(Also Not March Madness): SECRET SANTO March 2020

[Curt McGirt]

I think Hokuto/Kandori was one of the first joshi matches I ever saw and it made me an immediate fan too. You can tell from the jump that those two ladies HATE each other. After the piledriver on the table leaving the imprint of Hokuto's head in it, and then the high level bloodloss that ensued, I was hooked. 

[Octopus]

Terry Funk vs Eddie Guerrero - 5/20/1989

This was a very fun tv match that I never knew happened. Terry Funk, who I have top 5 on a GOAT list I’m having fun with, going up against a young yellow-trunked Eddie Guerrero. Based on the date of the match and the commentators references to Ric Flair being in the hospital, I think it is safe to assume this is soon after Funk attacked Flair after his big Steamboat match. Also, they state that this is Eddie’s debut.

It’s safe to say that going in this is going to be a squash. Terry is in a big storyline with the champ and we got what someone at the time would assume is just an enhancement talent. But we get multiple moments to actually let Eddie shine here. Big moment for him is mid match jumping off the top rope onto Funk outside of the ring. He also has a pretty backflip reversal to escape a charging Terry. 

It’s interesting to see Eddie Guerrero at this time. Looking back the earliest match of his I’ve seen is probably around 92, which would have been 3 years after this. The clear object of this match is to put over Terry Funk. But I always have fun watching the other guy and how they react. Eddie did a good job selling. A moment I enjoyed is when Terry does a fist drop onto Eddie and he grabs his head, gets up, to re-fall down. Writing that sounds clumsy but it was actually a very fluid motion. I’d be interested to see more of him at this younger age. 

This match is a great example of crazy Funk. Running back and forth when Eddie’s to the outside and early getting himself caught up in the ropes on a missed move. Such a wild card. Seeing him in the ring you never know what he’s going to do. Comes off as such a prick when he briefly mocks Guerrero rolling around. You just want to see him get smacked and I love him for it. 

A big moment was first having Terry Funk throw Eddie over the top rope the way he did. JR (I think) was going off about wondering why that wasn’t a DQ. For anyone that watches AEW you’ll know that’s a pretty regular thing from him. Funny to see him doing that in 1989. But they do a good job stating that Funk is so wild that the ref is intimidated by him. 

The other big moment is the piledriver to the outside. A reference to when he piledrived Flair through the Table on the outside. I wonder how many outside the ring piledrivers he does between then and the match. Does that become his thing?

Of course, video ends with a great Funk promo. Fun match, thanks @Goodear !

[Octopus]

Vader vs Shinya HASHIMOTO - 4/28/1989

The pre-match antics says it all. Vader’s abrasive showmanship as he’s swinging his arms and calling out the steam of his large, over the top mask. This spectacle coincides with Hashimoto staring him down with his arms folded. Loud and large vs stoically contemplative. A true representation of the old tale of the Mongoose vs the Cobra.

Vader is the bigger and stronger of the two. His punches pack a hell of a wallop. When he connects, Hashimoto goes down. But Hashimoto’s precision is dangerous. after being pushed around, he is given the opportunity to strike hard with a series of kicks to his shoulder. When Vader is hurt, he is HURT. Great an over the top selling. Shinya looks like a total killer. But it just take one Donkey Kong style smash to swing the advantage. 

Back and forth this match goes. Vader is stronger and knocking Hashimoto down, Hashimoto focuses on the shoulder and Vader screams in pain. At times Vader even comes across desperate by throwing a drop kick. Hashimoto appears to have advantage coming into the end game with a very smooth looking bodyslam and an arm submission, but Vader muscles and powers his way out. Vader’s girth and raw power is what gives him the clothesline victory.

Hash Money, Homie. Thanks @Curt McGirt !

[Curt McGirt]

In his book Funk says he got Eddie brought in specifically for that match and they did the typically WCW thing of not even thinking about snatching him up. Eddie didn't come back until he'd already been in ECW and New Japan. 

As far as the throw over the top goes, was it the Bill Watts era then? That would explain the complaint as OTT DQ was a Cowboy rule. Anyway, that's one of my favorite competitive squashes and I've posted it here more than once. Funk comes across as a complete psycho and the promo is the cherry on top. I went back to watch it again and the following match was in the feed and is another awesome competitive squash in front of a super hot Power Hour crowd, who are so loud Lance Russell is practically yelling (strange for him). At one point it even looks like a fan jumps in the ring before Funk throws him out. 

 

[Octopus]

Terry Funk vs Ricky Santana

The way Terry Funk rolls Santana over the top turnbuckle is perfect. Funk is so unbelievably unorthodox that he just comes off rabid. Bending him over the rope, grabbing his other leg, bumping his own head with it and just heaving him over so he can sucker punch him. The odd ways he moves in and around the ring gets me excited. Ricky is on the outside against the apron, Funk climbs up the side of the ring in front of him, runs past him like he’s running the ropes, and returns just to stomp on the back of his head. Wild coot gonna coot. 

Ricky Santana has the girls screaming too. When he had his comeback fiery punches sequence, the ladies sounded like they were getting into it. Nice hair and the guy can strut between punches. Irish whipping Terry into the corner, leading to this... 

I don’t understand how Funk’s body works. 

Santana punts him over the top! Just swinging away at Funk. Girls still screaming. Terry is begging for mercy? Does Ricky give in? Hell no! Smashed his head around the ring. Beats him so bad that Funk once again gets his body tied up into the ropes. 

Funk does what any heel will do. Get the ref between ‘em. Headbutt gets Terry the advantage. Followed by a series of rights and a near knock out left. Ref counts to 8, Santana gets up. Same sequence but now to 9. Funk goes for another series of punches but Ricky won’t have it and returns with a series of his own punches. Funk flails around swinging. Disoriented, Santana charges only for Funk to catapult him over the ropes.

Piledriver time. Dunks tries to get dirty with a second one, pulling away the outside mat, but the ref won’t have it. Funk gets Ricky in the ring and it’s over. Post match beatdown is stopped by the ref sticking his neck out for Ricky again. Funk slaps the ref out and continues with his stops on Santana. One by one, good guys come in the ring only to be piledrived. Two guys in the front row give each other a very big high five. In this Coronavirus world we live in, that put a smile on my face. No touching! Steiner Brothers make the save.

This is my new fun. Let me know if I’m doing too much.

[Curt McGirt]

Some more things about that one: 

1. Santana stole Terry's punch thing that he does which made me laugh. 

2. Terry doing that weird, stiff walk with his chin up is so weird. It makes him come off as crazy without really trying. 

3. I'm convinced that second guy running in wasn't a wrestler. He wasn't dressed like one, he had that wild scrambly kind of thing with his legs that you see fans that jump in the ring do, and Funk just sidestepped him and directly tossed him out instead of beating on him like the other guys. 

4. Tommy Young probably should have DQ'd Santana for whatever he hit him with off the table, but considering how things ended up he probably wouldn't have redone that one.

Oh, and Funk posting himself for no reason is number one and the best.

Edited March 17, 2020 by Curt McGirt

[MORELOCK]

9 hours ago, OctopusCinema said:

JR (I think) was going off about wondering why that wasn’t a DQ. For anyone that watches AEW you’ll know that’s a pretty regular thing from him. Funny to see him doing that in 1989.

8 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

As far as the throw over the top goes, was it the Bill Watts era then? That would explain the complaint as OTT DQ was a Cowboy rule.

89 - before Watts. I noticed JR calling Funk "Ric Flair" during the match, too - he really doesn't seem to have changed that much as an announcer at all. It's just that fans of newer stuff disagree with a lot of his opinions, which wasn't typically the case until maybe mid-2000s?

[Octopus]

15 minutes ago, MORELOCK said:

89 - before Watts. I noticed JR calling Funk "Ric Flair" during the match, too - he really doesn't seem to have changed that much as an announcer at all. It's just that fans of newer stuff disagree with a lot of his opinions, which wasn't typically the case until maybe mid-2000s?

I noticed the name mix up and forgot right after it happened. Now realizing it was Ross makes me chuckle.

[Curt McGirt]

Since he came from Mid South it doesn't surprise me that he made the top rope mistake. I'm sure the Cowboy would have verbally branded him if he screwed that up on his program.

[SirSmUgly]

Volk Han vs. Kiyoshi Tamura (RINGS, 22 January 1997) 

OK, so when I've reviewed stuff that I was totally unfamiliar with before, I started with some of my own reviewer's flaws and biases out front so that we can have it on the table regarding what I don't know or don't really have enough experience with. For this match:

• I don't know Japanese, so the commentary adds almost nothing for me (the excitement in a voice is universal, though).
• I don't understand RINGS's rules, though I gathered that each fighter had a certain amount of rope breaks and knockdowns that they could take before losing, alongside possibly losing by KO or submission.
• I am a casual MMA watcher, so I don't have a lot of knowledge about the shoot-style tropes that RINGS matches clearly wants to fit into the context of a worked, more pro-wrestling-like setting here.

Alright, with that out of the way, I can say that this match was interesting as a curiosity. I can't define it as good or bad because I don't think that I have the background to really make an opinion call like that. I will say that there is gap here that RINGS is risking falling into, which is that it's too shooty to be enjoyable as worked-fight fare, but too worked to be fun to watch as a shoot-style event. 

For me, this match fell into that gap. The rope breaks were sufficiently dramatic, but in a shoot fight, tap-outs are going to happen quicker than they did. I also thought that Han basically did nothing to sell all those leg kicks in terms of moving worse. He became slower as the match went on, but that just seemed more like he was gassed. 

As a pro wrestling match, the first few minutes were all transitions with no real payoff. The series of transitions ending with Tamura kipping up was the double-dropkicks and stand-off equivalent of worked-MMA fights. There wasn't any struggle in the move trading at all until the stereo heel hooks, when I think the match went up a notch and there was a bit more struggle and selling in each mat exchange.  

The end of the match did have some drama, though. The kick to the solar plexus that put Han down was a nice false finish. I thought that Han pulling out a flash submission didn't work as well, though. Tamura had pulled himself to the ropes from farther away at least once in the match, so it felt flat. That finish needed Han finding a way to drag Tamura back from the ropes just before the rope break occurred, WWE-style. 

In the end, I don't think that this match made me excited to see more RINGS, but it made me curious to see more RINGS, if anything. This might be a case where one has to watch quite a bit of RINGS and its style to get the tropes down and appreciate them more (or decide that they're not for you). 

Edited March 17, 2020 by Smelly McUgly

[Curt McGirt]

Very balanced, interesting point of view here. Kudos! 

I first saw this on a Schneider Comp (which is where I noticed it the other day after shuffling though a few looking at their matchlists for ideas) and came in stone cold. I don't think I'd seen much, if any shootstyle before aside from the BattlARTS that was already on those comps. I too didn't know the rules but they come fast and hard: you have a series of points listed at the bottom of the screen, as they get marked off you realize what they are. We have rope breaks taking off single points, knockdowns that are worth double, and I think seven or eight points in total. You can win by KO, tapout, or point loss. 

But that wasn't what struck me about the match. Volk was what struck me. This guy with this heavy face, who looks exhausted, or like he's about to put on a suit and go to a funeral. The way he puts his hands over his face at the very beginning. It made me feel this sense of drama -- I immediately had someone to root for. And then he just goes to town. Maybe he wasn't as flashy in this match as others but he has insane mat skills that are just jaw dropping. The aerial camera picks up everything wonderfully and even though without that the crowd can't see all of it, they are still hot as hell for every exchange, every escape. It all just comes together for me. Maybe because it's that I wasn't trying to analyze it and just let it wash over me, I dunno, but I still feel that way about it after watching it again. 

This is the other classic (non-Han) RINGS match that comes to mind off the top of my head: 

 

Edited March 18, 2020 by Curt McGirt

[SirSmUgly]

2 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

Very balanced, interesting point of view here. Kudos! 

I first saw this on a Schneider Comp (which is where I noticed it the other day after shuffling though a few looking at their matchlists for ideas) and came in stone cold. I don't think I'd seen much, if any shootstyle before aside from the BattlARTS that was already on those comps. I too didn't know the rules but they come fast and hard: you have a series of points listed at the bottom of the screen, as they get marked off you realize what they are. We have rope breaks taking off single points, knockdowns that are worth double, and I think seven or eight points in total. You can win by KO, tapout, or point loss. 

But that wasn't what struck me about the match. Volk was what struck me. This guy with this heavy face, who looks exhausted, or like he's about to put on a suit and go to a funeral. The way he puts his hands over his face at the very beginning. It made me feel this sense of drama -- I immediately had someone to root for. And then he just goes to town. Maybe he wasn't as flashy in this match as others but he has insane mat skills that are just jaw dropping. The aerial camera picks up everything wonderfully and even though without that the crowd can't see all of it, they are still hot as hell for every exchange, every escape. It all just comes together for me. Maybe because it's that I wasn't trying to analyze it and just let it wash over me, I dunno, but I still feel that way about it after watching it again. 

This is the other classic (non-Han) RINGS match that comes to mind off the top of my head: 

 

The style is definitely interesting. I kinda want to see a bad - decent - good - very good run of RINGS matches just to get a sense of how these matches are worked properly and improperly and how the tropes look across matches. 

[supremebve]

Minoru Suzuki vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi - 10/8/2012

I don’t know what my favorite Minoru Suzuki match is, but I know what my favorite Minoru Suzuki haircut is, and it’s the one in this match.  Suzuki is one of those guys that I’ve always liked, but I feel like I’ve missed about 85% of his most hyped matches.  This is probably the #1 match of his that I always meant to watch, but somehow never did.  I’m going to say this now, as I’m watching this for the first time…Tanahashi’s playing Suzuki’s ribs like a guitar while in the cobra twist was a terrible fucking idea. 

Suzuki’s arm work is just vicious here, he projects “just plain mean” more than just about any wrestler I’ve ever watched.  He strikes me as the type of guy who trips the old lady that the boy scout is trying to help cross the street.  I think the thing that really makes this match work is that Tanahashi, who comes off as that proverbial boy scout most of the time, matches his viciousness when he works over Suzuki’s knee.  It’s like he looked at Suzuki and thought, “This dude can fuck me up, but not if I fuck him up first.”  The inverted dragon screw, the high fly flow on the knee, reapplying the figure four leg lock, all just feel like he’s trying to beat Suzuki at his own game. 

Suzuki is selling his knee like a fucking master, even when he’s on offense he drags himself around in a way that you rarely see any more.  The thing about it is that it makes his offense feel more vicious, because he’s sneering, and cringing, and obviously fighting through all the pain in the world to inflict as much pain as possible on Tanahashi.  Tanahashi looks good because he overcomes the viciousness of Suzuki by attacking his knee like a rabid fucking animal.  This is why people hate it when Seth Rollins forgets he had his knee worked on and starts doing springboards and shit.  It makes him and his opponent lose credibility. 

This is outstanding.  Tanahashi is the pretty boy, ace of the company, but he proved that when it comes down to it, he can get down and dirty with anyone.  Suzuki brought this match down into the gutter, and Tanahashi didn’t hesitate, didn’t back down, and crawled out of the gutter looking like a much more credible champion.  This is one of the matches that brought NJPW back into the forefront of Japanese wrestling.  I was someone who pretty much gave up on Japanese wrestling, but I kept hearing about this match, the first Tanahashi vs. Okada match, and eventually the Nakamura vs. Sakuraba match that made me watch Wrestle Kingdom in January 2013.  I haven’t watched everything since then, but I’ve made a point to check results so I know what’s going on.     

[Matt D]

On 3/15/2020 at 11:52 AM, gordi said:

Nice on, Super Ape!

Thank you, Matt! I've got a pretty sweet one for you. In honour of the French Catch project introducing so many people to the great Franz van Buyten, here he is in a 1972 IWE Japan match, tagging with Andre the Giant and Ali Bey the not-at-all-a-giant vs Rusher Kimura and Thunder Sugiyama and (one of my all-time personal favourite wrestlers) Isamu "The Carpenter" Teranishi. I sincerely think it's one of the most entertaining matches of all time. I'm sure you've seen it before (I think you mentioned it in one of your segunda caida French Catch write-ups), hopefully you'll enjoy the re-watch.

 

I've seen this match a couple of times over the years, and it's one I often recommend to people, but it's been a while and you forget things. I think it was lodged in my brain as a complete comedy match, and there is comedy, some of the funniest comedy in wrestling ever, and it's spattered throughout, but it peaks in the middle, and there's a lot of other things going on here.

The opening exchange, for instance, is fascinating. Now that I've seen more Van Buyten, and not just his violent piratekampft matches, I get that he was able to utilize this sort of chain wrestling with elaborate spots, but I've seen a lot less of Isamu Teranishi (I know, I know) and that he was able to not only keep up, but so perfectly be the other side of these singular and unique spots is really interesting. That's not about Teranishi's specific skill, necessarily, but about the fact he was shifting into spots he probably wouldn't be working against most other opponents so effortlessly.

So why then, wouldn't I remember this? Because of Andre. The first few minutes of this match, so tricked out, so technically fascinating, are like watching a World War III battle royal with three screens going at once, except for this is just a hard camera and two of the "screens" are Andre on the apron. We've seen whimsical heel Andre. We've seen young Andre. This is one of the only matches out there which has a young (fully mobile) whimsical heel Andre, and he's larger than life. He's shouting, clapping, growling, waving, the world's most engaged spectator, constantly drawing the eye.

And of course, it's just a prelude for when he actually does get involved. He's, at once, both the ultimate reacting participant and the ultimate prop, like a very emotional bear who can feel great pride but also have his feelings deeply hurt and become enraged.  Case in point is after he got knocked off the apron (bumping big) and they kept throwing Van Buyten over the ropes at him. Later on, it's when he keeps thinking Van Buyten's hitting him due to the Japanese team sneaking shots in and running away. Just brilliant stuff that would really only work with Andre. The visual of a frustrated Andre passive aggressively sitting in the crowd will stay with you forever. There may never again be a comedy spot in wrestling as good as Andre saving Van Buyten from pins multiple times only to accidentally stomp Van Buyten when he gets a pin of his own.

I was talking to Loss about the French footage recently and how there's often an underlying sense of whimsy in the humor that is, in fact, very French. It's all through this match and a lot of that is Van Buyten playing the beleaguered, almost tortured straight man, lost in a world he did not make, unable to change the tides of fate no matter his prowess or skill. My favorite moment might be when Van Buyten snaps after Andre lashes out at him (for something that wasn't his fault), and makes an ill-advised assault at his own partner. Despite that, when they win, he's quick to rush and leap into Andre's arms for a hug.

The other guys are fine here. In looking into this again, it turns out that Ali Bey is not Ali Bey at all but Tito Kopa who was sometimes portrayed as Ali Bey's brother, Hassan Bey. Anyway, he stooges about effectively and there's a point in the match when he does a giant Hansen HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO with a funny face and you think to yourself "You know, this guy has the best job in the world." Rusher, for an ace, was pretty giving in taking Andre's tombstone, which is a thing that happened (though he wins the second fall pretty easily). Sugiyama headbutts a few guys and has presence, sure. But this is the Andre and Van Buyten show and it's the best sitcom wrestling's ever given us.

[NikoBaltimore]

On 3/15/2020 at 11:43 AM, Super Ape said:

@NikoBaltimore; since you said old puro is a blind spot, I thought I’d recommend you this Showa-era gem; Rikidozan vs. the Destroyer from 1963, for the International Heavyweight Championship. Mainly because Destroyer fucking rules, and his heel work here is an incredible foil for the national hero in Rikidozan.

 

Thanks for this pick and I had a good bit of fun watching it.  Before the review I would like to apologize again for the delay with the pick to you and @Matt D  Work this week was insane.

So going into this match I was very aware of both wrestlers but only heard so much about them.  Destroyer I've known as a really, really awesome guy that was a damn good wrestler.  Rikidozan was somebody I've never seen but have always heard of how much of a cultural icon he was.  But as far as a singles match featuring man?  Well, that's a blind spot for me.  I can say I did read about this match and how famous it was.  If I read right a whole lot of Japan was watching this and is one of the legendary Rikidozan matches.  And you can't go wrong with the screen having that CRT border which just feels nice to see.

What jumped out right away was how crystal clear the ring mics picked up on everything.  I imagine it would be a nightmare if a wrestler was used to calling spots but it was neat to hear all that Destroyer and even the ref were saying.  The action started out nice with a continuous use of a headscissor from Rikidozan.  The way they would do that for a bit, get out and find a way back in is a nice bit of wrestling that I miss these days.  And speaking of him while I was impressed more by Destroyer Rikidozan was very good in his own right.  Part of me does feel like I'm missing a lot when it came to what made him so damn popular.  I will need to look into this more but it's amazing how the crowd would get excited for Rikidozan winning the 2nd fall over a goddamn chop.  Unless it's WALTER (and not sure even then) I can't even think of somebody winning over a chop.  But it worked here.

As much as I liked Rikidozan I was much impressed with Destroyer.  He was such a goddamn great heel doing all kinds of various tactics from arguing semantics to the way he'd the ropes for advantage.  Unless proven otherwise the main takeaway I got from this match is that Destroyer is a far better wrestler that could do it all.  He can heel with the best of 'em, had quite the technical skills, and as shown in the 3rd round could deliver some very vicious forearms.  Shit, you'd think that Rikidozan pissed him off something fierce or something.  I did like the finale of Destroyer ramming his head into the apron beam only to be reversed into a back suplex.  I couldn't tell there was a count to 20 already but countout win it is.  Also liked Destroyer's post-match antics to get his heat back.

Overall I really liked this.  I found myself more interested in Destroyer's work than Rikidozan's but hopefully reading more about him will change that.  Would definitely recommend this match.

[AxB]

On 3/15/2020 at 6:41 PM, The Man Known as Dan said:

 

 

ROH 2004 Survival of the Fittest final: Bryan Danielson vs Austin Aries vs Colt Cabana vs Homicide vs Mark Briscoe vs Samoa Joe

Some wrestling is timeless. You can watch some matches from a perspective of complete ignorance as to who the wrestlers, what they've done and where they're going, and still understand exactly what the story of the match is. Other wrestling, the more tightly plotted storyline oriented wrestling, you really need to know not only who the participants are, but where they are, in terms of their character arcs. A big moment is only a big moment if you know of it's contextual significance. Anyone experiencing it without that knowledge, the onus is really on the announcers (and the other wrestlers, even the fans maybe) to make a big deal of it.

June 24th, 2004. Samoa Joe is ROH World Champion, but his once dominant title reign is becoming to appear unsteady, as in his last defence he could only muster a time limit draw against CM Punk. Danielson is established as a top level ROH wrestler, who main evented their first show ever. Briscoe and Cabana are both former tag champs. Homicide is Homicide. Aries is (I think) a young up and coming underdog at this point. He has a soul patch but no moustache, so is clearly not yet at the peak of his powers.

For all the criticism of matches being called in the back not the ring, the lack of spontaneity and inability to change course if it's not getting over, I think in these multiple person omni-directional deals, it really helps if everyone's on the same page. There are bits of this match that feel totally disjointed and separate from everything that surrounds them. For example, at one point Homicide kills Briscoe dead with a nasty looking draping DDT. Danielson then tags himself in and goes to town attacking Briscoe's legs with a variety of manoeuvres and a leg submission, before he tags out, and the next person goes straight back to working Briscoe's neck and head. It just feels like... why? Briscoe doesn't really sell leg damage afterwards outside of limping after a leapfrog once, and his story in the match is basically "My neck hurts", so why the leg stuff?

Basically, it's two matches in one. The first one is the advertised six person four corners tag match, but halfway through four eliminations happen in fairly rapid succession and so the second half is a singles match, with added exhaustion. We start out with Briscoe and Homcide (who apparently have a shared grudge) with Briscoe attacking in a fired up brawling style. Homicide tags out to Cabana quickly, who goes straight into a technical stretches and cradles matwork section. The announcers choose to ignore the in ring action in favour of putting over the Contender's Ring or Circle voting. They don't make it entirely clear what that is, but they really love talking about it. Cabana tags Danielson, who also goes into the technical stretching of Mark Briscoe's upper body, working a Cross Face Chicken Wing (which years later would be the most over hold in the company). Briscoe tags out to Aries, who stands in the ring for a second, then tags Briscoe back. Danielson with a wristlock takedown into a half crab. Rope break, Danielson tags Joe. Briscoe is the whipping boy of the match so far, but he gets backed up towards Cabana's corner and Cabana tags himself in, voluntarily choosing to go toe to toe with Joe. But first Colt peacock struts around the ring and tags out to Homicide. Homicide tentatively faces off with Joe, avoids a high kick and tags out to Aries. So, we've established that Joe is a guy people fear and want to avoid facing, without Joe actually doing any real moves so far. Aries attempts to tag out, but Cabana drops off the apron. We get our first Joe exchanges, as he blasts Aries with a couple of kicks, only for Aries to use his speed to get control with armdrags, a dropick and a Crucifix Bomb, but then he runs into an Uranage slam. Blah blah contender's circle blah blah new code of honour.  Joe uses strikes and a Sunset Flip into a rolling cradle (mistakenly called an Oklahoma Roll by one of the commentators) for two. Joe tags Cabana, and soon thereafter Aries tags Briscoe. Matwork interspersed with clubbering. Cabana backs Briscoe into the corner and Danielson tags himself in (by tagging Briscoe, rather than Cabana. Choosing to face the fresher, less damaged of the two). Cravate Neck crank into a knee lifter by Danielson. Then he grabs a cranking chinlock, hits a European Uppercut and does a front chancery suplex for two. Tags and it's Briscoe vs Homicide. Strikes and Strangles and jawing at Joe. Then Homicide hits the Draping DDT. Cocky cover for two as Homicide chooses to taunt Joe rather than go for the elimination. Tag to Danielson who works on Briscoe's legs. It didn't make sense the first time I watched it and it doesn't make sense this time either. Was he not paying attention, or did he think Mark was shoot hurt and wanted to buy him time? Who knows. Nice standing crooked Figure Four though. Incredibly high bridge off of it. Danielson tags out to Aries, who clubbers the neck, hits a hard lariat and a high knee. Briscoe escapes and tags Samoa Joe, who comes in House Afire and beats up everyone. Bodies tumble from the ring, so Aries hits a tope onto Briscoe and Homicide. Cabana enters, cutting off Joe's planned dive with a forearm to the neck. Whip reversals, Joe tosses Cabana over the top but he lands on the apron, Joe charges, Colt leaps back in with a sunset flip on Joe. That gets three. Joe is eliminated in 15:22. Samoa Joe, the World Champion, the most feared man in the company, just got pinned by Colt Cabana. This should be earth shattering.

But they don't let the moment breathe. Homicide comes in to taunt Joe over getting pinned, and seconds later Homicide and Cabana are doing a fast paced move exchange. Joe is backing down the aisle looking furious, but our focus is split because of the clotheslines and rope running in the ring. Cabana picks up Homicide in a Fireman's Carry, drapes his legs over the top rope and does a draping Stunner (which the announcer calls a Bulldog*). That gets two. Homicide is whipped to the corner, Briscoe blind tags in, Cabana misses a charge and Homicide lariats him and covers, but he's not legal. Briscoe with the Shooting Star Press and he covers Cabana and gets three. Colt Cabana is eliminated in 17:06.

Briscoe and Homicide go at it hard and heavy, Briscoe trying to hit a German Suplex but Homicide low blowing out of it and hitting a Piledriver for 2. Homicide goes for an Avalanche Cutter but is shoved off, and Briscoe hits a Cross Body for two. They battle over a rear waistlock, exchanging go behinds, then Briscoe hits a German Suplex... but his injured neck cannot hold the bridge and both man's shoulders are down, for the three count**. Homicide and Mark Briscoe are both eliminated in 19:05.

This time, they let the moment have it's moment. Neither of the remaining competitors enters the ring immediately, as instead Homicide and Julius Smokes remonstrate with the ref, before having a brawl/pull apart confrontation with both Mark and Jay Briscoe as they head down the aisle. And once the ref has returned to the ring, the second part of this match starts. A singles match between Bryan Danielson and Austin Aries.

Danielson holds the ring, whilst a wary Aries stands back at ringside, showing clear concern. Aries rolls into the ring but immediately rolls back out, and appears to be considering walking out of the match altogether. To further the idea that the match is beginning again, they go collar and elbow a couple of times, going into a feeling out process with Danielson establishing himself as technically superior, working over both arms with a strange overhead double chicken wing. He later attempts to apply the Cattle Mutilation, but is unable to flip and settles for a single arm Camel Clutch. Aries attempts to work an ankle to get out, but Danielson reverses into a cranking chinlock with an illegal nose ripper to spice it. Somehow Aries is bleeding from the chin. He manages to back Danielson into the corner and work him over with stomps, but Danielson soon reverses and does a dickish knife edge chop to the back of the neck. Double arm suplex by Danielson. Aries tries to fight back with strikes, but when he takes to the air for a flying back elbow, Danielson dopkicks him in the back, then goes into a modified bow and arrow. Bodyslam into a couple of kneedrops to head and back, and Danielson goes from a cross legged STF to a kneeling chinlock. Aries bites his way out, and a series of reversals sees Danielson stuck on the top rope and dropkicked, falling out into a Tree of Woe hanging outside of the ropes. Eventually he gets free but is clutching at his knee.

  On the floor, Aries whips Danielson into the guard rail a couple of times. Rolled in and a slingshot splash gets Aries a 2 count. Corner Dropkick by Aries, snapmare and a dropkick to the back of the head. That gets 2. Whip into a back elbow, running elbowdrop and Aries gets another two count. Danielson comes back with battering ram headbutts to the midsection and explosive chops to the chest, before dropping Aries with a back elbow of his own. Aries wins up out on the apron, Danielson tries to suplex him back into the ring, but Aries reverses and hits the Apron to floor Vertical Suplex. Dragon lands on his feet but immediately collapses clutching his knee. Cactus Jack elbowdrop off the apron by Aries, and he lands with a sick thud, wincing in pain that is almost certainly not Pro-Wrestling selling. Aries is bleeding from the chin and it's not clear what caused it. Back in the ring, Kneebreaker into a back suplex by Aries. He goes up top for a 450 splash, rolls through when Danielson moves, but is sent flipping and spinning by Danielson's running elbow. Two more running forearms and a big Clothesline drop Aries, Danielson covering for a two count. Full Nelson into a Bridged Dragon Suplex for two. Cattle Mutilation applied, but Aries worms his way out and drives a knee into the jaw. Wakigatame with a fishhook by Aries, switched into a Rings of Saturn.

 Aries tries to set up the Brainbuster, but Danielson fights his way out, first by trying an armbar reversal (he eats a kick to the ribs) and then with a mid-air kneestrike to the head, twice. After a hard forearm smash rocks Danielson, Aries finally hits his much desired Brainbuster. That gets two. The crowd go mental for the kickout that time. Aries drags his opponent to the corner and heads up, leaping off with the 450, but Danielson gets the knees up. And then they go into a crawling headbutt exchange. Something that really dates the match to the mid 2000s. Up until the 90s, you were still seeing a lot of worked headbutts where guys would grab the head and hold it, before headbutting their own thumb. Obviously now, with all the NFL rules about hits to the head and understanding that concussions don't heal after a day or two, nobody wants to see shoot headbutts in wrestling now. But here, in this tiny window in Pro-Wrestling history, the shoot headbutt is an important part of establishing a match as an epic. Luckily they soon switch it up into a forearm exchange instead. Bodyslam by Danielson. And another. And a third. The fourth is blocked as Aries unloads with forearms, but Danielson responds with a rolling elbow, and covers for three! But Aries had grabbed the rope, and the ref caught it. Usually they stop the count before the three for a rope break, but this guy counted the three and then said it didn't count. Danielson sits Aries on the top rope and climbs up as well, nailing a Belly to Back Superplex, before exhaustedly crawling over and shooting the half to cover. It gets two.

Danielson with a bodyslam. And then Danielson with another bodyslam. He goes for a third, but Aries snatches a small package for a two count. European Uppercut by Danielson, followed by a bodyslam. Bear Hug by Danielson. Aries trying to fight out of it with strikes to loosen the grip, but when he tries to reach inside the arms he gets blasted with a headbutt. Danielson elevates Aries with the bear hug, then leans him down into a hanging bear hug, twisting it around and turning it into a high angle Boston Crab-Bear Hug combination. Aries taps out, the bell rings and the video ends immediately before he can even get his hand raised. The match went 42 minutes.

What I was saying earlier about context. I'm sure that anyone watching this match in 2004 would have thought it was a match of the year type match, six guys at the peak of their abilities going all out and pulling out all the stops to have a great show. But looking at it in 2020, it's pretty clear they weren't at the peak of their powers yet. Not in terms of the storytelling or especially pacing, and maybe not even in terms of being guys who do moves. It was quite frustrating to watch at times. The first big thing that happened in the match, which potentially could have been the biggest thing to have happened in the match, was Cabana pinning Joe. But it wasn't allowed to mean what it should have meant, because they rushed to the next thing. If they'd just taken a minute to let everyone make an Oh My God face before moving on, it would have meant so much more. And then Cabana also getting pinned less than two minutes later, it kind of feels like they flushed away what the moment could have meant. The Homicide & Briscoe double pin was clearly there to build up a future tag match, so in that context it makes sense, but then all of a sudden we've got Aries vs Danielson in a match where neither of them has really been massively involved up to that point. And it's a bit unclear... I'm fairly sure Bryan was supposed to be a mega babyface in the company at this point, but he's positioned as the top veteran facing a younger and greener opponent, and he's kind of a dick about it. They establish that he's better at technical wrestling, so you'd expect that story point two is that Aries starts cheating or brawling to get the advantange, but he doesn't. He's basically making underdog babyface comebacks, even though he's the heel.

The match actually improved as it went along, because they slowed down once they got tired. It felt like they were rushing from move to move early on. And the early stages, before they started moving into the elimination sections, it felt inconsequential (the fact that the announcers were ignoring the action in favour of talking about Championship Circle ballots didn't help). Having watched the match twice, I can't think of anything that they set up early that was then paid off later.

I'm not saying it sucked, by the way. It was a good match, in and of itself. But it could have been a lot better. They were all so young then, they needed some veteran in there (or backstage, if they had agents then) to tell them to slow it down and let things sink in. I would recommend watching it, but more as a curiousity, as a Before They Were Stars type of deal. If someone said show me one of the greatest matches of all time, not sure this one would spring to mind.

* A draping Bulldog would be super dangerous. Like the old Dean Ambrose Headlock Driver, but harder to do safely.

** Right before the move was hit, we were watching from the ringside camera. It cut to the the hard cam right as he was bridging, even though his feet were pointing straight at it. It was hard to see either man's shoulders from the angle we were watching... if they'd kept the ringside camera angle, it would have been much clearer.

[Gordi the former AEW fan]

@NikoBaltimore I have always found Rikidozan to be fascinating. He was never a particularly "good worker" in terms of technique or whatever, but he never needed to be. My understanding is that it was Fred Blassie and some of his cronies who had the genius idea of profiting from the national post-WWII mood in Japan by having American wrestlers come over and work as heels and mow down Japanese opponents and create a national hero by pushing one guy who could stand up to the Americans. For whatever reason, they chose a Korean sumo wrestler to play that role. As much as he wasn't Mr. Move-set, Rikidozan was awesome at working the crowds. I think a very fair comparison would be Hulkamania era Hogan. Hogan needed little more than a bodyslam, big boot, and a legdrop... Rikidozan basically had chops and a hip toss... but the audience at the time just loved to see them climb back from adversity, time and time again, and triumph against the foreign heel. 

David Lee Roth, of all people, has an amazing take on Rikidozan:

 

@Matt D I just love watching Andre bump in that match! To me, Teranishi was the Morton or Kikuchi of his day. He just excelled at making other wrestlers look great. Hence the nickname. Really enjoyed your write-up of that match. Hopefully a few other people might be moved to watch it. 

 

 

Edited March 21, 2020 by gordi

[Curt McGirt]

Teranishi is a solid cog in the tag/six-man machine of '80s NJPW along with Animal Hamaguchi. He's one of those semi-anonymous tag wrestlers that would evolve into the great WAR crowbars of yore. 

I haven't seen that match for a good long while and need to watch it again. Same for that Destroyer match, which is fantastic. Destroyer must still hold the record for Loudest Wrestler Ever, at least insofar as his verbiage. 

[Spontaneous]

On 3/15/2020 at 10:30 AM, Matt D said:

The date is actually 8/30/86. 

 

So I'm not familiar with Buddy Rose or Sommers but I have seen a few WWF Rockers matches. I have seen zero AWA, really don't know where to start with them. I don't know if they had a weekly tv show or how to follow feuds. I'm not going to recap moves but more my reaction to the match.

I love the crowd being super into it from the get go. As I said during my take on Reed-Sawyer, you don't get crowds like this anymore and it is a damn shame. I saw someone mention Kobashi/Kikuchi vs Furnas/Kroffat earlier and I love that crowd, I wish they were there for every match instead of smartasses (not smarks, smartasses is what they are) doing stupid chants and rooting for the bad guys. Seeing actual women giving Buddy Rose shit is great. Need more stunt grannies in wrestling again.

Buddy Rose has such good body language and it works especially well with Michaels. His selling is somewhat tamed here which makes his flying out of the ring on a shoulder tackle late in the match so good. Jannetty is kind of a after thought here as well, though the slam on the chair looked brutal. For being a career low card guy I thought Sommers looked good. Did a good job of looking physical with everything he did, making him bouncing Shawn's head off the buckle look especially nasty. I'd like to see the rest of this feud though I can't imagine it topping this. Real fun, good tag team match. One of my earliest memories of wrestling is Edge/Mysterio vs Benoit/Angle 2/3 falls on Smackdown and how bonkers it felt to me at the time. I was probably 12 or 13. This reminded me of that magic feeling, of actually enjoying wrestling again. Liked everyone clearing the ring at the end, you don't see the locker room breaking up brawls anymore. Gagne actually helps put over the brawl by name dropping guys I've never heard of, like all this history he has seen and this is the worst of it he's witnessed!

Big thanks to @Matt D for the recommendation. Still need to get to the mid south matches people recommended me earlier in the thread as well. Sorry again Matt D for subjecting you to a Ospreay match... at least it had Shingo?

[Matt D]

@Six String Orchestra Do not feel bad at all for that one. I need to take my medicine now and again so I can actually converse with other human beings in a fair and measured way and not just generalized. I liked that match more than I thought I would coming in, so no regrets at all.

I'm really glad you enjoyed this. There are a number of matches in the feud, some singles, a mixed six man with Sherri, and some cage matches towards the end. People swear by this cage match but I think the Rockers take a BIT too much early relative to the one from a few weeks later, but if you're only going to see one more, it's probably the one to see.

As for Buddy Rose. We have a ton of amazing footage of him in his prime from Portland, primarily because he was egotistical and taped the shows. There'll be time for that later though.

Ok, anyone who hasn't reviewed yet, get to it (Though, again, I think mostly everyone did really well). I'll reshuffle tomorrow morning and we'll get through this thing together. Anyone need to get off the train or that wants to jump on, let me know by the morning.

Edited March 21, 2020 by Matt D

[Octopus]

@Matt D, whether you draw me or not would you be able to recommend me a few Nick Bockwinkel matches? If I recall you were the main Bockwinkel guy. I’ve seen his matches with Henning and Jumbo. I’d love to deep dive him. 

[Matt D]

@OctopusCinema Happy to do that in a little bit. I'm definitely the man for that job.

Week 3 pairings:

supremebve
Super Ape

Smelly McUgly
AxB

Six String Orchestra
Curt McGirt

Matt D
Ace

NikoBaltimore
Goodear

Gordi > The Man Known as Dan > OctopusCinema

So Gordi gives to Dan, Dan gives to OctopusCinema, who then gives to Gordi. 

I think these are all new pairings. I won't be able to manage that forever, but I think we've got it this week.

You know the deal. Try to get your partner a match by tomorrow. Watch and review by Saturday. Rinse and repeat on Sunday if everyone's still game.

@Ace Let me think about this one.

[AxB]

I'm going straight in. @Smelly McUgly your match is Ethan Allen vs Luke Jacobs from Tetsujin is Dead, 22nd November 2019. Shootstyle, no pinfall, maximum of 3 rope breaks each.

Starts at 42:36

[Matt D]

Ok @Ace, here's some lucha for you. 

2004-09-10 @ Arena México

El Hijo del Perro Aguayo, Rey Bucanero, Último Guerrero vs El Hijo Del Santo, LA Park, Negro Casas

I wrote it up back in 2015 if it helps:

http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2015/10/mlj-recent-uploads-el-hijo-del-perro.html

And as always, for people that haven't watched a ton of CMLL trios, here's the primer I wrote after watching a few hundred lucha matches and tried to make sense of it all (only a month after I reviewed that match, actually):

http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2015/11/mlj-on-trios-matches.html

[Gordi the former AEW fan]

@The Man Known as Dan : You said that you were "(c)urrently in a seeming unending march to try to expand (your) knowledge on older wrestling"

So... how about:

 

The Patera vs Backlund Texas Death Match!

It's from 1980 so it still has that '70s type structure where they start out at a deliberate pace and ramp up quite slowly, but once they get going... Oooooh baby! In my mind it ranks right up there with the Sarge vs Patterson Alley Fight and the Sarge vs Sheiky Boot Camp Match as one of the truly great old-school WWF brawls. I'm looking forward to reading your take on it.