Thursday, December 31, 2015

Patrik watches: NOAH Destiny 2015

Hey hey hey! Patrik aka the new guy aka whatever you wish to call me here. I was asked by Chismo to come on board to try and cover some of the stuff he doesn't watch/doesn't have the time to watch/whatever strikes my fancy. And that is what I am going to do.

I mostly watch stuff like AJPW, Dragon Gate, Wrestle-1, NJPW, American indies like AAW, ROH, and AIW, as well as some BJW and Zero1 depending on what is on the card and the hype it receives. So you have an idea of what to expect from me. As my first piece for this blog I figured I'd do a write up of the latest show I watched in full. Which is NOAH's Destiny show from December 23. Before starting this show let me preface it by saying that I am not as familiar with NOAH as I am with other companies mainly due to just not being interested and being turned off of it whenever I have tried getting into their current product. But I saw Destiny 2015 getting a lot of hype and I figured why the hell not? So lets do this.





Match 1: Yoshinari Ogawa & Hitoshi Kumano vs Yoshihiro Takayama & Kaito Kiyomiya.
Well, what can be said about this match? It was your typical old man + young man opening tag match. Nothing more than an excuse to get all four men on to the show really, and to give the rookies some experience working with senior workers. It wasn't bad but it wasn't special either. It was just there. I will say that compared to the AJPW rookies the NOAH rookies really come off as second rate. Kumano has been wrestling longer than both Nomura, Aoyagi and Sato over in Akiyamaland but those three are all better workers based just off of this match. Kiyomiya is so fresh I cannot rate him just yet either. He does have some killer eyebrows tho.
Rating: Watch it if you want, not necessary.

Match 2: Mohammed Yone, Akitoshi Saito & Mitsuhiro Kitamiya vs Genba, Quiet Storm & Captain NOAH.
Your customary “lets get all these guys on the card” multi-man match. There wasn't anything worth hating on in this match but like the previous match, there was nothing great to take from it other than Yone's afro being on point. Kitamiya might be the best of the three NOAH rookies. Not so sure on the mohawk-mullet tho.
Rating: Watch it if you want, not required viewing

Match 3: Kenou vs Hajime Ohara.
Is it obvious that these guys come from the Great Sasuke and Ultimo Dragon systems of training respectively or what? This was a high pace junior sprint from the word go. Both guys going immediately into what would be finishing stretch stuff in other companies, trying to take each other out. And the crowd responded to it. I understand that these two had a series of matches leading up to this one, and that Ohara got his teeth Cima'd (knocked out) in one off them, ouch! I liked this match, it was a spotfest but it was a fun one and it really got the crowd going.
Rating: Recommended, especially if you like Dragon Gate style junior wrestling.

Match 4: Go Shiozaki vs Maybach Taniguchi.
And then, there was this match. This match was a conundrum for me. I'm somewhat familiar with both guys, more so Go than Maybach, but I know that Maybach has a reputation of being limiated in ring and not a good worker. And I'll agree to him being limited, but his limited/basic work did get good responses from the crowd. He was certainly more over than the traitor, Shiozaki. Go did bring his working boots, and played off of Maybach's rage. But it was weird seeing a guy I was used to seeing as one of the most over in AJPW become so loathed just for showing up. That's Japanese loyalty for you I guess.
Rating: Mildly recommended.

Match 5: Takashi Lizuka vs Takashi Sugiura
Speaking of limited workers, here's Lizuka for you! Unlike Maybach, Lizuka is more limited by age than anything else, and has lapsed into taking on an insane old man gimmick, full of cheating and brawling to make up for it. Sugiura tends to suffer from “NOAH syndrome”, aka going too hard in a match, but Lizuka being as limited as he was forced him to slow down I guess, which resulted in an okay match. At times it was good, but mostly it was just okay. If you like Sugiura, watch it. But you won't lose sleep if you skip it.
Rating: Mildly recommended.

Match 6: Katsuhiko Nakajima vs Shelton X Benjamin.
What the fuck? Where was these versions of Shelton Benjamin and Nakajima earlier? This was the most motivated I've seen both these guys in ages. More of this please! Both guys worked so well together and came out of this match looking great.
Rating: Highly recommended.

Match 7: Daisuke Harada & Atsushi Kotoge (c) vs Taka Michinoku & El Desperado for the GHC junior tag belts.
Our first title match of the year is for the junior tag belts, pitting the evil Suzuki-gun team against the first set of NOAH faithful to win back belts from the invaders in a rematch from earlier this fall. This was a bit of a let down to be honest. I know Kotoge and Harada from their series over the junior belt last year and I enjoy both men, and I of course know of Taka and Despy from NJPW, but the latter two seemingly didn't bring their working boots. The NOAH team seemed to want to take this into your typical junior tag direction but the Suzuki-gun team seemed adamant to just bring the hijinks. Harada and Kotoge had to work through all the cheating in Taka's book to get the win. Had Taka and Despy brought their working boots I think this would have been better, but what we got was just a fun junior tag match.
Rating: Recommended but skippable.

Match 8: Taiji Ishimori vs Taichi (c) for the GHC Junior Heavyweight belt.
Remember in the previous match how I talked about hijinks versus junior work rate? We got that again in this match, but much better executed. Taichi isn't as athletic a junior as someone like Ishimori, who is one of the poster children of NOAH syndrome with the king of NOAH syndrome, Marufuji. But Taichi knew how to work with it, his slower pace was a good offset for Ishimori, and allowed the match to develop a flow which the tag match was lacking. Taichi looks like such a star in a NOAH ring compared to his NJPW run and I hope he if anyone sticks around.
Rating: Recommended.

Match 9: Colt Cabana & Chris Hero vs Davie Boy Smith Jr & Lance Archer (c) for the GHC tag belts.
First thought: Wow, NOAH sure likes Chris Hero. Second thought: Huh, guess this is where I need to look for motivated Hero matches. After what has felt like ages of unmotivated, going through the motions matches from Chris it was refreshing to see him bring his work boots. I really dug this match. Two teams consisting of big/big-ish (Colt) men knocking each other about. I absolutely love Lance Archer and this match was the most fun I've had on this show second to Shelton vs Nakajima.
Rating: Highly recommended.

Match 10: Naomichi Marufuji vs Minoru Suzuki (c) for the GHC heavyweight belt.
This match was a masterpiece, from one of the performers. Marufuji is patient zero for NOAH Syndrome and his work was really lackluster in this match. He did all his spots and big moves, but there was no emotion to it, no gravitas. Suzuki pulled off a masterful carryjob getting the crowd invested in this, selling for all the right moves and making this match actually mean something. Had Marufuji done the same this would have been a fantastic match. But when one performer is just going through the motions this is all you get.
Rating: Recommended.

As for the show itself: NOAH has struggled with the crowds all year, so them getting a big crowd (3 200 people) for their final and biggest show of the year must have been cathartic for them. If they can get their touring numbers stable and keep getting big show crowds at about this size, there is definitely a place for NOAH in Japanese wrestling. The show wasn't perfect, but it was probably the best blowoff to the year long invasion angle they could wish for. And the ending angle indicates that Suzuki-gun aren't going anywhere, but are rather being more integrated into NOAH proper I guess.

Well, there you have it. My first review for this blog and my first full on look at modern day NOAH. I'll try to give them more attention in 2016 but they have to keep delivering to get the full time attention I give some other companies.

Got a recommendation? Tweet it to me over on my twitter here and I'll give a watch, no guarantees there will be a review tho.


Until next time 

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

They're Good at What They Do

Stardom 2015/12/23

World of Stardom Championship: Io Shirai vs. Meiko Satomura ©

Not on the levels of the two Meiko vs. Kairi Hojo clashes, but that particular bar was set just too damn high, lol, however this match still kicked some major ass. This is a big year-ending show from Korakuen, also Io is surely a very capable and believable challenger, so anything is possible in this Christmas time. Plethora of great shit happened in this match: nifty counters, violent strikes, great storytelling with all the subplots and drama, etc. However, the match did have certain problems, such as a clunker here and there (that semi-stupid moonsault from the wall) and kinda directionless pacing in the middle. But because there was so much good shit that occurred, those flaws totally seem so minor in comparison. Another superb joshi gem from 2015, all hail MEIKO!

****1/2

Arena Puebla 12/28

CMLL 2015/12/28

Meyer, Astro, Zaeta Roja vs. Malayo, Guerrero Espacial, Mini Joker

I have never seen any of these dudes wrestle, except for Mini Joker. It was a good match, I liked how they worked a strict and heavily controlled structure instead of chaotic and overambitious botchfest. They kept it tight and the pacing was strong. Zaeta Roja and Malayo looked the best. Fun opener that got enough time to showcase its competitors’ abilities.

***

Random CMLL (Perrito, Mistico, Wagner, Santo...)

CMLL 2008/08/01

Dr. Wagner Jr., Hijo del Perro Aguayo, Hector Garza vs. Mistico, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas

Fun two-fall mayhem, but it was rather short and they didn’t even air all of it. The Arena Mexico crowd was REEEDDDD HOOOTTTT, watching all the grown-ups marking out and making funny faces like they’re kids was very amusing. Niebla/Wagner was central match-up here as they were building to a mano a mano title match, and obviously there was also the eternal Perro/Mistico beef. Lots of surly brawling and manly posing for the crowd. Mistico got his ass kicked pretty bad. Niebla and Wagner were afer each other’s masks. Fun match that needed to be longer.

***1/4

Monday, December 28, 2015

New Guy


Soooo... There's a new guy on this blog, Patrik, he'll contribute with such things as Wrestle-1, All Japan, Dragon Gate, etc. Whatever he wants, basically. Now, whether it'll be five posts per day or two per month - I don't really know, hehe. He's a good fella, he's into puroresu and especially all things Dragon Gate. Recently he's become a huge W-1 fan (The Sanshiro Theorem), and I don't know what to think about it, tbf. xD

We might even do mini-projects if we feel like it, huh! Anyway, this is just for fun and I have a feeling you're gonna like this contributor.

He runs this cool message board: https://wweforums.net/

And obviously he's on Twitter: https://twitter.com/clutzspot

Cheers! And good luck, Patrik!

Saturday, December 26, 2015

Black Terry Christmas and Cerebro New Year

IWRG 2015/12/20

Cabelleras vs. Cabelleras: Black Terry & Dr. Cerebro vs. Eterno & Apolo Estrada Jr.

Good match, but man, it could’ve been so much better. Obviously the finish was not clean because lucha libre reasons, but that’s not the only negative, because Eterno and Apolo were so fucking bad here, they had to be carried by the veterans and it was a painful ride for me as a viewer. Terry was tremendous, though, but you already knew that, as he once again displayed his amazing brawling abilities, Cerebro had a big match tercera, but all of that was barely enough, because Eterno and Apolo were so sloppy, too slow, tired etc. it felt like watching backyard amateurs. Terry and Cerebro were really into it, they wanted to fight fiercely, but Eterno and Apolo couldn’t meet them half way. They almost ruined all three falls, especially the brawling portions from the first two, but fortunately the booking was strong enough to hide their weaknesses with few neat shortcuts and tricks, and the aforementioned Terry & Cerebro carryjob managed to save things. But at the end of the day, the match was good, and I don’t want to complain too much, let’s rather focus on nice things, such as Terry wrestling like a rabid fucking bulldog and Cerebro busting out his very best in tercera.

***1/4

Thursday, December 17, 2015

NXT London (Cherry-Picked)

NXT London
 (2015/12/16)

Asuka vs. Emma

Really good match that would’ve been great without the ref bump and interference crap, oh man, it was completely unnecessary and off-putting. IMO. But let’s talk about positives, there was a lot of those. Both ladies were awesome, Asuka was balancing between the FIP and surly aggressor very well, and Emma was just getting better and better throughout the match, and she really got it going eventually. Asuka was something else once again, they told a compelling story about her grappling and striking craftiness and really – both competitors sold the dynamics properly. Good shit!

***3/4

Monday, November 30, 2015

Carryjobs Are Not Easy

Lucha Memes 2015/11/22

Pagano vs. Ultimo Guerrero

Few months earlier, the almighty RUSH carried Pagano to his best match of career. Not that I watched a big number of Pagano’s matches, lel, but it’s very fucking hard to imagine he’d ever managed to create/accomplish something better than the doozy Rush brawl, which was one helluva experience. Rush is better wrestler than Ultimo Guerrero, and exactly THAT was the difference in match qualities. UG did a very good carryjob, he brawled hard, he bled (which quite a sight!), he gave a beating, he took one too, the fans were so into him, etc. He totally legitimized the shitty Pagano and the match itself. The structure was not much, but the chairshots were damn brutal. Yeah, this was THAT kind of a match, but it was done right and I really liked it.

***1/2

Friday, November 13, 2015

New CMLL

CMLL 2015/11/06

Astral & Electrico vs. Demus 3:16 & Pequeno Olimpico

Good minis match, but nothing more. Demus was awesome, Olimpico was serviceable, Electrico was… there, and Astral was good, but his execution still makes your brain hurt (many 50+ year olds hit those armdrags much faster). Also, Demus lost twice in a row by DCO. Didn’t care for that. Good shit that could’ve been so much better.

***1/4

Monday, November 9, 2015

Perro Versus Two Dickbags

AAA Triplemania I
 (1993/04/30)

Cabellera vs. Mascara: Perro Aguayo vs. Mascara Ano 2000


Semi-main of the first Triplemania ever, the big culmination of the heated rivalry, epic clash in front of 48,000 Perro marks, fucking great apuesta encounter. Perro loses primera via controversial foul, Dos Mil loses segunda via obvious foul (brassknuckles) and tercera was your good old lucha restart with big moves, bigger drama in front of electrifying fans. They created such grand high-end match by using nothing but the most basic moves and sequences, and the match was totally 50-50 because you don’t often see the hair losing to the mask, plus Dos Mil’s second, Universo 2000, is basically like the biggest piece of shit you’ll ever see and is fucking GREAT at cheating. Obviously Perro bled, but it wasn’t your usual Perro-as-a-slaughtered-animal bladejob. Mascara Ano’s mask was also red, but I couldn’t tell whether it was a bladejob or Perro’s blood. The only thing I’d change about the match is the ending. While the low-blow finish from Perro felt sooo fucking good to the fans due to Dos Mil finally tasting his own medicine and looking like a dork in the biggest match of his career, I’d still have preferred an additional blast or two. But nevermind, because this match is still a goddamn groovefest!

****3/4