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Official Puro Match/DVD Discussion Thread (NO SPOILERS)

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#1 ·
About time we made a Puro thread seeing as there's an Indy one and it deserves a seperate thread. You can use this to discuss any Puro matches or shows, past or present.

I've just finished this awesome set so I may as well get the thread up and running with some ratings for it.


ivp's Top 25 Matches in NOAH History

Disc 1

25. Jushin 'Thunder' Liger & Koji Kanemoto vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi - January 26th 2003 - Kobe World Hall
***1/2

24. Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Naomichi Marufuji & KENTA - April 25th 2004 - Tokyo Nippon Budokan
****1/2+

23. Jushin 'Thunder' Liger vs. Makoto Hashi - March 6th 2004 - Tokyo Nippon Budokan
***3/4

Disc 2

22. Kenta Kobashi vs. Minoru Suzuki - January 8th 2005 - Tokyo Nippon Budokan
***3/4

21. Jun Akiyama & Takeshi Rikio vs. Takeshi Morishima & Muhammad Yone - April 1st 2007 - Tokyo Korakuen Hall
****1/4

20. Naomichi Marufuji & Minoru Suzuki vs. Makoto Hashi & Jun Akiyama - July 18th 2005 - Tokyo Dome
****

19. Jun Akiyama & Takeshi Rikio vs. Yoshihiro Takayama & Takashi Sugiura - April 28th 2007 - Tokyo Nippon Budokan
***3/4

Disc 3

18. Kenta Kobashi & Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Jun Akiyama & Mitsuharu Misawa - December 2nd 2007 - Tokyo Nippon Budokan
****1/4

17. Akira Taue vs. Yuji Nagata - June 6th 2003 - Tokyo Nippon Budokan
***1/2

16. Naomichi Marufuji & KENTA vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Makoto Hashi - September 12th 2003 - Tokyo Nippon Budokan
****1/4

Disc 4

15. Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito vs. Kenta Kobashi & Tamon Honda - June 6th 2003 - Tokyo Nippon Budokan
****1/4

14. Naomichi Marufuji & KENTA vs. Juventud Guerrera & Ricky Marvin - November 1st 2003 - Tokyo Nippon Budokan
****1/4

Disc 5

13. Naomichi Marufuji & KENTA vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Takashi Sugiura - June 5th 2005 - Sapporo Media Park Spica
****1/2

12. Takeshi Rikio & Takeshi Morishima vs. Naomichi Marufuji & KENTA - July 16th 2006 - Tokyo Nippon Budokan
****1/2

11. KENTA vs. SUWA - September 18th 2005 - Tokyo Nippon Budokan
****1/4

Disc 6

10. Kenta Kobashi vs. Akira Taue - September 10th 2004 - Tokyo Nippon Budokan
****1/2

9. Kenta Kobashi & Kentaro Shiga vs. Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito - 19th October 2002 - Tokyo Korakuen Hall
****

8. Naomichi Marufuji vs. KENTA - October 29th 2006 - Tokyo Nippon Budokan
****3/4+

Disc 7

7. Naomichi Marufuji & KENTA vs. Jushin 'Thunder' Liger & Takehiro Muruhama - July 16th 2003 - Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium
****1/2

6. Kenta Kobashi vs. Tamon Honda - April 13th 2003 - Tokyo Ariake Colosseum
****1/2

BONUS Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - December 23rd 2000 - Tokyo Ariake Colosseum
****3/4

Disc 8

5. Kenta Kobashi vs. Yoshihiro Takayama - April 25th 2004 - Tokyo Nippon Budokan
****1/2

4. Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama - July 10th 2004 - Tokyo Dome
****3/4

Disc 9

3. Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi - March 1st 2003 - Tokyo Nippon Budokan
*****

2. Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiosaki vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima - November 5th 2005 - Tokyo Nippon Budokan
*****

1. Kenta Kobashi vs. Kensuke Sasaki - July 18th 2005 - Tokyo Dome
*****

Overall:
Absolutely amazing comp. Perfect for any new NOAH fans with an insane amount of brilliant matches.
 
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#8,421 · (Edited)
From a recent Tanahashi podcast interview:
All credit to Chris Charlton @reasonjp author of Lion's Pride (The first English book on the history of NJPW) @lionspridebook

It seems Tana finally snagged Taguchi as a guest, there's a look ahead to #njkopw Monday, and thoughts on the U.K. trip.

Tana is pissed b/c his DVR messed up and he couldn't record Kamen Rider Ghost while he was in the UK. #podcastoff

RPW trip was Tana's third, first was alone, second with Liger, this year 8
people on the trip. #podcastoff

Liger/Styles:crew want to see it here. Comment on Liger able to beat Styles is unbelievable in Japan, England is 'another world' #podcastoff

First RPW day was Okada/Gedo v Tana/Liger. Came out separate and Liger came out last to a monster reaction #podcastoff

Tanahashi: 'liger understands, can communicate w/UK fans better (than me)' re: Liger's time in Manchester in the '80s.

Liger has a profile on the NJPW subscriber site. Tana says it's the 1st real extensive interview he's done since becoming liger #podcastoff

One tidbit from that Liger interview- he has huge difficulty hearing #podcastoff

Tana puts over Liger's strength, especially his legs- saw a pic of Liger (as Keiichi Yamada) barbell squatting that was insane. #podcastoff

Tana then puts over his own strength, natch. He benches 190kg, a goal since he would train w/Muto who did the same. #podcastoff

There's a discussion about fan chants in the UK, and surprise at how fans behaved broadly the same as in the US.. #podcastoff

Tana says the RPW fans were like ROh ones chanting Na-ka-mu-ra, but would chant O.. Ka-da.

Tana says lines for Okada and Nakamura signings at RPW blew his away, admits to being jealous. #podcastoff

Tana: 'this fan wearing the same brand sneakers as me, we talked about them a bit- then the fucker goes in Nakamura's line!' #podcastoff

Tana puts over Will Ospreay: 'he's the British Ibushi' @WillOspreay #podcastoff

Tana: 'Kushida/o'Reilly was excellent. Kushida might podcast about it himself' #podcastoff

staffer talk about RPW show possibly going on world is met with awkward 'ahh, ooh,'s of either 'no you wont' or 'we can't say'. #podcastoff

Tana left his iPod in Narita airport and only realized when he got on the bus. #podcastoff

He was embarrassed to call the airport so he called the office, made them do it #heel #podcastoff

Praise for Naito's promo work, him being in the unique position to make the Dome main event briefcase gimmick important #podcastoff

Tana: 'we haven't had an anti-establishment figure like Naito for ages. This legit embittered character- only he can do that'. #podcastoff

Tana refers to Naito's promo about what Tanahashi says goes. 'What can I say, it's true'. #podcastoff

Bit pseudo kayfabe discussion of who Naito's mystery backup at #njkopw is, 'not necessarily a Los Ingobernables member'. cough, Ibushi

Tana delights in describing Martin Kirby: 'they have cute wrestlers, too!' Transitions, says it was a rare chance to see 'local' UK talent

Talk about Naito beating on the cameraman angle from Destruction. Wasn't a TV Asahi guy,allegedly not up to speed on the thing. #podcastoff

While admitting it's unlikely rn in his ace role, Tana says he'd like a proper 'say anything, do anything' heel run. #podcastoff

Tana likes Sydal. He talks about his unique stretch routine, and puts over his heart. #podcastoff

Taguchi does an in-character run-in on the show and is genuinely quite funny. Says he wants Sydal/Omega to be... A draw.

Tana: 'Sydal's young, only 32. About the same as Kenny maybe? How old is he?' Taguchi: 'I'd say... Between 30 and 50'. #podcastoff

Talk about how the crop of foreign juniors is a good thing for BOSJ next year. Tana again floats Ospreay as someone in that mix #podcastoff

Taguchi the pun master, then makes a dirty joke on Ospreay (Osu=male in biological talk, pu-re usually refers to sex stuff/fetishism)

Talk on Taguchi's comedy character-could push him further from Junior belt contention. Taguchi: 'it's high risk, no return'. #podcastoff

Taguchi calls the YLs his 'young "oh my"s' @JayWhiteNZ @THEdavidfinlay #podcastoff

Tana, On Yoshi Hashi v Honma: 'this is the company giving Yoshi Hashi a huge chance' #podcastoff

The Yoshi Hashi singles opportunity has come from his receptions during G1, and good attendance from PR appearances. #podcastoff

They float the idea of a Tana/Taguchi pairing during the tag league. #podcastoff

Tana says he wanted to team w/Taguchi during the 'funky weapon' days as 'funky sexy'. "I wasn't sexy enough" #podcastoff

Taguchi: 'I think the company would say no (to us teaming)'. Tana: 'the company does everything I say!' #podcastoff

Tana on the three man vice grip on IWGP title: 'Nakamura isn't in that loop, and there's nobody on the level of us four. It can't be helped'

Tana: 'Naito wants to be in that mix, that's what motivates him, which is great. ' #podcastoff

Few plugs and #podcastoff ends. Good episode, some genuine lulz.







lmao at the bolded.

lol at the DVR problems. Just like us. Firstworldproblems.

I liked Tanahashi playing into Naito's comments. For those who don't know, here's what Naito said recently:









~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some random quotes from other recent interviews:






~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Does anyone have any recommended Yukio Sakaguchi DDT matches? Again, easily findable on Vevo, Dailymotion, etc.?

I read some people praising him, and then I read up on his background, and he seems like he would be an intriguing wrestler.

Thanks!


Btw, antoniomare, I watched that Sekimoto/Ibushi match and enjoyed it. Thank you!
 
#8,427 ·
Tiger Mask II vs. La Fiera (AJPW 8/26/84):****
These sort of international pairings are novel at worst, almost magical at best.

When I thought I knew wrestling La Fiera changed everything. Okay, that’s extreme. That being said, La Fiera performs at an exceptionally high level in this bout against a rather young Misawa. I wouldn’t say Tiger Mask II was bad but there was definitely a stiffness to him that he would obviously later shake off. In 1984 though, La Fiera needs to put this thing on his back a bit. La Fiera gets maybe the scariest amount of height I have seen on a monkey flip. It was literally impossible for me to not scream. His bumping is so next level throughout the bout. Fiera doesn’t stop at bumping though and brings a crazy level of charisma into the match as well as some good high impact offense. There is a throw around the middle of the match that is particularly splendid.
 
#8,439 ·
1) People need more La Fiera

2) People need more Tiger Mask vs luchadores
So I've watched around 20 Volk Han matches in the last few months, and the RINGS worked shoot style is by far my favorite thing to watch in wrestling right now. So any shoot style recommendations outside of Volk Han? I just really dig the non-cooperativeness, sense of urgency, and the rope break/down points work perfectly.

Just taking a moment to talk about how awesome the point system in RINGS is. Whenever I'm watched a 'fight' and one of the competitors is out of breaks/downs, the match hits an unreal amount of suspense. It makes the near falls matter because even though a flurry of strikes will just knock somebody down and it won't win a fight, it still changes the landscape of the fight. So when I see Volk get up and have no more breaks left, I can feel the tension. I fucking love it.

But any worked shoot recommendations will be appreciated (especially RINGS)!
I'm more a UWF fan, so this may be a slightly different take on shoot than you're used to:

Masakatsu Funaki vs Tatsuo Nakano - best sub-10 minute match ever, (best shoot match ever?)
Super Vader Vs Kiyoshi Tamura
Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka II (RINGS 27/06/1998)
Wayne Shamrock vs. Naoki Sano (PWFG 5/19/91)
UWF 13.08.88 - Kazuo Yamazaki vs. Nobuhiko Takada
Suzuki vs Nakano, UWF 2/27/90
Minoru Suzuki vs Kiyoshi Tamura (UWF 21/05/89)

I like my shoot where guys just punch the shit out of each other. Matwork is cool and stuff, but nothing beats hatred. Give Fujiwara/Yamazaki (24/07/89) or Fujiwara/Maeda (09/02/90) a try for more stuff oriented around the mat from UWF.

Try some of Tamura's RINGS matches, too. Han 2x, Kohsaka 2x & Yammamato are the matches people rave about, but they're pretty much all grand.
 
#8,429 · (Edited)
Post-Peter Pan DDT title defences!

Extreme title - Antonio Honda (c) vs Yasu Urano (Four Corners Four Items, 13/9): Honda & the deliriously creative Extreme strap were made for each other. That said, this one was all a bit silly & uninspired, lacking the outlandish absurdity of his PP Blindfold Bra Tiger Trap outing with Akito N/R

KO-D tag titles - Kota Ibushi & Daisuke Sasaki (c) vs Konnosuke Takeshita & Tetsuya Endo (13/9): Given that the Happy Motel boys upset Ibushi & Omega for the belts last year, another changing of the guards was very much on the cards here. I initially thought the match had peaked before the finish, but they found fifth gear & rocketed along a thrilling home stretch ****

KO-D six man titles - Shigehiro Irie, Keisuke Ishii & Soma Takao (c) vs Ken Ohka, Danshoku Dino & Super Sasadango Machine (27/9): #OhkaEmpire is on the rise, but there's no fucking way they're beating TDFs. Right? Korakuen LOVES this crazy shit ***1/2

KO-D openweight title - Yukio Sakaguchi (c) vs Daisuke Sasaki (27/9): A decent first defence for Sakaguchi, despite familiar puro issues with a leg workover quietly getting swept under the canvas. The fans aren't buying Sasaki as singles main event material early on, but it's a credit to both guys & the DDT booking philosophy that they're eventually gripped by his desperate attempts to sneak one ***1/4
 
#8,457 ·
NJPW King Of Pro Wrestling 2015


David Finlay, Jay White, Juice Robinson, Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu vs Jushin Thunder Liger, KUSHIDA, Mascara Dorada, Ryusuke Taguchi & Tiger Mask
There was no question who would be winning this. The team of the young lions looked ruthless rushing Liger at the start and they show a lot of promise (Finlay especially). I'm not sure if Taguchi vs Robinson would be an mindlessly enjoyable bout or the stuff of nightmares just based on their interactions here. Butt bumps everywhere.
★★½


Tomoaki Honma vs YOSHI-HASHI

YOSHI-HASHI has improved since the days where I would watch NJPW religiously and Homna is charismatic as ever. Solid match.
★★½


Captain New Japan, Hirooki Goto, Katsuyori Shibata & Kota Ibushi vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata

I expected this to be better considering the talent involved. Enjoyable, but ultimately forgettable. This certainly teased my appetite for a Nagata/Shibata match though.
★★½

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title Match:
Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly © vs Beretta & Rocky Romero

I'm a big fan of Rocky Romero's shtick. He comes across as such a dickhead. Barreta looked out of place teaming with him. Inoffensive juniors match.
★★½

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match:
Kenny Omega © vs Matt Sydal

This is my first time seeing Matt Sydal since his Evan Bourne days and I've forgotten what a great talent he is. He's insanely athletic who's not afraid to take a hit and is a great babyface, although that could be enhanced how great of heel Omega is. His cartoonish-in-a-good way anime villain personality got under the crowd's skin and had them rooting for Sydal every time he had an opening. I'm also glad to see that Omega has seemed to of dropped the 'Hadouken' from his arsenal as it's one of the dumbest things I've seen in a serious pro-wrestling match.
★★★½

Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson vs Kazushi Sakuraba, Shinsuke Nakamura & Toru Yano
The idea of Nakamura vs Anderson didn't appeal to me before this, but this match changed my mind. Charismatic sprint that came out and did everything that it set out to do; to further hype up a Nakamura vs Anderson match.
★★★

NEVER Openweight Title Match:
Togi Makabe © vs Tomohiro Ishii

A very good 'you can hit harder than that, punk' type of match. If you have ever seen an Ishii match before, you know what I'm getting at. Some frighteningly stiff shots in this, and the visual of these guys sagging over when they want to show off how harder they can be hit but physically can't stand anymore was great. The slug-off on the top rope was particularly enticing.
★★★½

IWGP Heavyweight Title #1 Contendership Match:
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Tetsuya Naito

Naito's new heel persona has freshened things up in NJPW. He's no longer Tanahashi 2.0 and his new heel persona is great. He wrestles at his own pace and he is constantly stalling and nonchalantly taunting Tana and the crowd. It's a very old school approach, but Naito makes it work in 2015. The interference worked and it stopped this Tanahashi match from becoming too formulaic, a problem I have with a lot of his bigger matches. I'm intrigued to see what these guys can do in a main event spot for the Championship. They would certainly tear the roof down!
★★★¾

IWGP Heavyweight Title Match:
Kazuchika Okada © vs AJ Styles

This was solid yet forgettable until Okada hit the first Rainmaker. Nothing was terrible, just nothing really stuck out either. I sometimes think these matches go the distance because it's the big main event and because they can. Once the finishing stretch started, things got exciting. Many near-falls and reversals but ultimately, even that out worn it's welcome. It's a good match for sure, it's just that it is a long match and there are better 30 minute matches out there that you could be watching instead of this.
★★★

Overall:
Solid show. The undercard is average enough, but things start to pick up once you reach the 5th match. There's been better NJPW shows, but there isn't a bad match on here and it's an enjoyable watch.
 
#8,463 ·
Tokyo Gurentai Tokyo Dream 2015 ~ NOSAWA Rongai 20th Anniversary Show

Alexander Otsuka, Hideki Suzuki & Takuya Kai vs Kotaro Nasu, Ryo Kawamura & Tomohiko Hashimoto

Otsuka's German was ace, but the no-selling of it just felt hokey.
★★½

Tokyo Intercontinental Tag Team Title Match
Chikara & Mitsuo Momota © vs Kikutaro & Stalker Ichikawa

The comedy aspects of this match were entertaining, but everything else sucked.
★½

FUJITA vs Seiya Sanada
Sanada possesses flawless execution and has a great look and although I didn't find myself getting behind him, the crowd certainly did. This had a solid finishing stretch, with FUJITA busting out some cool cradles and a cringe-inducing second rope tombstone.
★★¾

Kazunari Murakami & Minoru Suzuki vs Suguru Miyatake & Yoshihiro Takayama

This met my expectations and then some. Everyone had a key role and they all played their parts well. Takayama is out looking for retribution against MiSu and even ends up beating his own tag partner who insists on being tagged in. That very same tag partner is completely blanked by Suzuki when Suzuki wants a piece of Takayama who wasn't even in the match at the time. It's very funny stuff and the comedy was tasteful and well placed. The match flawlessly transitions from comical to serious, as Miyatake eventually fires up and it seems like he almost has a fighting chance against Suzuki. A sleeper MOTYC for sure.
★★★★

Tokyo World Heavyweight Title Match
MAZADA © vs Masaaki Mochizuki

Solid yet unspectacular match with a surprising flash finish.
★★½

Dory Funk Jr., Great Kabuki, Masakatsu Funaki & Mil Mascaras vs CIMA, Kaz Hayashi, NOSAWA Rongai & Yoshiaki Fujiwara
I watched this out of sheer curiosity and I expected to hate this, but it was actually very good considering how old some the wrestlers are. Three members of one team are all over 70! The only person who shouldn't of been in this match was Dory Funk Jr. His 'matwork' at the start was so slow and business exposing, but thankfully that doesn't last long and his only contributions after that is scaring off the opposing team with his whip. The younger team managed to garner a lot of heat for ganging up on Dory and Kabuki. This was thoroughly entertaining and it almost felt bittersweet seeing these legends of puroresu in a ring, knowing that their careers are coming to an end.
★★★¼

Overall:
This show is easy enough to sit through, with it's run time not even reaching the two hour mark, but check out Takayama/Miyatake vs Murakami/Suzuki and the main event if you fancy some puro nostalgia if the rest of the card doesn't appeal to you.
 
#8,511 ·
Need to watch Fantasticamania. You want to talk about the breezy New Japan shows on the year other than various Korakuen shows, these are it. Crowds are awesome w/how much they eat up seeing the CMLL talents. Virus is on these cards too. Really into that.

Side note: seriously, why are build up tag matches in this company undersold? they're always a lot of fun. (even tag championship matches often never get their due) New Year's Dash being a strong show was hardly a surprise, but nice to see it get put over.
 
#8,545 ·
lmao, he's kind of right, given the history of NJPW with "quitters." But Gedo is making the smart, logical, long-term decision, rather than being ruled by emotion. That's a testament to his maturity. A lot of people wouldn't.

Plus, it helps that he's friends with Nakamura.

Loving the "give no shits" honesty of Naito. He's been like that a lot lately.
@Corey, oh, ok, at your message. Feel stupid @'ing you just to say that, but I don't think I can rep you yet.


Could someone give me their star ratings for the 2/11 New Beginning? Interested in the last 6 matches. Don't spoil anything, please.
 
#8,559 ·
NJPW Invasion Attack 2016

Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Juice Robinson & Ryusuke Taguchi
Juice being thrown out of the ring was Shawn Michaels at Summerslam 2005 level of overselling. A standard squash match. ½★

Kazushi Sakuraba, Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI vs Jushin Thunder Liger, Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata
The crowd were hot during this, but the in-ring stuff was rather average. The only aspects that stuck out from a workrate perspective was YOSHI-HASHI's hope spot and the Backdrop Driver, because who doesn't enjoy seeing someone dropped on their head? ★★½

Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii vs BUSHI & EVIL
Much stiffer than your typical undercard match, that's for sure. Goto looked like a badass heel. He was booed by the crowd so he upped the violence up to 11. Really good match that caught me by surprise. ★★★½

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title Match:
Matt Sydal & Ricochet © vs Beretta & Rocky Romero

Wrestled at an insanely fast pace and featuring many impressive feats of athleticism, this match's downfall is that it all feels vanilla and there isn't much personality to it. I simply wasn't given a reason to care. Everything I hate about junior wrestling. ★★½

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match:
KUSHIDA © vs Will Ospreay

I expected this to be good, but not this good! This is more 'seasoned champion faces plucky underdog' rather that 'evil foreigner faces hero champion' like I initially thought it would. KUSHIDA targets the arm and that becomes the focal point of the match. Ospreay can't bust out a lot of his moves with one arm, so he has to modify them, including one instance where whips out a no hand handstand. It's utterly insane. The arm work is consistent and I was so engrossed in the match during the finishing stretch. This deserves to be talked about in the same breath as other junior classics. Everything I love about juniors wrestling. ★★★★½

NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Title Match:
Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson © vs Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin & Yoshitatsu

Starts off as a wild Attitude Era-styled brawl that descends into a standard paint-by-numbers tag match. I love that Elgin trashcan superkick spot, even if it looked obviously set-up. ★★¾

NEVER Openweight Title Match:
Katsuyori Shibata © vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan

I've dumped on Tenzan before, but it's nice to see him get his moment here and a final chance to shine as I imagine he won't be around much longer. Those headbutts made me wince. ★★★¼

IWGP Tag Team Title Match:
Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma © vs Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa

Pretty eh stuff. The gaijins didn't have much chemistry together as a whole. Tanga Loa did nothing to impress me and Tonga doesn't seem comfortable wrestling this high up on the card. Notable moments include Homna getting murdered by a nasty German and then proceeding to bust out some headbutts straight after. That crazy bastard.
★★¼

IWGP Heavyweight Title Match:
Kazuchika Okada © vs Tetsuya Naito

A historic match with plenty of great stuff littered throughout, but I can't sit there and say that I wasn't bored out my ass during the first 10-15 minutes of the match. This is made by the utterly unique crowd dynamic, the fun outside brawling segments and the shock ending.
★★★¼
 
#4 ·
I liked Kobashi/Kenskay the firs time, but I was very new to Puro and have only seen very little of both men.

After watching it again, after seeing both men regularly and getting use to their movesets and such, the entire match left me WTF. Kboashi doing lucha threw me into a loop.

Akiyama vs Kobashi during Departure is worse. Just a total bomb throwing no sell fest. Props to Akiyama, though. How he didn't break ANY ribs is beyond me.

Though, I sympathize with how these matches are booked. They want to put on a 'huge' Kobashi match and that's what they did.
 
#7 ·
I must be the only one who wasn't blown away by that match then. And Seabs i'm pretty dissipointed in your rating for #19 since I felt that was one of if not the best tag match of 2007 but then again it is your rating.

But i'm still calling you out therefore you are wrong because me ego and e-cred is the strongest force in the universe behind Hulkamania and male pattern baldness.

And ironic that someone makes a Puro discussion thread while i'm taking a break from watching it, but fear not the day will come when Andy3000 and I speak at length about our love for Dicks. Dicks we in fact cannot get enough of.

Dick Togo and Dick Murdoch of course.
 
#17 ·
It shouldn't even be debateable that its the greatest match ever. A couple matches come close to that level of greatness but that one single match is the culmination of years of booking and all 4 men were on their A games throughout. Which is even more amazing concidering how hard they all worked and still went for the majority of an hour.

Plus Taue is better than everyone.
 
#62 ·
IVP videos is the top site for puro DVD's and lucha too. The have a MASSIVE catalog, and even better, it is only $2.99 a disc. Definatly worth checking out. I have never had a problem with them.
 
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#63 ·
Ah ok, yeah I've heard of them before. Just looked them up on google, been browsing their site for a bit, wow, I'm definitely gonna try and order some shit from here. So do the discs come in DVD hard cases with match listing or are they just discs in little small plastic sleeves?
 
#112 ·
Not enough Dick Togo in this thread. Pretty sure I was high as a kite when I wrote this a couple months ago. If you don't like cussin', then I advise you work the scroll bar like a motherfucker:


Jushin Liger v Dick Togo (NJPW Skydiving J, British Jr. Heavyweight Title, 6/17/96)

OH, FUCK YEAH! This ROCKED! Like, seriously rocked! Like, rocked harder than a garden shed in a hurricane! Or something! Dick MOTHERFUCKING Togo is king of all rudo junior heavyweights and Liger is pretty much all around king of junior heavyweights – Hell, king of wrestlers of all weights – and that nifty little match-up on paper makes for a fucking WHIP ASS little match-up in execution, I’ll tell ya. No, really, I’M TELLIN’ YA!

The main theme of this is Dick’s desire to out-dickhead Liger, but you just DO NOT FUCK with Jushin Liger – he WILL fucking kill you. Togo ain’t no candyass, though, and takes all of his hefty little frame and puts it to good use – throwing it at Liger like a big ol’ ball of ass-kicking, goatee-sporting jelly, hitting the PHAT ASS tope that puts any tope from any wrestler not name Hijo Del Santo to shame before DDT’ing king Jush’ right on the concrete. This is the first reason why McMahon can suck it for turning Togo into a lackey for a guy that hacks off pornstars’ dicks, and the second reason is the positively rib-crumbling double stomp off the second rope that should by all rights kill a motherfucker. Liger chimes in with reason number 765 as to why he’s the ruler of the farking universe by selling the ribs like the fucking KING that he always is, doing that whole eyeballs-popping-out-of-the-sockets sell that he manages to do so well despite wearing a friggin’ mask. Liger transitions into his run on offence by hitting the monkey flip that Togo takes so nicely before breaking his head with a Koppo kick and a hellish release German suplex. Then he slam dunks him with a powerbomb that’s almost Benoit levels of stiffness and everybody is reminded of the simple fact they should’ve already known beforehand anyway – do not fuck with Jushin Thunder Liger.

Liger’s whole stretch on offence here is just IMMACULATE in the way he blends his selling together with the general theme of dickheadedness since nobody out-dicks Liger with the throwback to Liger/Samurai from the ’92 BOSJ final in that Liger is asserting himself here as he did then, only this time he’s proving the point that he’s more surly and badass and fucking tremendous than the surliest most badass bully on the motherfucking continent of anywhere. Back then he was pissed off beyond imagine; now he’s obviously grown because he can still whoop a fool’s ass, but he takes the time to bust out a freaking Hogan hand-clasp-to-the-ear pose just to ram home the point of “I’m Jushin Liger – I’m better than whoever the fuck I say I’m better than.”

He really works the arm like a fiend here, ripping and tearing at it and throwing it into stuff like it belonged to someone that pissed him off. Togo screams like a man that needs some sweet mercy (which is how it fucking SHOULD be done, baby) so Liger gives him a reprieve by letting him keep his arm for a couple minutes while he ties him up in the corner and gives him a running Koppo kick to the cranium. “I done told you, boy; I am not to be fucked with!” Liger absolutely knocks the SHIT out of Togo with a single palm thrust that is to be rewound and re-watched several times in order to really comprehend the level of chin-splitting force behind it, and Liger sells the damn hand in this subtle little way that is reason number 766 as to why he rules all that is good in life.

He goes back to trying to take Togo’s arm home with him, but Dick manages to work himself an opening and goes up top, only Liger gives him another palm thrust that’s even MORE unconscionable than the last one and it sends him flying to the floor. Liger hits a big time plancha and then poses some more like a cocky dick before killing Togo with a fisherman buster. I’ll point out here that Liger’s constant going back to the limb-work (in this case, the arm) is what really pushes him over the great/super-great threshold more often than not, because the junior heavyweight style is based around either dives (pre-1996) or skull-mashing moves (post-1996) that it leaves the participants susceptible to blowing off limb-work or just dropping it in favour of hitting highspots. Liger manages to get everything in as effectively as possible and come Hell or high water is gonna make his opponents look like a million bucks in doing it.

Togo manages to find himself a breather again by backdropping Liger out to the floor, then hitting a BOSS as all Hell Tope con Hilo from inside the ring to the floor that lands him right on Liger’s fuggin’ head! Dick Togo is a stout little man that will crush a regular man’s skull by landing on it from ten feet in the air and don’t you forget it! Liger proves YET AGAIN why he’s better than everything ever by catching Togo attempting a running Hurricanrana or something off the apron by killing the bejeebers out of him with a powerbomb on the floor. Liger’s dickhead instincts tell him that he should mock the Michinoku Pro pee head by going back into the ring to play to the crowd before stepping back out and purposefully dragging Togo off the mats onto the exposed concrete so he can kill even MORE of the bejeebers out of him with an even more hellish powerbomb. Then he FLAIR STRUTS!

Togo’s just about dead enough for Liger’s tastes and seems content to finish things with a Kimura, but Togo reaches the ropes and that prompts Liger to lay another beatdown with a German suplex, which Dick reverses by kicking Liger in the grapes as he transitions into a powerbomb and two PHAT ASS top rope sentons. No dice on the nearfall so he goes for another which Liger moves out of the way of – saving his already demolished ribs in the process – and goes up top himself where he hits a missile dropkick to the injured arm Togo’s holding onto the middle rope with, which is just a GREAT spot. Togo reaches the ropes to break the cross-arm-breaker, but the advantage he managed to carve himself out through the low blow is slipping fast, and it would seem even faster when Liger gears up for the running Shotei (palm thrust) lariat. Togo manages to hang in there by dropping Liger on his face with a drop toe hold before scoring a nearfall with a La Majistral cradle, but now Liger is REALLY pissed and goes about murdering Togo with two fisherman busters – one from the top rope. Togo sells the top rope buster really awesomely by landing like a sack a potatoes, kinda going limp as soon as he hits the canvas as if he might actually be dead. Liger puts this baby out to pasture by smashing Togo’s teeth down his WWF-bound throat the good ol’ Shotei lariat way, and I’m thinking that’s maybe my favourite signature strike ever in wrestling because it looks just INCREDIBLY sore and hurty since it catches whoever’s taking it right in the fuggin’ jaw at about 300 miles a minute.

This wasn’t ever going to be anything short of good, so I’m not really sure why I’m surprised at just how good it was, but there ya go; proof that even the highest of expectations can be crushed by a Shotei lariat and a fat man Tope con Hilo. Liger’s the best ever, Togo’s INSANELY underrated, and if you’re only familiar with his pathetic run in the States (Vince McMahon and his cretinous bookers can blow me sideways for jobbing the entire Kaientai DX stable out to the fucking Oddities, btw. The FUCKING ODDITIES! GOLGA, fer chrissakes!), then you need to check this out in jig time. This is a whole big bunch of fucking bossiness and YOU WANT ALLLLL OF IT! Cross my heart. ****1/4

See ya in another 6 months.
 
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