Kakuto Tanteidan: We Are Fighting Detectives 10/12/23

Hideki Suzuki vs. Yu Iizuka

PAS: Iizuka is young GLEAT UWFI guy whose nickname is Volk Kid, that is sort of like Harold Miner calling himself Baby Jordan or Gary Trent being nicknamed Shaq of the MAC, you are never going to live up to that and shouldn't make the comparison. Still Miner and Trent could both ball, and Iizuka can go a bit on the mat. Suzuki is a venerated veteran and after his ill-fated and truly bizarre NXT run (he is up there with Brazo de Plata and Meiko Satomura as some of the odder people to get a WWE run) has been one of the most dependable wrestlers in Japan. This really had the feel of some of the under the radar killer FU-TEN and Battlarts openers. Iizuka is more of an offensive wrestler, flashily spinning into cool submissions, including a great triangle choke. Meanwhile Suzuki is a grinder, he pressed his weight into Iizuka trying to make him feel force the entire match, until he maneuvered him into side control, flattened him out and just put him down with hammer and anvil elbows. Great example of exuberance of youth getting played by a old master. Suzuki doesn't have the charisma of Fujiwara but that felt like a very Fujiwarish performance.

TKG: This didn't really vibe with me. Suzuki starts with an insanely stiff dropkick. I don't know how many times I rewound the drop kick Suzuki works this match like a big bruiser: In theory this is guy with a ton of technique working a guy who outmatches him in strength. But it never really worked for me. They stayed in subs way to long and I never bought the idea that IIzuka dominating with his finesse, or that Suzuki was ever in danger. Suzuki did look like a hoss.


Hikaru Sato/Brother YASSHI vs. Ikuto Hidaka/Thanomsak Toba

TKG: I haven’t seen any of these guy’s in ages. Hidaka has aged facially into looking like Wings era Paul Mcartney but hasn’t slowed down a bit. In Memphis , you’d put him in a mask and push him as new challenger. Toba has aged into looking like not so much a boxer as a British Music Hall performer working as a boxer in Punch and Judy panto. Real Benny Hill vibes that I enjoyed, Brother Yasshi has gone from guy in dreads who listens to Vybez Kartel to a guy with dreads who listens to Buffet ( may his memory be a blessing). He unfortunately also works like a Parrothead. I don’t remember Sato being this level of goofy goon. Just goonish selling and work and really selling idea that he was overwhelmed and out of his element. Like Tully with Luger and when he was in this it was really fun.

PAS: Toba was a total beast in this, throwing not only straight punches, but hooks and uppercuts, the spot of the match was Toba dropping Sato with a check hook, or it might have been YASSHI throwing coconut headbutts and Toba responding with heavy punches. I liked the Sato vs. Hidaka sections too, fast tricky exchanges with enough violence to be appropriate, Hidaka's shots were more speed then force, but the speed looked good, and Sato maneuvering into the armbard was pretty sick. Battlarts would have this killer undercard tags, and this was in that spirit.


Super Tiger vs. Keita Yano

TKG:Super Tiger and Keita Yano are both guys who had worked actual Battlarts. Was a point where felt Super Tiger was only good there. Yano I didn’t much care for in Battlarts but has become a guy I like outside of it. This was Yano as guy who can absolutely control Tiger with wrestling for whole match while Super Tiger is guy who can hit a kick or sub to end it at any moment. I dug this more than the opener for guy controlling match but not able to close vs bigger stronger opponent. It’s weird to have 2 of those on the undercard so close. Super Tiger isn’t as charismatic or impressive as Suzuki, But I bought into this one, bought Yano’s ability to turn Tiger upside down and twist up…and loved the real taunting and fucking with Tiger. The reckless back scratch that made Super Tiger lose his composure and step up his aggression was neat point where you knew Super Tiger wanted to end it now.

PAS: I think I liked this a little less then Tom, I thought there was some good looking stuff, I loved the Yano roll into the LaBell lock, and some of his other arm control, but thought other stuff by both guys didn't look as good. Super Tiger is really hit or miss, some of his kicks looked good and others wiffed, and I really want a KO kick on a show with Daisuke Ikeda, Toba and that main event to look way nastier. 


Daisuke Ikeda/Minoru Fujita vs. Daisuke Sekimoto/Yuki Ishikawa

TKG: Is this the biggest hottest crowd Ishikawa and Ikeda have worked their match in. Fujita/Hidaka once was an exciting pairing and I think Sekimoto had adjusted to this style in the past. But this started Fujita and Sekimoto really working like they were the local indy guys in a Santo/N8 Mattison v Blue Panther/Conrad Kennedy III match in Flint; with Fujita and Sekimoto just working a match independently of what else going on-like they didn’t get it. I dug the early everyone simmering part of match and then Sekimoto/Fujita ran their spots and I wish someone could have picked Usuda and Ono up from the reteirement village. Ikeda and Sekimoto hit double headbut that knocked both to ground and where it looked like Sekimoto might have lost a tooth. It super picked from there and was amazing when it was cooking.

For your old guy brawlers to have a transcendent match; they have to either do Black Terry v Mr Condor Zona 23, or the 2018 Fugofugo Yumeji/Buki v. Ishikawa/Joeta. Either “two guys laying a hellacious beating where in end it changes neither of them and they will continue beating on each other forever cause this is what they do” or “two guys engage in such a helacious beating that you think they will be changed forever,,,will never fully recover”. This wasn’t either of those but there were so many moments that teased they were going to reach transcendence. The point where Ikeda is chopping the top of Ishikawa’s head and Ishikawa ansers with punches to eye and temple, there is what almost felt like an enziguri to knee that ends up being a trip into submission ,,,,and both of these guys are so great at selling that they could make me buy Scott Putski Jr axehandle as taking something out of them. And the finish felt totally credible. Clearly not criticizing a match for not being transcendent,,,I’m praising it for these mother fuckers are still able to tease that it could be.

MD:This worked for my sense of anticipation, at least. I wanted Ishikawa vs Ikeda in this setting in front of this crowd for this moment and they did a good job delaying it for most of the match until they paired up for the finishing stretch. That included heat, of sorts, on Sekimoto, with Ikeda more than happy to rush across the ring when he wasn't legal to pepper shots in on him or knock Ishikawa off the apron. Fujita and Sekimoto built to throws, cutoffs, and counters, before they decided to pay things off for the crowd with Ishikawa and Ikeda. Even then, things didn't really boil over though. More than that, it felt like watching two great old chess masters do their thing at a table in a city park. The stakes weren't there. Glory had passed them. But they were masters and familiar with one another. You just happened to be there for their weekly routine. In this case, the routine was two guys pushing each other to their physical, technical limit and punching one another in the face. But overall, same idea. Ishikawa had a clear advantage and it was just a case of Sekimoto German Suplexing an interfering Fujita enough times for him to really press it.

PAS: Really awesome Ishikawa performance, he has a bad back and can't even stand up straight, but can still throw brutal straight hands and grapple like a master. Every time he was in the ring he elevated the match, the Fujita and Sekimoto against each other parts didn't do a ton for me, but Ishikawa taking Fujita down to the mat to stretch him ruled. Ikeda is more limited at this point of his career, the recent Ikeda stuff will have moments, but he isn't going full force like he did even pre-pandemic in WXW, still you could see the glances, and his selling is still tremendous. This felt a little like late era Dundee and Lawler stuff, where it was mindblowing like it was in their prime, but you could still see the shades and shadows of brilliance. 

Fuminori Abe vs. Takuya Nomura

PAS: This promotion was a joint production by these two tag team partners and close friends, and they matched up in the main event in an attempt to do justice to what came before. Abe started the match with a bit of clowning, mugging and shit talking, biting Norma in the armpit to break a submission hold, using some hand feints to land a hard slap, and even giving Norma an oil check in the rear to counter a knee bar. Ikeda would do this sort of thing in the classic BattlArts days as a way to rile his opponent up. Nomura was much more serious and responded to the clowning with brutal kicks and slaps. Fun times ended pretty quickly after that as they exchanged cringy clunking headbutts. It was harrowing violence going forward, hard punches to the forehead, kicks to the spine and headbutts so nasty that they eventually split Abe open. Abe has these cool chopping overhand punches which look like Harley Race when he was trying to split someone’s eyebrow. Normura hit some really big suplexes near the end of the match as Abe was fading and it looked like he going to be counted out, until he caught a Nomura high kick and turned into a ankle lock, and then an ankle lock german suplex. He then put on an octopus stretch, which Normua countered into a single leg crab. Abe then faked grabbing a rope break and instead rolled it into a kneebar which he cranked for the tap. Very cool counter wrestling. This didn’t have the mat wrestling mastery of a high end BattlArts era Ishikawa or Carl Greco singles match, or the brain smashi`        ng suplexes of Otuska, and while it was sickly stiff, I am not sure if they got all the way to Ikeda. So this topped out at the level of a high end Katsumi Usuda match, which in 2023 still puts it right up there with the best stuff anywhere in the world. Let’s hope this is a semi-regular thing, because this style hasn’t really had a home since FU-TEN folded in 2015, and I just love this stuff.

TKG: I at this point peripherally follow US wrestling and stick with low end lucha gym show, so this is my first experience with these two. And dude, this is a great introduction. I’m assuming that Nomura is the
Jackie Fargo Incomparable Kid to Abe’s Wild Roughouse Fargo. Abe is super super charismatic as crazy
Roughouse never-say die hardheaded fighter. And I enjoy all the Dennis Condrey forgets not to hit
Burrhead Jones in the head spots…I don’t know anything about Japanese racial caste so I can claim
ignorance of the if there are any of the ugly implications of those spots, but great spots. I think my
favorite Abe section was the thing where he used a dragon screw to transition to offense, celebrates
the dragon screw with big arm flourish and then realizes that he can’t feel his mouth and eyes cross and
uncross as he drools all over himself over the beating he just ate. I’m so used to insane never say die guy
being matched up against a guy going “what is it going to take to put him away” or “ how have I become
so violent” that refreshing not to see that. Nomura is a guy on his own journey There are lots of neat
moments where Nomura is slow to answer Abe’s strikes; forces himself to eat a bunch of strikes before
he can throw out one answer, moments where he can’t muster any strength behind his strikes and so
just throws weak ones and keeps on measuring for the eventual big make or miss haymaker, He does a
bunch of Dustin style flying away for distance selling and one of my favorite things he does is all of his
walking around ring , recovering in corner during count outs and 10 counts. When I say a guy with his
own journey, I would actively enjoy “ A How To with John Wilson” edit of this match, where never get to
see the fighting parts..just Nomura’s walkabout as he contemplates life. Ending had a lot of nearfalls,
but I bought all of them and the actual finish felt 100 % like a finish.

MD: Abe's energy in this match was off the charts. I'm not going to say the guy was living his best life here because he ended up split open at the top of his head in a way that you figured his flesh might just fall off of him at any moment, just torn in two, but talk about a guy who can capture every moment. Nomura wrestled his best match, the perfect straight man who was going to drive forward at every point and give absolutely no quarter. The few times he popped up from a shot or a throw, you believed it. This guy was just a consumed engine of destruction, kicking and stomping and wrenching like he could somehow stamp the very notion of indignity itself out of the world through force alone.

Abe brought the color though, literally and figuratively, his expressiveness drawing the viewer in, at times making you want to see his comeuppance and increasingly down the stretch, making you root for him in spite of increasingly dire odds. You end up grinning along with him to start and then wincing along with him with every headbutt, elbow, knee, and kick. When it became apparent just how badly he was opened up, the camera caught his expression and it was a real "You'll never believe how I got into this one" look. From there, even as he threw strikes and struck out with increasingly unlikely throws, it felt like he was racing time, racing the rate of his own bloodloss and with an opponent like Nomura running the race with him, he was sure to lose. That's what made the last hold all the more gripping. Abe was hanging on for dear life; nothing less would have worked. It was an admirable performance by Nomura, but a timeless one from Abe.

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GLEAT Experimental Match Series 1

Mitsuya Nagai vs. Soma Watanabe 12/3/20

ER: This is UWFI rules, and very one-sided, as the 52 (!) year old Nagai keeps forcing rope breaks to chip away at Watanabe's points. Nagai is aggressive and goes for takedowns that end in immediate submission attempts, forcing Watanabe to get to the ropes on a kneebar and again on a can opener, and other times just pressing his forearm into Watanabe's throat. Nagai lands a couple of hard right kicks that Watanabe takes on his ribs and arm, technically blocked but definitely absorbing them. When Watanabe is on his final point he goes for broke, throws open hand strikes and a solebutt that drops Nagai, then deadlifts Nagai with a nice back suplex. Nagai decided to not leave any more openings after that, getting up and literally dragging Watanabe to the mat with a guillotine. 

Yutaka Yoshie vs. Takanori Ito 12/10/20

ER: This is a series really made for Segunda Caida, where a Japanese fed brings back cool old guys who were the guys we liked back when we were still tape traders, and having them maul newer shootstyle guys. That's a great formula! I watched Japanese wrestling more than anything else from 2001-2006, and those days seem like an eternity ago. This was not UWFI rules like a lot of matches in this series, it's a pro style match, and it really showcases a 46 year old Yoshie as an incredibly tough guy with a crazy gas tank. He hasn't lost a step since I was last regularly watching him 15 years ago, it's amazing. His belly hangs lower, but the speed and agility are there, and I honestly don't know if there's a current wrestler whose offense lands harder. This match was 13 minutes, and I don't know if Ito was in control of more than 1 of those minutes. Yoshie starts attacking Ito's knee, locking in painful crabs and a legbar, landing full weight on a splash, kicking the leg in the ropes, and then he just moves into overall CRUSH mode. 

Ito occasionally gets a front kick to the face - a couple very nice ones - but Yoshi mostly brick walls them and lands some other devastating shots. Yoshie's elbowdrop has to be the best elbowdrop in wrestling right now, his Thesz press is great, his right hand is great, he's a more interesting elbow exchange striker than most modern Japanese wrestlers, and he DESTROYS Ito with the most organ crushing senton I've ever seen. Kaz Hayashi can't stop laughing on commentary after Yoshie lands the heaviest possible senton, just cry laughing at a flattened man. For the finish Yoshie absolutely flattens Ito further with a top rope splash that looked like someone pushed a recliner off a roof. Yutaka Yoshie is the asskicker pro wrestling needs. Too bad we never got Yoshie/Finlay. 

Kaz Hayashi/Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Takanori Ito/Soma Watanabe 12/17/20

ER: These veteran mauler matches are a great idea, but a much less interesting idea when the veteran is Daisuke Sekimoto. He can be a real boring control guy, and I thought his parts of this dragged on for too much of the match. Hayashi is still tremendous at 47, one of the most gifted juniors ever. He moves with really similar mechanics as Muta, only works at Burst of Energy Muta speed the whole time. The energy Muta puts into the corkscrew elbow, is the energy Kaz Hayashi puts into everything. Jamie Noble might be the closest American comparison, and that is the kind of style that will age well. Sekimoto has a couple of cool things, like a painful backbreaker, but a lot of this is him working more like Nikolai Volkoff than the brutalizing heavyweight offense that Yoshie filled way more time with the week before. 

The Wrestle-1 guys were much more interesting than Sekimoto in this. Hayashi had a couple cool fast juniors exchanges with Watanabe, with a great headscissors and some quick rope work. Kaz even breaks out some cool wrist control matwork on him, and his work with Ito is good too. Sekimoto and Ito aren't a great match, giving us some middling forearm exchanges, and Ito is 0-for-2 in this series when it comes to missing high on his KO high kick. His spinning heel kick lands with the best force of Minoru Tanaka's similar kick, but his KO kicks that are supposed to put the exclamation point on the end of a combo have been sequence killers. But there was definitely some gold here, like Hayashi running across the ring to elbow smash Ito far off the apron, Ito hitting an awesome fallaway slam on Sekimoto, and the pulverizing lariat that Sekimoto laid into Ito. Definitely not a miss of a match, but my least favorite of Series 1. 

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Matches From ICW New York Respect The Game 7/27/19

This show popped up on IndependentWrestling.TV and has some real on paper bangers, figured why not cherry pick our way through.

54. Nick Gage vs. Dan Maff

PAS: Really not the match you would expect for these two guys on paper, and I think the difference really helped it stand out. Gage jumps Maff before the bell and hits the chokebreaker. Gage immediately rolls to the floor clutching his knee, and starts getting helped to the back. Gage turns around and limps back to the ring and demands the match start. Maff doesn't even hit him back for the first couple of shots, but is eventually convinced to fight, and ends up working over Gage's knee while he fought through the injury. I loved how they built to Gage getting desperate enough to try the choke breaker again, and Maff's barbed wire board bump was nasty. This was much more compelling than the Gage by numbers match, and he makes a surprisingly compelling underdog.

ER: Gage is like Marko Stunt for me in a way, in that I usually don't enjoy their matches, but they both have an undeniable live charisma that can add to their matches. I'm usually a kind of low vote on them, but I know they have tools that can be used in a match I really like, and this was a great instance of that. Give me and interesting story like this any day over sitting in chairs and trading shots. Phil went over what happened, Gage immediately injures his knee by making the insanely stupid decision to drop 300 pounds on his own knee. You get the gutsy return, you get Maff not wanting the fight this way, and you get Maff goaded into beating the hell out of him. Once Maff starts off his flurry by locking in a figure 4, I was in. "You wanna hit me? I'm gonna wreck your leg." You have Maff alternately working dangerous cannonballs and hitting a flat out tremendous dive, and then he's working World of Sport tumbling stump pullers. Big fat guy working cannonballs, dives, and Regal legwork? Hell yeah sign me up. They work some cool sequences are the guardrail , and their apron work was cool too. I liked that we didn't build to a big dumb apron bump, instead just Maff hitting at Gage's knee causing him to collapse on the apron. The eventual Gage comeback is really good and appropriate, as the piledriver was a big moment and Maff flying through the barbed wire board was our first big bump, and gave us the cool visual of Maff covered in wire and screaming like on the cover of Evil Dead. Gage's run was logical as hell, including a logical reason to illogically use the chokebreaker again. The fact it lead directly to Maff hitting that brutal cannonball stunner through another board was perfect. The layout of this was really fantastic, played to the strengths of both and gave us a cool look at something different from Gage. Maff is 45 and looked as great as I've seen him look. This is my favorite Gage match of the year, and now I want to see even more old man Maff.

Joe Gacy vs. Tony Deppen vs. Jimmy Lloyd vs. Facade

ER: This was kept under 10 minutes and worked brisk, but - and this seems like something one of us has typed dozens of times - would have been much more interesting as two singles matches with literally any combo of the 4 guys here. Jimmy Lloyd isn't really as suited to these multiman matches, but a singles against any of the other three could have been cool. Gacy vs. Lloyd, Gacy vs. Deppen, whatever, it would have been more interesting. But there's still plenty of fun on display here, it just has that multiman thing where guys are always inching a couple feet over to be in the right position, or looking over their shoulder to make sure somebody is springing off the ropes for some tandem horseshit. The kind of "we're performing an act" that is concealed easier in singles matches that don't have so many moving parts. Gacy was a guy trying to actively combat that, and that made his performance stand out the most. There was a moment where he was about to DDT Lloyd, while Facade was setting up something off the top that would hit Gacy, while causing Gacy to DDT Lloyd. Well Facade lost his footing, Gacy saw that and immediately improvised and tried to hoist Lloyd up for a waistband assisted Hashimoto-style DDT, buying Facade some time until the spot came off. I love those moments of professionalism. Deppen hits what appeared to be the longest dive in history, but we missed half of it due to camera angle. Facade hits a big flip dive that doesn't get caught by anyone, and we get one of those dumb spots where all 4 guys are standing in a circle swaying in the breeze taking turns hitting each other; typical multiman stuff. But Lloyd has a couple of cool bumps (I really liked him spiking himself vertically on a DDT), Gacy looks good throughout, Deppen is a guy I like a ton more after seeing him at SCI, and Facade is at least someone willing to try things. I thought this would be better, and it wasn't, but it won't negatively affect my opinion on anyone here.

Homicide vs. Chris Dickinson

PAS: This was a pass the torch match for NYC indie wrestling and was really worked like that. They start out with some mat wrestling and escalate into so real hard hitting stuff. Homicide was really working hard, taking some nasty bumps on a guardrail, some sharp kicks, and a german where he landed right on the top of his head. I liked how as the match went on, Homicide got dirtier and dirtier, clawing the eyes and fishooking, like if he was going to lose his crown as King of New York, he was going down throwing it all out. Good stuff and a nice kicker to the Dickinson challenge series gimmick he had been running on IWTV.

ER: Passing the torch is a good way of describing this match. Homicide is in his early 40s and has been through some wild battles, and understandably doesn't quite have that fire that Dickinson has burning in his eyes any more. But that doesn't mean he's an old sack of meat thrown in the garbage! I don't think these kind of nearing 20 minute close pinfall matches are really his bag at this point, though he's clearly a guy I still enjoy and love seeing. I am always going to like older, slower, more vulnerable versions of the wrestlers who I loved, and here's Homicide getting thrown tailbone first on a guardrail and ripping at Dickinson's face. The fishooking spot was so good, I was waiting for Homicide to pull a fork out of his shorts to stab Dickinson in the cheek. I also liked some of Homicide's reversals, especially catching Dickinson's lariat off the middle buckle and turning it into a Fujiwara. Dickinson is a guy who I've been real over the top for the past few years, and I dug the early mat takedowns so much that I was kinda hoping the whole match would be like that. Homicide is shaped exactly like Ian when Ian was in his "peak" condition during his MethBatt years. Homicide could have a whole second life as CatchPoint Ian. Dickinson hits those hard corner clotheslines, a big German that tosses Homicide all the way over onto his knees, the pazuzu bomb looks killer, and to lift right up into a piledriver is always going to be my bag.

25. Eddie Kingston vs. Daisuke Sekimoto

ER: What a fun and weird main event, taking an Eddie Kingston main event and the veering into oddball 70s kung fu comedy in a delightful way. We get a huge part of match devoted to chopping chest, and peaks with an awesome ring high camera shot of Kingston on his back, sitting up towards the camera right into chops, both guys filling the camera shot perfectly, Kingston making these anguished pained but almost Don Knotts faces in he best way, Kingston doing these tough no hands sit ups into getting the breath taken away by a heavy chop, eventually tiring and just getting pulled up by Sekimoto into more chops. Soon Sekimoto is throwing 12 to 6 chops while Kingston is on his back kicking his legs. This segment stood out so much from these type of chest thumping matches. It's the kind of thing that feels like it could only happen in an Eddie Kingston match these days, but seems like it owes itself to 80s feelgood house show matches. Kingston makes this kind of thing work and I'm not sure who else can or will be able to if Kingston leaves. I loved when he would get overwhelmed with chops and go in with knees, and worked simple but well done things like a good neckbreaker. His chops right to Sekimoto's neck looked like they would change my posture, and we still hadn't got to Sekimoto clotheslining the hell out of Kingston's arms on subsequent chops. Kingston works in some incredibly fun ways to get his fists blocked, and Sekimoto was swinging his inflated hulk arms as hard as he could was one of my favorites. I also loved the sudden death, Kingston being tenderized like veal and then put away instantly. Sekimoto softens him up with strikes, hits that big splash and plants the surrendered Kingston with a German. Also, I actually thought it was a cool touch that the commentators opted to not call the action. It could have come off cheesy to have them actually say they were going to not call the match, but I liked them stepping away to "let the match speak for itself". Fun as hell.

PAS: Kingston is pretty much the only guy I want to watch doing these kind of test of manliness matches. Sekimoto is here to beat on Kingston's chest and let him die dramatically. Eddie gets beaten down brutally, and we get a chance to watch him rage against the dying of the light. I have watched a ton of Eddie Kingston matches in the last year or so, and his chop sell where he starts to fire back but instead collapses, is one of my favorite bits of wrestling selling ever. He has so many interesting ways of conveying pain, and Sekimoto is a great ball of muscle to punish him. His moments of grace are pretty awesome, the backfist is a great stunning shot and he gets a couple of real believable near falls, before ultimately failing. No one is better at falling short then Eddie Kingston, he may be the best agony of defeat wrestler of all time.


2019 MOTY MASTER LIST

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Monday AIW - Sekimoto Takes Cleveland 7/25/19

Parker Pierce vs. CPA

PAS: CPA is one of the AIW acts that just doesn't connect with me. I appreciate his semitic chest hair, but I am not sure what his gimmick is, or what the point of his whole act is. He keeps throwing dropkicks, but he barely gets above Pierce's waist. I don't think the dropkicks are supposed to comedy spots but that is what they end up being. Pierce is a crowbar, so I enjoyed watching him potato CPA. He chops the hair off of his chest, mule kicks him in the mouth and nearly beheads him with a back lariat. I enjoy Pierce, would have rather seen him beat on a Bitcoin boy or someone else who can bump bigger.

Allie Kat vs. Super Oprah 

PAS: Super Oprah has some pretty questionable comedy spots, lots of forcing people to touch their tits and jamming faces into their crotch, but this was pretty stiff. Oprah was cracking Allie Kat with stiff butt shots and clotheslines, and Kat fought back. If you are going to have a creepy comedy match, it might as well have potatoes. I do kind of want to check out Super Oprah's Nigerian Nightmare style gimmick Papa Dingo.

40 Acres (PB Smooth/Tre Lamar) vs. Weird World 

PAS: These are a pair of super enjoyable wrestlers to watch, and they had a super enjoyable match. I loved Weird Body's offensive rush at the beginning, hitting Lamar with his bony fists and elbows, confusing him with fake dives and the Weird Ball, just being a puzzle that is hard to solve. Weird Body also took a huge thumping in this match, his odd frame makes ever bump he takes look especially violent, and I loved 40 Acres figuring out a counter for the "Terry Funk Ladder spot" by just superkicking Weird Body in the head. Worldwide came in with an injury, so he didn't do much, although I am a fan of the Baba Chop heavy hot tag.

Big Twan Tucker vs. Ethan Page

PAS: Twan Tucker continues to be one of the more entertaining guys on a roster full of super entertaining guys. He is really great at building to big moments, him getting hyped up when Page is punching him only to grab Page's fist and blitz on him was pretty great stuff. He also hit an awesome twisting side slam, and his somersault into a spear was a holy fuck finish. With the indies full of guys wanting to be Chuck Taylor or Davey Richards, I appreciate a guy trying to be Mark Henry. The meat of the match was a little weaker. There was a whole section where Page was trying to place Twan for a superplex and they couldn't really get it together, and Page was slapping his thigh like an especially enthusiastic square dancer. Still this was fun shit, and between the Manders match, MJF match and this one, Twan is on a roll. 

Mikey Montgomery vs. Eric Ryan vs. Eric Taylor vs. Lee Moriarty 

PAS: This was a four way which they have on every card pretty much, and was about in the middle. Your proto-Bitcoin Boys tried a bunch of stuff, some of which hit cool, and some which missed a bit. There were lots of spots where one Bitcoin Boy got thrown on the other which was cool. Moriarity is a guy they clearly are high on, who isn't really my cup of tea. Lots of really intricate "kick one guy so he suplexes a second guy" spots, and I feel like I can still see him working through the dance moves in his head. This is the first Ryan match I can remember seeing where he doesn't take some career shortening bump, he still hits hard and has fun intensity, so I was glad to see him give his body the night off.

Dr. Daniel C. Rockingham vs. Kikutaro 

PAS: I am well into my third decade of being unamused by Kikutaro matches. Comedy in wrestling is fine when it obeys the narrative rules of wrestling. Kikutaro and Dr. Dan exchanging soft chops as some sort of improv game showing how wrestling is stupid, sucks. I don't want to wade into Twitter wrestling drama, but when you take away emotional investment from wrestling it basically doesn't work. Wrestling as a wry wink is doomed.

Youthanazia vs. PME 

PAS: This was face vs face which is always going to be a bit wonkier then a traditional tag, especially because PME's traditional babyface tag team wrestling is their strength, you aren't really going to have a Ricky Morton section in a match with four Ricky Mortons. Still PME are just monumentally entertaining, and I am going to enjoy almost anything they do. Josh Prohibition is a fun pissed off old guy and I dug him getting flustered. A couple of the finishing spots didn't hit cleanly, but I liked the tricky almost heelish finish PME used, not sure if they work as a heel team if the eventually turn, but I am intrigued.

53. KTB vs. Daisuke Sekimoto

PAS: This is a match which totally delivered on what it promised. It is touring Godzilla vs. Backwoods Mothra (Methra?). I haven't always loved Sekimoto, but he has toned down his goofy no-selling and just leaned into being a ball of muscle who clocks people. I haven't seen a load of KTB singles, but he holds his own fine, trying to throw heat as hot as what is flying at him. There was one big German suplex no-sell which we didn't need, but otherwise it was pretty perfect for this kind of match. I loved the absolute violence which Sekimoto unloaded in the final run, nasty headbutt and a  back fist which was no spin all impact and I wouldn't have been shocked if KTB lost a couple of his less solid teeth

ER: I was into this, and then some time around the 8 minute mark it jumped up a level of intensity and never looked back. Once Sekimoto started really swinging for the fences and cutting low on every damn lariat, I was hooked. Every big thing looked big and landed hard. Sekimoto hits a backbreaker that looked like it should have broken either KTB or Sekimoto's own femur. We get big suplexes from both guys, a cool sequence ending in a nice KTB powerbomb, a killer nearfall off a KTB Asai moonsault, awesome KTB crossbody, all of it was great. The home stretch just kept getting hotter and I thought peaked all the way to the finish, even the German that KTB popped up from got paid off shortly after with Sekimoto hitting a delayed German that KTB was not going to get up from.  Sekimoto was a real bruiser here, all those chops and right hands to the forehead and of course those full damn force lariats, my god. This delivered on the on paper promise, and then some.

Rip City Shooters/Tim Donst vs. Matthew Justice/Dominic Garrini/Nick Gage

PAS: I really like this kind of six man tag where you bring a bunch of feuds together and let them battle it out. We get some really stiff in ring work to start this match before they spill to the outside and let loose with the chairs and doors. Loved Masarati Wes in this, total sneaky prick, who when he gets his comeuppance, really gets blasted. Reminds me of AWA Heenan. Lots of really sick chair shots and throws through doors, Garrini's short piledriver through the door to the floor was especially grody. Loved the Justice/Dom/Gage team breaking out Kaientai DX combos. Didn't think we needed a run in finish, although it heated up Gage vs. Zach Thomas and let Barkley steal a win. Good stuff, like a fun ECW main event.

ER: I liked this, felt like a hybrid ECW/NWA Wildside brawl, and it had several moments flirting with greatness while settling in as a fun brawl. Maserati Wes especially feels like a guy who would be a cult legend with a serious pain pill problem had he been an ECW original. I love the vibe he brings to these matches as (Phil said) a scuzzy Heenan, either working great from the floor as a second or throwing in tons of glue moments as an actual match participant. We kept getting background glimpses of Wes vs. Garrini - particularly one shot where Garrini just pops him in the mouth with a right - and the teases were good enough that I just wanted to see that singles match. We got some big dives to the floor and into the crowd, some of them from unexpected sources: You know Justice is going to do a big dive, but Garrini flies in with his "held onto the ropes too long" heavy flip dive that I dig, and Gage hits an awesome Necro style cannonball off the top into the crowd. We get a lot of chairshots (an absurd amount really, for a thing that people had basically been guilted into getting over well on a decade ago, it's an odd thing to nostalgically bring back), and Garrini takes a couple of harsh bumps because that's what he does. Bishop goes for a uranage slam through a chair but misses the chair entirely, which is fine because the slam itself looks painful enough on the mat...but then he picks Garrini right back up and sends him through that set up chair on attempt #2. I dug the Wes/Gage showdown, although with so many other guys in the match I wish they would have had someone standing by so Wes didn't kick out of a nasty snap dragon suplex and spine shortening DDT. I don't love the "we're sitting in chairs punching each other" stuff, and it didn't help that the strikes while sitting in chairs were the weakest strikes of the match. Some of the chair spots also got a little repetitive. I'd much rather have these guys beating each other with fists than a bunch of chairs. Still, I love the personalities involved here, and the night vision on the dives and some of the roving handheld camera really made this come off like a quality Fancam main event.


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2019 Ongoing MOTY List: Hama vs. Sekimoto

7. Ryoto Hama vs. Daisuke Sekimoto BJW 1/2

ER: BJW is clearly now where the big boys play, and Hama is the biggest boy in all the land. It's kind of shocking Hama hasn't become a very specific fetish at this point (you know, I'm not even going to Google it, I'm just going to assume he has), as I really don't understand how he exists. Some evenings my knees hurt just because I played sports and dicked around on a skateboard. I weigh 165. Hama is THREE of me on approximately the same frame. But I will never tire of seeing him smash and smoosh into guys, and Sekimoto post squishing might be the best possible use of his bug eyed face. Sekimoto attempts big crushing forearm blows to the chest, but Hama crushes Sekimoto like he's gonna do, standing on him, running into him with size, hitting his great rolling senton, falling straight on top of him when Sekimoto attempts to slam him, all the things you want to happen. You expect these to happen, so the real joy in Hama matches is when something of his gets reversed, or he reverses something by fat. It's always a big moment when Sekimoto is able to budge Hama, when he crashes into him with a lariat that would cave in a smaller man, or when he muscles him over into a cool hiptoss. And both guys have these big fat baby faces, and it adds to things like Sekimoto locking in a half crab, and we see Hama's chubby face in anguish, a big chubby baby who is breaking down because his mom forgot to pack a baggie of Cheerios and he's getting restless. Sekimoto is a glutton for this punishment by fat, and I flipped when Sekimoto came firing off the ropes with a lariat only to be met with the greatest Thesz press that Thesz himself couldn't have ever imagined, and follows up with a big splash off the ropes. When Hama goes up top for the Banzai Drop and gets caught, Sekimoto throws clubbing forearms at Hama's ample backside, and then GETS UP AND UNDER all of that...hangdown...gets right up in there and powerbombs him. Sekimoto lies on the mat after this, a vacant Rust Cohle stare burned into his eyes. "I've...seen things." Sekimoto continues merely outlasting Hama, eventually getting him over for a big suplex and a crushing lariat. I love how BJW typically keeps their big matches to 15 minutes, as something like this is just 15 minutes of squishy joy.

PAS: Hama has gotten so big, he was a fat guy when he started and he is seemingly 200 pounds heavier than a couple of years back. He looks like a McGuire twin at this point. He was always great at using his bulk and there is so much more bulk now. His Thesz press looks like an airplane flying into a cloud, Sekimoto just disappears underneath a cumulus of chub. Those sentons look so brutal, it felt like a car being smushed by a monster truck. I loved the powerbomb to counter the banzai drop and don't understand how the ring didn't collapse. I am not really a Sekimoto fan, but he is perfectly acceptable in these kind of minimalist matches, he is just going to try to topple a blubber boulder and stay out of the way when it lands.


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2018 Ongoing MOTY List: Suzuki vs. Sekimoto

31. Hideki Suzuki vs. Daisuke Sekimoto BJW 11/11

ER: Mostly minimalist big boys battle, nice and tidy at 15 minutes with the first 10 minutes all snug holds. They do a lot of little things I like, holding onto headlocks when one guy tries to push off, or holding onto a cravate while the other tries to snapmare out, or Sekimoto holding onto a hammerlock while Suzuki tries snapmaring out. They take their time on hold application and escapes, so when you see Suzuki slowly straightening and bending Sekimoto's arm out behind him you're sitting there thinking a muscle tear is more likely than Sekimoto keeping that arm. Sekimoto not having a neck makes some things look cool, like seeing him work through escaping a headscissors, and I love how they didn't even go for any kind of highspot until 2/3 of the way through, with Suzuki dropping Sekimoto hard with a backbreaker into a cradled pin. We got this awesome moment where Suzuki locks in an octopus hold and Sekimoto crab walks a super long way, slowly, to the ropes to break, all while Suzuki is just putting heavy weight into the hold. The rest of this hits hard, with a nasty lariat collision, heavy dropkick under the chin by Suzuki, a couple jaw shuddering elbows by Suzuki, tough Saito suplex by Sekimoto, a beastly punt right to Sekimoto's chest, and a great short finishing run: Suzuki hits a hard elbow, Sekimoto clonks him with a big headbutt, traps his arms and headbutts his chest, then fights his way over for a German suplex. Non-overkill heavyweight wrestling plays so well.

PAS: I really like Suzuki holding it down for all the MUGA fans out there. Sekimoto has been a guy we have been low voters on for a while, he tends to get really into no-selling and spamming moves, it is clear that his destiny is a guy who holds on to a headlock. His big mutant baby body is perfect visually for holding on to a headlock and he looks like he is going to pop Suzuki's head like an overripe melon. Suzuki works at his own pace, everyone else in wrestling is ready to move on the next thing, he is going to let everything marinate. I loved all of the little adjustments both guys make and how painful even the smallest move looks. When they crank it up, they don't all of a sudden forget what they did before, everything is still deliberate and super painful looking. Suzuki can make a backbreaker look like he broke your back. I loved that finish run too, totally bought the headbutt/german combo being brutal enough to put Suzuki down. Excellent match, on par with the Jumbo vs. Robinson match I watched for NFF but in half the time, and it is a real credit to say that they are working at the level of Jumbo and Robinson.


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Wrestlemania Weekend Cherry Picking: EVOLVE 103

Dominic Garrini vs. Timothy Thatcher

PAS: Really nifty grappling match, this wasn't slick like the stuff that Riddle and Sabre were doing the night before, this was gritty, lots of jockeying for position and advantage, rather then putting on of cool submissions. Felt more shootstyle, especially in the beginning, then anything on Bloodsport. Felt like this could have used a bit more time as, right when it got pushed into the next gear, including a bloody Thatcher nose, Thatcher basically finished it. Not normally a complaint I have about indy wrestling, but I needed a couple more near falls.

ER: This was fun, like if these two fought back in the day on Velocity, but it did feel like we were watching a clipped match. I liked everything in it (though Garrini can come up short on strikes, and Thatcher can sometimes freeze waiting for an opponent to act), but the end was pretty sudden. The ground work was fun and Garrini was getting all funky Sakuraba on him, loved him almost crossbodying into side control, and really I could have watched 5-10 more minutes of them on the mat. Thatcher gets a busted lip and we go to finish shortly after, but it didn't feel like that Regal/Storm moment where Storm busted Regal open with a dropkick so Regal wrecked him for 30 seconds, just felt like the actual finish. Fun, but needed more.

Chris Dickinson vs. Mark Haskins

ER: This was a very good sociopath vs. wounded babyface match, as Haskins gets some early flash, so Dickinson decides to take out his arm and his leg. Haskins sees it through, as by the time he's back on offense he's shaking out his arm and hopping all over on his leg, mixing up offense thanks to the damage done by Dickinson. Dickinson will dish some nasty kicks and was twisting Haskins' ankle in gross ways, but I thought Haskins built nicely to his comebacks. My favorite moments was him kicking at Dickinson repeatedly in the corner, pausing...and then punching Dickinson in the jaw with a left hand (his bum wing). Dickinson was like the emotionless Terminator at points, which not everyone can pull off, you just need to have his specific "dead eyes guy who stocked up on tiki torches" charisma. At one point Haskins has him in a dangerous sub and Dickinson panics at first, then collects himself, controls his breath, and calmly shifts his hips to get to the ropes. It looked like a home invasion serial killer who encountered someone fighting back more than usual, so he just calmly dealt with the predicament before murdering them. It probably went a bit too long (sheesh they run all these 5-8 minute matches and expect me to hang on through 16!?) but I linked Haskins dropkick to Dickinson as he was lying on the mat, and Dickinson rolling through a prawn hold into a nasty deathlock was a fine finish. Haskins has been around for a decade, this felt like a good match for him to make his Segunda Caida print debut.

PAS: I am glad to see Dickinson worked straight heel like this. Most of the time in EVOLVE he works as a workrate kicker, he is fine at that, but he has such a great sleazy hateable charisma (sort of a more muscular Christopher Cantwell) , which is muted in EVOLVE. He is really punking Haskins here, laying in nasty kicks, thick stomps, twisting joints. I really liked the finish with Dickinson really working over that deathlock. No reason for this to be so long though, if they had cut five minutes I could easily see it on a list.

Tracy Williams vs. WALTER

PAS: WALTER is one of those guys who is going to deliver a baseline entertaining match. You know he is going to chop unnecessarily hard, get popped back, throw a couple of deadlift german suplexes and put on some chokes. He pretty much comes with a package, and it is often up to the opponent to add some seasoning. Williams does some pretty cool stuff in this match, he is willing to let WALTER break a bunch of blood vessels, but he lands some pretty sharp neck chops, he also does some very cool spider monkeyish chokes, climbing all around WALTER and locking in either a crossface or a rear naked choke. Williams has a pretty high variance as a worker, but this was high end hot sauce.

ER: Phil makes some great points about WALTER. I've watched a lot of WALTER matches the last 6 months, and he is a guy who does not change up his style depending on opponent, and I've gone out of my way to watch WALTER matches, but always because I'm excited about his opponent. Now, this makes it sound like I hate WALTER, which is not true at all. I'd have him very high on a 2018 list, but it's just weird to me that it's what his opponent brings to the table that always interests me. It's never "I can't wait to see WALTER cave in this guy's lungs" it's always "I can't wait to see this guy get his lungs caved in by WALTER". It feels like an important difference, that I don't know what to do with. But anyway, I dug this match. I loved how Williams hung in there and almost tested himself by knowingly working WALTER's match, as if he wanted to see how long he could last. WALTER has the best chops in wrestling right now, and Williams took them and threw cool stiff arm standing lariats and cutting chops to the neck right back at him. He even tries to throw WALTER at one point which is just not going to end well for most guys. I love when guys climb on WALTER to try and catch him in a sub, reminds me of Bugs Bunny cartoons where he takes down a hulking brute with a series of fast scrambly attacks (tying shoelaces together into flower pot on head into tied to lampost with rope). The finish is some prime WALTER as he towers over a seated Sauce and starts yanking that arm up to start the Gojira Clutch, and Williams panics and tries to scramble free, so WALTER just starts raining down clubbing blows to the chest until Sauce can't defend, then  easily locks in the Clutch for a quick pass out. The Gojira Clutch is hands down the best sub in wrestling today (Phil will argue to Twist Ending which is its best contender), it's just so smothering, a dude choked out against his own arm. Cool stuff.

Jaka vs. Munenori Sawa

PAS: Showcase for Sawa's fast hands and potatoes. Jaka is a guy who is always going to slug back. I really enjoyed the section where they were on their knees and Sawa was just straight punching Jaka in the jaw, and some of those quiet the crowd headbutts remind you that Sawa is a Yuki Ishikawa trainee. Would have rather had almost any other BattlArts guy make a comeback US tour (how sick would WALTER vs. Alexander Otsuka be) but Sawa is definitely fun.

ER: I really really like Jaka. He's has a few fun Islander tropes like a concrete block head, but also has the coolest non-canon strikes in wrestling. He throws so many cool strikes that nobody else uses, a top-of-head headbutt to the chest or stomach, palm thrust to the forehead, double palm thrusts to the chest and back, thrust kicks (the superkick has pretty much replaced the thrust kick, which is a shame. There's a looping grace to a superkick tucking in perfectly to that space joining the chin and neck, but there's something about a thrust kick right to the sternum), big flat running knee to the face, hands together chops to the neck and chest, a few spinkick variations, just tons of cool and mean strikes done differently than everyone else. This match had some things that I would really dislike in other matches, but were okay with here. I don't love indy matches where a guy takes a lot of abuse and then just comes back by merely deciding it was his time to come back, no big turn of events that lead to it. And I don't usually like these "on our knees, take turns" strike exchanges. But this one went quick and had Sawa punch Jaka about as hard as possible in the forehead, and I liked the callback as earlier Jaka went into a long series of control after Sawa foolishly tried headbutting him. I like him still trying to find other ways to pierce that armor. The finish was really great and extremely well done, every single second of the octopus hold. There was this great slow struggle from Sawa to get the move locked in, really wrenching Jaka's arm back ever so slowly, then Jaka also slowly muscling his way out, trying to get Sawa's boot off his neck but Sawa subtly tightening his leg grip, before Jaka frantically taps. So I did not totally love the layout, but thought the work within was strong and finished on a major high.

Matt Riddle vs. Daisuke Sekimoto

PAS: I thought Sekimoto was pretty bad the night before, and have been a bit of a 2018 Matt Riddle skeptic, but this was a banger. There are a lot of stocky dudes working chopper gimmicks on these Wrestlemania shows, so you are going to have to bring something more then a stiff chop, and Sekimoto surprisingly does. Loved him challenging Riddle to a Sumo showdown, loved the battle over the deadlift German suplex, with Riddle fighting for an ankle pick to keep from getting thrown. All of the no rope break stuff in this match was great, with Riddle using a hanging triangle while in the ropes to get a nearfall, and Sekimoto needing ways to brute force his way out of submissions while in the ropes. Finish was a little wonky, I don't think Riddle's knee landed hard enough for the KO and while Sekimoto kept his horseshit in check, he was doing a goof face on the sell. Still this was damn good, and Riddle was dropping bangers in New Orleans like mid 2000s Lil' Wayne.

ER: I think the key to getting good Sekimoto must be in him wrestling without boots. He's inflated goof with them and suddenly he takes off his shoes and he's Masa Saito. This had some things that didn't work, a majorly whiffed Pele kick by Riddle that got sold, some very long standing exchanges (that I did like more than most stand and trade sections), but I really did get into this battle. I loved how sometimes Sekimoto would absorb strikes without even moving, just getting kicking in the chest or chopped in the neck like nothing was happening, and the whole thing really peaked for me with Riddle grabbing that triangle in the ropes. I loved the body as jungle gym moments and thought it was awesome when Sekimoto was trying to slam Riddle and he kept gripping Sekimoto's ankle to prevent it, and Sekimoto kept powering through. I thought the finish worked, but especially because Riddle added in the hammerfist strikes after landing that knee. Those hammerfists were nasty and Sekimoto wasn't even moving, just getting a fist whipped into his jaw. The ref stop was really well done. Somebody hide Sekimoto's boots from him!

ER: Fun, shorter than normal show with nothing all time great but a super high floor, really liked all the matches that I watched. The show probably took place at 5 AM so I gotta give credit for these guys working so hard all weekend. We thought Riddle/Sekimoto, WALTER/Hot Sauce, and Jaka/Sawa were cool enough to land on our 2018 Ongoing MOTY List. And I'm pretty sure Phil and I both separately made Charlottesville jokes about Chris Dickinson. And dammit, that still means something in this world.

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Wrestlemaina Weekend Thursday Cherry Picking: EVOLVE 102

We are going to try to cover much of WrestleMania weekend, but can't watch every second of everything. Here are some cherry picked matches from EVOLVE 102.

EVOLVE 102

Jaka/Chris Dickinson vs. Workhorseman vs. The End vs. Dominic Garrini/Tracy Williams

PAS: This was kind of clusterfuck, but it had some fun individual moments. At one point Dickinson and James Drake just started wailing on each other, and all of a sudden this was fight not just a demonstration of double teams. Some of the double teams were cool though, I like Doom Patrols top rope falcon arrow superfly splash combo, and the Ends powerbomb guys into their partners back. Still lots of this was messy, and this kind of match really works against Garrini's strengths, also since the champs needed to pinned to lose the belt, what is the point of trying to pin anyone else?

Darby Allin vs. Keith Lee

PAS: Really fun match, exactly what you want out of this matchup. Allin spinning and flipping and diving trying to stay out of Lee's hands, and Lee catching him and smashing him into little pieces. Lee is a really fun manhandler, he spins Allin around like a top during a lockup, catches him during a dive like he was catching a frisbee and yanks him into the ring by his jeans. He also catches Allin mid coffin drop with a pounce which I though might send Allin into the lobby. All of Allin's offense looked good too, he is super elusive and I loved how he set up the coffin drop on the small of Lee's back. Finish was fun with Lee bouncing Allin off the mat with a Spirit Bomb and Allin crawling his way up Lee only to get crushed again.

ER: This was really fun, I like how these two match up (and how could you not love a guy with a death wish getting crushed by a monster!?), although this felt like more of a squash than I've seen from them. Darby has some fascinating landings, dude is like a little cat, and I like how his movements seem reckless and controlled (controlled frenzy of Darby Allin!!). He's really clever about coming up with odd ways to set up offense, loved his Coffin Drop to a hunched over Lee, and right after he bounced backwards off the ropes to land on Lee's back for a sunset flip, really outside the box stuff. But you knew this would mostly be about Lee seeing how far he could chuck Allin, and boy did he. He did a beal that was like a Last Ride powerbomb, just launching him with one arm and at Darby's apex Lee actually lifts him higher before letting go. before that he just picks Allin up by the waistband of his shorts, like a mama cat carrying her kitten around by the neck scruff, and just throws him (an announcer compares it to tossing a bale of hay, and that's accurate). His Darby throws in an extra theatrical bounce on a sitout powerbomb, flipping over onto his stomach. I've never seen that and it looked pretty nuts. But overall this felt a little too squashy, felt like another nearfall from Allin would have elevated this, especially if it came off a huge Lee crash and burn (like early in the match when Lee went for a short spear and fell through the ropes). Lee crushing Allin goes on a bit too long, and starts to feel a bit like a geek show. There aren't guys who take a more innovative beating than Allin, but I want a little give and take.

Daisuke Sekimoto/Munenori Sawa vs. WALTER/Timothy Thatcher

PAS: Nifty match which was mainly a showcase for the puro teams offense. Commentary mentions that Thatcher was hugely inspired by BattlArts and Yuki Ishikawa and I am grumbling about how Ishikawa is just hanging out in Canada waiting to be booked. Thatcher vs Sawa sections are really fun, although a little sidelined. Sawa still moves really fast and smooth for a guy who has been retired for 7 years. Main focus on the match was WALTER and Sekimoto chopping the nipples off of each other and WALTER looks like he going to set some sort of record for busting blood vessels over this weekend of shows. Fun finish run too, with some big shots by all of the guys. More of a fun exhibition then a great match, but I enjoyed it

ER: I didn't love this, but thought it was a pretty great Ringkampf performance. Sekimoto is just so hokey, and is so gassed that he just moves sluggishly compared to the other guys in the match. A lot of his bumps were wooden and disconnected from the move he was bumping, just an awkward performance. Sawa would have had more of an excuse, and while I didn't love his slap exchanges, I liked a lot of his stuff, rolling with Thatcher, the appropriately renamed Ohtani Punches (though I thought it would have been cool if he used those earlier, and then down the stretch when things got more desperate just punched Thatcher with no gimmicky wind-up), but really this match was all about Ringkampf. They knew that the fans there wanted to see Sekimoto and Sawa do their thing, and RK was able to take the big moves and still look dominant. WALTER had a killer match, really killing guys with running kicks, and I kept waiting for his chops to pop one of Sekimoto's inflated tits. WALTER really launched guys on Germans, showed Sekimoto how to do a shoulderblock, and I love when he overhand chops a Sekimoto lariat attempt out of the air. Thatcher had some great selling, some great wobble legs, and maybe my favorite moment of the match when he snags a Sawa lariat and violently whips it into a Fujiwara and a crossface. Some of this felt way too silly, like Sawa's double dragon screw, and the double German suplex was really stupid. Sekimoto tosses Sawa who tosses Thatcher, with Sawa getting dumped on his head, and Sekimoto does this horrible Red Shoes back row acting when he "realizes what he's done". I'm not sure what he thought would happen when he dumped his partner on his head. I wanted to like this more, and I loved Ringkampf, but Sekimoto just rarely does it for me.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Matt Riddle

PAS: Great match and fitting swan song for Sabre's EVOLVE title reign (and his run in EVOLVE overall). Match was set up as Riddle's strikes and throws against Sabre's submissions and we got great versions of both. I loved Sabre torturing Riddle's feet and he was just twisting him up in some really inventive pretzels, Riddle's body is taking a beating this weekend, I can't imagine his knee felt good the way Sabre was twisting it. Sabre also took some pretty big shots to the jaw, Riddle's go to sleeps felt especially reckless. Loved the finish with Riddle attempting a twister, Sabre countering it into some sort of calf slicer, and Riddle able to re counter back into an arm trap twister for the tap. So much of the matwork was dominated by Riddle, it was nice to see the Ju Jitsu brown belt break out some tricks.

ER: Loved this. Riddle is doing some pretty unparalleled workrate this weekend, just a gas tank I can not comprehend. His creativity is inspired as well, and that’s a big plus. The higher profile he’s gotten the more tendencies he’s picked up that I don’t like, and those have been almost totally absent this weekend. Sabre has been a great Evolve champ, and it was going to take a great opponent to grab the belt from him, and Riddle was that guy. Riddle played the long game and took a ton of abuse from Sabre, and then just spammed him with big shots down the stretch. Sabre was in full spider monkey mode, tangling Riddle up like a squid drowning a scuba diver. Sabre bent Riddle’s ankle and toes, locked on a nasty octopus hold, fluidly moved through subs, several in a row, to really disorient Riddle. Riddle slowly started anticipating ZSJ’s offense the longer we went, catching a low kick into one of his best Pele kicks (with a great shaky leg drop down sell from Sabre), and really started cranking in shots. People still weirdly complain about Sabre having weak arm strikes, while ignoring that when he breaks down and starts exchanging strikes that usually spells his downfall in a match. Here he slaps Riddle and gets a kind of “oh shit” look on his face, and that leads to him getting elbowed a ton. There were a couple cracks, the Riddle senton into an armbar was telegraphed a mile away; Riddle is always super accurate with his landings and here he leaps 5 feet to the right so he can land for the spot. This is the first time that spot came off overplanned. But that’s really my only complaint about the finish. The stretch really was smoking, with both men emptying their offense closets and trading who had the advantage without it devolving into move trading. Big shot of the home stretch was Riddle hitting a Rainmaker knee strike that was finisher worthy. The finish was sad in a way. We’ve watched Sabre confidently tie so many guys in knots, that look of confidence when he knows he’s got the win in the bag, and here he was finally on the other end of that. He was fighting Riddle all the way but you could see Riddle slowly moving Sabre’s limbs into the Bromission, Sabre able to slow the inevitable but not stop it. Great match.

2018 MOTY MASTER LIST

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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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Fujiwara Will Restore You The Years the Swarming Locust Has Eaten, The Hopper, The Destroyer and The Cutter

Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Akitoshi Saito vs. Alexander Otsuka & Daisuke Sekimoto, Dradition 11/19/13 - EPIC

PAS: WARish slugfest which was one of the more enjoyable Puro matches of 2013 (which is admittedly a low bar with FUTEN being MIA). We open up with Fujiwara and Otsuka ripping it up on the mat, with Fujiwara doing some very cool arm escapes. After that they get up and try to bust each others eardrums with slaps. Saito and Sekimoto pretty much spend the match exchanging crowbarish forearms and clotheslines. Sekimoto has some selling issues as usual, but was mostly fine and he and Saito pounded on each other into my heart. Otuska did a dope snap german suplex on Saito and every time he and Fujiwara were in the ring together was great. Could have used a better finish, but this was a blast to watch.

ER: I'll be honest, two minutes in and I kinda already knew I was going EPIC on this one. It would have to have royally fallen apart, but it didn't, and ended up being one of my absolute favorite matches of the last year plus. Fujiwara is 64 here (and really looks older, visually) but he sure doesn't work like he's elderly. The mat tradeoffs between he and Otsuka looked as fast and prime as anything he did 30 years ago. Otsuka is really fun on the mat when he gets caught in something as he always rolls and thrashes around wildly, and Fujiwara is always so good at holding onto somebody's limb for dear life, knowing it may be his way out of the match. Once they got into a punch/slap exchange I was off my rocker! Fujiwara was really dishing some blows, and when Otsuka reared back to slug him Fujiwara stopped his momentum with a battering ram headbutt right to the stomach. Such a great momentum killer that somebody needs to steal (now that Spike Dudley hardly works anymore). He gave Sekimoto one later in the match that was maybe even better.

 We all knew Sekimoto was the likely reason if this match ended up being a letdown, but he doesn't gum up the works too bad. He had a couple eyeroll-y "pop right up screaming after taking offense" moments, but most of the time he was tossing off stiff clotheslines, deadlift suplexes and getting chopped in the neck by Saito so for the most part he was fine. Saito looks just as good as his NOAH prime over a decade ago. His spin kicks are sharp and on point, and really deliver so much more force than any other wrestler's spinkkick. He and Sekimoto have some beastly exchanges including an extended stiff shoulderblock sequence. My favorite exchange between them was Sekimoto going for a big clothesline and Saito blocking it with a single overhand right chop, like he was aiming to just cut that arm off. Then he delivers two open-handed chops to the side of Sekimoto's neck to bring him to his knees. So badass. It looked like he was breaking down and dismantling him with one arm. Fujiwara at one point comes in with the coolest block I've seen, as Otsuka was aiming to break up a pinfall and Fujiwara flies into him, taking him down by the arm into an armbar. I've never seen anything from Legend The Pro-Wrestling so this is the first I've seen of Fujiwara opposite Otsuka and it was magnetic. Two guys that matched up perfectly together. That the rest of the match stands up quality-wise is just a sweet bonus. Go watch this now.


COMPLETE AND ACCURATE FUJIWARA

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Time Has No Meaning to SLL's All-Request

Randy Savage vs. Bret Hart (WCW, 5/17/1998)
Requested by Lacelle

You know, much is made of that one time Michael Buffer called Bret "Bret The Hitman Clarke". Off the top of my head, I can't remember if that was before or after this match happened, so I don't know if Buffer calling him "The Hitman Bret" and omitting his last name entirely is an improvement or not, but there you have it. Anyway, Bret is a member of nWo Hollywood and Savage is a member of nWo Wolfpac at this point, and well, that angle was really one of the more underappreciated stupid things that WCW did in this period. Once upon a time, WCW trying to fight off the nWo was a really, really big deal. And then, the nWo became sort of an inconvenience that WCW just had to live with (and constantly lose to). Now, we have the nWo fighting amongst themselves, so really, we don't need to give a shit about WCW's involvement in this at all. Still, if there was any good at all to come out of this angle, this match was it.

Roddy Piper is the special guest ref for this, and as special guest refs go, I think he gets a passing grade, though not a perfect one. There's a mentality amongst a lot of people that special guest refs are almost universally bad because they draw some degree of attention to themselves in a way that refs normally aren't supposed to do (I'm looking at you, Slick Johnson), and they usually don't call matches the way refs normally are supposed to. But that seems to me to completely miss the point - why would you book a special guest ref if they weren't supposed to come off as special? Not acting like a normal referee and drawing attention to themselves is the whole point of a special guest ref, otherwise you'd just have a regular-ass ref. And no, that doesn't mean special guest refs can't screw up a match big time. They can draw so much attention to themselves that it detracts from the wrestlers. Their reffing style can be so far afield that it becomes jarring. I'm just saying when you bring one in, it's usually for a reason. As far as this applies to Piper...well, he said he wanted a fight in the promos leading up to this match, and his character is a well-established wild card. If anything it would be dumber for him to play this totally straight, because that's just not who he is. In terms of how he calls this match, he mostly avoids the major pitfalls of the special guest ref - he gets his character across while keeping the focus on Bret and Savage, he calls it down the middle, he plays fast and loose with the rules, but not to the point where it seems far-fetched. I think he gets a little too hands on with the wrestlers at points - there's a bit early in the match where Bret is stalling on the outside, and Roddy gets fed up and throws him back in the ring. Not a deal-breaker by any means, but it keeps him from reaching Michael Hayes/Jackie Fargo/Ken Shamrock levels of quality special guest reffing. But he knows his job, and overall, he does it well.

So yeah, the match. I think the big thing that stands out to me here is that, off the top of my head, this may have been the stiffest performance I've ever seen from the Hitman. All of his strikes looked really hurty, including some nasty shots to the face and the back, as well as his usual hooks to the gut which he actually appeared not to be stomping for. I mean, there probably was some stomping in there, but he was throwing hands so hard that I couldn't really bother to notice. Mike Tenay epically misses the point, pointing out that Bret considers himself the best technical wrestler in the world and "hopes to use Randy Savage as a proving ground". But clearly Don West was the problem with the TNA announce team. Randy Savage isn't one to take this lying down, throwing some great shots of his own, but Bret regains control quickly, and they end up on the outside, including a cool moment where Bret tries to drop the ringsteps on Randy's head. Bobby Heenan picks up the slack for Tenay's earlier dopeyness, saying that Bret probably realized he had to turn up the heat just to combat Savage's wildman tendencies. Savage avoids having his noggin crushed and fights back, leading to a low-point in the match where Bret kinda struggles with an axehandle off of the guardrail into the crowd, followed by some shitty ECW crowd brawling that I can't really follow. They get back in the ring, and Bret starts working after Savage's injured knee, as well as busting out a particularly snappy Russian leg sweep and a big piledriver. The ending gets...weird. Bret has Savage in the Sharpshooter, but doesn't have it totally sunk in, so when Elizabeth runs out, Savage powers up and gets Bret in a Sharpshooter of his own. At this point, Liz runs into the ring and argues with Piper for no really adequately explained reason, which leads to Savage breaking the hold, and getting low-blowed by Bret. Bret would then attack Piper from behind with knux (which he later planted on Savage), allowing Hogan to run out, take out Savage's other leg, and when Piper comes to, Savage is back in the Sharpshooter and is forced to tap. Liz, what the hell were you doing? I mean, it's late-90's WCW. She might have been setting up a heel turn, but I can't be expected to keep up with that shit. Still, really good match, and Hogan sneakily crawling away from the ring afterwords was amusing.

Randy Savage vs. Ron Garvin (ICW, 1982/83)
Requested by Tim Evans

So, what did I write about the match during the 80's Memphis Project, again?

"I know this isn't a huge revelation or anything, but damn, was Garvin not afraid to kick a dude's ass or what? Potential top 30 pick."

Well, that's not very enlightening. And where did I actually end up putting this on my ballot....#22? Wow, that's surprising. Usually "potential top 30 pick" coming from me just means "it probably won't be in my bottom third", but this was one of the few that held up. Anyway, what I wrote wasn't especially informative, but it sums up my thoughts on this match pretty well. Garvin kicked Savage's ass. A lot. And it was awesome. The early jockeying for position was pretty cool, too, with the dueling front facelocks and Garvin's super-smooth looking schoolboy, but then Ronnie starts laying in the shots, and that's when shit gets real. All these punches and kneedrops and stomps...no wonder the Garvin stomp developed. This dude's stomp was unreal. Are there still people who think the Garvin stomp was a stupid move? Cause those motherfuckers were dumb as shit. Garvin lays in everything full force, and it rules. Savage, meanwhile, eats the beating like a man, bleeding, selling it great, and taking some nasty bumps into the cage. His comeback has him throwing some hard shots of his own, and both guys just come off as total badasses. Fun finishing stretch with ref George Weingroff (I've heard of blind refs, but this is ridiculous) getting bumped just long enough for Garvin to steal his belt, and both guys get to make use of it. Right now, I'm feeling like if I redid my Memphis ballot, this probably would drop, but hell if I know how much. It's still an excellent match, regardless. The quality of the link does this no justice. If you don't have one already, hit up Will about the Memphis set, because it is solid gold.

Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi vs. Manabu Soya & Seiya Sanada (AJPW, 3/21/2011)
Requested by ダニエル

OK, so Seki & Oka vs. Soya & Friends is a match-up that's gone one for two for me so far. To be fair, the one I didn't like is empirically great, and I only bashed it because I bash everything that is highly praised, but that's besides the point. The important thing is that I've seen a good take on this match, and I've seen a bad take on this match, so this one could've split either way for me. And....I hated it. Actually, "hate" is a strong term. This match had it's moments, moreso than their February match. But there was also more actively bad than that match, and ranking the three, I feel comfortable putting this last. There isn't a lot of new criticism to offer that you can't find in my reviews of the other two reviews (and other recent-ish puro reviews, since those problems are emblematic of the genre as a whole right now), so en lieu of a traditional review, here's a list of things you can blame for my dislike of what very well may have been another empirically great match.

Blame it on Daisuke Sekimoto.

I've reviewed a disproportionately large number of Sekimoto matches here, and I think I've told the same story in all of them. The relevant part is that I used to not like him, and now I do. In the February match, he was the guy doing the most to keep me from totally hating it, and in the April match, he was a big part of why I totally loved it. I put my faith in him twice, and he rewarded that decision twice. In March, however, he comes up short. This really felt like a regressive performance for him, like this was more of the lame old Sekimoto of a few years ago than the more dynamic wrestler who's developed recently. In matches built around beefy guys hitting each other a lot, Sekimoto can usually be counted upon to be both beefy and hard-hitting, but his offense really lacked it's usual punch, and he just came off as another guy going through the motions. I will give him this much: he busted out a tope near the end of the match that totally caught me by surprise, and I dug that. He wasn't terrible, he wasn't even the worst guy in the match, it's just that he's usually the most reliable, and this time, I couldn't rely on him.

Blame it on Manabu Soya.

He was the worst guy in this match. Without the great layout of the April match to guide him, he's still stuck in February's "let's put on a show" mode, more blatantly than anyone else. And at least in the February match he ate offense really well. Here, with the Big Japan guys falling down on the job offense-wise, he's not going to be bothered to make their stuff look any better. MORE FOREARM EXCHANGES RARRRRRR!!!!

Blame it on Ryota Hama.

Seeing a guy actually dedicated to having a good wrestling match rather than a shitty simulation of what a good wrestling match is supposed to look like kinda spoils me here. I mean, not that I was willing to accept the substitute to begin with, but Hama's presence in the April match makes a world of difference, and gives me all the more reason not to waste my time on this.

In spite of the above, don't blame it on Seiya Sanada.

He's actually the best thing about this match. Noticeably smaller than the three other sides of beef in the ring, he seems to realize he can do something different with his role in the match and runs with it, being all energetic on offense and taking big bumps off of the Big Japan team's power moves. For that matter, don't blame Okabayashi for this, either. He doesn't have a great showing here or anything, but he doesn't embarrass himself like he did in the February match, either. His double team spots with Sekimoto like the double rack and the double German were neat, and I liked him throwing around Sanada a bunch. I think if they had booked a ten-minute Sanada/Okabayashi singles match here instead of a 32-minute tag, I probably would've dug that.

Blame it on the booking.

Seriously, who was the genius who thought it was a good idea to give this turd 32 minutes? I don't care how much Sekimoto has improved, he does not have 32 minutes of material, and neither do any of these other guys, and believe me, it shows. It's not surprising that they failed to book an epic here, but they even failed to book a wannabe epic. There's a little sense of build here, but not much, and this match just takes a very long time to say very, very little. If Punk vs. Hero spent 90 minutes doing what could have been done in 30, this spent 32 minutes doing what could have been done in three, and that feels like a far bigger crime. The finishing stretch is pretty uninspired, too. Normally, this is the kind of match that will drive me crazy with a shitty, overblown, unearned "epic" final stretch, but here, they switch it up and give me a stretch run so unremarkable that it feels wrong to even call it a stretch run. Again, very little sense of build, and you'd think in 40 minutes they'd have built to something. Instead, the match ends the same way it started: blandly.

Blame it on the crowd.

Outside of Cena/Punk from Money in the Bank, the crowd for the April match might have been the hottest crowd I've seen for a wrestling match in 2011. Again, maybe this spoils me a bit, and I don't expect every match I watch to have a crowd that hot, but man was this crowd every bit as bored as I was by this or what? Dedicate 32 minutes to these guys, and the crowd really doesn't treat it any differently than any other undercard match. Polite applause, scattered bits of cheering for the cool parts...that's it. I don't need a crowd telling me to care about a good match, but they certainly weren't encouraging me to care about this.

Blame me for watching these out of order.

So in the April match, I made note of this bit:

"Sekimoto and Soya grabs each other by the hair, and Soya manages to push Sekimoto in the corner. Neither man will break, and Kyohei Wada actually has to step in between them, and when he can't break them up on his own, Okabayashi comes in to pull his tag partner off of Soya. Then, when Kyohei is admonishing Sekimoto, Soya pushes him aside and bum rushes Sekimoto."

It's a great "flip the switch" moment, signifying the match kicking into a higher gear than it's predecessors. Well, it turns out they did it first here, only without the ref shoving and bum rushing, and I have to ask myself, is the fact that this spot looks forced and completely out of place here because I had already seen it in the April match, or is it because that match really did it that much better and got that much more mileage out of it? I'm pretty sure it's the latter, but I'll throw it out there for consideration.

Blame it on Savage, Hart, and Garvin.

If you're going to do 21st century strike exchange-heavy fighting spirit puro bullshit, at least lay that shit in. You're giving me literally nothing else. This was downright tame, and the fact that I'm watching it in the shadow of two matches where guys really looked like they were kicking each other's asses, that's not good.

Blame it on the rain.

OK, it's not actually raining, but the weather is pretty dreary, and I think my seasonal affective disorder is starting to creep in. I'm sure that didn't help, but I'm guessing this stunk regardless.

Kendo Nagasaki vs. Greg Valentine (BJW, 7/6/1995)
Requested by Cobra Commander

Well, that's something I wasn't really ever expecting to see. Then again, it's not like Valentine hadn't been in his share of bloody brawls before this one. Yes, folks, this is Greg "The Hammer" Valentine circa 1995 working a Japanese Death Match. Specifically, it's a no-rope barbed wire match, which is actually pretty tame by '95 Big Japan standards, but still not necessarily something I expected The Hammer to show up in. Still, Valentine could go pretty late into his career, and I think he acquits himself fine here. The bigger question mark is Nagasaki, whom I have never really gone out of my way to see before. My findings are...inconclusive. The guy throws hands really well and bleeds a ton. His crowd brawling is really fun, dumping chairs and tables onto Valentine's head. But when he's not on offense, his selling can create some problems. There's a lot of him lying around on the mat, not so much selling as awkwardly looking around for the next move he has to take. There's a Valentine elbowdrop with an extended windup that's especially frustrating. Still, the rest of the match is an entertaining brawl. It passes my first major test for barbed-wire matches - do wrestlers suddenly gain the ability to resist Irish whips - with flying colors, as they forego that move entirely and mostly try to just push each other into the wire. Also, Greg taking it to the mat early to avoid dealing with the wire altogether was a lot of fun. And the finishing stretch, built around a race to piledrive your opponent onto the chair, was brutal and well-executed, with the actual piledriver finish being fittingly nasty. All in all, I got a kick out of this despite it's more flawed moments.

Kengo Mashimo vs. YOSHIYA (K-Dojo, 6/12/2008)
Requested by Brandon-E

Somebody who was watching Kaientai Dojo in this period more regularly than I is going to have to explain YOSHIYA to me, because as it stands, I don't know that I'm really equipped to review this properly. I guess the big question is is this guy a comedy act, or am I actually supposed to take this seriously. Because if he's a comedy act...well, he's not an especially funny one, but the match at least makes sense. If not, he is a spectacularly shitty wrestler who kills this thing dead within seconds of it getting out of the gate. Basically, he is a really schlubby looking guy who gets booked as a super-powered badass, and it just takes me out of the match immediately. And I do mean immediately - the first spot of the match is a really overblown test of strength that YOSHIYA wins handily despite Mashimo being built like a brick shithouse and YOSHIYA being built like me if I let myself go a bit more. And there's a lot more nonsense where that came from. He also sells really weirdly. I don't know if I can properly describe it. When Mashimo hits him, he sort of groans loudly and starts staggering a little and staring wide-eyed off into space. Mashimo does look really good here, and at this point, he really strikes me as someone who had all the tools, but just needed actual good opponents to use them against, and he sure as Hell wasn't getting that here. I'll give YOSHIYA this much: he did work really stiff here. At least they gave the asskicker gimmick to a guy who could actually kick ass convincingly. But everything else about it...yeah, I'm not entirely sure this isn't just some joke that I'm not getting.

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Saturday Night's Alright for SLL's All-Request

Domingo Robles vs. Jay Youngblood (WWC, early 80's)
Requested by Tim Evans

This was a fun four-minute aside. Domingo Robles' gimmick is that he's what every clueless dope who read the WKO 100 without actually knowing what they were talking about thinks Black Terry is. He's this aged, broken down, clumsy, ambiguously drunken rudo who feebly attempts to brawl with Youngblood, but inevitably ends up getting knocked on his ass and begging off. And it rules. Robles' shtick is great. He has a million different ways to comically oversell Jay's offense. I think my favorite was when Youngblood hit him so hard that he got "stuck". This is compounded by Rip Rogers' solo commentary, as he is in awe at Robles' ludicrousness, and is actively cracking up at several points. "If at first you don't succeed...give up, Domingo."

Chris Jericho vs. Mike Enos (WCW, 9/23/1996)
Requested by DylanWaco

Enos' theme music epicness-to-push ratio is one of the mostly weirdly disproportionate I've ever seen. Dylan said this was his favorite Nitro match ever, and it's not hard to see the appeal. They do a really fun big man vs. little man match, and communicate the idea really well considering the size difference isn't that big and Enos has a lot of athletic offense for a biggish guy. Enos also comes across as a real challenge for Jericho despite the fact that I don't remember him getting one meaningful win in this entire run with the company and I'm watching from an age where Jericho is a multiple-time world champion (though he had only actually been in WCW a month at this point). Again, not hard to see why. Having not watched his stuff for a while, I had forgotten what a brute Enos could be. He opens this match by slapping Jericho hard across the mouth - seemingly because Jericho had an insufficiently firm handshake - and then cracks him with a headbutt. Jericho fires back with a nice spinwheel kick, but Enos hangs tight and catches Jericho with a slingshot shoulderblock and pins him down with the topes de Jalisco of all things. He spends the next little while beating Jericho up and powering him around. There's a particularly cool run outside the ring where Enos hits an apron dive clothesline and then turns the ringsteps on their side and suplexes Jericho onto them. After that, he turns his focus to Jericho's back. At one point, he breaks out a Boston crab that Larry Zbyszko completely shits on on commentary. Admittedly, it's not a very good Boston crab, but that's not the kind of thing you draw attention to in the booth. God, I hated Larry's commentary. Jericho escapes an Argentine backbreaker and hits a Michaels-style superkick followed by an Adams-style superkick to make a comeback, but it gets cut short in spectacular fashion when Enos turns a top-rope hurricanrana into a superbomb for a nearfall. When that doesn't work, he makes one last run at putting Jericho away, but Jericho over-rotates him on a powerslam attempt and lands on top for the pin. Offhand, I don't know what my favorite Nitro match ever is (Eddy/Malenko from the Saturday Nitro? I haven't watched it in a while. Hmmmm....). It's probably not this, but this was definitely one of the good ones, and a fine example of what used to make that show fun.

Kengo Mashimo & Madoka vs. Daisuke Sekimoto & Yoshihito Sasaki (Z-1, 3/2/2008)
Requested by Brandon-E

BJW guys vs. K-Dojo guys in Zero-One? OK. It's not like Zero-One has an identity of it's own anymore. These are three guys who I currently like, plus Madoka, who I don't really have anything against, back in a time when I either didn't like them or didn't care about them. Actually, weren't those fun MEN's Club multi-mans happening around this time? I probably liked Madoka the most when this happened. Either way, a lot has changed since then, but I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same, because these guys' performances in this match ranks roughly the same as how much I like them currently: Mashimo gives the best showing, then Sasaki, then Sekimoto, then Madoka. And that's not good, because Sekimoto vs. Madoka seems to be the main focus of much of the match, and Mashimo doesn't really even show up until the half-way point. The result is that we have the tale of two matches. The first half, dominated by Sekimoto/Madoka exchanges, is really listless and sloppy. At one point, in rapid succession, Sekimoto backdrops Madoka over the top rope onto the apron (which is blown completely), Madoka Rocker Drops him when he tries a shoulderblock through the ropes (which Sekimoto didn't even seem to be trying to connect), and then takes him out on the outside with an Asai moonsault (which takes too long to set up and leaves Sekimoto standing there like a dope waiting to catch it). It's not good, but at least it was bad in an active way. Most of the rest of their stuff was dull and generic in the way you kind of expect a match like this to be dull and generic. Please, bring on the suck. At least that's interesting. But all of a sudden, Mashimo finally gets in the match, and he gets paired up with Sasaki, and it's like night and day. Structurally, they're not mixing it up too much, but there's just so much more life behind their exchanges. Mashimo looks especially dynamic, having a lot of really crisp offense, and shows some hints of things to come. FUTEN was definitely good for this guy, but honestly, he looked like he was already most of the way there in this match. Their enthusiasm seems to rub off on the others, too, and overall, the second half of the match is a lot more fun than the first, including Sekimoto pulling Madoka off the apron and over the top rope for one of the best German suplexes of his very German suplex-heavy career. The finish is also really great, with Mashimo grabbing a crucifix on Sasaki and rolling it over into the Rings of Saturn, cranking Sasaki's arm over his shoulder to make him tap. The bad first really drags down the good second half of this, but it did make me want to see a Mashimo/Sasaki singles match, so that probably counts for something.

Toshiaki Kawada vs. Minoru Suzuki (NJPW, 8/11/2005)
Requested by Curt McGirt

I have mixed feelings about this. Overall, if I had to call it one way or the other, I'd say this was a good match. Both guys brought enough fire to the proceedings to keep my interest throughout, and that's pretty much the minimum of what I could ask for from a match. They hit each other hard and Suzuki made his funny faces and it was generally structured well. That said, I wanted to like this way more than I did, and while I did like it, I'm not really that enthusiastic about it. Kawada was all over the map here. He was pretty deep into his HUSTLE "not giving a shit" phase, and while there were glimmers of his past greatness (he will still chop and kick the shit out of you, if nothing else), he honestly looked bored a lot of the time. At one point, Suzuki locks him in the sleeper, and I could've sworn I saw Kawada roll his eyes. I mean, we are talking Samoa Joe in TNA "great wrestler just not caring at all anymore" levels of boredom here. OK, maybe that's excessive, but there are some low moments here. Meanwhile, we've got Suzuki. He's kind of a divisive figure in wrestling fandom: either you think he's a really fun superdick heel, or you think he's an irritating Villain Sue. I understand both views, but personally, I've always leaned towards the former. I think the main tipping point is that his no-selling tendencies have always struck me as a bit like Kevin Von Erich's no-selling tendencies. When a guy wails on them, I don't believe either guy isn't in pain (usually), I just get the sense that they respond to pain differently than most wrestlers. He's not the Ultimate Warrior is what I'm saying. But I'm not dumb. I do recognize he's a guy with limitations. He works better in tags than in singles, he works better against lower-ranked opponents than equal or higher-ranked ones, and he works better in short sprints than longer, slower-paced matches. This is a singles match where he's wrestling a higher-ranked opponent, and it goes 17 minutes, which isn't an epic or anything, but is about 7 minutes longer than a Suzuki singles match should go. It's not a sprint, which really hurts the matches main appeal: watching two tough bomb-throwing bastards lay waste to each other. I mean, I guess you can do that for 17 minutes, but they really don't. When they're throwing bombs, it's great, and they throw enough of them to keep the match fun overall, but the match as a whole is still worked at a surprisingly and frustratingly deliberate pace. I don't know. Maybe I just set the bar too high for this one.

The Road Warriors & Paul Ellering vs. The Varsity Club (NWA, 2/11/1989)
Requested by Victator

By contrast, I didn't know what to expect from this. The Varsity Club has been revisited a bit lately, and people with opinions I take seriously are saying that they were a really fun act around this time. Watching this match definitely bore that out. This is worked as a brawlers vs. technicians style clash, and the Varsity Club hold up their end of the bargain, with really aggressive looking amateur takedowns early on, and some great work over Animal's arm later. But the real surprise was the Roadies. I never thought much of them in the ring, but they hold nothing back in this match, clobbering the hell out of the Varisty Club every chance they get. Hawk looks extra vicious, laying in his shots really hard, but Animal really proves his worth as the face in peril. Yes, this is a match where the Warriors are actually fighting from underneath, and they look really comfortable doing it. I mean, I think I vaguely remember Animal and Heidenreich being shockingly good working that style, but couldn't think of the Roadies at the peak of their popularity ever doing it. Well, here they are, and it's fantastic. Hell, even Ellering looks good the brief time he's in, hitting a nice dropkick, and Sullivan doesn't hold this back at all. The finish does, unfortunately. After completely dominating the body of the match, Hawk gets chucked over the top rope after only the slightest of comebacks for the DQ. He takes a nice bump there, but I was hoping for an actual third act to this, so I'm let down. Still, what's there was great fun while it lasted.

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