Sky's Good Matches Thread (formerly You Decide What Sky Watches)

[Jay-Ashley]

Claudio and Luke Harper put on some great bangers in there.

Indeed they did.

 

[Sky]

You're all suggesting matches faster than I can watch them... I feel like I should close the form for a while but I'd feel bad because what if one of you finds a banger

 

[Sky]

Match #14
Atsushi Onita vs. Masahiro Chono
Exploding Barbed Wire Ropes Deathmatch
NJPW Strong Style Symphony: New Japan Spirit - April 10, 1999​

You are absolute beasts. I've actually had to close the form looking at the number of responses. Do you know how much of a backlog I have? 303 matches. I've now got to go through all of these, realistically speaking, before I can open up responses again. And let's start now. On a lighter note, I can't believe it took this long to get to the first deathmatch of the wheel! There's more than a few on there, but somehow the wheel avoided them. Maybe it's too squeamish. But we have one now, and this is from Onita's NJPW run. It's amazing how easily he was able to establish himself as a heel just by being from a hardcore promotion in the world of Strong Style. He didn't have to attack interviewers to rub it in, but he did it anyway.

And that's somehow led to an exploding barbed wire deathmatch in NJPW, something you'd never expect to see. Onita coming out with chair and water, and his signature Hardcore Limp that you always see the ECW alumni walk with. He pulls up the chair and lights a cigarette, then leaves a trail of thrown trash behind him asa he rolls in. This is actually a legendary entrance that everyone should see at least once. It's just one guy in a leather jacket with a spotlight on him, but he feels like more of a superstar than Triple H ever could in his skull tanks. Case in point: Chono comes out in a big black jeep, but even that doesn't feel as important.

A fairly long staredown to start, that erupts into brawling in the blink of an eye. First to tease going into the exploding barbed wire is Chono, but he slides down like a true pro and even taunts. There's a little inset that shows the Great Sasuke is on commentary for this one. Masked commentators will never not look funny to me. Chono barely grazes the barbed wire again, and I'm already down with this. Onita gets a DDT, and I get to thinking, why in kayfabe does the slap on the back make a DDT more effective? In real life it's the cue to take the bump properly, I know, but... There's an interesting juxtaposition of hardcore wrestling and straight up puro as Chono follows a series of chair shots with an STF.

Four minutes in and we get our first explosion, but not on one of the wrestlers, as Chono tosses the chair, Onita ducks, and it strikes the barbed wire ropes! Chono manages to sell it like he's been shot anyway! Onita takes full advantage with those weird thrusting chair shots that everyone in Japan does, a bulldog on to the chair, then tosses Chono to the barbed wire for explosion number 2! He sells it like he's just been kicked in the back, not like he's just been in a barbed wire explosion. Maybe that's the NJPW fighting spirit. That same fighting spirit that makes him kick out at 2 when Onita tries to pin him after a Russian legsweep on to the chair.

Onita goes for a Scorpion Deathlock, but Chono counters it right into an ankle lock. And Onita's done all the work grapevining Chono's legs for him! Actually GREAT counter. Chono's dead on his feet but refuses to stay down. He ducks an Onita charge and lets him eat a backful of barbed wire for explosion number 3! Onita's pro enough to take the explosion against his back, even when he was charging forward. Like the true deathmatch wrestler he is, he's the first one visibly bleeding too. Chono gets a period of control, until Onita delivers an uppercut right to his plums... then Chono gives one of his own! He's learning!

Onita tosses a chair right at Chono's face, which is somehow the most dangerous thing I've seen in this exploding barbed wire deathmatch. A powerbomb that really lands on the neck gets a two count. They're ending up on their knees, still staring down and butting heads, battered and bruised, and this is great stuff. Onita now has to grab on to the referee to stay upright, and so when Chono shoves him, Onita AND the referee get the explosion 4 treatment! Now THAT is entertainment. Chono must have taken a bit of it, because he's selling too. Second referee is out, checking on the first referee, so he doesn't see Chono getting a visual pinfall.

Onita is just refusing to stay down! He's been in exploding rings before, he won't take shit from this guy! He's taken kick after kick to the face, and it just doesn't stop. He's got Chono in a headlock, and he brings them towards the last unexploded side of the ring for explosion number 5!! Both guys are down, Onita tries to get to his feet, but he just can't! The ref calls this match off! It's a double knockout! By the time both men have recovered - which understandably takes a while - they promo for a bit, presumably about respect or something, then Chono gives Onita his jacket.

That was really cool! I had a lot of fun, there's a lot of near heart-stopping moments when explosions are involved. And we got a good ending without needing a decisive finish, which is rare.

 

[Chris]

I stopped submitting after like 15 matches and was gonna wait until more of mine got reviewed first

 

[Canadian Dragon]

Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Tetsuya Endo « Matches « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database

Internet Wrestling Database

www.cagematch.net

 

[Canadian Dragon]

im watching it now as well

 

[Sky]

Match #15
Serena Deeb (c) vs. Riho
for the NWA World Women's Championship
AEW Double or Nothing (Buy-In) - May 30, 2021​

Okay, now for the first match of the current decade. It's also our first look into AEW, and I'm glad for that. I vaguely remember seeing bits of this match but I kind of missed it because I misjudged when the pre-show started. The Queen of Ratings, Riho, challenges Serena Deeb for a championship that mattered before Kamille happened. Let's go!

Wow, I miss Daily's Place. It's not exactly impressive, but ti had a real vibe that you didn't see often in wrestling shows. Plus, diagonal entrance ramp! That's a rarity. Riho is SO over. Serena Deeb comes out with the belt which looks disturbingly like a plastic toy. Dueling chants for both of them to start us off as Riho does not look threatened at all. Deeb gets the first pin attempt, but Riho bridges out of it really cleanly right to her feet, in such a way that Deeb is looking all bewildered, like "Where did she go?" Good content there. Riho offers a handshake, Deeb mulls it over for like 30 seconds, and then SLAPS her! That is the most heelish thing you could ever do in my book. It's like kicking a puppy.

Riho hits a cornered knee strike, and just bounces right off. Not like it doesn't work, but she's just so small. She later makes the mistake of trying to sunset flip someone larger (see: almost every Abyss match). Serena almost gets the Serenity Lock but Riho scrambles to the ropes. Commentary talks about 15 years of wrestling experience for Riho... she's 23 at the time this match happens. Just Ice Ribbon things. Serena brings out a really clean looking dragonscrew legwhip that seriously looks like it messed with Riho's knee. And then a catapult to bring Riho's neck into the ropes? Brutal stuff. More knee work. Serena looks like she's about to go for La Tapatia but instead hooks the nose! EVIL stuff there. Riho's having to slap her legs to get a bit of life into them.

Riho sticks her head between the ropes, almost like she's asking to take the front chancery, which she does. And then a neckbreaker across the ropes... Serena just needs to deal with her arms now, and she'll have turned Riho into a limp torso. Somehow she's still alive after that, let alone able to kick out. Speaking of neck, when Serena goes for an inverted Gory Special, I get genuinely scared she's going to try and kill Riho with a Vertebreaker. She gets Riho in the corner, but Riho manages to fight out and deliver a double foot stomp. On those bad legs... Riho no. She's done more damage to herself than to Deeb with that. There follows a bit of an advantage by Riho, but since all the moves she's using involve her legs (including a Tiger Feint Kick!), I really don't know how effective it is.

Serena breaks out an octopus hold, which is probably the move I've seen most in this thread so far. Clings to Riho with what appears to be a guillotine choke... first guillotine choke I've ever seen that's more effective on the legs than anything else, given what's happened so far. Still Riho manages a Northern Lights suplex. Riho goes for another double stomp on the Hardest Part of the Ring(TM), misses, and gets her knee wrecked again. Another dragonscrew on the ropes! And soon after that, a DOUBLE DRAGONSCREW!! How does Riho even HAVE legs now? She gets absolutely folded on a powerbomb but still kicks out! Soon she's able to hit a Dragon Suplex!

Another successful double foot stomp, and she goes for the Somato, but Serena catches her into the Serenity Lock!! Surely that should finish it, but no, rope break. More dragonscrews, yeesh. Detox attempt is countered into an interesting bridging pin, that doesn't win it. Serena smashes Riho's knee into the canvas before another Serenity Lock, and that does it!

Really fun match, good way to start off a PPV. Good to see the wheel's being kinder to me now, there's been 2 new entries to the top 3 today.

 

[Canadian Dragon]

^ top 3 aew women's matches easily, might be my favorite. "it made me feel things" is the best way I could describe it, and that's like the best compliment you can give a match imo

 

[Sky]

Match #16
Verne Gagne vs. Red Bastien
NWA from Racine, WI - October 31, 1952​

And now, some old stuff. 70 years old next week, in fact. I'm really dreading what I'll have to watch, considering my last dalliance with the pre-entertainment age of wrestling. Finding out when and where this took place was a little bit of an ordeal, but it led me to an interesting fact - that this wasn't from the Chicago International Amphitheater at all! The guy in charge of TV syndication was willing to bill events that weren't fron Chicago as being so, despite this, for example, being in the next state over.

Apparently Bastien's the one with better hair. It's good to know given that this is in black and white. Bastien's losing 30 pounds to Gagne so there's potential for interesting dynamics. Both guys start scrambling for control, trying to get behind each other, which is quite nice to look at at least.

Bastien gets the first advantage, working the elbow before Gagne goes right up to drag him down with a headscissors. If you'd told me one of these guys would bring out a headscissors takedown early, I would not have expected Gagne. Bastien breaks out of it by spinning - the commentator says it better than I when he says that Bastien "doesn't care a thing for his neck". It doesn't do him any good, either, as Gagne uses a second headscissors to drag him down again. That looks like it could be a headscissors driver. Someone should really use a standing headscissors driver in the modern day. Forget your Frankensteiners, your Poison Ranas, let's see a guy jump up from a standing start, wrap his legs around his opponent's neck, and slam his head into the mat. Third headscissors works, but the fourth doesn't as Bastien ducks and Gagne drops out of the ring! Simple, effective.

We see the classic style of avoiding pin attempts. No kickouts, just moving one shoulder up at the slightest hint of a one-count. Bastien's just staying in position while Gagne's shuffling him around the ring with the leg hooked. Gagne gets a toehold but Bastien tries to counter by twisting Gagne's neck. Guess it's just necks in general he doesn't care for. Gagne catches Bastien while he's running and hits a powerslam, and the crowd pops off! Commentator just casually notes that Bastien's bleeding from the nose. Shame this is in black and white, huh? Gagne - whose eyebrow also is cut - hip tosses Bastien so hard his legs slide out of the ring, and according to the commentator, the timekeeper tried to dodge it. That's the sort of gold you miss in a single camera setup.

Bastien tries to break a hammerlock but only gets himself on the mat. He has his feet under the ropes but no sign of a rope break. So much has changed in 70 years. Bastien finally breaks out by rolling, which leads to a short but quite funny sequence where Gagne is trying to catch Bastien like you would a greased pig. He gets an extended headlock, then downs Gagne with a shoulder charge, but gets undone by a drop toe hold. This hold lasts for a minute, followed by a Bastien headlock that lasts for a minute. Back comes the headscissors. Another shoulder charge downs Gagne, but a dropkick downs Bastien! Gagne unleashes the finisher, the Four Rollups In A Row But Only One Pin Attempt, for the win.

That was surprisingly good. Didn't overstay its welcome, even though it is very much a pre-80s match with all that implies. There's something about me that found the transitions between the holds a lot more engaging than the holds themselves.

 

[Sky]

Match #17
Comando Negro vs. El Pollo
2/3 Falls Mask vs. Mask Match
IWRG - December 26, 2010​

Back to Lucha, and another in the storied history of Luchas de Apuestas. Although it's somewhat harder to take seriously when one of the luchadors is a man dressed up like a giant chicken as if he's some fast food mascot. This is also a fancam, so action might be harder to follow. Here goes!

Comando Negro is only making his entrance when Pollo comes right out the traps with a Tope Suicida! This chicken can fly! Comando looks like he has a weed leaf on his mask. Pollo goes for a senton off the ring apron, but hits nothing but hard, hard floor. He then decides to take a seat among the crowd! Maybe he's forgotten he's in a mask match. It's only when he's rolled back into the ring that I notice he has a mascota version just sitting there. Crowd sounds really divided, I would really have thought Pollo would be the most natural tecnico here. Because you know, chicken man. Two big spinebusters and then Comando goes for a Scorpion, only to be put into a small package by Pollo for the first fall! That was quick!

Second fall, and Comando's punching Pollo on the outside. He takes him to the nearest cervezas (Corona... it was a different time) and smashes what looks like an ornamental beer barrel over his head. Ref demands they go back in, and Pollo is looking bloodied. Comando opens the wound with punches and a dropkick, and... yep, Pollo's yellow chicken suit is turning red very quickly. The chair shot to the head isn't helping. Referee's 20-count gets to 18 before Comando remembers to return to the ring... wouldn't that be embarrassing, to lose a mask match by countout? Comando misses a second rope moonsault, and for the first time in this match, Pollo is in control. He hits a spinebuster but doesn't attempt the fall for some reason. Big superplex, but Comando counters the pin into a crucifix pin to tie it at 1-1!

In the third fall the badly bloodstained chicken man has the edge, clattering Comando with chair after chair. Comando's got blood on him, and I legitimately don't know whether it's his own or more of Pollo's. The mascota is still there I love the juxtaposition of this bloody fight and then the tiny chicken man on the apron just vibing. Comando hits a tope of his own, clattering Pollo into a pile of chairs (for context: they aren't folded chairs, but those solid moulded plastic chairs. Yeah). Both of them are struggling into the ring because it seems that hurt Comando more. But then Pollo hits a slingshot Tope con Hilo to the outside!! This chicken is OUT OF HIS MIND.

Chicken man is barely standing, but so is Comando. Fireman's carry backbreaker gets two. Pollo misses a moonsault. Hasn't he suffered enough? Comando gets his feet on the ropes for a pin, but the ref notices. Guess he was the rudo after all, huh. Tiny chicken man comes to deal with Comando but gets a kick to the face and a gutbuster for his trouble. Pollo, who is half-covered in blood at this point, decides now is the time for a TOP ROPE ARMDRAG! Pollo dumps Comando down for his Mini-Me to hit a second rope splash! Rana pin almost gets Pollo the win. The finish, though, goes to Comando, who hits an electric chair driver!

I think Jeff was right in this thread when he said the best matches make you feel something. This one certainly made me feel quite a lot. I sympathised very easily with Chicken Man I'd Never Seen Before as he was just taking punishment, soaked in blood, but still fighting. I almost feel bad putting a random match like this above matches that people hold in high regard but... fuck it, second. This was so cool. (Fun fact: at the start of today, WeeLC was third in my ranking, now it's not even in the top 5)

 

[Sky]

I'm so glad I made this thread, so many really fun matches I wouldn't have seen otherwise

 

[Jay-Ashley]

Glad to see Lucha matches, lol

 

[Jay-Ashley]

I would like to see a full review of the AJW Big Egg event because I bet Sky would have fun with it, lol

 

[Bobby Barrows]

Match #16
Verne Gagne vs. Red Bastien
NWA from Racine, WI - October 31, 1952​

And now, some old stuff. 70 years old next week, in fact. I'm really dreading what I'll have to watch, considering my last dalliance with the pre-entertainment age of wrestling. Finding out when and where this took place was a little bit of an ordeal, but it led me to an interesting fact - that this wasn't from the Chicago International Amphitheater at all! The guy in charge of TV syndication was willing to bill events that weren't fron Chicago as being so, despite this, for example, being in the next state over.

Apparently Bastien's the one with better hair. It's good to know given that this is in black and white. Bastien's losing 30 pounds to Gagne so there's potential for interesting dynamics. Both guys start scrambling for control, trying to get behind each other, which is quite nice to look at at least.

Bastien gets the first advantage, working the elbow before Gagne goes right up to drag him down with a headscissors. If you'd told me one of these guys would bring out a headscissors takedown early, I would not have expected Gagne. Bastien breaks out of it by spinning - the commentator says it better than I when he says that Bastien "doesn't care a thing for his neck". It doesn't do him any good, either, as Gagne uses a second headscissors to drag him down again. That looks like it could be a headscissors driver. Someone should really use a standing headscissors driver in the modern day. Forget your Frankensteiners, your Poison Ranas, let's see a guy jump up from a standing start, wrap his legs around his opponent's neck, and slam his head into the mat. Third headscissors works, but the fourth doesn't as Bastien ducks and Gagne drops out of the ring! Simple, effective.

We see the classic style of avoiding pin attempts. No kickouts, just moving one shoulder up at the slightest hint of a one-count. Bastien's just staying in position while Gagne's shuffling him around the ring with the leg hooked. Gagne gets a toehold but Bastien tries to counter by twisting Gagne's neck. Guess it's just necks in general he doesn't care for. Gagne catches Bastien while he's running and hits a powerslam, and the crowd pops off! Commentator just casually notes that Bastien's bleeding from the nose. Shame this is in black and white, huh? Gagne - whose eyebrow also is cut - hip tosses Bastien so hard his legs slide out of the ring, and according to the commentator, the timekeeper tried to dodge it. That's the sort of gold you miss in a single camera setup.

Bastien tries to break a hammerlock but only gets himself on the mat. He has his feet under the ropes but no sign of a rope break. So much has changed in 70 years. Bastien finally breaks out by rolling, which leads to a short but quite funny sequence where Gagne is trying to catch Bastien like you would a greased pig. He gets an extended headlock, then downs Gagne with a shoulder charge, but gets undone by a drop toe hold. This hold lasts for a minute, followed by a Bastien headlock that lasts for a minute. Back comes the headscissors. Another shoulder charge downs Gagne, but a dropkick downs Bastien! Gagne unleashes the finisher, the Four Rollups In A Row But Only One Pin Attempt, for the win.

That was surprisingly good. Didn't overstay its welcome, even though it is very much a pre-80s match with all that implies. There's something about me that found the transitions between the holds a lot more engaging than the holds themselves.

Yeah Verne Gagne in his prime was a fuckin force to be reckoned with. His style just did not translate well at all to the 1980s.

 

[Death By Looch]

Yeah Verne Gagne in his prime was a fuckin force to be reckoned with. His style just did not translate well at all to the 1980s.

Sadly, he didn't think the same.