AEW Dark Worth Watching: CIMA vs. Darby

Darby Allin vs. CIMA AEW Dark #1 10/8/19 

ER: Going wayyyyy back to the early days of AEW Dark, and these were the kind of matches that filled out Dark in these early episodes, when it was used less for squash matches. Allin/CIMA not being on at least Dynamite is pretty amusing in retrospect, but these were large shows in a full attendance world. And this was a really good "only happened once" kind of match, not sure when these two would ever be in the same place at the same time again, already seems like an oddball one off 18 months later. CIMA has been having fun matches like these for 25 years now, his entire adult life, and he's a cool different version of Darby. Darby packs a lot of insanity into a 7 minute match, with this awesome wrecking ball tope and a coffin drop that lands him squarely onto CIMA's knee. He makes all of CIMA's offense look great, like when he gets torpedoed into the middle buckle and crunches the back of his neck, then crunches it right after when CIMA dropkicks him back into it. CIMA locks in a great stretch muffler/bow and arrow that looks even better with Darby's flexibility. CIMA also blasts him in the back of the head with a cool meteora, which leads to a great moment where CIMA goes for another meteora and just does a hard missed double kneedrop. I'm just a couple years younger than CIMA and the idea of jumping up and landing on my knees for anything at all sounds like certain death. There's a fun transition where CIMA is bringing modern puro into things and starts a mid match chop exchange, but Darby just punches him and throws body shots when it's his turn to derail a match with a dumb standing exchange. Not taking the bait on a pointless chop exchange? A babyface after my own heart. Darby's comeback is really great, and has him landing fast hip attacks at CIMA's knee while CIMA is in the tree of woe, and the match finishing coffin drop is a beauty. Darby has such great accuracy with the move, and the match finisher is so high arcing and perfect.  

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AEW Double or Nothing 5/25/19

This wasn't a show I was particularly excited about. I imagine we are low voters on a bunch of the guys on this show, but Dustin Rhodes is an all time favorite, and the show is a big deal for sure.

Christopher Daniels/Scorpio Sky/Frankie Kazarian vs. T-Hawk/El Linderman/CIMA

PAS: This was what you would expect for a opening six man tag. I hadn't seen the SCU team in years and they seem to have kept all of their athleticism, pretty impressive that old man Daniels can still look so smooth, although smoothness isn't something I care a ton about. Strong Hearts was fine, I liked Hawk's chops and Linderman's deadlift German suplexes, but if you are going to bring in OWE guys, they really should have bought in the crazy Chinese Shaolin Monks rather then just second tier Dragons Gate guys. Fine but ultimately forgettable.

Dr. Britt Baker DMD vs. Kylie Rae vs. Nyla Rose vs. Awesome Kong

PAS: This was pretty bad and way too long. Awesome Kong was a cool surprise, but didn't look ready for in ring work and spent most of the match hanging outside. Rae doing her Gillberg version of Bayley was probably the most bush league thing on this show (either that or Cody's sledgehammer stuff). I am not sure there are enough non-WWE women to make a real division, this wasn't a good start, and I am not interested in seeing any of these ladies again.

Best Friends vs. Angelico/Jack Evans

PAS: I think it is a mistake for a fed basically main evented by the Young Bucks to have so many B-Team Bucks running around: SCU, both these teams, Lucha Brothers, Super Smash Brothers. They really need some teams who don't work the same style. You can't have 10 versions of the Rockers, you need a Twin Towers or Demolition. This is my semi-annual attempt to watch a Chuck Taylor match and get it, and I still don't. He hits some spots OK, but there are parts where he can't run the ropes and his forearms and kicks look terrible. Trent was mechanically fine, if uninteresting. Angelico is still Angelico, some of his stuff looks cool, the double teams with Evans are nifty, and then he throws a punch. Evans is still awesome, his body is made of jello, and he flips like crazy. His moonsault to the floor was one of the crazier spots of the night. Didn't care for this, it was a worse version of Bucks vs. Lucha Brothers and I didn't love that either.

Aja Kong/Yuka Sakazaki/Emi Sakura vs. Hikaru Shida/Riho/Ryo Mizunami

PAS: This was a fun showcase for all six ladies. Everyone got a chance to run through their stuff, and a lot of it looked pretty good. Sakazaki's magical girl shtick is pretty creepy, there already is a pervert constituency among Joshi fans and that seems to lean way into it. Aja is still a beast and definitely stood out, I especially liked any time she faced off with Mizunami, as I am always going to dig a big gal punch out. Shida got the big with with the knee, and I think a version of her 2018 singles with Aja would get over pretty big.

Dustin Rhodes vs. Cody

PAS: Opening part of this match was just OK, Cody doesn't really have good looking offense and some of the spots felt more cute then impactful. I loved the set up for the Dustin blade job, with Dustin setting up the nut kick, Cody removing the second turnbuckle to block it, and and Cody drop toe holding Dustin into the exposed buckle. That Dustin blade job was an all timer, it looked liked Strawberry Fanta was coming out of a fountain soda machine. I liked Cody's knuckle punches to the cut, and the figure four spot was really well executed. The punch exchange at the end of the match actually felt like a fist fight between brothers, and I loved the Code Red. I thought the ending was a bit anti-climactic, but man what a performance by Dustin. It was all bleeding, selling and emotion. It is up there with some of the best last ride, old man matches I have ever seen, and last ride old man matches are some of my favorite types.

Young Bucks vs. Lucha Brothers

PAS: Pretty much what you would expect, there were a couple of nice storyline moments, with the Bucks being a little rusty due to their long layoff, and the very end of the match with the work on Matt's arm. Still most of the match was running through a million headdrop finishers for 2.9 counts. Fenix had a couple of amazing moments of high flying, including a rope trick on both Bucks which looked great. But this was everything turned up to 10, and my eyes eventually just glassed over with the nearfalls. This kind of match is clearly going to be a showcase for this promotion, and I think it will keep me from really investing in it.

Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho

PAS: I wasn't coming into this match expecting to like it, and ended up kind of loving it. Omega is pretty much a poster boy for maximalist wrestling, but this was a match built around two guys stiffing each other with shots to the face and head. There were a couple of big spots which were done really well and sold really well, the double stomp with the table was kidney mushing, and I liked the surprise of Omega getting backdropped through the table. I loved how Jericho took all of his normally loose 2000s offense and made it eye socket crunching, those code breakers looked like they were going to shove Omega's cheekbone through his teeth. The broken nose really added to the match too, and Omega sold the shots like Gerald McClellan, it felt like we were watching him get beaten to death in the ring. Really liked the back elbow KO finish too, great performance by both guys, and one of the most surprising matches in years.

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Shaolin Warrior Wrestling Worth Watching

CIMA/Gao Jinjai vs. T-Hawk/Scorpio X2 Dragon Gate 5/4/18

CIMA went over to China to train Shaolin Martial Artists how to wrestle, he brought a couple of his trainees to a Dragon Gate show, and it was really fun to watch rookies break out some truly nutso moves. Gao Jinjai especially was bonkers, he used CIMA's back to springboard into a 450, he hit a 720 splash, and especially impressive he did a spot where he leaped from the floor to the ring apron and in one motion leaped over the top rope into a double stomp, it was one of the most impressive athletic spots I can ever remember seeing, truly breathtaking.  Scorpio X2 is clearly a crazy athlete too, and he hit a perfect Space Flying Tiger Drop. I actually think this would have made a list with a more impressive rudo performance, but the T-Hawk and CIMA sections were pretty mailed in. I still don't care about regular DG, but I am all in to check out more crazy Shaolin Monks.

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SEGUNDA CAIDA DECLARES WAR!!! 7/13/00

ER: Hayabusa passed away and it's terrible. I'm sure all of us have similar stories about the first time we saw a Hayabusa match. I started tape trading in high school, and naturally the first things I traded for were death match compilations. I just had to know. I have no clue what I was expecting to see, or if I would be mentally scarred after seeing whatever was on these tapes, but I had to know. We all had to know. I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I imagine that 90% of people that got into tape trading had a first trade that included matches from either Sabu, Cactus Jack, or Hayabusa. The first tape I traded for smelled like weed when I took it out of the box. I didn't even know what weed smelled like then but I opened up the box and thought "this is definitely what weed smells like". The tape had Pogo twisting a scythe into a guy's head for 20 minutes, the fire tag match where the ropes go up like styrofoam, matches worked without a ring, Cactus bleeding a lot, and then this crazy satin clad ninja doing ridiculous flips that I had never seen before. The death matches didn't do a whole lot for me, but I certainly wanted more Hayabusa. Hayabusa ended up being a pretty terrific gateway drug into Japanese wrestling for me, and I don't think I was alone in that. R.I.P. you crazy ninja.

1. Nobukazu Hirai vs. Osamu Tachihikari

ER: This wasn't bad. Decent little match. Hirai was a guy I really liked around this time. He always had nice stomps and stiff shoulderblocks and clotheslines. Tachihikari was a meaty Tenryu trainee who got beat really quickly by Gary Goodridge at an early Pride show. Hirai looks really good here, Tachihikari not so much.

2. TARU vs. Stalker Ichikawa

ER: This actually got a lot of time (12 minutes) but that was because apparently Stalker's layered brand of comedy needs a bunch of time to flesh itself out. He's a guy I would probably like a lot if he dialed down the comedy in every single spot. He bumps huge - there was a table spot where he was to do an Asai moonsault through TARU/table and "accidentally" flubs the spot, instead crashing and burning off the apron - and does some nutso spots, like his slingshot senton to the floor. Also dug his moonwalk rope walk. But you gotta take the comedy with it. That's the rub. TARU is always fine in things, and he was fine here. I am not a cold, heartless man. I love a good laugh. I have enjoyed a good laugh while watching a wrestling match. But sometimes I just want some wrestling. If I wanted funny I'd borrow one of Phil's Dave Barry novels.

3. Shoji Nakamaki vs. Mitsunobu Kikuzawa

ER: It's weird seeing Ebessan when he was just a short chubby garbage match worker wearing baggy jorts and bleeding. I liked Nakamaki here as he works real stiff with Kikuzawa and came off way more like an IWA Mid-South guy than a WAR guy, smacking Kikuzawa in the chin with the end of a chair and locking on a real snug STF. Match wasn't much but made me want to go back and watch more Nakamaki.

4. Shinobu Kandori & Keiko Aono vs. Harley Saito & Noriyo Tateno

ER: This was pretty clippy so kinda hard to gauge how good the match actually was. Being a pretty big joshi novice didn't help things. I really liked Harley in this and wish she matched up more with Kandori. Harley threw all sorts of nice spin kicks and had some cool roll-ups. I'm not too familiar with Aono and it's been awhile since I watched a Jumping Bomb Angels match but Tateno seemed fine.

5. Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Tomohiro Ishii

ER: Mochizuki was one of my favorites during this era and he's just a relentless monster during this match, kicking the snot out of Ishii with all sorts of big time front kicks and yakuza kicks and missile dropkicks and flashy flippy kicks. It's pretty one-sided until Ishii gets fed up after getting clotheslined right in the face and blasts Mochizuki in the face with a slap and then levels him with a clothesline of his own. Ishii also takes a couple of big time bumps, taking a DDT on the apron and also taking a suplex from the ring to the floor which Mochizuki turns into a Falcon Arrow from the apron to the floor. Nuts. I had no idea Ishii was even wrestling this early but he looked good here. Real fun match. Both guys dished a nasty beating on the other with Mochizuki's kicking offense holding up great.

PAS: I enjoyed this much more then your current Ishii meta stiff fests. This was plenty stiff, but it was an actually back and forth match with no weird sections where both guys stand there and prove wrestling is fake. Because this doesn't have any of that, the big shots by both guys meant a bunch more. Mochizuki has a bunch of fun ways to kick you, I love his axe kick and jumping knee to the back to Ishii's head, I also loved Ishii's giant slap, looked like it popped Mochizuki's ear drum, and he sold it like it completely dazed him. Really fun, makes me want to watch more Mochizuki.

6. SUWA/CIMA/Sumo Fuji vs. Dragon Kid/SAITO/Genki Horiguchi

ER: Oh man did I seek these kind of matches out in the year 2000. Toryumon/Dragon Gate 6 mans, all those east coast indy 6 mans, all that stuff. Loved spotty 6 mans. I still love spotty 6 mans. This was not a great, or even very good spotty 6 man, but it had value. I'm pretty sure anything with SUWA in it could never be classified as bad. The face team is pretty weak as Dragon Kid had one of his off nights which meant a bunch of twisting headscissors and roll-ups that get flubbed amidst a bunch of spinning. I remember liking Horiguchi more back then, but he looked pretty lousy here and was only really fun when SUWA was kneeing him in the face. SAITO looked best of the bunch, but even then he wasn't as good as any of the rudos. Team Crazy MAX was just as good as I remembered, with SUWA being the clear best (although he and CIMA were perhaps a bit too generous bumping big for wimpy Horiguchi dropkicks), and Fuji being one of the more underrated guys of the late 90s/early 00s. Not one of the higher end versions of this match-up, but seeing SUWA do his thing is always a treat. He had one of the best flying clotheslines I've ever seen (comparable only to Ikeda's), just leveling Horiguchi. Add in all his great elbow drop variations and his refusal to let others' blown spots derail things, and the guy is just awesome.

7. Koki Kitahara vs. Nobutaka Araya

ER: Araya looks like such a skuzz bucket here, with his greasy shag and patchy goatee, karate pants he must have washed with a red shirt, and what appear to be cigar burns on his arms. He also seems loaded. And this match is completely great. There's a real feeling of disrespect that runs throughout, and though it never delves into uncooperation it's always right there, lurking. They spill to the floor early and toss each other through chairs, with Araya choking a ring boy who tries to intervene. Back in the ring and Kitahara boots Araya in the forehead a lot, with Araya laughing like a tubby drunk dude while it's happening. The story of the match is basically two meaty guys who would make me cry with any of the offense done in this match. At some point the match structure kinda breaks down and it becomes more two big guys trying to hit each other as hard as possible while still retaining some sort of worked atmosphere. Kitahara finishes it with a nasty armbar and man I wish I spoke Japanese just to hear what he said to Araya after letting go of said armbar and heel kicking him to the head while walking away. The disgusted glare Kitahara shoots him is something I know I wouldn't want to be on the other end of. This was incredible.

Post show during a press conference Araya has some nice purple bruises on his forehead from all the yakuza kicks. Awesome.

8. Genichiro Tenryu vs. Hayabusa

ER: This is pretty much exactly what you would think this match would be like when seeing it on paper. Tenryu chops Hayabusa's chest raw and hits tons of awesome falling clotheslines (one of my absolute favorite clotheslines in wrestling) and Hayabusa throws in flying when he can. His stuff was pretty on as he hits a beautiful 450, nice springboard spinning heel kick and some nice dives. Tenryu is the man though, and has the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand. Every time one of Hayabusa's shots would land a little lighter than they should have, the whole crowd started buzzing because they know Tenryu will be coming back harder. Hayabusa mans up and leans way into every clothesline, the match doesn't overstay its welcome, and Tenryu busts out the lumpy 50 year old man tope. What more would you want? This was two guys who at very different points in my wrestling fandom, were my favorite wrestler.

PAS: I thought this was a great Tenryu performance and a pretty mediocre Hayabusa one. You really want Busa to break out a bunch of crazy highspots, but instead he mostly tries to go toe to toe with Tenryu, and that isn't his game. Tenryu does a nice job of putting over Hayabusa's shots and of course unloads in return. Loved the crazy tope by Tenryu and he will crack someone in the mouth. Still this was a bit underwhelming, I kind of expected this to be a big deal, and it wasn't as frenzied as your normal Tenryu main event.

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My Favorite Wrestling! WCW Worldwide 11/9/97

1. Mark Starr vs. Goldberg

Wow, the fans are booing Goldberg as he comes out. Old ladies are giving him the thumbs down. That means that they were giving Mark Starr the thumbs up right before this. How bizarre is that taken out of context? Look into the future just a couple months and see where Goldberg is. But here he is on Worldwide getting booed by old ladies. The match isn't much but it's really fun seeing a huge era in its infancy, maybe the last time that WCW got something right. You can tell that they knew what they were doing here. They couldn't have known just how big he was going to be, but it's really satisfying knowing that they at least had a plan and were seeing it through. Brain and Tony were talking big things for Goldberg the whole match, saying how he was gonna win WW3 and fight for the title. He was already using the "Who's Next?" catchphrase after the match. They were already putting over the spear and jackhammer finish. Goldberg has a nice powerslam here, and shows some major power by deadlifting Starr a couple times...and also awkwardly stands around for large amounts of time, just waiting for...stuff to happen. But again, it's really fun to see such a major part of wrestling history in its infancy.

2. Mike Rapada vs. Scott Hall

Damn, it's kind of crazy that guys like Hall were still appearing on Worldwide at this point (and in the 2nd match of the show!). I'd bet serious money that nobody anywhere near as big as Hall appeared on Worldwide from '98 to the end. And by the way this squash was really fun. Rapada got absolutely zero offense, but bumped HUGE for Hall, and Hall and Syxx stiffed the bejesus out of him. Hall threw some of the nastiest punches of his career, threw a corner clothesline so stiff that Tony and Bobby couldn't stop talking about it, Syxx cheated constantly and played it up to the crowd great (punching Rapada and then blowing on his fist, elbowing him on the apron and then hamming it up by shaking out his elbow). This is what a jobber squash should be.

3. Scott & Steve Armstrong vs. Harlem Heat

It's been kind of eye opening how bad Harlem Heat were in retrospect. It's no revelation that Stevie Ray looks bad in the ring, but I had really fond views on Booker before starting this. I remembered the Benoit matches, the Saturn and Martel matches, and generally liked his WWE run. But boy has he looked pretty lousy upon rewatch. I don't think I could name 5 sloppier guys in the promotion. He must have just had a really great Jan/Feb '98 and that's where my brain froze. All that being said, the match was alright. HH looked bleh, but they worked stiff so it kind of made up for it. Armstrongs are always game but really they weren't given tons here.

4. Shiima Nobunaga/Sumo Fuji vs. Meng/Barbarian

Well this was fun. The FoF squash the Toryumon boys for 4+ minutes, and while they no sold their offense the whole way through, they still allowed the boys do at least do stuff. CIMA hits a bunch of slick dropkicks, Fuji gets to actually work shoulder block sequences with Barbarian (and holds his own!) and the FoF throw tons of big boots to the face, big chops and big slams.

5. Renegade vs. Steve McMichael

Yeah, yeah. You see those two names up there and you know it's not going to be very good, right? Renegade walks out first and you go "Oh. Renegade is in the main event. Huh." And then Mongo comes out and you just kinda know what you're in for. And you know? It wasn't very good. But really this wasn't *that* bad. This was probably the best match these two are capable of, and that has to be worth something. It's almost 5 minutes, and the main thing that stood out to me was that they didn't rest at all. No chin locks. I've gotten so used to 4 minute WWE matches that no matter what have to include a chinlock transition to comeback, that it was kind of jarring seeing two big guys work a 5 minute sprint. Yeah, some of the moves didn't look good. Renegade looks like he couldn't punch through paper. But for what it was, an actual fast paced match between a couple of lugs, this worked for me.

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