New Footage Friday: RAVE~! DANIELSON~! MATTHEWS~ J-ROD~! LEATHERFACE~! GOTO~! COLLYER~! YONE~! RASTAMAN~! TAKESHI ONO!!!!

Leatherface vs Tarzan Goto IWA 3/1/96

MD: Really enjoyable superheavyweight collision from what we could see. We couldn't see everything, but you could fill in the blanks easily enough. This was a straightforward battle, not complicated rocket science. These guys hit like a ton of bricks, with Leatherface using his girth to bully Goto around the ring and Goto using his strength to put a stop to it. We could see things best when they were in two of the corners, but even in missing the impacts on a lot of Goto's elbow drops, you could just tell how intense the impact would be from the set up and drop off screen. He spent a good chunk of the match trying to contain Leatherface since he could monstrously swarm back at any point but was finally able to end it when he landed a few headbutts and controlled the action long enough to launch a clear whip for the clothesline. I wish we could see a bit more of it but what we could see was good stuff.

ER: Some random IWA Japan main event from 25 years pops up featuring another feather in the cap for Tarzan Goto, I'm cool watching the match from the POV of a man hiding underneath chairs while secretly recording pro wrestling. What defines a hero, anyway? This is a testament to how powerful a gas tank Goto had, as there's a lot packed into this 13 minute match and all of it is very active. He hits hard with punches and shoulderblocks, and manages to make every lariat hit harder than the last (they all look finisher worthy). Goto is so active, constantly leaping onto Leatherface's body, dropping heavy horizontal elbowdrops (Goto had the finest elbowdrop form of any native in Japanese wrestling), just ATTACKING Leatherface. And I laugh, thinking of this burly solid Japanese man in a Tarzan singlet working over Leatherface's leg in the backwoods of Texas. 

Rick Patterson is such a presence as Leatherface, and I'm sure we all have early tape trader memories of getting a death match comp and seeing this giant guy named Leatherface running through a gymnasium with a chainsaw. Goto's legwork is pretty violent, and as this is an untaped house show we really get to see how much of a Japanese Finlay he was. Every time he jumped on Leatherface's leg it looked nasty, and while Leatherface is huge, Goto has lariats strong enough to sent him flying over the top to the floor. Leatherface has a cool out of control reckless energy, like how he sends his legs flying as he bumps for those lariats or how he throws the sloppiest missile dropkick...except it's a 6'6 350 lb. man in a mask and wig and jeans and apron attempting to throw a missile dropkick. Goto saves some real dynamite for the finishing stretch, including an insane brainbuster (crazy to even try one on a guy this big). Awesome, weird find.

PAS: The parts of this we saw were pretty dope, just a pair of big corn fed guys pounding on each other. Goto had such certainty and force with everything he did. I loved his little uppercuts, such a great strike, and Leatherface's big looping rights looked great too. I wish we could have seen some of the crowd brawling, I imagine it would have been awesome. Both Goto suplexes looked killer, as did Leatherfaces's awkward tumbling top rope drop kick. I love that this finished with a hooking lariat. Goto threw great ones, and that is the kind of thing that would even drop a giant manifestation of evil. 

Chad Collyer/Rastaman vs. Takeshi Ono/Mohammed Yone BattlArts 6/3/00

PAS: Chad Collyer has been uploading a bunch of cool handhelds from his personal collection. We covered a couple of Danielson matches a while back, and he just dropped another big batch. This is a BattlArts tag which is something we are of course going to jump on. Takeshi Ono is an all time great wrestler with a very limited tape footprint, so new Ono is a celebration. I thought most of this match was a bit meandering, but like most BattlArts tags it ended with a big showdown. This was Rastaman versus Ono and it was pretty damn great. Takeshi unloads the kitchen sink on Rastaman and it is a deep sink. He turns him all around, landing a crazy combo in the corner, a big straight right hand and a furious Octopus attempt. Rasta is so much bigger and he is able to eat all of that, then land a decapitating lariat and an armbar for the tap. This wasn't much up until the finish, but a heck of a finish. 

MD: This took a little bit to get going but became a nice varied sprint once it did. I liked Collyer taking Yone's shots and feeding into Ono's grappling and unveiling a really nice series of leglocks from a number of different entry points. Rastaman was electric whenever he was in there, just a big force that'd either hit something interesting or take something interesting, until the end when Ono looked positively heroic against him, right up until he didn't. 

ER: Active 10 minute tag with everyone throwing stiff strikes and taking bumps on a hard mat. This was a fun showcase for Rastaman, as you get some lumbering presence with actual cool spots. He press slams Ono back into the ring, hits a wild kick combo in the corner that ends with a spinkick across Yone's jaw, he takes some complicated Ono combos and levels him with a lariat, then tries to break Ono's arm in half with the sick trapped neck armbar finish. Collyer was good at absorbing heavy kicks from the Batt duo, with Yone especially going after Collyer's ribs with heavy kicks and dropping him with hard bodyslams. It's a little formless, but that doesn't really matter when guys are running in making up spinning heel kicks on the fly. Cool look into what was happening on some post peak Batt house shows, with regulars still working hard and odd style clash gaijin throwing a wrench into things. 

Bryan Danielson vs. Jimmy Rave vs. Kyle Matthews vs. J-Rod RPW 7/31/10

MD: Danielson was, in some ways, in the 80s Flair role here. The world revolved around him even though local issues were at play. His presence allowed the promotion to drive them forward. Rave was the TV champ. J-Rod was his biggest challenger. Matthews was his protege. The first two thirds were good with the highlights being the more story-focused work, when Rave and Matthews both ended up in the ring against each other, for instance, or the cracks of miscommunication between them. J-Rod got solid rub just for being there and for outlasting Rave. The match really picked up when it was just Danielson vs Matthews though. Matthews was still a young lion here and this felt like the sort of match that would make him, at least in the territory if not in the wider community. Danielson switched gears when it was just the two of them and went more aggressive and almost heelish, dismantling the arm. It was pretty vicious, masterful stuff, with Matthews having to fight back at a severe disadvantage, but Danielson was super giving in his role, letting him escape from the Cattle Mutilation and giving him not just hope spots but some very good and meaningful nearfalls as well, as well as taking a huge dive. The last ten minutes were an excellent, star-making exercise from both Danielson and a very game Matthews.

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Cause Aoyagi is the Finest Picker to Ever Play the Blues

Masashi Aoyagi/Shiro Koshinaka/Kengo Kimura v. Genichiro Tenryu/Takashi Ishikawa/Koki Kitahara NJ 11/23/92-GREAT

TKG: This is kind of oddly constructed. Kengo Kimura is treated as the powerhouse of the New Japan team while Koshinaka is treated as guy in over his head who just gets wrecked by Tenryu. But their are large sections of the match where it really feels like Koshinaka is the captain( to borrow from lucha trios of his team). Koshinaka has a ton of awesome moments of selling, and comes off really sneaky and sadistic when he gets opportunities to take advantage of his opponents. Kimura looks like a powerhouse in everything he does, his flying knee kick which is a pretty weak looking move in the NJ80s set, here is superfast and violent looking. Kimura gets caught with an Ishikawa knee and then the three War guys take turns stomping his head in...essentially eliminating him from a large section of the match where Koshinaka has to take over for the NJ team. there is an awesome moment where Kohinaka gets Kitahara in the NJ corner and invites Kimura (still selling) to come in and give his receipts. And fuck I want to see Aoyagi v Kitahara as a singles match.

PAS: This was really a ton of fun. Tenryu takes a bit of a back seat as he often does in these trios match, and it was focused mainly on Ishikawa and Kitahara beating on the HI guys, and they are a pair of guys who can beat on someone. Kithara is the face in peril and he is way better at it then Orihara who usually plays that role. Koshinaka is awesome when he tees off on someones nose and he cracks Kitahara right on the bridge. Every Tenryu moment in the match was spectacular though and he is such a fucking superstar even standing on the apron. The NJ team was hurt by not having someone of his aura to play off of. 


Masashi Aoyagi vs. Genichiro Tenryu WAR 10/8/83-EPIC

TKG: Tenryu is so amazing at facial selling. This is a hand held and not one of these ringside handhelds either, and you can still make out all of his facial wincing as he gets kicked in the face by Aoyagi. This is another guy in a gi vs. wrestler match but this time there is no feeling out round. Just two guys beating on each other from the first bell. Tenryu stops Aoyagi in first round by yoking him in a nasty choke. Second round ends with Tenryu eating kicks and then getting kicked some more after the bell. They do the big Aoyagi throws gi to crowd moment that always gets the drop the strap pop. And third round ends with a series of disdainful Tenryu powerbombs as Aoyagi's corner gets more and more pissed.

PAS: This was as good as it looks on paper. A pair of guys who don't pull punches not pulling their punches. I loved the spot where Aoyagi kicks Tenryu in the face with the toe of his boot, only for Tenryu to get his revenge the next round by returning the eye kick. I also loved Tenryu saying "fuck the niceties and hurling the corner stool at Aoyagi during the break. Finish was great as Tenryu's "I don't give a fuck" powerbombs were totally brutal looking.

Masashi Aoyagi/Terry Funk/Great Kabuki v. Leatherface/Metalface/Freddie Kruger IWA 1998-GREAT

Cool discovery, this is a HH from IWA and the kind of fun wild brawl you would expect from this group of guys. Not sure who was playing Leatheface but he was the highlight of the Monster team, pinballing around the ring for the babyface team including making Kabuki look like a killer, and taking big bumps into chairs. Aoyagi is a bit of a minor player in the match, but he definitely brings the violence whenever he tags in. Of course Terry Funk was great, it pretty much goes without saying, and if you can't enjoy Terry Funk recklessly throwing chairs at movie monsters, you should probably get a different hobby.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE AOYAGI

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THE MOTHERFUCKING INTERNET: Friday the 13th Special

Jason The Terrible/Mitsuhiro Matsunaga vs. Leatherface/Freddy Krueger Barbed Wire Cage W*ING 3/23/94



Wouldn't exactly call this a good match. Kind of an amusing spectacle, but mostly just guys getting their heads and arms pushed into barbed wire, and the heels hitting Matsunaga with the nail board toothbrush. Jason is an amusing fired up babyface, and their is a funny spot where Freddy tries to jump off of the cage and it falls apart when he climbs on in. I do always enjoy Victor Quinones promos, and we get a good one here

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