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Eddv posted...

Black Tiger II (Eddie Guerrero) vs Wild Pegasus (Chris Benoit) Super J Cup, First Round Match 4/16/1994
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6drjk

Inspired by Voices of Wrestling's Rich Kraetsch's discussion this tournament on an episode of his retro series regarding Best of the Super Juniors, I did myself a major solid and checked out the original Super J Cup from 1994. It was a legendary one night tournament show and if you've never seen it, do yourself a favor and make time to correct that. As our resident guy who focuses on American fan favorites this match caught my eye as a candidate for this topic.

It's super short at just 11 minutes and features icons Eddie and Benoit back in their early years and under weird pseudonyms and gimmicks. Hell Eddie is under a mask. Neither was yet anything resembling a star, though Benoit was already developing a reputation among the tape traders for the speed and intensity of his work and this tournament would earn him his first five star match. But I assume most people have seen Wild Pegasus vs Great Sasuke by this point, so I figured I would go for a deeper dive.

This match presents an excellently executed match that is built around the clash in styles between Black Tiger's aerial maneuvers and Wild Pegasus' penchant for the ground game and chain-grappling. The result is fast and furious and serves as showcase for Black Tiger's athleticism, including a glorious springboard rana that was truly innovative in 1994.

I guess that settles the lingering Benoit question. Not like I'm rushing to recommend his body of work because I imagine it's still awkward to some fans, but he does have some things that are worth showing off. The man legitimately was one of the finest technical wrestlers the business has ever had and, even today, his matches hold up. There's so much people can learn from Benoit but I don't know how many workers these days are able to remove themselves from his actions to take something from his matches. It's a shame.

Also a slight correction on Eddie's star status. By 1994, he was a star in AAA tagging with Art Barr and in his big program with El Hijo del Santo. Insiders more or less figured out that Eddie was going to be a star the moment he got into the ring and it's this year that things are really about to take off with him as he has the tremendous tag match on When Worlds Collide later in the year. It takes a bit longer for Eddie to become the total package but, as a worker, he's there.

Ah, the 1994 Super J-Cup. This is one of my favorite tournaments in wrestling and the whole thing is worth going out of your way to watch. Don't be surprised if we have more matches from it recommended over the course of this project as there's a number of them worth showcasing. The moment I saw this match recommended, I knew I had to go in the direction I did for my recommendation because I knew there wasn't much else I could pull off my short list that was going to make the technical abilities of Benoit and Guerrero. These men, even in 2020, feel like they are on another level from everyone but the very top guys of the industry. The funny thing about this match, to me, is that it kind of becomes their template for all the matches they have with each other moving forward in their careers (like how the first Sting/Flair match was largely the formula used for their future matches). When they first appear on Nitro together, they basically work this same match and it was awesome there but with a somehow more vicious powerbomb from Benoit. I think perhaps the best thing I can say about this match is that even after giving you so much here, you still feel like there's more there for when they wrestle again. Excellent match even with the somewhat abrupt ending.