What are you watching from the fort of Luv & Oudou?

[Unknown]

For discussion on anything you have watched from the hallowed ring of Zen Nihon 

[LARMORE]

Allow me to start it out:


Suwama vs. Osamu Nishimura - Champion Carnival, 2008.04.08
This was, surprisingly, very good. This was a very good highlight of Nishimura's style. The back drop finish from Suwama was fantastic, particularly the angle in which Suwama threw Nish.  Even better is that Suwama didn't need to drop him on his head for it to look good.  A match I will be reviewing later may be considered a MOTYC in All Japan by me, but I think this is where Suwama has looked his best since 2006.
Rating: 

Toshiaki Kawada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi - Champion Carnival, 2008.04.08
I have watched this several times, and it never gets old.  Loved how Tanahashi established himself as the ultimate heel by toying with Kawada at the beginning, particularly when he set Kawada off with a slap (a reference to their 4/1 tag). I thought the action was very solid, and the leg work made perfect sense, as Kawada insisting on kicking Tana. Very good heat between the two, great heel/face definition, and the crowd was very hot for this. Loved the slapping exchange that ended up knocking Kawada silly. In my opinion, this is a fairly flawless match, though you could be picky and point out Kawada missing a kick to a sitting Tanahashi at the end... but both were tired by that point, so missing the kick made sense. Best All Japan match I've seen in years, and one everyone should watch at least once or twice.
Rating: 

Taiyo Kea vs. Satoshi Kojima - Champion Carnival, 2008.04.08
Yet another match that surprised me, because Kojima had been stinking it up in Days 1 and 2, but this was really, really good.  It was hard hitting, intense and good psychology and strategy from both.  I loved it when Kea fired up after being spat on, and I firmly believe this was Kojima's best match in the Carnival.  Kea, on the other hand, had stellar matches with Tanahashi and Kawada beforehand. To be honest, I think Kea's match with Muto was the only one that wasn't good, but I blame that more on Muto than Kea.  Highly recommended.
Rating: 

Joe Doering vs. Suwama - Champion Carnival, 2008.04.09
Loved the opening Lariat from Doering, as it set the tone for how important this match was.  Doering controlled most of the pace in the match, which was a good thing.  I chuckled when Doering gave a couple of Stone Cold-style elbows. Suwama's leg work on Doering was good, as was Doering's selling of it. An impressive spinning powerbomb from Doering, but Suwama's reversion back to the leg work on Doering was brilliant. These two have really good chemistry in singles matches, and I wouldn't mind seeing a TCC match between the two before Suwama eventually drops it. Only thing that annoyed me about this match was the female commentator.
Rating: 

Minoru Suzuki vs. Osamu Nishimura - Champion Carnival, 2008.04.09
A short, but very fun match.  This was, undoubtedly, Suzuki's best match in the Carnival.  Very good heat, and I'd like to see these two feud somewhere down the line in All Japan.
Rating: 

Keiji Muto vs. Toshiaki Kawada - Champion Carnival, 2008.04.09
The crowd was solidly behind Muto in this. If you've seen their Carnival final from last year, you're basically watching the same match again, except Kawada gets the win here.  Kawada nullified Muto's leg work at one point with kicks, but reverted back to it with a failed suplex attempt.  Again, you've seen this last year, but it's not bad to re-watch it with a new ending.
Rating:  1/2

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Satoshi Kojima - Champion Carnival, 2008.04.09
The forearm exchange at the beginning went on for far too long, and was boring; reminded me of Kensuke's shitty chop fests.  Match was pretty slow in pace overall and incredibly boring, save for Tanahashi's showboating. Again, Tanahashi should not abandon the sling blade, because it's a flamboyant move from a flamboyant character (thus, it makes perfect sense to retain it).  Kojima selling his arm after giving Tanahashi a Lariat towards the end was really well-done, especially if it was worked; I know Kojima had been competing with an arm injury, but if his selling was more so work than legit, then massive kudos to Kojima.  Really liked the flash Cradle win, as the audience exploded, and I was relieved to no longer have to watch this match (even though I luv Tanahashi).  Female commentator was especially annoying.
Rating: 

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Suwama - Champion Carnival FINAL, 2008.04.09
WOW.  Suwama delivered a plancha onto Tanahashi, which surprised me.  The first 5 minutes was decent, and Tanahashi playing heel rallied the crowd behind Suwama more than anything, really; you have to remember this same crowd were behind Kojima beforehand, so it didn't have to do with people giving a shit about Suwama as much as it did Tanahashi being an arrogant prick representing New Japan Pro Wrestling and being a 3-count away from winning All Japan's Carnival. Good leg work from Tanahashi, and excellent slap from Suwama.  As soon as Suwama delivered a great release German Suplex, the crowd came completely unglued.  From that point until the end, the crowd energy was completely off-the-chart.  A nasty release Full Nelson Suplex from Tanahashi until the explosive ending.  I had previously thought Tanahashi vs. Kawada was All Japan's Match of the Year, but after watching this, I have changed my mind and stand by it. In my opinion, this is the most important match All Japan has had since Kawada dropped the TCC to Kojima in 2005.
Rating: 


In conclusion, I think these were the best matches each participant in the Carnival had:
Keiji Muto vs. Toshiaki Kawada - 4/9
Taiyo Kea vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi - 4/6
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada - 4/8
Toshiaki Kawada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi - 4/8
Satoshi Kojima vs. Taiyo Kea - 4/8

Suwama vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi - 4/9
Joe Doering vs. Suwama - 4/9
Kensuke Sasaki vs. Osamu Nishimura - 4/5
Osamu Nishimura vs. Suwama - 4/8
Minoru Suzuki vs. Osamu Nishimura - 4/9

[25:17]

Suwama vs. Tanahashi
Suwama vs. Nishimura
Suwama vs. Kea

[Unknown]

Keiji Mutoh .vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi Champions Carnival 2008, shame it ended in a draw, good match

[Stone Cold Amigo]

Abdullah the Butcher VS Billy Robinson, 10-18-78, PWF Heavyweight Title Defense.

I have heard of Billy Robinson, but I need to see more of him. Abdullah suprised me here, by both being fairly slim and actually wrestling. Good match, though.

[StylinProfilin]

I agree with most of what Lamore said about The Champions Carnival.

I think Suwama vs Tanahashi is the puro match of the year so far though. It was amazing, so much back and forth.

I watched Suwama vs Sasaki for the Triple Crown...very meh to me. I liked it, but wasn't crazy about it and I probably won't go back and watch it.

Kensuke office show I think from March...
Sasaki and Akiyama vs Suzuki and Takayama
The best Tag match I have seen this year. Takayama and Sasaki go at it hard!!

These Kensuke office shows are blowing me away.

I've been trying to keep up with every AJPW show that is released starting 01/01/08. It's been great, very enjoyable. I just got boerd with New Japan. I feel AJPW has better JRs. and a better Heavyweight scene. I still got a few mroe shows to watch until Jlynch's new update comes  out. Props to Jeff 

[LARMORE]

I feel AJPW has better JRs. and a better Heavyweight scene.

Juniors?  Maybe, but this will be the first year All Japan has ever been superior to the rich Junior legacy of New Japan.

As for better Heavyweight scene?  Absolutely not.  I probably love Suzuki and Kea more than anyone on these boards, and I'm a mark for Nishimura, but New Japan has Tanahashi, Nakamura, Goto, Nagata, Nakanishi, Makabe, Bernard and many others.   There isn't a Heavyweight scene in any promotion in Japan that can compare to New Japan's heavyweight scene.

[StylinProfilin]

New Japan has Tanahashi, Nakamura, Goto, Nagata, Nakanishi, Makabe, Bernard and many others.   There isn't a Heavyweight scene in any promotion in Japan that can compare to New Japan's heavyweight scene.

Sasaki, Kea, Suzuki, Kawada, Mutoh, Nishimura, Suwama, Kojima, Doering

I'm a huge fan of Tanahashi and Nakamura, but the others imo, except for maybe two or three, don't get the awesome matches that AJPW has. I'm talking about just 2008. Our opinions will probably differ no matter what here. I just can't get into some of the NJPW guys. I tried to watch a few NJPW shows this year, I was boerd. Unless you can show me other wise?

[Jackson]

Well which matches did you watch and how did they bore you?

[LARMORE]

Sasaki, Kea, Suzuki, Kawada, Mutoh, Nishimura, Suwama, Kojima, Doering

Sasaki and Kawada aren't All Japan guys, Muto hasn't really done anything worthy of note this year (All Japan-wise) and Kojima hasn't put out anything all that great.  Doering will be something big someday, but he's still a rookie.  Suwama is the kind of guy you either like or don't like.

So that really only leaves Kea, Suzuki and Nishimura, and Kea is the only one of the three with numerous good matches this year.

I just can't get into some of the NJPW guys. I tried to watch a few NJPW shows this year, I was boerd. Unless you can show me other wise?

Watch the G-1 Climax.

[StylinProfilin]

For starters, the show where Mutoh won the IWGP title. I think it was 4/27, and some random matches from the beginning of the year.

[LARMORE]

4/27 wasn't that great of a show.  Wrestle Kingdom II had some good stuff, and you must watch the shows from April before the 27th... especially the show from 4/13, which I still maintain is one of the all-around best shows of 2008.

And, again, you must check out this year's G-1 Climax.  Fantastic stuff.

[StylinProfilin]

Sasaki, Kea, Suzuki, Kawada, Mutoh, Nishimura, Suwama, Kojima, Doering

Sasaki and Kawada aren't All Japan guys, Muto hasn't really done anything worthy of note this year (All Japan-wise) and Kojima hasn't put out anything all that great.  Doering will be something big someday, but he's still a rookie.  Suwama is the kind of guy you either like or don't like.

So that really only leaves Kea, Suzuki and Nishimura, and Kea is the only one of the three with numerous good matches this year.

I just can't get into some of the NJPW guys. I tried to watch a few NJPW shows this year, I was boerd. Unless you can show me other wise?

Watch the G-1 Climax.

I disagree. I'm enjoying Mutoh's tag matches. Mutoh still has charisma, moves, and personality that I have not seen from any wrestler on this planet. I think Kojima had a good TCC match and him in the Vodoo Murderers and his eventual turn(which I have not go to see yet) will be great story. Sasaki and Kawada, may be free, but for the most part, where do they usually wrestle? I consider them All Japan. Now I know that Sasaki just won the GHC title, but we'll see where he has most of his matches now. Suwama, like I've said in numerous posts, his match with Tana in the Champions Carnival, MotY, his match with Sasaki, sucked. We'll see what happens there. I give him hope.

I will check out the g1 climax as soon as JLynch gets it in. I'm looking forward to it because other than knowing who won, I have no idea who won what matches. I'll also add that 4/13 show to my next order.

[Unknown]

I'd love to see AJPW, i dont really get to watch it (Damn British Sports Channels, They Broadcasted NOAH And NJPW) so i asked StylinProfilin where to watch AJPW, and now im looking for a Jeff Lynch, anyone, is there a Jeff Lynch around, i need help, he's got the answers to my problems!

[StylinProfilin]

pm'ed you his email

[LARMORE]

Why is the crowd hating Tanahashi "weird"? That's how it was supposed to be. If they cheered Tanahashi, rather than Suwama, it would have been a disaster.

[AKINAN]

Why is the crowd hating Tanahashi "weird"? That's how it was supposed to be. If they cheered Tanahashi, rather than Suwama, it would have been a disaster.

I know. What i meant was that i wasnt used to Tana getting booed. I also mentioned that Suwama was the hero in my opening sentance, why dont you read it again.

[Eivion Thanatos]

AJPW 3/3/01 - Toshiaki Kawada vs. Mitsuya Nagai
A strikefest where Nagai is mostly struggling to survive as every exchange ends up with him down and on his ass. **

AJPW 4/14/01 - Steve Williams & George Hines vs. Satoshi Kojima 7 Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Decent action with a good crowd behind the AJPW gaijin and booing the hell out of the NJPW/Team 2000 invaders. Solid stuff with Hines coming out ofthis looking pretty good and Williams being a lto more motivated/energetic than he was month just a few months back during the RWTL. **3/4

AJPW 4/14/01 - Toshiaki Kawada vs. Keiji Mutoh
First half had its fair share of dullness,but the match picked up greatly during the second with Kawada busting out some bigger offense and Mutoh going all out on Kawada's leg and arm. Good stuff for the second half. ***1/2

[AKINAN]

Kobashi, Kikuchi & Ito vs. Kojima, KAI & Yamato

Unfortunatly i have no sound - BUT THIS IS A MATCH IN WHICH YOU WILL NOT FIND YOURSELF SKIPPING PARTS!

From what i gathered watching so far...the fans are loving Kobashi being there. Kobashi/Kojima start, CHOP FEST! Kobashi wins, fatality...nah he just Backdrops Kojima. Kikuchi comes in to go toe to toe with Yamato. I dont give a shizzle what anywho says, Kikuchi's still got it. Ito vs. KAI..something i find quite interesting. Yamato vs. Ito Short Slap Battle is fucking 5 stars right there! All F4 dropkick Ito. NOAH suplexes both KAI & Kojima. Kobashi must have broke his record for fastest chops ever because he was like lightning with Kojima! Kikuchi and Yamato have such great chemistry, Kobashi vs. Kojima is great and Ito vs. KAI is great too.

All 6 men wrestled their hearts out, Ito has definatly gotten better, future champion easy. Fantastic performances from everybody 5 STARS is what i give this. Never got bored and its a match i can go back and watch again. Kobashi giving love to F4 is grand too.

Hayashi vs. Kondo

Not exactly thrilling for the first 9 minutes or so. But the action begins to pick up nicely with alot of impact moves. Nice strikes from both men. Near the end was good but not a fantastic match. My rating is **/5. I found myself skipping parts throughout.

[OrangeCrush99]

I'm sure a few of us (I know I was) were let down when this was announced as a 6 man instead of a one on one Kojima vs Kobashi match, but looking back, I personally think the small guys carried the match in the 6 man. If this were a singles match, this would probably be a repeat of Kensuke/Kobashi. And although some people LOOOOOOVE that match, it was way too much of a chop and LARIATOO! fest for my tastes. The small guys spiced things up, added some stiff kicks and high flying. I must say, though, I loved Koji's lariat that took Ito's head off. That one and Go's on KENTA earlier this year are easily the best lariats of 09 so far.

[Eivion Thanatos]

AJPW 8/30/09, AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Title - Kaz Hayashi (c) vs. Shuji Kondo
Couldn't get into this at all though it seemed to go over well with the crowd by the end.

AJPW 8/30/09 - Satoshi Kojima, KAI, & Hiroshi Yamato vs. Kenta Kobashi, Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, & Akihiko Ito
Kobashi vs. Kojima was about as good as one probably could have expected at this point. Kikuchi looked better here than he did in the BOSJ though that might not be saying much. The young guys got in a decent amount of time, but they could have done a better showcase of their skills. Still none of them looked bad per say. Hell, Yamato actually looked pretty solid, possibly the best guy in the match. Decent match, wish it was something we got years ago when Kobashi was in better condition and Kojima was a lot more passionate and had some presence. **

AJPW 8/30/09, Triple Crown - Yoshihiro Takayama (c) vs. Suwama
This had decentish action and plenty of nice moments, but still wasn't too great due to it all coming in at a slow pace with a not so passionate Takayama. Still the finish was pretty good, and Suwama looked pretty good throughout the whole match. Probably as good as one could hope for with the match going 26 minutes. **3/4

AJPW 8/30/09, Mutoh 25th Anniversary Match - Keiji Mutoh & Masakatsu Funaki vs. Masahiro Chono & Minoru Suzuki
Funaki vs. Suzuki was awesome. The rest was decent enough. **3/4

[AKINAN]

I'm sure a few of us (I know I was) were let down when this was announced as a 6 man instead of a one on one Kojima vs Kobashi match, but looking back, I personally think the small guys carried the match in the 6 man. If this were a singles match, this would probably be a repeat of Kensuke/Kobashi. And although some people LOOOOOOVE that match, it was way too much of a chop and LARIATOO! fest for my tastes. The small guys spiced things up, added some stiff kicks and high flying. I must say, though, I loved Koji's lariat that took Ito's head off. That one and Go's on KENTA earlier this year are easily the best lariats of 09 so far.

Agreed. Ito and Yamato were easily the pullers of the match. Kikuchi impressed me loads. I rated the match of course as 5 stars simply because i never saw much wrong with it. Everybody worked their socks off and there was interesting stuff between Ito/KAI and Yamato/Kikuchi. But saying that, the match could have, like ET said, had the Jr's show off more. So to be realistic, id still rate it as maybe a 3 to 4 star match. Just My Opinion though. I loved it, not boring at all, good stuff from everybody. This is easily my 2nd fave match of 2009, after Nakamura/Milano vs. Sugiura/Shiozaki.

I found the Jr Heavyweight Title match quite boring. It would pick up nicely in parts but that was about it.

[NorthBayfan001]

Can't write anything that hasn't already been said, but I haven't had this much fun watching a match since Taker/Michaels at Mania. Of course this match was all about Kobashi and Kojima but watching the young guys has me looking up.

[LARMORE]

Kensuke/Kobashi was way too much of a chop and LARIATOO! fest for my tastes.

[Devon]

AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship
Shuji Kondo vs. Kaz Hayashi (c)

- I am apparently in the minority on this one as I thought the match was a lot of fun. It wasn't as good as their previous Sumo Hall match (which is still one of my four or five favorite matches ever.) The first half of the match dragged in spots. The second half of the match was tons of fun. I absolutely had two "WOW" moments during the match and I haven't done that since probably 'Taker vs. Michaels. The crowd really seemed to react well and popped huge for several parts of the match. Seven minutes less in this match would've served it greatly.

Anytime I witness Kondo perform a shooting star press then I am in awe.

I give it 3 stars.

[AKINAN]

Anytime I witness Kondo perform a shooting star press then I am in awe.

This.

[NorthBayfan001]

Anytime I witness Kondo perform a shooting star press then I am in awe.

I was in awe of Kondo almost landing on his face.

[OrangeCrush99]

Yeah, he totally overshot the SSP and just grazed Kaz with his knees.

[Devon]

It wasn't any worse than Lesnar's. Plus he had room for mistake because of the badass top rope powerbomb that preceeded it.

[Epyon]

Anytime I witness Kondo perform a shooting star press then I am in awe.

I give it 3 stars.

This is SOOOO going to be watched in the next 24 hours, it's not even funny.

[OrangeCrush99]

Mutoh/Funaki vs Chono/Suzuki match was OK. I know people bag on Mutoh for being immobile and doing only a few moves but he looked much better than Chono. Funaki, although he botched a few spots, which is understandable given his 20 years away from proresu, looked good in terms of physicality and movement. Suzuki was the "soul" of the match. He brought all the comedy and fire. I'm really looking forward to his one on one vs Funaki.

[MutoFan83]

F4 vs. Burning
Great, not excellent by any means. I really loved the Yamato/Kikuchi leg lariat contest throughout. KAI was on fire in this too at times, though he also stood out awkwardly too at times. Ito straight stunk it up though. Give him a shot of charisma. Kojima/Kobashi everything was excellent. ***1/2

[25:17]

the final four from the Sumo Hall show

[wOOt]

Kaz V.S. Kondo 2

You know, as much as I think E.T. is critical(yet is someone whose opinion I do admire, as he follows AJ way more than i do), I have to back him on this match.

I got into it, but couldnt get THAT into it. My brother and the crowd loved it, but you know it felt more like the Kaz show here. Unlike the last encounter, where Kondo's offense was very limited.
I felt like Kaz was the one hitting all the offensive cool spots, except for the now required cool aerial spot from Kondo.

I give this one 2 and a half out of 5.

[Eivion Thanatos]

You know, as much as I think E.T. is critical

I just don't like epic style junior matches in general. Occasionally I can get something out of them, but that wasn't the case with this one. To be honest it probably has something to do with Kaz as I haven't really enjoyed any of his matches this year.

[rjones2818]

You know, as much as I think E.T. is critical

I just don't like epic style junior matches in general. Occasionally I can get something out of them, but that wasn't the case with this one. To be honest it probably has something to do with Kaz as I haven't really enjoyed any of his matches this year.

...and here I am thinking Kaz has a good shot at Tokyo Sports Wrestler of the Year award!

[manjiimortal]

The problem with that match was that for the first 20 minutes they kept changing shifts all the time. They would hit some crazy spot and then they would spend some minutes doing nothing until the next spot. There wasn't an escalation of the action, and the lack of any meaning-full limb work hurt the match( even if they would just no-sell it eventually...).

Most of the spots were very good, specialy the one's that paid homenage to their match 3 years ago, but you can't fill a 30 minutes match just with that. I also didn't thought the end fit, i get that they wanted to protect Kondo, but this wasn't Liger/Sasuke from the Super-J Cup 4, Kaz wasn't desperate like Sasuke then. That and Kond pulling the SSP out of nowhere...

They really need to cut down on these Junior matches, 15-20 minutes is the excelent time for these kind of matches if you ask me.

[wOOt]

I am just glad the Jr division is actually getting alot of attention, I felt it is something that has set apart from AJ of yesteryear. I think Kaz has had some good matches this year, but the match with Minoru was okay, not of the calibur I am expecting.

I am predicting Super Crazy win AJ Jr World Title. That could shake things up a bit.

But I do like the fact they have a sizeable Jr division, but in all fairness they gotta hurry up and build MINORU and Kai up as the new title holders to come.

[LARMORE]

The problem with that match was that for the first 20 minutes they kept changing shifts all the time. They would hit some crazy spot and then they would spend some minutes doing nothing until the next spot.

But if Kobashi and someone else (like Misawa) does it, it's a 5-star match of the year

[manjiimortal]

The problem with that match was that for the first 20 minutes they kept changing shifts all the time. They would hit some crazy spot and then they would spend some minutes doing nothing until the next spot.

But if Kobashi and someone else (like Misawa) does it, it's a 5-star match of the year

Kobashi or Misawa would "fill the gaps" so to speak, with striking, and on ocasion(specialy during the early 90's) with matwork. They would do something that kept us interested! Kaz and Kondo didn't do it.
Takayama and Suwama also struggled with this issue, but they did manage to overcome it with some brutality and hate. The finish of that match was quite amazing, with the punching, knee-strikes, THE HEADBUTT!!!

Also, i no longer believe in star-ratings, doesn't make anymore sense to me.

[OrangeCrush99]

Yeah, star ratings are kind of impossible to apply any logic to. The way a 90s King's Road match would progress, is that there would be a pretty huge beginning, then it would settle down, maybe some brawling outside the ring, submission attempts, but then there was the ENDINGS. Holy shit, the endings were ridiculous. The best stuff always happened at the 20 min+ mark.

[L.G Rod]

Genichiro Tenryu & Masanobu Fuchi Vs Toshiaki Kawada & Nobutaku Araya (AJPW 6-30-01)

Nobutaka Araya was the mvp of this match. He took some awesome beatings from Tenryu and Fuchi. Tenryu busting his eye up and Fuchi stomping on it was great. Araya's ass beatings that lead to the Kawada hot tag were great.

[Eivion Thanatos]

AJPW 6/8/01, All Asia Tag Titles (Decision) - Mitsuya Nagai & Masahito Kakihara vs. Yuji Nagata & Shinya Makabe
Decent enough action with good crowd heat, but nothing going on that makes for a memorable match. I was hoping for a bit more inter-promotional heat here. **

AJPW 6/8/01 - Toshiaki Kawada vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan
A longer, lesser version of their Dome match from the same year. Tenzan isn't as interesting on offense and the crowd is significantly less interested.

AJPW 6/8/01, Triple Crown - Genichiro Tenryu (c) vs. Keiji Mutoh
Had a fair share of big moves and cool spots along with some move stealing coming from Tenryu, but none of it ever came together well enough to make for a truly good match.

AJPW 6/30/01 - Genichiro Tenryu & Masanobu Fuchi vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Nobutaka Araya
Great little performance from Araya who took a decent beating and was totally fired up trying his best to stand up to Tenryu. Good stuff. ***1/4

AJPW 8/26/01 - Nobutaka Araya, Shigeo Okamura, & Kazushi Miyamoto vs. Genichiro Tenryu, Arashi, & Koki Kitahara
The AJPW boys take a decent enough beating and show a little fire while the WAR guys are grumpy, cheap bastards. Fun stuff, sort of makes you wonder what made Arashi so damn lazy a few years later. **3/4

[1randy1]

AJPW 8/26/01 - Nobutaka Araya, Shigeo Okamura, & Kazushi Miyamoto vs. Genichiro Tenryu, Arashi, & Koki Kitahara
The AJPW boys take a decent enough beating and show a little fire while the WAR guys are grumpy, cheap bastards. Fun stuff, sort of makes you wonder what made Arashi so damn lazy a few years later. **3/4

Paycut, age, change of company direction, love machines, demoted status.

[Eivion Thanatos]

AJPW 9/23/09 - Seiya Sanada vs. MAZADA
Ok action with a fun moment or two from MAZADA. Finish didn't quite work how they wanted, but was ok. *1/4

AJPW 9/23/09 - Masakatsu Funaki vs. Masayuki Kono
Very short with a lot of mat work and some decent enough action in the last two minutes.

AJPW 9/23/09 - Keiji Mutoh, Osamu Nishimura, & Kaz Hayashi vs. Suwama, Super Crazy, & Manabu Soya
Most of the match focused on Soya and Nishimura's feud so things always picked up when they were in the ring together and especially towards the end where Nishimura was doing his best to refuse being lariated to hell by his former student. Solid stuff. ***

AJPW 9/23/09 - Shuji Kondo vs. Yoshihiro Takayama
Kondo takes a beating, but gives a good fight before he is put away. Good stuff. ***

AJPW 9/23/09, All Asia Tag Titles - Minoru Suzuki & NOSAWA Rongai (c) vs. Akebono & Ryota Hama
Not the most interesting match since the fat boys here get gassed out fast, and NOSAWA & Suzuki can only do so much against guys their size anyways. With that said, this match has its moments due to Suzuki's games and Akebono's occasional spurts of fire.

AJPW 9/23/09, Captain's Fall Elimination - Satoshi Kojima (c), ZODIAC, KAI, & Hiroshi Yamato vs. TARU (c), Joe Doering, Minoru, & Toshizo
The action was decent enough, VDM antics were incorporated well including two ref attacks, the eliminations were good, and Yamato got to look good with what he survived. Solid stuff. ***

[Stone Cold Amigo]

AJPW 9/23/09 - Seiya Sanada vs. MAZADA
Ok action with a fun moment or two from MAZADA. Finish didn't quite work how they wanted, but was ok. *1/4

AJPW 9/23/09 - Masakatsu Funaki vs. Masayuki Kono
Very short with a lot of mat work and some decent enough action in the last two minutes.

AJPW 9/23/09 - Keiji Mutoh, Osamu Nishimura, & Kaz Hayashi vs. Suwama, Super Crazy, & Manabu Soya
Most of the match focused on Soya and Nishimura's feud so things always picked up when they were in the ring together and especially towards the end where Nishimura was doing his best to refuse being lariated to hell by his former student. Solid stuff. ***

AJPW 9/23/09 - Shuji Kondo vs. Yoshihiro Takayama
Kondo takes a beating, but gives a good fight before he is put away. Good stuff. ***

AJPW 9/23/09, All Asia Tag Titles - Minoru Suzuki & NOSAWA Rongai (c) vs. Akebono & Ryota Hama
Not the most interesting match since the fat boys here get gassed out fast, and NOSAWA & Suzuki can only do so much against guys their size anyways. With that said, this match has its moments due to Suzuki's games and Akebono's occasional spurts of fire.

AJPW 9/23/09, Captain's Fall Elimination - Satoshi Kojima (c), ZODIAC, KAI, & Hiroshi Yamato vs. TARU (c), Joe Doering, Minoru, & Toshizo
The action was decent enough, VDM antics were incorporated well including two ref attacks, the eliminations were good, and Yamato got to look good with what he survived. Solid stuff. ***

Where you find this, ET?

[Eivion Thanatos]

youtube

[Epyon]

[quote="Eivion Thanatos"]
AJPW 9/23/09 - Masakatsu Funaki vs. Masayuki Kono
Very short with a lot of mat work and some decent enough action in the last two minutes.
quote]

was it just me, or was the finish more of a double arm suplex instead if a double arm brainbuster? great match, but the finish was just like WTF to me

[AKINAN]

The matches from the 23/9 were pretty good. Manabu Soya really worked in his match.

[Eivion Thanatos]

AJPW 9/23/09 - Masakatsu Funaki vs. Masayuki Kono
Very short with a lot of mat work and some decent enough action in the last two minutes.

was it just me, or was the finish more of a double arm suplex instead if a double arm brainbuster? great match, but the finish was just like WTF to me

Match ended in a double arm suplex. I'm guessing its something normal for Funaki since the crowd bought into it

[manjiimortal]

I think you underrated the All-Asia Tag titles match Elvion. Hama's selling was close to suberb, and it really carried the match because it gave GURENTAI a belivable chance of winning the match. Akebono was fired up, Suzuki was his usual dickish self, and NOSAWA brought some good comedy and a great La Majistral near-fall on Bono.

In a world where every Junior( and most Heavyweights) tends to kick selling between the legs, watching the super-heavies carry the match through psycology and selling is refreshing at the very, very least.

[NewJapanAllJapanfan84]

Captain's Fall Elimination Match: VooDoo Murders (TARU, Joe Doering, Minoru, & Toshizo) vs. F4 (Satoshi Kojima, KAI, Hiroshi Yamato, & ZODIAC) (September 23, 2009)-

Fun match, I really wish more companies would do this as I love the concept. The bookin was also good with VM dominating and looking good and was surprisingwith guys like KAI, ZODIAC, & Minoru all getting eliminated first and others like Yamato and Toshio holding their own.

[*BG*]

I'm finally back on the boards. My computer had 2 deadly viruses on them so it's taken me this long just to get back here. I purchased The Legacy of Misawa DVD set and will start reviewing it. Here is the match listing for AJPW (NOAH excluded):

DVD #1
1. (1983/04/22) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Shiro Koshinaka
2. (1984/08/26) Tiger Mask II vs. La Fiera
3. (1985/06/21) Tiger Mask II vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi
4. (1985/11/27) Tiger Mask II vs. Dynamite Kid
5. (1986/03/13) Tiger Mask II vs. Riki Choshu 10:10 of 12:43 shown
6. (1986/04/19) Tiger Mask II & Giant Baba vs. Ronnie Garvin & Magnum TA
7. (1986/06/01) Tiger Mask II vs. Genichiro Tenryu

DVD #2
8. (1988/03/09) Tiger Mask II vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
9. (1990/05/14) Tiger Mask II & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu & Samson Fuyuki 11:55 of 18:35 shown
10. (1990/06/08) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
11. (1991/07/24) Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams 25:47 of 28:00 shown

DVD #3
12. (1991/09/04) Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue
10/15/91 Misawa/Kawada vs. Jumbo/? 6:16 of 23:54 shown
7/21/92 6man tag 9:31 of 19:10 shown
13. (1992/08/22) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Stan Hansen

DVD #4
14. (1992/10/21) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada
15. (1993/12/03) Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue
16. (1994/03/05) Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Giant Baba & Stan Hansen

DVD #5
17. (1994/07/28) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Steve Williams
18. (1995/04/15) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Akira Taue
19. (1997/04/19) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi
20. (1997/04/19) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada

DVD #6
21. (1997/10/11) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Steve Williams 17:00 of 24:21
22. (1997/10/21) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi
23. (1997/11/27) Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs. Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinsaki

DVD #7
24. (1998/04/18) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jun Akiyama
25. (1998/05/01) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada
26. (1998/11/14) Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinori Ogawa vs. Stan Hansen & Vader
27. (1999/05/02) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Vader

DVD #8
28. (1999/08/25) Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinori Ogawa vs. Yoshihiro Takayama & Takao Omori 22:40 of 23:02 shown
29. (1999/09/04) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Yoshihiro Takayama
30. (1999/09/04) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Vader
31. (2000/01/09) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jun Akiyama 17:30 of 24:42 shown

[*BG*]

1. (1983/04/22) Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Shiro Koshinaka

Decent match here. Koshinaka dominates the first half of the match with some serious armwork and Misawa tries to counter as much as he can as best he can but to no avail. The pace definately picks up when Misawa is on offense and you can see glimpses of who he will be later but a lot of the flashy moves have no effect. After trading some near falls Koshinaka rolls up Misawa for a 3 count that looked like a 2 count but I guess referree Lou Thez's hitting the mat counts as a one-count.

[*BG*]

(1984/08/26) Tiger Mask II vs. La Fiera

La Fiera had personality and was a good complimet to Tiger Mask II. This was more of a match to debut and establish Tiger Mask II. Misawa's moveset is good here and he gets the win.

(1985/06/21) Tiger Mask II vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi

I really enjoyed this match. Kobayashi starts the match with a spin kick to Tiger Mask II, takes him outside, and then throws him into the baricade which completely falls dow around the entire front row section. Good intense match from these two.

(1985/11/27) Tiger Mask II vs. Dynamite Kid

Dynamite Kid looks VERY crisp in this match and they pull out all they stops. Neither man backs down from the other and the finish is a double count-out. They had pretty good chemistry but not great. Short match.

((1986/03/13) Tiger Mask II vs. Riki Choshu 10:10 of 12:43 shown

Good match. Tiger Mask II shows a lot of heart standing up to Choshu and taking a lot of his signature moves. He almost escapes Choshu's scorpion deathlock and Choshu puts him away with a vicious lariat. Fun match with good heat.

(1986/04/19) Tiger Mask II & Giant Baba vs. Ronnie Garvin & Magnum TA

I didn't really like this match that much. I believe this is from the Crockett Cup. Tiger Mask II is basically here to take the fall. The styles between the two teams didn't really mesh well.

(1986/06/01) Tiger Mask II vs. Genichiro Tenryu

Didn't like this match that much either. I thought their styles didn't really gell. Tenryu picks up the win here.

((1988/03/09) Tiger Mask II vs. Jumbo Tsuruta

Tiger Mask II was applying many headlocks and doing whatever it took to keep the bigger Tsuruta from getting on offense. Misawa and Tsuruta have great chemistry here even though it's a different style than they would wrestle years later. Tiger Mask II finds an opening and unloads with his high-flying arsenal coming close to winning the match many times but it is the power and determination from Tsuruta (along with his back suplex) that prevail.

(1990/05/14) Tiger Mask II & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Yoshiaki Yatsu & Samson Fuyuki 11:55 of 18:35 shown

Lots of headbutts to Tiger Mask II's head by both Yatsu and Fuyaki as they try to rip off the mask. A few taunts too many lead to Misawa finally unmasking and taking it to both men. Yatsu and Fuyaki both get gassed as the match progresses and it gets sloppy but Misawa gets the pin on Fuyaki with a german suplex. Decent match.

[NewJapanAllJapanfan84]

AJPW Unified World Tag Team Championship: Keiji Mutoh & Taiyo Kea (c) vs. Kronik (Brian Adams & Bryan Clark) (July 17, 2002)- Pretty good match but it didn't really pick up until the end with some cool moves and counters, the finish was weird with Mutoh kicking out of a High Times but getting pinned by the Meltdown. Great moment for Kronik and I've alway thought of them as one of the most underrated tag teams in wrestling history and wished they much more as they had great potenial.

[deathmetal_dan]

AJPW 7-26-2009

MAZADA vs Petty Williams

Not that good. Just a general undercard match. I don’t really like MAZADA so I am hoping Petty Williams can bring it when he wrestles someone better in some of his later matches

NOSAWA vs Super Crazy

I feel the same way about NOSAWA that I do about MAZADA which is ehhhh. Super Crazy looks the same as he did back in 1998 in ECW only a step slower. A little better than the Williams match but still just a by the numbers undercard match.

KAI vs Kaz Hayashi

An average match. It was a lot slower than I was expecting. KAI tried to warm up the band and hit some sweet chin music toward the end haha. They did do a lot of things I’ve never seen before which was refreshing. The ending sequence was good but seemed to come out of nowhere.

Yoshihiro Takayama & Minoru Suzuki vs. Suwama & Masayuki Kono

Nothing too special here. Suzuki is entertaining as always. Suwama is very underrated in my opinion. He always brings a lot of fire to his matches. Takayama wins with a knee strike to Suwama.

Shuji Kondo vs Minoru

Awesome match. These two were amazing. They kicked out of everything and I loved it. Highly recommended.

[Eivion Thanatos]

AJPW 10/24/09 - Kaz Hayashi & KAI vs. Shuji Kondo & Super Crazy
Pretty average until the last four or five which some some nice action.

AJPW 10/24/09 - Suwama, Masayuki Kono, & Manabu Soya vs. Yoshihiro Takayama, Minoru Suzuki, & MAZADA
Pretty average with the occasional decent action. Everyone, but Kono seemed to get a decent amount of ring time though he did get into again with Suzuki and showed some nice jumping knee attacks. *1/2

AJPW 10/24/09, All Asia Tag Titles - Akebono & Ryota Hama (c) vs. TARU & Joe Doering
Aside from when VDM were working over Akebono, the action was decent enough, you had Akebono bleeding, and both of our former sumos got o have their bad ass moments when taking on the VDM team. Decent stuff. **1/2