Does Brett Like Anything?

[Brett]

Does Brett Like Anything?
The Intro:
Hi, I’m Brett. I love wrestling. I also love telling you why the wrestling you love is actually bad, why the thing everyone else is enjoying is “missing something,” and why I will absolutely die on hills no one asked me to stand on. I have opinions and I tend to double down out of pure spite.

This thread is me attempting a bold experiment: watching wrestling with an open mind, fewer soapboxes, and the radical idea that not everything exists in a way that should be overly-critiqued at all times. Will I still be stubborn? Yes. Will I still rant? Absolutely. But maybe, just maybe, I’ll also admit when something rules.

Consider this either a character arc or a public struggle session.

The Content:
I've watched a lot of wrestling. I have not rewatched a ton of wrestling. Meaning the majority of things I have watched have only really been consumed one time and perhaps could've been written off without a fair shake. AKA everything is on the table to be watched.

There will be two pieces of content being graded. The main focus will be matches; however, every week I will be reviewing an entire show.

I'd love for this to be a request-review thread. I am not going to go into this expecting a shit ton of participation, so I will have provisions if I catch up to any requests and need stuff to watch. To combat this though, I will have a google form (shoutout @Sky ) where you can fill out a short answer requesting any amount of matches and shows. So like genuinely feel free to load that sucker up. I'd also like to ask you to not request in here and either use the google form or DM me.

Feel free to request anything. From gutter shit to mediocre to iconic.

~REQUEST FORM~
You do not have to provide a link or a way to watch a show / match. I got my ways.

The Grading:
This is where I am truly attempting to deviate from the way I typically watch wrestling. This review thread will not be about sifting through each match, show, segment with a fine-toothed comb. Rather the focus will be on sheer entertainment. Now granted I obviously enjoy the more nuanced, critical aspects of wrestling and that does result in pure entertainment for me. But truly, deep down, I know when I'm being an absolute smug piece of shit being too critical on what should simply be seen as a fun and exciting product.

The system in which I will be grading will be an S-F tier scale.
S+ all the way down to F-

I also will provide Highlights and Lowlights from each match / show.

The Schedule:
Seeing as though I watch wrestling far more than I should, this does not really change anything for me. Honestly at times I spend more time trying to figure out what I want to watch vs. just actually watching something. The reviews will be very stream of consciousness and will be conducted after I complete a full watch of something, which includes shows. Shows will most likely be on a more once a week schedule. But realistically, there ain't a fuckin schedule. I'm a do this when I do this and you're gonna like it pal.


So..... yea start requesting I guess. Maybe we'll have our inaugural review tonight ??? ​

 

[Brett]

Saved for potential Review Stats / Lists / Sheets / etc.​

 

[O-Blaze]

Can you change the font color from a dark font to something that's friendly on more than just the light themes please? Thanks.

 

[Brett]

Can you change the font color from a dark font to something that's friendly on more than just the light themes please? Thanks.

Just fixed it little man

 

[Brett]

Match #1
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BJW @ Tokyo
Kengo Mashimo & Madoka (c) vs. Men's Teioh and Shinobu (BJW Tag Team Titles)
05.23.2008
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Pre-Match Prejudice​

I feel like it is very important to put all of my cards on the table and release any bit of negativity I may have for a particular wrestler, promotion, stipulation, whatever the fuck else prior to the match. This match, however, won't require too much of that. I am very much understudied on mid-2000s puro and especially hailing from the land of Big Japan where I virtually have no connection to. So just for the sake of piloting this segment, which will reoccur every review, let's judge some of these guys.

Kengo Mashimo looks like a discount Hirooki Goto, but heavier and shorter.
Madoka has that type of look of a puro wrestler that I just can never get behind. Think Jake Lee, Sanada. There's just some sort of smugness that lives in this dude's face that just makes me not a fan from the jump.
Men's Teioh, I have only really been exposed to his ECW and Kaientai stuff, so I'd imagine that's not at his best. I am aware that he was the longest reigning GAY World Anal Championship, fuck yea dude.
Lastly we have Shinobu. I'm rooting for Shinobu. In the early video package, it looks like Teioh has just been bullying the fuck out of him and idk he seems like a good guy.

Alright let's review.

The Match​

The TLDR on the match set-up if you're into that thing is basically: you have your two young gunners of Kengo and Madoka who are currently the tag champions of Big Japan. Then you have the dysfunctional team of Teioh and Shinobu. From the video package, it looks like Shinobu has been doing everything in his power to gain the respect from his "senpai" Men's Teioh and it has not been working particularly well. It seems like this match will be a final exam of sorts for Shinobu to win the support of Teioh.

Some Quick Fire Anecdotes
Shinobu has a helluva of dropkick

I came in wanting to hate Madoka, but his kicks are so fucking lethal and crisp and if there's anything you'll learn in this review experience. I fucking love kicks.

Men's Teioh is more Masato Tanaka here than Danshoku Dino and that genuinely shocked me. Old boy can fucking go. He also has Sabu scars, so I am assuming he's mixed it up in the deathmatches of Big Japan ? That makes me respect him that much more.

Shinobu reminds me of Atsushi Kotoge, except if he were trained in the Dragon Gate dojo.

Every puro match should happen at Korakuen Hall.
​

The majority of the match is Kengo and Madoka working on Shinobu's banged up shoulder and this puts Shinobu in the position to fight from underneath. Most up-and-coming wrestlers would rather study acts like Joe Hendry and Luigi Primo in order to find ways to get over and booked, but if I were a wrestling trainer, I would have my students study this match for the perfect execution of the hot tag / working from underneath model that we always see in tag matches. It didn't feel overdone, it didn't feel over dramatic. It was two smart tag champions working over a weak body part on their opponent that limited his ability to get a tag to his wily veteran.

Upon loving kicks, I also love shoot strikes. Listen I don't need full Low-Ki, but if you hit some kicks, elbows, even punches snug, well you got me hooked. Madoka hits Shinobu with a vicious downward kick to the back of the head that made me legit cringe. You can kind of tell that Madoka is young and unpolished as he hits his strikes with that youthful ignorance that you'd see from early KENTA.

The final stretch of this match is also fucking beautifully executed. Near-falls and near-submissions that did not feel forced or hack. Men's Teioh had Madoka in an Octopus Hold only rivaled in torque by Zack Sabre Jr. I seriously had bit on that being it, but it was surely not. In fact we had about 5 minutes left to go.

Eventually Kengo would submit Shinobu with an arm-focused Rings of Saturn, that if Shinobu's shoulder was actually banged up, might have actually ripped the tendon off the bone.

The Finish: Kengo and Madoka defeat Men's Teioh and Shinobu to retain (24:25)

The Review​

An absolute pleasure of a watch and a great tone-setter for this review thread that I am starting. This is MKM (My Kinda Match). Despite not knowing the players or the story (aside from the non-translated video package), I was hook-line-and sinkered into the action here. Just reiterating the point from earlier, it was a masterclass in a babyface working from underneath while the heel team cut off the ring and attacked with precision.

In which to my next point, the wrong team won.... The only real sullied thing I can say about this match is that it absolutely should've culminated in Shinobu picking up the win for him and his senpai. Shinobu hit a gorgeous shooting star press that I was praying would be the pinfall victory for the duo, but unfortunately Kengo came in to break things up.

Despite being far shorter, I really got the same feel of my first, and I guess only, watch of FTR vs. the Bang Bang Gang. Like it wasn't over the top with combo maneuvers or high spots. It simply utilized the tag match formula in a way that was just so crisp, efficient, and whatever other good adjective words you would want to add.

The Grade
A-
While it probably sounded as if I was getting ready to give this match the highest marks, I am setting a precedent as to what my grade scale is going to look like. An A- implies that it was above good (B range) and is right below your highest marks of A/S+. I'll probably do a breakdown of each letter and what it means, once I get a solid base down. A- here means light great. It was great, but lightly. There was certainly an extra gear this match could've taken and a level of violence that was hinted at, but not fully explored. I would've loved some more offensive action from the team of Teioh and Shinobu, especially since they ended up losing. That was my only true gripe of the match was that I felt like the formula worked perfectly for a flash pin win for Shinobu (much prefer a clean victory though). I'd assume this match was sent by @Chris, but it's kind of fun not being able to see who's sending these in. Shout outs to whoever sent this shit, I fucking dug it. Keep sending stuff like this and I will continue to be as positive as I have been in this .

Oh and one last thing

 

[Brett]

Match #2
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WWE Hell in a Cell 2012
Sheamus (c) vs. Big Show (WWE World Heavyweight Championship)
10.28.2012
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Pre-Match Prejudice​

Believe it or not, Sheamus and Big Show are particularly high on my list of wrestlers I genuinely have always enjoyed from the Federation. Calling things underrated feels super contrived at times, but I think underutilized is the best way to put the Celtic Warrior. He is excellent in really any spot that you put him. Paired with a flyer, technical wizard, another bruiser, or hell even a giant and odds are you are going to get some good shit.

I think if Sheamus was laid off similar to Mcintyre and was able to reinvent himself as a true main eventer outside of WWF, then I think he would see similar heights to what Mcintyre is now relishing in. Isn't that sad to think about though. I mean I don't empathize with many fed shills, but to think guys like Sheamus have not been given a true main event run in over 10 years having stayed with the company through thick and thin and they get passed over by guys like Mcintyre, Punk and Cody Rhodes, who went out of the company to reinvent themselves. Talk about incentive to leave a place.

I probably had watched this match when it first took place as it was an era of wrestling I was watching everything and anything, but I do not remember it in the slightest bit. I love me some power battles. This match is being billed as weapon vs. weapon. The Brogue Kick vs. the WMD or K-O Punch.

The Match​

As I said this match's primary focus was on the two finishing moves of the combatants. I have always found it hilarious when a wrestler tries to get a simple strike over as a finisher. For Big Show it is really nothing more than a punch. Try to think of wrestling an entire wrestling match without being able to throw a punch. Like that genuinely seems incredibly hard to do, but a reality Show must live in as if he hits a rando punch than he buries his finish. So for some reason I hyperfocused on that aspect and watched what Show was doing as substitutes. He hit some headbutts and some well placed knee lifts, but you could almost tell that he was actively thinking of what to do next instead of going for some punches.

So I am going to be completely honest here. I watched this match last night and I really, really tried staying awake for it. All of my memories from this match are that of it being my paralysis demon where I continuously would wake up from that falling feeling to zoom back in to whatever the hell was happening in this match. Or should I just outright say what was not happening in this match. All joking aside, I did catch the majority of it despite my stupor and all-pun intended it was an absolute snooze fest. It kind of perfectly defines this era of WWF. Sanitized, boring, drab, easy, choreographed. Like there was just nothing to this match. There literally just weren't spots. Not to say matches should be littered in them, but it felt like that typical commercial break wrestling you unfortunately have to endure if you go to a live show. And this was a match for a World Heavyweight Championship. In the opening video package of this match, Sheamus took a fucking killer bump flipping over the ropes and smashing his head on the ground in a pretty fucked way. I don't need Sheamus to get concussed, but for fuck's sake add some sort of drama.

I thought the finish to the match was actually well done, but it literally was the only enjoyable part of this match and it was like 45 seconds long.

The Finish: Big Show defeats Sheamus with the WMD and wins the World Heavyweight Championship

The Review​

I really wanted to enjoy this match. I just don't even get the purpose here story-wise and wrestling-wise. Sheamus was pretty over at this point as the tough guy fighting Irishmen and he essentially got squashed here. He was bumping like crazy for Show, really only had a bit of offense and eventually had his fairly protected finisher kicked out of, then he lost seconds later. I am all for a Big Show title run, but not like this. Uninspiring. Boring. Bleh. Nothing. Cool finish though, the WMD counter to a charging Sheamus was pretty good. But yea just slop really.

The Grade
D​

Yea I don't know about this one. If it wasn't for a world championship and wasn't on a pay-per-view..... Yea I don't know, I think it would've sucked regardless of the expectations around it. It was not offensive though, which is why I give it a D. It is not rewatchable, but is watchable if that makes any sense. No need to go back to check this one out.

My guess for this one is @O-Blaze maybe ??

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