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Proposal for 2018: Match Review Trades


Matt D

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My match for Matt D. BOSJ from 1997. El Samurai vs. Koji Kanemoto.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed this and it was not at all what I was expecting. I want to see a bunch more Kanemoto now, and am actually easier on the finish than a lot of other people were even if I think it didn't need to go QUITE so far.

 

http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/20204-el-samurai-vs-koji-kanemoto/

 

I'm still going to take a look at that DDT match from Head Cheese. Recent DDT is definitely a blind spot, and it's easier to be in the general conversation if I watch stuff out of my comfort zone sometimes so I'm ok doing it. We're a bunch of specialists here on PWO, as opposed to generalists, so I guess it's good HC has "modern comedy wrestling" covered.

 

In general, I wonder if people think we should take a week off. I certainly haven't been keeping track of who's been keeping up with things and who hasn't. This is all for fun so while I'd hope people are being upfront when they might not be around and going out of their way to at least give their partner a match, I can also see how it could be frustrating both for people whose matches aren't being watched AND for people who have good intentions but find themselves 2-3 matches in a hole. Overall, I've really enjoyed doing this for the last few months though, both getting things I wouldn't normally see and getting to pick things I think specific people might find specifically interesting.

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My match for laz is from DDT Never Mind 2017 on 12/24

Antonio Honda, Danshoku Dino, Super Sasadango Machine vs. NωA

https://youtu.be/6JibzyddNtk?t=1h18m55s

 

1. I kind of feel like I took this one for the team.

2. That said, I'm glad HC is here because, as I said before, we're all specialists and this is a viable bit of pro wrestling.

3. Part of me wishes shodate saw this instead. That idea cracked me up more than anything in the match.

4. Wrestling is symbolic. This is a viable bit. It draws. It produces something that is a form of entertainment. It's a low form, certainly, but there are bits that can transfer over. Pro wrestling analysis is so underdeveloped that it feels novel to say that. NWA guy in blue who drink the bad chinese beer was selling his stomach in a way that some other heel might have sold a cast injury or in a comedy match, his lost hair by having a mask over it. There were miscommunication spots. There were the faces (presuming they're faces in this situation) capitalizing and humiliating the heel. Some of this stuff works in 1984 Mid South as well as it works here in 2017 DDT. It's just the details that are different. So long as the fans buy into the reality presented to them, that really doesn't matter. I mean there are people out there who looked at Dumb and Dumber and wrote academic papers on it, I'm sure. I care about commitment because it's an expression of selling, in as you're expressing to the crowd that what is currently happening has weight and value and meaning. Everyone in this match was committed. I don't have a lot of use for Danshoku Dino's act, but I didn't mind the other guys in there. Guy-in-blue-with-stomach-problems coming back out with the TP was sort of the symbolic equivalent of the beat up tecnico who had his masked ripped off coming back out to save his partners in a trios with a new mask. It all sort of fits together. It's just I think I saw that more than they did, and they didn't go far enough in committing to not just the joke but the match. I actually think it's doable and I think they could have done it if they were just a little more self aware. It's like how someone can work hard and work smart at once. I'm not convinced someone can't work high absurdist and smart at the same time. It's all just looping together spots and moments.

 

Also the singing before the match really wasn't over. That bugged me. If you do something for that long, make sure it's over.

 

I'm spinning the wheel tonight. Anyone else who needs a week off or wants to jump in, lemme know.

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Week 16


Winged Eagle is out for another week. Laz is out for a bit. Rah is out for a bit. joeg's missed a couple of weeks, so he's off until he says otherwise. Edger is taking a week off. We've still got 10 people.


oldbirds

HeadCheese


shodate

jetlag


DR Ackerman

Tim Evans


AstroBoy

Nintendo Logic


dawho5

Richeyedwards


And I'm #11 this week. If joe pops back, I'll pair with him; otherwise I'm off. Enjoy.

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Reviewing Low Ki vs. Hotstuff Hernandez from IWA Midsouth 2004:

 

I liked the opening with Ki establishing his strengths (quickness and the kicks) and then Hernandez catching him and going to his strength (power). It sets a really good tone that they carry through the match. I've read that Ki isn't big on selling, but he seems to keep the damage done to his back in mind most of the time as the match progresses. Good comeback by Low Ki but I thought the Kobashi chops were a little much. They get a little cute with the athletic spot exchange, but it stays within the confines of the story they are telling. Finish is a little odd to me. Was Ki really finishing with that running front dropkick at the time? Not my cup of tea, but they told a good story and stuck to it pretty well. It's a match I'd cal fun and watch again.

 

RicheyEdwards I'll give you a match that you should enjoy. Akira Maeda vs. Tatsumi Fujinami from 1986 NJPW. If you have seen it I can certainly find another.

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4u0xnm

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Will catch this tomorrow. In the meantime, here's one back for you if you have time, in three parts:

 

 

Typical Myers quality very high i know yjso is pre iron fist days but this he still did top work then and this match was quilty just like that and gray as very good too ****

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This was Masahito Kakihara vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara from 8/14/17. I don't know much about Kakihari (but you should see the guy's tvtropes page; part of me is annoyed that even minor NJPW guys have filled out pages and no one from CMLL has anything but Mistico, but I cannot let that annoy me); he's a former NJPW/UWF guy who had to retire due to a neck injury. My understanding is that this was a reunion show and this was a sparring match for the main.

 

He gives Fujiwara everything and I'm hugely sympathetic. It actually takes a certain level of skill to walk that tightrope. He sells emotively for him, has the crowd behind him the whole time and never comes off as a loser or a quitter or someone who was giving his opponent everything. It's probably exactly what I'd do if I was him, had a bad neck, and wanted to honor Fujiwara. There is a strong sense of reverence all around, even as he's letting Fujiwara do comedy fake smoking spots. I half wonder if they couldn't have given him one moment, one tap, one escape, one something, but that probably would have been worse than nothing at all. There was an overall effect here that would have been shattered.

 

As for the mechanics, it was fun to see Fujiwara escape. I especially loved the small stuff, when he'd just focus on the tiniest bodypart as opposed to big sweeping counters.

 

This was fun.

 

shodate, have you seen the recently unearthed NJPW fancam of a very different fujiwara sparring session?

 

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For HeadCheese I have an odd (to say the least) but really good lucha trios match. Date is 12/8/91 and it is in the MDA.

 

 

I am deeply saddening that Jushin Thunder Liger is not a Thundercat. The dropkick big splash was pretty cool. It was kind of strange that the first and second falls were so close together, I think. The mask ripping and blood on mask in match got me thinking how many spare masks do luchador’s have. Lots of crazy stuff in the ending stretch including slingshot on the floor and middle rope electric chair drop. I think the brawling sections okay. I think this was an overall a solid match.

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