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: ***