Board 8 > Board 8s Match of the Week - Match of the Year Edition [APWT] [MOTW]

(+) Yeah! (+)

Welcome back to Board 8's Match of the Week where me bidoof and iceman extend each other's wrestling horizons - and perhaps yours as well.

This week is our final topic of the year which always brings to mind one of my favorite subject - the year end awards. If you haven't voted in Board 8's version yet head on over and do so now. But to me its an exciting time to look back and take stock of the year that was.

So now we take advantage of matches that were once named Match of the Year to go back and take a snap shot at some of the best wrestling of yesteryear, at least according to the wrestling fans of that day.

Without further ado, come with me back to 1984 WWF.

Sergeant Slaughter vs The Iron Sheikh in The Boot Camp Match
(June 16, 1984, WWF Madison Square Garden Show)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBAIbpNnQYI

For some quick background let me set the stage - it's 1984 and Hulkamania is in its infancy - he had only just arrived in the WWF a few months prior to this matchup and Vincent Kennedy McMahon's vision for the territory was slowly coming to life. This feud between Slaughter and Sheikh arguably was the first of those moving parts by Vince. In late 83 and early 84, Backlund had been feuding off and on with the villainous and dastardly Drill Sergeant Slaughter in some months and the tricky and sleazy Iron Sheikh of Iran in others. The two had a stare off and a few words passing each other between matches and Sarge began his face turn as the patriotic military babyface with over the top mannerisms and such that fit in perfectly alongside the about the debut Hogan. It helped that it being 1984, the US was in the midst of the Iranian Hostage Crisis and the fans were hungry for a patriotic hero to take on the Iranian Iron Sheik. In the midst of Sheikh and Sarge's feud Sheikh actually upset Backlund and then promptly lost the title to Hogan which set up this situation where Sheikh was feuding with Hogan on one circuit and Sarge, as the new #2 babyface in the company, on the other.

This match was the culmination of a series of wars in which the Sheikh and Sarge's hatred for one another spilled out all over the place - complete with modern staples like brawling all over the arena and the brawls being so wild that the referees had to keep tossing the matches out. It all came to a head here - the Boot Camp match. Everything goes, everything is legal, falls count anywhere, there must be a winner by pinfall.

This match begins with a nice amount of pomp and circumstance with the band playing the Marine Corps anthem and Sarge comes running out to the ring decked in his combat helmet and just fucking nails Sheikh with it. You won't find any chain-wrestling or high spots in this one, but it is a fascinating snap shot into the way that early 80s plunder brawls went down. These guys are getting tossed all over, taking off their belts and whipping each other, they're using completely non-gimmicked chairs with fucking padding on them. Monsoon and Gene Okerlund are losing their shit on commentary and the way its shot honestly feels a lot more like a CMLL show than what we have come to expect from even classic WWF. The crowd is going bonkers and it feels like the fans are right on top of Sheikh and Sarge and exploding at every dramatic turn the match takes.

There's a little bit of silly stuff - they are obsessed with this loaded boot gimmick - but the brawl is intense and bloody and absolutely stands up to today's standards in spit of a bit of that 80s cheese permeating the whole affair. Definitely worth the watch, especially if you've never seen either of these men work in their primes like this.

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Along with my match here, I want to remind everybody that I'm keeping a running archive of all the matches in this topic in case anyone ever wants to go back to watch missed ones or something.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VXMwXb2uwSjPwWNR0BUhh9xNa68amq8dMeXwS_sY5h4/edit?usp=sharing

And with that...

Iceman's Match of the Week

Nigel McGuinness vs Austin Aries
Ring of Honor
Rising Above - December 29, 2007
Match Link: https://www.bilibili.com/video/av28429779/

Oh, how quickly the tides can turn in pro wrestling. Nigel McGuinness, the conquering hero who got an absolutely huge pop and a big-time celebration when he finally put Takeshi Morishima down to win the World Title, was already beginning to fall out of favor with some ROH fans just a couple months into his reign, which in this match sets up what is very often a huge strength of old-school Ring of Honor matches: atmosphere. The crowd is split and hot from the very beginning, and it gives this title challenge that oft-touted big fight feel right off the bat.

But the really cool part is that its also the impetus for the spot that makes this match pretty singularly infamous. Nigel almost immediately gets into a recurring shouting battle with some front-row fans, which Aries takes offense to first in the form of a bitch slap and then, shortly thereafter, a high-speed dive that sends his unfocused opponents forehead straight into the barricade. Its ugly; the champion is legitimately knocked loopy here, and he very clearly has no idea where he is for a decent part of this match.

Youd think thatd be a recipe for disaster but, at least match-quality-wise, thats not the case. This is the best defense of one of my all-time favorite title reigns. Ariess predilection for focusing on the heads of his opponents jives pretty well as a story component with the shoot injury (especially since hes actually pretty careful with his head shots for most of the match when you look close). Its very much a car-crash-you-cant-look-away-from kind of thing thats just the right amount of uncomfortable and unpredictable.

Look, I know we all hate Aries, and he comes by that honestly, but there werent many years in the 2000s where you couldnt make a compelling argument that he was a strong contender for the title of best wrestler in the world. And his performance is awesome here. He takes two absolutely wicked bumps to the outside floor, not to mention the one on Nigels last lariat that all but decapitates him.

Nigels performance is obviously the impressive one, though. Its gutsy and stupid in equal measure, and really, is there a better combination of words to define pro wrestling?

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Bidoof's Match of the Week Recommendation

Super Vader vs. Nobuhiko Takada (c)
UWF-i Pro Wrestling World Tournament Finals - 8/18/1994
Match Link: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7g9ir

Confession time - I'm disappointed in you, Board 8. I saw the rankings for Steiner's Top 100 Wrestlers project. I even did some of the write-ups for it. Where you guys put Big Van Vader, one of wrestling's greatest monsters and in my opinion wrestling's greatest hoss, was shameful. You people had him below Kevin Nash, dammit. So, it's time. It's ****in' Vader time.

Let's begin with a quick introduction to UWF-i. This is actually the third iteration of Japan's shoot style promotion that aimed to present people a more realistic, hard-hitting style than what they were getting from the larger promotions. The matches may have still been predetermined, but they all felt like and were treated as fights. Last topic, I presented a wild brawl. This time, I'm giving you a more scientific bout between a man and a monster.

Takada at the time of this match had been the UWF-i champion for 696 days. He fought against all manner of opponents in that time, from other disciplined shooters like Kiyoshi Tamura (man, I should find stuff from him for this) to big collegiate wrestler types like Gary Albright. He even had fought Vader the year prior and came very close to losing it then. You can see in his face from the start of the match how worried he is about having to face this beast of a man again and especially how he's unsure about trading strikes with the guy. While Takada has Vader beat in sheer technical skill, Vader's power is terrifying. Takada needs multiple hard shots just to get Vader stumbling but Vader only needs one blow to make him crumple.

Vader, of course, plays the perfect monster. His blows are hard (then again, I don't think anyone has ever accused Vader of being a light worker), he's fast for a guy his size, and his selling is wonderful. He gives Takada enough to make him look like a badass and he seems to bump at exactly the right time to really get the crowd fired up. I especially love the subtle heel work he gets in like nailing Takada with a closed fist to get out of a hold. There's maybe two spots like that in this match but, like with his selling for Takada, it's just enough to let the people know who the "hero" is here. Vader even gets to show off some mat work of his own, not as polished as Takada's but it doesn't need to be. Unlike Takada, he's not looking for a submission - he's looking for a knockout blow.

The last couple minutes of this match are just incredible, especially as you listen to the crowd explode when Vader starts looking to powerbomb Takada. I think you guys will enjoy this and I believe you'll see why I love Vader so much from this. Happy holidays!

Okay, this might be the most radically different set of matches we've had in this so far.

Self reminder bump

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Should have thoughts posted later today. Sorry it's taken so long. Work has been brutal this week.

Hoping to get this done tomorrow and then be on a much more regular schedule now that the holidays are over.

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Vader/Takada
Awesome stuff. It's a pretty universally accepted truth in most combat sports that, when you have an instance of a smaller, quicker, more skilled guy taking on someone much bigger and stronger, it doesn't really matter how many good shots the first guy gets in. Eventually, he's gonna get caught.

Taking two, three, four blows to give one never sounds like much of a strategy on its face, but it's played so well here. Vader even starts to lean into it more as the match goes on - he stops even trying to block anything Takada throws at him and just accepts that it's fine to get hit a few times because there's no way his opponent won't leave himself open in the process. This was my first exposure to Takada and I came away very impressed - his strikes were always on point and his selling was fantastic. Granted, Vader was legit beating the tar out of him half the time, but still. The powerbomb spot was especially incredible. Watching Takada fight like death to get out of it is something that I wish we saw more of these days.

I also love that there was a point toward the end of the match where you could just tell it was a foregone conclusion that Vader had the match won. Even Takada seems to know it, but he's bound and determined to keep getting up until he literally just can't anymore. It's no longer about trying to squeeze out a win that's beyond his grasp, it's just the last gasp of a long-fighting champion focused only on making sure he goes out with every bit of spectacle that such a legendary reign deserved.

This isn't a style I'd be able to watch a ton of back-to-back, but in a small dose like this when two awesome wrestlers are pushing the medium to its limits, it's a ton of fun.

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NBIceman posted...

Along with my match here, I want to remind everybody that I'm keeping a running archive of all the matches in this topic in case anyone ever wants to go back to watch missed ones or something.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VXMwXb2uwSjPwWNR0BUhh9xNa68amq8dMeXwS_sY5h4/edit?usp=sharing

And with that...

Iceman's Match of the Week

Nigel McGuinness vs Austin Aries
Ring of Honor
Rising Above - December 29, 2007
Match Link: https://www.bilibili.com/video/av28429779/

Oh, how quickly the tides can turn in pro wrestling. Nigel McGuinness, the conquering hero who got an absolutely huge pop and a big-time celebration when he finally put Takeshi Morishima down to win the World Title, was already beginning to fall out of favor with some ROH fans just a couple months into his reign, which in this match sets up what is very often a huge strength of old-school Ring of Honor matches: atmosphere. The crowd is split and hot from the very beginning, and it gives this title challenge that oft-touted big fight feel right off the bat.

But the really cool part is that its also the impetus for the spot that makes this match pretty singularly infamous. Nigel almost immediately gets into a recurring shouting battle with some front-row fans, which Aries takes offense to first in the form of a bitch slap and then, shortly thereafter, a high-speed dive that sends his unfocused opponents forehead straight into the barricade. Its ugly; the champion is legitimately knocked loopy here, and he very clearly has no idea where he is for a decent part of this match.

Youd think thatd be a recipe for disaster but, at least match-quality-wise, thats not the case. This is the best defense of one of my all-time favorite title reigns. Ariess predilection for focusing on the heads of his opponents jives pretty well as a story component with the shoot injury (especially since hes actually pretty careful with his head shots for most of the match when you look close). Its very much a car-crash-you-cant-look-away-from kind of thing thats just the right amount of uncomfortable and unpredictable.

Look, I know we all hate Aries, and he comes by that honestly, but there werent many years in the 2000s where you couldnt make a compelling argument that he was a strong contender for the title of best wrestler in the world. And his performance is awesome here. He takes two absolutely wicked bumps to the outside floor, not to mention the one on Nigels last lariat that all but decapitates him.

Nigels performance is obviously the impressive one, though. Its gutsy and stupid in equal measure, and really, is there a better combination of words to define pro wrestling?

Took longer than expected to recover from the holidays and my job so my apologies.

2007 is generally not one of my favorite years for ROH. I kind of consider it the point where Gabe has gotten bored/ran out of ideas with the promotion and so you get this odd period where he tries making it proto-DGUSA with factions like the No Remorse Corps, Vulture Squad (ugh), Age of the Fall (UGH), The Resilience (I can't believe I even remember this one), and so on. While you do still get the indie gem here and there this year, it feels like there's less of them than previous years and, even then, the build to the matches usually isn't very good.

I was struggling to get into this match at the opening. Aries is a fantastic wrestler and, by this time, he had it all figured out. Nigel, on the other hand, I could see why people were turning on him. He's not the Nigel people look back on fondly (in terms of personality) yet, but he's still a fine wrestler. I don't know, but the way they worked those first couple of minutes had me checking the time bar to see if I was going to need to prepare myself for a 45 minute marathon. And then Aries guillotined Nigel on the barricade with that dive. Holy crap. It's weird how one scary spot that actually messed a guy up for a period in the match ended up turning everything around. Aries does a great job keeping the match together while Nigel is getting his bearings and limiting the amount of strikes he does to Nigel's head (just wish ROH cameramen wouldn't zoom in on period where Aries is clearly pulling his shots but everyone's improvising at that point).

There's still some clunkiness throughout the match even after Nigel somewhat gets his senses back. Particularly after that corner dropkick spot where Aries was going to dive but Nigel stayed down longer. It helped with the set-up to that dive counter but, if I were watching back in 2007, I would be worried about allowing Nigel to continue. Aries, however, works his ass off to give Nigel the great showing he needed at this point. It's unfortunate that Nigel got messed up so early because a significant portion of the match is a one-man show and that man isn't the one walking away with the belt. Great Austin Aries match and a fine Nigel one for the parts where he was there.

Eddv posted...

Welcome back to Board 8's Match of the Week where me bidoof and iceman extend each other's wrestling horizons - and perhaps yours as well.

This week is our final topic of the year which always brings to mind one of my favorite subject - the year end awards. If you haven't voted in Board 8's version yet head on over and do so now. But to me its an exciting time to look back and take stock of the year that was.

So now we take advantage of matches that were once named Match of the Year to go back and take a snap shot at some of the best wrestling of yesteryear, at least according to the wrestling fans of that day.

Without further ado, come with me back to 1984 WWF.

Sergeant Slaughter vs The Iron Sheikh in The Boot Camp Match
(June 16, 1984, WWF Madison Square Garden Show)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBAIbpNnQYI

For some quick background let me set the stage - it's 1984 and Hulkamania is in its infancy - he had only just arrived in the WWF a few months prior to this matchup and Vincent Kennedy McMahon's vision for the territory was slowly coming to life. This feud between Slaughter and Sheikh arguably was the first of those moving parts by Vince. In late 83 and early 84, Backlund had been feuding off and on with the villainous and dastardly Drill Sergeant Slaughter in some months and the tricky and sleazy Iron Sheikh of Iran in others. The two had a stare off and a few words passing each other between matches and Sarge began his face turn as the patriotic military babyface with over the top mannerisms and such that fit in perfectly alongside the about the debut Hogan. It helped that it being 1984, the US was in the midst of the Iranian Hostage Crisis and the fans were hungry for a patriotic hero to take on the Iranian Iron Sheik. In the midst of Sheikh and Sarge's feud Sheikh actually upset Backlund and then promptly lost the title to Hogan which set up this situation where Sheikh was feuding with Hogan on one circuit and Sarge, as the new #2 babyface in the company, on the other.

This match was the culmination of a series of wars in which the Sheikh and Sarge's hatred for one another spilled out all over the place - complete with modern staples like brawling all over the arena and the brawls being so wild that the referees had to keep tossing the matches out. It all came to a head here - the Boot Camp match. Everything goes, everything is legal, falls count anywhere, there must be a winner by pinfall.

This match begins with a nice amount of pomp and circumstance with the band playing the Marine Corps anthem and Sarge comes running out to the ring decked in his combat helmet and just fucking nails Sheikh with it. You won't find any chain-wrestling or high spots in this one, but it is a fascinating snap shot into the way that early 80s plunder brawls went down. These guys are getting tossed all over, taking off their belts and whipping each other, they're using completely non-gimmicked chairs with fucking padding on them. Monsoon and Gene Okerlund are losing their shit on commentary and the way its shot honestly feels a lot more like a CMLL show than what we have come to expect from even classic WWF. The crowd is going bonkers and it feels like the fans are right on top of Sheikh and Sarge and exploding at every dramatic turn the match takes.

There's a little bit of silly stuff - they are obsessed with this loaded boot gimmick - but the brawl is intense and bloody and absolutely stands up to today's standards in spit of a bit of that 80s cheese permeating the whole affair. Definitely worth the watch, especially if you've never seen either of these men work in their primes like this.

This might be the only time Sheiky Baby ends up in one of these weeks unless we do something ironic.

Well. This match had some surprises. Sarge not looking like a potato, Sheik bumping, a fiery crowd at a WWF show, people cheering All-American babyface types. Definitely the 80s!

So, let's get it out of the way. This is not anything like a lot of the matches that have been recommended so far in this project. Slaughter was a fine brawler in his day but he's not regarded as one of the best ever and Sheik is, uh, Sheik. Despite the limitations, both of these men delivered a fun bell-to-bell brawl with little downtime. In some ways, this was easier for me to get through than McGuinness/Aries. From a "spot commentary" standpoint, there's not a ton to say. It's a lot of brawling, lots of work with the loaded boots, but I really enjoyed the final spot involving it so the build-up was effective. Is this a Match of the Year contender for 1984? In WWF, it could have been the best match in the company that year. Elsewhere, I think it still holds up to some of the competition. It's not a Flair or Tsuruta workrate masterpiece but this wouldn't be out of place on a Memphis show where Jerry Lawler was tearing down the house doing similar matches. Definitely worth a watch especially with it being so different from other matches being recommended for this.

Bidoof posted...

Is this a Match of the Year contender for 1984?

For what its worth it was a contender for the WON award but this is actually NOT one of sarges two wins in that category. But i actually think this match with Sheikh is better than his match with Pat Patterson that actually won.

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Eddv posted...

For what its worth it was a contender for the WON award but this is actually NOT one of sarges two wins in that category. But i actually think this match with Sheikh is better than his match with Pat Patterson that actually won.

Well, Sheik probably contributed more to this match than the Patterson one which I have to imagine is the equivalent of "great wrestler vs. broomstick". I might look that up sometime.

I couldn't remember when WON started doing the awards either. I know I tried seeing if Vader/Takada was in contention but I don't think Dave did a breakdown of different nominees for that issue like he typically does. Plus, as good as UWF-i could be, it wasn't what people were really paying attention to in Japan in 1994.

NBIceman posted...

Along with my match here, I want to remind everybody that I'm keeping a running archive of all the matches in this topic in case anyone ever wants to go back to watch missed ones or something.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VXMwXb2uwSjPwWNR0BUhh9xNa68amq8dMeXwS_sY5h4/edit?usp=sharing

And with that...

Iceman's Match of the Week

Nigel McGuinness vs Austin Aries
Ring of Honor
Rising Above - December 29, 2007
Match Link: https://www.bilibili.com/video/av28429779/

Oh, how quickly the tides can turn in pro wrestling. Nigel McGuinness, the conquering hero who got an absolutely huge pop and a big-time celebration when he finally put Takeshi Morishima down to win the World Title, was already beginning to fall out of favor with some ROH fans just a couple months into his reign, which in this match sets up what is very often a huge strength of old-school Ring of Honor matches: atmosphere. The crowd is split and hot from the very beginning, and it gives this title challenge that oft-touted big fight feel right off the bat.

But the really cool part is that its also the impetus for the spot that makes this match pretty singularly infamous. Nigel almost immediately gets into a recurring shouting battle with some front-row fans, which Aries takes offense to first in the form of a bitch slap and then, shortly thereafter, a high-speed dive that sends his unfocused opponents forehead straight into the barricade. Its ugly; the champion is legitimately knocked loopy here, and he very clearly has no idea where he is for a decent part of this match.

Youd think thatd be a recipe for disaster but, at least match-quality-wise, thats not the case. This is the best defense of one of my all-time favorite title reigns. Ariess predilection for focusing on the heads of his opponents jives pretty well as a story component with the shoot injury (especially since hes actually pretty careful with his head shots for most of the match when you look close). Its very much a car-crash-you-cant-look-away-from kind of thing thats just the right amount of uncomfortable and unpredictable.

Look, I know we all hate Aries, and he comes by that honestly, but there werent many years in the 2000s where you couldnt make a compelling argument that he was a strong contender for the title of best wrestler in the world. And his performance is awesome here. He takes two absolutely wicked bumps to the outside floor, not to mention the one on Nigels last lariat that all but decapitates him.

Nigels performance is obviously the impressive one, though. Its gutsy and stupid in equal measure, and really, is there a better combination of words to define pro wrestling?

I have to admit it took me a while to get into this one - I've never been a Nigel guy and Austin is Austin. Was really weird seeing aries with long hair again actually.

But there that really vicious looking Tope here that busted open Nigel let me know we weren't dealing with the standard stuff here. Just vicious stuff.

Here McGuiness being knocked legitimately loopy causes him to work selling his head the whole time, which plays into the psychology of Aries moveset.

The ending sequence was very hot and Aries ultimately was a big enough piece of shit here to get the crowd on Nigels side just in time for the crowd to still pop huge for Nigel at the end.

I do have to disagree with you somewhat - the crowd doesn't feel split so much as like - they don't like anyone here and it felt to me a bit like they were heckling both guys the entire match which is such a weird feel for a big fight.


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Bidoof posted...

Bidoof's Match of the Week Recommendation

Super Vader vs. Nobuhiko Takada (c)
UWF-i Pro Wrestling World Tournament Finals - 8/18/1994
Match Link: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7g9ir

Confession time - I'm disappointed in you, Board 8. I saw the rankings for Steiner's Top 100 Wrestlers project. I even did some of the write-ups for it. Where you guys put Big Van Vader, one of wrestling's greatest monsters and in my opinion wrestling's greatest hoss, was shameful. You people had him below Kevin Nash, dammit. So, it's time. It's ****in' Vader time.

Let's begin with a quick introduction to UWF-i. This is actually the third iteration of Japan's shoot style promotion that aimed to present people a more realistic, hard-hitting style than what they were getting from the larger promotions. The matches may have still been predetermined, but they all felt like and were treated as fights. Last topic, I presented a wild brawl. This time, I'm giving you a more scientific bout between a man and a monster.

Takada at the time of this match had been the UWF-i champion for 696 days. He fought against all manner of opponents in that time, from other disciplined shooters like Kiyoshi Tamura (man, I should find stuff from him for this) to big collegiate wrestler types like Gary Albright. He even had fought Vader the year prior and came very close to losing it then. You can see in his face from the start of the match how worried he is about having to face this beast of a man again and especially how he's unsure about trading strikes with the guy. While Takada has Vader beat in sheer technical skill, Vader's power is terrifying. Takada needs multiple hard shots just to get Vader stumbling but Vader only needs one blow to make him crumple.

Vader, of course, plays the perfect monster. His blows are hard (then again, I don't think anyone has ever accused Vader of being a light worker), he's fast for a guy his size, and his selling is wonderful. He gives Takada enough to make him look like a badass and he seems to bump at exactly the right time to really get the crowd fired up. I especially love the subtle heel work he gets in like nailing Takada with a closed fist to get out of a hold. There's maybe two spots like that in this match but, like with his selling for Takada, it's just enough to let the people know who the "hero" is here. Vader even gets to show off some mat work of his own, not as polished as Takada's but it doesn't need to be. Unlike Takada, he's not looking for a submission - he's looking for a knockout blow.

The last couple minutes of this match are just incredible, especially as you listen to the crowd explode when Vader starts looking to powerbomb Takada. I think you guys will enjoy this and I believe you'll see why I love Vader so much from this. Happy holidays!

I was taken aback by just how quickly this one becames a grapplefest. Grappling always looks so intimate. Matwork this feels so foreign at this point - like for as much as we praise it when ZSJ and Bryan do it - its a novelty. Its not the bulk of the work of the match. So this was an interesting throwback in that way.

Vader gasses out repeatedly in this match too, which I would say is the main thing that holds it back but Takada is a fucking master of this craft. There's one point though where Takada basically puts HIMSELF in a headscissor which I sort of laughed at.

I have to comment though that SURROUNDED by high quality mat work like this, a spot like the Powerbomb just JUMPS off the page. Perhaps it was simply on the mind after this weeks Dynamite where cage did like 10 or 11 powerbombs to Darby Allin but really sometimes less is more with this stuff.

Takada trying like hell to take the advantage and repeatedly getting mauled by the bear that was Vader made for a great match story - even as the crowd came life eating up every single hope spot.

I also have to comment that the ten count thing was done right and done well here - I like it a lot because it produces a winner that actually wins the match. No banana peels here.

Anyway this was pretty awesome.

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Next topic is gonna go up in a few days - NO THEME this time.

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Eddv posted...

I was taken aback by just how quickly this one becames a grapplefest. Grappling always looks so intimate. Matwork this feels so foreign at this point - like for as much as we praise it when ZSJ and Bryan do it - its a novelty. Its not the bulk of the work of the match. So this was an interesting throwback in that way.

Vader gasses out repeatedly in this match too, which I would say is the main thing that holds it back but Takada is a fucking master of this craft. There's one point though where Takada basically puts HIMSELF in a headscissor which I sort of laughed at.

I have to comment though that SURROUNDED by high quality mat work like this, a spot like the Powerbomb just JUMPS off the page. Perhaps it was simply on the mind after this weeks Dynamite where cage did like 10 or 11 powerbombs to Darby Allin but really sometimes less is more with this stuff.

Takada trying like hell to take the advantage and repeatedly getting mauled by the bear that was Vader made for a great match story - even as the crowd came life eating up every single hope spot.

I also have to comment that the ten count thing was done right and done well here - I like it a lot because it produces a winner that actually wins the match. No banana peels here.

Anyway this was pretty awesome.

In a way, I think Vader getting blown up at times helped the story of the match. And I'm not just saying that as a Vader fan. Takada is a ****ing machine and it's to his benefit to keep the match going as long as he can. Vader, however, is a great big bear of a man who only needs to get that one, good shot in and it's done. Vader getting tired at points was likely legit (350+ lbs. is a lot of weight to be moving around like he does) but I think they worked the match well enough to not make it a deterrence like some other matches where a guy gasses early. Plus, when he needed a moment to explode at Takada, he still did well.

But the powerbomb spot here is what every wrestling fan needs to see. Takada doing everything he can to not get powerbombed was cool but the real interesting bit is how the second Vader hit it, everyone in the building knew the match was over. Vader, the ref, the audience, and even Takada himself. The last minute of him struggling to even stand is like something out of Rocky, it's a last act of defiance against the man who just beat him. You don't get this sort of moment anymore in wrestling so it's a treat to see it happen.

Boot Camp Match
This is definitely a product of the times in both good and bad ways. There's a molten crowd and pretty much no wasted time or motion, and obviously those are things that are pretty much gonna be universally appreciated by wrestling fans. I really didn't mind the loaded boot stuff - they pulled it off well - and there were some nice visuals, especially once the blood came.

There's some little things that begin to annoy me when added up, though. The match feels like it reaches its peak, both in a vacuum and as the big payoff to a blood feud, somewhere around the middle. Towards the end we've got Sheik doing suplexes and such and it's very jarring after all the chair shots and choking and blood. Then there's the fact that the FCA part of the stipulation barely came into play at all, and even though I'm not a huge crowd brawling fan, I'm even less a fan of match gimmicks not being a huge part of the match, especially if it was such a focus of the build. And finally, for better or worse, I'm always gonna be someone who puts a lot of value on smoothness in my wrestling, and though both guys were better here than I generally find them, they have their upper limits. With Sheik in particular, there's times where it seems like you can literally see the gears turning in his head as he thinks his way from spot to spot.

This is too straightforward of a match for me to really have any more to say about it, especially considering how much Bidoof and Ed have already talked about it, so I guess I'll go ahead and bring the "week" to an end here. Liked it well enough, glad to have watched it, but even viewing it in the context of its era, I don't know if I'm quite as high on this match as the majority. Good pick, though. It's cool to have as a part of this project for the variety it brings. This week was fun for that.

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I do have to disagree with you somewhat - the crowd doesn't feel split so much as like - they don't like anyone here and it felt to me a bit like they were heckling both guys the entire match which is such a weird feel for a big fight.

It was kind of a thing around this later-2000s era of ROH for fans to show support more by jeering the other wrestler in the match than by explicitly cheering their chosen guy. I don't mind that sort of thing myself but I can certainly understand why it'd be a little off-putting.

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