Garbage's MOTY list thread

[GARBAGE]

Who knows how long I keep this up, but I wanted to join the 1990 top 25 and I want to document what I watch, with links, even if I only write a sentence or two. Thought about making it just a 1990 thread, but if I actively participate in more than one of these I don't want to make a separate thread for each one.

1990 begins

Atsushi Onita/Tarzan Goto vs. Masanobu Kurisu/Dragon Master (FMW 4/1/90)
youtube.com/watch?v=q0jVkpshNqc
I had two main memories from this. #1 - it was a great first half and then tapered off a bit in the second, and #2 - Kurisu may have the greatest stomps of any wrestler ever. Not in terms on them looking particularly violent, but just, as natural looking as stomping on someone's head can look. It's like he clips the opponent with tip of his boot to make this great visual. It probably helped that here he was dressed like a wannabe country singer and had those flat toe boots. #2 is definitely still true, but #1 I'm less convinced of. There's some questionable selling and sloppy (the bad kind) moments but unless you're super bothered by street fight tags having tag rules, then I can't see why I necessarily thought the quality dropped too much. The rules are similar to a Texas deathmatch where there's a 10 count after a pinfall but that doesn't come in to play very often, and thankfully there's no "rest period." They replace the resting with a hundred and fifty absurdly violent folding chair shots and this one awesome moment where Kurisu escapes Onita by pulling one of his (flat toe!) shoes off and beating him in the head with it. Dragon Master is the same Dragonmaster (sans space apparently, bare with me I'm going on wikipedia) who was in Gary Hart's corporation thing in WCW, and also helped trained Bret Hart, and this made me want to track down some of that WCW work if only to see if he throws the same amazing clubs in the US that he did here. Not a lock thanks to the aforementioned flaws but I could see it making my top 25.

 

[GARBAGE]

Accidentally posted the thread early after only writing about ONE MATCH, I'm so good at this already.

The Rockers vs. The Powers of Pain (WWF 1/15/90)
drive.google.com/file/d/1LNrcIOXA0MD90uCob3c4g406jHbvg3-1/view
I don't know what the second best WWF match of 1990 is, but I've watched so much WWF the past couple of years that I'm pretty sure I don't need to rewatch whatever it may be for a top 25 worldwide. This is the only one that matters. The perfect blend of popular Southern Rock n Roll Express-style glam metal boys against a villainous Mad Max beefhead duo. It's just one of the most purely fun matches of all time and as I've grown older I've become way less inclined to use "fun" as some shorthand for "three stars" or "less than very good." It's a seriously outstanding match. POP aren't remembered as a great team and I can't go to any lengths to prove anyone wrong on that, but you'd be hard pressed to criticise them here or say they wasted any motion. The match had heat from the opening shine and it stayed the whole way through, with POP during the FIP sticking to awesome power moves to show off the strength difference between the teams. And adding a dash of cheating to even add to the heat. There's THE back body drop in this match where Jannetty gets absolutely ludicrous height like he can't figure out how to work one of those bounce rope thingys and tries to stop a non-existent fall....but then he actually falls. There's THE boot that sends Jannetty over the top rope. There's THE sunset flip reversal where Warlord poses and then gets reversed himself by a dropkick. One of my favourite little touches in any FIP probably ever is Jannetty trying to grab the rail to stop being driven into the ring post. The post-hot tag is actually pretty remarkable given the size difference; easily it could have come off as silly that Michaels was firing on such big guys but once he was in, everyone bought POP were in more trouble than a minute prior. Good thing Fuji was there for them. If it's not top 25 of the year to me then no WWF match comes close.

Stan Hansen vs. Steve Williams (AJPW 6/5/90)
youtube.com/watch?v=tVQOE8vBvvM
I was surprised how quickly the heat in this match seemed to die down after the bell. It wasn't exactly Hansen vs. Andre but they were exchanging blows and scraping each other's face and shit, I'd expect the audience to not quiet down that much after the bell rings and these two went at it. The match itself could have used more of a reaction, the crowd mostly lived and died with Hansen's offensive opportunities once he started bleeding and trying to survive Doc's onslaught. Williams wasn't reallllly the most engaging on offense but did have several memorable moments like pulling at Hansen's head while they were in the ropes and landing that drop kick on the outside. Hansen showing this much vulnerability is compelling in and of itself so it was definitely enough to carry me through it. And at least we ended things on likely one of the greatest lariat finales of all time. I would probably appreciate this more on a second viewing.

 

[GARBAGE]

Naoki Sano vs. Jushin Liger (NJPW 1/31/90)
dailymotion.com/video/x466uxi
Ideally I would pop on their 1989 matches first but I am strapped for time so I'm jumping to the end. No regrets, naturally, because all these years later after last watching it it's still an excellent fight. You'll barely find a more hateful juniors match; it takes a hell of a lot to make a leg drop or a surfboard look like a spiteful move. The first thing that really struck me is how exceptionally good Liger is at using body language to convey his selling, so you see through his mask (his mask was torn for most of this but work with me, the vq doesn't allow to see his face much anyway). There's especially a lot of stumbling, keeping his head low, wobbling his arms that goes a long way in putting over what Sano was doing to him. Speaking of which, I didn't remember so much of the match being so one-sided. It's a great, great mauling from Sano; they do not waste time to get to the mask ripping and bloody faced Liger, while Sano does what he can to keep him in place. Though I'll probably never get fully used to the piledriver being so throwaway in Japanese junior matches but that's how it goes I guess. I thought Liger's big moments of hope were all outstanding. That first dive he got in, where he crawls back in the ring, struggling to capitalise while the audience chants for him was an incredible aesthetic. He about drops himself on his own face reversing suplexes mid-air as well. Want to mention there's a big boot sell from Liger in this that has to be one of the greatest sells of the move ever and it didn't even hit his face but instead the chest. Still an awesome, awesome match and a world class bloody sell from the ace.

Jushin Liger vs. Masashi Aoyagi, 3 Minute Rounds (NJPW 6/12/90)
drive.google.com/file/d/1WO3m7IPB1VAGi6rtvxyQiyCBhA9wIpIR/view
Well shit, why didn't this get more traction over the years? I watched this because of how great Liger was selling for Sano, but I got the inverse where instead of trying to survive, Liger is the one trying to kill. They don't accomplish much in the first round and a half but the tentative approaching, coupled Liger trying to quickly get a victory through limb holds was enough to carry it. It's not exactly a Kiyoshi Tamura main event but for post-UWF invasion NJPW shoot style...style...ish it definitely works. Things pick way up though when Liger forgoes a clean break while Aoyagi is prone in the ropes and slaps him in the face. A couple stomps later and Aoyagi is bum rushing Liger, punching his head to the ground and tearing at the mask. All the hesitation in Aoyagi's earlier karate kicks (he was a legit karateka) are gone as he swings into Liger full bore. While watching I had a thought that I probably would have preferred him to keep more of an offense after that, but it being a rounds match helped accept Liger fighting back so early. Then the third round starts and I couldn't have cared less if it became a complete squash. Liger is fully unmasked, as in no torn mask they just take it off between round 2 and 3, and he takes Aoyagi down and bloodies him with headbutts. Most of the rest of the match is Aoyagi getting struck continuously in his bloody head with only brief moments of respite, like grappling Liger close, or even when the doctor checked him. Liger basically figured out that grounding a karate fighter who's already bloody made the match a wash. I think it was rife for a rematch too, that I'm worried never existed, or existed but was never taped. Great, great spectacle.

Jumbo Tsuruta/Isao Takagi vs. Genichiro Tenryu/Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW 1/20/90)
youtube.com/watch?v=q3cNLORM93A
Like Liger/Sano I wish I was watching this after most of the rest of the feud it belongs in (Tenryu/Jumbo, obviously, unless there's a secretly great Kawada/Isao Takagi feud someone wants to tell me about) but it's fine. And, to be fair, I'm not sure how much I needed to know other than "these two really did not enjoy sharing a locker room," which came across very unsubtly in the match. Kawada looked a little lost throughout and isn't near a world beating striker yet but he sold hard for Jumbo to show the hierarchy imbalance. He and Takagi also had one great moment where Takagi fired off elbows and Kawada fired off headbutts, almost like the disdain between Tenryu and Jumbo was rubbing off on them in a gang war kind of way. But yes this is the Jumbo vs. Tenryu show, with every exchange between them being violent and spiteful and disrespectful and endlessly enjoyable. Tenryu assaulting people on the outside unsurprisingly was also an occurrence. But hey this time they fought back. No way I don't find 25 matches of 1990 better; maybe would rate this like 3*1/4 if I was a star giver - so could have been better given what program its a part of - but a very worthwhile watch.

Ric Flair vs. Bobby Eaton (WCW 1/7/90)
dailymotion.com/video/x3z3tfc
I would need to rewatch many more matches from the 80s to really find out, but I wouldn't be surprised if I thought these 15-20 minute Flair on TV matches manage the Flair formula better than the 35+ minute arena ones. This one having Flair as a face means it was inherently different to begin with, versus most of the 80s, though. I really liked that because of Flair being face, it lacked Flair taking any shit to start the match off. He got to take most of the first half of the match, enjoying himself and throwing in some violent moments like the ring post shot and chucking Eaton from the apron to the guardrail. Eaton was probably the best wrestler in America in 1990 (more to come on that) and even if he wasn't, the 'worst' Bobby Eaton I can remember is still good at everything he needs to do. I loved how Flair came back near the end, too. he gets a basic stomp and chop in, but the chop sends Eaton outside the ring, who then tries to drag Flair out and go after him before a big ass back body drop reversal on the concrete. Babyface Flair means his Irish whip bump over the top rope actually lets him run all the way across the apron and he can hit a strike off the top rope. Flair getting a revenge tennis racket shot on Cornette really put the cherry on top. Super satisfying tv wrestling.

 

[Death By Looch]

Accidentally posted the thread early after only writing about ONE MATCH, I'm so good at this already.

The Rockers vs. The Powers of Pain (WWF 1/15/90)
drive.google.com/file/d/1LNrcIOXA0MD90uCob3c4g406jHbvg3-1/view
I don't know what the second best WWF match of 1990 is, but I've watched so much WWF the past couple of years that I'm pretty sure I don't need to rewatch whatever it may be for a top 25 worldwide. This is the only one that matters. The perfect blend of popular Southern Rock n Roll Express-style glam metal boys against a villainous Mad Max beefhead duo. It's just one of the most purely fun matches of all time and as I've grown older I've become way less inclined to use "fun" as some shorthand for "three stars" or "less than very good." It's a seriously outstanding match. POP aren't remembered as a great team and I can't go to any lengths to prove anyone wrong on that, but you'd be hard pressed to criticise them here or say they wasted any motion. The match had heat from the opening shine and it stayed the whole way through, with POP during the FIP sticking to awesome power moves to show off the strength difference between the teams. And adding a dash of cheating to even add to the heat. There's THE back body drop in this match where Jannetty gets absolutely ludicrous height like he can't figure out how to work one of those bounce rope thingys and tries to stop a non-existent fall....but then he actually falls. There's THE boot that sends Jannetty over the top rope. There's THE sunset flip reversal where Warlord poses and then gets reversed himself by a dropkick. One of my favourite little touches in any FIP probably ever is Jannetty trying to grab the rail to stop being driven into the ring post. The post-hot tag is actually pretty remarkable given the size difference; easily it could have come off as silly that Michaels was firing on such big guys but once he was in, everyone bought POP were in more trouble than a minute prior. Good thing Fuji was there for them. If it's not top 25 of the year to me then no WWF match comes close.

Stan Hansen vs. Steve Williams (AJPW 6/5/90)
youtube.com/watch?v=tVQOE8vBvvM
I was surprised how quickly the heat in this match seemed to die down after the bell. It wasn't exactly Hansen vs. Andre but they were exchanging blows and scraping each other's face and shit, I'd expect the audience to not quiet down that much after the bell rings and these two went at it. The match itself could have used more of a reaction, the crowd mostly lived and died with Hansen's offensive opportunities once he started bleeding and trying to survive Doc's onslaught. Williams wasn't reallllly the most engaging on offense but did have several memorable moments like pulling at Hansen's head while they were in the ropes and landing that drop kick on the outside. Hansen showing this much vulnerability is compelling in and of itself so it was definitely enough to carry me through it. And at least we ended things on likely one of the greatest lariat finales of all time. I would probably appreciate this more on a second viewing.

Aw man, those two I have to rewatch. It's been years with both of them, I'm sure. Thank you for pointing them out, Garbage.

 

[GARBAGE]

Nobuhiko Takada vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (UWF 2/27/90)
dailymotion.com/video/x7dy4qf
Probably trite by now to praise up Fujiwara as a "defensive" wrestler but the thing I value most in the best wrestlers of all time is each moment and move mattering, having an impact, and not being motion wasted. So a wrestler going into each situation like they should be cautious about it, especially in the shoot style environment, really shouldn't have a praise limit. He's just the greatest of all time (period, perhaps, but I mean) at adding those jolts and tiny back and forth movements to simulate a real competition. I loved the first batch of minutes. I audibly said "that was five minutes already!?" at the announcement of it. I can entirely understand this type of wrestling not being for someone, or even feeling like "nothing happens for too long," but to me the way it takes several minutes for one wrestler to have a serious physical impact on the other highlights how devastating any given move could be. They're cautious to even lock up because each move you get in can seriously matter. For example Takada gets a quick kick in but pulls the leg away once he sees Fujiwara almost, almost grabs it. Fujiwara is too fresh still for Takada to just run in.
Takada isn't a really a good mat worker and mostly excels at big flashy end stretches where he can get the most reaction out of strikes and blows, but manages to overpower Fujiwara on the mat with a heel hook or two and created some doubt in me as to whether Fujiwara will be 100% following. The coolest thing about that is Takada follows that up with way more kick attempts; made it feel like Takada thought Fujiwara had a real crutch worth taking advantage of until Fujiwara, guess what - catches a leg and causes the first rope break. For a brief moment it felt like Takada had a real upper hand and then it was back to even. Fujiwara getting rocked by kicks ruled until Takada basically killed the heat by slapping on a basic leglock while Fujiwara looks about ready to collapse with the audience going up. Unsure what that was about, felt like a missed opportunity for a real turning point. There was at least an incredible bit where Fujiwara catches a leg but then collapses onto his knees into the ropes, unable to take advantage. I could see someone criticising Fujiwara freshening up and taunting Takada after some of that but I think he was still definitely selling the effects of everything. He was clearly panting heavily and it felt like a strategy switch to dazzle Takada a bit, which clearly worked once he got to throw out some headbutts and get a Down. I liked it as a fighter, maybe using his experience, to throw the opponent off of his game. The big flashy strike moments that I said Takada excels at is exactly what we get to take the match home, and there's nothing quite like a dramatic shoot style end stretch. The match has those flaws and it may not even be the best Fujiwara vs. Takada match of 1990 (we'll see) but Fujiwara is typically tremendous in it and most of the match is excellent.

Atsushi Onita vs. Masanobu Kurisu, Barbed Wire Barricade Mat (FMW 2/12/90)
dailymotion.com/video/x4bp4rc
One of those dangerous spectacle FMW matches that has plenty of actual collapsing into The Dangerous Thing, but also teases the 'Almost' moments extremely well. Helps a lot that whenever someone got near the barbed wire mats (they're just laying on the floor outside the ring) you heard some high pitch squealing from the audience. Naturally this doesn't take more than a few seconds to become two guys trying to push each other out, and it's like watching a set of attempted royal rumble eliminations, but the actually decent ones where the guy is trying to use his chin strength to push back against the boot. Onita gets dropped out pretty quickly and it was done so suddenly, and with a bit of a slip-looking fall, that I wouldn't bet my life it wasn't an accident. There were a couple awesome moments where Kurisu comes Onita again to stomp on his head while Onita's outside trying to stand, and Onita catches the leg and they tease Kurisu dropping down into the wire. It was I guess a little anticlimactic that on that first one he had a soft fall, and fell mostly between the board and the ring, but it still got a response and Onita's selling is good enough that I liked that it didn't level the playing field yet. I think doing these drops into the wire early was a great move, because after that every blow is rattling someone who's probably bleeding from at minimum six different places. Onita after his second drop alone has at least two visibly nasty gashes. Really felt the weight of the suplexes and powerbombs as a result. Well as a result of that and as a result of these just being two thick dudes. Enjoyed this a lot.

The Midnight Express vs. The Rock 'n' Roll Express (NWA 2/25/90)
dailymotion.com/video/xz8y31
Gotta love when everything goes wrong for a stooging Midnights until the FIP. You could nitpick a poorly executed move or two here but structurally this is pretty much flawless classic Southern tag wrestling with some of the most enjoyable double team shine ever. Its a great Jim Cornette match too, I had a lot of fun with the teased fight with Nick Patrick and loved when he yanked Morton's leg and dashed the fuck out of there before getting sprung. Also an insanely fun moment where Cornette turns his back while on the apron, the Midnights get their heads bonked together, and he turns around to find neither of them there but instead Gibson sprinting at him to deliver a punch. I don't really want to potentially open up a can of worms, but this is what I wish 'comedy' wrestling was - just legitimately funny beat downs of heels that doesn't involve people wrestling in slow motion or some shit. The transition from that to the Morton FIP was great with the double bump over the top rope and then the sneak slam by Lane, ending the question of who got the worst of it. The mood changed as the (obviously) mostly pro-RNR crowd went from having fun to having something to yell about. Morton is Morton on the sell, the Midnights frequently tag and keep it interesting, Cornette gets his cheap shots in and Eaton looks incredible especially when dropping his weight down from above. I suppose you can say this could have used some more time after the hot tag but they still got that fantastic tennis racket near fall on Gibson in, and the actual finish rules. One of those matches I hadn't seen in over a decade and I never assumed it wouldn't hold up.

 

[GARBAGE]

Ric Flair/Sting/Arn Anderson vs. Buzz Sawyer/The Great Muta/Dragon Master (NWA 1/26/90)
youtube.com/watch?v=rNGIr4vAQO0
Aw hell yeah here's that WCW Dragon Master footage I wanted. Some pals and I did a top 100 WCW matches poll a long time ago and I can't find any mention of this in any of our posts, and I certainly don't remember watching it, which is wild, because the crowd for this is ballistic. Surely one of us had to know about it? This is maybe not the hottest crowd I've heard in wrestling, but probably at least the hottest crowd I've heard from WCW, other than perhaps Goldberg's biggest reaction or two. They were already hollering like mad people when the match started, but when Sting tagged in and did anything it was like Elvis Presley in the 50s. Sting was great egging them on too, amping them up with yelling (he woo'ed and clapped during a leap frog which was amazing) and milking the build up to moves, like the timing on gorilla pressing Muta to the other heels outside. I liked Flair a lot in this, he's as good a puncher as anyone here and mostly sticks to that plus his chops, leading to him trading blows with Sawyer at a couple points which ruled. The heels cut the nuts off the faces (and therefore the audience) at a couple points by stopping a couple submission attempts, and we get a nice Flair FIP out of it when they break up the figure four. Flair's Irish whip bump over the top rope looked really awesome and I'm not sure how many times he did it exactly like that. You just know the audience is blowing the roof off if Sting gets tagged in and guess what buddy. DQ finish isn't the most gratifying finish but these six have an upcoming Clash match so dangle the carrot and all that. HOOT of a match and a prime example of how working off of the reaction you already have, and keeping it, can help argue a case for a wrestler.

Genichiro Tenryu/Toshiaki Kawada vs. The Great Kabuki/Mighty Inoue (AJPW 2/21/90)
youtube.com/watch?v=JT5wYmI_raI
Lacks the Tenryu/Jumbo interactions since one of those guys is missing, but I think as an overall match I liked this more than Tenryu/Kawada vs. Jumbo/Takagi. It's more kept on the ground, especially thanks to Inoue wanting to suffocate the opposing team, but also has plenty of impatient Tenryu breaking things up when it isn't necessarily entirely legal to do so, and a hot last few minutes. Also this one has Great Kabuki, who's an awesome madman throwing those blows to Tenryu's ear (who sells an ear better than anyone in history), and I can only assume a Tenryu/Kabuki singles match a week later would have been a MOTYC. Kawada is much, much more intense in this tag; he's throwing such a force behind everything that he about trips over Inoue's knocked over body when he an Tenryu deliver a double shoulder block. He also does get almost choked out about twice too, to be fair, and he does a great job balancing that with trying to be fresh after tags by moving slower, holding palm to jaw, etc. I might question why the tags between Tenryu and Kawada are decently frequent after Kawada almost gets his windpipe closed, but I think that would just be projecting my own idea of this being a 'trapped protege' match when it wasn't really that. The last five minutes are really exciting, I thought, and Tenryu takes enough shots to the face within one of those five minutes to justify him not breaking last pinfall even after going out of his way to break almost every other (and a bunch of holds). Bonus points to Inoue ending things with a pin combination after keeping things to the ground most of the match. I really liked this a lot.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Kazuo Yamazaki (UWF 4/15/90)
dailymotion.com/video/x2ob1w7
I thought this was a great, great master vs. underdog match. Yamazaki can be a charisma vacuum but he can also bring a lot of tenacity and hits hard enough for shoot style. And I mean you have to be doing something right to get the kind of reactions he was getting in this match. Being "the underdog" isn't going to do it on its own. Loved the little surprise hits he would get in on Fujiwara, even if it resulted in Fujiwara knowing to counter the hold that followed them. Fujiwara favours Yamazaki's leg for a bit, and you can't help but notice its mainly because Yamazaki keeps foolishly giving it to him. There's one moment where Yamazaki has this poorly applied hold on, and Fujiwara is like a chef sleepwalking through a recipe to show his students how its done, in just standing up and grabbing Yamazaki's leg again with smug look. Yamazaki is on multiple rope breaks before Fujiwara evens hits one and there's this awesome moment where Yamazaki closes in on Fujiwara and tries to drown him in shots, like he's desperately pushing Fujiwara to get an official break count for once. It doesn't pan out as the ref just forces a separation, presumably because Fujiwara was already in the ropes before Yamazaki approached. About ten seconds later Fujiwara floors Yamazaki out to get his, I think, fourth rope break and second Down. It seems about over for the underdog when Fujiwara locks in the armbar named after him, until Yamazaki rolls over and says enough rope breaks, I'm going to knee old man in the head until he lets go. It doesn't immediately work out, but there's at least a sense of struggle coming from Fujiwara, and Yamazaki gets him in at least one uncomfortable position. Even if Fujiwara gets a couple good ones still, you can see the look on his face by now that's he knows he probably won't be dancing circles around the guy any more. Great final moments, even if Fujiwara having his first rope break could have used a bigger reaction, and the high drama didn't last as long as it could have. With more time I think they could have built to a MOTYC but I'm all thumbs up on this one either way.

 

[GARBAGE]

Angel Azteca/Americo Rocca/Javier Cruz vs. Chavo Guerrero/El Dandy/El Texano (EMLL 3/18/90)
youtube.com/watch?v=YZz_mzEWpGM
Everyone is billed as tecnico here on the title cards but that doesn't stop the two teams almost coming to actual blows several times. Cruz almost gets stuck into Chavo when Rocca takes a spill to the outside thanks to him and the Dandy/Azteca exchanges lead to the other four guys coming in to provide a possible cavalry if need be. The Dandy/Azteca battles were all really good to the shock of no one who knows anything about 1990 EMLL, and I loved Dandy adding to the near-rudo style of his team by getting violently pissed being shown up in the second fall and throwing a big clothesline that gets a negative reaction. There's this one bit too where Chavo has Cruz and is ready to let Texano level him, until Chavo lets go of Cruz's arms, because they're like, really trying to play fair, man. It's hard! I liked Texano in the match a lot, he was really aggressively going for Cruz's arm when he first got in and seemed to arrogantly enjoy showing him up in exchanges later. Two fall win for Azteca's team was the right move to create intrigue around how (especially) Dandy would take that kind of loss after how he'd almost lost it a couple times, and not to mention that he'd almost beat Azteca at the end. Really good trio. I only just realised I skipped the match with the same six guys from the previous week so maybe I go back and watch that and maybe get even more context because lord knows what I've forgotten since 2012 or whatever.

Genichiro Tenryu vs. George Takano (SWS 10/19/90)
youtube.com/watch?v=Vp5sVkcj0os
Awesome as hell 13 minutes. Takano surprisingly takes the first five, catching Tenryu off guard mostly with palm strikes until Tenryu dodges a plancha (which came after a terrific surprise drop kick on a teased test of strength). Tenryu gets most of the match from there until Takano evens the match out a bit again when actually hitting a plancha, this time from standing atop the turnbuckle inside of diving over the rope. The end stretch is really hot and Tenryu sells his leg in the last few minutes because of how he'd been kicking Takano, really adding to the escalation of drama. It especially made for a fantastic closing moment where Tenryu wasn't able to try for a cover on a powerbomb.

 

[GARBAGE]

Mitsuharu Misawa/Kenta Kobashi/Akira Taue vs. Jumbo Tsuruta/The Great Kabuki/Masanobu Fuchi (AJPW 5/26/90)
youtube.com/watch?v=fg8KoSf_fCg
This might be the first time that Misawa actually wore the green tights and used 'Spartan X' as his entrance theme. He hasn't entirely washed the Tiger Mask away from himself, but he certainly feels like a guy ready to climb to the ace position. Obviously the focal point of the match was him vs. Jumbo, in fact it's basically beginning of their feud, and correct me if I'm wrong, might be the actual first match where All Japan starts heading into a different era, instead of just planning for it. Not all of the Misawa/Jumbo interactions in this were Tenryu/Jumbo-good, but there was a pull apart where Jumbo dashed over to Misawa after everyone had thought it'd cooled down that lit things all the way up. They got some stiff shots in when they saw an opportune moment if the other was on the apron, too. For it being their first real heated interaction with each other, it was about what you ask for considering the feud was about a torch passing (or taking) and not really about 'disdain' per se. Kobashi, being like two years a pro, took a pretty large beating in this and regularly looked like the weak link, yet a resilient ride-or-die one. Jumbo levelling him really violent body slams was a highlight, I always forget how nasty he was with them sometimes. Kabuki and Fuchi liked to target different limbs of Kobashi's and of course tensions are high enough that Taue and Misawa come in to interrupt things. There were at least two moments where one of them came in while Kobashi was taking a beating, and the other signalled Kobashi over to tag in, which I liked a lot. Hot, loud end stretch as you'd expect. Maybe a questionable selling choice or two but that's one or two among 20+ minutes. Great match.

Manami Toyota vs. Yumiko Hotta (AJW 6/17/90)
youtube.com/watch?v=G6uAkH0zK5I
I said to myself "of course" when Toyota started this with a sprinting dropkick. Little did I know she would follow that up with some of the more aggressive offensive outbursts I've seen in the 1990 viewing so far. Hotta was already bleeding a little by the time she tried to mount an offense of her own, and that she did, by delivering several violent palm strikes and kicks (at least a couple to the face). Hotta tries to put Toyota away with some disgusting looking Boston crabs before the five minute mark and Toyota struggling so early made for a great context that maybe her early hastiness was ill-thought. There was one single leg Boston crab where Hotta was leaning in such a way on that it almost looked like a Fujiwara armbar. Toyota took a beating with of course more than just Boston crabs and, despite all that, I liked the bridge up kick out as a sign of defiance. Hotta was clearly tiring herself out too which to me, added some believability for a potential opening Toyota could find to work her way back. That moment of course did come, and while Toyota was her go-go-go sprinty self for some of it, I liked how she initially just tried to choke Hotta out because it put over her own punishment. This did however fall kind of into the trap of spotty sell territory, though both women were also clearly exhausted which made me see them as mostly pushing past pain and fatigue instead of ignoring it. Mostly. Could have done without that much running from Toyota. I still thought this was pretty great overall.

Riki Choshu/Kantaro Hoshino/Kuniaki Kobayashi/Kensuke Sasaki/Shiro Koshinaka vs. Animal Hamaguchi/Super Strong Machine/Tatsutoshi Goto/Hiro/Masanobu Kurisu, 2/3 Falls (NJPW 6/26/90)
drive.google.com/file/d/19ajRFtp4Be_3l-l75BGcFIwOOl28hpsH
You'd maybe think with 20 minutes there'd only be so much that can be done when you need to get at least two falls in and allow everyone to shine, to justify this match even having this many people, but that memo was thrown in the trash. Choshu is obviously the star, but other than maybe Kobayashi I wouldn't say anyone took a backseat and didn't get appropriate highlights. Saito takes some of the most lunatic back-first spills into a barricade from the apron I think I've ever seen. Hamaguchi has a body like a shrivelled Ivan Putski but unlike Putski has as much energy as anybody in the match. Was delighted to see Hoshino again after all these years removed from the NJPW 80s set; he's such a fun and energetic offensive wrestler. Kurisu becomes furious out of nowhere when Koshinaka gets spilled to the outside and drills chair shots into his head and might even try to spit at the referee when reprimanded. Kurisu actually was the most booed guy in the match which ruled and made every moment with him memorable. Koshinaka kind of felt your New Japan Kikuchi by taking a shit kicking and needing to tag out to someone else on the more babyface-feeling team, before later getting the second fall for his own group. We get moments of bedlam and anybody breaking the rules at any given moment pretty much through the whole run time. The set up for the finish was phenomenal, with Kurisu getting struck by surprise to a massive reaction. Must-see.

 

[GARBAGE]

It's WrestleMania day so let's ignore all of it and watch wrestling from before I was even born!!!!

Mogur vs. Pierroth Jr. (EMLL 1/12/90)
youtube.com/watch?v=e9Xi-EvJ_9U
I don't think I've ever seen Mogur outside of trios. If you asked me about Pierroth I would have said I was a fan but it's been so long that I couldn't tell you why aside from the cool mask. I will say this about these two, I pretty much knew just looking at them that Mogur was the tecnico, thought maybe its because he kind of looks like Tito Santana from a distance. The roles were confirmed for me pretty quickly when Mogur's second turned out to be Mascarita Sagrada, not to mention Pierroth's second (Hijo del Gladiador) distracting the referee so Pierroth could break some rules. The first fall was good on its own and great in setting the ground work for a longer match. Pierroth tried multiple times to get a good position going but Mogur just kept one-upping him. Favourite moment being Pierroth getting some awesome armdrag slams down and slapping on a hammerlock to keep pressure on the same arm, only for Mogur to have a badass counter where he rolled up and basically powerslammed Pierroth while on his knees. Maybe could have sold the pain of the arm a bit more but we're talking about a couple minutes of work if memory serves correctly. Pierroth was great in the second fall, he looked almost hopeless for most of it (he struggled to even begin it, really) until delivering a PHENOMENAL low blow headbutt while he was trapped in a head scissors. Awesome rudo move. The third fall was a really good back and forth momentum shifting bout, with the kind of full circle drama that a lucha title match should do well. Maybe not one of the 25 best of the year, but really good, and could be a high ranker in a worse year.

Keiji Muto/Masahiro Chono vs. Hiroshi Hase/Kensuke Sasaki (NJPW 11/1/90)
dailymotion.com/video/x7dt0nd
Muto is much more engaging working holds than I remember, and busted this awesome tricked out armdrag out of a collar and elbow while kicking his legs in the air that I can't justify with words. There's a sternness on his face when just keeping basic holds on too that helps take them seriously, instead of assuming he's time-wasting. Sasaki avoiding holds to focus on explosive power moves of course made sense, and also made him stand out as the hungry youngster of the four out to prove himself. It helped add a different flavour to the first ten minutes too since the other three were mostly grappling with the odd stomp or elbow. My favourite bit with Sasaki came when Chono holds the ropes to avoid his dropkick, and its prime opportunity for Chono tag out - he's shaking his head in pain and taking a bit of a walk - but maybe he doesn't need to against such a lower ranked guy and so just stomps directly on Sasaki's head a bit. that is, before crumbling toward his tag corner selling his head more, realising, yeah maybe he needs to get out of there. It's pretty much here where the grappling ends and the genuine attempts at submission really begin. Hase trying to save Sasaki from the STF with a defending Muto was awesome, awesome stuff and the reaction for the rope break was big. So was the one for Sasaki planting Chono in a reversal. Muto getting booed after frustratingly breaking submissions also. Hell the crowd in general started becoming unglued and made for a bastard of an atmosphere in the closing stretch. I think my top 2 New Japan matches of 1990 are pretty unfuckwithable by now, but this is likely #3. Am a little surprised at how great I thought it was.

 

[GARBAGE]

El Satanico/El Dandy/Emilio Charles Jr. vs. Atlantis/Javier Cruz/Angel Azteca (EMLL 5/11/90)
youtube.com/watch?v=fSFz-jdj4Tk
Figured I'd squeeze in one other Dandy vs. Azteca trio before The Big One, and it's a very worthy one to choose. Though if I'm honest it felt little more like Dandy and Atlantis were rivals in the match instead of Dandy/Azteca, despite being a week away from the big title match. I don't know if Satanico's team here was full rudo yet but like the March trio I watched, I certainly got the impression they had disdain for the opponents whenever they got shown up during the graceful, very rule-abiding exchanges. Which was a fair bit especially in the first fall, ranging from Dandy taking shit to his arm to Satanico taking shit to his leg. Speaking of which, Cruz kinda fucked up what he was going for while targeting Satanico's leg, but that gave Satanico the perfect excuse to finally reverse something into an armbar. Which he kind of fucked up on purpose because he was still shaking the leg away, giving me the perfect excuse to tell you he's an elite seller. Also one of the only people ever to make the bulldog look good to me. The aforementioned Dandy/Atlantis exchanges was the best match up, but Azteca was definitely smooth as hell. Its crazy how little of that guy I can tell you about after 1990. I loved him selling a Charles clothesline by holding his throat like he was choking, too. I wish Charles got a more offense in the match actually, though seeing him sell Cruz's backbreakers was a delight. The closing moments of each fall had everyone in sync even if it can be kind of questionable why everyone comes in without breaking up the pin already happening (though, again, graceful and very rule-abiding!). Not a MOTYC but if you're to watch EMLL 1990 then essential viewing still.

Bull Nakano/Grizzly Iwamoto vs. Aja Kong/Bison Kimura (AJW 8/19/90)
youtube.com/watch?v=WWkzPJdSFK0
Ok so if I have this right, Bull is your monster ace, Kong is your hopeful monster ace and Grizzly and Bison are on either side for some reason I dunno. And they all have animal names. They probably did a bit too much in this match, I lost track of piledrivers and I'm not sure that cane had much use considering Grizzly and Bison couldn't even take each other out with it. Kong and Bison are at one point whacking Bull with it and she's showing how much it doesn't bother her, which may have been great, if we hadn't already seen the lower ranked women also not get taken out by it.
The good, though, was extremely good. I liked every match up here, and the Kong/Bull hostility trickled down well to Grizzly and Bison. Bison was screaming while attacking Grizzly like they were dating and she caught her cheating. Lots of hair pulling early and the four of these women certainly had a lot of combined hair to pull at. Bull was mostly dismissive of Bison, shrugging off a lot of what she did and bloodying her up. She throws her to Kong's corner at one point, Kong tags in, and we get a stare off before this incredibly awesome moment where Bison dropkicks Bull out of thin air....which Bull of course shrugs off and proceeds to kick the shit out Bison for. Kong kinda tries to stop Bull but eventually just lets it happen, maybe to leave Bison in the deep end and see how she swims. At the time of watching, I had wished that the outcome of that was an actual Kong/Bull interaction, but it leading to Grizzly/Bison round...3 or whatever, at least allowed Bison have some offense again, and we got our moment upcoming so maybe it was better this way. Kong vs. Grizzly didn't feel like quite the slaughter Bull vs. Bison did, but I think maybe the point was that Kong was using Grizzly as a punching bag to shove it in Bull's face, instead of actually being as enthusiastic to kick the shit out of someone the way Bull was. Bull doesn't even try to stop the double teaming against Grizzly until Kong and Bison are both biting her bloody face, which results in them getting to bite Bull's face when she tried to intervene. The small sliver of double teaming against Bull worked, until it didn't, and then we finally get the proper Kong vs. Bull 1v1. It starts off AMAZINGLY as Bull hits a follow up clothesline, and Kong does the weeble-wobble stumble-bumble selling as well as I can possibly imagine it ever being done, at least in this context. She stumbles all the way to a turnbuckle corner and we get a rad shot of Bull's reaction and Kong's smile before they clash more and Kong does go down again. Kong catches Bull with a spinning backfist though which popped people big, and then struggles to get Bull up for what you may possibly call a suplex (but Kong might not as she slams the mat and screams in anger on the kick out). The frustration between the teams builds from there and we start getting more weapons, some arena brawling, and kick out interruptions. I thought it built very naturally (even if, like I said, not every interaction is great), so I think they missed a bit of opportunity for the match to end and its highest heat point by getting back in the ring and working a little too 'normally' after too brief a moment of real chaos. The finish was fine in booking I thought, at least with the little information I have about this promotion in 1990, but the energy was at its flattest of the entire match. All in all I think I'd say like 80% a really great match? I can see myself keeping it in the top 25 for how much I appreciated the violence and story threads running through it.

The Midnight Express vs. The Southern Boys (NWA 7/7/90)
One of the things that separates this from other similar tags I think is how much of a bruiser team the (Wild-Eyed!) Southern Boys come across as in their shoulder tackle, kick-heavy offense. Smothers is so fun to watch here, landing several awesome kicks but somehow making most of them unpracticable in some way. Catching Eaton on the outside with a bit of a fakeout was a huge highlight. The karate bit is perfect, Lane getting those successful shots in only to have his leg caught - and have a look on his face like he forgot that maybe he's not in the dojo right now - not only got a reaction, but actually worked as a tiny bit of 'different style fight' amongst the wrestling (albeit in a humorous way). Smothers wanting to kick everything that moved after that and almost knocking Cornette's teeth down his throat until Cornette bolts it off the apron was the cherry on top. The blind tag during the roll up was terrific and Smothers takes some great barricade smacks, including one where Lane just recklessly shoves him off of the apron. MX were especially tenacious and hasty on top. Eaton's selling after his Alabama jam was awesome. Loved Lane taking some time to taunt Smothers whenever he could. Smothers pulling the ropes so Eaton somersaults to the outside was a great little hope spot. Armstrong's bump on the rope ruled. Great heat on the nearfalls. Cornette looked like a kid who failed a Dracula Halloween costume. If you mentioned everything good about this match you would just have to run a play-by-play of it. Endlessly rewatchable classic.

Bull Nakano vs. Aja Kong, Cage (AJW 11/14/90)
youtube.com/watch?v=zuyCD_UurvQ
This was a lot. A lot of weapons, a lot of others getting involved, brawling on the outside. A decent bit of blood. I guess a decent match, ultimately. But like man, a lot of weapons. I liked the match the most when the two were swinging at each other not long before it started (Kong and Bull that is, which I guess I have to specify here thanks to what was happening on the floor). Kong lands a huge backfist while Bull is on the turnbuckle and Bull just flops all the way down behind between the ropes and the cage. Kong hits umpteen more of them following that and its only until Bull is fed a pipe through the cage that she looks like she has a real hope of getting her (now bloody) head back in the game. I liked the message it sent that the true ace is getting so rocked by the wishful ace that she had to resort to outside forces, but when I say "I liked" I mean I liked that addition of a foreign object. I didn't necessarily like all of them. Actually truth be told I found some of the weapon moments in this kind of lame and backyard-ish; reminded me a bit of those crappy NXT women's Wargames. Not that Mandy Rose was gonna go stabbing Cora Jade's arm with a pair of scissors in any of those (though maybe that would have made Cora Jade sell the arm more believably, ZING). There were definitely some standout moments like Kong almost choking out Bull with the rope but they were suffocated in what honestly felt like kind of a mess. I also really don't think this benefitted from escape the cage rules at all. These two do the Stand And Fight thing well so having them to dash against the action to climb away never looked right to me. Lead to head scratcher moments too like Bull having Kong trapped with a chain and not even trying to escape, despite earlier trying to tie Kong to the ring ropes (with the rope rope), and attempt to escape, only to for Kong to slip out immediately. Honestly I didn't even understand why it was a cage match until I remembered what the finish was. Frustrating match. I will say this, I wish I didn't know the result before watching it. ((I will spoil it ahead so if it matters to you then duck out now if you're reading)). It was 1990, tides were changing in wrestling. Warrior gave Hogan his first proper main event loss in forever and took the title from him clean. Misawa dethroned Jumbo as All Japan's #1. Jushin Liger became the first real junior ace since Tiger Mask. The three musketeers were being solidified as the future of New Japan. But over here, Aja Kong could not yet topple Bull Nakano.

 

[GARBAGE]

ZEN NIHON!!!!!


Mitsuharu Misawa/Toshiaki Kawada/Tsuyoshi Kukchi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta/Masanobu Fuchi/Akira Taue (AJPW 8/18/90)
youtube.com/watch?v=kB__ZH1tbUs
These All Japan tags are never gonna have quite the chaos level of some of the joshi stuff or your inter-promotional murder fests, but rewatching some of these again I really don't think they bring any less heat than those do. There's still such a wild nature to everything and this particular feud definitely has heated up by this point to feel more personal - with all the cheap shots that go with it - instead of just a 'series of matches.' I can't imagine Misawa wrestling this frantically against another the way he did here especially vs. Jumbo, as an example. There's also quite no other sound like an All Japan crowd elevating. It gives me such a specific feel. The Kawada vs. Jumbo bits were gold, with Kawada quickly picking himself up once he realised Jumbo was in and then beelining for him before getting shut down. He just makes Jumbo so annoyed and I am probably going to go nuts watching their 1992 singles matches again one of these days. At least Kawada fares better against Jumbo than Kikuchi, who even gets invited to attack Jumbo around the 15 minute mark and you can guess how that went. An earlier bit had Jumbo locking in a Boston crab on Kikuchi before Misawa comes in and slaps him right in the FUCKING face and people I lost it. Fuchi also lets Kikuchi eat a lot of shit too and they actually start the match with some piss and vinegar (I did watch their July match and its really good but I didn't bother talking about it). I don't have much to say about Taue specifically in the match but trust that he brought the violence. Misawa's team actually had tried to put him out near the end while keeping Jumbo and Fuchi away, but unfortunately for them it meant leaving Kikuchi alone with Taue, which didn't quite work out despite the junior's best efforts. I preferred the 5/26/90 tag but this will still rank among my 25 best matches of the year.

Mitsuharu Misawa/Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta/Akira Taue (AJPW 9/29/90)
youtube.com/watch?v=HyeQNRutLJo
45 minutes is a long time for a match and it did have its down time, but overall it was pretty stunning how well the time was used here. I didn't expect this to be such a Taue-focused match, and I couldn't be happier with the result. Misawa and Kawada were such punks to him (probably still considering him a huge turncoat), giving him an early onslaught by reopening a bandage on his head so he's bleeding immediately, and just basically bullying him for a lot of the runtime including several direct blows to the cut. Misawa had just become essentially the company's flag bearer, and here it is uncaring about boos as long as he can get a cheap shot in when Taue was doing well for himself. Kawada at one point brings Taue to where the audience are and basically just chucks him in the corner of the room as if he isn't even a participant in the match, but an unwelcome intruder. Taue was fantastic as the large, yet struggling underdog (if that is the right word in this context). My favourite moment of his was probably where Kawada was walking away from him, ready to tag out, but Taue blindsides him and violently clubs his back, as if saying ''how dare you think I have so little in me that I couldn't get back up and stop you ASSHOLE.'' Kind of wild there was a bit of a Jumbo hot tag in here; very stark contrast to Kikuchi and Kobashi tagging out in future tags between these two groups. I fucking adore the Kawada vs. Jumbo match up in 1990. Kawada wants to be taken as seriously as Misawa despite obviously not being there yet, so he's very tenacious and acts a thorn in Jumbo's side, while Jumbo is aggressively dismissive of him and seems to not want to admit Kawada even exists. Kawada is light years ahead as a worker from where he was in January. I haven't seen any Footloose in a long time but in that one tag I watched he looked awkward and sometimes lost at what to do next. Here you can see him call spots to megastar legend Jumbo Tsuruta (not loudly, but like, if you know what a spot call during a headlock looks like then you'll catch it). Actually now that I mention it, that first Kawada/Jumbo interaction ruled, Jumbo struggled to get out of a headlock and just rapid shot a back drop leaving Kawada flat on the ground. I mentioned in the August tag that the feud was starting to feel more personal, and this is them getting there to end all doubts. They're honest to god just wrestling now like people who do not like each other. Japanese MOTYC.

Mitsuharu Misawa/Toshiaki Kawada/Kenta Kobashi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta/Masanobu Fuchi/Akira Taue/ (AJPW 10/19/90)
youtube.com/watch?v=on0AGAmEbGU
And here we start the classic six man pairing. The first fifteen minutes wouldn't necessarily make for an all time great match, but there are so many awesome, violent shots, heat between the teams, terrific selling from Taue on the ground and plenty of memorable moments to still keep it awesome to watch. One of the highlights was Kobashi having a single leg Boston crab on Taue and shrugging off Fuchi's blows, only for Jumbo to come in and bounce off the rope, and Kobashi - knowing he couldn't shrug this one off - lets go and swings with a lariat. Jumbo sells it ideally too, not going all the way down (due the different in pecking order) but stumbling to the side in surprise until he has to force the landing. Kawada and Taue pretty much hate each other by now and I don't know if they have one exchange that doesn't feel like they aren't going to at each other in the locker room. Loved Kawada dumping Taue on the floor and then as an amusing disparity, Kobashi calmly going out there and bringing Taue back to the ring to roll him in. Kobashi going from the bleeding-by-the-nose weak link to the never-say-die survivor was probably the main thread of the match by the end. Fuchi drills a chair into his nose and then the Jumbo team basically shoot hit him in the face a bunch of times. Taue probably has a stomp as good as Kurisu here during that and Jumbo certainly did not hold back on those lariats. Loved when Kobashi got this one flash of hope offense in, but unfortunately for him, he pushed Jumbo toward the Misawa/Kawada corner so Jumbo blocked the tag more easily - made for an amazing small moment. The last six minutes are crazy with Kobashi really getting his spotlight, and the audience losing their shit when we get Misawa vs. Jumbo. Kawada ducked a Jumbo lariat that got a big pop (fits perfectly in the "Jumbo is annoyed and dismissive of Kawada" tale), hits a spin kick, and then the pop got four times as big when Misawa tagged in. Taue tags in soon after and Misawa ignores him to follow Jumbo outside (incredible to watch) until his overconfidence gets the best of him and Taue lands a dive. It's pretty remarkable how many little hierarchy stories are playing all at once here, and we can get them one after another with immediately understandable results and an elevation of each talent. The climax of Kobashi surviving the big nearfalls was phenomenal, and Taue interrupting the moonsault nearfall caused everything to erupt for a moment. Kobashi could have maybe been a little less fresh after the powerbomb kickout but the rest were great high drama. Holy shit-level great match.

 

[GARBAGE]

Angel Azteca vs. El Dandy (EMLL 6/1/90)
youtube.com/watch?v=l0fLKAa3QFU
Some of what they do in this match is actually beyond description. I’d have to list where each body part is to try to put into words what is going on at times. Not everything looks entirely unco-operative, but if we cared about it to that extent then none of us would like any match with an Irish whip or arm drag. The first two falls mostly come off to me like Azteca confidently reversing Dandy, and how much mileage Azteca can get out of his holds. He isn’t able to keep on each one for a terribly lengthy amount of time in the first fall especially, but he’s able to slap on several different holds and apply a lot of pressure on each. Every time Dandy stands up, you can see how much of a toll it’s taken on him through his selling (his left arm alone was aching only a handful of minutes in). Dandy getting outdone again and again and resorting to slams, a lariat and a leg drop was more of the fed up, annoyed Dandy that we saw in some of the trios leading to this, but Azteca had just worn him down too much for it to really matter. Each guy had a lengthy leg-based hold in the second fall, which was great, and although I wished there was a little more limping especially from Azteca, it mattered a lot later when Dandy failed a surfboard in a pivotal moment in fall three. I loved how that third fall started. It was small, but Dandy dodging the dropkick felt like Azteca didn’t have the same smooth confidence that had carried him through most of the match. Fall one and two he could have begun with that and nailed Dandy in the chest, but by now he’d been drained from the leg hold and then was flash pinned in a way he didn’t expect (and heavily trying to kick out before the one count was a good way to put it over). Some of the work around the legs to start the third fall is just outstanding. Again I can’t even try to play-by-play where each of the eight limbs are to try to get across some of what they were doing, but I can at least tell you Azteca has a hell of side Russian leg sweep - a move that rarely actually looks good. Dandy’s fatigue selling was completely fantastic, he looked so beat by everything that he struggled to capitalise on the big moves he did get, I particularly loved how he rolled out of the ring for separation. Azteca isn’t as great a seller as Dandy, but taking his time after his own moves landed helped make the your turn-my turn finish stretch feel more justifiable to me, when I often dislike that kind of thing. It’s such an incredibly built match, especially how they get all the use in the world out of grappling - from the simple to the indescribable - to wear each other down, until we hit the peak of tercera caida excitement. People who don’t like lucha, especially the ground work, will get pretty much nothing from this, but I can happily report to myself from over 10 years ago that 2024 you still sees a huge achievement in mat based wrestling.

 

[GARBAGE]

El Satanico vs. El Dandy, Super Libre (EMLL 10/26/90)
youtube.com/watch?v=zfwghcM7hb8
Satanico turned on Dandy about a month earlier and is largely the actual rudo rudo of the two here, with Dandy from what I can tell even being announced as “rudo tecnico.” And they apparently don’t piss about with a basic singles match leading up to this and go right into the heated forehead biting. I’ve always been under the impression that “super libre” just meant “no dq,” so I’m not sure how the ref cared about a low blow to end the first fall (even if it wasn’t real and Satanico was a liar), but it was amusing either way. The second fall had an even more bizarre ending but watching the ref flail after getting hit in the face like that, again, amusing. You know I always assumed Dandy would remain my 1990 WOTY but Satanico felt like the stand out between the two here. Super vicious in throwing his offense, and makes even the most basic of moves look like they have the malice of the actual Satan behind them. The vq is bad and all but I can just see the guy grimacing on everything like he’s an aging gangster rubbing a cigarette in a guy’s face. I mean it takes a special kind of wrestling sadist to think of ripping armpit hair out during an armbar. Not to mention this bit - when Satanico starts bleeding in the first fall, he only recognises it when he wipes his forehead and checks his hand, and once he realises it, sprints for Dandy and starts chewing the forehead. One of the best damn things I think I’ve ever seen in a match. I obviously have praise for Dandy too, as all of that Satanico viciousness had to be for a reason, and the match was gradually Dandy being built up as a more sympathetic tecnico despite his own remaining viciousness. I’ve already rattled on about him being a great seller while talking other matches. Serious contender for top ten match of 1990, and I am damn hyped to see that hair match again.



El Satanico/MS-1/Fabuloso Blondy vs. El Dandy/Sangre Chicana/Ringo Mendoza (EMLL 11/16/90)
youtube.com/watch?v=gJ44TPKaz3A
Awesome mix of chaotic all-over-the-place brawling, and then a fairly traditional trio, then even more chaotic all-over-the-place brawling. Satanico and Dandy are obviously at each others’ throats for a lot of it and you can guess what I thought of that. Some of their exchanges were actually even more intense and violent than in the October super libre match, which makes me giddy as a child on eight kilograms of ice cream for their hair match. Sangre Chicana was so fucking good. Smooth as silk on some cool, bizarre Lucha offense and an absolutely all time great seller. Mendoza kicking Blondy’s ass was a lot of fun. Blondy didn’t strike me as a very good worker with fundamentals, but had a strong personality, and when stooging he felt a bit like the EMLL answer to Bobby Heenan (though nowhere near the bumper Heenan was). Unfortunately, I was a little deflated by the end of this. The violence between Dandy and Satanico was incredible to the point where I was thinking I would rank it ahead of the super libre match, but then it just kind of ends with Blondy of all people getting his hand raised. With a heavy third fall thrown in I may have called this a MOTYC. As it is though, still a heavy hitter and a fantastic continuation of maybe the two best wrestlers in the world at the time chewing at each others’ bloody foreheads. I could watch it again right now and enjoy it just as much.



El Satanico/Universo 2000/Ulises vs. El Dandy/Atlantis/Sangre Chicana (EMLL 12/7/90)
youtube.com/watch?v=wpkivGcWD9Q
Another good trio, even if not a great one. It took a bit for the Dandy vs. Satanico violence to really get its spotlight. Prior to that, there were more moments in this one compared to 11/16/90 where it felt like people were moving around with less purpose (think a Royal Rumble with 13 guys biding time…but not THAT bad). I obviously have to highlight Dandy vs. Satanico itself, and Chicana’s selling again, though. Endless love for those three. They call back to the liar low blow of the super libre match, and milk it even more with Ulises giving Satanico stretch exercises, which was entertaining. Dandy comes over and legitimately headbutts Satanico in the balls for a big pop. These moments were cool, but I think it might juuuust be a bit late in the feud to do that instead of focusing all on violence. At least that’s how I feel coming off the pure venom from the 11/16/90 trio. Might have all been worth it to see Satanico sell it in post, though. I’m about convinced he is the best worker of 1990 by now. I could barely even tell what the finish of this was, I think overall the booking hurt this for no reason this close to the hair match.

 

[GARBAGE]

The 1990 countdown is done, so here's the top 25 I submitted.

1. El Satanico vs. El Dandy, Hair vs. Hair (EMLL 12/14/90)
2. Mitsuharu Misawa/Toshiaki Kawada/Kenta Kobashi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta/Akira Taue/Masanobu Fuchi (AJPW 10/19/90)
3. Angel Azteca vs. El Dandy (EMLL 6/1/90)
4. El Faraon vs. Pirata Morgan, Hair vs. Hair (EMLL 11/16/90)
5. Shinobu Kandori vs. Harley Saito (JWP 7/19/90)
6. The Midnight Express vs. The Southern Boys (NWA 7/7/90)
7. Mitsuharu Misawa/Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jumbo Tsuruta/Akira Taue (AJPW 9/30/90)
8. Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mitsuharu Misawa (AJPW 9/1/90)
9. Naoki Sano vs. Jushin Liger (NJPW 1/31/90)
10. Riki Choshu/Kantaro Hoshino/Kuniaki Kobayashi/Kensuke Sasaki/Shiro Koshinaka vs. Animal Hamaguchi/Super Strong Machine/Tatsutoshi Goto/Hiro/Masanobu Kurisu, 2/3 Falls (NJPW 6/26/90)
11. The Midnight Express vs. The Rock 'n' Roll Express (NWA 2/25/90)
12. El Satanico vs. El Dandy, Super Libre (EMLL 10/26/90)
13. Nobuhiko Takada vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (UWF 2/27/90)
14. The Rockers vs. The Powers of Pain (WWF 1/15/90)
15. Keiji Muto/Masahiro Chono vs. Hiroshi Hase/Kensuke Sasaki (NJPW 11/1/90)
16. Nobuhiko Takada vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara (UWF 10/25/90)
17. El Satanico/MS-1/Fabuloso Blondy vs. El Dandy/Sangre Chicana/Ringo Mendoza (EMLL 11/16/90)
18. The Steiner Brothers vs. The Nasty Boys (NWA 10/27/90)
19. Ric Flair vs. Lex Luger (NWA 2/25/90)
20. Mitsuharu Misawa/Kenta Kobashi/Akira Taue vs. Jumbo Tsuruta/The Great Kabuki/Masanobu Fuchi (AJPW 5/26/90)
21. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Kazuo Yamazaki (UWF 4/15/90)
22. Mitsuharu Misawa/Toshiaki Kawada/Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta/Masanobu Fuchi/Akira Taue (AJPW 8/18/90)
23. Bull Nakano/Grizzly Iwamoto vs. Aja Kong/Bison Kimura (AJW 8/19/90)
24. Jushin Liger vs. Masashi Aoyagi, 3 Minute Rounds (NJPW 6/12/90)
25. Atsushi Onita/Tarzan Goto vs. Masanobu Kurisu/Dragon Master, Texas Street Fight (FMW 4/1/90)

I think I made a mistake in having Kandori/Harley and MX/Southern Boys at 5 and 6 respectively, I'm pretty sure I meant to have it the other way around but oh well, that's for another update one day ( I will periodically update these lists when I feel strongly enough to). I've started watching a little for 2000, unsure how much I'll write about vs. 1990 though.

 

[GARBAGE]

2000 START


Jun Akiyama vs. Yoshihiro Takayama (AJPW 1/9/00)
It’s wild how unnatural Yoshihiro Takayama looks with black to me despite being a Japanese man. I liked this match more the first time I watched it many years ago, and it isn't making a top 25, but it's still really good and I love that All Japan ran a ten minute match like this when "King's Road" was still sort of the expected thing. Takayama wastes no time trying to level Akiyama out and Akiyama finding the crutch in the leg is classic bigger vs. smaller work. I think I overrated how much this was like a "Cena-style match" the first time I wrote about it, but I think this thing that I said still reigns true - "Akiyama's selling overall was excellent, reminded me of John Cena at his best. He sold a knee to the gut by spinning in this weird way and it looked amazingly awesome. He sold another one on the outside by shooting his left leg to the side and that also looked really great." Akiyama still reminded me of Cena here when selling, at least, and even if the style isn't terribly similar, a match with this structure doesn't look out of place on an episode of Smackdown a few years later. Takayama maybe wasn't quite your murder monster mountain other word starting with 'm' man yet so him resorting to kicking Akiyama's bandaged arm worked for me, and all of his boots looked typically great. Easily digestible ten minutes.


Vader vs. Jun Akiyama (AJPW 1/23/00)
I was a little torn on how this started. I don’t need every Vader match to have a big build up to him being knocked over, but I really didn’t love the exact first move being Akiyama knocking Vader over in one hit. Vader being overwhelmed and taken off guard is a great beginning in theory but I sort of felt like Vader looked like an incompetent goof getting German’d twice and struggling to get shots in. That is until Vader slams Akiyama on an outside table, powerbombs him on the floor and tries to involve a chair (stopped by the ref). It was there that I thought maybe I was just being impatient for the receipts I was always going to get to see. Vader was obviously past his prime by now so he’s not as purely interesting at working over someone as he was nine, seven, six, five, four years ago so some of his offense came off as unfortunately a little dry. At the same time though, he still feels like Vader-Vader, in that every move is clearly taking a big toll on the opponent, and any momentum Vader-Vader’s opponent gets (a) feels like something for the audience to start standing up at and (b) can believably end at any moment. I thought they did fine rebuilding Akiyama back up to make the match competitive. I don’t remember where else I would have seen Vader take a dragon screw leg whip and I was a little surprised by how smooth he looked doing it, especially in 2000 when he at times looked like he hated even being upright let alone wrestling a match. I sort of wish the match ended on that AWESOME release German but either way, that and the chokeslam capping things off will certainly make me remember this more fondly. Still a fan of this one overall, it’s a remarkably quick fifteen minutes to me.


Shinya Hashimoto/Takashi Iizuka vs. Naoya Ogawa/Kazunari Murakami (NJPW 1/4/00)
You know a match has the potential to be intense when all combatants are wearing gloves. Throw in a frustrated Hashimoto, a no contest that needed to be overturned and the Murakami/Ogawa team maybe being the most Punchable Face tag team in a Japanese match ever and you have a recipe that cannot result in anything other than insanity. Iizuka looked like he might have been a non-effect in the match after Murakami took him out so quick, so I thought it was perfect how the match restart began with him getting some revenge for that. Hashimoto kicks Murakami in the face like he’s garbage (also revenge-driven) and the Hashimoto/Ogawa exchange, despite its brevity, is pretty much what you want a Hashimoto exchange with anyone to be. Violent and dramatic, with awkward looking bumping and at least one surprise thrown in (in this case, Hashimoto taking one of his gloves off). Iizuka came out of the match looking strong for getting the win while Hashimoto and Ogawa tussled on the outside, which was cool and not something I remembered. He also had a cool leading moment to it where he cut Ogawa’s nuts off with dropkick straight in the back while Ogawa was on Hashimoto. There really aren’t many matches I’ve ever seen where I could more believe someone was saying “some shit went down out there” after it was over. I could watch this every week.