Found Footage Friday: LAWLER~! ROOSTER~! COLORADO~! REJECTS~! SLIM J~! ROCKWELL~! HAWKINS~! OKUMA~! EIGEN~!

Haruka Eigen vs. Motoshi Okuma AJPW 9/15/89

MD: Another recent Classics drop and it's a great thing to pop up because while we have a lot of Eigen and Okuma in this era, and likewise, a decent amount of All Japan comedy, it's always with them as foils for Rusher and Baba. It's rare to see the two of them one on one and really, comedy without Baba or Rusher. This was certainly something. They wrestled a bit before building to the comedy but once they got there, it never went away. It was a mean sort of thing though, Okuma headbutting Eigen in the mouth, both guys holding the other in the ropes like Sheamus and laying in a huge shot that would cause spit to go flying into the front row and everyone to go running, Okuma stepping over Eigen to hit the falling headbutt and then having it countered by Eigen tripping him. Okuma had somewhat more dignity here, with Eigen spitting farther, getting headbutted, having to run around the ringside area to try to find a way back into the ring without getting nailed, but Okuma got his comeuppance too. Very unique, very stylized, but interesting and worth watching at least once. The crowd was certainly into it and they should have been considering the effort, timing, and expert expressiveness of these two, all while being just hard-hitting enough to belong in 1989 AJPW. 

Jerry Lawler vs. Mike Rapada vs. Terry Taylor NWA Worldwide 11/13/99

MD: This was for Rapada's NWA North American title, with the appeal, as much as anything else, that it was a WWF announcer vs. a WCW office guy vs. a NWA wrestler, in 1999. The Nashville crowd was pretty big and fairly hot. Both guys had been feuding with Rapada and Lawler's promo setting it up was that Rapada thought beating him would let him get into WWF but that he'd never get there. The real appeal of this one, however, was seeing Lawler in a Triple Threat match. They'd been around for a chunk of the decade, obviously, and Lawler had called his share by November 1999, but you could see the wheels ticking even in the promo setting it up. 

Lawler and Taylor were de facto allies here, and this ended up pure Memphis. Lawler would use a sharpie (a real one, not an imaginary one), that Stacy handed to him into Rapada's throat repeatedly, but he'd have Taylor there in the ring to distract the ref. It allowed for a slightly different execution for hide the object but was effective through it's blatantness with Lawler being more blatant than ever. They built towards dissension between Taylor and Lawler as only one party could win the title, leading to a miscommunication headbutt to the groin and Rapada coming back. Finish was Taylor kicking out of all of Rapada's big moves and then stealing the win as Lawler was gloating after hitting Rapada with the pile-driver. This had its ceiling considering who was in there with the King, but it was great to see him experiment with the possibilities of a new form (and find ways to work all of his time-tested stuff in). 

Devil's Rejects (Azrael/Shaun Tempers/Patrick Bentley) vs. Slim J/Adrian Hawkins/Ace Rockwell NWA Anarchy 9/27/07

MD: As always, you can drop in to almost any of these Rejects matches and it feels like... well, home is probably not the right word, but certainly somewhere familiar and, for us at least, welcome. The Anarchy announcers are always the best at getting you up to speed too. They didn't know it but they were commentating for immortality. Here, things start out as 3 on 2 (really 4 on 2 given Wilson, the Staff of Righteousness, and that this was a streetfight). Hawkins had just refused membership in the Rejects and while he and Slim J meshed in look and style, and even had an early advantage by striking first, the numbers were against them. I liked Bentley a lot here, bumping huge out of the ring for Slim J to start, later on dragging his elbow over a wound when they were in control, playing his new character overtly in his elated reactions while still seeming menacing. When things seemed darkest and Hawkins was about to hit a pile driver off the top onto a chair on Slim J, Rockwell rushed out to even the odds which was a big moment and a bigger pop. That led to a great comeback highlighted by a Slim J diving reverse DDT on 2/3rds of the Rejects and a Coast-to-Coast by Hawkins. Eventually, as it so often happened the superior chemistry and teamwork (and sheer brutality) from the Rejects won out though, building and building and building it to a bigger payoff down the road and keeping these insatiable fans ever hungry.

PAS: I just love this stuff. I really should have been watching Anarchy weekly back in the mid 2000s, it is very much my kind of wrestling. The Rejects are a swarming gang of creeps as always, although it is a different vibe without either of the monsters Tank and Iceberg. Damn Slim J is a great brawler. I say it every time one of these matches come out, but it just blows me away how great he is at throwing hands, timing comebacks, bleeding, all of it. Really almost a 21st century Tommy Rich, and it is a shame he never got a chance to really have that kind of match on a bigger stage. Loved Rockwell coming from the back, he is an amazing brawler too, and that is a trope which always works. Rejects win felt earned and that double team reverse DDT that Azreal and Tempers did was awesome looking. Great match, but basically any time these guys matched up it was tremendous. 

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New Footage Friday: Virus! Commando Bolshoi! Ace Rockwell! Jimmy Rave!

Virus vs. Super Nova Nuevo Leon 5/4/08

MD: The problem with Virus is always footage. We have him as a role player in countless trios but save for when he had a title in CMLL and some late career indy matches (which are still great), it's a lot harder to find him in showcase matches. Even the ones we know about often aren't online for people to see (like the Valiente lightning match that I had to put back up recently: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfqlxHTQrHs). Another problem is that it's a lot easier to search YouTube for "Negro Casas" or "Hijo del Santo" than Virus, but that's sort of beside the point.

Why is footage a problem? Because the guy is bulletproof. He can do just about everything well, but without the footage (or the opportunities), it's tough to make a case for just how good he is. This is him in a supre libre match and he absolutely delivers on all fronts. Because of his diminutive stature, he can take dropkicks straight to the skull, which is how the match starts, but he quickly locks in the vertebreaker (which is a killer move in 2021 but even more so in 2008) to take a quick first fall and the beatdown ensues after that. It's a great one too, with mask ripping, an awesome posting, just tossing Super Nova over the rail into empty seats and wound biting. Everything you'd want in a rudo beatdown, which means when the comeback happens, it's very deserved and very satisfying. It's all the more so when Virus himself goes sailing into the crowd and bleeds a gusher, basing and feeding and catching the whole way. It builds to a tecera with a lot of selling that actually feels warranted for once, and here he plays around with his clever hooking to score some nice nearfalls before they take it home. Great, visceral showing where Virus basically does everything there is to do.

PAS: Virus is undeniable, much of his stuff on tape is super fast and intricate matwork, and world class basing for high flyers, we don't really have a lot of Super Libre brawls, but of course he is brilliant at that as well. I loved the Veterbreaker as a killshot, setting it up in the first fall allows them to tease it big later, with Nova reversing it to get a submission in the segunda. The rudo beatdown was great, opening up Nova's mask and enraging the crowd, we had some great looking lucha libre fan characters, a big old lady who looked like she was going slap Virus, a weird Dee Snider looking rocker who was enraged by his behavior, real weirdos are way cool then internet weirdos. Nova was kind of along for a ride, although he hit a nice asai moonsault, I kind of didn't buy him rolling up Virus for the pin, Virus is a master, can't believe he don't spin out of that weak inside cradle, otherwise this was great.

Jimmy Rave/Mike Posey/Chip Day/Corey Hollis/Sal Rinauro vs. Kyle Matthews/J-Rod/Ace Rockwell/Patrick Bentley/Adrian Hawkins RPW 10/30/11

MD: It's a War Games that breaks all the rules: the babyfaces start with advantage; it ends up 4 on 4 as people get out of the cage (and head to the back, even). There are only pretty much the only two rules to break: heels get the advantage and there's no escaping the cage. The third one would be that color is needed, I guess, but this checked that box. Despite the broken rules, this still pretty much works. How? Because it leans harder into the traditional shine/heat/comeback structure given the booking. There's a clear two-on-one shine on Jimmy Rave, with him begging off, taking his licks, and bleeding early. It looks like the faces are going to cruise through the periods until the turn happens. After that Matthews gets a hope spot for his side until the numbers game overtakes his side (the babyface advantage doubly damns them due to the turn; for a while there it's 4 on 2 and then 5 on 3). I wish the announcers had built the Rinauro issue through the match a bit more, but I'm sure the crowd watching knew what the story was. He played his part well when he came in and by taking both he and Rave out of the match, they evened out the numbers advantage in a way that made the finish possible. On the one hand, I would have rather some things not be fully resolved (like Matthews tapping Bentley; he could have just contained him or beat on him while the submissions were happening and then gotten a real win later on), but I guess they knew what they were doing for that crowd since they were going to be right back in front of it a week later. I'd say they beat the odds and had a good War Games despite breaking the rules, so full credit to them on this one.

PAS: This had a superkick or two too many for a Wargames match. Jimmy Rave Approved were a bunch of fresh faced youngsters here and I think that this would have worked a little better with the later more grizzled versions of these guys, fat greasy haired Chip Day, the Corey Hollis of Yard Call etc. I also think two turns in a War Games is two turns too many. I still was really into this though, the offense looked like it hurt, the blood was really flowing (especially from Ace Rockwell, that guy was a hidden gem of 2000s wrestling, he always rules). Fun to see Matthews, who was always a technician work in this setting, the Hidaka Octopus hold was surprisingly good War Games submission. I did think they need something to change the babyface advantage in War Games so in that sense the turn worked, but you could get around that by not having a babyface advantage. 



Commando Bolshoi vs. Akira Nakajima JWP 3/16/08

MD: A few moments really stand out here to me. The match started with Nakajima just an absolute dynamo of energy, hitting shots from every direction with wild abandon. She finally gets Bolshoi down and is just pounding on her and time seems to slow down as Bolshoi's leg comes around to catch the pounding arm changing the course of the match instantaneously. Nakajima would wrestle the rest of the match favoring her arm and unable to capitalize on her hobbled offense because of it. The second moment has her catching Bolshoi off the ropes with a sweeping takedown only to get punched straight in the face from underneath; from there, Bolshoi did this spinning armtrap from her back before locking in a triangle of sorts that was just magic. There was one point where Nakajima was laying in shots with her hurt arm, but each one took more out of her than the last and there was just an almost tragic sense of inevitability, one that carried over to her lightning pinfall attempts. It all felt like a matter of time in the best way. I think they ultimately went a little too long with this because of that. It probably should have ended with Bolshoi's triangle and not gone back up to the top again, but the stuff from the top was pretty nasty and dramatic, as was Bolshoi's late Tiger Suplex (easily locked in when she was blocked earlier) because Nakajima had nothing but desperation and hope left. Nakajima never gave up but you spent good chunks of this match eagerly waiting for her to get caught to see what Bolshoi would do to her next. While that admittedly says more about us than the match, it also says something about Bolshoi's wizardry here.

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Action Wrestling 4/27/18 Cherry Picking

This was the debut of this promotion, they showed it on Powerbomb and it has a couple of on-paper bangers in its two main events

Arik Royal vs. Michael Spencer

ER: This is one of those matches where it isn't really fair to criticize, as Spencer didn't really look like someone who should be in a pro wrestling ring, but he was, and the match happened. I feel for the guy, because there were some early exchanges that he got totally crossed up on, an awkward headlock exchange, a really poor wheelbarrow into an armdrag that threatened to fall apart every single step of the way but was muscled through by Royal, and peaking with the moment where he hits his one highspot of the match...and he just fell off the ropes and missed Royal entirely. I think he was going for a leaping back elbow, but he ended up elbowing the mat. He at least attempted a type of superkick after. It's a relatable bad situation, where you're in front of a crowd and you just fall on your face (literally in this instance). I played trombone in high school and college, and I was good, but never got VERY good. But I was good enough to get solos and some standout melodies. And one day after doing a workshop all day and having to play a concert that night, my lip was completely dead and I tanked it, couldn't hit some of the higher notes, not as crisp of a sound, not my best. It was embarrassing, even if I'm not sure anybody else cared, or possibly even noticed, but it was a humbling moment. This match was probably humbling for Spencer, but he did it. He'll do better. He probably won't do a lot worse. I hope he was able to laugh about it backstage. Arik Royal looked great here, and turned some lemons into lemonade. It felt like a fun 1996 WCW Worldwide squash. Royal threw a punch of palm thrusts to Spencer's body, used the middle rope as a weapon by shoving Spencer kidney's first into it, hit the grounded shoulderblock and the big upending running tackle (Royal's versions are two of my favorite moves in modern wrestling), and you know what? Spencer bumped these two different shoulderblocks really great. They aren't easy moves to bump, and his bumps looked good. I hope he focuses on that.

Ethan Alexander Sharpe vs. James Brady vs. Donnie Dollars vs. Adrian Hawkins

ER: I gotta support my CWF guys, and I thought they were the standouts in this, but this was pretty short for a "first pinfall wins" kind of match. You'd think you could get an easy 12 minutes just from guys making saves, but this was barely 5 minutes. Dollars looked great with some nasty knees to the gut and a big double clothesline, there was amusing spot where the other three pinballed Sharpe around with strikes, Sharpe pulled out a really awesome headbutt on Brady, just grabbing him with both hands and smashing that head downwards, even selling double vision and straightening his nose afterwards, and Brady had a nice flying kick to the back of Sharpe's head. Fun, but inconsequential.

Cain Justice vs. Fred Yehi

PAS: By far the biggest non-CWF match of Cain's career, and 2018 is clearly going to be the year he branches out to other places. Since leaving WWN Yehi has been under the radar (no Wrestlemania weekend bookings was pretty surprising), so I am glad to see him again. This really delivered what I was hoping for, these are two of the more interesting offensive wrestlers around and they mixed well together. Yehi really dominated the opening section of the match, hitting Cain with his weird stomps and low dropkicks, they spill to the floor and Cain accidentally chops a refrigerator and takes a bump over a merch table. Cain is able to get a bit of an advantage and jam Fred's hand into a hook on the ring post and do a unique looking finger break spot. Then we have a cool story with Cain working the hand to get an advantage and Yehi landing big shots with his other hand. We get some cool submission attempts by both guys and cool finish. Great stuff, and I am excited to see Cain work outside of his comfort zone.

ER: I was really excited to see Cain work outside the Sportatorium, outside of NC, and it's clear he's confident enough to work in front of any crowd. He carried himself with the same swagger, and this was a big match. I loved how the first part of the match was Yehi just totally outgunning him, one step ahead, Cain stumbling away from him as Yehi focuses in all his attacks. Cain is really great at selling the Yehi Stomp, and I love that it started when Cain slid back into the ring and Yehi just stomped his hand. Yehi is smart about setting up a piece of bigger offense with a stomp, like stomping on Cain's inner knee before hitting a low dropkick off the ropes, and he's good at making some reversals feel natural, like when he chopped a Cain elbow attempt out of the air. The brawl around the crowd was really fun, with Cain missing a chop and chopping a refrigerator, then getting tossed over tables and into some wrestling mats. Stumbling Cain is really good, he's not someone who will just do a wandering brawl, walking and holding each other by the hair; he'll fall, lash back unexpectedly, leave his opponent openings, really makes a crowd brawl interesting, and he really shows he's great at reading a room. It's an impressive skill to have so early, as plenty of good wrestlers don't ever really have that. Getting your face smacked on the edge of the apron 10 times in a row could come off hokey, but they read the room and the fans are counting along with all of them. There are a ton of CWF guys who are great at a through the crowd brawl, better than any Japanese garbage fed or old ECW guys. I'm pretty tired of finger breaking spots, but those ringposts were so gnarly that they had to be used in SOME way. You know if Finlay were working a card, and the ringpost had hooks sticking out like that, he'd find a way to hurt his opponent with them, so I totally get Cain jamming Yehi's fingers in there and snapping. Yehi for his part actually remembered what had happened (many guys don't) and Cain kept going back to that hand to torture him. Yehi is really quick in grabbing the Koji Clutch, and I liked Cain grabbing him in a triangle but immediately having to let go due to his shoulders being down, and Yehi rolling into the clutch. Excellent opportunity for Cain, and he delivered.

Gunner Miller vs. Dominic Garrini

PAS: First time matchup between two up and coming indy stars. Garrini has gotten really good at using his ju-jitsu as a surprise attack, Dylan compares him to Fujiwara on commentary (which is a little like calling Harold Minor Baby Jordan) and there are some similarities to the way Garinni attacks from odd angles, and suckers his opponent in. Miller is a naturally aggressive wrestler and there are a bunch of neat spots where his aggression backfires. He turns a test of strength into a monkey flip crossarmbreaker, goes for a flying armbar, turns a shoulder block in the corner into a guillotine choke. Miller uses force and power to get an advantage, hitting some big shoulder blocks, and powering out of Garrini's submissions, including an awesome jackhammer out of a flying guillotine. Just a great match, and I could see this being a long term feud.

ER: This might have been my favorite overall Garrini performance. Sometimes I think he gets a little too stuck hitting strike combos, and those can come off really robotic and slow, here he was just a sentient bear trap working to snap his jaws on Gunner at every chance. Garrini uses his strength to turn a knucklelock into a triangle, dragging Gunner down by dropping to his back and maneuvering into the choke, knuckles locked the whole time. Later he pops up and I think he's going to hit a rana, and instead he just hangs off Gunner's arm to try to twist it off. Gunner was great at using his power, and I loved how a Garrini reversal was always lurking. The guillotine attempt off shoulders in the corner was really cool, and not something you see a lot. There are a lot of pro wrestling spots that are just done through the motions, and it's great for Garrini to remind people that he's not someone who is always going to sit around through typical spots. Garrini does start doing a slow strike combo, and it has a great twist because Gunner blocks a slow spinning back elbow and hits a huge pounce, with Garrini bumping spectacularly into the ropes. The finish was absolutely fantastic. Gunner hits a big time spinebuster but then lingers, so Garrini springs up and grabs a guillotine. Gunner powers to his feet and grabs for the ropes, Garrini kicks them away from the ropes, holding the guillotine the whole time, and Gunner pauses and then muscles Garrini over for an insane jackhammer. Awesome, awesome moment and a fitting finish. Killer match.


2018 MOTY MASTER LIST

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE CAIN JUSTICE

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