Has Rey Mysterio / Kane I been nominated? From No Mercy?

I just finished watching it, and man did it take me by surprise. Cole does a good job (!) highlighting the importance of Rey's mask, touching on the symbolism of the colours and the honour the mask represents. Rey pulls out all the moves to convey his absolute desperation in winning, so he doesn't have to remove his mask. Kane looks like the giant who has trouble actually being able to land a move on the mosquito Mysterio, but when he does it has impact. In the end, he becames so frustrated at Rey's speedy offense that he snaps and bashes in Rey's skull with a chair.

I haven't seen the second edition yet, but this has a chance at creeping into my top 20, if someone indeed does second it. Please do. Pretty please.

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My standing top four:

1) (CMLL) Blue Panther vs. Villano V (Mask v. Mask) - 09.19.2008 **** 1/4

2) (BattleArts) Yuki Ishikawa, Alexander Otsuka & Munenori Sawa vs. Daisuke Ikeda, Katsumi Usuda & Super Tiger II (Elimination Tag) - 07.26.2008 **** 1/4

3) (AJPW) Suwama vs. Hiroyoshi Tanahashi - Champions Carnival Final 04.09.2008 ****

4) (WWE) Randy Orton vs. John Cena (WWE Championship) - No Way Out *** 3/4

The top two I caught just this morning, and I may cool slightly on them. But there's a reason they are being pimped here, both are great matches. The BattleArts one took me completely by surprise, an awesome, brutal elimination tag match. Perhaps the best elimination tag I've ever seen, from wrestling (as opposed to dramatic) standpoint. I don't want increased stiffness to be seen as a requirement for a good match, but it certainly leads to more gasps and groans. Don't go thinking I want more Benoits though ...

The Mask v. Mask match had emotion and passion, as well as some cool revenge spots. The sportsmanship at the end was strange, but this type of matche bears importance and thus it probably called for a break in kayfabe. It may go up or down in the coming days, but for now it stays ahead of BattleArts purely because of the drama.

Orton / Cena I originally had as **** ... I really want to boost it back up, but the others are definitely better. After the impressions for the first two have cooled, I'll probably feel justified in boosting it up a bit.

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Yeah for my money, the Orton-Cena match was the best thing the company produced this year I feel at least...

The Mask v. Mask match to me is going to be really tough to top. You get the emotion, you get the drama, you get the action, everything makes lots of sense, nothing feels overdone and the cherry on top is the wild crowd. Just a sensational match all the way around.

As for party crashers.... I'm catching up on the Smackdown stuff I missed and or haven't checked on in a while...

Undertaker v. Festus, Smackdown, 4/11

Undertaker, absent of a true face/heel alignment, just working as the champ, fending off the challenge of the unlikely bruiser who's been making a name for himself.

He doesn't underestimate him, nor does he completely dominate him. Festus is not shown to be on Taker's level, nor is he exposed as a scrub. He loses, but he comes out looking tougher than he did going in. Maybe the closest analogy I could make would be something like "Jumbo Tsuruta vs. a lower-ranked member of the Super Generation Army". It's a demonstration of hierarchy that shows just how tough the lower-ranked wrestler really is, but leaves no doubt as to who's the man. Bonus points for Jesse's contributions, both in the pre-match interview and during the match as a second, whose conflicted feeling about wanting to see his friend do well against the champ but not wanting to see him get destroyed were displayed perfectly. Fantastic stuff.





Vladimir Kozlov v. Festus, Smackdown, 8/15

This was just awesome, especially considering the relative green-ness of these two. AWESOME heavyweight slug-fest. They just come right out of the gate with some super physical stuff, well done high spots and a pretty blistering pace for two dudes as big as these two are. I've seen a lot of Festus, and for a young big man, he's is some sort of incredibly talented. No offense to his partner, but he's a lot like if Terry Gordy and Steve Williams had a kid. Yes, he's awesome. Kozlov's good, too. I dunno if this is exactly top 20 stuff, but definately a worthwhile five minutes of your life well spent.



MVP v. Matt Hardy, Smackdown, 4/1

These two really prove that there's more than one way to work a hate-filled brawl. Sometimes you go ahead looking for this mega intense super-strike fest in brawls and when you don't get that, you tend to walk away dissapointed, but this is something that's really masured more so in the degree of punishment the brawlers want to dish out as opposed to how intense they are.

This match is right on the heels of Wrestlemania where Hardy cost MVP the MITB contract. The heat is there from the get go and these two really lay it in. Hardy's all about revenge and goes for the leg which is great for two reasons: For One, it negates one of MVP's big finishing type moves, the big boot. Second, it's the same limb MVP injured months before. The crux of the match isn't two guys who hate each other so much they lose control, its that they hate each other so much they focus on what little self-control thaey have left into throwing bombs at the other. MVP's great on the sell here and diverts away from his usual 'I'm skilled, arrogant and lazy' shtick to 'I'm skilled, lazy and angry at the world'. he looks as good as he claims to be despite being outdone by his opponent, which leads to some interesting approaches to the inevitable title rematch they'd have at Backlash. Goodie here.





Finlay v. Chuck Palumbo, Smackdown 5/23

you go into this match expecting a barroom brawl, but end up with something different that still manages to satisfy.

This match plays to a lot of strengths here and makes for something really enjoyable. Palumbo I felt got the real short end of the stick as I think he's a really good big man worker, or at least has turned into one over the years. He's a great striker and it was wise to let him have the lions' share of the offense here. Finlay is a super-saavy vet who sells as good as anyone. Short stuff even shorter, they booked this smart.

The Hornswaggle interference works when it doesn't overwhelm matches, which on the whole, they usually do, but here they're worked well. Hornswaggle is shooting Palumbo with a water gun.. at first its all well and good but after a while, Palumbo gets tired of his bullsh!t and chases him outside for some fun man-on-leprechaun violence. All he gets for his efforts is a face full of Green mist and a Shelaleigh in the skull. What makes this even better is the referee afterwards, who knows something's clearly up.

Regardless, this is how every Finlay-Hornswaggle shenanigans match should be booked. Well done.

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Seconded because this was fun, surly, and stupid. I've heard they have a match from June that's worth watching but I haven't seen it. I'll keep my eye open.

I watched a ROH video wire a few weeks ago where they did a package putting him over as a babyface whose fighting because he has a child on the way to take care of. Its an interesting role for him and it looks good.

Yeah I like Necro with half a heart. He's great at taking a beating for sure. He had some killer matches with Joe a few years back in PWG if I remember correctly...

As for the Terkay err Predator match, I heard the June match is pretty BOSS too, so i'd love to see it.

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I remember enjoying each of these SmackDown matches you touched on Towney. Some good television fun to be had there, especially the hilarious Festus / Vladimir Kozlov one. Good job in bringing them up.

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IGF "GENOME5 ~HOKKAIDO GENKI SUMMIT~", 6/23/08
Tsukisamu Alphacourt Dome
4,647 Fans - No Vacancy


http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HX1TFK7D

Here's the OTHER Necro-Predator (Sylvester Terkay) match... this is another nomination per ME.

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So I just watched another two matches from the Japanese bandwagon, consider these seconds if they haven't received one yet ...

(NOAH) Takeshi Morishima vs. Mitsuharu Misawa (GHC Heavyweight Championship) - 03.02.2008 ***1/2

I adore the dynamic that sees a big man taking on a capable, and desperate, smaller man. It's the reason why I love it when John Cena or Jeff Hardy takes on Umaga, and that's why I enjoyed the Rey Mysterio / Kane encounter at No Mercy. The teased come-backs, the impactful denials, hopeful spots and desperation just entertains me immensely.

This match has all that. Granted, being unfamiliar with Japanese body language (and unable to understand the commentary) picking up on the desperation is totally reliant on the moves used. Beyond that, it has the teased come-backs and hopeful spots, as well as the great impact denials. A true example as to how moves have meaning, because Misawa sells his desperation to an overseas audience with no inkling of understanding Japanese via his moves. My only critique is that his facial expressions seemed less invested to conveying emotion, but I'm really at a loss as to whether that's because he was lazy or that I'm not used to Japanese body language. In fact, I'm open to it being the second option.

This will be on my list, and is just as good as John Cena / Batista (without the back-story of course). Check it out guys, it deserves to get placement in the final product.

(BJPW) Kengo Moshima & Madoka vs. MEN's Teioh & Shinobu - 05.23.2008 ***1/4



Nah, this was really good. Probably the best straight up tag match I've seen this year. Shinobu's selling is top notch, and the whole burn towards an intense showdown is very well performed. The first sharp kick to the shoulder is so effective, and pretty mcuh establishes that business has now gotten serious. Fvck respect, time to push some buttons! It has some really exciting stuff, some of which does come close to degenerating into Indy spot-a-thon crud, but Shinobu's selling prevents it from reaching said low point.

It has a VERY good chance at creeping into the bottom half of my top 20 MOTY list.

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Misawa is lazy and physically broken down (and has been since 1997) but thats not the reason for his facial expressions. Misawa is supposed to be a traditional stoic Japanese male who does not let his emotions get the best of him. He has moments when he loses control and shows some emotion but those are rare. Some good examples of that would be when he scores a flash pin on Jumbo Tsuruta and looks like he's going to cry or any of his hate filled stare downs with Kawada.

That's actually really cool!

I thought Misawa was kind of lazy walking about the ring during that match as well, but I figured it had more to do with his age and physical limitations than motivation. Didn't detract much from the performance (I'm lenient towards execution and whatnot when assessing matches), though it probably would stop others from getting into it.

Is that Morishima in your signature?! That'd be an awesome match-up!

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This is SUCH a good tag match that it almost has ZERO chance of falling out of my top 20, even IF its only because of Shinobu, who generally speaking blows, but in this match is just out of this world. MENS Teioh is so so so so good at keeping this centered that it's almost ridiculous to consider this match even remotely average. Total Top 20 stuff from me and will stay there.

I think I have it.... at #15 right now. I find it very unlikely that this gets dislodged. Its that good and of all the Japanese matches, is the one I'm really desperately hoping doesn't get slept on.

I mean realistically, this is one of those seriously boarderline matches that if PEOPLE WATCH IT, will totally make the top 20. If not, it'll get left off. I'm desperately hoping it'll get on because its a fantastic tag team match, for my money, the best one i've seen this year.

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That is indeed, Mori in GC's sig.... lemme tell you... I don't even think this was close to Mori's best performance even though it's probably the best match he's been in this year. The Akiyama match from a few weeks ago doesn't touch this, imo, but Mori's so good in it... The idea of Cena-Morishima makes me want to blow my brains on the wall.

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I'm going to pitch a nomination for the following match:

(ROH) Adam Pierce (c) vs. Brent Albright (NWA Heavyweight Championship) - Death Before Dishonor VI

I have no idea whether this performance is legitimately good, or just because it's the only match on the card thus far that has depth in narrative ... But anyway, Pierce is an absolute pr!ck here. In some ways he reminds me of Steve Austin at his most anarchic. He bad-mouths the crowd, bullies the referee, pushes over camera-men, spits on officials and his opponent etc. And when blood begins to flow he targets it ruthlessly.

Albright dominates early, as Pierce is off-guard having to defend his title earlier than expected. But when Albright is busted open, Pierce starts to take the offensive. As things looked dire for the NWA Champion, Sweeney attempts to earn a disqualification, but Roderick Strong makes the save, paying the manager back for causing him a loss previously on the night. Pierce dishes out a Figure Four, which the commentators take as a nice throwback to one of the NWA's greatest champions, a nice allusion that goes hand in hand with the retro belt Pierce carries around.

In the end, Albright hits a second win and eventually forces the NWA Champion to submit, earning a spot amidst the long line of champion's in the legacy of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. It's a special moment for him (as I take it), and displays how karma caught up with Sweet 'N Sour Inc. after their actions these past months.

I don't know whether this would factor in on my final list or not. What does everyone else think of it? I'd probably peg it at *** or ***1/4.

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I'm seconding the following Armageddon matches:

CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio (Intercontinental Championship #1 Contender)

Most of my favourite performers originated from the Junior's style of wrestling, and this is a nice throwback to that. It's not going to make my final list, but for a good quality match based on competition alone, you can't do much better.

***

Edge (c) vs. Triple H vs. Edge (WWE Championship)

Though it does largely conform to typical triple threat paradigms, and neither Edge nor Triple H really looked motivated in their one-on-one segments, the 'so close' narrative focusing on Hardy's Swanton attempts make it quite an enjoyable ride. Emotional conclusion, with run-ins that add to the drama. The table spot was cool too.

*** 1/4

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Scott, you are going to FVCKING HATE me... I just found like 10 more matches in Japan worth watching... I"m just going to post it all in here... but those are the last ones (I've seriously scoured the earth and am plowing through this crap this week). There is NOTHING else worth watching or I think nominating....

This weekend I pretty much committed to doing two things: One was finishing my christmas shopping and the second was plowing through the rest of the HUGE STACK of Puro matches I've compiled in the last two months....

So I watched the G1 Tournament and came up with the list of stuff to watch. Watched the G1 tag league and the World's Strongest Tag League this week.... I've got the remainder of the major All Japan Shows (two) to plow through tomorrow including 8 hours of New Japan TV. I've pretty much cleaned the indies in Japan, and it was a bad year for them, IMO.

So what i'll end up doing is nominating the rest of these suckers and REALLY PLUGGING the ones that everyone SHOULD watch....

but yeah, huge list.

Next year, with the Puro forum, it'll be A LOT easier on this crap and i'm going to devise some sort of deal where we make a literal ballot. Like more than a second. Like say a yes vote or a no vote on certain matches. The ones with the decided cut off of 'yes' votes get on the ballot and the others we give a friendly nod to or something...

I'll also provide links of course...

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Is there a way I could see Albright/Pearce I heard the ROH crowd really ate that one up?

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Cena/Morishima would kick my @$$ but picture this:
Morishima & Umaga vs Cena & Jeff Hardy
[head explodes]

HUNTER FINISHES G1 CLIMAXIN'

NOMINATIONS AND WHAT NOT

These are the rest of the matches, now having watched all the matches, that i'd nominate from the tournament. All in all, it was a really blah G1 in terms of really good matches. The booking was fvcking awesome, but the matches left some to be desired I guess.

Its hard to pick a tournament MVP, but if I were to pick one, it'd probably be Giant Bernard. Him or Yutaka Yoshie. Both big dudes, both good big dudes had multiple good matches with multiple people. Goto and Makabe, who meet in the final, are pretty consistent, but there's some real suck-bag performances from some folks, too. Kawada really is starting to show his age and the wear and tear these days. He wasn't as bad as he really looked like he was phoning it in in most of his matches. His match with Yuji Nagata is entertaining enough, but the real gem is with Hirooki Goto, where he's all 'Get off my lawn' old man on Goto...

Ohtani is a LOT of fun in this tournament. Almost all his matches are really worth checking out. I've posted a few reviews of the tournament highlights in this thread... i'll put them in one neat post in here, too so you can reference it. I have links to all the matches, and they'll gradually get posted, too.

As for the best match of the tournament, without question for me is Bernard-Ohtani, which is just as good a big man-little man match as you'll probably ever see these days. It's Umaga-Hardy good and maybe even then some. Bernard is really unreal. He's come a long, long ways.

Anyways, enjoy this crap. I'll be finishing up my New Japan MOTY candidates full fledged tomorrow, so they'll be done.

And IF YOU DISAGREE WITH MY NOMINATIONS, SAY SO. That's the purpose of this nomination process, to sort of filter a lot of the not as good stuff.

Toshiaki Kawada v. Hiroki Goto, G1 Climax Block-A, 8/11

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=33HCA9ZM

Kawada was pretty dissapointing in this year's G1 and in general has been sort of blah this year, and IMO, is finally starting to show his age. This match however, is his one real bright spot in the tournament for him. I figured this match up would work well heading in. Goto is a guy who New Japan pushed pretty hard this year and when a younger heavyweight is moving up the ladder, especially in Japan, there are plenty of 'measuring stick' matches. While Kawada isn't what he was, he's still more than a handful for anyone.

There's some nice feeling out in the beginning before Goto finds himself large and in charge in pretty short order. Problem is that he gets a little cocky and too comfortable in the driver's seat. Kawada, the wily vet of course catches his opening and really, really makes Goto pay and absolutely blows the poor kid to pieces in one of the better control segments of the year. Everything's fun, it's pretty brutal, and just the kind of 'old man teaching a youngster how things are done'.

From there, things DO get a bit iffy. It does get into a little bit of back and forth, and to be sure, Goto's stuff isn't all that interesting, but it manages to be entertaining enough. The transitions sort of make up for it, especially Goto cold-cocking the old geezer with a pretty awesome lariat while Kawada's got his back turning off the ropes he just hit. Kawada does get the better of Goto on this occasion, but he's gotta drop a small kitchen sink on his head to do it. He whips out a big Kawada kick and a brain buster that doesn't get the job done. Finally, Kawada takes a run into the ropes and comes off with a big kick that puts Goto's head in some girl's popcorn ringside. Despite the loss though, Goto really looks like a sympathetic figure and comes off looking really tough, sticking with Kawada and at times being ahead of him for a solid 15 minutes.

Yuji Nagata v. Yutaka Yoshie, G1 Climax Tournament, Block A 8/13/08

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ANPS4YT1

So here's our friend Yutaka Yoshie. Oh and its Yuji Nagata, a dude by now you're all familiar with as well. Another fun Yoshie match. I dunno if I like this as much as the Goto match from a few days later, but its fun to see Nagata, who unlike Goto is a REALLY stubborn dude, constantly try to will his way to winning this match.

From a character standpoint, this is a really strong match for Nagata. He's all about willing his way to victories, being Mr. IWGP, Mr. New Japan. He's really the character whose considered more or less the ambassador for the promotion. And in that sense, this is very typical of that persona. He keeps working the kicks and eventually, they get to Yoshie. Nagata's adrenaline helps him lift Yoshie eventually and can string some suplexes together that result in the difference in the match.. All that stuff.. is very A-OK with me.

There ARE some no-sellish stuff in here I'm not wild about. I've mentioned in the past that Nagata reminds me a lot of Kurt Angle circa late 2003 where he'll be awesome one night then the next night you feel like you might now know what you'll get. Well, same with Nagata. And he's got some kip ups and straight ahead spots despite eating some vicious crap from Yoshie.

On the other hand though, the selling at times is real great from Nagata, who eats the sit outs and 'Godzilla squashes Bambi' spots. He's real great there.

So a lot to like, little to dislike.. this gets a nomination from me I guess.

Giant Bernard v. Shinjiro Ohtani, G1 Climax Block-B, 8/13

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YB8QNJYV

Of the stuff i've seen to this point, this is easily the best match i've seen in this tournament. As in not even close. Heck, its probably the best match i've seen in New Japan this year.

I'll go out on a limb and say Bernard might be the most improved guy in wrestling over the course of the last two or three years. He's really just totally a wrestling machine these days and while he put on some pretty great stuff with Yuji Nagata and Hiroyoshi Tanahashi in the past couple of years, this might be the best i've seen him individually. This is basically a big man v. little man match with a twist. Bernard of course is the big monster, but Ohtani's a surly old dude, the veteran of many wars. This isn't just about hope spots, but Ohtani's constantly trying to con Bernard into making the mistakes he needs him to make in order for him to have a shot.

This just plays out at several points in the match. In the opening segments Ohtani gets sick of toe to toe stuff, knowing he can't possibly win that and invites Bernard to the floor. Bernard comes out, Ohtani gets back in the ring and boots him in the face to take control. Bernard eventually overwhelms him and it turns into a bit more of a slug fest. Ohtani gets Bernard into a chop battle on the outside, and gets Bernard to totally pop and charge him, which causes the big man to miss Ohtani and crash into the post. He hurts his shoulder and Ohtani gets the opening he needs. He works two totally awesome arm bar sequences where Bernard sells his backside off for and looks SO DESPERATE to get out of it.

Bernard's offense is through the roof. He absolutely caves in Ohtani's forehead with a headbutt and then sells damage to HIMSELF. His Bernard-o-bomb is pretty choice in the end. He completely turns Ohtani inside out with a lariat and in general, just looks like a total stud in this going away. The guy's getting over, too. When the crowd is cheering a big dude whose supposedly a heel beating down a little old man, whose the face and the 'Cinderella' story of the tournament, you know you're pretty popular. They haven't had a strong Gaijin champion in Japan in a while, and I think Bernard's definitely ready for it.

Yutaka Yoshie v. Hirooki Goto, G1 Climax Tournament, Block A, 8/14/08

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RD4AFHGI

I enjoyed the crap out of this and for my money, its one of the best matches of the block phases. Yoshie looks like one of those Hostess 'Snow Balls' in his pink sparkly singlet and man, he's one fat fvck. Buy he's a happy fat fvck. And a dangerous fat fvck as well.

Yoshie is remarkably athletic and man does he just completely squash Goto in the end like a can in a recycling machine. It's pretty awesome. Sometimes I'm a-ok with the big guy basically standing in the middle of the ring and letting the babyface attempt to try and figure out how to move him about and what not. They sort of go with that approach, but occasionally let Yoshie spring from the middle of the ring, typically in a spot that's going to make him look like a million bucks. Guy his hella-athletic despite being morbidly obese and dressed in pink. A lot of people preferred the Nagata match, because I dunno, I guess Nagata's more fun to watch get pissed off. But for me, watching noob Goto helplessly attempt to figure Yoshie out is pretty much a cooler thing in my opinion. Check this out.

Togi Makabe v. Giant Bernard, G1 Climax Block-B, 8/16

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=85FK84KG

This is another fantastic Bernard match. I don't know if I like it quite as much as the Ohtani match, but its definitely up there, too.

Bernard is basically a monster and Makabe, being an incredibly huge douche – bag, knows this, and as any good heel would do, brings down a friend to try and help him win this thing. This thing is Bernard v. Makabe and everyone else it seems, and the odds are never in his favor. Makabe's protege is contantly interjecting himself in the match, the official is constantly distracted, and its never a case of IF Bernard can win, but how long it'll be before he loses. Its horrendously rigged in Makabe's favor, what every good heel does, especially with a guy who NEEDS to win the match to stay alive and oh yeah, is HUGELY over with the crowd.

Bernard's selling is through the roof in this, especially on the leg, collapsing while trying to make a power slam... at one point later in the match he goes for a tilt a whirl side slam and he hits the move WHILE MAKING SURE HIS LEG GIVES OUT. Just class. Awesome face-heel match and another really great Bernard match.


Satoshi Kojima v. Shinjiro Ohtani, G1 Climax Tournament Block -B, 8/16

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=PS7LEP1E

A lot of people had this as their match of the tournament, and as I weed through the mountain that is the G1, I don't even know if this is the match of the tournament so far. Is this good? Sure. But I dunno, i'm not wild about the ending. At least this should be nominated and discussed.

Really a lot of the early going is pretty much 'me feeling you out' stuff with offense that's worked more 'compedetively' so to speak. Ohtani works the arm, Kojima works the legs. But Ohtani, being the sort of bombastic dude he is, starts to get old and grumpy with the All Japan invitee and we're off to the races. This is mostly Kojima trying to swat the old fart fly and for the most part, it really works out, especially with them teasing the lariat as much as they do here. In case you don't know, that's Kojima's finisher and depending on the night, it's death for most, but it has the tendency to get whored out a bit.

This night, it's whored out unfortunately. The performances I suppose are good enough as Ohtani doesn't like doing the long match thing much anymore, but this is a lot of fun and Ohtani actually manages a 30 minute time-limit draw and more or less prove he belongs. But after relentlessly teasing the lariat, and having Ohtani constantly coming up with ways to AVOID getting hit by it, it's a little bleh on my part that he eats not one, not two, but three of them. Just not my cup of tea for finishes, but this is a fun 30 minutes or so.

Togi Makabe v. Satoshi Kojima, G1 Climax Block-B, 8/17

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=43CE17F3

Essentially in the final day of the tournament, we're looking at two big matches. Goto is in Block A and faced Yuji Nagata. Goto was pretty much assured going to the final, although had Nagata defeated him, he'd have gotten to the final. Goto beat Nagata so he's in. Kojima is leading Block B. If he beats or even draws Makabe, he's in the final against Goto. Makabe's cheated his rear off to within a win of the finals. This match, for him, is no different.

Really, I felt this was an extended version of the Bernard match. Kojima's more main event seasoned than Bernard, being basically the dude who was widely depended upon in All Japan for the course of about 2-3 years. Yet, this match lacks as compelling a climax. Not that this is bad. It's a good match. You'll especially like it if you DIDN'T see the Bernard match. If you're someone who likes added beef to your plate, you might like this better, but basically its just a longer version of the Bernard match with Makabe cheating like a crazy man. Kojima, for sure being the guy who is more used to these kinds of shenanigans by bad guys, comes up with several more creative ways to try and thwart Makabe and his henchman, but all it sort of does is prolong the inevitable.

While it WAS kind of a re-hash, the thing it DID do was set the final up really well. Kojima couldn't overcome the GBH (Makabe's group). Bernard couldn't do it. Tanahashi couldn't do it, either. Even Ohtani and Nakinishi couldn't get the job done. There's no reason to think Goto would be in the finals... which leads me to...

Hirooki Goto v. Togi Makabe, G1 Climax Final, 8/17

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=G3VM8M30

This is perhaps t he most surprising and interesting final I can think of in the last several years. They've never been afraid to put younger stars over hard in the past in these things, but Goto AND Makabe in the same year, in perhaps New Japan's biggest match all year, is pretty interesting. These two were both guys who showed mediocre potential but really blossomed into big stars, albeit a little later on, but still came around. Its obviously a big, big reward for a job well done. Taking chances like this is why New Japan's doing ok when the rest of the industry in Japan seems to be imploding on itself.

And to be truthful, this produces some mixed results. For one, Goto brings a posse of his own, and thus, the heel silliness is really neutralized. Essentially the entire first ten minutes is pretty much Goto getting beaten down while the faces and heels sort of sort through everything on the outside. Eventually, we get a stalemate, which in essence is sort of a victory, although to American wrestling fans, who love watching heels get what's comin' to them, it MIGHT feel a little odd. But in Japan, these sorts of things are considered a payoff.

I feel kind of conflicted with this match and even whether I should nominate it. On one hand, Makabe is given WAY too much offense. Dude just doesn't have enough interesting stuff to get through 25 minute matches unless the thing is a brawl. On the other hand, Goto's comeback sequences were very 'eh'. Overall, this wasn't much for offense. Goto's selling on the other hand, is really good and as a match that really seemingly is being played off more as a big angle, which is odd for the final of the G1, it just kind of feels 'off'. I wasn't expecting a blow my mind performance from these two. Heck, I dunno what I was expecting, but something about this seemed kind of 'off'.

Now as something that sort of successfully blows the tournament off and is fun, sure. This does that without question. But in terms of standing up to the really top shelf stuff Bernard and Yoshie pulled out , its clearly a few steps behind. Fun Match, I suppose it's nomination worthy, but this really doesn't have a shot at cracking my top 20 at all. That being said, you SHOULD watch it, because it's a SUPER important match if you're looking to get into this stuff and follow it more consistently.

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Sorry mate, I torrented the whole event, and can't figure out how to cut the thing down to upload. (I don't know how to upload either for that matter ... ).

The crowd was quite hot for it. I do think it was a decent match, regardless of whether I'm clinging to it because it was actually that good, or because it stood out amongst the spot-fests. Try the 'Match-O Request-O Thread' in the Puro forum, maybe someone has a link to it there.



Hahah. Bring it on, I'll download the ones you REALLY plug. Most of my time this week has been spent checking all this stuff out. I just got Cyber Sunday too, so that's all the WWE crap covered. All I'm doing with that now is re-watching some of the stuff to be sure of their worth.

ROH I only have a couple of the matches nominated here, and two entire events I downloaded, but I'm not much of a fan so I can't see myself missing anything that should be on my list. I just can't seem to get into the promotion. I find Japanese and CMLL easier to engage with to be honest.

From Boxing Day 'til the end of the year, I have the house to myself. So naturally I'm going to do the most anti-social thing and stay home watching men in tights for twelve hours a day until I have a finalised list. Next year though, I want to keep MUCH more up-to-date with everything so the last month of the year isn't totally spent watching wrestling.

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WWE Armageddon 2008
Batista defeating Randy Orton
For the the first time ever since there time in Evolution.

LIES!

Batista faced Randy Orton on one of the RAWs following WrestleMania 21. I remember it distinctly because it emphasised Orton's injured shoulder (suffered in his match against 'Taker), giving him reason to be on the shelf for a while. Batista won the match, unless it was a no contest, and thus THAT was the first time he defeated Orton since the Evolution days.

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Hmmm, I never thought I'd see the day when Irs4life was outsmarted on a wrestling related topic. Did hell just freeze over?

You know, I forgot about that one

Okay Hunter, I've just finished downloading all those matches. I'll dive into them tomorrow evening, and post about the ones I think should be viewed by all.

Is the G1 Climax Tournament held by New Japan?

I've just finished re-watching Suwama / Tanahashi and BURNING / Kensuke Office and, yeah, they still rock. Both will be featuring highly once I finalise my votes. Funnily enough, after combing through all the WWE produce this year meticulously this past week, most of it is being pushed down by all this Japanese stuff. It makes me sad on one hand, but not for long because I'm enjoying the FVCK out of some of these matches!

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Oh, and I second:

(BattleArts) Hidaka & Sawa vs. Ishikawa & Yoshikawa - 08.31.08

Man, I'm lovin' this! The emphasis on drama and (epic, deep) themes by WWE is all well and good when it delivers, but sometimes I just want to watch a highly competitive battle between performers. This is such a good 'wrestling' match, with NASTY strikes thrown in to make it all the more intense. Seriously, if it weren't for Shinobu's selling in the other prominent tag match, this'd be my pick for straight up tag match of the year by far.

I don't know, maybe it's the small audience or the darkened arena, but something magnifies the pained selling of these men, and it's something that the larger scale events like WWE and such drown out. The strikes are legit, and the submission holds and mat grappling are sold so well, it convinces that these guys are in serious pain when they are grounded. (If I'm wrong, and the submission holds are somehow legit, pull me up now before I embarass myself further ...). If I could nitpick, green tights (:lol:) amazingly sells the damage done to his leg, yet when he's vertical that selling seems to fall away. He even utilises it brutally in hard kicks after the admirable control segment.

Ah well, it's still worthy. WATCH IT!

***1/4

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Scott, check BOTH Bernard matches out, especially the Ohtani ones. THe Makabe one is worth watching because Makabe essentially works the same, longer match with Kojima the day of the finals and I don't think its as good... but shows you how you can work a match well and then SUPER well, IMO. And shows how much better Bernard really is.

THe G1 is New Japan''s annual heavyweight tournament. They usually have a round robin first round, with the two group (block) winners facing off in the finals. Its usually a whose who of Japan. It was second bananna to the Champions Carnival for years, but its pretty much surpassed it in every conievable way. Its pretty great every year. Sometimes its used to start a push. Sometimes its used to sustain one. Sometimes its used to put over younger talent. But the flexibility it gives bookers... sometimes they can do all three in one tournament. Its like KOTR, except a way, way bigger deal. Sort of on the level or near it of Wrestlemania there.... if it's not, it's something greater than Summerslam and the Royal Rumble, but not quite as big as Wrestlemania... I guess that'd be the most accurate description. Its held over a week's time in August...

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I was at that show. The match was a lot of fun. I'd definitely throw it a nomination but wouldn't put it anywhere near my top picks. I remember them going with the seemingly standard ROH "it takes 10,000 pin fall attempts to finally end this damn thing" scenario. It wasn't nearly as overdone as some other stuff I've seen from them, but still annoying enough to hurt the overall performance.

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K just another shameless marketing pitch or whatever, but if anyone's feeling lost when it comes to Japanese stuff, there's the MATCH-O REQUEST-O thread in the Puro/Lucha forum that i'm pretty much making sure is updated every day. It's usually two weeks behind or so, but honestly, there's no excuse to be behind unless you want to be, which is fine... but I'm putting everything in there.. New Japan, All Japan, NOAH, Dragon Gate, Osaka Pro, Big Japan, K-Dojo, EL DORADO, Battle Arts, SEM, Kensuke Office, CMLL stuff (when it pops up), AAA stuff (when it, too, pops up), etc.

I updated the Treatsie on Japanese pro wrestling, too for all idiots not privy to the sh!t. So that's a great starting place. I'd reccomend picking a promotion and watching a lot of it before moving on to the next one. Big wrestlers do enough 'guest appearances' in other promotions that it gives you the kinds of tentacles to get into other promotions..

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http://www.xtremewrestlingtorrents.net

ROH

Steel Cage Warfare II (Glory by Honor VII)
Briscoes/ Austin Aries vs Age of the Fall (Jimmy Jacobs, Tyler Black, and Delirious)

ROH World Title Match (Glory by Honor VII)
Nigel McGuiness vs El Generico

ROH World Tag Team Title Match (Driven 08)
Tyler Black and Jimmy Jacobs vs Steen and Generico


Other

Global Gauntlet (CHIKARA)
Team Chikara: Gran Akuma, The Colony, Eddie Kingston, Mike Quackenbush & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Team Big Japan: Jaki Numazawa, Atsushi Ohashi, Katsumasa Inoue, Shinya Ishikawa, Ryuji Ito, Yuji Okabayashi & Daisuke Sekimoto

Osirian Portal vs. Super Smash Bros.

Ryuji Ito vs. Mike Quackenbush (Night 1)

CHIKARA's Style and Substance
Lince Dorado vs. Eddie Kingston


If I knew how to cut out the matches I would, but I tried to pick matches that were apart of solid cards.

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Wrestleview's Commissioner of Food and Beverage




MMMmmmmmmm

So at the time of posting this it's past midnight here in Australia, and I'm really fvcking tired. I've gone through all but the last two of the G1 Climax Tournament matches Hunter nominated, and here's the stuff that I'm (at this point) going to second:

(NJPW) Yugi Nagata vs. Yutaka Yoshie - G1 Climax Block-A 08.13.08

(NJPW) Giant Bernard vs. Shinjiro Otani - G1 Climax Block-B 08.13.08

(NJPW) Yutaka Yoshie vs. Hirooki Goto - G1 Climax Block-A 08.14.08

(NJPW) Togi Makabe vs. Giant Bernard - G1 Climax Block-B 08.16.08

Hunter's review for each of these are pretty much spot on. The two Bernard matches are extremely good, his selling againt Makabe was fantastic. Both will most likely feature on my final listing. Had the Nagata / Yoshie match not resulted in Angle-esque non-selling towards the end, it would easily be another feature on my list. As it stands, I'm really torn between the two matches that have Yoshie in it. Were it not flawed I'd choose the Nagata match, but in reality I can't honestly separate one as better than the other. Seriously though, check all these out.

I did watch Kojima / Otani, and although it's a fine match, for some reason it doesn't stick with me as much as these ones here. Technically speaking it is just as good as most of them, but you can't help it when a match just doesn't connect with you I guess. Judging from Hunter's reviews of the final two matches, I don't think either will be making it onto my list, but nevertheless I'll check them both out in the morning.

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This is the one match I hear a ton about from ROH and have yet to catch. A lot of folks said this was pretty great and I love SteenErico, so i'd love to see it if anyone can find it...

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Okay, so as I expected the final two G1 Climax matches aren't making my list.

Kawada / Goto was a good match, don't get me wrong, but it just didn't feel worthy enough to breach the top twenty. In fact, this applies to all the matches I'm not granting a second. They are ALL good, just not good enough. G1 Climax was a very good event, with some fine wrestling on display in all the matches. I'd reccommend everyone to check out every match. Easily.

As I mentioned before Kojima / Otani work a fine wrestling match. If your a fan of prolonged limb working and such, watch it. You'll enjoy it. That said, perhaps because of my undying love for big men v. little, capable men dynamics, it does fall behind several of the other matches of the tournament.

Makabe / Kojima is essentially a re-conceived Bernad / Makabe match. It is good, but IO just can't bring myself to rate it above the fantastic selling of Giant Bernard. So the Bernard match gets the nod from me, at this one's expense.

Goto / Makabe was another good match, perhaps underwhlemingas the final. They worked the sympathetic, bloodied face fighting abck, and rising above, the cheating scoundrel heel. Goto does a good job here, but again the match didn't 'connect' with me enough to earn placement in the top twenty.

Okay, so finally the G1 Climax has been knocked over, time to sleep ...

_________________

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1IFHAWZ7

Love me.

_________________
Wrestleview's Commissioner of Food and Beverage




MMMmmmmmmm

Tyler Black and Jimmy Jacobs vs Steen and Generico, ROH World Tag Team Championship, ROH 9/18

Steen was awesome working the apron, his hot tag was one of the best I've seen in a looong time, especially for the indies. Generico is such a great sympathetic face, the booking was done well, as these same teams had a match as a final of a tag tourney and this match played off of a bunch of stuff in that one.

A lot of people complained loud and long when Gabe booked AOTF over these two guys in the tag tourney, but the payoff right here based off that last lost, was one of the best they've had in ROH in a long time. Absolutely electric atmosphere, the nearfalls weren't plentiful, they were MEANINGful. Just a lot better for an indy match.. Sometimes a great crowd and a good story totally makes a great match MEMORABLE and that's what it did for me right here.

The other thing is that with a little spit shine, Kevin Steen's going to be ready for the big time. Guy just brings a lot to the table and while he needs to tone down the indy tacular moves, he really works the crowd better than 95% of the guys i've ever seen in ROH. This guy simplifies a bit, he's got champ written all over him.

Generico is great as per the usual and I like Jimmy Jacobs as the tick in this, but Tyler Black is just too indy for me at this point with the no sells, flippy moves and other non-sense. After watching almost every big match he's seen and been completely un-impressed every time, i'm convinced he's the biggest lie in wrestling in 2008.

but yeah, a NOMINATE for this.

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No love for Tyler

I think he just needs to cut it back a few notches, after his matches with AmDrag and Nigel he started to do a bit too much in his matches, but then again... he did face AmDrag and Nigel.

Hopefully I can find some more indy stuff and get it posted, but it would be nice to know if yall have any specific ones... might get lucky.

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Wrestleview's Commissioner of Food and Beverage




MMMmmmmmmm

i have to nominate punk/jericho from last night's raw.

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radda radda radda.

Bryan Danielson Vs Naomichi Marufuji - ROH A New Level
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IR806REZ

Nigel McGuiness vs ROderick Strong (Driven 08)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QHUMH859

Steel Cage Warfare II (Glory By Honor 08)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=Y09XPMLV

_________________
Wrestleview's Commissioner of Food and Beverage




MMMmmmmmmm

as for ROH requests, does anyone have any good claudio 2008 matches?

_________________

Claudio Castagnoli vs Brodie Lee
CHIKARA Style and Substance
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TG6Y7JT9

Some more CHIKARA goodness

CHIKARA "AniversarioMA"
Mike Quackenbush, Cheech, Stupefied & Worker Ant vs. Shane Storm, Cloudy, Player Uno & Soldier Ant
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=PA8W5EQB

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Wrestleview's Commissioner of Food and Beverage




MMMmmmmmmm

I'm seconding this. I've ignored ROH for the last year so I'm trying to find out what I've missed because I'm going to see them on Saturday. This may be my ROH MOTY along with Nigel/Danielson from 2/23. They're probably both making my final list.
I don't get Tyler Black either.

Last minute seconds!

(IWA-MS) Jimmy Jacobs vs. BJ Whitmer (I Quit) - 500th Anniversary Show 03.01.08

Already been seconded, but I just wanted to refresh everyone's memories so it doesn't get lost amidst more recent nominations come voting time. Just a really intense, hateful, bloody match. *** 1/4

(ROH) Nigel McGuinness (c) vs. Bryan Danielson (ROH World Championship) - Sixth Anniversary Show

ROH's best (from what I've seen, and what has been pimped here) this year. I loved how this came to encompass certain things that the company wishes characterised its product - i.e. the notion of honour. Danielson is the loyal servant, being with the company for six years, earning a title shot on the compnay's sixth anniversary. He battles honourably, doesn't touch the concust head of McGuinness (like he promised), and behaves respectfully towards his opponent, the official and the crowd.

Initially, McGuinness does the same, but it all goes down hill when he attempts to get DQ'd. Then he embodies everything that ROH 'is not'. He cheats, deceives Danielson by taking advantage of his injuires, bad-mouths the crowd, and earns a 'cheap' victory because of his actions. The performance is turned down somewhat by the near-fall-a-thon contests I have thus far seen, and certainly deserves placement on a MOTY list for 2008. *** 1/2

(ROH) Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black - 01.25.08

A good veteran / upstart dynamic at work here, with Black attempting to get under the skin of Danielson, who somewhat underestimates the young comptetitor early on. Danielson keeps his cool, until he is in control and dishes out a lesson in respect and honour then. This is a flawed performance, but it does stick closer to its story moreso than most other indy matches and thus earns my 'respect'. *** 1/4

(IGF) Necro Butcher vs. The Predator - 06.23.08

Awesome brawl, and in my opinion better than the one in November. With the addition of blood and weapons in this one, I feel the intensity was slightly better. Plus Predator doesn't seem content with a count-out victory here, he wants to destroy Butcher, which is an aspect that was present in the other encounter that I thought was weird. Probably will creep into the lower quarter of my list come voting time. *** 1/4

(ROH) Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black (C) vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico (ROH Tag Team Championship) - 09.18.08

Very hot crowd, exciting action and whatnot. I though the match could end in a number of places, which can be taken as a near-fall-a-thon criticism BUT I guess it tells the story of Steen's determined drive to earn a ROH championship in 2008, and coming so close on a number of occasions made the performance an end-of-your seat thriller. Another very good match that could see exposure in my list when voting has ended. I would've liked more attention paid to Jacobs' injured back though, although the peril sequence obviously had to be reserved for the face team ... It could've been a factor in The Age Of The Fall's defeat though. Ah well. ***

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Hayato Jr. Fujita v. Yoshtune, Michonoku Pro, 12/12

Yoshtune is a guy with a bunch of nutty spots, but I had no expectation that he had a real singles match in him. This pretty much ruled though, Fujita is a Battlartsy junior, lots of nasty kicks and triangle chokes, I hadn’t seen a ton of him before but he looked good here, especially his selling. Most of the match is built around Yoshtune finding crazy ways to rupture Fujita’s abdomen, lots of nasty looking kicks and double stomps, including one off a balcony, and Fujita spent the entire match about to puke. Fujita meanwhile is just trying to knock Yoshitune out, and kicks him really hard in a bunch of ways. You had a big puro juniors finish, but their wasn’t any kick outs which made me scoff, and there was some really awesome looking spots, including a couple of variations of Yoshitune’s rope running. Match kind of came out nowhere, which is kind of the theme of 2008 wrestling for me.

KENTA v. Bryan Danielson, GHC Jr Hvt Championship, NOAH, 10/13

I always enjoy these two in the ring, but this one is maybe my favorite of the ones i've seen (I regret I haven't seen their second ROH bout) thus far. I prefer a lot of their work together in Japan, largely because the hijinx is really toned down A LOT and it just makes for way better stuff all around. Danielson is absolutely, bar-none, the best thing going outside of WWE on this side of the pond at least. The guy just totally gets it and this is just one of those matches where you really see a lot of the stuff that's sort of glossed over or lost in the shuffle in his matches over here in the States. He knows when to pick the crowd up and you really get a good look at him and how he's able to shift gears so well. Whenever KENTA's stuff might seem like its getting to be a bit much or starting to lag, Bang, Dragon interjects himself and picks up the pace, works with the crowd, or pulls some sort of insane crap out of his heiney.

I HATE the overdone finisher and elongated cattle mutilation spots in ROH and here, its done the way it should be. KENTA looks tough, but not too tough. KENTA too, btw, brings it plenty on his own as well. The strikes are good as always, but for the most part, he's able to keep his stuff pretty tight and does a great job on the sell.

With that being said there are a FEW things in here, like KENTA pinballing around the ring after selling a knee like a nut four seconds earlier, but all in all, you can get past it and it really doesn't drag anything down for me at all. All in all, this is like a lot of their matches, but slimmed down to something that really works. Crowd sucks for this, but its a fantastic match. One of my favorite juniors matches of the year by far.

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I have one last minute nomination here.
Atlantis vs Blue Panther CMLL 7/11
Link: http://rapidshare.com/files/141964867/A ... r.AVI.html
This is from a show to honor Atlantis' 25th anniversary in wrestling. To honor that occasion he faces one of his greatest opponents in Blue Panther. These guys sure aren't youngsters but that hasn't hurt their game on the mat. This match features some awesome lucha matwork. They spend some several minute long sequences without breaking contact. The first fall is a traditional lucha style opening fall but without a real rudo. They jockey for position and counter holds until Atlantis comes out on top with a sort of butterfly lock with a body scissors. The second fall is done in a flash with Panther scoring a submission. The third fall is really the meat of this match. Both guys hit topes but that's not what I'm here to see. The real story of the final fall is Panther putting Atlantis in various holds with Atlantis coming up with fantastic counters. The near falls at the end are awesome for lucha and I marked out for Blue Panther almost locking in the "Nudo Lagunero" but to no avail. A great match from two of my favorite luchadors though not as great as their past encounters. This will probably make it into my top 15 (as long as someone seconds it in time!)

I'm also going to second/mention:


This is the kind of stuff that Michinoku pro used to be about. I haven't followed it much lately but this was fun. I'm not sure if this will crack the list when I'm done but its got a shot. Why does the language filter not allow us to post Y-o-s-h-i-t-u-n-e's name?


I didn't forget about this either Scotte. This was really great and has a decent shot at my top ten to fifteen. I don't always dig all of this hardcore wrestling but their feud had the level of hatred required to make it work. Plus I hate B.J. Whitmer and he gets tortured in this. Fun for the whole family!

I've also got a question for Towney: I was at ROH Final Battle 2008 on Saturday and I realized that few people will be able to see this until next year. What if I wanted to nominate something from this show? I'm not saying anything there would make my list yet because I don't think I can properly rate something until I see how it looks on tape (although I have a feeling that Morishima/Danielson may translate well to DVD). Could it be nominated for next year or will it be in limbo?

I second:

Atlantis vs Blue Panther CMLL 7/11

This is for you Graham Crackers. I don't have the time to watch this until after New Year's Eve, but to be safe I'll second it. That way, when I do get the time to watch it, it won't be too late. That, and I trust your opinion.

KENTA v. Bryan Danielson, GHC Jr Hvt Championship, NOAH, 10/13

Same as above. Sounds awesome. I second. Will watch next year.

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GC... I imagine it's the sh1t in the middle of Y-o-s-h-i-t-u-n-e that doesn't allow it to get through the filters.

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towney007 wrote:



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