What are YOU watching?

[The King of Old School]

King of the ring 1994, with the WORST guest commentator ever, Art Donovan. I have no idea who he is and he sounds drunk.

Art DonovanI wonder why and whos idea it was to get him to commentate through the whole show?

[The Cum Doctor]

More from the other side of the world, and this time it's moving into the early 90s, which is basically where I want to be.

 

Genichiro Tenryu vs. Jumbo Tsuruta - 11/10/1989

 

In the horror of all horrors, this match was a great match with a great crowd. The match had even more hate than their last encounter, and you felt that they REALLY didn't like each other. A couple of blown spots near the end didn't do the match any good though. I'd recommend the first match I covered on this thread over this one, but hey, this is brilliant stuff.

 

Genichiro Tenryu and Stan Hansen vs. Giant Baba and Rusher - 29/11/1989

 

The finish of this match isn't the only thing that's brutal about it. Giant Baba is just horrible to watch here. Nothing he does looks the slightest bit convincing and he's in there for far too long, meaning that he drags the match down. When Rusher was in there, there was a real sense of drama and excitement. Safe to say that I didn't enjoy this match as much as I would have liked.

 

Tiger Mask II vs. Kenta Kobashi - 06/03/1990

 

A match of two halves here. Well, that's being harsh. The first couple of minutes of the match are very awkward, mainly down to Tiger. However, once the match gets going, it's much like the previous two Kobashi singles matches that I watched. Kobashi is in complete control this time though, and then they go onto what can only be described as a sprint finish. I guess it's a match worth checking out for historic value, and it's not a bad match.

 

Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu - 19/04/1990

 

Below the standard for these two guys ... but below the standard is still damn good. There's a terrific angle before this match which is utterly shocking stuff. Anyways, that basically tells the story for what's coming ahead during the match. Both guys, as usual, are terrific at getting the point across.

 

Yoshiaki Yatsu and Samson Fuyuki vs. Tiger Mask II and Toshiaki Kawada - 14/05/1990

 

Tiger Mask II is the story of this match. From the beating he took untill the shocking angle that took place during the match. From that point it was all Mask and Kawada, as they dished out the sort of beating that no team deserves. Not even a team of buggers.

 

Jumbo Tsuruta, The Great Kabuki and Masa Fuchi vs. Kenta Kobashi, Mitsuharu Misawa and Akira Taue - 26/05/1990

 

This match made me want to see more Misawa vs. Jumbo, which I guess was one of the points of it. The other point of the match was to be way awesome. All six guys busted their asses in this one. I thought Kabuki's offense was odd to say the least. Very out of place in this match.

[JLM]

Puroresu King Indy Summit 2005

 

Few things before I start.

 

First, many many thanks to Gwailofilms. He sent me this for free because he's nice like that. Second, I haven't watched a full wrestling show since the last time I watched RAW, which was quite a while ago now. My non-WWE viewing has been non-existent, though I have been keeping up with all the news, results and talents as best I can.

 

I decided that I wanted to start watching again after reading Ultimo The Great's post in the pimping thread. I want that enthusiasm back, but I also need to get my attention span back. What better way to do that, I thought, than an Indy variety show with all kinds of craziness in store, plus the added icing of the Kai En Tai reunion semi-main event. Would this show re-spark my interest, would I turn it off after ten minutes? We shall see...

 

Tajiri on commentary, alongside Susumu~! I've missed him.

 

1. Daisuke Harada/Kanjyuro Matsuyama/Hidehiro Nishiyama vs. Masami Morohashi/Shinobu/Kaji Yamato

 

This was horrible. Particularly the stuff involving Matsuyama, which is a shame because I liked his schtick on the Toryumon Mexico shows. Sloppy to the point of being cringeworthy. Someone eats a man-sized running fore arm smash at some point. That was the only highlight. Bad start on the whole re-igniting THE FIRE (R.I.P. Hash ) front.

 

2. 3 Way Dance: JOE & Yasu Urano vs. Brahman Kei & Brahman Shu and Danshoku Dino & Michael Nakazawa a/k/a Michael Nakazawa vs THE ZOMBIES

 

Wow, this had pretty much every Japanese Indy sleaze staple going. Fantastic stuff. Handsome JOE is amusing and the Sato twins look sooo much cooler in this gimmick despite the Klansman-esque entrance gear. Dino was... well, Dino. Molesting crowd members and molesting handsome Joe. He also took a liking to Michael Nakazawa and his almost pornographically small trunks. Little things Dino does like reaching to grope at the opponent's balls as they go to lock up just never get old. So yeah, lots and lots of ball grabbing, swanky Sato twin double teams and lots of man on man kissing action. So far, so Indy.

 

However, they weren't even close to done. Before the match, the Brahman's explain some kind of ritual that turns one of the into what appears to be zombie, complete with flourescent yellow ooze pouring from his mouth. At about the half way point, a T virus outbreak seems to happen and the zombie infestation begins. Michael Nakazawa returns to the ring late after some outside brawling to find that everyone appears to be dead. He decides that this makes him the winner and begins to celebrate, only for everyone in the ring to sit up in unison and begin zombie shuffling towards him. Including his partner Dino. A zombified gay sexual predator. What a show. So yeah, he valiantly fights off the zombie horde for as long as he can. Unfortunately, the ref has ben zombified and is unable to make counts or do pretty much anything. JOE and Urano snap out of it somehow and put Michael away in clinical fashion. The finish is really quite irrelevant though.

 

Later on there's a backstage interview with JOE and his Basilisk entourage. During this, a terrified Nakazawa bursts into the room and tries to hold the door shut behind him. This is to no avail as the zombified wrestlers from earlier burst in and start mauling everyone. JOE and co. make a hasty retreat.

 

Yes, all of this happened on a wrestling show. Yes, it was all absolutely brilliant.

 

3. El Blazer/Yuko Miyamoto/Rasse vs. Takeshi Minaminno/PSYCHO/Tigers Mask

 

Say what you will about tiny guys not looking like tough guys, but to me El Blazer is definitely an example of one of the ways in which wrestlers can appear "larger than life" without being a monster. The guy is like a friggin super hero. I slightly prefer the Yoshitsune gimmick for him, but either way the guy remains absolutely mindblowing no matter how many times you've seen him. Rasse (formerly Small Dandy Fujii) is a very respectable aerialist himself but he is truly outshone in this one. Takeshi Minnamino is terrific. First time I've seen him in his post-salsa gimmick and it really is excellent. He's quite the bad ass now. PSYCHO is a lot of fun and one of the handful of K-Dojo guys I enjoy watching, Tigers Mask sadly doesn't get much focus in the heavily clipped highlights which is a shame as I don't see enough of the Osaka Pro guys. Fun little spotfest with a couple of the usual show stealing highspots from El Blazer.

 

4. 1,000,000 Yen Scramble President Royal Rumble

 

I love this show. This match features the presidents of a number of the promotions involved in an over the top rope royal rumble match. Most of these guys are wrestlers, like TAKA Michinoku (K-Dojo), Super Delfin (Osaka Pro) and Jinsei Shinzaki (Michinoku Pro). The fun comes into it when the Big Japan president (The Great Kojika) arrives. He's not far off seventy years old, retired many years ago and is very much an office man in a suit. The crowd absolutely loves him for joining in and aggressively heckle anyone who dares attack him.

 

Great bits:

 

Jinsei Shinzaki doing his standard loooong entrance where he slowly removes his entrance gear in a ceremonial fashion and recites a prayer. Nothing unusual about that, except he comes in mid-way through the rumble and does this in the center of the ring with the other wrestlers waiting. Sanshiro Takagi sees the oppurtunity for a cheap shot but Super Delfin steps in and tells him that it's just not the done thing to attack him during his ritual. Amusing.

 

Muscle Sakai channeling the awesome power of the feel good slow motion music video moment to try and battle the dominant Shinzaki. Lights dimmed, music blaring and two guys wrestling in slow motion, including a super slow praying rope walk from Jinsei. Amazing.

 

The finish. Predictable as hell but definitely the right result.

 

5. BattlARTS Rules: Kota Iibushi & Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Hayato Jr. Fujita & Muneki Sawa

 

All sleaze aside, this match rocked, but then how could it not with Mochi, Kota and Sawa in the same ring? Kota is the lanky beanpole of greatness from DDT who also works El Dorado and various other shows. He's excellent, very graceful and slick performer with spectacular aerials and a nice line in intense striking exchanges. I hate to say it, but he really did waste too much of his career in DDT. Great to hear Mochi's music and watch him do his thing after not watching any DragonGate for my longest stretch in recent years. On other shows, Sawa works as lingerie Muto. Which is him portraying Keiji Mutoh. In lingerie. Yep. However, in this one he's in deadly serious fuck-you-up Battlarts mode, mixing in the odd Mutoh spot to good effect. Sawa and Kota absolutely kick the crap out of each other for large stretches of this, and their opening exchanges are incredible. Sawa hits much better shining wizards than Mutoh.

 

Mochi is clearly portrayed as the strongest man in the match and Hayato the weakest, but everyone manages to get plenty of vicious kicks in and it's never quite a squash despite clearly heading towards a Mochi over Hayato ending. Towards the end, Kota and Sawa lose all interest in the match and just attempt to kill each other on the outside for the remainder. Hayato, left alone with Mochi, does his best to man up and give as good as he gets but he is ultimately too puny for his much stronger opponent. On the plus side, he survives a twister and a Saikyo High kick before being knocked out cold by a Shin Saikyo high kick, so he looked pretty strong in defeat.

 

Liked this a lot. Need to see Iibushi vs Sawa in a singles outing.

 

6. Fluorescent Light Tubes Death Match: Jun Kasai/Naoki Numazawa/Shadow WX vs. Kesen Numa-jiro/Abdullah Kobayashi/Takashi Sasaki

 

Bloody, violent, mental, Big japan goodness. Not close to some of their best stuff but still engaging. Abdullah Kobayashi stripping down to a sumo thong to hit a sit out move through some light tubes... just why??? Naoki Numazawa still has one of the best looks going.

 

 

7. Kaientai DX (Dick Togo/Shoichi Funaki/MEN

[tiger_rick]

I've been watching the greatest comp around. The Hart Foundation 1997. 12 discs of absolute gold. Great matches, great interviews, incredible chemistry between Bret, Austin and Michaels, tons of fantastic angles and the real rebirth of the WWF. It spawns Austin the mega-face, DX and the Montreal screwjob. I've enjoyed it as much as watching it the first time around. I'm on disc 9 at the moment.

[Jun Kasai]

5. BattlARTS Rules: Kota Iibushi & Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Hayato Jr. Fujita & Muneki SawaAll sleaze aside, this match rocked, but then how could it not with Mochi, Kota and Sawa in the same ring? Kota is the lanky beanpole of greatness from DDT who also works El Dorado and various other shows. He's excellent, very graceful and slick performer with spectacular aerials and a nice line in intense striking exchanges. I hate to say it, but he really did waste too much of his career in DDT. Great to hear Mochi's music and watch him do his thing after not watching any DragonGate for my longest stretch in recent years. On other shows, Sawa works as lingerie Muto. Which is him portraying Keiji Mutoh. In lingerie. Yep. However, in this one he's in deadly serious fuck-you-up Battlarts mode, mixing in the odd Mutoh spot to good effect. Sawa and Kota absolutely kick the crap out of each other for large stretches of this, and their opening exchanges are incredible. Sawa hits much better shining wizards than Mutoh. Mochi is clearly portrayed as the strongest man in the match and Hayato the weakest, but everyone manages to get plenty of vicious kicks in and it's never quite a squash despite clearly heading towards a Mochi over Hayato ending. Towards the end, Kota and Sawa lose all interest in the match and just attempt to kill each other on the outside for the remainder. Hayato, left alone with Mochi, does his best to man up and give as good as he gets but he is ultimately too puny for his much stronger opponent. On the plus side, he survives a twister and a Saikyo High kick before being knocked out cold by a Shin Saikyo high kick, so he looked pretty strong in defeat. Liked this a lot. Need to see Iibushi vs Sawa in a singles outing.

Man I loved this match, just 4 guys beating the ever loving shite out of each other. It's a shame nothing ever came from the Kota/Sawa exchanges as a singles match would be rather splendid. Hopefully Sawa's match with Mochi airs soon so all is not lost. Also has anyone watched Mochi vs Hayato from Buyuden 3???

[freaky]

I'm watching Queens of Chaos at the moment, and shit, it's frustrating.

 

I'm only two matches in, and I'm pissed off with the fans already. In the first match - Rebecca Knox v Skye, which wasn't very good, partly because Skye was also wrestling with her silly schoolgirl outfit she was encouraged to wear by the promotors - there was an audible "show your tits" chant, and in Erin Angel v Jersey the crowd chanted about Angel allegedly having a fat arse, even though she clearly doesnt - it's just in comparison to the petite Jersey.

 

I might watch the rest of the show on mute.

[Twatters]

Ive been currently trying to get up to date with PWG spoiler-free. Ive watched up to Pearl Habra and highlights have included: Bryan Danielson vs. Low Ki, Muscle Outlaw'z vs. The Young Bucks, Age of the Fall vs. The Young Bucks, Low Ki vs. El Generico and anything involved with the Chris Hero/Human Tornado/ Candice LeRae angle.That feud has been awesome, the mystery partner tag, where Eddie Kingston was revealed as both guys partner, the 3 on 3 hardcore match also involving CC and Necro Butcher, another good Hero/Kingston match and a surprisingly great LeRae/Tornado match. I'm pretty sure it will continue, but i have heard about Tornado's injury so it will end soon. I've also heard of Low Ki's injury, so i'm guessing he's dropping the belt soon aswell. Oh and the Young Bucks are great, ok completly spotty, maybe the new Rockers?!Also just finished watching "Inside the WWF: With Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara" It was pretty interesting. Russo wasn't half as unlikeable as i thought he'd be. Annoyingly ended half way through, with an ad for "Inside WCW". Does anyone know if thats been released? The extras's were quite good aswell.

[The Cum Doctor]

Necro Butcher vs. Samoa Joe - IWAMS

 

This would be their first match from the ECW Arena. It's a rarity that a match is made so famous by one man's inability to take bumps. It also helps that both guys seemed to really hate each other and just spent most of the match laying into each other, but the forehead bumps are the things that end up getting remembered by the end. There are no signs here that Necro Butcher would turn out to be an indy favourite, as he really doesn't do much, other than get his ass kicked. He'd get better eventually.

 

Teddy Hart vs. Pac - 1PW Fight Club 2

 

Pac was dead before 10 minutes of this match had happened. They don't take long to get to the big moves, but it's good that they still manage to keep the match flowing well. Everything is executed absolutely perfectly, other than an awkward section in the middle, and as a result of everything mentioned, this match is terrific viewing.

[Dean Saliba]

I am watching Dragon Gate - Dead Or Alive 2008. My first Dragon Gate show!

[Loki]

For anyone who's interested, Nuts TV on Freeview is re-showing old episodes of "Bushido: Way of the Warrior", the UWF shows. I'm recording it to see what all the fuss was about.

[Philjax]

I'm watching Queens of Chaos at the moment, and shit, it's frustrating.I'm only two matches in, and I'm pissed off with the fans already. In the first match - Rebecca Knox v Skye, which wasn't very good, partly because Skye was also wrestling with her silly schoolgirl outfit she was encouraged to wear by the promotors - there was an audible "show your tits" chant, and in Erin Angel v Jersey the crowd chanted about Angel allegedly having a fat arse, even though she clearly doesnt - it's just in comparison to the petite Jersey.I might watch the rest of the show on mute.

If this is the very first QOC DVD, Kid Kash is the absolute highlight in his interactions with Nikita.I managed to wangle Chickfight 7 for a fiver from the RQW table at IPW last Sunday. I've watched the quarters so far and it's excellent. I never expected the Yarmouth venue to have so much floor space. Spotted Lantern!

[bAzTNM#1]

I've been watching the greatest comp around. The Hart Foundation 1997. 12 discs of absolute gold. Great matches, great interviews, incredible chemistry between Bret, Austin and Michaels, tons of fantastic angles and the real rebirth of the WWF. It spawns Austin the mega-face, DX and the Montreal screwjob. I've enjoyed it as much as watching it the first time around. I'm on disc 9 at the moment.

Are you interested in making a copy?

[dopper]

I watched TNA Best of 2007 which is mostly good.I didn't see what was so great about Kurt Angle vs Sting for it to be voted #1 Match Of The Year. It was a good match but certainly nothing amazing imo.Angle picked an unusual time to try his first (that I know of) 450 splash. The knees-first landing on Sting's chest made me cringe.Other than that the interviews were fine but contained nothing much of note and I was surprised to see Cornette, one of the companies best talkers, not being included.Aside from the Sting/Angle match, the other six matches of the year were very good.

[The Cum Doctor]

More 1990 AJPW now.

 

Stan Hansen vs. Steve Williams - 05/06/1990

 

I'm not sure I can say there's much wrong with this match, other than I was not buying into Hansen as the plucky underdog. The match suffered badly for me because of this though, as the match was completely built around it. In fairness to the two guys, the fans bought into everything they were doing, and the ending few minutes were dramatic enough to make me enjoy it. Plus, VICIOUS ending.

 

Terry Gordy vs. Jumbo Tsuruta - 05/06/1990

 

This is a really good match, and as usual, "Freebird" works amazingly well as theme music. These two guys go out there and bust a gut BIG time, kicking each others asses for a good 15 minutes. It's probably one of the more two sided matches I've seen from AJPW up to this point.

 

Steve Williams vs. Kenta Kobashi - 08/06/1990

 

What an incredible match between these two guys. Kobashi is, as usual, over as hell with the crowd. As a result, I was expecting the match to be a lot more one sided, but I was amazed to see just how much offense Kobashi got against the bigger and more experienced Williams. More fun than you can shake a stick at.

 

Stan Hansen vs. Terry Gordy - 08/06/1990

 

This match was clipped to the last few minutes, but what I seen wasn't very good, and it was pretty messy stuff. I'd like to see the full match to see if there's any improvement on it. The problem was that, for once, I couldn't exactly understand what it is they were going for. I'm guessing that the full match would have been much better to see.

 

Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jumbo Tsuruta - 08/06/1990

 

So, this is the first big Misawa match that I've seen, and I have to say, it's not quite as good as what would be coming. Infact, since I know he was pretty good at this time as well, I thought this match was disappointing. It was actually pretty good, and everything in the match meant something. I liked how Misawa was doing everything he could to keep on top of Jumbo, but Jumbo had obviously been scouting Misawa, and countered a couple of moves Misawa would usually hit. However, just when you thought this would not be repeated by Misawa, he does a pretty terrific counter of his own near the end. It's just justice that it turns out that a mistake is the thing that wins the match for the winner. So, the story is good, the execution has nothing wrong with it. I just found it dull at times.

 

Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kenta Kobashi - 30/06/1990

 

Kobashi is terrific as the relentless son of a bitch when working on the leg of Kawada, but that section of the match does drag on a wee bit. Also, when the match hits the final stretch, there's a couple of blown spots, and the match would have probably been seen as much better if they had been able to pull it off a wee bit cleaner. That said, the match is still a good look at what the two guys were capable of at the time.

[benbobjr]

heroes of world class, ive not watched the wwe version, but i highly enjoyed this dvd and especially so as i learnt so much about WCCW having not known much about the organisation before