Found Footage Friday: TAKA~! ISHIKAWA~! WARGAMES 2x2~?! SLIM J~! SHADOW JACKSON~! CONCRETE GORILLAS~! NWA ELITE~! DEVIL'S REJECTS~!

Yuki Ishikawa/Kurashima vs. George King/TAKA Michinoku BATTLARTS 2003

MD: If George King wants to post BATTLARTS matches on Instagram, we're going to watch them. King was the odd man out in some ways, but you can't say he wasn't game. Whenever TAKA was in, he was shouting encouragement from the corner. He wasn't afraid to slap and chop hard and he had a lot of feats of strength that felt labored in a way that added to the struggle. Occasionally, you questioned the timing or positioning maybe, but Ishikawa was going to be able to work him into holds and make things look great with just a bit of feeding. That's all he needed anyway. It was a lot of fun to see Ishikawa and TAKA square off, as TAKA threw some nasty kicks but spent a lot of his time twisted and contorted in a crossface chicken wing or outright getting dropped on his head by Ishikawa. Kurashima was in there to take suplexes and throw them, but it was mostly Ishikawa's show. King and TAKA layered in just enough cheating to keep things interesting and help rationalize the finish. 

Slim J/Shadow Jackson vs. Jay Fury/Nemesis 2x2 War Games NWA Anarchy 7/19/08 

PAS: Slim J has seemingly gotten a spot in AEW/ROH which is awesome, he is one of the most underseen and underrated wrestlers of the 21st century, and it is great he is getting a bit of shine. Most people remember him as a high flyer workrate guy, and he is very good at that style, but he truly excels in a bloody ugly brawl like this.

This was a four person War Games match, which conceptually seems a bit silly, but worked fine. It just ended up as a quick tag team I quit match. Nemisis and Shadow Jackson together were the Urban Assault Squad, a long time Cornelia tag team, and this was the apex of their post break up feud. There was a trophy involved in the break up, and the sharp trophy was used as a stabbing implement to open up all four guys. Slim J started the match and took a nasty beating throughout, including getting German Suplexed while both he and his opponent were standing on the top rope, and getting hung with a noose from the cage. There was a lot of battling on the top rope, and at one point the fence started peeling away from the cage, which gave the whole match this chaotic, razor's edge feel. Like any minute this whole thing is going to collapse. Jackson had a real connection to the crowd, but I didn't think his offense looked that great, the heel team was fine, if a little unmemorable, but this was another great example of what an all time deranged psycho Slim J is and was.  

MD: I loved the layout on this. It was like a War Games Lite or a Sprint War Games. Slim J started with Fury for the first five minutes, wrestling from underneath to really dominate towards the end. Nemesis came in and they began to just demolish him. Jackson came in three minutes later to even the odds and they had a big comeback. It was particularly interesting though as Slim J had to earn his part of it like he would have to in order to set up a hot tag. Nemesis had been holding the cage to keep Jackson out and it was only when Slim J was able to fight away from the noose and take over on Fury that Nemesis had to help his partner and Jackson was able to come in. The faces then slipped on a banana peel and we got a really brutal beatdown, tons of shots into the cage, and the insane visual of Slim J eating that German from the top of the cage all the way across the ring. It was an amazing distance to travel on it. Anarchy is so good at booking big moments in these matches and here it was Slim J coming back again as he was about to be hung and Jackson rising up to get his revenge as the crowd lived and breathed with his every movement and the triumphant victory. It was real folk hero stuff which is what you want in a War Games. I agree that specific things could have looked a little better in practice at times and that probably would have put it further over the top, but I'm completely behind the theory of this one.

Devil's Rejects (Azrael/Shaun Tempers/Iceberg) vs. NWA Elite (Abomination/Phil Shatter/KIMO) NWA Anarchy 7/19/08

MD: There was a moment right at the midway mark of the match, even as the announcers were laying out the stakes again, where I thought to myself "This is actually a pretty conventional tag." Of course in that moment Iceberg decided to take a bite out of Shatter's skull, so obviously it's all relative, but this was a different sort of match for these groups. It was titles vs the chance to ever challenge again, where the Elite were trying desperately to wrest some gold, at all costs, from the Rejects after a six month reign from Azrael/Tempers. What you got on one side was a fairly oddball group with KIMO's unconventional strikes and Abomination's size, but with Shatter doing the brunt of the work from underneath as the Rejects worked like a well oiled machine. Shatter had a lot of time working with these guys and taking their stuff and, to some degree, to be able to get Iceberg up when needed, including to set up the hot tag. Unexpectedly, Iceberg took huge bumps in the process. They had a great moment at the end where the managers were taken out on the apron and everyone crashed into each other to set up the finish. Ultimately everyone worked to put over KIMO which was a choice in time, I guess. The Elite's team never really seemed to gel here (Abomination was really just there, an absence in your vision in his all black gear), but Shatter held up things well considering he had the Rejects to work against.

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New Footage Friday: SABU~! PSICOSIS ~! REY JR! KANEMOTO! SAMURAI~! DEVIL'S REJECTS! CASKET!

Psicosis/Sabu vs. Rey Mysterio Jr./Konnan IWAS 7/1/95 - FUN

PAS: This is from John Arezzi's Patreon and a cool chance to see Psic and Rey at their young peak. This is JIP which is a shame because Psicosis and Rey opening sections are usually huge highlights. This was them doing a lot of TJ/ECW stuff, like cookie sheets and chair shots. That isn't what you want really out of 1995 Rey Jr., although there were some real moments, including a nasty springboard rolling senton. Sabu absolutely eats shit through a ringside table, and sometimes you forget about Sabu, but you shouldn't. Konnan had some nice clotheslines, but was Konnan. Fun little snapshot of a time. 

MD: We come in somewhere in the segunda here and it's impossible to say that what we haven't isn't a lot of fun, even if it's not at all complete. Right at the get go, the rudos take over, and Sabu is beautifully cast as a rudo, with Rey as a perfect receptacle for his body thrashing assault. He hits all the classics, contorting off a springboard, using a non-folding plastic chair as a launching pad, twice, and hitting the Arabian Facebuster with some sort of metal tray. You have to applaud Psicosis' restraint, as I've seen him do some crazy things, but here he didn't follow any of Sabu's antics and try to outdo him (he might have been able to but at the expense of a year or two of his lifespan), though he did hit a pretty nice moonsault. When the tecnicos come back in the tercera, it's by whacking skulls with said metal tray. All of this builds to Sabu absolutely wiping out through a table as Konnan moves. It was definitely a shame that we lost the opening exchanges but Konnan wasn't exactly zooming about in the bits of offense he got in late, so maybe it's not the end of the world. What we got was more or less what you'd imagine it to be, so long as you imagined slightly more Sabu than Rey.


Koji Kanemoto vs. El Samurai NJPW 3/17/96

SR: Crazy stiff match that builds to a huge finish. A nice reminder of how good the NJPW juniors could be in the 90s. Samura is fired up to begin, slapping the taste out of Kanemotos mouth before hitting a big dive. Samurai is this weird guy who is often dull but when he‘s on he‘s pretty great. He was on here working like Fit Finlay, dropping elbows across Kanemotos face, even headbutting him in the nose. Of course Kanemoto is a right fucker too and when he comes back he cracks Samurai with nasty stomps to the skull and kicks to the ribs. The whole match was pretty much all guys stubbornly sinking into submissions, not cooperating on basic moves and brutalizing each other. It builds to a pretty big crescendo, Kanemoto is slapping around Samurai, pulling him up spitting on him. He goes for a big German Suplex off the apron (you know, this was before moves like that were thrown out 10 times a month) but hits his own head weakening himself, his hatred got the better off him. Samurai in desperation mode trying to inch out a win after being beaten to a pulp was great, hell this whole thing was pretty great. Apaprently before there was only an 8 minute TV version of this available before so praise the lord for handhelds like this so we can get the full undistilled brutality.

PAS: This was killer stuff, a lot more based around stiffness and grappling then I remember from this period. 70% of the match was hard nasty grappling and forceful stiff shots. I loved those short elbows which Samurai was throwing across the bridge of Kanemoto's nose and his cheeks and Koji of course is going to respond in kind. The Kanemoto kimura counter of Samurai's German Suplex was incredible looking and the big spot section at the end had appropriately big spots. Spots on the apron are an overused thing in wrestling today, but not in 1996 and the German on the Apron was incredible stuff. Very cool this showed up in a more full format. 

MD: Liger vs Otani from the same show has been out there and talked about but this didn't get released in full apparently, which is a shame as it's both a title change and a hell of a battle. They get time on this and work it that way, mixing holds and hard shots and then escalating into bombs. Samurai's great early on after an match-starting tope, just bullying Kanemoto all over the ring, switching holds anytime Kanemoto starts to come back. It's all both perfectly smooth while still being accented by nasty shots. While Samurai had an advantage early and Kanemoto has an advantage late, a lot of this feels very even, full of gamesmanship, even if no one can chip away at a specific body part. It's a theme throughout with them going for similar moves and managing similar counters. The bombs, when they come, are outright huge, a reversed suplex to the floor, a kick off the top to a head dangling on the ropes, the German onto the apron that crushes both guys. This leads to Kanemoto's advantage and a great finishing stretch with the sort of parallels we've seen all match where it could have gone either way. Exciting stuff.

Devil's Rejects (Dominus/Iceberg/Azriel/Rev. Dan Wilson) vs. Team Anarchy (Jerry Palmer/Jason Justice/Micky Free/Abyss) NWA Anarchy 11/4/06

PAS: Dan Wilson talked about this match on my podcast it was the end of the Team Anarchy vs. Devil's Rejects feud and the start of Reject's vs. NWA Elite. It wasn't the bloodbath brawl I was expecting, this was worked mainly as a straight main event six man tag. Lots of big showdowns and some booking but mostly a traditional match. Abyss was fun as a guy getting hyped for a hot tag, but Abyss vs. Dominus punch exchanges are no bueno. Iceberg was a fun momentum eraser, just killing folks with big splashes. They really put over Palmer, as he is suplexing and spearing the heels, gets the dramatic stretcher to the back only to return, and finishes off Rev. Dan by stabbing him. Definitely left the crowd satisfied, especially with the AJ Styles cameo. 

MD: If we've learned anything from all of this Anarchy footage it's that they knew how to lay out these big matches. Here, Abyss was the special attraction on the side of NWA Anarchy's team, with fireman owner Palmer involved on one side and satanic emissary Wilson on the other. They went out of their way to shine up Palmer early on knowing he'd get taken out by Iceberg and it was a tricky balance. Azrael was in there to take his stuff and outside of a back body drop and some of the moments where Palmer just threw himself at him, it didn't look all that great. Obviously, it wouldn't have worked against Dominus or Iceberg but you didn't want him getting his hands on Wilson before he came back from being stretchered out either. If I was laying this out, I would have had him get a few more assists from his partners as he was hitting his stuff. Punching Azrael in the corner so he could hit a big shot from Justice or Free or Abyss and then Palmer could hit something. That's a nitpick though.

Abyss was a great cheerleader on the apron and it was fun when he was in there working with Justice Served. Once Palmer got taken out, Wilson served as just enough of an irritant to rationalize the heel advantage. It all built to the implement of destruction being unleashed and Palmer's return before things got cute (but in a crowd-pleasing way) with Tempers interfering and AJ Styles making a surprise appearance. I would have liked to see the Casket play into things a bit more before the finish. That's my only other nitpick. Even if it was just a few more shots in there. In general, it's no surprise the promotion lasted so long if it was giving fans moments like this and the others we've seen so often though.

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New Footage Friday: KIDO! IVAN GOMES! VILLANOS! LOS DESTRUCTORES! DEVILS REJECTS! NWA ELITE

 Ivan Gomes vs. Osamu Kido NJPW 8/14/76

PAS: Gomes is a legendary Vale Tudo fighter who both fought and trained with Carlson Gracie. Very little footage of him exists and this is a Different Style Fight with Kido. This was a worked shoot, and more of an interesting bit of historic footage then a great match, with Kido eating a lot of head kicks and eventually getting choked out with a guillotine. I would love to see Gomes in some actual Vale Tudo fights and I have to keep an eye on this youtube page.

MD: I don't have much to say about the specifics of the match. It's more that it exists at all, and of course, the general sense that if something like this does exist in the 70s, what else happened that we haven't seen along these lines and that might exist on tape? It's a whole style of wrestling that we barely have any of until years later. Some of the shots that do land were pretty great, at least. Hopefully we get more along these lines.

Villanos (III/IV/V) vs. Los Destructores (Tony Arce/Vulcano/Rocco Valente) AAA 3/5/95

PAS: These are a pair of great lucha rudo trios and on paper you would expect a brawl, but this was a title match and was worked mostly scientifically. We get some cool matwork exchanges and rope running in the first couple of falls, Villanos are super skilled and it is fun to watch Los Destructores try to match them hold for hold. At the end of the segunda Villano IV hits this fast northern lights suplex and damages his neck. The third fall has the Destructores working him over angering his brothers and heating up the third fall. It never really breaks down into a total brawl, and I really hate the double pin ending in lucha, however this was a cool chance to see great luchadores do something a bit unexpected.

MD: Just about everything you could want out of a trios titles match. Just understand that it's a title match and it's worked like a title match. Therefore, it's not even close to everything you'd want from a Villanos vs Destructores match. The primera was technical and sound, very smooth, with that sort of escalation from pairing to pairing you like to see. Everyone got time. While nothing was breathtaking, everything worked. It ended cleverly with the bottom dropping out and Villanos pinballing into one another, allowing for a triple team. For such a logical sort of spot, it felt pretty fresh to me. The segunda kept that escalation going and was full of motion, with things never wearing out their welcome. It ended with the Villanos working like a well-oiled machine only for disaster to strike as Villano IV crushed his own head on a Northern Lights suplex, which is again, not a specific spot that I can think of seeing too many times, but carried the narrative for most of the rest of the match. He fought on but had to start the tercera and just got crushed by the Destructores, a great selling job as the fans more and more desperately wanted him to get out of the ring. Eventually it happened and they rolled into a big comeback until he was recovered enough (though still sluggish and selling) to move into a lot of finishing stretch near-falls, a few dives, and a final pairing with a really good visual on a double pin (which feels like a consolation prize, but what are you going to do?). It was a title match so it never became an over the top brawl (though the Villanos were pretty heated in their final comeback, for good reason), but it was loose enough that the Destructores really got to rudo it up in the back half. Otherwise, like I said, it was pretty much everything you could want from a title match that played it mostly straight, clever in multiple places and overall well-executed.

Devil's Rejects (Iceberg/Shaun Tempers/Azrael/Tank) vs. NWA Elite (Kory Chavis/Jeff Lewis/Phil Shatter/Abomination) NWA Anarchy 6/23/07

PAS: I wrote a long review of this match in my book Way of the Blade (buy it now on Amazon),  and have recorded an upcoming podcast on this match for my Way of the Blade podcast with both of the evil stewards of these teams Rev. Dan Wilson and Jeff G. Bailey. So I have said my piece. It was super hard to track down, and Rev. Dan has placed it on Youtube for all to see. NWA Anarchy is a real footage blind spot, it is clear that there are plenty of classics to be excavated. This is a heel versus heel War Games, with two psychos leading their respective crew of lunatics into battle, it has blood, huge uncalled for bumps by enormous men, a showdown between two untrained monsters, Phil Shatter looking like prime Scott Steiner and much more. It is a goddamn delight and everyone should watch it, buy my book to read me praise it more, and keep your ears peeled for the podcast. 

MD: This is one I've heard about and read about but never actually had the chance to see. It's just a perfectly balanced War Games, the mix of story and moments and spots and blood and violence and spectacle. More than anything, it creates a sense of mood, which is what you want from every match you see, but something you absolutely need in a match beyond. Multiple times in this thing, you get a sense of inevitability or dread or awe. Case in point, the first five minutes with Chavis holding an advantage over Tempers. It's unquestionable, but you know it's fleeting, on borrowed time. Likewise, later on when Lewis is kept out of the ring for long seconds; when he flies in around the barbed wire off the top of the cage, it's a great moment since it's full of daring and surprise, but you can feel the encroaching futility because the numbers game was about to be restored. The match succeeds at so many things: Tank's return, an absolute Shatter showcase, Abomination destroying everyone in the center of the ring, the escalation of weapons (fork, weapon of destruction, sword of screams) and blood, and of course, Wilson and Bailey getting involved, which is visceral and satisfying (the whole world seem to shift on that missed dropkick), but also doesn't distract from the wrestlers when it came to the finish, which is honestly some of the most restraint ever shown in a match like this.

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Monday War Games: EWE - The Illuminati vs. Devil's Rejects

The Illuminati (Brandon Collins/Jason Collins/Johnny Viper/Se7en) vs. The Devil's Rejects (Andrew Alexander/Patrick Bentley/Tank/Rufus Black) Empire Wrestling Entertainment 8/3/13 - FUN

PAS: This was a lower end Devil's Rejects Wargames, but they are always well worth watching. The opening 10 minutes or so with Patrick Bentley and the Collins Brothers was pretty bad it was all superkicky juniors wrestling, I really don't want to see Canadian destroyers in my Wargames matches. It got a lot better when Tank and Rufus Black came in, they are exactly the kind of stabby psychos which makes this match fun. The four Illuminati doesn't come out originally and instead Se7en jumps Alexander on the outside before he can join the match. Se7en is really good at seeming scary and monsterous and I dug the finish with Seven squeezing Dan Wilson's bloody head until Alexander surrendered for him. Our buddy Dan is not afraid to spray the fruit punch in these War Games matches and it is appreciated. Hated the start, but liked the finish, so overall OK.


COMPLETE AND ACCURATE WARGAMES

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2017 Ongoing MOTY List: Rejects v. Rejects

Devil's Rejects (Tank/Iceberg) v. Devil's Rejects (Seven/Brad Cash) Anarchy 5/27

PAS: Really fun big boy brawl for the rights to the name Devil's Rejects. Seven really throws ham hocks and I especially liked him and Iceberg exchanging. We get a double count out, and Dan Wilson (who is no longer Rev. Dan, but is now the match maker) restarts the match with Rejects Rules. There are some nasty chair shots, and Seven takes a huge bump getting back suplexed through two chairs. Finish had Tank pounding Cash on the ground until the ref stopped the match. Some of the shots looked really good, and some didn't, it is a hard finish to pull off, I think they mostly did, but I was expecting something big, and this finish was clearly setting up Tank v. Cash, and the huge violence is clearly being saved for that.

ER: Pretty impossible to dislike a bunch of big dudes (a couple bigger than the others) tossing soup bones at jaw bones. Honestly I could have just watched everybody punch the whole time, didn't even need the chairs to get over the violence of it all. One minute in and you have Iceberg backing Se7en into the corner with sick shots and I was 100% sold from there. Everybody just clubs each other in the face, we don't even need tons of big bumps, so the bumps we do get really resonate: Se7en gets tossed through a couple chairs, Iceberg bumps to the floor, Tank does a painful and accurate cannonball, all awesome moments. I really liked the finish and agree with Phil that it's a hard finish to pull off, but I thought it looked really good. I especially liked Tank mixing up shots and tossing in nasty headbutts. Fun stuff, and Tank/Iceberg remain eminently watchable.


2017 MOTY MASTER LIST

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