More Satanico

Satanico v Shiro Koshinaka (7/30/84)

A few years ago I thought this was amazing. Didn't think as highly of it this time, but it's still really fucking good. I've said it a million times before, but the gap between good Koshinaka and bad Koshinaka is ridiculous. How a guy can be as dishwater dull as he was at points on the New Japan set compared to how much fun he could be going up against guys like Tenryu in the WAR feud just boggles the mind. This is a hair match, so it's built on hatred and brawling, and that's the Koshinaka I want to watch. There were a few moments where he looked a bit rough around the edges, but for the most part he brought the hate and violence like I wanted. Satanico felt like the guy holding this together, though. He brought plenty contempt of his own, but he's awesome at doing those little things that make a match stand out, like really forcing Koshinaka's shoulders to the mat in a super tight rollup. Sometimes a cradle will look real neat and pretty, but Satanico makes it look like it'd hurt. The bit where he just loses it and jumps on Koshinaka like he's trying to tear his skin off was amazing. Some of the post shots these guys are taking are bonkers as well; face first unprotected, straight into the steel. I still don't know whether the finish was an actual nut shot from Koshinaka or Satanico pulled a Neymar, but I kind of like it either way (although I prefer the sound of the former...yeah, let's go with that). I'll still have this fairly high, but not top 20 like I figured coming in (although that says a lot about how loaded this set is).