Lesnar/Cena/Rollins (a good WWE triple threat match?)

Brock Lesnar v John Cena v Seth Rollins (Royal Rumble, 1/25/15)

This might be my favourite WWE triple threat ever. That isn't a huge bar because it's not really a match type I can be arsed with, but the ropey parts you usually get with them were worked around pretty well. Lesnar ruled as an indestructible juggernaut and I thought he sold progressive damage awesomely, as he usually does. You can gripe about him shrugging off AAs and treating them like regular body slams and I won't really argue with you, but every fucker has shrugged off an AA or twelve and Lesnar SHOULD be booked like that. If Dolph Ziggler is kicking out of AAs then better believe it shouldn't be keeping Brock Lesnar down for more than a hiccup. Plus his bumping was generally shit hot and he takes a curb stomp better than anyone. That sequence where Cena speared him through the barricade, wellied him with the steps and then Rollins crushed him with the elbow through the table ruled, and how Brock sold that accumulation of damage was a big part of it. You think he's out, then he gets up again so his opponents have to take it a step further. He gets up again, so they have to respond in kind. He was like the perfect anime villain who'd take the big energy blast, the hero thinking he's finally finished him off, only for the dust to settle and there stands Brock, little more than a scratch as evidence he's even been in a fight. The Suplex City stuff can be super lame when it's the crux of a match, but there's a stupendous car crash quality to him flinging guys around and it'll generally work for me as part of a bigger picture. Rollins took one German all weird on his shoulder and ear and Cena, who isn't the most natural looking bumper anyway, took Germans on his elbows and way up on his neck. The bit where Noble and Mercury tried to interfere and Lesnar fucking suplexed the both of them was also badass. Basically, Lesnar is a guy whose stuff looks killer, obviously has the aura of being a wrecking ball, so those annoying triple threat tropes where someone has to chill out on the peripheries for a while feel more plausible than usual where Lesnar is involved. Similarly, if you're going to take HIM out for a prolonged period you better make it look good, and this felt like something you could see keeping even the inexorable Lesnar out for a while. Unfortunately his absence meant we got an extended Cena/Rollins segment and that struck me as the weakest period of the match by far. Wasn't terrible or anything, but Rollins is the worst and it was nowhere near as engaging as the stuff involving Lesnar. Brock bursting back into the action with a huge deadlift German was an awesome moment though, and I liked how he dropped to his knees afterwards as if all his adrenaline had been spent in the aftermath of getting smashed through a table.

Sasha v Bayley (part 1)

Sasha Banks v Bayley (NXT Takeover: Brooklyn, 8/22/15) 

This was really good, but maybe I let expectations get the better of me because I think I preferred Sasha/Becky. I always watch Bayley and think she's a pretty strong babyface, at least in that she can garner sympathy, but I never really get into her and then I say it's probably because I've never followed any of her JOURNEY and whatnot. I wonder if maybe I need to see more to properly get it. But like, I've seen more than enough of her now and I don't love her. Her selling in this was better than I've seen it any other time and she's generally fine at selling anyway, so it was a strong underdog performance. Her offence is not very good, though. Good strikes matter to me and hers are pretty often Candice Michelle level. She's not great at making those rehearsed sequences not look rehearsed, but then she's certainly not the only one in WWE who has that problem. Still, she's likeable and not totally hokey and probably better than El Generico? She was good in this. Sasha was better and mostly pretty great. Once again she's so much more interesting as a heel, or at least as the one who gets to work from above. I liked those parts where Bayley's stubbornness clearly annoyed her and so she'd go for something she'd usually do, except she'd add a wee bit of brutality to it out of malice. Bayley managed to avoid the double knees off the middle turnbuckle twice and it annoyed Sasha enough that she wanted to hit it from the top rope instead. You got the shit-talking, the mean looking submissions, then she got frustrated at not being able to win, maybe even doubted herself a little (but didn't communicate that in overly hammy fashion), and so she upped the violence another notch and tried to re-break Bayley's hand. Stuff around the hand was really cool and my favourite part of the match might've been Sasha just stomping on it mid-Banks Statement as Beyley tried to grab the ropes. Sasha is also bonkers as fuck and that reverse rana off the top rope was nuts. Crowd were fairly split until about the final third and then they mostly got way behind Bayley, so it's a testament to both of them for getting the crowd to really buy into the face/heel dynamic rather than the "this is very good wrestling and we shall cheer appreciatively for all of it!" dynamic. I can't be bothered with a 30 minute match right now but I'll try and watch the Ironman before I turn 40. 50 tops.

The Boss (Sasha, not Bruce)

I've been saying for years that I'm going to check out those Sasha/Bayley matches from NXT. I say a lot of things but today I went to do just that. Then I forgot that I said I'd watch this match as well and so I did that first. I'll watch the Bayley matches...soon?


Sasha Banks v Becky Lynch (NXT Takeover: Unstoppable, 5/20/15)

I know this happened a while back now, but it's pretty crazy watching it in 2019, three days after a Wrestlemania headlined by one of them, where that same one of them became the first unified women's champion in WWE history (unless they had a unified Divas champion that I've forgotten about). Even if I wasn't really following NXT in 2015 I know how highly thought of Sasha Banks was. You had this, the Bayley series, folk talking her up as the absolute prodigy of women's wrestling in the US. A year later she was part of the very first women's hell in a cell as women headlined a WWE PPV for the first time ever. If you had to bet on one of these two main eventing the first women's Wrestlemania main event you'd have put the house on it being Sasha. Honestly, I haven't really cared about Sasha in a while. It's not that she's a terrible babyface or anything, she's just not very interesting. But this was heel Sasha and she felt so much more natural. You could see it against Rousey when she got to show some of her heel chops, how she got to be real nasty working the arm, the way she mostly worked from the top and didn't need to focus so much of garnering sympathy. This was a similar performance from an offensive standpoint, only it was ramped way up and she got to go all the way with the mugging and shit-talking. The arm work was mean and inventive and I liked how it came about as a response to Becky trying to do it first. She took over with a big arm-wringer drop onto the ring apron, then worked a great straightjacket choke where she'd stomp Becky's arms into the mat as the hold was applied. There was an awesome bit as well where Becky crawled over to the ropes to pull herself up, ending up straddling the middle rope, so Sasha yanked her into the position Becky would assume for her pre-match headbanging and twisted her arm over the top rope at a nasty angle, mimicking Becky at the same time. Becky going for Sasha's arm in kind gave us a really cool dual limb work dynamic, which isn't really something we've ever gotten a lot of in WWE. Even though she was technically the babyface the crowd were largely behind Sasha, but by the end they were all for Becky submitting her with the armbar. She mostly sold that arm the whole way through as well, hanging it by her side as she climbed the turnbuckles and generally reminded you that she was working hurt. The arm breaker off the top at the end didn't come off great, but it definitely worked as a payoff to the arm work and a nice set up for the Banks Statement. Really cool match. Maybe Becky Lynch might get over after all.

Velveteen Dream Weekend!

It's that time of the year where eleven thousand hours of wrestling take place over the course of Wrestlemania Weekend and better men and women than I try to take all of it in. Last year I was on a real wrestling high going into the weekend and watched a fair amount of stuff, including NXT, Matt Riddle's Bloodsport and the fourteen hour Wrestlemania show itself. This year I've barely had time to watch anything (and haven't for a few weeks), but obviously I was checking out any Velveteen Dream. I'd like to give some Bloodsport a go as well even if I don't know when I'll actually have time. I'll also watch Wrestlemania tonight because I guess why not at this point (aside from it being stupid long).


Velveteen Dream v Matt Riddle (NXT Takeover: New York, 4/5/19)

I haven't really paid much attention to Riddle since he's been in NXT. My commitment to following along with any promotion at this point never lasts very long and so I might've missed something worthwhile. So this might not be his best match in NXT, but I will make the very bold claim based on pretty much nothing other than this very match that he won't have many better. I'll watch anything with Dream, so I was pretty hyped and it didn't disappoint. The early parts in Velveteen Dream matches will always put a smile on my face and I liked Riddle being as chilled as always, having fun taking Dream over with tricked out submissions and generally having a good time doing what he does. None of Dream's horse shit was working on him and Riddle gyrating his hips while he was tossing him around was amusing. Then Dream stomped on Riddle's bare foot and that was that. He pissed him off and as soon as Riddle took over - with the awesome German suplex on the floor - he just went on a tear. This was such a cool Matt Riddle performance, the way he dropped the breezy attitude and tried to mangle Dream. He flirted once or twice with his heel side as well, throwing some mean strikes before releasing on a rope break, punting Dream in the chest, doing everything with a scowl. Dream's Hulk-Up stuff is obviously carny as fuck, but I'll always get a kick out of it and I liked how it led to the double ax handle to the floor, which he'd tried earlier before Riddle grabbed him and took over. The finishing run never got excessive at all and it meant that, outside the finish itself, the biggest spot led to the biggest nearfall. That German/Flying Bro sequence was incredible and Dream took the German almost full Kobashi style right on his cranium. Finish itself was great too. Riddle can grab and submit a guy from anywhere, but Dream is resourceful and the champ for a reason. He weathered the storm, took everything Riddle threw at him and managed to pull it out in the clutch. You get the sense there's a bigger match in them as well, and that's pretty refreshing when just about every match these days shoots for epic first time out. I can't remember the last time I was disappointed by a Velveteen Dream match.

Rousey!

Ronday Rousey v Ruby Riott (RAW, 2/18/19)

This was the only match from the Elimination Chamber PPV that I was bothered about so naturally it only lasted a couple minutes and was mostly about the post-match (which was pretty great as an angle, tbf. Becky sure laid it in with those crutch shots). I'm glad they decided to give them some time for a rematch because it was mighty fun. You knew there was going to be some Riott Squad interference in this, but I thought they did it in a way that made Ronda look like a killer who most folk can only beat with shenanigans while keeping it below the point where Ruby looked TOTALLY out of her depth. The interference itself was pretty inventive as well, especially when Morgan and Logan just yanked Ruby out the ring to prevent the armbar, which then led to Ronda hitting that wild cross body where she was all elbows and knees at awkward angles. Some of Rousey's execution is still raw enough that a couple strikes will whiff completely, but on the flipside of that everything else has the recklessness of a legit fighter trying to find her feet pulling off all these pro wrestling moves. Plus her bumping always looks rubbery and she'll often launch herself face-first into things like a nutjob. I liked how she sold the ribs here as well. Riott never went after them for any real length of time, but she threw some knees and bailed herself out with a spear, so Rousey sold it as an injury that hampered her in the first half of the match before it ceased to be a problem. Basically it was a nice example of middle gear selling lots of people don't bother with. Some of my favourite parts of Ronda's matches now are when she'll throw out an awesome bit of offence we haven't seen before and this time it was when she reversed the dragonrana by launching Ruby into the turnbuckle. Her throws at the start also looked great and the armbar setup as she scaled Ruby's body was badass. I dug this.

NWA Classics 24/7 #25

The Sheepherders v Bruise Brothers (Houston Wrestling, 1/24/86)

Talk about making an entrance. This was the Sheepherders' debut in Houston and it was more of an angle than an actual match, but if you want to set yourself up to get rabid crowd heat wherever you go then I guess this is the way to do it. They jump the Bruise Brothers and stab them in the face with a flag pole, wave that New Zealand flag proudly and walk out as security restrains enraged fans. It was like four minutes all told and did exactly what it intended to do.


The Sheepherders v Bruise Brothers (Chicago Street Fight) (Houston Wrestling, 1/31/86)

Man, Williams and Miller are certifiable. People already wanted their blood after last week, now Williams is raving pre-match about how the Sheepherders have won titles and flown the New Zealand flag high in thirty six countries. They come out to the ring as someone chucks a pitcher of beer and then waltz around ringside waving the flag to absolutely nuclear heat. Williams gets on the house mic and tells everyone to shut up as two guys in the crowd who are very likely several sheets to the wind are shouting right in his face. Would I fuck be pulling that in front of several thousand drunk rednecks who want to stab me, especially when the security in charge of stopping them from doing so look like they would also like to stab me. This didn't last long either, but the Bruise Brothers got to look competitive for a few minutes before the crazy New Zealanders put them to bed. The Sheepherders looked really strong in both these matches and in about fifteen minutes total they've managed to become two of the most hated wrestlers in Texas. As Tracy Smothers would say: that's calling working, motherfucker.

Here's to the Wrong Turn that Takes You to a Little Dive Bar in Mid-South

Dick Murdoch & Hacksaw Duggan v Kamala & Kareem Muhammad (7/14/85)

How's that for an all-star babyface team? It may be the best North-South Connection there never was. In some alternate universe we probably get an awesome Duggan/Murdoch North-South Connection v Koko/Eaton Midnight Express match that Joel Watts left the film reel of in his car to be destroyed by Louisiana sunlight. There were very many Dick Murdoch and Jim Duggan punches thrown in this, a bunch of different variations, from body shots to jabs and straight rights and Murdoch's awesome fist drop. The beefies provided some fun beefy moments and I completely blanked on Kamala hitting a splash off the top rope. The parts where we got two fatties crashing into each other looked great and morbidly obese Kareem Muhammad taking big bumps through and over the ropes will always look impressive. Duggan stamps his foot while Murdoch does his little hoedown jig, then Akbar's stable hits the ring as Duggan throws haymakers and Murdoch pops folk with a knuckle duster. Fun little brawl with a raucous crowd and you never scoff at that Murdoch/Duggan team.


Dick Murdoch v The Nightmare (7/14/85)

This was sort of the babyface version of Murdoch v Afa; not as much of a total carry job as Nightmare is a plenty fun stooge and holds up his own end fine, but it's largely built around Murdoch shtick and working towards big payoffs to it. First few minutes are all about him going to punch the Nightmare and the ref' stopping him. He cocks his fist, the crowd are ready...and Fergie steps in to remind him that a closed fist is illegal. Nightmare survives again and again because the ref' is trying to enforce the rules. Murdoch isn't happy about it but he plays along and tries to do things clean. Of course the Nightmare doesn't care about that and throws a bunch of cheap little forearms and punches out of tie-ups. After a little while the crowd are itching for Murdoch to just throw a punch and the heat for him repeatedly being stopped just builds and builds. You could probably argue that it put more heat on the referee than the Nightmare, because folks were very loudly booing Carl Fergie, but you forget all that when Murdoch leapfrogs an onrushing Nightmare, cocks his fists and then pops him in the mouth on the way back. Nobody works like that anymore and I know it's because wrestling isn't remotely the same in 2019, but it's always fun to see one single punch draw a bigger reaction than most nearfalls today. They also do the spot later where Murdoch winds up the arm for one big shot, then as he goes to throw it the ref' grabs the arm so Murdoch casually pops Nightmare with the other hand. Murdoch grabbed him by the eye holes in the mask and peppered him with punches, spun the mask around so Nightmare couldn't see and wound up falling out the ring, Murdoch sporadically ducked out to the floor so he could chase Eddie Gilbert; he ran through a bunch of hits and it's a show I'll never get tired of. I love as well how babyface Murdoch in Mid-South wasn't afraid to acknowledge his salty past. He tried to play it by the book earlier, but when Gilbert came in swinging that cane you knew Murdoch wouldn't be above using it himself if it fell to him. He did it nonchalantly, with a shrug of the shoulders, like Gilbert should've known better than to think ol' Dickie wouldn't stoop to his level.


Mid-South Project

Casas/Dandy v Cota/King!

Negro Casas & El Dandy v Mocho Cota & Silver King (CMLL, 3/18/94)

1994 CMLL is a strange beast. There are things like the Dandy/Llanes feud and...for the longest time that's pretty much all anybody had talked about in any great detail. Basically nothing else. Even then it's been about ten years since I watched the title match and I barely remember a thing about it now. Then a while back the Casas/Cota hair match got some pimping. Cota was a revelation on the Lucha 80s set and since then I've checked out some of his post-prison run. By the mid-90s the ship had probably long sailed on him having something like the Rocca title match, but he was still a ton of fun and the apuestas with Casas is one of those matches I've been looking forward to for a while. I guess this was where the feud started. I don't know what Cota did to get under Casas' skin but before the bell even rang Casas had him dragged to the floor. It promised a hate-filled brawl that they never really delivered on, at least not during the primera. They never quite went for each other's throat, instead settling down a bit and trying to work a semi-clean match. The exchanges were still rough though, and more than once tempers flared and someone would come in to take a swing. Cota was such a weird looking guy at this point in his career. He had the incredible afro, the signature hand gesture with missing finger on the front of his singlet, chicken legs and dinner lady arms, he looked like a malnourished Conway Twitty who'd stab you for a sandwich. In addition to his beef with Casas he didn't particularly care for Dandy, or his own partner, or pretty much anybody in the general vicinity. When he took an accidental dropkick from Silver King he'd had all he could take. You knew something was about to go down when he came back out scowling a minute later, and sure enough he brought with him a knuckle duster. Match ends in a DQ when Casas takes it from him and gives him a shot to the head (after Cota had given Dandy a whack in the ribs and laid out Silver King with a right hook), but the post-match with Casas trying to maul him was probably the best part of the whole thing. If Casas wasn't yet the untouchable king of Arena Mexico he'd become you couldn't tell from the way the people were behind him. When Casas was out for blood, the people were out for blood, and the referees could get fucked as well. Dandy grabbing both of them by the ear and dragging them away so Casas could continue the beating unimpeded was an awesome little touch, particularly when you consider the history of those two. That they stood raising each other's hand in the middle of the ring while Cota looked on bloody and bitter was a pretty good indication of how much piss he'd boiled.

NWA Classics 24/7 #24

Gino Hernandez & Tully Blanchard v Junkyard Dog & Tiger Conway Jr. (Houston Wrestling, 9/25/81)

This was full chickenshit stooge Tully Blanchard. The Dynamic Duo tag from the previous week was more of a Gino show, but this was Tully at his craven, backpedaling best. All of his bumps were super quick and allowed him to amplify those moments of stooging. What I mean is, when he'd take a surprise hip toss he'd almost roll through straight back up to his feet, and as he did it he'd find himself nose to nose in the corner with JYD. He didn't just take the bump, stand up in the opposite corner and realise he was in the wrong part of town. He wound up in that wrong part of town so quickly that he never had the time to register where he was, so the way he almost jumped backwards out his boots as he saw the Dog's fist not but six inches from his face was a reaction of genuine shock and terror. He certainly earned those reassuring hugs from Gino ("a real touching monent," Boesch comments sarcastically). Gino was really fun doing his thing as well and I loved him doing his Ali shuffle when he wanted a boxing match with Conway, who naturally rocked him with a big flurry. I haven't seen a lot of Conway Jr., but he took a nice beating here and had a few cool hope spots. His flip out of a backdrop where he landed on his feet was especially impressive, though the mid-match angle with Bockwinkel attacking JYD meant Conway was left on his own for a while. When he made it to his corner for the tag only to find it empty I half expected him to turn on the Dog. If this was the WWF he'd have thrown him through a barber shop window or strangled him with his own chain. But he weathered the storm long enough for JYD to recover, and when it was time for that hot tag the Dog came in like a man possessed. The way he looked at Gino would put the fear of god in any man and you could see Gino thinking about cutting bait then and there. I'm wondering if the Gino/Tully Dynamic Duo wasn't even better than the Gino/Adams version, even if the latter is probably the more famous.

Headin' Down to Mid-South, Money and Guitar in My Hand, on a One Way Ticket to the Promised Land

Midnight Express v Rock 'n' Roll Express (6/30/85)

I way undersold this going through the set the first time. At the time I thought it was a fun if middling version of this pairing, but it's much better than that and probably somewhere in that second tier of your MX/RnR matches. So comfortably awesome, but a step below classic. The first half is a little slower than usual, takes a little longer to get going, and they work in more stalling than I'm used to seeing from them. Of course it was good stalling and some of the shtick was great. Morton hits this awesome delayed hurricanrana out the corner and Eaton complains about hair-pulling that clearly never happened. He tells Carl Fergie to ask one section of the crowd and naturally they tell him Eaton's full of it. Eaton gets him to ask another section, same result. And then another. Everyone is in agreement that Bobby Eaton be lying. So Eaton points to Condrey and Condrey confirms that Morton did in fact pull the hair. Every Midnights v Rock n Rolls match has a spot I've never seen before and this time Condrey grabbed hold of Gibson in the corner as Eaton tried to fly into a monkey flip, but of course Gibson moved and Eaton's momentum led to him monkey flipping his partner. This came after both MX members had already been monkey flipped by Morton, just to add another cool layer. When the Midnights take over they go to work on Gibson's throat and I'm always going to be a sucker for obscure body part work. It was mostly chokes and illegal blows under the chin, but you had distractions from every angle and the crowd being whipped into a frenzy. We also got a Bobby Eaton top rope legdrop and my goodness is Bobby Eaton's top rope legdrop a thing of beauty. Molten hot tag, hectic little finishing run, humongous pop at the end -- a fitting last go-around for this match-up in Mid-South. Luckily they wound up in Crockett together and we got one or two more. 

Ted DiBiase v Terry Taylor (7/3/85)

Super energetic studio match, ultimately not the most memorable but the kind of thing you can never really complain about when it happens on a weekly episode of TV. Taylor working the arm early was solid stuff and I liked him keeping hold of it as he's body slammed, rolling DiBiase through with his momentum and going back to the armbar. Ted taking over with a killer right hook was a perfectly viable transition anyway because it looked so good, but I liked how it established that even a clean punch from DiBiase will turn the tide. So you know that when he loads up that glove it's curtains. I could've done without Joel Watts screeching towards the end, but I guess it put over how imperative it was for Taylor to mind the right hand. 

Mid-South Project

More Horsemen, More Flair (clearly not enough has been written about them already)

Ric Flair, Arn & Ole Anderson v Dusty Rhodes, Magnum TA & Manny Fernandez (World Wide Wrestling, 12/28/85)

This has to be one of the all-time great wrestling crowds. The heat is completely off the charts from word one and doesn't let up for a second; just nuclear screaming and hooting and everybody popping wildly for everything, booing heels out the building, getting fully behind the babyfaces. The action itself is good because, you know, look at the names, but a hot crowd will make everything feel a little more special and you could see the wrestlers feeding off it. Dusty was gyrating his hips inside three seconds and people were losing their minds. I've never seen a crowd react to a leapfrog like they did for Manny Fernandez hopping over Arn's head and catching him on the rebound with a forearm. And of course they're primed for some Flair v Dusty, going bonkers when it finally happens and even more bonkers when Flair gets put on his backside. You can criticise Flair for plenty of things, but he's a sucker for the pop and he won't deny the people when it's there to be had. It's a shame we miss the transition out of the babyface shine, but Magnum is a fun, brief face in peril, then we get a run of Manny being beaten on which is even better. The Andersons and Flair are just great at making it feel like it's a concerted effort to keep Manny in their own corner, always making sure the guy tagging out grabs hold of some tights so he can't scoot away before the next guy comes in. David Crockett isn't a great commentator, but I find it hard to be too annoyed by him since he's clearly so into everything. It's a bit like when Piper did commentary or even Ranallo now (who I seem to be irritated by way less than the majority). While it can be grating, it's pretty infectious. When Arn whacks Manny in the head with a chair there's something about Crockett shouting "he waffled him...heeeeee WAFFLED him!" that just feels right.


Ric Flair v Ron Garvin (World Championship Wrestling, 12/28/85)

I'd somehow never seen this. I've seen Flair v Garvin as a pairing enough times that it's not exactly fresh anymore, but I was looking forward to this after watching the build up on TV. The previous week as Garvin was doing a post-match interview at the booth, Flair came out doing his usual bit about being the world's heavyweight wrestling champion and that Garvin should know better than to interrupt his interview time (even though it was Flair who interrupted Garvin's). Flair talked up Jim Crockett as being the best wrestling promoter in the world but questioned how great the SuperStation Championship Challenge Series really could be when the world champ wasn't wrestling on TV. Garvin said he'd be up the challenge if Flair really wanted one and so Flair said he'd buy the full hour next week just to beat up Garvin on TV. Then earlier in this show Flair came out in his robe, talking about all the women who want to be with him, saying he's so high on being Ric Flair every day that he might just keep doing this for another twenty years (boy he wasn't kidding, was he?). He's in high spirits and loving life as Jim Crockett Promotions heads into the year 1986, with him as the heavyweight champion of the world. Then we get to this at the end of the show, and what a way to close out the year. I thought it fucking ruled. My favourite Flair is the one who gets pissed off and surly. The one who knows his title's in jeopardy and will fight to keep it. The one who's beyond begging off and ready to scrap with whoever he's up against. Sometimes we'll get brief glimpses of it during those longer title defences where he rolls into town and wrestles the local babyface. Sometimes he'll abuse Ricky Morton and punch him in his broken nose. Sometimes him and Terry Funk will tear each other to ribbons. This was about 90% that Flair and it felt as much like a fight as anything he was ever in. There were a few moments where they'd set up a rope-running spot by grabbing a headlock, Flair took his upside down turnbuckle bump and once he did in fact beg for mercy as he backed into the corner...but for the most part they tore strips off each other. It had a bit of Garvin working a keylock early and there was a little Flair arm work that was inconsequential...but for the most part they lit each other up. Flair was agitated from the start and every strike exchange felt violent; not just the chops and punches but the parts where they were rolling around on the mat clawing at each other's face or tearing hair out. Garvin was throwing some awesome heabutts, Flair threw his knees to the gut, Garvin bit him in the forehead, Flair dropped his shin on Garvin's face. Flair's mounted strikes were great, the way he had his whole weight high across Garvin's chest as he pelted him with these nasty little rabbit punches. At one point Garvin just wrapped his hands around Flair's throat and dragged him to the mat, then slapped him really hard across the face. It was gritty and uncooperative and they never gave each other a second's peace. When Flair shouts that it's time to go to school it doesn't feel like his usual shit-talking. He's had enough of Garvin and now we get to see why he's the world champ. Too often that Flair - the one who looks every bit The Man he says he is on a microphone - will make only fleeting appearances, and it's a shame because he's exceptional when he's beating the brakes off someone. Towards the end he never bothered trying to set up the string of babyface nearfalls, never bothered having Garvin put him in his own figure-four, never bothered getting slammed off the top. They just stuck to the brawling and it was all the better for it. Great little fight.

NWA Classics 24/7 #23

Gino Hernandez & Tully Blanchard v Mil Mascaras & Manny Fernandez (Houston Wrestling, 9/18/81)

I've been watching a bunch of Tully lately, mostly in singles during the peak Crockett run, so I wanted to check out some Tully/Gino Dynamic Duo stuff and see where he was at in '81. By the US title run he was a perfect little weasel who always managed to come across as dangerous and legit at the same time. He'd go after a guy like a swarm of angry bees and even if you wanted to smack him in the mouth there was no question he was as good as he said he was. He hadn't quite perfected that at this point, but you could see the makings of it. Interestingly he was sort of placed in the Arn role here as Gino worked this as a sniveling coward who wanted no part of Manny and even less of Mil. Gino's shtick was totally over the top and awesome and, other than one bit where he and Tully shared a reassuring embrace outside the ring, it was Gino who garnered most of the heat on his own. He'd come in to throw a cheapshot, then the babyface would spot him and so he'd just bolt out of the ring. He wanted a piece of Mil, then when Manny obliged and tagged him in Gino ran straight over and tagged in Tully. At one point Mil chased him all around the ring and ringside area as Gino scarpered for his life. Mil was really fun in this as well. He had a great double noggin-knocker spot, threw a bunch of cool flying forearms, had Tully locked in tight with his headscissors and those nifty spinning headstand takeovers, then he played face in peril for a bit and gave the heels more than I was expecting. Mil even doing the job at the end was a bit of a holy shit moment because I don't know if I've ever actually seen that before. When Tully and Gino were setting up the finish I thought for sure it was going to be reversed, but then they went all in on it and not only did Gino escape without receiving his comeuppance, he pinned Mil himself (well, with a little help first)! Post-match Mil cuts a scathing promo in Spanish - like an angrier, teary-eyed version of your Onita classic - and I'm assuming there was a blowoff to this that's buried somewhere in that Houston footage we'll probably never see. Pre-Crockett Tully is kind of a blind spot for me so I guess I should watch a bunch of Dynamic Duo tags now?

Arkansas River, Sallisaw Blue, This Town Never Seen Nothin' like Tenryu

Genichiro Tenryu & Toshiaki Kawada v Dan Spivey & Leo Burke (All Japan, 1/27/89) - SKIPPABLE

Spivey's mullet is wild. He looks like a bad extra in a Mad Max film. The wasteland has not been kind to him and that forehead might've been run over by one of those big fuck off monster trucks. He was pretty raw here and at first I thought this was going to be a real slog, but he grew into his role of towering bruiser as the match went on and by the end he was having some fun exchanges. It's still weird seeing Kawada as quasi-junior with the flying wheel kicks. He liked that spin kick to the gut as well, though in a few short years he'd be trading it in for straight punts to the eye. I haven't seen much of Burke at all. He was already a twenty three year pro by this point and I guess over the course of that career he'd become a master of the backslide because he went for it like twelve times (or twice). Tenryu never kicked anyone in the spleen or punched them in the eye but he threw some chops and hit a nice suplex. You don't really need this.


Genichiro Tenryu v Randy Savage (SWS, 4/1/91) - GOOD

There was pretty much no way I wasn't going to love this on some level. These are two of my ten favourite wrestlers ever and no matter how drastically my tastes in wrestling have shifted over my stupid life, one of the rare constants from the very beginning has been my adoration of Randy Savage. The first half of this was basically Savage working full Memphis main event. It ruled very much. We got all the Memphis horseshit -- him getting on the mic and telling everyone he's "GONNA GET TENRYU!", throwing his jacket at Tenryu, the stalling, the hiding behind the ref', the cheapshot, the bailing to the floor as soon as Tenryu lands an offensive move. One suit in the front row even gets in his face and tells him to get in the ring and fight. Initially Tenryu takes it all in pretty amicably, doesn't let it get to him and as Savage is bouncing around on the top rope Tenryu looks at him like "absolute state of this guy." Then Savage slaps him in the corner and Tenryu's had about enough. He doesn't slabber Savage like he would if it was one of the natives pulling that nonsense, but he chops him hard and Savage is mighty relieved he wore that vest to the ring. For someone whose approach to wrestling is so regimented and meticulously planned, I think Savage can still make it feel like a match is chaotic and off the cuff. Part of that is his personality and energy. It led to a couple moments of awkwardness here though, as one spot clearly didn't go to plan, maybe due to the language barrier, and so he just picked Tenryu up and did it again. When it didn't work the second time either you kind of wish he was more of an ad-libber. In the back half this almost turned into the battle of the top rope elbow. It was pretty amusing seeing the crowd react huge for Savage kicking out of a couple reckless falling elbows, then pop somewhat mildly for Tenryu kicking out of two Savage elbow drops. There are lots of American wrestlers with massive personalities who toned it way down when working Japan, but Savage wasn't one one of them and he worked this like it was MSG or the Mid-South Coliseum.


Complete & Accurate Tenryu

Tully v Magnum: The REAL Brawl to End it All!

Tully Blanchard v Magnum TA ('I Quit' Cage Match) (Starrcade, 11/28/85)

One of the definitive brawls in wrestling history. This is just a nasty, gritty, seedy masterpiece of a thing. It's only, what, fifteen minutes long? If that? Yet by the end it feels like they've come through a war that lasted a lifetime. It feels so violent and visceral because they don't really work it like a traditional brawl with the kinds of momentum shifts and exchanges you usually see. I actually prefer the Duggan/DiBiase stips match if we're ranking classic US brawls, but that was a pro-wrestling match with the set ups and payoffs slotted in where you'd probably expect. The real set up to this was done in the months leading up to it with Tully being a first class weasel and the payoff was the sort of attempted murder Magnum had been promising all along. This never had your traditional brawling exchanges. The punches were great but they weren't really the driving force. Instead Tully tried to gouge Magnum's eyes out and Magnum tried to bite chunks out of Tully's arm. When they were rolling around on the mat it was the kind of thing you'd expect to see in a fight where two guys were trying to kill each other, especially after the exhaustion had set in. The selling was off the charts from both of them but Tully was unbelievable as a man who'd been forced to find a side of himself he never knew existed. He'd never explored these depths of himself before and he really came across as a guy who would maim Magnum or worse if he needed to. Say what you want about him, but he was the US champ for a reason, he was the top drawer athlete he said he was, and at this point he was sick to death of everything about Magnum TA. The part where he goes for a cover out of instinct is a pretty great example of his mindset. It's like he's sleepwalking through this hell he's been forced into, not really taking in just what exactly he's doing, almost going on muscle memory at points before realising that wrestling acumen ultimately doesn't count for shit if he wants to end this. Then there are the parts where they're shoving the mic in each other's face with all the roaring and screaming. Tully almost sounds like he's pleading with Magnum but of course Magnum is never going to quit, so Tully just cracks him in the head with the mic. Baby Doll covering her face in horror as Tully refuses to quit is such an incredible visual. And that whole ending sequence is pretty much iconic. I mean Tully smashing a chair to bits and trying to stab Magnum in the face was fucking insane, but the finish itself was even wilder than I remembered. I hadn't seen this in about fifteen years and I didn't recall it being so gruesome. After all the shit Tully and Baby Doll had pulled over the last few months you knew Magnum would take it as far as he needed to, but I don't think anybody expected him to try and cut Tully's face off. Just a ridiculous finish and holy cow did Magnum look like the most unfuckwithable human being on the planet afterwards. The way he stood there with that chair leg staring down Tully, Tully rolling around trying to hold his eyeball in place, Baby Doll distraught in the corner...and Magnum drops the weapon, throws his new title over his shoulder, walks out head held high, the people in raptures.

Flair & The Horsemen

Ric Flair v Sam Houston (World Wide Wrestling, 11/16/85)

This whole thing was great, from Flair's pre-match interview to the post-match angle with Dusty. Crockett asks Flair if he hears footsteps, if he might be afraid of the returning Dusty Rhodes, and for a second there I thought Flair might actually smack the little goof. Who does he think he is? Flair's the world champion and he doesn't fear anybody, not Dusty Rhodes and especially not his protege Sam Houston. The match itself was a quality little nine minutes. Flair was at the absolute peak of his powers in '85, really made Houston look like a million bucks here, but he didn't give him seven of the nine minutes, there was no begging off in the corner, no pleading with God for a reprieve from the mighty Sam Houston. Houston obviously got his offence in, but most of it came off of reversals or when he played up his quickness, sort of catching Flair by surprise. You can even construct a narrative if you like that Flair was taking his challenger too lightly. Either way Houston was really snappy when grabbing a headlock, quick to catch Flair getting to his feet with a dropkick, dropping behind him off a suplex attempt for a roll-up, never afraid to lay into him when Flair would throw chops. There was a cool bit as well where he took Flair down with a really slick drop toe hold, and when you're thinking it's time for the spot where Flair's opponent puts him in the figure-four, Houston just dropped the knee across his leg a few times instead. It was a little thing, but one you appreciate when you've seen twelve thousand Flair matches. That Flair actually sold the leg right through til the end was a nice touch as well. For his part Flair was really fun getting annoyed and throwing Houston out the ring, treating him with a sort of disdain because Sam Houston shouldn't be giving the world champ this much trouble on TV. The finish ruled too. Flair had already gone for one suplex and almost got caught, but then Houston went for broke with a cross body and wound up crashing. Flair really soaked in the moment before hitting that big vertical suplex, shouting something at a fan before holding Houston up there for a few extra seconds. He was still limping a little, but he showed Houston how you really go after a guy's leg and it was somewhat of a rarity that the figure-four was applied with no build up. It was treated as a match-ender and Flair wielded it as a weapon. The post-match with Dusty coming out wearing his special boot was molten, too. He gave Arn a kick in the ribs and would've done the same to Flair if he hadn't hightailed it. Sam Houston is one thing, but maybe he's not quite ready for a pissed off son of a plumber. Crockett was red hot at this point and they were going through one of those periods where everything was clicking. They couldn't have built up the main matches for Starrcade any better.


Ric Flair, Arn & Ole Anderson v Terry Taylor, Ron Garvin & Pez Whatley (World Championship Wrestling, 11/16/85)

Super energetic six-man tag. It got lots of time and everyone was working a hundred miles an hour, but it didn't feel messy, we got two strong extended babyface heat segments, and the speed they were working at gave lots of it a sense of desperation. When Taylor tried to make that hot tag you knew Flair or Arn were going to have to get over there quickly to cut him off, or Ole would really have to trap his leg so he couldn't crawl away. The Flair opponent putting Flair in the figure-four moment also worked as a great hope spot here. Taylor could've and probably should've made the tag, but the opportunity was too good to pass up even if ultimately it cost him. Flair was a pretty awesome cheapshotting bastard, getting his licks in from the apron and dragging Taylor out to slam him on the floor. He and Garvin lit each other up more than once and I loved Garvin headbutting him clean in the face. Flair really made that finish work by holding Whatley's feet down as well. A simple trip from someone standing on the floor shouldn't really be enough to put a guy out, but it's way more difficult to kick out when Arn is pinning down your shoulders while Flair has a hold of your legs.


Ric Flair v Koko Ware (Memphis, 11/18/85)

This was my #10 on the Memphis set, became one of my favourite Flair matches ever and was maybe the best of Koko's career. I'm a broken record about watching lengthy Flair title defences against guys he matched up with regularly. I'd rather watch him work shorter studio matches (like the Houston match) at this point, but when it's a match against someone he rarely wrestled my interest will shoot up a bit. Koko is one of those guys and this was still a blast. Flair is in bully mode for the first ten minutes, breaking clean a couple times more because he doesn't take Koko all that seriously as opposed to being a good sport. He gets in Koko's face and shoves him around, throws some chops, doesn't really get anything rolling on offence but you never get the sense he's worried. It's Memphis and it's little Koko Ware, why SHOULD he be worried? Koko is having none of his shit though and controls things with the headlock, shoving Flair back and popping him in the mouth when Flair starts with the chops. Then you start to see Flair getting agitated and even gets into a shoving contest with the ref'. Koko peppers him with an awesome punch combo and Flair takes his first Flair Flop, then he comes right back for more, Koko gives him another awesome combo, and Flair takes his second Flair Flop. Flair tries to take him down and actually wrestle, but Koko is too slippery and Flair can't get a handle on him, eventually spilling out through the ropes. And now he's really pissed. The chop that gained him control looked like one of those you'd see in WAR and from there he ramped up the aggression. His armbar was super tight, really torquing it at the shoulder joint, sitting high up on Koko's back so he couldn't escape, even digging his face into the mat while he shit-talked Dusty at ringside (Dusty was out as Koko's second, which was a cool touch). Flair doing the nasty double stomp to the gut is something that he stopped using at some point, and I really wish he didn't because it always looked great. This time it had a little extra mustard behind it like he hadn't forgotten that early humiliation. As they head towards the finish the heat builds and builds, Koko gets to look good surviving the figure-four, gets to apply it himself, all that good stuff you get with the Flair Formula. There's an amusing spot as well where Flair tries to fight off a sunset flip by punching Koko in the head, but of course Koko, as a black man, has a brick solid cranium and Flair dings his knuckles. Finish is what it is, but the build to the dropkick before it was good stuff and if you're going to give me TWO motherfucking Koko Ware dropkicks then you can run whatever finish you damn well please! Also, Lance Russell was so good on commentary during this whole thing. He got over the story of Flair taking Koko lightly, added a bunch of neat little observations throughout, suggested that Koko using the headlock early was to ease his way into a rhythm because he was nervous about his first title shot (and that Dusty may have advised him to do so), put over Flair perfectly, just a great call all around. He was an absolute treasure of a commentator and the best there's ever been. This held up great.

The Return to Puerto Rico!

I never finished the set back in 2016. I may finish it by 2026.


Steel Cage Battle Royal (March 1988)

I wouldn't expect this to work as a concept anywhere other than Puerto Rico. Even then I figured it might be rough, because logistically it seems like a bit of a nightmare. You eliminate someone by throwing them out the door, but the problem is there's only one door. In any other battle royal you can be eliminated from anywhere so there's always that lingering danger or sense that someone could get tossed at any moment. In this I guess you could just stay away from the door. If you're over in the other corner there's no danger of you being thrown out. That would maybe kill the inherent drama of a battle royal, though. People are more likely to pay attention to whatever's happening over by the door and forget about the other stuff, so in theory you'd end up with a bunch of guys not doing much because they're not really "involved." Except in Puerto Rico everybody bleeds and brawls and so you can't really help but pay attention to what's happening over in that other corner. Muta and Kendo Nagasaki might be trying to boot Invader III out the door but over to the right there Bobby Jaggers is trying to scalp Chris Youngblood. Even the eliminations worked better than I'd have thought. Nobody got thrown out without a fight and a few times it took more than one guy to eliminate someone. You had folk trying to grab hold of the ropes while two assailants tried to kick him out. I don't even know who all participated, but it was hectic and it was Puerto Rico.


Super Black Ninja v Invader I (Street Fight) (4/2/88)

Prior to getting the Puerto Rico set this is the only match from the territory I can clearly remember seeing. I think it was on an old Schneider Comp, but at that point I hadn't been exposed to the greatness of Invader and never cared for Muta anyway, so I probably wasn't as invested. Since then the bloody Invader brawl has become one of my favourite things in wrestling. This is masked Invader which means we lose a bit of what makes him so great in these kinds of fights, some of the EMOTING and facial expressions, but you know he bled like crazy and I thought it turned out pretty awesome, albeit a step down from the truly high end slobberknockers. Muta was more than fine here; he'll always bring the energy and he was pretty fun working Invader over with his belt, choking him with his t-shirt, bonking him over the head with his boot, etc. There were also some first class payback spots, including the low blows as this is Puerto Rico and no good ball shot goes unpunished. Muta's was especially great as he was falling back when he did it, really made it feel like a desperation move. By the end Invader has the awesome half-crimson mask thing going on and the pop for him smashing Muta with the briefcase was wild. Badass match.


Chris & Mark Youngblood & Rock n Roll Express v Bobby Jaggers, Dan Kroffat, Mr. Pogo & Kendo Nagasaki (5/21/88)

Nifty 8-man tag with a red hot crowd. The early babyface shine is super fun and Kroffat was real fun getting bumped around for everything. Chris Youngblood never hit any of his cool pump kicks, but he and Mark rolled out a really cool double team where Mark hit a legdrop across the back of Kroffat's head while Chris had him in a sort of bow and arrow. Sometimes there was too much going on, so during the heat segment you'd have a babyface come in hot expecting to get sent back out, only he'd have to walk reeeeally slowly over to the heel corner waiting for the ref' to spot him and hold him back. I did like how the heels made a point of keeping Youngblood in their own corner the whole time. Hot tag leads to everyone going at it and we get the double RnRs dropkick for the huge pop. I'll never ever complain about getting eight minutes of this.


Miguel Perez Jr. v Super Black Ninja (Hair v Hair) (5/21/88)

This didn't do a whole lot for me, surprisingly. Muta's been pretty enjoyable on the set and they worked this at a nice pace, but I couldn't really get into it. Perez had a bunch of neat offence, though. His low blow to start the comeback obviously ruled, but his big back suplex looked great and he was all over Muta early. Muta's legdrop was swank as hell too, just crazy height and it's not totally surprising his knees got absolutely blown to bits later in his career. Commentary was also in Spanish here and I think Savinovich said Muta was the Great Kabuki's son, which of course rules.

The Fabulous Ones (x2)

Fabulous Ones v The Moondogs (Memphis, 6/13/83)

A total riot. There was no slow build here, none of the Fabs' usual entrance with the bow ties and tuxedos, high-fiving fans as 'Everybody Wants You' blared through the Mid-South Coliseum. They stormed the ring while the lights were still off and for the next ten minutes these guys tried to murder each other. I had this at #15 on the Memphis set, but as a match it barely goes two minutes. As soon as the bell rings it's carnage, then two minutes later Jerry Calhoun gets hit with a chair and a plank of wood and the match is thrown out. I guess everything after that is technically the post-match. Still, like your concession stand brawls and empty arena fights it was included on the set as a match, it was ranked as a match, and so it's only fair I judge it as a match. I don't make the rules. But yeah, it's mayhem from start to finish. Everybody gigs and gets assaulted with bits of furniture, including Calhoun who is walloped about a dozen times by everybody involved. He keeps trying to interject and ends up getting smacked with a chair or stabbed with a table leg. I don't think I've ever seen a match make better use of a table, in fact. Nobody took a bump through it, instead it got hurled in the ring early and from there everybody kept coming back to rip a piece off and use it as a weapon. At one point a Moondog just dropped the full thing on Steve Keirn's back, and you know it sucked because it was clearly one of those bulky fuckers that weighed a ton. Like the mahogany dining table your granny had, just dropped clean on top of someone. Randy Hales was furiously ringing that big bell to try and stop the madness and Steve Keirn grabbed it like "mate will you shut the fuck up with that?" and bonked a Moondog in the head with it. Lane diving off the apron onto a Moondog's back was amazing, perhaps only slightly topped by Keirn trying to gouge an eye out with a splintered 4x4. Memphis did these out of control alley fights better than anybody and this was right out the top drawer.


Fabulous Ones v Nick Bockwinkel & Mr. Saito (AWA, 10/18/84)

Christ, is Gene Kiniski the worst guest referee in history or is Gene Kiniski the worst guest referee in history. It's like he can't decide if he wants to get in everybody's face and be overly authoritative or be blind as a bat and miss all the shenanigans going on around him. Sometimes you get both at the same time, which is really when he's at his worst. I'm usually not bothered about ex-wrestlers trying to grab a bit of spotlight when they're on referee duty, but Kiniski is super awful. Then again, I kind of love how both teams used his woefulness to their advantage at various points in the match. As soon as he got in Bockwinkel's face you knew Saito was coming over to stand on Keirn's neck, really doing it in a way where you knew HE knew he shouldn't be doing it at all, then when Kiniski would spend four hours threatening to pop Saito Bockwinkel would choke away. The Fabs pulled some phantom tag shtick as Bock would bitch away at Kiniski, always making sure to clap loudly so it sounded like a tag was made. Bock was about ready to flip so Keirn dragged Saito into the corner and gave Lane a big exaggerated tag, just to show Kiniski they were playing it by the book (of course Kiniski didn't allow it and made them do it again because I guess Lane's foot was touching the rope or something). At other points you'd get both Saito and Bockwinkel in the ring at the same time and Kiniski would be like oh no stop only one of you can be in here, then Lane would make the tag and Kiniski would disallow it for whatever reason. He's the Mike Dean of pro-wrestling guest referees. Saito was probably my favourite guy in this. You knew we were getting a Saito/Lane martial arts showdown. You knew Saito was gonna try and pull some funny business. Both happened and I loved Saito grinning like an idiot as he bowed in respect, but of course Lane wasn't having it and Saito was left fuming. There was also a great bit where he caught one of Lane's kicks and turned it into a perfect dragon screw, which I'd guess was one of the only times this AWA crowd had seen that move in person. Lane basically no-sold it, but he rolled through quick enough that I guess you could say he went with the momentum so the leg never got twisted, plus it led straight into an enziguri that bumped Saito to the floor. The finish with Lane and Keirn doing the switcheroo came off great as well, and Keirn's small package looked perfect. Nobody was getting out of that.

Had an Ax to Grind so off Tenryu Went, Mad at the Sun for Coming up Again

Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara v The Great Kabuki & Haku (WAR, 7/15/92) - GREAT

A step down from the previous night's classic, but still chock full of your lumpy WAR goodness. This never had the same ready-made hook of Orihara being junior heavyweight punching bag. On the one hand that meant we got some Tenryu in peril, and for a role you don't necessarily associate with him during his peak years he sure is great in it. On the other hand Hara isn't nearly as explosive coming in off the hot tag. Hara also took a couple stints being beat on, one of which in the back half that kind of dragged a bit, and as much as I love him he isn't as compelling a face in peril as Orihara. The second half of the previous night's match just escalated in violence until it reached horrific levels, so the back half of this being more about the abdominal stretches and camel clutches was never going to hit the same heights. But in amongst all of that you got exactly what you came for -- potatoes for days, nasty strikes, brutal partner saves, awkward powerbombs, hate, ill will, and an exasperated referee knowing he can't keep any of it in check. Hara and Haku were bringing the bazooka headbutts here, some where one guy would grab the other by the hair and conk him, others where one would bounce off the ropes and ram his head into the closest face or forehead. I've always had a soft spot for Haku and he clearly likes working Tenryu feds because he can cut loose and slabber folk like he was born to. This isn't him throwing rinky dink lariats and superkicks against Jimmy Snuka; this is WAR and if you don't smack a guy so hard that his sweat hits the back wall then you're doing it wrong. His first interaction with Tenryu was also amazing as, like the previous night, Tenryu's very first involvement had him trying to crush someone's windpipe with a chop. Only where Kabuki bided his time and hit back later, Haku immediately grabbed a chair and walloped him in the head. He was also giving Tenryu some of his own medicine by kicking him in the face as he crawled around trying to find his partner. Kabuki might've been even more agitated here than he was the night before. Any time someone hit the ropes near him you fully expected them to be kneed in the kidneys or kicked in the neck, and more than once that's what happened. He may not be as physically talented, but if we're comparing Japanese guys in face paint who worked 80s US territories then I'm pretty sure I'd take him before Muta. I know Muta never superkicked anyone in the throat with as much conviction as Kabuki. Not one of the true upper echelon WAR tags, but more than once it broke into a deluge of lariats and headbutts and everybody getting clobbered from all angles. And that's really what brought you here in the first place.


Genichiro Tenryu & Shiro Koshinaka v Satoshi Kojima & Hiro Saito (New Japan, 2/5/00) - FUN

This is a match I was interested in for the Tenryu and not a lot else. Don't care about Kojima, rarely care about Koshinaka, and Hiro Saito is comfortably behind Masa and Harley on any sensible person's list of pro-wrestling Saitos. The Tenryu bits were indeed fun and he was the best part of this by a mile, especially when he was chopping folk and punching Saito in the jaw. For his part Saito was alright firing back and his sentons certainly looked PLUMP. Koshinaka obviously couldn't be bothered and was mostly nothing. His hip- and butt-based offence will sometimes look okay if he's laying it in, but he wasn't really doing that and so you don't really care. Once or twice he was also being worked over and just decided he was fed up, stopped all pretense of selling and tagged out. Kojima had a few fun moments of chippiness, getting in Tenryu's face, throwing some shots the old man wasn't expecting, definitely the brightest non-Tenryu participant. Cool moment where he pushed Tenryu too far and got clobbered with an apron enziguri, crowd booed a little and Tenryu looked at them like "what did you honestly expect?" Tenryu taking a page out of Koshinaka's fuck it playbook and no-selling Saito's powerbomb was kind of lame, although the setup to it was well done. More of a proper heat segment on someone and this could've been pretty good, but it was basically your garden variety back and forth New Japan tag.


Complete & Accurate Tenryu

Absolutely Fabulous

Fabulous Ones, Dutch Mantell & Steve O v The Sheepherders, Adrian Street & Jesse Barr (Stipulations Match) (Memphis, 3/28/83)

I still don't actually know what the stipulations to this are. Haven't known since I first saw it over ten years ago. They don't necessarily have any bearing on how the match is worked, so it's not like DiBiase/Duggan where they're in the cage wearing tuxedos and there's a glove on a pole and whatnot. They're not gimmick stips as such. The result of the match and who takes the fall specifically determines which of the several stipulations must be upheld and of course this is Memphis so you better believe somebody is leaving town when all is said and done. As a match it was plenty chaotic. Street wasn't involved for very long, but his exotico shtick was fun as he got kicked in the butt and threw a hissy fit, then later was the recipient of a wishbone and I can't really do justice to his sell of it. You had guys coming in illegally, heels taking cheapshots, being chased out by the babyfaces, the babyfaces themselves taking cheapshots; there was always something going on beyond what the two guys in the ring were doing and Calhoun had to spend the whole time trying to keep a lid on it. The best parts were when one guy would just randomly smack someone with a chair for no apparent reason. At one point Mantell came running along the floor and smashed a Sheepherder in the head. Keirn, from outside the ring, hit someone in the back as they were standing by the ropes, and I don't know where he even got the chair from but it was a total Tenryu move. Lane getting on the mic post-match and telling Cornette to "HIT THE ROAD, JACK" prompts the tantrum to end all tantrums as Corny has to leave Memphis for like four days or something. I'm sure he was back in three.


Fabulous Ones v The Moondogs (Stretcher Match) (Memphis, 5/2/83)

Outside of Lawler/Dundee, this might be my favourite Memphis feud. I have a ton of fond memories of going through the Memphis set and a whole bunch of them revolve around the Fabulous Ones. Before the Memphis stuff I mostly knew Steve Keirn as the old balding gator hunter who was always covered in chewing tobacco. I remembered him with chew dripping down his beard and Monsoon calling him a disgusting boor and Heenan sometimes cracking jokes about him having just kissed Mike McGuirk (as an aside, Heenan's McGuirk cracks might be the best running gag in WWF history). I always liked Lane and even had time for his goofy karate, but he was the sauce to Eaton's steak and everything else in the main course. Then came Memphis and I couldn't believe how good these guys were. The Mid-South set had come out before Memphis but I was late in getting to that, so while everybody else involved in the 80s project already got to see them be awesome - albeit as heels - the Fabs jumped off the page to me as an amazing, all-time level babyface unit. Eleven years later they're still my favourite ever US tag team. The thing that separates them from a lot of babyface teams of the era is that the Fabs got to brawl like motherfuckers and have insane blood feuds with the Moondogs and the Pretty Young Things. Midnights v RnRs might be the pinnacle of US tag wrestling, but they never had anything like this. That Midnights/Fantastics match from the Clash where they were chucking each other over tables was nuts, but they never hit the same level of visceral hatred as Fabs/Moondogs. Naturally this starts out wild before the Fabs isolate Rex (I'm not entirely sure if it was him or Spot and neither is Lance because he just refers to him as "the bigger Moondog"), and I don't have any memory of them trying to double stomp his guts to mush but they surely do just that and it was surely fucking awesome. In an interesting twist on the norm it's uber-babyface Stan Lane who brings out a chain, but there's a collision between him and Rex and the chain goes flying. I loved Keirn picking it up and trying to strangle Rex from the outside, though of course that leaves the ref' distracted and he misses Spot clubbing Lane in the head with a big old dinosaur bone. The short heat segment on Lane rules and Jimmy Hart jumping around blowing his whistle like an idiot has everyone itching for him to get popped in the mouth. The hot tag to Keirn sends everything into chaos and the last couple minutes are insanity. Keirn bonks Rex with the dinosaur bone and goes full Pirata Morgan, biting him in the forehead and spitting the blood in the air, while Lane and Spot try to throttle each other on the floor. Finish is totally crazy. For a match that can only end with one team being carted out on a stretcher, you'd think any stoppage other than that would be anticlimactic. But Keirn being hanged in the ropes while the Moondogs and Jimmy Hart try to murder him felt way more disturbing than what him being beaten into unconsciousness would have. Sending Keirn away in an ambulance wasn't enough, they wanted him carted out by the coroner! The ropes really snapped back as Lane finally managed to free him as well. Just a brutal looking sequence and Lane wildly swinging a chair trying to defend his fallen comrade was an awesome visual. And hey, Keirn WAS eventually taken away on a stretcher - on the second attempt since a Moondog tipped it over the first time - so in the end they fulfilled the terms of the contract. This might not even be the wildest match of the feud.


Fabulous Ones v Bobby Eaton & Duke Myers (Hair v Titles) (Memphis, 5/16/83)

The Rock n Rolls never had anything like this, either. This was the kind of thing that, if you ran it with a slightly tweaked finish, could conceivably turn a guy babyface. Duke Myers got his brains beaten out here, bled like a stab victim and had no idea what was even going on at the end. He was a warm body that Bobby Eaton rolled onto an opponent and he'd have stayed there if not for being dragged away. The match starts out with them going Lane in peril almost right away, which was probably a smart booking decision considering how much the Fabs were going to take of the match later. Lane doesn't really make a hot tag; he basically makes his own comeback and is fully recovered by the time he tags in Keirn, but Randy Hales sells it as a big moment. I like that Lane sold the effects of his own headbutt, at least. Then the thrashing begins. After a few seconds of Keirn beating on him Myers' face is a ruin. He gets nothing from here on out. It's just a total Fabs domination and Hales says several times that he's never seen a guy busted open so bad. Even the mid-match stoppage is the kind of thing you could use to put major sympathy on someone, especially if you have Cornette and Eaton dump him for losing them the match. Myers never quit, he was just beaten half to death and the ref' stopped it. Cornette and Eaton leave in disgust and you get some more heat on them, setting up the revenge run from Myers. That's not complicated booking and we've seen something similar work a few times. But this is hair v titles and if Cornette's boys lose, he's bald. So they get the match restarted and Myers gets bludgeoned some more. The finish is one of those things where, if you started to feel even a little sympathy for Myers after the unholy shitkicking he'd received, it all evaporated when Cornette and Eaton managed to cheat their way to a win. Myers himself played little part in it, but he's associated with them, reaps the same rewards and ultimately becomes an undeserved tag champ. Unless you'd count taking that beating and walking away as something worthy of a champion. And well, you might not be wrong.

Lawler v Dundee: For all the Marbles!

Bill Dundee v Jerry Lawler (Dundee's Hair v Lawler's Title & Car) (Memphis, 8/22/77)

What a fucking match. I'm positive I'd seen a clipped version in the past, but this is the full version that became available a while back, possibly as part of the 70-TV.com footage released a few years ago. I'd already watched the build up on those 70-TV discs and it really is wonderful. They went back to this feud countless times over their careers and the way they managed to find new ways of keeping it fresh is pretty amazing. The opening here is more cagey than usual for them, but the stakes are as high as they've been in their eternal feud to this point. So it's understandable. Dundee's hair is on the line, but more than that if he loses he'll have to listen to all of Lawler's grandstanding on TV about how he told everyone he'd beat the little runt. Lawler's title and car are both at stake and what's a king without his crown? And in Memphis, a king without his Cadillac? So is his dopey manager's hair but I expect Jerry cares substantially less about that (I don't even remember the manager's name now and I don't think he was around very long. He was no Jimmy Hart, obviously). So it's real tentative and Lawler spends most of the first five minutes skirting the peripheries of the ring, always arm's length from the ropes. I love how Dundee played it cool, though. He never got riled, never got drawn in, just kept patient and waited for his chance. He eventually gets it by kicking Lawler in the knee - which was apparently damaged in another of their recent matches - and going to work on the leg for the next few minutes. Lawler does this great sell of it where he keeps the bad leg turned away from Dundee, still staying close to the ropes in case he needs to grab them or outright escape the ring. Dundee is dogged in going after the figure-four, gets closer to applying it with each attempt, but Lawler manages to fight him off every time. The one time he just about managed it Lawler turned onto his side and yanked Bill off his feet by the tights, so Dundee improvised and applied a sort of side of  side on figure-four using his hands for pressure instead. Lawler takes over with a short bit of revenge leg work, but it doesn't last long before we get to the fists. He brings out the chain, opens Dundee up, chokes him with it, grinds it in his cut, bites him, the full playlist. Then before the ref' can catch him in the act he drops it back out to his manager and goes about the rest of his business with bare knuckles. You know what you're getting with the punches. Both are GOAT-level punchers and several dozen GOAT-level punches are thrown. There was one awesome Dundee flurry where he was peppering Lawler with shots, circling around him as he went before dropping him with an absolute jaw-jacker. But Dundee is losing blood and before long he's on his last legs. This was some truly incredible last legs selling. At one point Lawler had him in the corner just lacing into him and you bought Dundee only being upright because Lawler's presence in front of him kept him from falling on his face. It gets so bad the NWA representative in attendance calls a halt to the match, but of course Dundee is having none of it. Lawler is naturally pissed at the restart, immediately jumps for the mount and unloads with this unreal barrage of shots. Just a total "will you fucking die already?" response, the kind of thing you see in a big dramatic murder scene when a character's pushed beyond the brink and they're left staring at their hands, all their fury spent, wondering how they were capable of doing that to someone. Except Lawler knew from the start he was capable of it and he still had fury to burn. The finish might've been a wee bit anticlimactic, but you soon forget about it with the post-match, which was very Memphis in its execution (thus, awesome). I'm not sure where this sits among the very best of Lawler v Dundee, but it's an absolute corker and probably somewhere around their top 3 singles matches.

Porky/Markus! Coupla Fatboys! Santo! Panther! Niebla!

Brazo de Plata & Headhunters A & B v Gran Markus Jr., Cien Caras & Steele (CMLL, 5/22/98)

You knew you were in for something special before this even officially started. The Headhunters are full blown tecnicos here and come out hugging children and high-fiving parents, then Brazo de Plato comes out at a rapid waddle and bum rushes the EVEN PORTLIER Gran Markus Jr. as the Loony Tunes theme song plays. You'd maybe think the match could only go downhill from there, but then you'd be dead fucking wrong because this was an awesome seedy brawl built around a couple fatboys bleeding like pigs. The first caida lasts about a minute and a half before the rudos literally kick Porky into submission. Or the refs DQ them for excessive cruelty, I'm not really sure. Either way Porky gets thrown into the ring post and bleeds, so Markus Jr. punches him in the cut and hungrily laps up his blood like a disgusting wee ghoul. Porky making his comeback was of course phenomenal, as it tends to be. I'll never tire of Super Porky losing his marbles in fit of rage and it looked like he was trying to kick Markus Jr. to death. He was also measuring his punches before landing potato shots right to the cheek bone and digging his thumbs into the cut forehead like he was trying to peel a particularly stubborn tangerine. The Headhunters were a blast in this as well, throwing their ample weight around and splatting guys with beefy clotheslines, one of them crushing Cien Caras with his entire body weight, the other doing an awesome fatboy plancha off the ring apron. Steele is Val Venis in a dodgy Shredder mask made of cut up cereal boxes and he was a pretty fun rudo stooge. He had a couple impressive power spots, like picking up a Headhunter and ramming him into the post, and he had a nice brawling section with that same Headhunter where he tried to cut a mid-match promo only to get his face smashed into a table. The finish is deflating as we finally get to the mano a mano section with Porky and Markus Jr. on level footing, but the ref' sold the almighty hell out of that splash and if the apuestas lives up to the lead in then you can accept the trade off.


El Hijo del Santo, Blue Panther & Black Warrior v Tony Rivera, Mr. Niebla & Mr. Aguila (CMLL, 5/22/98)

Totally different yet equally awesome trios. This was just a breeze, and if it wasn't particularly standout for CMLL in 1998 then that says more about the kind of TV they were producing that year. This didn't necessarily have a central pairing to it -- it didn't appear to be setting up a title/apuestas match or even furthering any existing programmes, there were no A/B/C roles or match-ups, but it did have the obvious hook of the young studs up against the legends. It was a workrate trios at heart, but even if they never got especially niggly there was definitely an element of the old guard wanting to put the kids in their place. Niebla looked like a real superstar here and his pairing with Panther was top drawer. You'd suspect part of looking so good against Panther is because you're in there with Panther in the first place, but he looked crazy graceful all the way through and his matwork was really slick. Either he improved markedly at the latter in those eight months since the Wagner title match, or he was always capable and Wager decided to work that New Japan hybrid anyway. Aguila also had a few big moments and his corkscrew moonsault was perfection. Santo busting out the corner tope will always rule and I loved Niebla taking it straight in the face as the dude front row had to scramble out of dodge so fast his shirt got left behind. I want to check out more Niebla from '98. Late career Niebla can be a drag and I don't remember early career Niebla being anything exciting. Maybe this was right in the sweet spot?

Yoshida v Futagami; Ohmukai v Tamada (ARSION)

Michiko Ohmukai v Rie Tamada (ARSION, 5/5/98)

This had a few cool moments, a few weird moments, a few rubbish moments. It wasn't the best. Ohmukai starting out by using a handshake to yank Tamada into a tiger suplex was great, but then they went and did a bunch of suplex-trading and no-selling and nobody has time for that shit. Ohmukai has some killer strikes but hardly any of them looked good here. Her kicks were all over the place, the ones that connected often looking light, the ones that missed looking like that was always the plan anyway. She did throw one punch to the jaw that kind of ruled, though. Tamada was just as sloppy and some of the miscues between them were glaring, resulting in awkward fumbling with neither seeming to know who was supposed to be hitting a move and who was supposed to be taking it or moving out the way or what. When she's on her game Ohmukai can be a pretty great Battlartsy shitkicker, but this was not that. I don't know what this was.


Mariko Yoshida v Mikiko Futagami (ARSION, 5/5/98)

What a cracking little bout. Where the last match started with a minute of ropey fighting spirit guff, this started with a minute of sprawling and scrambling for limbs that ended in a stalemate. Yoshida was an absolute marvel in this. She mostly works dominant and it's because she's such a dynamo on the mat. Futagami is the more accomplished striker, but most of her big hits land almost surprisingly. She has to get tricky with them because Yoshida seems to have them largely scouted, and once or twice, probably out of frustration, she throws a couple that could be considered cheapshots. Early on they engaged in a knuckle lock and Futagami started throwing kicks, thinking she'd keep hold of Yoshida's hands so she wouldn't be able to block. Except Yoshida used her arm and managed to corral a body kick anyway, which she then turned into a rolling kneebar. On the couple rare occasions it looks like Futagami might have Yoshida in a dangerous spot, Yoshida will spring a counter and apply an ankle lock with her own feet or a kimura to escape a choke (and I love that she coughed and spluttered a bit afterwards to sell it). I'm not sure what prompted it specifically, but at some point Yoshida started selling her taped up wrist and it gave Futagami something to target in times of need. Some of her hits started landing a little more flush as well and they had me convinced she was winning after the brutal koppo kick. But really, Yoshida did about five things on the mat that I don't think I've seen before. There was one point where Futagami tried to pull some Manami Toyota neck bridging out of a pin shenanigans so Yoshida grabbed a choke with her legs. A couple beats later Yohida hit a folding powerbomb, and as Futagami kicked out Yoshida instantly transitioned into an ankle lock. The way she wound up with a gogoplata out of a gutbuster at the end was absurd. ARSION had such a cool house style and this was a superb ten minutes of it.

Hashimoto v Yamazaki (The Title Match)

Shinya Hashimoto v Kazuo Yamazaki (New Japan, 2/16/97) 

This is such a great match. It was a pairing that ruled any time we saw it in '96 and they played off some of that history here. First couple minutes are great as they set up a few things they'll pay off later. Right away Yamazaki throws some strikes in the corner and Hash just wallops him with an overhand chop, so you're thinking Yamazaki might want to try and do something about those at some point. He also tries to hit a German, but it's blocked and Hash reverses it into a snap DDT. For a stretch after this it feels a bit like Hashimoto is having to react to whatever Yamazaki throws at him. He can never settle into a rhythm while Yamazaki implements his strategy. Hashimoto will kick you in half so naturally Yamazaki goes after the leg. Hash is mostly contained for a while, and even if some of the kneebars aren't hugely compelling they at least further the story. There are also a couple great moments where Yamazaki tries to go for an armbar, then as Hash worries about blocking that Yamazaki shifts back to the leg. We also get a payoff to that earlier German suplex attempt as Yamazaki wastes him with an ax kick and hits a great looking German. Match goes up a gear just after halfway and is fucking awesome from then on (as opposed to only being pretty great beforehand). There were a few occasions in the back half of 1996 where Yamazaki would sell a rib injury in matches. He'd even do it outside of New Japan, like during a tag match in WAR, and it always added some big time drama. The injury was caused initially by Hashimoto trying to crush his lungs in a June tag title match, so Hash just pump kicking him in the guts was an amazing "fuck this" transition. Yamazaki sold it like he'd been shot as well, and they play it up with a few other kicks to the midsection later so I'm inclined to believe it's a deliberate part of the PSYCHOLOGY~. At this point Yamzaki changes strategy - because stopping those kicks clearly worked out so well - and goes to the arm instead. I guess it's easy to make comparisons to Misawa/Kobashi again because it's so fresh in my mind, but Hash's overhand chops feel pretty comparable at this point to Misawa's elbow - and we've seen them used to similar effect already - so I thought it was a cool way to advance things. That Hashimoto's selling performance was incredible doesn't hurt. It was a different sort of selling from Misawa's, more expressive than Misawa's stoic determination, but the overall point was largely the same. His arm is fucked and his opponent is clearly trying to take away a major weapon, but as long as the arm is still attached he'll keep using that weapon and worry about the consequences later. Yamazaki was winging kicks to the arm, really working for the Fujiwara armbar, and the crowd were starting to react like an upset might be on the cards. A couple times he grabbed the fresh arm and applied the armbar there, then as Hashimoto reached for the ropes he would transition back to the opposite arm. At one point he just started headbutting the shoulder and the bit where he blocked the brainbuster by punching Hash's bicep was awesome. Hashimoto coming back with his own headbutts looked brutal as well, just total Fujiwara-style butts right to the cheek bone. And of course the moment he lost it and reeled off five overhands in a row, dropping to one knee in agony afterwards, was amazing. That finish with the absolute mother of all brainbusters was a hell of an exclamation. I've never seen their G-1 match from a year later, but it's one I've been looking forward to for ages and if this is anything to go by I imagine it'll be terrific.

Liger v Kanemoto (IN FULL!)

Jushin Liger v Koji Kanemoto (New Japan, 2/16/97)

I watched this practically back to back with the heralded Liger/Ohtani match from a week before this. The Ohtani match is routinely talked about as one of the best juniors matches ever, compared to Misawa/Kobashi not necessarily in terms of quality, but for the story they told being quite similar. And well, I liked this way more than the Ohtani match. One of the very first comps I ever bought had the clipped up version of this on it and I remembered reading about it on one of the old DVDVRs. It sounded spectacular and was a bit of a dream match for me at the time. Kanemoto was one of the first guys from Japan I became a fan of and Liger was maybe the very first, being familiar with him as I was from the WCW appearances and some old magazines. So naturally the eight or nine minutes I saw of it blew me away. I watched it again about ten years ago, probably the same JIP version, and still loved it. The full version isn't exactly a holy grail for me at this point and I never figured one would ever be made available anyway, but I guess New Japan decided to throw us Kanemoto stans a bone and drop the unedited version way back when. And hey, the full version was great! And those missing minutes added rather than detracted from the match!

It's not a perfect match by any stretch and there are some iffy parts. A few bombs could've been sold better, they could've made a little more of one or two elements, maybe the brief limb work could've had more of a payoff, that sort of thing. I think this being about eight minutes shorter than the Ohtani match kept me a little more engaged as well, and in general I thought they used their time better (though I understand that Ohtani and Liger probably needed longer to tell their story). This had some matwork in the first half, some targeting of Liger's knee and arm, but it was mostly Kanemoto kicking the shit out of Liger. Kanemoto never exactly worked over the knee and/or arm, he just briefly went to the kneebar or armbar in between those longer bouts of striking. Liger acknowledged that the arm was giving him some grief, but it wasn't the central focus of the first half and it was all the other grief Kanemoto was giving him that had him sweating. It's sort of amazing how a guy in a full bodysuit and ridiculous mask can be so expressive, but Liger is awesome at conveying the story through body language and his body language said "what the fuck am I even doing here?" He'd been put through the ringer a week earlier and straight from the bell he's being booted out of his costume. Isn't The Ace supposed to be given a break once in a while? Why be The Man if you can't flex some political muscle now and then? The first half is like 90% Kanemoto and even the moment where he basically no-sells a powerbomb didn't annoy me because it was the first bit of real offence Liger had mustered. Plus for any questionable moment like that you get two or three awesome ones in return, like Kanemoto flipping Liger the bird mid-Figure Four or chucking him around by the horn on his mask. Or generally being a wee prick and punting him in the spine and such. The transition into Liger's comeback is a real corker. Kanemoto comes off the top with a moonsault, but as Liger moves Kanemoto's able to land on his feet, charging right at Liger only to have his nasal bone drilled through his brain with the meanest shotei ever. This was just hideous and, like it did against Ohtani the week before, establishes the shotei as Liger's most reliable and lethal weapon. Liger is really great from here on out reasserting himself and repaying Kanemoto for all that horseshit earlier. The brainbuster on concrete felt huge here too. In the Ohtani match they did something similar with Ohtani taking a powerbomb on the floor, but he was literally up and about like nothing had happened ten seconds later. Kanemoto really milked this though, waiting just until the ref' got to nineteen before sliding back in the ring. Liger briefly going after Kanemoto's knee during the stretch run felt a touch out of place, but it had a payoff later as Kanemoto builds up another head of steam before missing a moonsault, and from there he can't quickly follow up because he dings his knee on the landing. Liger using the shotei to set up the avalanche brainbuster was a great finish as well and there's that trusty palm strike getting him out of bother again.

I doubt this is even a top 10 match of 1997, but it's one I've always had a soft spot for, have fond memories of even reading about, and the full version totally delivered everything my teenage self could've wanted.

Twist off the Lid Like Tenryu Did, Let the Fiddle Make a Little Mountain Noise

Genichiro Tenryu & Ultimo Dragon v Typhoon & Shinja (WAR,12/8/95) - SKIPPABLE

This was the semi-final of a one night tag tournament, the first and only of its kind in WAR's short, potatoey history. Tenryu and Ultimo beat Fuyuki and Kandori in a fun first round match (refer to the C&A Tenryu database, if you would) while Shinja and Typhoon had to get past the all-star duo of Koji Kitao and fucking El Gigante! I can only imagine how the prominent online wrestling reviewers of the time viewed that. Folk weren't exactly the most receptive to WAR and its lumpiness back then so I'd assume many negative star ratings were assigned. But hey, some of this was alright! Typhoon is absolutely huge and towers over everyone. It wasn't as noticeable in the WWF because it was full of giants there, but even Tenryu looks small and Ultimo is teeny tiny. Tenryu chops him stupid hard but Typhoon is unfazed and slams your WAR president like he was a mere sack of carrots. They do some mid-match comedy shtick with Typhoon asking little Ultimo for a test of strength, Ultimo obliging by standing on the top rope, and Typhoon just chucking him away. Ultimo ends up playing face in peril and Typhoon gives him a backbreaker, then while on one knee gives him about six more with absurd ease. Ultimo does not make you forget Tommy Rogers, but he's a passable enough FIP and Tenryu was getting super annoyed at his little buddy being treated like garbage. The finish was pretty out of nowhere, but you'd have bet the house on Shinja being the fall guy and Tenryu condescendingly applauding them afterwards was amusing. Shinja flinging a fireball in his face was a pretty unexpected response.


Genichiro Tenryu & Ultimo Dragon v Jado & Gedo (WAR, 12/8/95) - GREAT

The final! And what a killer little sprint! I wasn't expecting much from this, knew it only went eight minutes (fuck yer Real World Tag League) and figured it might be kind of decent with enough Tenryu involvement. But man, it wound up being a real hoot. Gedo is sporting the bleach blond quiff and he and Jado look like the goofiest pyjama-wearing shitheads imaginable. They jump Ultimo before the bell and straight away we go into the Ultimo Morton segment. This was way more heated than the semi-final as Jado and Gedo are working at double pace with a bunch of neat offence and cut-offs. Gedo also takes the turnbuckle padding off one corner and I thought it was a bit silly because they don't actually do anything with it, but just you wait. Gedo even knocks Tenryu off the apron at one point by clawing at his recently-scalded face. Of course Tenryu is a fucking hell storm in off the hot tag, immediately breaking a chair over Jado's head and smashing him into a table. Almost instantly Jado's face and forehead are crimson and Tenryu so thoroughly mauls him that you almost feel sympathy for the wee goof. He's trying to pull himself up with the ropes and Tenryu just keeps chopping his throat and throwing short punts to the cut. Gedo eventually comes in and dropkicks Tenryu's knee at a disgusting angle, but the follow-up splash backfires and he flies into that exposed turnbuckle. Thus, we have the greatest payoff in the history of our sport. Gedo's carcass is ripe for the pickings as Ultimo wipes out Jado with the Asai Moonsault, and Tenryu adjusts the weightlifting belt with a look that tells us he's very much back in the big time (he'd missed five months prior to this, though I'm not sure if he was injured or what). This flew by. It never let up, had a nice heat segment, Tenryu slaughtering someone, cool little setups and payoffs, blood, a hot crowd, just way better than I was expecting.


Complete & Accurate Tenryu