On Brand Segunda Caida: Late 90s Kawada!

Toshiaki Kawada/Masao Inoue vs. Kenta Kobashi/Yoshinobu Kanemaru AJPW 1/2/98

ER: I love these Kings Road hierarchy tags, where there's typically no doubt about who is eating the pinfall, the veterans appropriately sell the young upstarts' offense (i.e. not much), it's always fun to see how the vets work their young charges into the match, and the crowd ALWAYS responds to them in big ways. This is not a great match, but the crowd is on fire by the end of it, fully invested in seeing young Kanemaru get more offense in a match than he'd probably ever gotten at this point in his career. The meat of the match is Kawada and Kobashi throwing heavy leather: boots to the face and heart stopping chops; but the fun of the match is seeing Inoue and Kanemaru get involved, seeing them get minor success against Kobashi and Kawada. Kanemaru isn't quite good at this point of his career, but I like that he tries a lot of things. A lot of it lands pillow soft, soft moonsaults, light crossbody, diving lariats that we all know were supposed to be lariats but would have a hard time explaining to non-wrestling fans who don't know wrestling body language. But he busts open Inoue's mouth with a missile dropkick and that only makes Inoue's inroads look more awesome. If you're ever triumphantly yelling about something, it's going to look exponentially cooler if you're doing so with a mouthful of blood, darkening your teeth. Minutes later, when Inoue throws a couple of hard lariats into Kobashi's neck, blood dripping down his chin, it adds so much more to those lariats. This whole match is such a simple formula, and this kind of All Japan match is something I'm always going to be in the mood to watch. I mean, just look at Inoue snap off that Argentinian backbreaker on scrawny, barely adult, mushroom haircut Kanemaru. It's the stuff that joy is made from.

Toshiaki Kawada vs. Yoshihiro Takayama AJPW 7/17/99

ER: In retrospect it's weird how more of us weren't big fans of Takayama until 2003 or so. He was a guy who worked UWFI and All Japan during a really fun era, but he really wasn't spoken about nearly as much as his peers. Then he got his face turned to lumps by Don Frye and suddenly does a G1 and we all loved him. Going back and watch a lot of these underdiscussed late 90s AJ guys and it's pretty clear we took a lot of their skillsets for granted. Now that puro isn't something I actively seek out the way I did in '98-'08, it's shocking to see how much better 1998 Jun Izumida looks than many Japanese wrestlers who get a lot of hype today. I was there when people really started talking up Takayama, and nobody was into Takayama in 1999. See Honda, Tamon. These guys were hiding in plain sight in the promotion we were all getting tapes of. Maybe it was Takayama's lumbering horror movie monster awkwardness that made him invisible, but this match is the kind of gem you hope for when you click on a link. This is a 7 minute slugfest that sees these two throw the gnarliest knees to the guy you've seen and ends with Kawada kicking Takayama's ass so hard that he falls to the floor and gets counted up, and it feels like an appropriate ending. It feels like I really wouldn't have to write more than that last sentence to convince anybody who was GOING to watch this match, to watch this match. Takayama gets a cool showcase for his horsey lumpishness, and his kneelifts are truly all time great, here and after. Every one of them looked like Kawada would get his feet lifted off the mat, and Kawada did a great job of conveying some actual concern that this big goon was going to smother him. So we had some good grappling and good struggle, and it wouldn't have been a stretch to see some insane Takayama upset here with how effective Kawada was selling for him. We even got a great moment where Takayama punches Kawada right across the cheek and Kawada plays the greatest hit and drops down to his butt in pained disbelief. You knew Takayama wasn't coming out on top here though, and soon enough Kawada is throwing his own knees and kicking Takayama's ass to the floor, dropping him with a heavy as hell backdrop suplex and throwing more strikes, and Takayama ends it with this great awkward corpse bump, rigidly falling onto the bottom rope before spilling to the floor. This is great, one of the coolest sub-10 minute matches around.

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Ikeda Ain't Got No Gold to Show

Daisuke Ikeda/Giant Baba/Rusher Kimura vs. Masa Fuchi/Masao Inoue/Haruka Eigen AJPW 5/18/97 - GREAT

ER: What a treat. This is not only Ikeda's TV debut with All Japan, but this is the only taped footage of Ikeda going opposite Fuchi, and it's as good or better than you want it to be. The fans are really excited for Ikeda all match, and I'm unsure if his BattlArts rep somehow preceded him, or it was just the excitement of seeing a new, younger guy teaming up with Baba. It's cool to see Ikeda so chummy with Baba, they look like real pals. And you know you want to see how Ikeda matches up against everybody, but all members of the match bring something to this. Inoue (looking like Manabu Nakanishito) vs. Ikeda gives us our first taste of Ikeda in AJ, and soon he's delivering huge front kicks to Inoue's chest, boots him straight in the stomach to stagger him, and then hits a savage full arm flat foot lariat that puts Inoue down immediately. Honestly, that's a kill shot right there. Ikeda had a special talent for making tough-to-hit lariats look good; I'm not sure there's anyone close to his standing lariat or diving lariat off the top rope. Fuchi tags in and commences to not fuck around, and seeing Fuchi yank Ikeda to the mat by his arm, kick him in the face, and muscle him over with a headlock takeover makes you cry actual adult tears that we never got to see Fuchi in Batt. Fuchi brings it hard all match, not about to let some kickpads punk come in and outpunk him. Fuchi is potently badass opposite Ikeda, later in the match he throws an awesome Saito suplex on Ikeda, really upending him, and it even inspires Fuchi's team to take their shots against Ikeda. It's highly amusing to see Eigen throwing actual hard stomps on Ikeda, I loved it. Baba was awesome as Fuchi held him in high reverence, like you do, so Fuchi would be kicking Ikeda's ass and then get sent wobbly kneed by a Baba chop. Baba had great presence throughout. He was a little thicker at this stage of the game, and it added to his aura, and I flipped when he came in and wrenched Fuchi over with a cool headlock takeover, or when he was holding Eigen in a full nelson so Ikeda could dish some kicks to his stomach. Ikeda even gets included in a fun spot on his first night, getting a spit take from Eigen after a big kick on the apron. Finish was fun with Ikeda getting to throw Eigen into a Baba boot and a Rusher lariat, just a total blast.

PAS: Eric is one of the few people in the world who could happily watch dozens of All Japan old man comedy matches, but I will admit their is something comforting about well done formula wrestling. That is especially true when a little wrench is thrown in the formula. All of a sudden here comes Ikeda hurling crowbar lariats and straight kicks to the chest, and while we still get an Eigen spit take, we also get Eigen trying to grit out getting kicked square in the chest really hard. Fuchi was masterful, and he had a really cocky strut as he took Ikeda down and stretched him or dumped him on the top of his head. Ikeda was clearly pretty amped to be teaming with Baba and really came hard, it is too bad that a long stint in NOAH sapped some of that spunk.

ER: Sounds like Phil's first sentence just spilled the beans on my next Complete & Accurate...


COMPLETE AND ACCURATE DAISUKE IKEDA

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Andre the Giant Will Race to the Bottom of a Glass

Geant Ferre vs. Scarface French Catch 1/1/68 - FUN

PAS: This might be the earliest Andre match available, and while it isn't the classic that Franz Van Buyten match is, any chance to see young Andre is a treat. This is basically a brawl, with Scarface being this cheap shot artist, who is always looking for an advantage, with babyface Andre fight back valiantly. I loved all three of them (including the ref) spilling out over the top rope, and there was some good clubbing by both guys. I really liked Scarface's almost cartoon selling, when he got clubbed on the head, it felt like the way Elmer Fudd might sell being hit by a frying pan.

ER: This was a real fun disjointed mess. Scarface is a real jerk who looks like a beefed up Mr. Bean, who was really aggressive about attacking Andre and tying him up with tough headlocks, even having the stones to grab a bearhug! Grabbing a bearhug ON Andre! Scarface has really great kicks to the stomach. He'd muscle Andre down by the arm, or in a headlock, ref would break it up (really the ref spent 20 minutes trying to break up everything. I was over it.), and Scarface would push kick Andre in the stomach as he was walking away. At one point Andre just picks Scarface up over his head while Scarface was holding a headlock, and the crowd shrieks as it looks like Andre is going to throw him into the 4th row. Andre was somehow turned into a sympathetic giant with how aggressive Scarface was being, and this whole thing peaked when both men (and the intrusive referee) tumbled over the top to the floor, and Andre and Scarface really started beating the tar out of each other, two big guys throwing big shots right next to people. 

It's fascinating to see this earliest Andre, so we can see Andre with actual terrible offense. He is still throwing amazing European uppercuts this early (and while it's cute that Scarface sells them by puffing his cheeks and exhaling, these looked like murder blows and really should have been treated as such), but Andre also has these really terrible overhand shots, and I'm not really sure what they're supposed to be. He lifts his arm up fast and violent, tucks his elbow like he's coming down with a Dusty elbow, but then kind of lightly extends his fist to barely bonk Scarface on the chest, and even makes his hand "explode" as if he just did a fist bump. They're really perplexing and bad strikes, and a few weeks later during his excellent match against Franz Van Buyten they are completely gone. Still, this was a fun look at the earliest Andre, and I believe our first time seeing old cranky Scarface.


Andre the Giant/Giant Baba vs. The Land of Giants AJPW 11/25/90 - FUN

ER: Sadly, I couldn't quite go EPIC on this one, even though I wanted to in my heart. While it's probably not among the best tags in All Japan history (and I'm sure there will be some out there that consider it the worst, which is not unfair), what they fail to note is that it is - in all likelihood - that it is probably the tallest tag match in All Japan history, and that still means something in this world. Andre the Giant Versus Skywalker Nitron sounds like a disappointing 50s sci fi flick with a great poster, or a bad down period Marvel comic, and the same things can be said for Giant Baba Versus Butch Masters. I know these words but that sentence makes no sense. So you have two tall white guys, one a future Michael Myers and X-Man, one a future Giant Warrior, against two broken Giants, and it's weird and amusing and then it ends. I give Skywalker Nitron credit for doing his best against our lovable old duo, both because he really knew when to ham it up properly, and also because I'm likely never going to get the chance to write the words "Skywalker Nitron" again. 

Nothing here will knock your wrestling socks off, but there are moments of joy to be had, like Skywalker Nitron being put into double arm breakers by Andre and Baba, and kind of jumping and yipping every time they bring his arms down over their shoulders; or, Andre working a really cool knucklelock spot that I've never seen, where he grabs Walker's hand in his literal Giant hand, squeezes it, and then rears back and punches Masters in the hand; or, the way Baba sold Skywalker Nitron's punches with disdain; or, Baba actually doing a drop toehold (well, we knew it was supposed to be a drop toehold) on Skywalker Nitron. Baba and Andre's finish is almost adorable, as Andre whips Masters into a big Baba boot, and then Andre unexpectedly drops an elbow. Now, the elbow was...basically Andre widening his legs until he was just about close enough to fall down onto Masters, but just seeing Andre hit the mat in any way was pretty unexpected at this point, and it was tough seeing him slowly pull himself up by putting a lot of weight on the referee's shoulders. But, Skywalker Nitron and Butch Masters were good sports, I still can't take my eyes off of barely mobile Andre, he's still somehow so utterly compelling. I like that this happened.

PAS:  I thought Nitron and Masters were pretty terrible, nothing they did looked like it had any impact at all. I can see why you wouldn't want to hit Baba hard (he really looked like he was made of porcelain at this point), but Andre was solid enough that you could make contact at least. I thought Andre looked pretty good. I love when he lurches his arm out to grab someone by the throat, and while that elbow drop wasn't graceful, it sure landed with a thud. Even in his last days he still had an aura about him. Honestly this was a pretty bad match, but as a spectacle it is definitely worth watching.


COMPLETE AND ACCURATE ANDRE

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Andre is an Exquisite Dead Guy Rotating in His Display Case

Andre the Giant/Giant Baba vs. Mitsuharu Misawa/Toshiaki Kawada AJPW 12/2/91 - GREAT

PAS: I am a big fan of immobile end of the road Andre, and it is pretty cool to watch him match up with future puro legends Misawa and Kawada. At this point Andre can only really play a brick wall to knock down (there is an attempted elbow drop which goes really badly), but he is really great at playing a brick wall to knock down. He actually does some pretty cool arm work on Kawada which isn't something he did much outside of his early French work. Andre isn't really leaving his feet, but is willing to take some sharp kicks from Kawada and tight elbows by Misawa. Baba takes all the bumps, which is always a bit jarring because he looks like a giant bag of fragile bones and always looks like he is going to Humpty Dumpty himself every time he lands. Well paced match, which builds well to the big moments by the legends

ER: I've seen much of the Baba/Andre RWTL '91 stuff and this is easily the best match of the bunch, with no close contender. Andre is very much not a mobile human being at this stage, and you can tell just how much pain he's going through in a match from this era based on how often he enters/exits the ring over the top rope, or through the ropes. He went through the ropes in this match more than I've ever seen, so his body must have been absolutely screaming. When Baba has to be the bumper of any team, you know that's a bad sign; as Phil points out, Baba looks like he's going to shatter when he falls, like an old man shoved to the sidewalk by a mugger. But there are two major, important things that set this match apart from others on this tour, and one is that Misawa and Kawada really take it to our two sympathetic broken Giants. Other matches on the tour essentially see opponents being good sports, with even Terry Gordy working gentle. But Kawada throws some big kicks (love him starting with Baba and winging a high kick towards his big head) and Misawa threw big elbows; it was a kick seeing Kawada throw great sidekicks to the chest, even soccer kicks, and man it was cool seeing Misawa throw nasty elbows and uppercuts to Baba, and even throwing elbows on Andre! They suplex Baba a couple times, Misawa gets Baba in his facelock, Kawada body slams Baba and drops a big top rope elbow, even attempts his folding powerbomb! I love that the fans really start booing these punk 20-somethings as they rudely kick at the weakened Giants, and Baba seems to really be trying against these punks, starting out the match with a surprising schoolboy, and breaking out offense he wasn't doing much by this point, like a sharp DDT on Kawada.

The boos really amp up when Andre gets stuck in the ropes and they begin teeing off on him, and Andre gets a great resurrection moment as he rises up to his feet through the storm. Now the key moment that kicks this match another notch, is when it surprises us: there's a lot of value in establishing a formula, establishing expectations, and then suddenly veering from those expectations. It makes a special moment. Every Baba/Andre win ends the same way, with Andre whipping someone into a big Baba boot, then - if he's up for it - Andre drops an elbow; if he's not up for it, he usually just clobbers them to set up Baba's neckbreaker drop. There isn't always build to the finish, it usually just happens when Andre wants things to go home. So Baba hits the big boot, and Andre lumbers in for the elbow drop...and Misawa moves! Andre crashes down to the mat and suddenly the plans have changed! If Andre was going to leave his feet at this point, it was going to be for the finish. Here the format is shifted as the missed elbow allows a double dropkick to tie him in the ropes, leading to our great finishing stretch with Baba and Kawada highlighted above. Andre smothering Misawa so Baba can sneak in a small package was a nice change of pace, and the match was filled with a bunch of fun surprises. I cannot believe this didn't air on TV. It's the only time Andre would have been in the same ring as Misawa, and it was great to see these future legends taking to these icons.


COMPLETE & ACCURATE ANDRE THE GIANT

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All Japan/New Japan Handheld Cherry Picking: Tom Prichard? Kimala II?

Hiroshi Hase vs. Tom Prichard  NJPW 10/18/89

ER: Almost 30 years ago some weirdo took time out of his Wednesday to record a Tom Prichard match. And he utilized the zoom, so you know he wasn't just letting the camera run. He took that time out of his evening, kept that footage like a secret, and so now I will write a hundred or so words to join this loop. The match is fun, with Prichard - hair flowing like David Coverdale - working over Hase's leg by stomping his hamstring, locking in half crabs and spinning toe holds, taking a surprising majority of this match. I really liked Prichard here. He didn't do anything overly fancy, but he worked with tons of confidence and acted like a bigger deal than he probably was. That takes some stones to go into a match with the plan of outmuscling an Olympic wrestler. And to his credit, it totally works. I was hoping for more out of the Hase comeback, though. Hase's mid-match comeback was really cool, him limping around on that bum wheel but still hoisting Prichard up with a neat deadweight Karelin lift and dropping him with a sick gutbuster. But his end of match comeback to win felt like they got the sudden call to go home, as all knee selling goes out the window and he kind of mechanically grabs the northern lights suplex. We had fleeting moments before that, like Prichard's snug sunset flip, and really I got what I wanted out of the match: A good Tom Prichard performance in a match nobody knew existed. (But sorry, the Heavenly Bodies Complete & Accurate is still in line behind the Beverly Bros/Destruction Crew C&A)

Kenta Kobashi/Kimala II vs. Toshiaki Kawada/Gary Albright  AJPW 6/3/96

ER: This immediately jumped out to me from the matchlist, as I'm a goof who likes Kimala II, and he's not a guy usually put into matches high up the card with stars, he's the guy working low on the card hitting splashes in Abby matches, slapping bellies with IZU, or somewhere in a Baba trios. Seeing him 2nd from the top with some big name guys is a super exciting find for me. This is a cool tag to start because it's a native/gaijin vs. native/gaijin, I always think that's kind of cool. Kimala is a unique guy to see as a face in peril, and the match got really good when Kawada and Albright started picking away at him. Before that it was kind of Kawada vs. Kobashi by the numbers, and their by the numbers is cooler than most, but it feels like the big two getting some stuff out of the way to lengthen a match. Kimala/Albright was a more fun match up, as it was far more common to see them teaming, they rarely were on opposite sides of a match. Crowd is immediately behind Kimala, getting a kick out of his Baba chops and digging when he lit Albright up with a headlock. Albright is really fun and a guy I need to go watch more from. He's really underwritten about considering his fun career. The talking point for the longest time was that Kawada carried him to one great match, but I can't think of a match where I haven't enjoyed him. Seeing him do a snap suplex on someone as beefy as Kobashi is a great visual, and the fans are familiar with his throwing strength, so it's great hearing all the excited oooooohs when he teases giving Kimala a dragon suplex. The match really picks up once Kawada and Albright start to isolate Kimala, and the fans start responding to him as the underdog. Kawada is kicking at his leg and throwing big kicks to his belly (which leads to a great moment where Kimala finally catches a kick and fires back a chop to the head). Both do uncharacteristic double stomps to Kimala's stomach, and Albright starts tearing at the arm, dropping a knee on it, digging into it with his elbow point, throwing him into the guardrail, working an armbar. When Kimala finally makes space the fans want the Kobashi hot tag so bad! Kawada was a great jerk, kicking people in the forehead all match and finally separating Kobashi from Kimala, allowing Albright to get the armbar. This match was real fun, with a fun FIP you don't get to often see.

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I will Still Be Carrying Yoshiaki Fujiwara When He is Old, His Hair Will Turn Grey and I Will Carry You

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Masa Fuchi AJPW 7/11/00 - GREAT

This was the battle of the two legends of old man grumpy puro. The Walter Matthau invitational. This was a 30 minute draw which All Japan clipped up on their commercial tape much to my chagrin. I imagine a full version might hit EPIC status. We did get a bunch of cool moments, Fuchi working a headscissors with Fujiwara trying and failing multiple escapes. Fujiwara ripping off some great Fujiwara armbars, with Fuchi fighting to the ropes, and a headbutt and slap fight. I liked the finish, with Fujiwara escaping a headscissors only to get caught in a choke and almost going out. Lets hope AJ Classics eventually gets to 2000.


COMPLETE AND ACCURATE FUJIWARA

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ALL TIME MOTY LIST Head to Head 1998:Kandori v. Hotta V. Vader/Hansen v. Kobashi/Akiyama

Vader/Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi/Jun Akiyama (AJPW 12/5/98)

ER: It's kind of criminal that Hansen and Vader hardly ever teamed, with only 5 traditional tag matches making tape. These two were great enough that after just a few teamings they already seemed like two guys that had been teaming for years, clearly two hosses cut from the same cloth. They're a combined 30+ years older than their opponents, and these two being on the same side leads to the greatest versions of tag tropes, two big bulls cutting off the ring and stiffing the hell out of the good guys. It's pure joy right from go, watching Hansen charge out to the ring ahead of Vader, swinging his bullrope at a handsy fan while Vader slowly lurks behind. You haven't lived until you've seen Hansen holding Kobashi prone while Vader punches him in the nose and throat, then turns around and lariats the hell out of Akiyama on a save attempt. Akiyama foolishly tries a northern lights on Vader, and Vader just belly flops to block, sending Akiyama face first into the mat under him. Hansen taunts Kobashi while he punches Akiyama in the face and the two show how to have an actual interesting slap fight. Hansen rips Kobashi apart on the floor and then Vader smooshes him a bunch, unleashing stiff punches and clotheslines and a huge avalanche. Hansen wants more and kicks Kobashi right in the spine.

I really love old man Hansen. His movements (like rope running) are more rigid, but it doesn't make him any less active in matches; he still is constantly moving and throwing, his age just adds a touch of vulnerability, whereas his vulnerability in his "younger" years was him being reckless and getting caught. Vader works slow and sinister, slapping Akiyama harder than most people can handle being slapped, and we get this glorious run of Hansen and Vader spending minutes literally just falling on Akiyama/Kobashi. Big splashes and elbowdrops for days. Hansen has the best "Get up, you pussy" mocking kicks to the face. The finish is pretty excellent in its simplicity and suddenness. Hansen and Vader had dominated for so long that a comeback wouldn't seem genuine. They had dispatched Akiyama on the floor minutes earlier, I had forgotten about him, and clearly Hansen had as well. The camera work was perfect as we peer over Kobashi's shoulder at a menacing Hansen readying his arm for the lariat, looking like a killer closing in on helpless prey in a slasher flick, and we see Akiyama climbing the turnbuckles in the background, and we see Kobashi seeing it, and Hansen not seeing it. A leaping knee to the back of the head right into a Kobashi lariat to the side of the neck, a believable combo to get a quick 3. Afterwards, Hansen and Vader rightfully kick the shit out of them, the losers walking out on their own, while the winners need to be helped up to accept their trophy.

PAS: Man Vader and Hansen are a killer team of fat monsters, I can't think of a better Godzilla and King Kong team up. It is a shame they didn't have a longer run as a tag team. Can you imagine Vader/Hansen mauling the Rock and Roll Express or having a punch out with the Steiners? Not only were they throwing big bombs, but all of the smaller bombs looked great. Vicious slaps by Vader, these tiny nose breaking punches by Hansen. Both Kobashi and Akyama are big guys, but they looked pretty ineffectual getting smushed by Vader and Hansen, so much of wrestling these days are guys working 50/50 no matter what the size, so it is good to watch guys fighting from below like this. I liked the idea of the finish a lot, although it just didn't seem reasonable for any pair of moves to put down Hansen, he seems like such a force of nature. I did love Vader and Hansen killing them after the bell, no handshakes and appreciative hugs from them.

Kandori v. Hotta review

PAS: I really enjoyed the tag match, although it felt more like a look at an all-time great team, then an all-time great match. Hotta v. Kandori was such a horrifically violent revelation and it keeps the belt. 

ER: I really loved both of these matches, although this one is more my actual favorite style of pro wrestling. I thought the structure of this was great and thought the ending was masterfully executed and filmed. I think Kandori/Hotta might be the "better" match, but I've watched this match twice and will likely watch it again before I rewatch the joshi singles. Still, the champ retains.

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2017 Doesn't Make the List: Miyahara vs. Ishikawa 1 & 2

Kento Miyahara v. Shuji Ishikawa AJPW 5/21

Kento Miyahara v. Shuji Ishikawa AJPW 8/27

ER: Phil and I recently talked about how our MOTY list is very heavy on a certain North Carolina indy, and light on essentially everything else. Is it light on puro because we hate Japanese wrestling? No. Well, maybe. If it was 1994 then our 2017 list would have tons of Japanese wrestling. But this year we have 5 on our list. There are 4 others that Phil and I have each written up and are waiting on contributions from the other, so by the end of the year we may end up with almost 10! That seems low. So I asked some folks for 2017 Japan recommendations to see if we can add to the list a bit more, and we came back with these two matches. And I think if we took the best parts of these two matches, we have an easy list match. But the way each of the matches is actually constructed? I don't see it. There's a lot to like, some stuff to dislike, and at minimum we all learned a little bit more about the 2017 All Japan title scene.

Ishikawa is a guy who not that long ago would have been referred to as indy sleaze: He's wrestled in some shootstyle indies, he's wrestled in death matches, he has probably wrestled on a show that had no ring. But in 2017 he is a Triple Crown challenger, and that just shows how weird Japanese wrestling is in 2017. Miyahara was a NOAH guy who started around the time I stopped watching as much NOAH, and now he's kind of what mid-2000s Tanahashi was for New Japan, only for current All Japan.

There is nothing profound about my thoughts on these two matches, but let's go through my brief thoughts on each:

On the first match, the length felt right but they also took a long time to get going. Ishikawa worked over Miyahara's back in a kind of half-assed way. The stuff he did to the back sounded dangerous on paper, but Ishikawa's delivery is sloppy and disinterested: slam into the ringpost, powerbomb on the apron, chair to the ribs, stomp off the middle rope; the thought is there, but none of it looks very good. Ishikawa seems like maybe a top 5 wrestling Ishikawa. The back work doesn't really go anywhere, as Miyahara just decides to start making a comeback at some point. And I don't really buy his comeback. He had absorbed a lot of punishment, then just hit a dropkick to the knee, then made Ishikawa wait around bent at the waist for too long to hit a so-so shotgun kick. Halfway through, not loving it. Then we had some standing forearms and some fighting spirit convenient selling and I was feeling pretty duped. But the end run is a scorcher, 5 super hot minutes. Shoot, the match would have made list as a year of the sprint top contender if someone had just sent me the final 5 minutes and told me that was the match. Ishikawa starts throwing hard knees under the chin that look like they would break a neck, dumps him with a couple gnarly thunder fire drivers, we get some big kickouts, nice lariats, Ishikawa eats some big kicks, it's still a blast to hear Japanese announcers excitedly call a Splash Mountain, and Ishikawa getting the win was a genuine surprise. The last 5 created some goodwill, but not enough to get it to list.

The second match definitely had the better start. Ishikawa leaned into being Triple Crown champ and was now wearing actual trunks, ditching his garbage bag pants. His attack on Miyahara was focused and more dominating than the first match, with Miyahara taking some rough stuff including leaping off the apron and getting ole'd chin first into the guardrail. I thought Ishikawa looked more consistent in this match, but they peaked things way too early when Ishikawa gave Miyahara a thunder fire driver on the apron. It was a callback to them fighting on the apron in their first match, with this go 'round ending differently. But here it was used to essentially restart the match, and before long Miyahara was on offense for the first time in the match and the playing field was level. It was one of those shifts where Miyahara was selling 10 minutes of a beating, and suddenly Ishikawa delivers his biggest KO blow....and now Ishikawa is tired and Miyahara is invigorated. Shame, as the early match work was really satisfying. Sometimes I think Miyahara's big offense is a bit too flimsy, but there were some nasty moments down the stretch, notably when he caved in the back of Ishikawa's head with a shotgun kick. But Miyahara's fighting spirit spots come off as almost parody, and Ishikawa has a very expressionless face and uninteresting selling, which doesn't really help a fired up babyface like Miyahara. Both guys brought big bombs down the stretch, but really Ishikawa's knees and the thunder fire drivers looked nastier than almost anything Miyahara brought (except that brutal kick, which I would have bought as a finish). I didn't like how this match took a more satisfying journey to basically get to the most unsatisfying parts of the first match.

Both matches were fine, and it didn't feel like wasted time watching them. That sounds backhanded, but it's not meant to be. I'm happy I watched the two title matches. If we had the first 10 minutes of the second match, and the last 5 of the first match, I probably would have flipped. I saw they had a 15 minute match recently, which could be just what I need, but I could not find a copy of it. Someday, maybe.

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The Bad News Berzerker Goes to Japan: Part 4

John Nord/Stan Hansen vs. Akira Taue/Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW 1/12/94)

ER: This was two halves of two different, pretty great matches, that didn't totally add up when all was done. This goes nearly 17 minutes, and for much of the first 8 we see Taue and Kawada taking apart Hansen's lariat arm. Sadly, once he hot tags Nord, none of that match ever returns. The last half is some big slams and clubbering - which is what I expected the match to be - but I was really liking the match it looked like we were getting. Nord and Hansen both club away to start, with Nord breaking out some choice chokes, strangling Kawada and choking him over the top rope. Soon though Kawada begins twisting and yanking Hansen's arm, and we start going somewhere unexpected. The big surprise is Taue being a nasty MFer on the mat. He's sorta clumsy - which you expected - but it was a blast watching him maneuver Hansen into an armbar. I'm pretty positive I've never seen Taue do an armbar, and armbars looked especially weird in pro wrestling in 1994. The best is Hansen starts to escape, and Taue, lying on the mat on his side, starts kicking at Hansen's face and arm. Hell. Yes. Taue was looking more like an Inoki prodigy than a Baba ball washer and it was glorious. Hansen does eventually punish him for the arm work, smacking him around, grabbing him by the hair to do some great short headbutts, kicking him in the spine, dropping an elbow, and I've always been a huge fan of Taue's more realistic bumping. Taue was like a weird mixture of Inoki groundwork and Terry Funk stooging here, and...I mean it's fucking Taue so it's already good, but damn was he fun.

Nord gets the tag and sadly we never go back to that arm. The big hosses take over and you can really see Nord tightening up strikes working these hard hitters; his big boots are on point, he levels Taue with a shoulderblock (he still fits in a fast bump over the top to the floor, naturally), his slams land hard, his chops are blistering. Hansen had a kind of formula he would work with whomever was his big hoss tag partner on any given tour, and Nord mostly slots into Hansen Underhoss. They work standard big dude double teams, like your double shoulderblock. At one point Hansen holds Kawada  and Nord hits an actual stiff axe handle on him. Hansen even takes the bigger bump of the two, charging shoulder first into the corner and flying over the top with a boss Slaughter bump you don't normally see Hansen take. I really liked how Taue/Nord matched up, plenty of nice moments and I especially loved Nord missing a running Taue with a boot, but then catching him off the ropes with a powerslam. Nord eventually misses a big splash and HDA takes over with a nice backdrop/nodowa combo, Hansen makes a nice save for a quality false finish, and Nord gets finished off after another chokeslam (kicking out right after 3). The wrestling itself was really good (although Kawada has weirdly come off more clumsy on rewatch than I remember), but it felt like we got the beginning half of one match, and the end half of the other. It felt like we were only getting half of two different killer matches. The existing match is plenty fun, but it's cruel to see a glimpse of what it could have been.


COMPLETE & ACCURATE BERZERKER

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All Time MOTY List Head to Head 2012: Lesnar v. Cena V. Akebono/Hama v. Okabayashi/Sekimoto

Akebono/Ryoto Hama v. Yuji Okabayashi/Daisuke Sekimoto BJW 1/3/12

PAS: It is really amazing how fat Hama and Akebono are, we aren't talking regular wrestler fat, but reality television fat. Hama looks like Jerry Blackwell had an emotional crisis and tried to eat his feelings, Akebono is the size of WWF champion era Yokozuna, probably the fattest tag team ever. Match told a pretty simple story, Hama and Bono would squish the Strong BJ guys under their massive bodies, while Okabayashi and Sekimoto would throw improbable looking suplexes. It is a great way to build a match. I don't understand how either guy was able to suplex Hama,  the only way it seemed plausible is if Okabayashi's baby was trapped under Hama and he needed to summon unknown reserves to get him off. 15 minutes is a perfect amount of time for this type of match, and it was really enjoyable

ER: Man, I don't even know how Akebono or Hama are even physically possible. Both seem simultaneously bullet proof and faberge-egg-fragile every time they move an inch. Akebono seems like there is equal chance he will throw Okabayashi into the 16th row, or that both of his ankles will shatter upon taking a step. Strong BJ throw full body weight into him and he doesn't move an inch, then he throws one of them onto the other and crushes Okabayashi with the greatest elbow drop, like an Acme anvil punching Wile E Coyote through a desert cliff. I think I used a Wile E Coyote reference in the review for Cena/Lesnar, so that immediately makes this match comparison wholly valid. Hama is just absurd. He looks like a man who should wash himself with a rag on a stick. He keeps a photo of Gilbert Grape's mom on his fridge for inspiration. And here he is laying out on splashes and throwing Vader bear attack punches and eating nasty frog splashes and throwing full weight elbows. I have zero clue how Okabayashi is able to suplex him. It does not make physical sense. Akebono is an amazing pro wrestler. I am probably his biggest fan. He feels like prime Andre to me. He carries so much presence, so much stoic facial anger, drops these amazing elbows, is able to be unbeatable and vulnerable; he's so damn good. The way he just gets annoyed when Okabayashi is trying to knock him off the apron, the way he finally takes a huge bump over the top to the apron, the way he gets vertical on a school boy and makes it entirely plausible that his own upper torso could pin him. Akebono is a guy I need to do a Complete & Accurate on. You heard it here. This guy is pro wrestling. I love this match, I love freakshow fatties, and this was just pure pro wrestling.

Lesnar v. Cena review

PAS: I dug SMOP v. Strong BJ, but it was more a fun snack, then some sort of epic meal. Cena v. Lesnar was a French Laundry dinner

ER: This match felt like more of a celebration of scientific advancement than an epic wrestling match. "Our human technology and evolution has created two pumped up undersized powerhouses and two freakishly massive round squishing machines. LOOK WHAT WE CAN ACCOMPLISH. These matches were both spectacles that are unduplicatable. But Lesnar/Cena is perfectly crafted pro wrestling drama. This was a step below, as a nonstop "No WAY they'll be able to..." match, which is special in its own way. Still, champ retains.

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1992 Match of the Year

Kenta Kobashi/Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Doug Furnas/Dan Kroffat AJPW 5/25/92

PAS: This is a match with four great individual performances from the wrestlers, where the star of the match is the crowd. The match was for the All-Asia titles and was held in Kikuchi's home town and the atmosphere felt more like a NBA Finals Game 7 then any wrestling match I can remember. When Kobashi is teasing his moonsault they reacted like Oracle fans on a pull-up Steph Curry 3. This match had been legendary for the JIP version which was around for ever, when that match started Kikuchi was already being worked over. The added stuff with the uncut version was pretty great, I loved Kroffat's dickish jab, and Kikuchi firing back with big elbow smashes. The beatdown on Kikuchi was really nasty, taking that press slam bump to the floor, and then getting chucked into a table, gross big bumps especially for 1992. Kikuchi really got bent backwards with the boston crabs, and stretches it wasn't a thing where he looked super flexible, more like it was actually going to crack a vertebrae. This match also had some awesome timing on saves, Furnas hits a big frankenstiner on Kobashi and Kikuchi just hurls himself from the top rope with a crazy headbutt right at 2 and 9/10ths. I do think that Kikuchi should have gotten the pin, the moonsault was a huge move and beautifully done, but this felt like Kikuchi's night and he should have been the one standing tall.

ER: I don't think I've ever seen the complete version before this, and I loved the things it added, particularly Kikuchi levelling Kroffat with elbows and pummeling him to the mat. The crowd was so wonderful throughout, I got goosebumps three different times. These people were plugged right into Kobashi and Kikuchi, their victory that important. I thought Kroffat and Furnas put up an excellent heel performance, without overtly acting like heels. They weren't rubbing anything in, they weren't taunting the crowd or K&K, just coldly, violently and precisely snapping off moves. Kroffat's rolling snap suplexes were so vicious that while Kikuchi is an expert salesman I fully buy his "where the hell AM I?" face after Kobashi makes the save. Everything had such thud and machine like efficiency, Furnas muscling up a press slam, brutal doomsday lariats, Kroffat thrust kicking Kobashi in the chin, shoot Kroffat even outchopped Kobashi with some absolutely cutting short quick right chops. The crowd never gives up on K&K and watching/hearing them live and die with every pinfall is exhilarating. The saves were expertly handled, Kikuchi outlasts Kroffat as by the last couple minutes Kroffat looks totally gassed, heavy legged, and here's this little guy who has taken everything they can dish out, mustering enough strength to bury his shoulder in Furnas to prevent the save. Inspiring, classic.

ALL TIME MOTY MASTER LIST

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1988 Match of the Year

Stan Hansen/Terry Gordy v. Genichiro Tenryu/Toshiaki Kawada AJPW 12/16/88

ER: This whole thing is great in every way: Great performances from all four, great story, great build, great everything. Kawada is overmatched from go but he gives a super gutsy and super sympathetic effort. He's up against two of the hossest hosses to ever hoss, and he gets the shit kicked out of him. But damn does he go down swinging. Just watching Hansen barrel down a human makes me afraid, and Kawada just stands up to it, throws his spinkicks that he wouldn't be using a couple years later, and eventually hits one of the hardest lariats I've seen. Eventually Hansen has enough of it and drags Kawada to the floor, stomps his knee into dust, and continues doing so for the rest of the match including one all time brutal spot: Hansen is standing on his foot, kicking at his knee, all the way to the apron, and then gives Tenryu a lariat, knocking both to the floor at once (and Tenryu flying over the railing). Kawada is basically toast at this point and the match then shifts to gutsy Tenryu performance, fighting back against two beasts and doing so gamely. Crowd is LOUD cheering on Tenryu, and he throws some of his all time stiffest chops (think of the ground that covers!), gets a great nearfall by catching Gordy with a small package, hits a gorgeously high arcing elbow drop, wings enziguiris at Gordy (such a great sell by Gordy), bitch slaps freaking STAN HANSEN, but can't overcome the odds. Gordy was tremendous here, putting across just HOW bad he wanted this win, regularly appealing to Hansen but still running this game, always free to drag Tenryu around and  dish nasty overhand chops. But Hansen is the show here, man. It's pretty impossible to take your eyes off him here, he just never stops. He's constantly kicking either Tenryu or Kawada, he's storming around ringside, he's breaking up every pin in nasty fashion (I don't think it's debatable that Hansen breaks up a pin better than any wrestler in history, always crushing with an elbow drop or kicking a guy in the legs or just dragging them away and beating them for having the gall to pin his boy), dropping his better-than-anyone-ever elbows, dropping his better-than-anyone-ever knees, just a total wrecking ball. I love how he noticeably slows during the second half, getting George Foreman'd into tiring himself out by destroying Kawada, but he's still a guy who can pick his shot, and the shots are always devastating. This is elite tag team wrestling right here.

PAS: This was a hell of a fight, it was more simplistic then the classic 90s tag, but if simplistic means Stan Hansen stomping Tenryu so hard that he splits his head open, I'll take simplistic. I am so used to stoic samurai Kawada it was really weird to see him as fired up underdog babyface, but he is really great at that role too, his anguished knee selling on the floor was powerful, and his glee at his big save was very charming. Tenryu is lauded for his brutality, and he was brutal here, but I think Tenryu's greatest skill is his selling and he was awesome here fighting valiantly against the odds, but showing how much each big shot took out of him. This however was a Stan Hansen showcase, a real entry into his GOAT resume, he felt like young Mike Tyson in this match just a primal force of terrifying violence. After he broke up Kawada's german suplex pin, he beats on Kawada and Tenryu and a ring guy, it felt  like he was going to beat up every person in the arena at once.  That final lariat was a show closer, it felt like an explosive posterizing dunk, Tenryu got Mosgoved.


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Yoshiaki Fujiwara's Power is Made Perfect in Weakness

Yoshiaki Fujiwara/Masanobu Kurisu v. Kuuga/Magnitude Kishiwada AJPW 12/7/16 - FUN

I love the elderly asskicker team of Kurisu and Fujiwara, they are really in their dotage now but they would have been such a killer team 25 years ago, when they were just really old instead of Octogenarian. Kurisu looks like Wilferd Brimley but will still jab the edge of a chair into someones throat. Fujiwara spends most of the match wandering around and headbutting random masked dudes, but they did have a cool finish with Fujiwara turing a double team into a Fujiwara armbar where he used Kuugas fist to punch Magnitude.

Complete and Accurate Yoshiaki Fujiwara

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Wajima Wednesday (Not a Thing)

Abdullah the Butcher vs. Hiroshi Wajima (AJPW 1/2/88)

Finally available online! The match that I begged and pleaded to be added to the AJPW 80s set, then when I realized it wasn't going to get the necessary votes I begged and pleased for it to be added to the AJPW 80s Extras. But it was done to no avail. This match did not bring the same level of joy to others as it did to me, and that's okay. It's about 7 minutes long, and it's mostly a squash, and it ends somewhat unsatisfactorily. So plenty of people will be left pretty flat when it's all over. But I love it. I love sumo guys getting into pro wrestling, but not all of them are going to work out well. Wajima is definitely one of the weaker sumo transplants. And 1988 was the tail end of his short couple years in pro wrestling. And Abby was having none of it. He does not treat Wajima as much of a threat in the least, which is kind of what makes the finishing run so much fun. This never feels unprofessional, but I'm curious just what was going on, as Abby pretty much goofs off all while dominating Wajima. Abby throws stiff throat thrusts ("throws throat thrusts" was alliteration I wasn't attempting) and blocks any attempt at Wajima offense. Wajima is playing along and bumping around nicely for Abby strikes, and really putting over all the chops and throat shots. Abby shuts him right down whenever he tries something, either shoving him off, kicking him in the stomach, or just doing wild eyed karate mannerisms. And it all builds up to Wajima finally getting into his sumo comfort zone. They get in close and you can see it happening, see Wajima adjusting his arms, see him hitching up Abby's very very large pants, and finally he gets a great throw, and then another one! And it's an awesome moment! And then Abby puts his curled boot down and beats him down, then squashes him with his perfect elbow drop. In another great moment, Wajima gets his boot on the ropes. And so Abby drops another brutal elbow. Still the boot finds rope. So Abby flies off into the opposite ropes for another squishing, and Joe Higuchi gets in the way to stop some of the punishment, so Abby just shoulderblocks Higuchi into the weekend. Match gets thrown out, elbow drops continue, then Baba and Jumbo come out in teal track suits and TNT comes out and Abby drops threats on the mic while throwing chairs at photographers.

And now you can finally see the match that THEY DIDN'T WANT YOU TO SEE. You know, because they know you value your time, most likely.

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All Time MOTY List HEAD to HEAD Honda/Inoue v. Hash/Yasuda V. Kawada/Araya v. Fuchi/Tenryu

Genichiro Tenryu/Masa Fuchi v. Toshiaki Kawada/Nobutaka Araya AJPW 6/30/01

Phil and Childs talked about this match on Digging in the Crates

ER: Neat tag that was right smack dab in the days of me diving headlong into my love of Japanese wrestling. I first saw it a few years before and by 2001 I was in love and following every fed. In the NOAH exodus I was loving the return of Tenryu and the rise of Fuchi, back from opening match purgatory. And it's kind of weird, as Araya and Tenryu are the WAR guys, Kawada and Fuchi are the AJ guys, so you'd expect the teams to line up that way. But they opt for the maybe more intriguing old guys vs. younger guys, and it's all about Tenryu and Fuchi breaking down Araya. Kawada seemed a little off in the match, compared to his standards, so it really hinged on Araya's performance as a bullied youngster, and he totally pulled it off. The whole thing is a fairly genial tag match for the first few minutes, with everyone facing off and lightly pushing each other around and tagging out. The same thing is happening with Tenryu and Araya, when with no warning Tenryu literally just punches Araya in the eye. Just right in the eye. Araya goes down and immediately is bleeding out of the eyebrow. And from there we get Tenryu and Fuchi attempting (and often succeeding) to pick on him. All the great moments are when Araya would be getting chopped and punched and would just muscle through it, really forcing you to get behind him. Tenryu was such a surly badass and I flipped whenever Araya would go chest to chest with him, or fire back, or run him over with a shoulderblock.  Kawada does a decent job trying to keep the wolves away and Fuchi seems like a guy trying to avoid Kawada, and we get some great moments of Kawada and Tenryu lacing into each other. Those Tenryu chops never looked finer, and he ate some kicks to the nose and sold an early Kawada enziguiri great (I think Tenryu sold shots to the back of the head and piledrivers better than anybody), and later hit his own enziguiri. Tenryu's old man enziguiri was always a favorite of mine, as the person on the receiving end always looked like someone getting a sack of concrete dropped onto their neck and shoulders. Araya don't let his bum eye get him down and the build to him and Fuchi each going for broke is fun, with Fuchi hitting an awesome back suplex to reverse an Araya moonsault, before eventually succumbing to that moonsault. This was just as simple and satisfying now as it was when I saw it 15 years ago.

PAS: On paper it looks like Araya is the weak link in this match, but this was a performance that should have made him a superstar. Tenryu is such a mean fucker, he brings his buddy over from WAR and decides for shits and giggles to split his eye open. Tenryu and Fuchi are the two best guys in wrestling history to be on the opposite side of a leaking eyebrow. We get some great Kawada v. Tenryu sections but that was an appetizer to the Araya show. I loved him fighting through pain and going toe to toe with Tenryu and Fuchi and the final moonsault to win was a great moment.

Honda/Inoue v. Hash/Yasuda Review

VERDICT:

ER: Real fun tag, but it didn't have quite the hate and intensity of that NOAH/Z-1 tag, so I think that one still reigns supreme.

PAS: It's pretty close, I really enjoyed this match, but it needed a bit more Kawada intensity, outside of a couple of exchanges with Tenryu he kind of sat this out. I am going with the Z1 tag too.

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For Yoshiaki Fujiwara Weeping May Stay for the Night

Yoshiaki Fujiwara/Masa Fuchi v. Tamon Honda/Sambo Asako All Japan 1/96 - FUN

On paper I love the Fujiwara and Fuchi tag team, feels like they should have had a long run as Mr. Fujiwara and Mr. Fuchi managed by Tojo Yamamoto in Memphis. I still haven't seen a great match from them, but I love the concept. This is earliesh Honda, and he is still pretty fun, but I can imagine how awesome he would be matched up with these two in 6 years or so. Not as much matwork as you would hope, we do get a fun Honda v. Fujiwara headbutt battle, and Honda headbutting Fuchi in the teeth. The double Fujiwara armbar finish is cool too, still I was hoping for a hidden gem, and got a fine little match.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE FUJIWARA

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All Time MOTY list HEAD to HEAD: Santo/Casas v. Scorpio/Bestia VS Vader v. Misawa

Vader v. Mitsuharu Misawa AJPW 10/30/99

PAS: Twelve minutes of bombs being dropped. Reminds me of the awesome Vader v. Dustin Rhodes matches from WCW, short, impactful and impressive. With hindsight it is tough to watch Misawa take german suplexes, but he takes a german suplex as nastily as anyone in wrestling history. It is also pretty amazing the bumps a 44 year old fat dude is willing to take, he gets dumped on his head by german suplexes, and even takes sort of a Tiger Driver 91, although that may just be because he didn't fully rotate. I also loved Vader countering the Misawa elbow suicida by leaning against the guardrail and kicking Misawa in the chest with both feet like a mule, never seen that spot before and it was awesome. Vader was such a breath of fresh air in AJPW at this point. They had basically been running with the same group of top guys for almost a decade, so to have this disruptive force come in and start wrecking dudes was great. I loved the length and the fact that Vader went over,  but I don't think they had figured out how to graft an exciting AJPW style finish run on a match this length. It ends up falling slightly flat, which keeps it out of all-timer status.

ER: A match with some flaws, but a match with an incredible amount of charm. You hear how wild the crowd is for Misawa and it's addictive. And then you see how insanely athletic Vader is for a man his size, and a man his age, and this just feels like a real clash of the titans. The first 4 minutes are just a total bear attack, with things starting civil until Vader belts Misawa with a left. Misawa's selling after that slap - the stagger, the slump and surprise - was perfect, and from there we get Vader corner attack. I loved the struggle over the German suplexes (in fact I wish there was more struggle on stuff as the match went on) with Misawa hanging onto the ropes for dear life, and Vader choking him to get him to let go. And when Misawa finally does let go the suplexes are disgusting. And then Vader just starts squishing him with full splashes. You can hear the crowd getting nervous, which is awesome, that these two were so convincing that the crowd was already murmuring that Misawa could lose a Triple Crown match in mere minutes. But Misawa comes back, and it blows me away how Vader can get up for suplexes and a crazy tiger driver. But Vader just keeps on finding new ways to squish Misawa, and it's great. If you just described a match to me as "smaller guy fights with stiff strikes, but keeps getting squished by a fat guy" I would already love that match regardless of the participants. And just when Misawa would get a little momentum, he would run into a big swinging arm or get smothered. I thought the build throughout could have been better, maybe could have peaked better, but the match length felt right. Impressive, motivated stuff from Vader, and tons of great die on sword moments from Misawa. Also, watch for Vader's super likable interview backstage.

El Hijo Del Santo/Negro Casas v. Bestia Salvaje/Scorpio Jr. CMLL 3/19/99 Review

Verdict:

PAS: Lucha tag takes it for me, Vader v. Misawa is great and features awesome performances by both, but the apuestas tag is an all timer, pretty much a perfect example of that kind of high stakes war.

ER: Agree with Phil. This match was very close for me, and there were some minor changes that could have been made that would have shot this match into the lead (Misawa not doing Germans, the ending peaking better), but even as is it was close. Still, lucha tag defends its crown.

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1975 Match of the Year

The Destroyer v. The Spirit AJPW 7/25/75

ER: I had never seen Kox as The Spirit, although it was not uncommon for him to work as The Spirit in AJPW. But right when I see him in his black mask, looking like Timothy Carey playing an executioner, I'm hoping against hope that we'll get some loaded mask cheating. And we do. Match starts slow but very satisfying, with some really cool controlled strength matwork. It's far slower than all this hot Catch Point stuff we're all used to, but I really dug it. It's all a long old man strength test, with little one ups peppered in, each man just trying to muscle the other down. Kox locks his arms in a cool way I've never seen, behind Destroyer's back so that he can roll him into an uncomfortable upside down position. Destroyer reverses a couple times so both men end up sorta twisted. Destroyer kneels on Kox's throat, and Kox comes up popping him with his punches that I love so much. All the lock ups in this felt tight, felt tough, and would always end with one of them tossing a punch, an elbow, a headbutt; Kox starts ripping at Destroyer's right eye and busts him open with a loaded mask headbutt, and Destroyer starts bleeding through his mask.

We go through a long and wonderful hide the weapon portion, with each man hiding somewhere between 1 and 4 weapons between them, loading their masks and their fists. Kox starts picking apart Destroyer with loaded shots and Destroyer is great falling into the ropes, onto his knees, getting knocked to the floor. Dick gets his own weapon and Kox is great whipping himself into the mat off loaded headbutts, and always eventually turns the tide by punching back to offense. Punching, headbutting, kicking Beyer in the face and chest as he's falling from punches. At one point Kox goes to plant his knee in Beyer's face and Beyer moves, and these old dudes are tough so they don't wear kneepads, meaning them knees get planted right into the mat. Destroyer pounces on Kox's hurt knee, and locks on one of the best figure 4s you've seen (on the correct leg!), and Kox does a great scramble to the ropes.

Ending is a little surprising as Jumbo finally has enough of The Spirit's cheating, grabs his leg, which leads directly to Destroyer rolling him up with a super snug cradle to win the third fall. I could see some people not liking this, but this match was right in my wheelhouse. From the early stalemate tough old guy mat work, to all the loaded masks and fists, I loved it. There were no slams of any kind, no suplexes, minimal bumps (Destroyer had a big one to the floor and Kox bumped big a couple times off loaded mask shots), just two brutes elbowing eye sockets and wearing the other out.

PAS: End of the road Killer Karl Kox might be one of my favorite wrestlers ever. Just a nasty old bastard who will split your eyebrow with a right hand or knee you in the throat. I also loved the early matwork portion too, nothing fancy, nothing tricky but really impactful. These are a pair of old dudes with crazy tendon strength and it was fun to watch them struggle in tests of strength in weird angles. Wrestling matches are full of traditional knuckle lock tests of strength, these guys were struggling from their back or their knees. Then we get the great mask hiding foreign object section. Destroyer is an old master at that and it is fun to see him have to deal with someone using his own tricks on him. It is like a Lawler match with the heel hiding a chain too. Every one of those foreign object shots were extra violent looking, the headbutts were sold like they should be, and the chain assisted punches really thudded. These no bump Kox matches are the best, I could watch him not bump forever.

All Time MOTY List

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All Japan Motherload...Resurrected? Giant Baba vs. Killer Karl Kox - AJPW 3/3/81, plus Bonus Baba!

[UPDATE] Months later the match showed up again online, but it will probably disappear at some point again. So anybody that didn't get to see Baba/Kox should go watch it, now.

ER: This match is so fucking awesome. And it's all gone. Our mysterious Japanese benefactor SKK and his glorious youtube page are all vanished and destroyed, and this match was the last thing I had written up from his stash. Looks at that blank youtube screen I'm leaving embedded on the page, itself an armband around our hearts. Perhaps some day he will be back. Perhaps some other dedicated loon will take over for him before the inevitable. Here's to this guy, and the next guy.


Because this match is so fucking awesome. It's also weird because it was the second to last match of Kox's career (he had a match in the states against Andre a year and a half later, which is also something I would pay money for the chance to see). So his final match in Japan is for Baba's PWF title at the age of 50. And it's really, truly great. Kox gets busted open from BABA CHOPS! And fires back with mean right hands and pointy back elbows, and his elbow drops actually look like they are going to crush Baba's giant ribcage. Kox really just plants them deeply, right into Baba's sternum. Kox looks like a million crusty old deans going up against a million lame fraternities, except this guy would destroy all Greek campus life. By the time it got to Kox giving Baba a brutal hardway brainbuster I was flipping out. This is flat out pro wrestling. Kox just picks up and drops Baba right on his giant head. Then Kox starts punching Baba with a loaded fist and playing hide the weapon, and sister you haven't lived until you've watched an old white man play hide the weapon, in Japan, against Baba. The falls go quick, Baba gets his same-size-as-Baba trophies presented after the match, Kox glowers, this is the best.


Giant Baba vs. Abdullah the Butcher - AJPW 4/7/79 - BONUS HAIKU


Two oddly shaped men
Baba chops to face break skin
Abby don't back down


Who are these two men
Abby blades his fucking ear
All from Baba chops


All great things must end
Fat guys have great elbow drops
Clearly a count out

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R.I.P. All Japan Motherload - Terry Funk

Months back I wrote up several rare late 70s/early 80s AJPW matches that had been uploaded by mysterious Japanese benefactor SKK, who seemingly got ahold of a bunch of footage that nobody had ever seen before. There were some real gems in the lot, but I took a break to write about other things and intended to go back. Literally the day I decided to go back and dive into his collection, was the day his page got torpedoed. Crushed. Obviously this stuff just needs to be removed from the internet. We can't have weirdoes watching Bill Irwin matches from 35 years ago. Thanks, universe. And also, thanks, universe.

Terry Funk vs. Tor Kamata - AJPW 12/3/79

This is my favorite Tor Kamata match! Which, yes, is like choosing your favorite nu metal band. Except this is good! This is the hardest I've seen Kamata work, and Funk is really great at putting over offense of guys like Kamata. Funk can make a gassed Kamata chinlock look good, and Kamata did gas out, but he did so nobly, by doing a too-much-fun arm drag sequence with Funk. Two large men working like late 70s Ricky Steamboats, Tor taking multiple armdrags and rolling through the bumps to run up and into more armdrags, then get tossed on a fun monkey flip/back drop. Kamata also drops a fine kneedrop across Terry's chest. Funk punches him a bunch and then we get one of the more amusing ref bump sequences I've seen, as Terry gets a nice nearfall on a small package and then grabs an abdominal stretch. As the ref leans in to check on Kamata, he hip tosses Funk onto the ref! And Terry is great at flopping on the poor ref. The next move Terry takes he makes sure to do an exaggerated "Rock taking the Stunner" sell so that he goes out of his way to flop on the still downed ref, again. This ref also has brittle bone disease (probably) which causes a man falling onto him to knocked him out, and this gives Kamata ample time to cheat with a chain and choke Funk the hell out. 

It's all thrown out, and then the real fighting begins as Kamata gets busted open huge and his whole face is bloody, and we all remember how much we fucking miss blood in professional wrestling. I'm going to press up trucker hats that say "Make America Blade Again". Kamata bails to the floor and uproots one of those strands of connected folding chairs and launches them up into the ring at Funk. Kamata then has a real Oh Shit moment as he realizes Funk now has a row of chairs and he is standing in the ring over Kamata on the floor, lording over him like the Greek God of Assbeating looking down from Olympus. Funk launches the chairs at Kamata as Kamata does an awesome Don Knotts-ish comedic scramble run to get out of the way, and we fade...


A Haiku Terry Funk vs. Jerry Oates AJPW 7/83

Fine Oates headscissor
Jerry once wrestled a bear
No chance against Funk


Funk's hand and Oates' face
Worked Funk four times on this tour
Sore jaw guaranteed


Oates gets some offense
Terry can be generous
But not much to see

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