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Post by Agent Kev on Jun 3, 2006 23:32:56 GMT -5
NWA Tag-Team Title Match: America's Most Wanted (c) vs. Christopher Daniels/AJ Styles- TNA- 5/14/06
I enjoyed this a lot. If you take away AJ striking out on a "Pele Kick" (not sure how many times I can bitch about him taking his flippy sh*t out of his offense- insert botched quebrada DDT reference here) and the match dragging a little toward the end...it was really solid. Definitely one of the best tag-team matches TNA has seen in quite a while. It's amazing what AMW can do when you take them away from the suckfest that is the Dudley Boyz and The James Gang and put them with guys who can actually wrestle a 2006 style.
Team Kaientai (MIYAWAKI & Yoshiaki Yago) vs. Team DDT (KUDO & MIKAMI)- CHIKARA- TWGP2k6
This was very enjoyable to watch. There was a little sloppiness on the DDT side but it didn't really affect the fun factor for the match. Miyawaki and Yago are both really stiff and really put on a good show on Night 1 of this tournament.
Milano Collection AT & Skayde vs. The Prescription Thugs (Darkness Crabtree & Dr. Cheung)- CHIKARA- TWGP2k6
This was short but really fun. I can't wait to see more Milano and Skayde in this tournament and the "power up" sequence between Crabtree and Skayde was definitely the highlight of the match.
Arik Cannon & Jigsaw vs. Kevin Steen & Sexxxy Eddy- CHIKARA- TWGP2k6
This was one of the best matches of the first round IMO despite Steen being a little goofy in the beginning and Eddy wrestling in a banana hammock. Jigsaw hit an awesome move (can't remember what they called it) where his opponent is sitting on the top and he jumps up and without the use of the ropes hits a rana on his opponent.
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Post by Agent Kev on Jun 8, 2006 11:24:26 GMT -5
Milano Collection AT & Skayde vs. Shinjitsu Nohashi & Amigo Suzuki- CHIKARA TWGP2k6- 2/25/06
By far my favorite match of the first two mights. There was a magnificent sequence near the start of the match where Skayde shows off his technical brillance and from there on in it's just fun. Not as highspotastic as a high-end Dragon Gate or Toryumon tag but I liked this a lot.
Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli vs Ryan Cruz & Darin Corbin-CHIKARA TWGP2k6- 2/26/06
This was a really good match and the team of Hero and Claudio just looked fantastic here as they carried the North Star Express to a good match in this one. Good stuff.
Hallowicked & Delirious vs. Team DDT's KUDO & MIKAMI- CHIKARA TWGP2k6- 2/26/06
I liked this alot. The stuff when Delirious is in the ring with KUDO or MIKAMI is really good. This was a good, short fast paced match.
Vordell Walker vs. Masada- FIP- 3/26/05
This was a good solid undercard match between two young lions. There was some miscommunication and some stuff that they probably shouldn't have tried but overall it was a fun match.
Steve Madison vs. Tony Kozina- FIP- 3/26/05
This was solid. I've always thought Kozina was a good worker and count me in as a fan of Steve Madison. I think Madison could be every bit as big as Roderick Strong if he is given the same opportunities.
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Post by Agent Kev on Jun 9, 2006 1:01:36 GMT -5
New Japan Cup - Round 1: Yuji Nagata vs. Tomohiro Ishii- NJPW, 4/16/06 (SXW)
This one gets off to a roaring start when Ishii attacks Nagata right when he hits the ring and stays on him for the first 2 or 3 minutes with Nagata not even able to get his shirt off. They split out to the floor and then Nagata nails him with a suplex and gains control. The majority of this match is strikes but they are done well and Nagata is positioned as the aggressor once he finally gains the advantage. Match goes about 10 minutes and Ishii has a brief comeback with a nice german before Nagata kills him with a side suplex. Good match and this is my first look at Ishii and from what I saw I liked. He's about 30 yrs old and is a Choshu guy (came in when Riki got the book).
IWGP U-30 Openweight Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Naofumi Yamamoto- NJPW, 2/12/06
This was pretty decent with the best parts being Yamamoto's comback sequences as Tanahashi controlled the match and Yamamoto played the underdog. Yamamoto looked really good here and looks like the second coming of Nagata.
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Post by Agent Kev on Jun 9, 2006 23:50:58 GMT -5
[Skayde & Milano Collection AT vs Osamu Nishimura & Katsushi Takemura- CHIKARA TWGP2k6- 2/26/06
This was a decent match but not quite on the level I thought it was going to be. Takemura worked better than I thought he would in this tourney but Nishimura (who I love) just didn't seem to bring his "A" game.
Shane Storm & Jigsaw & Equinox vs. MIYAWAKI & Shinjitsu Nohashi & Amigo Suzuki- CHIKARA TWGP2k6- 2/26/06
This was a pretty fun 6-man match. Equinox was way out of his league in this match and blew several spots and Shane Storm seemed unable to keep up at times too (although he looked like he got more comfortable as the match went on). Jigsaw stole the show here for his team and all of the Japanese guys looked solid. Really good finish to the match as Jigsaw hit his awesome "Leap of Faith" rana before Storm hit "That Japanese Move" for the pin.
Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli vs Hallowicked & Delirious- CHIKARA TWGP2k6- 2/26/06
I love Hero and Claudio's entrance to "We are the Champions". It just brings a smile to my face. Add that to Delirious's pre-match antics and this thing is fantastic before the bell even rings. Overall, this was without a doubt one of my favorite matches of the tournament as everything and everyone just seemed to click. Hallowicked and Delirious made for a great screwball team and Hero and Claudio were at their dickhead heel bests. Highly recommended.
Skayde & Milano Collection AT vs. Gran Akuma & Icarus- CHIKARA TWGP2k6- 2/26/06
Just a really fun sprint of a match. Skayde has looked fantastic in this tournament and with his partner being Milano there is no weak spot and no weak parts of the match. Really good stuff here.
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Post by Agent Kev on Jun 10, 2006 10:11:46 GMT -5
CIMA/Jack Evans/Shingo Takagi vs. Kenichiro Arai/Masaaki Mochizuki/Susumu Yokosuka- 2/11/2006- Dragon Gate
This was a solid match. Not a high end Dragon Gate match but better than the majority of stuff on free US TV. Takagi is a beast for being so young- I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more of him in ROH.
Open the Brave Gate Title: Dragon Kid vs. Masato Yoshino- 2/5/2006- Dragon Gate
Decent match, but nothing worth going out of your way to see. Dusty finish.
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Post by Agent Kev on Jul 16, 2006 21:10:59 GMT -5
Jun Akiyama vs Masao Inoue- 4/23/06- NOAH
Just a really solid pro wrestling match. Inoue attacks Akiyama at the outset and almost scores an upset victory in the first 5 seconds. Nice stage setting there as this is thought of as a lesser defense for Akiyama so getting a nearfall really early gets the fans into the match. Recommended.
New Japan Cup - Round 1: Yuji Nagata vs Tomohiro Ishii
This is a fun little 10 minute match that's pretty fast paced with a lot of brawling. Great/Brutal slap sequence about half way through. Good stuff and Nagata continues to be at the top of the list of Wrestler of the Year candidates so far for 2006.
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Post by Agent Kev on Jul 23, 2006 20:17:59 GMT -5
Takeshi Rikio & Takeshi Morishima vs. Naomichi Marufuji & KENTA- NOAH- 7/16/06
MOTYC.
Marufuji/Rikio start off kind of slow but some nice sequences. Great sequence with Marufuji doing a ton of flips to get out of a wristlock and then Rikio killing him with a closeline. Tag in to Morishima and KENTA and they just start beating the fuck out of each other. Morishima with forearms and KENTA with slaps and then KENTA stiffs Morishima with kicks and hits a fisherman's buster on the big guy! KENTA then goes for one of his finishers and eats three stiff clotheslines. Fantastic sequence between KENTA and Morishima. MaruKENTA then gains the advantage as KENTA and Marufuji double team Morishima and Marufuji works over Morishima on the outside. Marufuji work over Morshima back and forth until Marufuji goes to the top and comes off onto Morishima but he catches him in mid-air, pauses and hits an over the head belly-to-belly. Really nice move by Morishima. He tags in Rikio, who is a house of fire. KENTA in and he and Marufuji try to double team Rikio but Rikio hits them both with clotheslines and then plants Marufuji with a nice powerbomb. Marufuji then reverses a Rikio move into a rope assisted powerbomb and hits a superkick before he tags in KENTA. KENTA takes it to Rikio and hits a beautiful springboard clothesline from the outside. Kicks from KENTA, but they have a couple of moves reversed and then exchange vicious slaps the second of which floors KENTA. Morishima in and he nails KENTA with an ass to the face and follows in up with a mother fucking handspring sommersault into body press in the corner. Morishima then wails on KENTA and hits him with a fucking awesome move that looks like an over head spinning rock bottom. I think he just killed KENTA. KENTA somehow survives and catches Morishima on the ropes and hits a superplex from the second rope. MaruKENTA double team Morishima. KENTA with a running kick to Morishima (who is in the corner). KENTA then gets down on his hands and knees and Marufuji runs and uses KENTA as a launching pad but Morishima catches him and throws him down on top of KENTA. Great spot. Morishima then makes KENTA eat a boot and then hits a dive to the outside that takes out both Marufuji and KENTA. Morishima looks like gold in this match! KENTA back in the ring and Morishima just stands on him. Rikio in and continues the beatdown of KENTA. Rikio stretches KENTA in a great abdominal stretch. Morishima back in to destroy and maim KENTA. Double team shoulder block on KENTA from the two big men. Rikio hits a mother fucking double stomp on KENTA from the second rope. OUCH! Marufuji has to break it up and gets bitch slapped for his efforts. Morishima in and tries to break KENTA. Morishima then stands on KENTA's head and is joined by Rikio. Marufuji gets a hot tag and blows a spot before getting in a couple on Rikio and Morishima. Marfuji then hits a nice german on Rikio for 2 followed by a superkick to which Rikio responds by hitting a John Woo like headbutt. Morishima then tags in and hits a fucking dropkick from the top rope! Followed by a sidewalk slam. Morishima then lifts Marufuji and throws him down on the mat. Rikio and Morishima isolating Marufuji and go for a doomsday device but Marufuji rolls thru and tags KENTA. KENTA hits a powerslam on Morishima! And then a nice German with a bridge for 2! KENTA hits the kick flurry and hits an awesome Busaiku Knee Kick. Damn, I heard that impact. KENTA with vicious kicks to the head but only gets a two count. They go for a combo powerbomb/super shiranui and hit it! KENTA goes for the Go 2 Sleep and murders Morishima but he kicks out! Rikio in and takes out Marufuji, eats a Busaiku Knee Kick but bounces off the ropes and takes off KENTA's head with a lariot! Morishima then absolutely murders KENTA with a side suplex that KENTA takes on his noggin. Morishima then gets a 2 count with a lariot. Crowd is pretty hot for this sequence. KENTA trying to battle back, Marufuji in and hits a shiranui on Morishima but then gets caught by Rikio and gets nailed with the Muso. KENTA then hits Rikio with the Busaiku Knee Kick. Nice flurry of moves there. Morishima with another lariot but still no 3 count. KENTA with a flash roll-up but no, another flash roll-up but only three. KENTA eats a clothesline for 2. Lots of quick falls as Rikio/Marufuji battle it out on the floor and Morishima/KENTA go at it in the ring with time running out. Morishima with a roll-up for 2. Morishima and KENTA slap it out on their knees. Morishima wins out and gets a 2-count. Tries for another pin but the time expires.
Wow, great match. Morishima was a fucking monster here and KENTA brought the goods. Marufuji and Rikio hold their own and that equals on of the best matches i've seen this year.
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Post by Agent Kev on Aug 19, 2006 21:10:41 GMT -5
Taiji Ishimori vs. Atsushi Aoki- SEM- 7/22/06
This was the opening match of the NOAH sub-fed SEM show from 7/22. I thought this match was pretty solid and really personifies the reason behind SEM. You have a rookie in Aoki and a young guy who is not a NOAH trueborn in Ishimori getting to work a singles match in front of a live audience. Taiji looks really solid here as the NOAH dojo has obviously been good for him. He's been very spotty in the past but he cuts alot of that out here (although he still hits his spots very nicely), he looks a lot more polished and looks much more able to control a match. And when you use your spots more sparingly they definitely mean more for Ishimori in this match when he uses them. Aoki looks like a very solid rookie. His execution of moves is pretty good (they had some difficult with a couple of moves that had a high degree of difficulty- probably stuff he wouldn't try on a main NOAH show) and he seems to have some fire. All he needs is more seasoning and personality. This is not a holy sh*t match but it's solid. It's also nice to see guys like Misawa watching from the rafters and Sugiera watching from the back.
Muneki Sawa vs Katsuhiko Nakajima- 7/2/06- Big Mouth Loud
This is a solid match between two young lions. Nakajima of course is the 18 year old protege of Kensuke Sasaki and has been wrestling professionally since he was 14. I don't know too much about Muneki Sawa except that he's an independent wrestler who wrestles under the gimmick of Lingerie Muto- although here he is not in gimmick. This is what I think I would best describe as a fast paced semi-shoot style match. Lots of striking, some submissions and some nice lightning quick sequences. Fun stuff.
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Post by Agent Kev on Aug 22, 2006 20:24:20 GMT -5
Yuji Nagata vs Koji Kanemoto- NJPW- 8/12/06
Just a solid, solid wrestling match. Lots of guts and some really nice sequences towards the end. Good stuff, Nagata continues on his quest to be WOTY for 2006.
Jushin Liger vs Minoru Tanaka-5/28/06- NJPW
This was a match from Block A of the BOTSJ tournament this year. Really solid match and one you will enjoy if you watch it but nothing to seek out.
Naofumi Yamamoto & Yujiro vs Ryouji Sai & Rikiya Fudo- 6/25/06- LOCK UP
LOCK UP is a brand off shoot of NJPW (kind of like SEM for NOAH) where the young guys get more of a look. This was a solid tag-match and is a good opportunity to see 2 young New Japan lions (Yujiro and Yamamoto) and 2 young Z1 lions (Fudo and Sai). Good stuff.
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Post by Agent Kev on Aug 29, 2006 18:19:50 GMT -5
Great MUTA vs. Tajiri- All Japan 8/27/06
Fun gimmick match. TONS of mist. Good stuff.
El Gran Hamada vs Perro Aguayo (4/11/84 UWF)
Really solid match. This is my first time seeing Perro Aguayo (Senior) and his build looks a lot like his sons but he is much more agressive and really takes it to Hamada in this match. Solid strikes. Aguayo seems to get a little winded about 2/3 of the way through but it doesn't really take away from the match as that's when Hamada mounts his comeback with some nice quick flurried offense. Hamada looked real good here as the spunky underdog- I've only seen his recent stuff but based on this it looks like he was a good little worker back in the day. Aguayo goes nuts and smackes Hamada with the side of a chair and then uses a foreign object repeatedly on Hamada until the ref FINALLY calls for the bell after about 5 minutes of abuse. Hamada is busted open and other try to help Aguayo keeps on his assault for the next 5 to 10 minutes. Really good brawl with a lot of wrestling mixed in.
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Post by Agent Kev on Sept 11, 2006 22:16:42 GMT -5
Jun Akiyama vs Naomichi Marufuji- NOAH- 9/9/06
Good early stuff with Akiyama throwing his weight around and Marufuji using his quickness and craftiness. A lot of matwork at the beginning and in the middle that was just kind of there and doesn't really lead anywhere- it's just kind of in the match to take up time and act as filler. Marufuji jumps back a little too quickly at one point from some solid work to hit some nice highspots (including a shirnaui on the floor using the guardrail as Akiyama's neck struck it)- the flashiness of the moves kind of hid the selling aspect (kind of Angle-esque; nothing wrong with that you use what works).
Match really is ho-hum for the middle section with just not much to get invested in or excited about. Akiyama starts to bring the goods towards the end of the match and assert his dominance- I think the best part of this match was when Marufuji was bumping for Akiyama. Marufuji barely makes a 20-count and then Akiyama tries to put him away with a submission. Akiyama then hit a sick exploder which got a 2, then a cross-legged northern lights bomb-type move that only got 2. Crowd gets into the match at this point going for the underdog. Marufuji then hits a shirnaui off the top and then they do a nice little sequence which ends in the finish. Decent match with a really good final 3 to 4 minutes.
The match went around 27 to 28 minutes. It would have been a fantastic 15 minute match and a great 20 minute match IMO.
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Post by Agent Kev on Sept 22, 2006 14:07:19 GMT -5
Ikuto Hidaka & Minoru Fujita vs. Manabu Hara & Katsumi Usuda, BIG MOUTH LOUD (8/20/06)
This was a solid match with the best stuff being some of the sequences between Hara and Hidaka. Just seemed to flow really well between these two guys for the most part and they seemed to me to be a notch above the other two guys in the match. Usuda really didn't get involved much in the match at all. I would love to see a singles match between Hidaka and Hara or a re-match with maybe Muneki Sawa taking Usuda's place in the match.
AHII vs. Voodoo Mask- All-Japan- 8/27/06
This was pretty fun. It's definitely a change after watching a Big Mouth match. MMost of the stuff came off pretty good and had a really good pace so there weren't too many awkward moments that sometimes accompany matches like this. The ending was sick, seriously made my jaw drop- that guy probably still has a headache.
Koji Kanemoto vs. Tetsuya Naito- 9/16/06- NJPW
Really fun little ass kicking. Naito gets in a cheap shot early and pays for it throughout the match. Naito shows some good fighting spirit and Kanemoto shows some good ass kicking techniques. Lots of strikes in this one.
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