a huge jumping hot tag and Kamala coming out. Post match, Parsons shines Andre's shoe with Akbar's headscarf which again.. Dallas. So, so Dallas.

Choshu vs Magee: I had some vague idea this existed. Choshu had some interesting singles matches in 86. There's a Martel match I should seek out at some point. This was never really something I was going to go out of my way to watch because there are so many more classic matches I haven't seen. What I didn't know about it was that it was an AJPW Different Styles Fight in 86. We're talking 10 5 minute rounds, though it only goes three. I imagine this was Choshu's idea? Magee was talked up by the announcers as being good at many sports and forms of martial arts but he was billed as a Canadian powerlifter. He did the flips to pre-match (goaded on by his Japanese handler) and they were impressive. The match itself wasn't terrible but you could sense how green Magee was just from the look in his eyes pre-match. You could just tell. He would do impressive rolls but not know where he was in the ring and end up in the ropes. He do a cartwheel and backflip to set up a dropkick but they'd look great and the dropkick would look crummy. The finish was basically him doing a backflip for no reason when he had the advantage and Choshu bodying him. They had set spots worked out at the start of rounds but then it devolved to general uncooperative scrappiness, but the level of skill was just low enough that the scrappiness was interesting in an unseasoned way as opposed to being too defensive and skillful (see Maeda vs Andre). It took Choshu four lariats to barely put him down. There's a world where Magee could have gotten it and been a huge star but it's obviously not this one.

Studd vs Backlund: This is one of the more exciting big Studd matches. I think he's great at some things, absolutely great, most especially at riling up a crowd by leaning on the dissonance of what a giant should be able to do vs what he actually does. He always takes the easy way out, always cheats when he shouldn't have to, is great at leaning on everything but what he visibly should be able to lean on. The problem is, I think, ultimately his cardio. He was a giant. At times he could stooge big and create a lot of motion. He did so here vs Backlund at a few points. But he, more than almost any other wrestler I can think of, turns that chinlock into an actual resthold as opposed to something that's more dynamically working the crowd. Some of that is on his opponent but the pattern is what it is. When he's down there, he's not working it like the greatest heels can. Here, in the early bits where Backlund is dodging him and outfinessing him, like Pinocchio on uppers (He should be singing "There ain't no strings on me!" every time he gets out of a hold), Studd knows exactly how to sell the wounds of his pride and his heart, how to bluster up when something goes his way, how to build to a big, huge, meaningful spot. He's the opposite of Magee in the last match. He really, truly gets it, and he has the giant frame to make it work and make the fans care so, so much (even on top of the 10K that got me excited for a body slam spot I knew Backlund wasn't going to hit). I just think the body is occasionally unwilling to see through the vision and it drags him down more often than not. Not here though, as they figured out other ways to get to where they were going; I worry a bit that where they were going was a rematch where things were ultimately gummed up. Backlund getting counted out while he had the chickenwing on is a pretty solid piece of trademarked business to get to that next match though.

Saki vs Mina vs Unagi - Cosmic Rules In Summer Match

Whenever someone convinces me to watch a Stardom match, it's always something at the tip top of the card and I find it exhausted and full of way too much stuff and not enough breathing and sort of the modern day form of Manami Toyota which is not my favorite anything. This felt more like an R-Rated version of TJPW (I generally find TJPW delightful, harmless fun for what it's worth).  It was a match where anything went so long as it was beach related. They were in white shirts and denim pants. Past one particularly gnarly uraken by (I think) Mina, it was more hairpulling and using the objects in goofy ways. For instance, they made a big fanfare about the water guns entering the match with all three women pulling rope to set it up. Then the water was treated as absolutely deadly. It reminded me of playing Syphon Filter 2 on the PS2 in college against our dorm's resident pesky kid Jeremy. I'd start chasing him with the knife and he'd run from me even though he had the gun. It's just water! Even with the white shirts, they all had bikinis under it but, hey, consistent wrestling logic right? It was used to spray the ref in the eye to break up a count and break up an abdominal stretch. So long as it's consistent, it works for me. The finish was like what would happen if someone pulled off a luchador's mask and ran to the back with it. Except for she came back with a towel instead. All wrestling is symbolic. Sort of. Maybe. Let's go with that.

[onelegbrynn]

Finally watched the match Matt assigned me last week.

Genichiro Tenryu & Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu (Feb. 5, 1987)

Ok, so I'll start this off by saying that I've heard the names of Choshu and Yatsu but this may be the first match I've seen of either guy. A lot of the stuff I've seen from Japan is either recent NJPW (meaning in the last few years) or NOAH from the mid-2000s. I may have seen some AJPW four pillars stuff from the 90s at one point but it's been a while. Anyway, these guys waste ZERO time in going after each other. I can tell from the beginning that this will be a battle and did it ever turn out to be one. These four just hammered each other in the name of tag team glory. Each hit, slap, chop and kick meant something. Very little downtime in this one either with the only submission hold I remember being a standing leg lock in the corner. I really, really did enjoy this and I probably should watch a lot more classic Japan. Thanks for sending it my way Matt!

AxB -- I'm about to head out for a get together with some friends tonight. I will get to your match this weekend.

[The Natural]

On 12/21/2023 at 7:22 PM, Curt McGirt said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAcdJwNf8HY&ab_channel=KingsAARK

Okay Natural, I figured out something also pretty gnarly that I watched recently again for the first time in awhile. I have a feeling you will like the participants. 

EDIT: And I just realized the problem with DM is probably the Ads if you have an Adblocker. It screws with me too but if I right click on the screen and pause the ads on that tab then refresh, I can watch the matches or whatever else I'm trying to. 

Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Mitsuharu Misawa. NOAH, 26th September 2002.

I've never seen this before. Going into a match with either, you know it's going to be a stiff strike fest but even more so here. These two battered the piss out of each other with elbows to the jaw, Misawa even deviates from his trademark elbow/forearm strikes by kneeling Takayama in the fucking head and Takayama's kicks. One of the nastiest elbow suicidals you'll ever see as Misawa's bent Takayama's back over the guard rail like that famous one to JT Smith in ECW. One of my favourite spots was Misawa in the full mount not using punches like you normally see in that position but his trademark forearm strikes. In a match full of strikes, it's fitting one would end it and a rope assisted elbow/forearm to the jaw to Takayama puts him down and Misawa regains the GHC Heavyweight Championship. Cheers, Curt!

Edited December 29, 2023 by The Natural

[The Natural]

On 12/28/2023 at 1:45 AM, Sammo~! said:

Nothing in particular, I'm wide open for matches this year. 
How about you? Anything you're looking for?

Also I plan on catching up on writing up the 2 matches I have in my backlog later this week. Holidays are very busy for me between work and family. 

Can't think of any off the top of my head, mate. Will think on for you.

[AxB]

On 12/27/2023 at 9:13 PM, brynn9292 said:

I see your Drexel vs. Kidd Bandit match and raise you the original Gringo Loco vs. Psycho Clown match from GCW in 2022:

https://youtu.be/phAs-CIU4Lg?si=T6CwRKkRMnHhHR1m

So, right before the opening bell, Gringo Loco makes it a Falls Count Anywhere match. Then Psycho Clown says (in English) "Let me tell you something motherfucker... I am sorry for the bad words, really. But this guy, I think he's an asshole, really". But he gets them to chant Psycho Loco for him, thus establishing himself as OUR babyface. 

Usually in Gringo Loco matches, he's the bigger guy and he's there to base for the high flier. But Psycho Clown is a legit heavyweight, taller and bigger than Gringo. They do a very brief bit of opening Lucha in the ring, but quickly go outside and take it in turns to throw each other into the chairs. 

Running along the apron and doing a tope between the turnbuckle posts, instead of the ring? That's high risk. He goes for another Tope from the ring, but Gringo swings a chair into his head... which appears to begin our first bit of a control section after the repeated momentum changes back and forth. We have the mask ripping and the chair smashing and the bleeding and the stomping and the elbows. And the biting. He sits him on the top rope and tries to grab the hair for balance, but accidentally grabs the (torn) mask's hair instead of the man's, and almost falls off.

Froggy Crossbody off the top by Clown, but Gringo is back on top in seconds. His next hope spot is a twisting plancha through a door. Yeah, this is your lucha brawl, both guys bleeding now. BIG chairshot off the Irish Whip. Facewash kick in the corner, even though this is GCW and that's one of Nick Gage's big moves. Head of the chair driven into the groin. And then they go into a chop exchange. They're just back and forthing with strikes, but Clown is getting the best of things mostly now, whilst Gringo tended to be getting the best of it in the early stages. 

The blood from Clown's forehead has now dripped down to cover the still-in-place lower half of his mask so it's starting to look like it's just his face. Through the crowd to the merch area, AJ Gray referenced positively on commentary so you know this is from a few years ago. Clown sets up a door on 4 chairs, but that gives Gringo recovery time, and he cracks Clown in the head, lays him on the table and heads up the a balcony. Tightrope rope across a atrut to stand atop the (American Football) goalposts. Flipping fucking senton off the Goalpost by Gringo, but Clown is back up, onto the balcony and hitting a flying Clothesline balcony dive! That must have been hard on the knees there.

Back to the ring, Air Raid Crash through a chair, for a two count. And we're getting another door bridged between chairs set-up by Clown... and then Gringo low blows him and lays him on the quasitable again! GRINGO... GET THE LIGHT TUBES! But he's cut off, gets the tube bundle smashed over his head, and one Spanish Fly through the door later, we've got a winner~!

Now towards the end there, this match was reaching the point of "If that crazy bump wasn't the finish, how can they possibly pull out a bigger move to top it?", but them then escalating the violence level with the glass did make it actually pay off in a satisfactory fashion. Now, possibly in the context of a full GCW show, getting finished by one glass spot when later in the night there was likely a match with dozens of glass spots might detract from that a little bit, but yeah, start to finish, this worked. 

This was a good match in that brawling/ semi-deathmatch style. It didn't like they were doing stuff just to do stuff, which some lesser brawlers can infect their matches with. It was primarily a fight, not a match, but they did enough wrestling in their to balance it out. Yeah, this was a good time.

[Sammo~!]

18 hours ago, The Natural said:

Can't think of any off the top of my head, mate. Will think on for you.

I got one for you. Fun tag match, I think you like one of the guys in it. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZIH3KMi6ss

[onelegbrynn]

Devil's Playground Match: Kidd Bandit vs. Drexel (Prestige Non-Stop Feeling, Jul. 22, 2022) 

Assigned to me by @AxB

This was a weird match. I'm not familiar with either wrestler but Drexel looks like something out of a Rob Zombie movie. Kidd Bandit's anime offensive was cute but felt a little out of place for a match like this. There was one spot where Kidd did some sort of anime pose with kendo sticks and Drexel just chucked a chair that hit them straight in the head. There were lots of the usual deathmatch or hardcore spots with staple guns, thumbtacks, glass and what not. Also, I don't think I've ever seen a barbed wire wrapped sword used in a match so that was new. Finish with the barbed wire doors was fine. I think this had potential but there was a lot of downtime in between spots which killed the momentum for me. 

Edited January 1 by brynn9292

[Matt D]

I’m planning on at least one more roll tomorrow. If anyone wants on or off let me know.