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I love this thread, I want to be in a healthy and respectful open relationship with this thread E: shameful snipe but goddamn that 2011 Ishii/Nagata match rips dicks. Its always nice to get actually excited and into a match, especially in these times. super macho dude fucked around with this message at 21:15 on Apr 18, 2020 |
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Apr 18, 2020 21:13
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The 2011 Ishii/Nagata match is literally the best way you can spend 10 minutes.
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Apr 18, 2020 23:08
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Nagata abusing people half his age will never get old.
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Apr 18, 2020 23:14
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Ditch posted:Jushin Liger & Minoru Tanaka vs Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru, New Japan August 29, 2002 Minoru's ballshot and immediate receipt is an all time great double down spot
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Apr 19, 2020 00:57
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Nagata vs Ishii was amazing and it makes me sad that it took till 2014 for Ishii to get noticed
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Apr 19, 2020 01:46
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SatoshiMiwa posted:Nagata vs Ishii was amazing and it makes me sad that it took till Match of the Day 04/15/2020 -omg ishii with a hairline -yeah no doubt, this is the template for that star-elevating 2013 g1 ishii/shibata match -the crowd's appreciative, sure, but put this in front of a post-2012-boom audience and i guarantee you their reactions would bump it up an extra half-star -i'm sure it's not easy to give someone like nagata a chest that red -i wonder how high ishii would rank among students of choshu and tenryu. top 5, possibly? -oh ok, those were actually shoot headbutts. probably the most ideal human body shape to deliver them, though Bonus Match 04/15/2020 -what a palm strike war -nagata really knowing how to play to the crowd by targeting ishii's taped-up shoulder -ishii talking more mad poo poo in this match compared to the previous one, that's the ishii i know -good of ishii selling the injury by being unable to do his signature rapid elbow strikes -the finish is similar as well, but this time it's about overcoming it
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Apr 19, 2020 06:02
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Thanks Ditch! This was a great idea. Your site(s) had a huge influence on me when I was first getting deeply into puro. Catching up on everything that's been posted. A few quick thoughts: Funaki vs Nakano Like a lot of people in this thread, UWFi is a blindspot for me. This match really made me regret that. Holy crap this was great. Murdoch vs Kox Not my favorite match that's been featured. I got more engaged once the blood started flowing, but these old-school brawls tend to be hit-or-miss with me. Mutoh & Chono vs Hase & Sasaki This absolutely ruled. Tremendous heat throughout. Hase is one of the greats of that era and his stuff tends to hold up better (for me) than the other heavyweights in 90s New Japan. I've seen a little bit of young Sasaki but never a match where he bounced around the ring like this. Winners vs Koshinaka vs Iizuka Also fun, but I didn't think it was on the same level as the previous tag. Iizuka has a shocking amount of great stuff from the first half of his career, but this team is still a clear step down from the losers of the previous match. NJPW/NOAH Jr Tags I'm pretty sure I watched at least one of these matches many years ago (the one with the red Liger outfit). These were great with the first match being my favorite. As much as people are giving love to heel Liger here, it's also worth mentioning just how good Kanemaru is in these matches. Before the whiskey got a hold of him he had some great babyface fire. Kanemoto vs Hashi I love Kanemoto when he's showing his A-Game and this is a great use of him. The dynamic of this reminded me of the Shibata/Honma G1 match that was a bit of a breakout for latter-day Honma. Nagata vs Ishii Loved them both but give the edge to the 2011 match. Even though Ishii hadn't fully put it together yet you had Nagata closer to his prime. Both are a great way to spend your time. Kawada & Taue vs Akiyama & Kobashi Ditch is totally right that this is the Akiyama show. 90s All Japan is an incredible era and it's always cool to find a match that I haven't seen before. If you're looking for a big project during quarantine you could do worse than watching the big All Japan matches in order from 1989-1999. Lastly, a few REQUESTS if you're looking for any. -RINGS: Another blindspot for me. Would love a recommendation or two. -Mark Rocco: The Dynamite Kid/Tiger Mask matches shine such a bright light that they tend to drown out the other groundbreaking jrs at the time - Rocco/Black Tiger being a prime example. -90s Tenryu: I know his All Japan stuff. I know his Old Man stuff. But the in-between stuff I don't know much about. Thanks again!
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Apr 19, 2020 13:43
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MassRafTer posted:The 2011 Ishii/Nagata match is literally the best way you can spend 10 minutes. The kickout at 1 and the reveal that Ishii is bleeding and MAD is absolutely incredible. I love that it looks like both guys came to the ring having been told that the other owed them money.
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Apr 19, 2020 14:54
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Did someone say RINGS? Match of the Day Volk Han vs Kiyoshi Tamura, RINGS September 25, 1996 http://theditch.us/HanVsTamura9-25-96.avi Background: RINGS is an offshoot of UWFi started by Akira Maeda. It eventually transitioned into a real MMA promotion with some legendary names, and the roster during it worked years was still super legit. One of the RINGS trademarks was a ton of Russians with great submission skills, with Han as the most consistently enjoyable. Volk Han matches tended to be sprints rather than epics, and this is no different. Tamura had jumped from UWFi in 1995 and quickly became one of the top natives. Why you should watch it: Han is a goddamn wizard of submissions. *Nobody* can get a crowd reaction from grabbing an arm like Volk Han, and with good reason. Tamura's execution is also top-notch, and he would later have some epics against other RINGS natives. This is fast-paced and gives you a good flavor of what made RINGS so good.
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Apr 19, 2020 16:14
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Price Check posted:-RINGS: Another blindspot for me. Would love a recommendation or two. I'll throw a few in: -Tamura/Kosaka, 6/27/1998 -Tamura/Yamamoto, 6/24/1999 -Anything with Volk Han
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Apr 19, 2020 19:01
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rings is so gaddamn good. Volk han would tear it up today
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Apr 19, 2020 21:58
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Volk Han vs Tamura This was a trip. Obviously it's VERY different than just about anything else out there - even the most ZSJ of ZSJ matches. It's pretty easy to follow though and the finish looked painful as all hell. hunnert car pileup posted:I'll throw a few in: Thanks! Will seek them out.
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Apr 19, 2020 22:18
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Digging the shoot style stuff. Kinda surprised nobody is doing that these days (besides GCW once a year)
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Apr 19, 2020 23:54
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Hellblazer187 posted:Digging the shoot style stuff. Kinda surprised nobody is doing that these days (besides GCW once a year) MMA largely killed the style off in the late 90's. Why watch fake shoot fighting when you can watch the real thing? ROH's pure title was dreamt up by watching old UWFi and RINGs tapes but that only lasted a few years.
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Apr 20, 2020 01:47
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mariooncrack posted:MMA largely killed the style off in the late 90's. Why watch fake shoot fighting when you can watch the real thing? IMO real mma is boring 9 times out of ten. You sometimes get bangers but not often. By working it you can get more bangers.
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Apr 20, 2020 02:18
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I'd like to throw in a suggestion for Takagi vs Mochizuki from 11/1/15. It's one of the few times DG made Champion of the Month here.
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Apr 20, 2020 16:04
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I don't think ditch has anything beyond 2014
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Apr 20, 2020 16:12
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Seconding TK/Tamura from 1998, still one of the most exciting worked shoot matches ever
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Apr 20, 2020 17:02
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Match of the Day Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara vs Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura, New Japan October 23, 1992 http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?s535s06vu79tk3d Background: Tenryu left All Japan in 1990 and led the new Super World Sports promotion, which was financially backed by eyecare / conglomerate (someone help me out here) Megane Super. SWS had a working relationship with WWF, then became Wrestle Association R, or WAR, in 1992. This became a steady B-tier promotion for the rest of the decade, and was essentially a star vehicle for Tenryu as he took part in a series of heated interpromotional feuds. The first and most famous of these feuds was with New Japan, which raged off-and-on for years. Why you should watch it: Korakuen Hall is absolutely molten for this early NJ vs WAR battle. Tenryu excels in heated slugfests, as does Koshinaka. Both Kimura and Kitahara were a bit hit-or-miss but absolutely hold up their respective ends here. It's worth noting that Koshinaka and Kimura were part of a karate-themed midcard stable, and the chaotic scene includes various seconds brawling at ringside. Blood, violence, and a big finish set the stage for an incredible series of matches. IIRC this is available in better quality through the streaming service, though I doubt it has the DRAMATIC FORESHADOWING at the very end of the TV version. Coaaab posted:I don't think ditch has anything beyond 2014
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Apr 20, 2020 17:05
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I watched some clips today of the 2005 AJPW Champion Carnival final with Kensuke Sasaki vs Jamal (Umaga) and holy poo poo did it rock. E: also, is Tenryu the only guy who actually got BETTER once he hit what should have been past his prime in age? Once the 2000s hit, he had some incredible matches as Old Man Tenryu. super macho dude fucked around with this message at 21:33 on Apr 21, 2020 |
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Apr 21, 2020 21:27
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super macho dude posted:I watched some clips today of the 2005 AJPW Champion Carnival final with Kensuke Sasaki vs Jamal (Umaga) and holy poo poo did it rock. Undertaker definitely was better once he got to his old man stage. I'd rank late 80s Tenryu over his 2000s work but he absolutely was great in the old man role.
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Apr 22, 2020 00:55
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Match of the Day 04/17/2020 -liger needed to bodyslam kanemaru onto kikuchi thrice in order to break up kikuchi's submission on tanaka, kikuchi looking like a monster out here -kikuchi and kanemaru abusing the poo poo out of tanaka in his home promotion and they're still getting cheered -lots of shittalking between kikuchi and liger -both teams have been working more or less heel so far, it's just that kikuchi and kanemaru are getting cheered for it -never really seen a sell like this before:  -what a slap and sell:  -one lone guy booing kanemaru for breaking up the pin -super hot finish, another real fun match in this series Bonus Match 04/17/2020 -this got real stiff, real quick -so far, this is closer to funaki/nakano than what one would expect for a njpw juniors match, not as pure obviously -brutal-rear end falcon arrow -hashi firing off headbutts in the corner to desperately halt kanemoto's relentless assault -STIFF inverted DDT on the apron, followed up by a diving headbutt from the apron to the floor -that is not a pleasant lariat:  -creative way to get out of the grapevined ankle lock -make that two creative ways (not spoiling it):  -holy poo poo what a victory, that was super fun
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Apr 22, 2020 01:27
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Match of the Day 04/19/2020 -my first volk han match, this should be good -uh first big offensive move impressed the poo poo out of me:  -REAL exciting way to get out of a sleeper -these are some impressive pretzel holds -nifty counter:  -what a great sell for a near countout finish -this match went through a ton of phases in just over 10 mins, shoot-style is something else
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Apr 22, 2020 02:28
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Genichiro Tenryu & Koki Kitahara vs Shiro Koshinaka & Kengo Kimura This was WILD. There's so much going on both in and out of the ring, but the obvious star here is Tenryu. He is the loving best. The crowd eats up every single thing that he does. Because he was absent from the Big Two for most of the 90s it's easy to forget that he's one of the biggest stars in the history of Japan. Easy to forget until you see a match like this, that is. Everyone else held up their end of the bargain, but what a showcase this was for Tenryu.
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Apr 22, 2020 03:35
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Tenryu definitely owned. The key to his longevity was his reliance on personality and simple spots rather than athleticism. Similar to how Kobashi was still effective even after his knees turned to cement. Match of the Day Jumbo Tsuruta vs Billy Robinson, All Japan March 5, 1977 http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?42q5huu9pm996u9 Background: Jumbo was an absolute prodigy. At just four years into his career he was fully capable of holding up his end of things with legends like the Funks and Jack Brisco, and in this match he shows the capacity to do absolutely state-of-the-art technical work. Robinson, of the famed "snake pit", was adept at both shoot and worked grappling and contributed a lot to training the UWFi crew. Why you should watch it: What an absolute masterclass in technical wrestling. The holds and counters, the sequences, the execution, the pacing, all of it holds up. And these are two big men pulling it off! There are a lot of old-school technical matches that are perhaps a bit slow for some tastes; that isn't an issue here.
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Apr 22, 2020 21:14
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Ditch posted:Tenryu definitely owned. The key to his longevity was his reliance on personality and simple spots rather than athleticism. Similar to how Kobashi was still effective even after his knees turned to cement. There’s a deadlift side suplex in this match that makes it worth the watch. Is that giant Baba on commentary?
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Apr 22, 2020 23:43
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Sounds like Baba, though a much more intelligible Baba than we would hear 20 years later. Match of the Day Minoru Suzuki vs Mecha Mummy, Ultimo Dragon Promotions, June 23, 2006 http://theditch.us/MinoruSuzukiVsMechaMummy.avi Background: If you're here, you know who Minoru Suzuki is. One of his defining characteristics is a willingness to adapt himself to a variety of circumstances and work with just about anyone. This includes bizarre indy gimmicks like Mecha Mummy, who wrestles like a Kaiju monster and uses a variety of weapons. The identity of Mummy might be the last remaining piece of kayfabe. Why you should watch it: I can't prepare you for what happens in this, and I don't want to spoil it. You'll just have to trust me.
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Apr 23, 2020 16:41
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I have a weekly streamed card with my buddies via Discord and I'm including that UWFi match this week. Mining this thread for suggestions, too. I think next week it will be one of the NJPW/NOAH interpromotional tags, those owned. Thanks Ditch!
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Apr 23, 2020 17:46
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Ditch posted:
If Big Dave didn't give this at least 5 stars, he's a hack.
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Apr 23, 2020 22:06
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Ditch posted:
I'm late as hell to this, but I'll try to catch up over this week. Thanks for starting this thread and keeping up your repository with all the incredible matches. I'll start here, All Japan is my favorite promotion ever and Jumbo by extension is my second favorite ace of all time. I love this match, plus the rematch they had a few weeks after this is superb too. Historically I've liked Jumbo more when he's pissed off then when he's solely focused on technique but rewatching this match I think I love him selling as much as any of his other skills now too. One of the signs for me of an all time master is how they sell time and exhaustion. Mid way through this match Jumbo looks completely knackered and struggling against himself, the fact he's sweating profusely helps a lot too. Of course he isn't really, but if I didn't know what I do about his Olympic athleticism, if this was probably any other All Japan star in this situation I'd genuinely believe Robinson had worn them the gently caress out. I can remember him selling like this for Mil too in their 45 minute matches, we talk a lot about guys who sell pain perfectly but not enough about guys who sell exhaustion, Jumbo was as good as anyone who ever did it. There's also this bridge spot they do from a chinlock that is a ridiculous display of strength by both men, my body hurts all over just watching it. Destroyer described this era of All Japan as guys who made each other work for holds instead of feeding them, and so there's always this extra dimension of grueling work to it that I love. To me this is a perfect match. -Some requests- any of the Destroyer vs Mil AJPW matches. In addition to being great matches they would also be revelatory for anyone who's not seen Mil when he was one of the great technicians on the planet earth, a public service in the tragic event anyone reading this has a view of Mascaras informed solely by WWF/WCW wrestlers who he wouldn't cooperate with in the 1990s. Also, There's a Jumbo vs Mil match from 82 about halfway through it Mil pisses Jumbo off and he goes into Manslayer mode. Bloody mask ripping young boy beating vicious bastard Jumbo's a great contrast to his polished ace persona and would love to see people's takes on it here.
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Apr 24, 2020 10:38
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Match of the Day Kensuke Sasaki vs Takeshi Sugiura, NOAH, November 14 2011 http://www.mediafire.com/?udk9t25updbd38b Background: Part of the second Global League, and the follow-up to a hard-hitting singles match from four months earlier that ended in a double-KO. While Sugiura had established himself as a credible headliner at this point, Sasaki was still a bigger star. Why you should watch it: Sasaki was not what I would call a reliably high-end wrestler. He had the capability to bring the goods, yet could just as easily sleepwalk his way through something forgettable. For whatever reason Sugiura is able to get a strong and VIOLENT showing out of Sasaki. Stiff, well-structured match.
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Apr 24, 2020 20:05
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Robinson vs. Tsuruta Solid match. The most surprising thing about this was Robinson's theatrical selling. He really plays to the back row on some of the spots. Given the wrestlers who have followed explicitly in his footsteps it's interesting how "unrealistic" some of it was. Didn't hurt the match for me, just something of interest. Jumbo is a favorite of mine and seeing his younger incarnation is still a little disorienting. Suzuki vs. Mecha Mummy The brilliant thing about this match is how Suzuki no-sells the goofy stuff at first only to go all-in with it during the latter half of the match. The second rocket-punch spot ends up being so great because of it. Sasaki vs. Sugiura I love a good NOAH slugfest. Kensuke is obviously well past his prime here (and so is NOAH in general) but brings everything he's got left in the tank. This is jump-out-of-your-chair brutal. It also escalates well. Each strike exchange brings something different until the match comes to a climax. This was really really good. If you're into this style, go out of your way to check it out.
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Apr 25, 2020 15:15
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Suzuki/Mummy might well be a legit MOTYC considering what a weird year '06 was.
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Apr 25, 2020 19:20
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hunnert car pileup posted:Suzuki/Mummy might well be a legit MOTYC considering what a weird year '06 was. I guess if you wipe all the Bryan Danielson matches off the board.
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Apr 25, 2020 20:26
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MassRafTer posted:I guess if you wipe all the Bryan Danielson matches off the board. And the Do Fixer/Blood Generation trios, but I think it's still fair to put Suzuki/Mecha Mummy in contention
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Apr 25, 2020 20:28
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Match of the Day Andre the Giant vs Killer Khan, New Japan, April 1, 1982 http://theditch.us/AndreVsKhan4-1-82.avi Background: Finals of the Madison Square Garden League, a tournament name chosen due to their working relationship with WWF. These two had a big feud in the states the year before highlighted by Khan "breaking" Andre's ankle (done to cover for Andre breaking it outside the ring). If you're not familiar with Khan, he was enormous by Japanese standards and had a wildman Mongolian gimmick. If you're not familiar with Andre when he was still capable of real work in the ring, well, he was good as hell. Why you should watch it: Andre is so smart and charismatic, milking everything on offense to the max such that extremely simple stuff is enjoyable. The crowd goes nuts for every bit of Andre vulnerability, especially when Khan goes after the ankle. The pacing is deliberate but I think it's perfectly fine in context, and there's a strong finish (rare in 1982). drat Andre rules SO HARD in this match. Not "rules based lowered standards because he's big", but in absolute terms.
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Apr 26, 2020 00:49
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Andre the Giant vs. Killer Kahn This was much different than the Andre/Hansen slugfest from this same period that usually gets cited as the "Andre could actually work" match. Andre's selling of the ankle is great here. Khan breaking out of the submission hold by going to the ankle is a particularly good moment. Really enjoying this thread!
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Apr 26, 2020 15:11
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Match of the Day Masaaki Mochizuki, Taka Michinoku & Susumu Yokosuka vs CIMA, Magnitude Kishiwada & Shingo Takagi, Dragon Gate, September 7, 2005 http://www.mediafire.com/?sdp6g5d5ppn9hvd Background: Taka, who has always had a weird rivalry with CIMA, joins up with M2K to take on Blood Generation, CIMA's fitness-themed (?!) heel stable. Shingo was very much a young lion at this point, and he has to hold his own against Mochizuki (the champ), Taka (world-travelling veteran), and the always dangerous Yokosuka. Why you should watch it: This has a healthy amount of the action and energy you expect from Dragon Gate, but what I really enjoy is the grounded storytelling and how it builds to a dramatic finish.
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Apr 26, 2020 21:26
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I Before E posted:And the Do Fixer/Blood Generation trios, but I think it's still fair to put Suzuki/Mecha Mummy in contention Is there anyway to watch the ROH Chicago match from the '06 Wrestlemania weekend for free?
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Apr 26, 2020 21:42
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super macho dude posted:Is there anyway to watch the ROH Chicago match from the '06 Wrestlemania weekend for free? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeKPZpA2fWQ
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Apr 26, 2020 21:57
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