Jarf watches your suggested matches

[Jarf]

Matches Suggested by @Hoss

CWA 9/8/1986
AWA International & Southern Championship Winner Take All Texas Death Match: Jerry Lawler (International) def. Bam Bam Bigelow (Southern) (23:34)

I didn’t fuck with this to be honest. I don’t think it helps that the quality of the footage leads me to believe that it was filmed with a potato. But in general, I felt like this was an average match in the 80s with altered Texas Death rules. I wouldn’t have known that Lawler was even bleeding if it hadn’t been for the commentator saying it. I’ll say that I think the story was there, it was just not executed very well. They tie up to start the match and Bam Bam backs Lawler up to the corner and throws him across the ring. Lawler backs Bam Bam up to the ropes and Bigelow pushes Lawler across the ring. The first shot Lawler gives Bam Bam sends him into a fit of rage. The fight spills to the outside where Bigelow punches the ring post after Lawler dodges out of the way. Now if Lawler were smart he would’ve taken advantage of Bigelow hurting himself and gone after that hand, but he doesn’t. He gives Bigelow a moment to recover. They get back in the ring and Lawler gives Bam Bam some sharp jabs, but Bigelow picks him up and chokes him. That hand can’t be hurting too bad. Bigelow starts hitting some headbutts to a downed Lawler and pins for the 3 count. And this is what really hurts the flow of the match for me. There’s a 30 second rest period before the referee starts counting them out. Lawler gets back up, clutching his ribs and Bigelow starts beating him up again, going after those ribs. Bigelow drops Lawler again and hits 3 headbutts to his ribs, and pins him again. And like before, Lawler gets a 30 second rest period as well as a count of 10 to get up. Lawler stands back up, again clutching his ribs as Bam Bam is already raising his hand thinking he’s won. Lawler jabs Bam Bam, knocking him back to the corner, but Bam Bam quickly beats up those ribs of Jerry. Bam Bam drops him again and again he starts dropping headbutts to his ribs, but Lawler moves out of the way, Bam Bam headbutts the mat and Lawler pins him, the rest period starts. Of course, Bigelow gets back up so Lawler starts hitting sharp jabs and Bigelow sells it like he’s Dolph Ziggler. Lawler drops him with another punch and heads to the middle rope, hits a fist drop and gets another 3 count. Bigelow gets back up and the match continues. Lawler’s strategy is just to punch him until he stops getting up while Bam Bam goes back to the ribs. Bigelow opens up Lawler with punches to the face. The whole match for the most part is just this. Punching, and more punching and more punching. Bam Bam puts Lawler in a sleeper and gets the next fall. The referee has to pull Bigelow off, and Bam Bam shoves him. Lawler gets back up and Bigelow goes back to beating him up. But Lawler gets up again with a hand on Bigelow’s throat. Lawler ducks a clothesline and gets a sleeper hold on Bigelow. But Bigelow escapes by throwing Lawler off and drops an elbow to get a 3 count. Its hard for me to buy that these guys are that tough when they keep losing. The video just cuts to when Lawler gets back up. He drops the straps and fires up the crowd, getting him fired up. He spins Bigelow around and gives him a jab and another and again Bam Bam sells it like he’s Dolph Ziggler. Lawler jabs Bigelow and sends him flying over the top rope to the outside. Lawler throws Bigelow into the guardrail, nearly kills a few people. Lawler brings Bigelow back inside and the two start throwing punches. Lawler drops Bigelow with a punch, but Bigelow as he’s getting up donkey kicks Lawler in the ribs. Lawler backs Bigelow up to the corner with some punches but Bigelow reverses an irish whip and throws him into the referee in the corner. Bigelow places a hand over his chest and the referee very slowly counts to three, not seeing Lawler’s feet draped on the ropes. So technically the rest period underway, but Bigelow and his manager, Larry Sharp figure they’ll keep Lawler down with this. Bigelow picks Lawler up and holds him back by his arms. Sharp gets in and swings a chair, but Lawler dodges it and the chair breaks over Bam Bam’s head, sending him down into the mat. The bell signaling the end of the rest period sounds and with both men down, the referee has to start counting them both out. Lawler gets up first, Bigelow doesn’t get up at all. Lawler takes the win. I thought this was a good finish actually. But its a long match and its a bit of a drag to sit through. Thankfully, the next three matches are much better.

My Rating: ***

WCW Worldwide 3/27/1993
Unified Tag Team Championship Match: Steve Austin & Brian Pillman def. Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas (c) (19:20)

Surprisingly, Austin & Pillman weren't yet called the Hollywood Blondes here. I thought this was pretty good, especially for a TV match. I think there was only 2 commercial breaks during this match so unfortunately, some of what happened between them is lost. But still, what I did see, I liked. Steamboat and Douglas really take Austin and Pillman to school for a while, Steamboat specifically. For a while, the heels are the ones fighting up. They show some glimpses of hope by going after Douglas’ knee which is apparently hurt coming into this already. Steamboat and Douglas show that they are the better team… if you wanna follow the rules. But Austin & Pillman aren’t interested in that. They finally get some skin in the game with Austin and Douglas as the legal men. Pillman has a towel in his hand and antagonates Steamboat from his corner. Steamboat starts talking shit back, so the referee reprimands him and as Douglas runs off the ropes, Pillman starts choking him with the towel. Austin stomps Douglas to the outside and just before we go to commercial, Pillman starts choking Douglas with the towel again. When we come back from commercial, we see Douglas has made it to his corner, but Steamboat is not there to take it. Steamboat gets back on the apron and goes to tag Douglas, but Pillman at the last second knocks him off the apron. Pillman goes out to fight with Steamboat. The referee goes outside to separate them and Austin comes in to choke Douglas with the towel again. Austin & Pillman have taken control by outsmarting the champs and cheating. So many times, Douglas comes close to tagging Steamboat, only to get shut down by the challengers. He at one point fights them both off and runs towards his corner, but Austin is between them, lifts him off the mat. Douglas is fingertips away from Steamboat, but Austin drops him with a spinebuster. Austin starts taunting Douglas, telling him to get up, and well Douglas does that and hits a belly to back suplex on Austin. Douglas starts crawling over to Steamboat, but Austin tags in Pillman, who runs in and hits a back suplex on Douglas. They bring him back over to their corner where Austin throws Pillman off the top rope for a splash, but Douglas gets his knees up into Pillman’s guts. That turns out to be what Douglas needed as he finally makes the tag to Steamboat, who comes in like a house of fire and takes on both Austin and Pillman. Steamboat throws Austin out of the ring and lifts Pillman to the top rope and hits a superplex from there. Steamboat heads up again and when Pillman gets up, Steamboat takes him out with a crossbody. Steamboat covers him, and Austin goes to break it up with a diving elbow, but Steamboat dodges it and Austin ends up hitting Pillman. Steamboat covers Pillman again as Austin is arguing with the referee. The crowd is screaming as is Douglas at the referee to turn around but when he makes the count, Pillman kicks at two. At the same time, Austin dives in to try and stop it. Douglas runs in and knocks Austin to the outside. Douglas leaps over the ropes onto Austin and body slams him on the outside. Steamboat and Pillman crack heads in the ring as the referee backs Douglas up. Which allows Austin to grab one of the titles and crack it over the back of Steamboat’s head. Austin gets in and pulls Pillman on top of Steamboat. Referee gets in to the count the three and we have new champions. Really good match, as you could expect from the guys in the ring.

My Rating: ****

ECW Hostile City Showdown 1995
Television Championship Match: Eddie Guerrero (c) vs. Dean Malenko ended in a draw (25:57)

In a year where both WWF and WCW were the drizzling shits, ECW was putting on matches like this. This match I had watched, but a really long time ago, so I was eager to revisit. When people talk about whats the best ECW Match of all time, people usually say an RVD vs Jerry Lynn match or a Guerrero vs Malenko match. This was just a straight forward great technical wrestling match. The two have a couple stalemates early on in the match to get the crowd clapping. Guerrero reverses a powerbomb into an arm drag, Guerrero comes off the ropes, Malenko gets with a tilt-a-whirl head scissors. Guerrero runs off the ropes again, Malenko pops him up and Guerrero counters with a head scissors out of that. Both men go for a dropkick and we're at a stalemate again. For the next several minutes, the two try to outwrestle each other. Malenko gets a leg up (hehe) on Guerrero by dropkicking his knee out. So Malenko starts going after his knee, probably a good idea to ground the luchador. At one point, Malenko is trying to drag Eddie back to the center, and Eddie is desperately hanging onto the ropes. Malenko lifts Eddie up, and Eddie counters into a sunset flip pin and gets a two count. Malenko hooks him for a suplex, but Eddie turns it in his favor a with a Fisherman. Eddie picks him up and drops him with a powerbomb for a two count. Eddie picks Malenko up and hooks his head for a Tornado DDT from the second rope for another two count. Eddie sits Malenko on the top rope and hits a Frankensteiner. Eddie just starts popping out all the classics here. But after hitting it, Eddie clutches his knee in pain. Eddie then puts on three submission holds, transitioning to each one like he's Samoa Joe. First a surfboard stretch, then a lasso from El Passo and then an STF. Eddie lets go, figuring Malenko's not gonna tap. Eddie picks Malenko up, sitting him on the top rope and pushes him out, but Malenko gets his ankles under Eddie's armpit and takes him to the outside with him. Eddie heads back in first and tries to bring Malenko in from the apron with a suplex, but Malenko counters it and suplexes Guerrero to the outside. Malenko gets back in and goes to dive on Eddie. But Eddie pulls another Samoa Joe and strolls out of his way. I'm starting to think this match was a source of inspiration for Samoa Joe. Malenko clutches his knee and Eddie heads back to the top rope and dives on Malenko below. Both men make it back inside, where Malenko hits a Brain Buster on Eddie, Eddie kicks at two. Malenko picks Eddie up and goes for another one, but Eddie blocks it and standing switches. Malenko goes to standing switch but Eddie spins out to face him and picks him up for his own Brain Buster. Eddie then heads to the top rope and hits a big Frog Splash to earn a two count. Malenko pops off a Northern Lights and gets a two count. Malenko sets Eddie up for the Texas Cloverleaf twice, and Eddie desperately claws for the ropes to stop it. Malenko hits Eddie with a Tiger Driver and once again goes for the Cloverleaf. Eddie however brings him into a Small Package and gets a two count. Eddie stands Malenko up, pulls him towards the ropes by the hand and bounces off the middle rope and hits a Frankensteiner pin combo for a two. Eddie hits a Pumphandle Backbreaker and then locks Malenko in the Gory Special. Eddie lowers Malenko’s down on the mat, but Malenko escapes and flips Eddie onto shoulders. They counter each other's pins trying to get a quick victory. The crowd begins cheering and clapping as they should. Eddie heads to the top rope and Malenko follows him, and lifts Guerrero on his shoulders electric chair style as he stands on the second rope. Eddie spins his body around and pops a sunset flip powerbomb and still gets a two count! After the kick out, the bell rings and the announce that the time limit has expired. Which, I wanna know who was keeping track of that because apparently the time limit was supposed to be 30 minutes when the match is actually 26 minutes. who robbed us of those four minutes? Great match nonetheless and sets up the series of matches these two would have the rest of the year.

My Rating: ****1/2

NOAH Summer Navigation 2007 Day 12
Nippon TV Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League Match: KENTA & Taiji Ishimori def. Naomichi Marufuji & Kota Ibushi (21:43)

KENTA? Yes please. Marufuji? Yes please. Ishimori? Yes please. Ibushi? Fuck yes! For real, with these four involved, ya know already this match is such good shit. Meltzer rated this match 4.75, but after watching it, I honestly think that's underrating it because this was AWESOME! As KENTA and Marufuji start the match and when the bell rings, they immediately start throwing elbows at each other. Marufuji runs off the ropes and gets kicked out of mid-air by KENTA. They end up in a stalemate with the other early on. After separating, they tag in their partners, and Ishimori and Ibushi start going at it. Ishimori is able to send Ibushi outside with a head scissors and then a dropkick. Ishimori fakes out a dive to the outside. Ibushi comes back in but Ishimori brings him to his corner and tags KENTA back in. KENTA snapmares Ibushi and gives him a kick to the back. This riles up Ibushi, who does the same thing to KENTA. KENTA gets up, they start elbowing each other in the face and then start slapping the other. Ibushi takes KENTA off his feet with kicks to his bad knee which is all taped up. Ibushi tags in Marufuji, who gives KENTA a dragon screw over the ropes and targets that knee. Marufuji and Ibushi are in control of KENTA. But Ibushi goes for a suplex, but KENTA blocks it by lifting and dropping Kota’s torso over the top rope and dives off the top with a knee to his back, and then Ishimori comes in and hits a spinning springboard moonsault to Ibushi. KENTA and Taiji start to isolate Ibushi from his corner and Ibushi catches a break from dodging an attack in the corner by KENTA and then hits a spinning wheel kick. Ibushi reaches Marufuji, who starts to turn the match around. But Ishimori comes in and they try to double team Marufuji. They send him off the ropes, Marufuji ducks a clothesline, but runs back into double boots to the gut. He ducks under them again, comes back and turns Taiji inside out with a clothesline, runs back off the ropes, gets kicked in the face by KENTA. KENTA runs off the ropes but Marufuji follows behind him and KENTA turns around into a clothesline by Marufuji. They trade elbows but Marufuji takes him down with a dragon screw leg whip. Marufuji goes for a suplex, but KENTA lands on his feet behind him and hits a combination of strikes and kicks. KENTA runs off the ropes, Marufuji tries the same trick he did earlier, but KENTA was ready this time and ducks the lariat, gives Marufuji a kick to the gut, but Marufuji retaliates with a superkick. KENTA hits a lariat that doesn’t drop Marufuji, who spins back to hit a roundhouse kick, dropping KENTA before falling over himself. Marufuji tries Shiranui, but KENTA shoves him off. Marufuji leaps to the second rope and leaps back but gets caught with a cutter. KENTA tags in Ishimori, who heads up and hits a missile dropkick. Marufuji retreats to the corner where he sits on the top rope, and Ishimori leaps up there with him and hits a frankensteiner! Marufuji switches behind Ishimori, and goes to German him, but Ishimori lands on his feet and runs off the ropes, Marufuji catches him with a sunset pin, but Ishimori rolls back and dropkicks Fuji in the face, he rolls back goes to dropkick Taiji, who dodges and hits a standing moonsault. Ishimori back drops Marufuji out to the floor and goes for a suicide dive, but Marufuji makes it back to the apron, springboards in and clotheslines Taiji. Marufuji tags in Ibushi, who starts lighting up Taiji with kicks to the chest. Taiji runs off the ropes and gets another right to the throat from Kota. Ibushi hits a standing corkscrew moonsault on Taiji. Marufuji runs across the ring to knock KENTA off the apron. Ibushi and Taiji dodge each other’s strikes until Taiji gets the blow in with a kick to the head and hits a fucking Crucifix Driver (forgive me if that’s not the actual name). Marufuji rolls in and breaks the pin up. KENTA pulls Marufuji out of the ring while Taiji runs and does a backspring but gets caught by Kota and dropped with a german suplex, but kicks at two. Ishimori comes back up with a kick, but Kota takes him down with a kick before collapsing. Both men are down now and reaching for KENTA and Marufuji. But Taiji reaches his partner first and KENTA sprints across the ring to knock Marufuji off at the very last second, leaving Ibushi to the mercy of KENTA who lights him up with kicks! Ishimori comes in, they whip Ibushi to the corner, and KENTA whips Ishimori to the corner, but Kota dodges him and sprints to kick KENTA in the face and back to Taiji to drop him with an elbow. KENTA goes for a kick, but Ibushi falls back, kips back up and drops KENTA with a kick to the head. Marufuji comes in and they try to double team KENTA, who boots Kota in the face, and gets kicked by Marufuji back into the ropes. KENTA backdrops Marufuji on the apron, and he gets yanked off by Ishimori. Kota boots KENTA and runs off the ropes, but at the same time, Ishimori tags himself in. KENTA drops down and Ishimori springboards in, dropkicks Ibushi off his feet. KENTA heads to the top rope, Ibushi takes Ishimori down with a fisherman suplex. Marufuji sprints over to hold KENTA by the foot and Ibushi hits a pele to KENTA. Kota and Marufuji drop KENTA in the middle of the ring, Ibushi goes to moonsault him, but KENTA rolls backward, Kota lands on his feet and hits a standing moonsault, and Marufuji follows that up with a frog splash, followed by a standing 450 from Ibushi. The pin is broken up by Taiji, who is dragged back out by Marufuji. Kota hits a springboard legdrop, since he stumbled a bit but he caught himself at the last second. Ishimori runs in to break up the pin again, but again, Marufuji drags him back to the outside. Kota lays KENTA flat near the corner and heads up to hit a Phoenix Splash! He hooks the leg and Ishimori again saves his partner! They send Ishimori off the ropes. Naomichi throws him up and Ishimori dropkicks Ibushi and elbows Marufuji on the way down too. Taiji hits a Swanton off the top rope to Ibushi, and then KENTA kicks Kota in the brains a few times before pinning him, but Marufuji breaks it up. KENTA dodges the kicks of Ibushi and switches behind him to hit a Tiger Suplex that Ibushi kicks out of at two. Marufuji comes back and KENTA dodges his attack and hits him with a Falcon Arrow. Ishimori hits Marufuji with a back handspring elbow drop. Ishimori takes him to the outside while inside, KENTA picks Ibushi for the GTS, but Ibushi counters it into a Crucifix Pin! KENTA kicks at two and Kota gets up, hitting KENTA with chops and slaps to his face and chest before attempting a spinning wheel kick, KENTA catches him though and lifts him into position on his shoulders and drops him with the GTS to get his team the win. What. A. Match! This fucking ruled!

My Rating: *****

 

[Jarf]

Matches Suggested by @Emb

WWF 3/21/1981
Andre the Giant def. Hulk Hogan (9:18)

Pre-Hulkamania Hulk vs Afro Andre. Both of them sporting their best red trunks. I saw this had a surprisingly high rating on Cagematch, but then again it also has 7 votes. So I was interested in this to see what all the hubbub was about. And it’s alright. Certainly better than what I was expecting from an 80s WWF match. Hogan starts the match with a shrug. Not a bright idea. Andre immediately sends him rolling out to regroup with a headbutt. Hogan slides in and Andre sends him back outside again with a club to the back and a chop. Hogan rolls back in and backs Andre to the corner, trying to choke him, but Andre backs Hogan up with his hands around his throat. Andre dominates Hogan early and wears him down. I noticed that Andre still gave Hogan plenty of offense here. Hogan even got to Bear Hug Andre. Andre escapes but Hogan headbutts him in the gut and hits the body slam not heard around the world. Hogan clutches his back after dropping Andre. Andre sweeps Hogan off his feet and just lays on his left leg. And when Hogan tries to sit up, Andre slaps the shit out of this boy! Andre pushes Hogan into the corner and while the referee isn’t looking, Hogan slips something into his elbow pad. Andre sends Hogan off the ropes. Hogan dodges a big boot and goes to clothesline Andre, but Andre catches his arm, headbutts him, takes the elbow pad off Hogan and puts it on his own. Andre sends Hogan off the ropes and drops him with a shot from the loaded elbow pad. Hogan has been cut open at this point. Andre sends Hogan off the ropes again and drops his head. Hogan kicks him back and goes to body slam him again, but can’t hold him up and Andre falls on top of him. 1, 2, 3. Andre the Giant is your winner.

My Rating: ***

AJPW Summer Action Series 1989 Day 10
Stan Hansen & Genichiro Tenryu def. Jumbo Tsuruta & Kenta Kobashi (20:13)

This kicked ass. Personally, I think they could’ve shaved off about 5 minutes, but I can’t complain when this match was so good. Kobashi was like 22 at this point while the other three were pushing 40. So it feels as if this was a test for him. And man, he passes with flying colors. Jumbo and Kenta don’t even wait for the bell to ring, they rush Hansen and Tenryu, the fighting starts on the outside. The commentators are speaking at a frantic pace while they all fight. Hansen slams a chair into Kobashi’s back while in the ring, Tsuruta lights Tenryu up with chops and gives him a jumping knee. Once the tagging portion of the match begins, Tenryu starts while Jumbo starts, but quickly tags in Kenta. Tsuruta holds Tenryu in place while Kobashi comes off the top rope with a missile dropkick. I will say, that there was a point in this match where I questioned if Hansen was sober or not. He definitely looks uncoordinated at times. I think its funny too how Hansen and Tenryu sometimes no sold Kobashi’s offense. As if they wanted Kobashi to actually hurt them and make them sell. And knowing Japanese wrestling and how nuts it is, I wouldn’t be surprised if that were they case. Tenryu has Kobashi down and rushes over to chop Jumbo off the apron. And Tsuruta looks around like “The fuck did I do?” This crowd was hot for Kobashi by the way, he was over before the match even started. Kobashi tags Tsuruta back in and after giving Tenryu a knee to the face, he smacks the shit out of Hansen on the apron. And Stan took that personally, he gets in and tackles Jumbo down and Kenta has to step in and pull him off. Kenta gets tagged in, but Tenryu winds up dragging him to his corner and tags in Hansen. Kenta sends Hansen off the ropes and really rocks him with an elbow. But Hansen and Tenryu send him off the ropes and drop him with a double back suplex. Kobashi is able to escape their grasp after leaping off the middle rope with a crossbody to Hansen. Kobashi tags Tsuruta back in, and Hansen doesn’t even wait for him to get in the ring to start beating his ass. Hansen brings Jumbo over to his corner and tags Tenryu in. Tenryu sends Jumbo off the ropes, but Jumbo drops Tenryu with a boot to the face that makes Tenryu fall over limp. Kenta gets tagged back and puts Tenryu in a brutal single leg boston crab. But Hansen breaks it up with a boot to the face. This allows Tenryu to get back into it and chop the shit out of Kobashi and then kick him while he’s down. Tenryu goes to Powerbomb Kobashi, but Kobashi stops it from happening and Tsuruta steps inside and forces Tenryu to back off. Tenryu again chops the hell out of Kobashi’s chest. And Kobashi is officially done with this shit. He starts chopping Tenryu repeatedly in the chest and slaps him in the face so many times. Kobashi sends him off the ropes and drops Tenryu with a dropkick. He hits another dropkick on Tenryu, and the camera man gets a good shot at this so we know this was a legit kick to the face. The match actually slows down for a couple minutes after that as Kobashi and Tsuruta wear Tenryu out. But Kobashi backs him up to a corner and Tenryu is just stoic and he slaps Kobashi in the face, making him back up. Tenryu drops Kobashi with a couple good hard slaps and some knees to his face. Hansen gets tagged back inside and whips Kobashi to the corner, but misses the clothesline in the corner, Kobashi goes for a suplex, but Hansen sandbags the shit out of him and it causes him to nearly be dropped on his head. Kobashi chops the hell out of him, but Hansen takes Kobashi to the wrong corner and allows him to tag in Tsuruta, but Hansen quickly is able to back Jumbo up to his own corner. Tenryu comes in and starts beating the dog shit out of Tsuruta. But Tsuruta is able to hook Tenryu’s waist and hit a back drop driver. Tsuruta knees Tenryu in the face and sets him up for a powerbomb, but Hansen saves him with a lariat to Jumbo’s head. Jumbo stumbles backward to tag in Kobashi. Kobashi heads up and before Hansen can stop him from coming off, Kobashi hits Tenryu with a big dropkick. Hansen decides he wants to beat up Tsuruta on the outside. Kobashi hits a Fisherman Suplex for a two, but Tenryu is able to come back and drop Kobashi with a kick to the back of his head. Tenryu picks Kobashi up and hits a powerbomb, stacks him up and gets the three count after an awesome and stiff match. I’m honestly glad that the match ended with Tenryu and Kobashi because they were the MVPs of their teams. And Kobashi gets a standing ovation for his efforts after the match.

My Rating: ****1/4

WAR Super Revolution 1994
Masao Orihara def. Shinjiro Otani (20:47)

Shout out to the legend in the audience for recording and preserving this awesome match! Or else it would've been lost to time. This match ruled and its wild to me these guys just casually had one of their best matches that would've never seen the light of day otherwise. Masao entered the ring second and its pretty clear as he enters that these two really want to beat the shit out of each other. They're right in each other's face. Masao is grabbing Otani by his hair and Otani kicks him back. The bell rings and they lock, Otani puts on the most aggressive headlock ever. Masao sends him off the ropes, drop down, leap frog. Otani goes for a spinning back kick at the same time that Masao goes for a kick drop. Otani gets kicked in the back and no sells it, and boots Masao in the face. Otani sends him off the ropes and hits a Frankensteiner that Masao kicks out before one. He gets up and they start slapping the shit out of each other. Otani sends Masao rolling to the outside to regroup. A kick to the back of Otani's head really pisses him off and gives Masao a shoot headbutt to the dome in return. Masao gives Otani four headbutts in return and stumbles him. Masao finally drops Otani after two more headbutts. Otani snap mares him to the mat and stands on his face. These two are just disrespecting each other as hard as possible. Otani slaps him in the face and Masao doubles him over with a boot to the gut, then lifts him off the mat for a bridged German Suplex. Masao picks Otani up and piledrives him. But Otani kicks his leg up and hits Masao. Otani stands back up and falls back down, still dazed by the piledriver. But then stands up, picks Masao up and hits him with the gnarliest Tombstone ever because not only does he jump for it, he lets go of Masao in the air. Masao kicks Otani from the mat and picks him up to hit another Piledriver. Masao tries to catch a breather, but Otani has already gotten up and dropkicks Masao. Masao quickly answers back with a spinning wheel kick from one knee. Masao misses a moonsault and Otani hits a spinning wheel kick of his own. Otani hits a German Suplex and then a backdrop driver. But then Masao hits one himself. Otani slaps Masao on the mat that feels more petty than anything. So Masao starts slapping and kicking him in the face so Otani comes back with an elbow to the face. Masao pops out a front flip dropkick and that has little to no effect on Otani who slaps and kicks him while he's down. All of this is not even 10 minutes into the match. Otani stomps all over Masao and spits on him. Masao gets back up and Otani drops him with a hard clothesline. These guys are going to war, ladies and gentlemen. Otani grabs Masao's leg and twists it painfully. Masao escapes digging his fingers into Otani's eyes. Masao takes a moment to recover but then goes back on the attack. By this point, these guys are hurt and bruised up. Otani goes for a tiger suplex, but Masao resists so Otani rolls up but gets a two count. Otani throws Masao to the outside and slams a chair into his back. Otani tries to put him in a choke, but Masao kicks his leg up high enough to kick Otani behind him, (what the fuck, how?) Then Masao grabs a chair himself and brings it down on the back of Otani's head twice. Brutal chair shots too. These were nasty. Masao rolls back inside and gets a bit of a break, but then Otani comes back and dropkicks him in the back and the two go again. Masao throws Otani outside and then heads to the top rope. He tries a moonsault to the outside and Otani dodges it and hits a back spin kick. Otani throws Masao back in the ring, but as Otani steps on the apron, Masao headbutts him and tries to suplex him back in, but Otani lands behind him. Masao standing switches behind him, but Otani elbows him in the face and hits a spin kick. Masao whips him to the corner but Otani Ric Flairs onto the apron and springboards in to hit a dropkick. Masao rolls to the outside and Otani leaps over the ropes with a crossbody. Otani throws Masao back in and then goes up and he drops a knee on the back of his head and hits an underhook German for a two count. Otani goes for another one, but Masao drops down to the mat, but Otani holds him down and the referee counts two, but Masao kicks Otani off him. Masao goes for a German Suplex, but Otani clings to the top rope, trying to stop it. But Masao yanks him off and hits the German. Masao picks Otani up and hits a big Powerbomb before falling back from exhaustion. Masao gets up and hits Otani with another Powerbomb and crawls on top of him to win this brutal match. Wow! Just wow! This was so good! And I love what happens after the match. Otani picks Masao up, Masao swats his hand away but Otani picks him up anyway and raises his hand so Masao raises Otani's hand. And then Otani points a finger up in his face as if to say “you got me this time.” Masao starts swatting his hand back and it looks like they're about to go again, but then they shake hands. Clearly the hatred's still there but they came out of this with a ton more respect for each other. This was amazingly good!

My Rating: ****3/4

Battlarts Young Generation Battle 2008 Day 2
Munenori Sawa def. Koichiro Kimura (9:42)

A decent enough match here. The bell rings and Sawa starts trying to take shots at Kimura. Kimura just backs up every time so Sawa can't really get a direct hit. Kimura pretty baits him until he catches him by the arm and takes him down in an Armbar. Sawa grabs the bottom rope so Kimura has to release the hold but as soon as he does, he kicks Sawa in the face. He brutally stomps on him and drops his knee in his face. He mounts Sawa and hits him in the face multiple times. Sawa gets up and starts backing Kimura up with slaps and punches him down to one knee and kicks the man while he's down. He tries to put on a Sleeper but Kimura takes him down and puts him in an Armbar. Kimura's strategy is just to bait Sawa and put him in a hold. And maybe punch the shit out of him a bit. Sawa really struggles for a lot of this match to get an edge. Kimura has him in a Kimura and just as it looks like Sawa may get on top, Kimura transitions towards a kneebar. Sawa reaches the ropes and forces Kimura to let go. Kimura then basically challenges him to “stop being a lil bitch.” And Sawa starts to slap the hell out of him and drops him after a couple headbutts. And then he mounts him and shoot headbutting him in the back of his head. There's a struggle between them and Sawa pops a backdrop driver and gets Kimura in an Armbar. Kimura struggles and tries to escape, but ultimately taps out and gives Sawa the W.

My Rating: ***1/4

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors XVII Day 3
Fujita Hayato def. Kenny Omega (12:14)

I'm sorry but dickhead Kenny Omega is my favorite. They start the match with a couple shrugs and then start elbowing each other in the face. Kenny sends him off the ropes and leap frogs, BACKFLIPS, over him. Fujita lights him up with kicks to the chest. Kenny reverses a whip and hits a Frankensteiner before sending Fujita outside with a spinning back kick. Kenny dropkicks Fujita through the middle rope before heading back inside and runs off the ropes to hit a Tope. Kenny rolls Fujita back in the ring and hits a crossbody from the top rope and now Kenny starts to taunt him. Kenny starts to beat Fujita down and Fujita shows brief comebacks just for Kenny to knock him down again. Kenny whips Fujita to a corner but Fujita comes out with a Spear. Fujita starts building up the comeback, kneeing Kenny in the chest and face. Fujita hits a gutwrench suplex and then a back suplex. He goes for a German Suplex but Kenny lands on his feet. Fujita comes out of the corner with a kick but misses. So Omega kicks out his shin and hits his leaping facebuster. Kenny picks him up in Dominator position, spins with him and hits a Powerbomb for a two count. Kenny says “fuck you” before running off the ropes but gets knocked down with a kick to the chest. Fujita hits a running elbow in the corner and runs back across to the other corner, only for Kenny to catch him with a Helluva Kick. Kenny backs up but turns around into a bicycle kick from Fujita. Fujita hits a running knee in the corner, then a German Suplex that has Kenny lands on his head. Fujita finishes the combo with a soccer kick to his chest. Fujita misses the next kick and then they start slapping the hell out of each other in a fight that sees Fujita win. Fujita heads up but Kenny follows him up and hits a suplex from the top rope. Kenny pins him but gets a two count off that. Kenny then throws a big Hadouken at him and pins him, but Fujita grabs the ropes to stop the pin. The start throwing punches at each other now, a fight which Fujita wins again and hits a Busaiku knee, but Kenny kicks out at one and he slaps Fujita in the face. Fujita drops Omega to his knees again with knees to the face and chest and Fujita finishes Kenny off with another running knee to the face. Fujita wins after a nice, hard hitting match.

My Rating: ****

CMLL Super Viernes 6/13/2014
In Search of an Idol Second Round Match: Hechicero def. Cachorro (5:47)

A surprisingly short match. The video length is 14 minutes but there's the entrances and everything that happens after which I didn't stick around for. As Hechicero hops in the ring, Cachorro tries to dropkick him immediately. They get the match off to a fast pace. Cachorro gets whipped to the corner but leaps onto the apron. As does Hechicero on the next side. Hechi chops Cachorro but turns his back for a moment and Cachorro hops over into the ring and dropkicks Hechi to the floor. Cachorro hits the middle rope and leaps off to the outside and hits Hechi with a hurricanrana. Both men roll back inside, where Hechi starts beating on Cachorro. Hechi runs to the buckle, but Cachorro catches him with a Helluva Kick. But Cachorro takes a run to the other end, Hechi rolls forward and as Cachorro hits the ropes and leaps off, Hechi shoves him to the floor. Hechi dropkicks him from the apron before rolling him back inside to hit a powerbomb. Cachorro ends on the apron and Hechi goes a Spear to the outside, but Cachorro leaps back in the ring, Hechi hits the floor and Cachorro hits a suicide dive. They roll back inside where Hechi catches Cachorro and holds him upside down Tombstone style, but by his arms and drops him on the mat and puts on an Armbar, that makes Cachorro tap out. Decent little match here.

My Rating: ***

Batos Cafe 4/3/2018
Mr. Gannosuke def. Manabu Hara (16:50)

We end this batch of reviews in ironically the smallest venue yet. In a small lil cafe. This match is alright, but I can’t say it really caught my interest. The first several minutes are nothing to write home about. The first ten or so minutes are very skippable in my opinion because they just work holds and nothing they do really matters by the time they get to the juicy stuff. The two start trading chops with each other and Gannosuke wins that battle with a dropkick to Hara. Hara takes Gannosuke down with a suplex and tries to get an Armbar on, doesn't really get it. Hara picks Gannosuke off the mat and hooks his waist from behind, but Gannosuke flings his leg back for a low blow before hitting a Falcon Arrow to get a two count. Gannosuke goes for a Lariat once Hara gets back on his feet, but Hara catches him and takes him down into an Armbar. Gannosuke struggles, trying not to let Hara wrench his arms back. Hara eventually pries Gannosuke's hands apart. But Gannosuke rolls them to the ropes to get out. They get back on their feet and Hara starts to throw hands and feet at Gannosuke. Gannosuke ducks under a slap and steps behind Hara, hooking his other arm before pulling him backward into a pin. Hara kicks out and goes for a kick, but Gannosuke ducks and hits a backdrop driver. Gannosuke stands first and picks Hara up. Hara moves behind Gannosuke and rolls him up. Gannosuke kicks out and Hara grabs his leg and locks in an Ankle Lock. Gannosuke manages to stand back up on one leg, but Hara lets go of the hold to hit a German Suplex. Both men stand up and Hara gives him a kick to his head, but Gannosuke comes back with a clothesline. Gannosuke hits another Lariat and then a Powerbomb. He stacks Hara up, but Hara kicks out after that. Gannosuke finishes Hara off finally with an Emerald Flowsion. So the match is fine. I just think that it might've been better if it had just been those last 6 minutes because nothing of note really happens before then.

My Rating: ***

 

[Jarf]

Matches Requested by @Sky

(Sorry it took me so long to get this out)

CMLL Super Viernes 11/22/1991
World Trios Championship Tournament Final 2 Out of 3 Falls Match: Los Infernales def. Los Brazos (20:00)

I wasn't expecting to have so much fun with this match. This really was professional wrestling at its finest. A hot crowd, a fun match. Is it the greatest match in the world? No, but its pretty fun. I had no clue that de Plata was so over. This audience loved this guy. The bell rings and the match starts between who I'm assuming are the leaders of their team, de Oro and Satanico, just some basic wrestling there. They tag out to their partners, El Brazo and MS-1, again, nothing much to note here. Each man retreats to their corners to tag in the third members of their team, Pirata Morgan and the so over de Plata. Plata gets tagged in and the crowd loses it. He’s hopping around the ring. He puts Morgan in a headlock, and as Morgan gets him off, but Plata just comes off the ropes and pounces this man onto his back. Brazos have Infernales number for practically the entire first fall. The ending to the first fall is genuinely brilliant. As MS-1 and Pirata are going to double team de Plata in their corner, Pirata runs to the other end and gets back body dropped by de Oro, who monkey flips de Plata out of the corner, de Plata lands on his feet and side steps Pirata, who gets sunset flipped by de Oro. MS-1 tries to sunset flip de Plata, who just sits down on him. Satanico comes back in and gets sunset flipped by El Brazo and all three Infernales are pinned by all three Brazos. I loved that. Doesn’t make any sense, rule wise but whatever, it was cool. There’s a little break before the second fall starts. De Oro and MS-1 start it out and again, Satanico can’t get the ball rolling for his team and gets back dropped over the top rope. Pirata Morgan gets back in there with de Plata. Morgan runs off the ropes a few times and tries to shoulder block de Plata. De Plata remains firmly planted on the mat but on the third attempt, Morgan drops de Plata on his back. But then he tries to body slam, de Plata and falls backward. De Plata goes for a back spin kick and sends Morgan back to his corner. I will say, for this second fall, the Brazos kinda just let Infernales take it. Because a couple of them roll out, leaving one of them at the mercy of the Infernales. They do the World’s Greatest Tag Team leap frog spot in the corner to El Brazo. And I also think that MS-1 and Morgan forgot what the finish to the second fall is supposed to be because they both cover de Oro after dropping double elbows on him. Meanwhile, Satanico is pinning de Plata against the ropes and de Plata is not even trying to fight back, it’s actually kinda hilarious. Anyway, they send him off the ropes and clotheslines him. De Plata kinda flops on his back and Infernales pile on top of him to take the second fall. Definitely the weakest fall of the three. But this third fall is great. Because the third fall is where they usually go nuts. They don’t waste any time. El Brazo sends MS-1 to the outside with a dropkick. El Brazo looks like he’s going for a suicide dive, but MS-1 dodges the path. But El Brazo gets on the apron and hits a running front senton off. The bad camera man keeps the shot on El Brazo as he puts himself in position for Satanico to drop an elbow on him. De Oro comes in and suicide dives onto Satanico. Pirata Morgan comes in and Planchas on de Oro. De Plata comes and the crowd is all fired up. He runs off the ropes and crossbodies everyone through the ropes. The announcer goes “Super, Super, SUPER PORKY!” De Oro gets Satanico in a Figure Four in the ring and he has this hold on for a while. This look like this could be the finish. But Satanico rolls them to the ropes to break the hold. Everyone from now on comes in rapidly, various matchups between them as they go at it. De Plata gets in with Satanico and goes to squash Satanico in the corner. But Satanico dodges and de Plata hits the buckle before falling to the mat. Satanico covers him and I’m like “Please don’t let that be the finish.” And thankfully, it was not. Satanico runs off the ropes and sunset flips over him. De Plata goes to sit down on him, but Satanico moves out of the way and covers him again. And again I say “Don’t be the finish.” De Plata kicks out thankfully. De Plata sends Satanico out of the ring using his big belly. De Plata looks like he’s gonna go for a dive again, but hops on the apron and hits a crossbody off it. Back in the ring, Pirata body slams El Brazo and gets for a front senton off the top rope, but misses and de Oro comes in with a running senton and covers him. Morgan kicks out. De Oro hits a Frankensteiner trying to get the pin, but Morgan kicks out. De Oro leaps onto his shoulders and goes to victory roll, but Morgan counters and rolls backward, putting de Oro on his shoulders for the three count. Los Infernales take it. It’s impressive that it still manages to work as a serious match despite the silliness at times. Great match.

My Rating: ****

RINGS Maelstrom VII (1996)
Volk Han def. Kiyoshi Tamura (10:32)

First off, I’d like to say, sick entrance themes. Maybe this isn’t my cup of tea because I saw people were rating this match pretty high. But I don’t know, I wasn’t as into this one. It’s good but I saw one guy rate this 5 stars and that’s fine but at the same time, I’m like “what?” With that being said, Volk Han lifting Tamura off his feet with a Kimura Lock was sick as fuck. Not only does he lift him off his feet, he slammed him over his head to the mat. Maybe that’s what sets this match back for me, because the match starts like that and it set my expectations maybe a little higher than they should’ve been immediately. This entire match is pretty much just putting each other in holds. Don’t get me wrong, good wrestling is great, but I just don’t want it to be the whole match. I don’t know much about this promotion, but I’m assuming this was a shoot. And I’ll give it to these guys, they really twisted each other up in there. They matched each other hold for hold, but I noticed that Volk was pretty much a step ahead. He got out of Tamura’s holds much quicker. Kiyoshi tried to knock Volk off his feet with a few kicks, but Volk would remain standing and then quickly take Kiyoshi down. Kiyoshi leaves his arm open at some point and Volk gets him in an armbar. Kiyoshi at first scrambles for the ropes, but then reverses it into his own armbar. After Kiyoshi is forced to grab the ropes, they both stand back up and Volk is ready to lock up again, but Tamura thrust kicks him in the gut, dropping him and Volk is able to stand back up before ten. Kiyoshi goes back on the attack and drives Volk back down to the mat. That kick really throws Volk for a loop because from now on, he struggles more against Tamura. Tamura gets Volk in a Kimura, and Volk is forced to use a rope break to get out. Both men stand back up and now Volk is throwing hands. He slaps the shit out of this boy and drops him. Tamura stands back up before ten and manages to put a sleeper on Han. Han finds an opening though and grabs Tamura's arm, prying it apart and wrenches it back, then hooks Tamura's leg with his own to limit his movement. Tamura taps out and Volk takes the win. Good wrestling match, but I think it was over just as it was getting real good.

My Rating: ***1/2

Battlarts Project B-Earth (1997)
Gran Hamada, Gran Naniwa, Masato Yakushiji & The Great Sasuke def. Kaientai DX (20:40)

Heyman saw this match and was like, “I need this match for Barely Legal.” And I can’t blame him because this match ruled. This match didn't main event either so it had to be rough following this banger. Before they could even do introductions, these teams were trying to fight. They were ready to go. The match starts with Taka and Sasuke. Sasuke gets the advantage and his team starts making tags to each other and takes shots at Taka. Masato gets in with Taka and gets body slammed, and then all of Kaientai get in and start dropping running elbows on Masato and then flex around his body. What a bunch of dicks lol. Mens Teioh throws him to the outside and Togo baseball slides him into the audience. And then the match breaks down into a brawl between all 8 guys outside. And Kaientai are winning this fight. They are whooping the other team’s asses out there. After completely owning their opponents, Kaientai go back to the ring as if they’re holding down the fort. But once they get back in the ring, the other team are able to hold their own. Hamada does the Daniel Bryan 2K comeback and gets Teioh in an armbar on the mat. Taka comes in and sends Hamada off the ropes and goes for a body drop, but Hamada lands behind him on his feet. Teioh comes in from behind and as Taka goes to hit Hamada, Hamada dodges and Taka hits Teioh instead. Hamada gets Taka down in an armbar. Naniwa comes in and locks Taka’s other arm in a bar. Then Sasuke gets in and puts on a kneebar. Then Masato comes in to guard the triple submission happening. I think it’s funny that they got the youngest and scrawniest on their team to guard duty. Shiryu breaks up the submissions. There's nothing too crazy for the next few minutes, but this match doesn't slow down at all. Fresh tags in and out on both sides and the pace is pretty consistent throughout the match. Sasuke and Taka tease a dive a couple times and it doesn't happen. Like come on man. Masato hits a tilt-a-whirl arm drag to Taka, sending him outside and he teases a dive too and doesn't do it. Such teases. He dropkicks Teioh to the outside and he goes to dive again and crotches himself on the second rope. Teioh moves to another side of the ring and Masato slides in to hit a head scissors outside. Naniwa hits a throwaway back suplex that causes Shiryu to land on his head. Maybe thats the point they said “fuck this guy in particular. Togo comes in and slams Naniwa before Teioh and Taka both hit with double stomps. Shiryu puts Naniwa in a Boston Crab, Teioh comes in and puts him in a camel clutch, holding him in place for a double dropkick by Taka and Togo. Then like a bunch of dicks, they pose with his body. Teioh and Take grab this man by his arms and bend him forward so Togo can sit on his back and flex. Naniwa’s team tries to get in the ring and to add more insult to injury, Shiryu rips Naniwa's mask off his head and holds him over the middle rope so Teioh can slam a chair over his head. Bloods now dripping from Naniwa's head and his team decides they've had enough and get in, but are quickly thrown out, leaving Naniwa, who’s busted bad at the mercy of Kaientai. Sasuke is the one who rescues him and Naniwa is able to tag out. Kaientai go for a Shield Bomb on Sasuke. Sasuke escapes with jabs to Shiryu and Taka and a head scissors to Teioh. Sasuke hits moonsault off the second rope on both Taka and Shiryu and a backhand handspring elbow to Teioh. Sasuke leaps to the apron and at the same time, Togo has come in with a chair. He swings at the same time that Sasuke springboard back off the second rope to hit a moonsault to Teioh. Togo goes a Sabu move off the chair to Hamada, who dodges, grabs Togo by the hair and slams him into the chair. Hamada sits Togo up on the top rope and hits a head scissors. Taka comes in and breaks up the pin but Masato leaps in with a missile dropkick. Masato sends Taka to the outside with a spinning back kick and hits a suicide dive to the outside! Now we're closing in on the final stretch and Naniwa, head now bandaged up fights with Shiryu. Shiryu hits a hurricanrana off the top rope and covers but Naniwa gets his foot on the rope. Togo comes in and accidentally hits Shiryu after Naniwa dodges. Hamada throws Togo to the outside. Naniwa hits a gutwrench powerbomb but Teioh breaks up the pin. Sasuke gets in and kicks Teioh outside. Taka comes back, springboards inside but gets dropkicked out of the air by Sasuke! Sasuke runs off the ropes and hits a plancha to Taka. Naniwa finishes this match with a gutwrench again that Shiryu lands on his head. 1, 2, and Shiryu gets his shoulder up, but only after the three. Brilliant! This was brilliant from start to finish!

My Rating: *****

BJW 7/12/2009
Death Match Heavyweight Championship Scaffold Death Match: Yuko Miyamoto (c) def. Masashi Takeda (22:09)

Deathmatch wrestlers are some of the most insane people on the planet because holy fuck. Let me set the scene for you guys. Light tubes hung across the ropes all around the ring and a big scaffold in the corner. This got messy really quick. Takeda is the first of the two to use a light tube and cracks it over Yuko's head. Yuko rolls outside and blood is already pooling from his head. Then Takeda grabs another light tube to break it over his own head (show off). He grabs another and digs into Yuko’s head. But Yuko reverses a whip and throws Takeda into the tube ropes twice. Takeda rolls outside and Yuko cracks another light tube over his head. We are only a few minutes in folks. We've got like 19 minutes left to go. Obviously, Takeda is busted open now. And his cut is even worse than Yukos's. Yuko brings in some traffic cones and cracks Takeda in the head with them before busting a few more light tubes into his torso. Glass is starting to litter the ring and Yuko runs off the ropes holding some light tubes but Takeda spears him down, busting the light tubes in the process. Takeda grabs a couple more tubes and busts them in his chest. Takeda hits a side suplex and I'm now realizing this is the first actual wrestling move of the match. They each grab a light tube and with it, they start climbing the scaffold. I find it so funny that they just let themselves get hit with these light tubes. They start chopping each other and try to throw the other the top of the scaffold. They both wind up falling back into the ring off the scaffold. Yuko grabs a bunch of light tubes and knees them into Takeda's face in the corner. And then, this was more brutal than anything else I think. Yuko hits a running dropkick to Takeda sitting in the corner. Takeda puts a hand over his chest and looks like that actually hurt him (I know everything here hurt but they usually did a good job of hiding it) He pulls his hand away and from that spot, we see blood streaming from his chest. Yuko goes outside and grabs a thin sheet of wood complete with barbed wire and leans it on the middle rope. Takeda ducks a clothesline and German Suplexes Yuko into the barbed wire. Takeda breaks the board in half and swings one half into his head. Takeda heads outside and grabs a table, setting it up in the ring under the scaffold and lays Yuko on it. Takeda climbs back up the scaffold and hits a splash through Yuko and the table. Takeda takes Yuko up to the top rope, but it backfires and Yuko ends up hitting a reverse rana off it. Yuko hits a German and then deadlifts him off the mat to hit another German and gets a two count. Again, this mat is covered in glass! Yuko grabs four light tubes bundled together and hits a moonsault with them. Yuko heads outside and grabs another table and lays Takeda on it before climbing the scaffold. But Takeda follows him up and he attempts to throw Yuko off through the table. But Yuko manages to block them and he hits an Emerald Flowsion through the table below! I thought surely that was it but no, Takeda kicks out after that! Takeda spears Yuko and hits a German suplex and the top of Yuko's head lands on a light tube but Yuko kicks out of that. Yuko picks Takeda up and hits two Rikishi Drivers, the second time on light tubes and Takeda still kicks out! Yuko ascends up the scaffold one more time and hits a moonsault off of it before hooking Takeda's legs for the 3 count. Me personally, I feel like Deathmatch wrestling is brutal for the sake of being brutal and shock value. But it would be dishonest and unfair of me to deny how hard these guys and worked they put themselves through. Insane bastards.

My Rating: ****1/2

IWRG 12/26/2010
Mask vs. Mask 2 Out of 3 Falls Match: Comando Negro def. El Pollo

I was not expecting to see a guy dressed like a chicken diving through the ropes almost immediately as the video started. The chicken, El Pollo dives onto Comando… Sir. (Yes I know it means black in spanish). Right away, I wanna say, whoever was the guy that kept honking an airhorn every minute, ya mom's a ho. Seriously, that got annoying so fast and it was the entire match they did this!!! El Pollo goes for a front senton off the apron but Comando dodges and Pollo hits the floor. Comando gets back in the ring and so does El Pollo's little mascot, also a chicken. I guess a chick in this case. And Comando boots this little guy in the face and now I wanted him to get his ass kicked. Comando throws El Pollo back inside the ring and starts to beat his ass but Pollo gets Comando with a small package for three. El Pollo wins the first fall. Then the video cuts away to Comando beating Pollo's ass in the crowd. Comando slams his face off the ring post and busts him open. Then he rips his chicken mask apart to expose his bloody face. This is what a lot of round two is, El Pollo getting his ass beat around the ring by Comando. But Comando misses a second rope moonsault and now its El Pollo’s turn. He hits a pop-up powerbomb and then a suplex off the top rope and lays across Comando, who pulls El Pollo back, onto his shoulders in a Crucifix pin. Comando takes the second fall and like that, we are already at round three, where, like in most 2/3 falls matches, is where the magic happens. El Pollo wastes almost no time going back to kick Comando's ass. He takes him outside and just chucks chairs at his head. El Pollo beats Comando's ass for several minutes, but Comando gets a break with a dropkick that sends El Pollo outside. Comando hits a suicide dive which is incredibly dangerous because this crowd is very close to the ring. El Pollo's outfit is so bloody by the way. He's a bloody chicken. El Pollo knocks Comando down outside and hits a tope con hilo on him. Both men make it back inside the ring before ten. El Pollo goes to the top rope but misses a moonsault, and Comando rolls him over and hooks the leg. At this point, he's getting frustrated and he hits a pop-up Powerbomb on Pollo and stacks him up while putting his feet on the ropes. But the referee sees that and refuses to count to three. Comando lays El Pollo out near the corner and is about to go up, but Pollo's lil mascot man runs in and tries to attack his legs. And Comando boots him in the head again and then hits him with a gutbuster. Comando goes to the top rope and El Pollo gets back up, chops him hard in the chest and then throws Comando off the ropes with an arm drag. El Pollo slams Comando in the corner and mascot man hits a second rope splash. Then, they pin him together and Comando kicks out again. El Pollo runs off the ropes and Comando tries to get him with a pop-up powerbomb and El Pollo reverses it into a hurricanrana into a pin, but Comando kicks out, chops Pollo in the chest and goes for a suplex, but Pollo reverses it into a small package but still gets a two count. El Pollo jumps onto Comando's shoulders. Comando holds his hands from there and hits like a One-Winged Angel but cooler. Comando holds his shoulders down and takes the win. Which sucks, because now the chicken has to lose his head. Very good match though. Given that one of them was dressed like a chicken, I was expecting this to be a more comedic, gimmicky match but there was blood and hatred in this match.

My Rating: ***3/4

AAA 3/1/2020
Mask vs. Mask 2 Out of 3 Falls Match: Villano III Jr. def. Aereo (52:14)

I got some beef with Villano III Jr. Because if he's Villano III's junior, then shouldn't he be called Villano IV. Thats all I'll say. I have thoughts about this match’s finish, but I'll get to that at the end. Like the first couple 2/3 falls matches already in this batch, the third fall is really where the magic happens. The first fall is really just a lot of chain wrestling and working holds, nothing that can't be skipped over. Aereo wins the first fall with like a torture rack, making Villano submit. In the second fall, Villano tries to get Aereo in the corner with a dropkick when he had his back turned. But Aereo was ready and sends Villano rolling out of the ring with an arm drag before hitting a tope con hilo through the middle and top ropes. They get back in the ring and Villano leaps over Aereo from the second rope and then immediately goes down, clutching his leg. The referee goes over to check on him. Villano eventually does stand back up and the referee is holding Aereo back because he's ready to go. But surprise bitch! Villano superkicks him with the allegedly bad leg! That son of a bitch! Jim Ross would be ashamed of you! Villano clotheslines Aereo over the ropes to the floor and hits a suicide dive, and Aereo's face hits the guardrail and there's people down checking on both guys and I believe Aereo's nose might have been busted here. But I couldn't tell because of the mask but I could see the blood dripping on his chest, so there is that. Villano gets up first and doesn't let Aereo get up. Villano tosses Aereo back in the ring, hits a Package Piledriver and then goes up to hit a Senton to win the second fall. Now the match starts getting really good. The third fall begins and Aereo rolls outside, Villano goes to the apron to hit a clean Asai Moonsault and then brains Aereo with a chair. Villano throws Aereo into the audience AA style and then heads out there, grabs one of those blue trash cans, dumps out the trash (I bet the janitors hated his ass for that one) and he throws it at Aereo’s head. Villano has his guy (idk his name, sorry) toss the trash can in the ring and Villano powerbombs Aereo on it and gets a two off that. Villano kicks Aereo back outside and props his head up against the ring post. He takes a run at him, attempting to smash his head up against it, but Aereo finally counters and throws Villano up and over behind him and Villano's head hits the post. Aereo picks up a chair and throws it at Villano, wrapping the chair around his head. Aereo heads to the top rope and Villano retreats to another end of the outside, so what does Aereo do? He tightrope walks over and hits a tope! Both men get up and Aereo picks up another chair and when Villano turns around, he gets a chair thrown at his head, causing him to fall over the guardrail. Aereo rips his mask open, exposing that he's been bloodied too. The two of them head to the second level in the audience, (not much higher than floor level) and Aereo hip tosses Villano to the floor level onto a bunch of chairs! And then Aereo starts to climb the set up around the ring and when he's almost at the top, he dives off to hit Villano and a bunch of ring set up guys probably. Aereo finally takes Villano back inside the ring and powerbombs onto the trash can! He hooks both legs and realistically got a 3 count but the ref was very slow and counted 1. Aereo heads to the top rope and hits a crossbody, but Villano manages to roll back turn it into a pin on Aereo. Aereo kicks out and Villano flips out. He's in panic mode right now. Villano goes to the rope and goes for a Senton that won him round two, but misses. Aereo sits Villano on the top turnbuckle and stands on the top rope, but Villano grabs him and hits a powerbomb from the middle rope, stacks him up and gets a two. Villano goes up to the top and tries another Senton, but Aereo rolls out of the way and grabs Villano in a Crucifix pin, but Villano hooks his legs around the middle rope. Aereo looks Villano in the hold he used to win round one, but Villano reaches out and grabs the ropes. The two men stand up and get into a chop battle. Villano dropkicks Aereo back into the ropes and chops the hell out of him. Aereo turns the tables and chops the hell out of Villano. They both fight on the apron and the exchange ends with Aereo cracking a beer bottle over his head. This match had everything! All except a decisive finish. Aereo heads down and sets up four chairs side by side and he lays Villano on top of them. And Aereo tightropes the top rope again before jumping off and hits the chairs below after Villano moved out of the way. Villano makes it back in the ring and Aereo does not and gets counted out… Oh I hated that. I hated that so much. This match was 52 minutes long. I sat through this match for 52 minutes. I was into this, I was invested and I wanted to know how it ends. And it ends via countout?? Not just that, but if countouts were in effect, they should've been counted out so many times during this match. I feel like they were outside the ring more than they were inside it. I just assumed countouts wouldn't be a thing for that reason. They were outside for a solid 5 minutes straight earlier in the match. And thats how it ends? Why? Why would you let this match go so long and then do that finish? What the fuck?! Regardless of this match’s horrible, HORRIBLE finish, this match ruled and both men deserved their flowers.

My Rating: ****3/4

 

[Sky]

Yeah I agree with your thoughts on that last match, I was just waiting to see if you would throw that load of strong work out because of a silly finish

 

[Jarf]

Yeah I agree with your thoughts on that last match, I was just waiting to see if you would throw that load of strong work out because of a silly finish

Oh absolutely not. I think that is a silly thing to do.

 

[Emb]

I think you'll enjoy these matches





Paul Orndorff vs. Sgt. Slaughter, WWF 6/2/1984


Ikuto Hidaka vs. Super Crazy, ECW 11/27/1999


Low Ki vs. Hotstuff Hernandez, IWA MS 4/22/2007

 

[Jarf]

Matches Suggested by @Emb

AJPW Summer Action Series 2 (1977) Day 9
NWA United National Championship 2 Out of 3 Falls Match: Jumbo Tsuruta (c) def. Mil Mascaras (33:54)

I was expecting something… more. I think this was my first time watching a Mil Mascaras match too. And going off this match, I wasn’t that impressed. This was over 30 minutes long and no joke, all they did was mat work. And it becomes a chore to sit through. Not really compelling stuff. And yet it has a shockingly high rating on Cagematch. The first fall is 22 minutes long and you would've thought they did something in that time frame. But the announcer said 20 minutes passed and I was stunned by how you can just do mat work for 20 minutes. Something finally happens towards the end of Fall 1 where Mascaras drops Tsuruta with a couple running headbutts and Mascaras is able to score the first fall with surfboard triangle thing that makes Tsuruta submit. Tsuruta starts to make a comeback in the second round with a brain buster that Mascaras kicks out of. The two trade small packages. And the most exciting part of the match happens at the end of Round 2 when Tsuruta swings Mascaras by his legs. He sends Mascaras off the ropes and connects with a jumping knee, gives Mascaras an airplane spin and then a top rope dropkick to take the second fall. We're 30 minutes in now. Which means this third fall is only 3 minutes long. Jumbo celebrates this win but he's not in the clear yet. But the way this match ends is stupid. Mascaras dropkicks Tsuruta to the outside and hits a crossbody from the top rope to the outside. But, Mascaras’ foot gets stuck? I think. Tsuruta rolls back into the ring while Mascaras is counted out. And thats it. Tsuruta wins the third fall by countout. Now, maybe this was an accident, who knows. But either way, I was irritated. One, because I sat through yet another long ass match to get a countout win. And the realization that the last match I reviewed also ended by countout. And I started to fear that someone played a joke on me and sure enough…

My Rating: ***1/4

WWF 6/2/1984
Paul Orndorff def. Sgt. Slaughter via countout (12:04)

Yep, the next match ends by countout too. Emb you son of a bitch. This is betrayal of the highest order! (Thank you for your suggestions). At least this one is much shorter. The crowd chants “Paula” at Orndorff because obviously, calling a man by a woman's name is the most insulting thing ever. And Orndorff flips the fuck out over this, he hops on the second rope and shakes the ropes over it. Slaughter picks him off the ropes and hits an atomic drop that sends Orndorff face first in the buckle. Then Slaughter pulls Paul's robe off, puts it on, poses in it and beats Orndorff's ass in it. Slaughter takes the robe off and Paul retreats to a corner, begging Slaughter off, but Paul gets him with a kick to the gut and starts to beat his ass now and busts him open as he does. Orndorff fires off some jabs and Slaughter blocks one and turns the tide, now beating up Orndorff. Slaughter catapults Orndorff into the top buckle before covering him, but Paul gets his foot on the ropes. Orndorff reverses an irish whip and Slaughter is sent into the corner, and as he hits it he bumps over the top rope to the floor. Slaughter tries to get back in the ring, but Orndorff knocks him back out every time with a knee. Slaughter is able to at least ram his shoulder into Orndorff's gut on the apron, but it causes Orndorff to fall back into the referee. Orndorff pulls out a pair of brass knucks and hits Slaughter in the face with them. Orndorff helps the ref back up and he starts the count. This ending is a bit confusing because Slaughter pulls Orndorff out to the floor and they began fighting out there. Slaughter grabs a chair but Orndorff slides back inside before the referee counts 10, but Slaughter does not. So Orndorff wins? Even though he was in the ring when he started the count? Anyway, stupid finish. Again.

My Rating: ***

MSW 11/11/1985
No Disqualification Match: Jim Duggan def. Buzz Sawyer via countout (11:46)

Oh look. Another match that ends by countout. This time with no rules other than don't stay outside for too long I guess. That doesn't make any sense. But in any case, this has gotta be the best match Jim Duggan's ever had. This was a bloody brawl all the way through. As soon as Duggan gets in the ring, the fight is on. Duggan gets the advantage and throws Buzz outside, where he busts him open by throwing him face first into the guardrail. Duggan pounds on Buzz outside some more and the referee tries to pull Duggan away. Duggan pulls his fist like he's gonna clock the ref and goes “get the fuck away from me.” Just casually dropping an F-bomb, was this on TV at all? Duggan continues to beat on Buzz for a few minutes longer. Its a one-sided beatdown. But Buzz is able to turn it around by clawing at Duggan's eyes and gives him a low blow. Buzz starts to beat up Duggan on the outside and some crazy lady yells “get off of him!” Because wrestling was real back then. Duggan manages to get the upper hand back though in the ring and starts to pummel Buzz and football tackles him out of the ring and then at this point, Buzz decides he's had enough and starts to leave. He gets counted out and Duggan wins, but Buzz just comes back to beat his ass some more. Solid brawl. Stupid finish again.

My Rating: ***1/4

Houston Wrestling 1/24/1986
Mexican Death Match: Hector & Chavo Guerrero def. The Fabulous Ones via countout (25:06)

Best match so far, but again, the finish drops it a few points for me. If you don't know, The Fabulous Ones is the team of Stan Lane and Steve Keirn, who some people might know better as Skinner in the WWF. Before the bell rings or anything is explained, the teams are fighting. The match gets off to a hot start as Chavo and Stan throw fists. Chavo chases Stan outside the ring and back inside the ring, Stan runs the ropes, Chavo drops down and dropkicks Stan to the outside. The Guerreros are on a roll and Hector pins Stan after a piledriver. And this is my least favorite parts of these old school death matches, the 10 counts after the 3 counts. It really slows the pace down. I liked how they handled here though as Steve gets in to distract the ref from counting, giving Stan time to make it back up. Hector tags Chavo in and he's putting the boots to Stan, but Stan pulls Chavo towards his own corner so Keirn can hang him on the top rope. The Fabulous Ones use cheatery tactics and taunt Hector to bait him into coming into the ring, distracting the ref so that Stan & Steve can beat up Chavo and bust him open. They beat on Chavo and manage to pin him. Hector gets in and tries to back Lane & Keirn away, but they take a couple cheap shots at Chavo before the referee starts the count. Chavo gets back up and then gets his ass kicked some more. They hit him with a chair as the referee is backing up Hector. Just some cheatin’ sons o'bitches huh. Keirn pins Chavo, but Chavo is able to get back up before 10. Chavo fires back with a couple shots. He tucks and rolls under a punch and makes it to his corner to tag in Hector, who comes in like a house of fire and pins Keirn. Hector runs off the ropes after Keirn gets back up and Stan puts his knee into Hector's back. They take Hector to the outside where Stan busts him open with a chair too. And now they start to beat up and wear down Hector and even manage to pin him twice, but Hector gets up both times and manages to tag Chavo in. The Guerreros start to roll and do the double bulldog headbutt spot. Stan and Steve have now been busted open, everyone is bleeding tonight. But Keirn manages to grab a chair from outside and swings back into Chavo's face and then Keirn hits Hector with the chair. Stan holds Hector's feet down while Keirn just beats him with the chair over and over and every time Chavo tries to get in to help, Steve hits him with the chair. Chavo finally has enough and brings his own chair inside and sends the Fabulous Ones running… another nonsense countout finish. Lazy, lazy booking. Why have the match at all at that point?

My Rating: ***3/4

FMW Fighting Creation 1996 Day 11: 7th Anniversary Show
FMW Independent Women's & WWA Women's Championship No Ropes Barbed Wire Current Blast Death Match: Megumi Kudo def. Combat Toyoda (c) (21:26)

The video starts with pre-match interviews between both women and Megumi says that its Toyoda's retirement match. So I had to look up how old Toyoda was out of curiosity. She was 28… Retired at 28, god damn. And then I was like “no, they wouldn't book someone's retirement match to end by countout right?” First off, I think this was my favorite match of this batch. Even though it is a slow one and hardly has any blood, it is brutal. They hook up and Toyoda tries to push Kudo into the wire early, but Kudo is able to fend off those attempts. Kudo tries to kick Toyoda towards the wire but is able to keep her balance. Thats the match early, just both women trying to push the other into an explosion. They tease this wire spot for a good while until finally, Megumi rolls under a clothesline but turns into a dropkick that sends her into the wire first and her back gets sploded. They make sure to give us a shot of her shoulder which is now blackened. Toyoda is now the one in control and whips Kudo toward the wire again, but baseball slides to the mat to avoid it. Kudo rolls under a clothesline again and Toyoda hits the wire with her back and the explosion that hits her looked worse. Kudo gets Toyoda in a sleeper hold and Toyoda escapes by rolling towards the wire. Kudo lets go and hits an enziguri. She whips Toyoda towards the wire, but Toyoda falls before she gets there out of pure exhaustion. Kudo goes for a Tiger something, but Toyoda back drops her and clotheslines her into the barbed wire. no explosion, just sharpened wire digging into her skin, no big deal. Toyoda pulls Kudo out of the wire, Megumi to clothesline her, but Toyoda ducks and hits a German Suplex, dumps her on her head. Megumi is able to pop off a DDT and a Northern Lights and gets frustrated both times Toyoda kicks out. Toyoda hits a back suplex and a powerbomb and each time Megumi kicks out. Now Toyoda is getting frustrated. Toyoda looks like she's gonna powerbomb Megumi into the wire, but Megumi is able to counter it into a sunset pin. They tease another wire spot as they each try to German suplex the other into it. Turns out they'd both get sploded as Megumi runs at Toyoda, who catches her but falls back into the wire and both women get it. This was the worst one so far. Megumi picks Toyoda back up and hits a Tiger Driver. Toyoda kicks out. Megumi hits a piledriver. Toyoda kicks again. Megumi hits a Vertebreaker and Toyoda stays down. Thats it. What can I say other than holy shit. After Toyoda is revived, she's helped back up and gets a standing ovation and goes out on her shield. What a match by two badass women.

My Rating: ****1/4

ECW on TNN 12/3/1999
Super Crazy def. Ikuto Hidaka (6:08)

Short and sweet. They fit everything they could in the 6 minutes they had. I could've done without Joel Gertner being blatantly racist on commentary. Like holy shit dude, just shut up. Just a collar and elbow and some leg work in the beginning but a minute later, Hidaka moonsaults off the top rope, lands on his feet because Crazy dodges him. Crazy whips him to the corner, Hidaka leaps over and Crazy leaps to the top rope to hit a crossbody. They trade some arm drags and have a standoff. Hadaka whips Crazy to the corner, cartwheels into a spin kick in the corner. He then front kicks Crazy in the face, Crazy rolls out, Hidaka baseball slides him and knocks him over the barricade. Then Hidaka Asai's and spins in midair, taking Crazy out in the audience. We go to commercial and when we come back, Crazy whips Hidaka off the ropes and Hidaka bounces off the middle, comes back and hits a tornado DDT. After Crazy kicks out, Hidaka pops off a hurricanrana, flips Crazy on his back. Hidaka runs across the ring but gets caught with a pop-up Powerbomb and then hits a moonsault off a springboard. Crazy sends Hidaka off the ropes, tilt-a-whirls him, but Hidaka lands on his feet and hits a spinning heel kick. Hidaka cartwheels and Crazy catches him on his shoulders, electric chair style, spins around and hits a Frankensteiner into a pin. Crazy kicks out at two and gets hit with a German Suplex. Hidaka tries a tornado DDT but Crazy throws him off and hits a sitout powerbomb before hitting a Lionsault off the top rope. He pins Hidaka to get the quick but not so easy victory.

My Rating: ***1/2

NOAH Navigation 10/5/2003
Tsuyoshi Kikuchi def. Masashi Aoyagi (12:05)

A pretty good match here. These guys really went at it. They have a staredown before seeing who can kick the other harder and that fight is won by Aoyagi. Aoyagi drops Kikuchi for a moment before Kikuchi comes back with elbows that puts Aoyagi on the mat. Thats the match in the first few minutes, a striking match Aoyagi really kicks the hell out of him. Surprisingly the fight goes into the audience with Aoyagi holding the upper hand still. Kikuchi goes for a dropkick in the corner, but Aoyagi dodges and hits a running kick to the chest before heading to the top rope, he comes off and Kikuchi blocks a chop, but Aoyagi kicks him in the gut and then drops him with a spinning heel kick. Aoyagi picks him up and hits a piledriver and gets a two off it. He whips Kikuchi to the buckle and goes for a clothesline in the corner, but Kikuchi gets his foot up to block it and Aoyagi clutches his arm in pain and then Kikuchi does a front flip kick to Aoyagi's arm and then hits a Blue Thunder Bomb. He gets Aoyagi in a Kimura Lock but Aoyagi reaches the rope with his foot. Kikuchi places Aoyagi on the top rope and heads up with him. He hooks his legs between the top and middle ropes and then hits a belly to belly off the top before sitting up and repositioning on the buckle. But then he misses a headbutt and Aoyagi goes for a back suplex, Kikuchi lands on his feet and Aoyagi connects with a spin kick to the face. Aoyagi hits Kikuchi with 3 brutal enziguris and gets a two count. Aoyagi picks him back up, but Kikuchi wrestles Aoyagi back down into a Kimura again, this time doesn't let him go anyway and Aoyagi is forced to tap out. Good match.

My Rating: ***3/4

IWA Mid-South Sunday Bloody Sunday 2007
Low Ki def. Hotstuff Hernandez (16:11)

And what a match to end this batch on. This match ruled. A really great david vs goliath match. Hernandez gets on both knees a minute in and puts up his dukes, saying “here let me get on your level” like a jerk. Low Ki slaps him in his bald head and kicks him in the chest and Hernandez stands back up. I don't blame him, I watched Low Ki kick Samoa Joe so hard that Mars could hear it. Low Ki runs the ropes and Hernandez shoulder blocks him, but Low Ki stays on his feet and chops Hernandez so hard it makes him stumble backward. Low Ki's speed is throwing Hernandez for a loop too and Hernandez basically flies over the top rope as Low Ki dropped them. Big man is pissed at this point. Hernandez gets back on the apron and Low Ki immediately goes back on attack. He runs off the ropes and Hernandez throws his body in and shoulder blocks Low Ki off his feet. Hernandez takes his tank top off and chokes Low Ki with it before tossing his ass across the ring. Hernandez picks Low Ki up and stalls the suplex for a solid minute. Low Ki tries to escape with knees to the big man's dome, but they don't work and after another 15 seconds or so, Hernandez drops him. Hernandez basically rag dolls Low Ki for several minutes. Low Ki fights up, kicking and chopping Hernandez’ chest and Hernandez throws him back into the air. Hernandez picks Low Ki up for a powerbomb, but Low Ki elbows him in the head, Hernandez lands on his back and Low Ki hits a hard double stomp! Low Ki chops Hernandez repeatedly, over and over, Kobashi style too. Strikes him with his feet in the chest and head, hits a disaster kick too and Hernandez is still not going down until Low Ki body slams him. Low Ki runs the ropes and Hernandez bowls over him. He picks Low Ki up by the throat with both hands and tosses him overhead still by the throat. Hernandez misses a splash and sits down in the corner. He boots Low Ki back before pulling himself off the mat to the top rope, but then Low Ki from across the ring, cartwheels into a pele kick to Hernandez on the buckle! Low Ki goes to the top rope and flies off, but gets caught and Hernandez repositions him to hit a powerbomb and he gets a close two count off that! Hernandez picks Low Ki up, going for a Border Toss, but Low Ki escapes. Hernandez misses a splash in the corner, and Low Ki hits a running dropkick before rolling Hernandez up from behind to take the win. Bit of a weak finish but I won't complain too much. At least it didn't end by countout. And this match ruled so pretty good way to end this review.

My Rating: ****1/4

 

[Sky]

Some of these matches are good... some of them are because the bottom half of your rankings is looking pretty lonely. Sorry.


El Hijo del Santo vs. Dr. Cerebro - Mask vs. Mask - IWRG 2001


NEO Biishiki-gun (Sakisama, Mei St. Michel) vs. 121000000 (Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh) - TJPW Additional Attack 2021


7-on-7 4x15 minute Football Rules match - CWA Bodyguards vs. Bandits 1996


Blue Panther vs. Love Machine - Mask vs. Mask - CMLL 36th Anniversary of Arena Mexico 1992


Eddy Steinblock vs. One Warrior Nation - DWA 2010

URL
Goldberg, Keiji Mutoh vs. KroniK - AJPW Wrestle-1 2003

 

[Emb]

Super Dragon vs. Bobby Quance, APW 10/25/2002




LA Park vs. La Parka, AAA 6/6/2010
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x19bjb1

 

[Jarf]

Goldberg, Keiji Mutoh vs. KroniK - AJPW Wrestle-1 2003

What the fuck? Lol

 

[Hosferatu]

Nasty work