HANDWERK

Royce Gracie vs. Nobuhiko Takada, PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 Opening Round (1/30/2000) Commissions continue again, this one coming from frequent and generous Ko-fi contributor Carlos O. You can be like them and pay me to write about all different types of stuff. People tend to choose wrestling matches, but very little is entirely off the table, so long as I haven't written about it before (and please, come prepared with a date or show name or something if it isn't obvious).

Royce Gracie vs. Nobuhiko Takada, PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 Opening Round (1/30/2000)

Commissions continue again, this one coming from frequent and generous Ko-fi contributor Carlos O. You can be like them and pay me to write about all different types of stuff. People tend to choose wrestling matches,…

Panzer vs. Alman, KING OF THE STREETS: Warcry (2024) Commissions continue again, this one coming from an Ko-fi contributor and number one KOTS fan Parkmap. You can be like them and pay me to write about all different types of stuff. People tend to choose wrestling matches, but very little is entirely off the table, so long as I haven't written about it before (and please, come prepared with a date or show name or something if it isn't obvious).

Panzer vs. Alman, KING OF THE STREETS: Warcry (2024)

Commissions continue again, this one coming from an Ko-fi contributor and number one KOTS fan Parkmap. You can be like them and pay me to write about all different types of stuff. People tend to choose wrestling matches, but very little is…

Hollywood Hogan vs. Goldberg, WCW Monday Nitro (7/6/1998) Commissions continue again, this one coming from regular Ko-fi contributor MainsTheMad. You can be like them and pay me to write about all different types of stuff. People tend to choose wrestling matches, but very little is entirely off the table, so long as I haven't written about it before (and please, come prepared with a date or show name or something if it isn't obvious).

Hollywood Hogan vs. Goldberg, WCW Monday Nitro (7/6/1998)

Commissions continue again, this one coming from regular Ko-fi contributor MainsTheMad. You can be like them and pay me to write about all different types of stuff. People tend to choose wrestling matches, but very little is entirely off…

Triple H vs. Goldberg vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Kevin Nash vs. Chris Jericho vs. Randy Orton, WWE Summerslam (8/24/2003) Commissions continue again, this one coming from an anonymous Ko-fi contributor. You can be like them and pay me to write about all different types of stuff. People tend to choose wrestling matches, but very little is entirely off the table, so long as I haven't written about it before (and please, come prepared with a date or show name or something if it isn't obvious).

Triple H vs. Goldberg vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Kevin Nash vs. Chris Jericho vs. Randy Orton, WWE Summerslam (8/24/2003)

Commissions continue again, this one coming from an anonymous Ko-fi contributor. You can be like them and pay me to write about all different types of stuff. People tend to choose…

Daniel Garcia vs. El Gentil, EPWD Wrestling Machina (8/14/2021) Commissions continue again, this one coming from regular Ko-fi contributor and the contributor most responsible for showing me current Puerto Rican wrestling, PEN. You can be like them and pay me to write about all different types of stuff. People tend to choose wrestling matches, but very little is entirely off the table, so long as I haven't written about it before (and please, come prepared with a date or show name or something if it isn't obvious).

Daniel Garcia vs. El Gentil, EPWD Wrestling Machina (8/14/2021)

Commissions continue again, this one coming from regular Ko-fi contributor and the contributor most responsible for showing me current Puerto Rican wrestling, PEN. You can be like them and pay me to write about all different types of…

Big Van Vader vs. Riki Choshu, NJPW Summer Night Fever II Day One (8/19/1990) Commissions continue again, this one coming from regular Ko-fi contributor B. Igevil.. You can be like them and pay me to write about all different types of stuff. People tend to choose wrestling matches, but very little is entirely off the table, so long as I haven't written about it before (and please, come prepared with a date or show name or something if it isn't obvious).

Big Van Vader vs. Riki Choshu, NJPW Summer Night Fever II Day One (8/19/1990)

Commissions continue again, this one coming from regular Ko-fi contributor B. Igevil.. You can be like them and pay me to write about all different types of stuff. People tend to choose wrestling matches, but very little…

Sweet Daddy Siki/Art Thomas vs. The Sicilians (Lou Albano/Tony Altimore), NWA Chicago (4/14/1961) Commissions continue again, this one coming from regular Ko-fi contributor Trevor Fitzpatrick. You can be like them and pay me to write about all different types of stuff. People tend to choose wrestling matches, but very little is entirely off the table, so long as I haven't written about it before (and please, come prepared with a date or show name or something if it isn't obvious).

Sweet Daddy Siki/Art Thomas vs. The Sicilians (Lou Albano/Tony Altimore), NWA Chicago (4/14/1961)

Commissions continue again, this one coming from regular Ko-fi contributor Trevor Fitzpatrick. You can be like them and pay me to write about all different types of stuff. People tend to choose…

Genichiro Tenryu/Takashi Ishikawa vs. Shinya Hashimoto/Tatsumi Fujinami, WAR (5/24/1993) Not really through any conscious effort, I'm less and less interested in absolutes. The older I get, the more statements like "this is the best [x] ever" or "nothing can ever be better than [x]" lose their appeal to me, and the same goes with any real definitive kind of ranking. Making lists at the end of a year is hard enough, I'd already probably do 2010s YEAR IN DECADES stuff maybe a little differently in bits and pieces, anything beyond that just seems like a way for teenagers or people in their early twenties to try and show off and signal their good taste (I would know, I did a 1000 match GME list in 2008 when I was a teenager, and thankfully, it's vanished from the internet so I never have to confront how bad it probably was).

Genichiro Tenryu/Takashi Ishikawa vs. Shinya Hashimoto/Tatsumi Fujinami, WAR (5/24/1993)

Not really through any conscious effort, I'm less and less interested in absolutes. The older I get, the more statements like "this is the best [x] ever" or "nothing can ever be better than [x]" lose their…

Ashura Hara vs. Kengo Kimura, WAR (5/24/1993) Again with the Heisei Ishingun leg of the larger WAR vs. New Japan feud, something relatively short, mean, and real interesting breaks out. Usually, the idea of a heel in peril is one of my least favorite things wrestling can do. Not only does it go against what's usually the central point of any match with defined good and bad guys, like there are in this subsection of WAR/NJPW, but more often than not, it's employed by deeply unserious and…

Ashura Hara vs. Kengo Kimura, WAR (5/24/1993)

Again with the Heisei Ishingun leg of the larger WAR vs. New Japan feud, something relatively short, mean, and real interesting breaks out. Usually, the idea of a heel in peril is one of my least favorite things wrestling can do. Not only does it go…

Masashi Aoyagi vs. Masao Orihara, WAR (5/24/1993) Have you ever wanted to see a really weird looking guy get beat up, bludgeoned, and repeatedly kicked in the face for thirteen minutes? Of course you have! You wound up here after all! Ths version of this match that exists on the commercial tape might cut this down to five or six minutes, robbing us of over half of the match, but thankfully, there's a handheld version of this show out there too that fellow enterprising freaks and footage completionist perverts can look at, and it confirms that this is, in fact, an entire great match.

Masashi Aoyagi vs. Masao Orihara, WAR (5/24/1993)

Have you ever wanted to see a really weird looking guy get beat up, bludgeoned, and repeatedly kicked in the face for thirteen minutes? Of course you have! You wound up here after all! Ths version of this match that exists on the commercial tape…

Miguel Perez Jr./Yukehiro Kanemura vs. The Headhunters, WING Danger Road Day Five (5/9/1993) This was a barbed wire cage match, as well as a tournament final, for the vacant WING World Tag Team Titles. Like is often the case with a barbed wire cage match, or even regular steel cage matches with barbed wire wrapped around either the top or a little on the sides, this is not quite everything you'd want it to be.

Miguel Perez Jr./Yukehiro Kanemura vs. The Headhunters, WING Danger Road Day Five (5/9/1993)

This was a barbed wire cage match, as well as a tournament final, for the vacant WING World Tag Team Titles. Like is often the case with a barbed wire cage match, or even regular steel cage matches with…

Super Vader vs. Tatsuo Nakano, UWFi The Fight of Champions II (5/6/1993) Vader has returned to Japan, now jumping to the UWFi in something of a coup given that he's also in the middle of his essentially year-long run as WCW World Heavyweight Champion, and they could not have lined up a better debut for him than this. Tatsuo Nakano, the ever beleaguered hard luck warrior of the UWFi, has absolutely zero chance, he's beaten before the bell ever rings on paper along with another probable busted up nose to go along with yet another audacious beating, and everybody knows it but him.

Super Vader vs. Tatsuo Nakano, UWFi The Fight of Champions II (5/6/1993)

Vader has returned to Japan, now jumping to the UWFi in something of a coup given that he's also in the middle of his essentially year-long run as WCW World Heavyweight Champion, and they could not have lined up a better…

Atsushi Onita vs. Terry Funk, FMW Genten Day Ten ~ 4th Anniversary Show (5/5/1993) Commissions continue again, this one coming from an anonymous Ko-fi contributor, one who ought to take this as a lesson to check what projects I'm in the middle of before paying for something they were going to get for free anyways. You can be like them and pay me to write about all different types of stuff. People tend to choose wrestling matches, but very little is entirely off the table, so long as I haven't written about it before (and please, come prepared with a date or show name or something if it isn't obvious).

Atsushi Onita vs. Terry Funk, FMW Genten Day Ten ~ 4th Anniversary Show (5/5/1993)

Commissions continue again, this one coming from an anonymous Ko-fi contributor, one who ought to take this as a lesson to check what projects I'm in the middle of before paying for something they were going to get…

The Sheik/Sabu vs. Dr. Hannibal/Dr. Luther, FMW Genten Day Ten ~ 4th Anniversary Show (5/5/1993) Matches can be great for lots of reasons. Sometimes there's some intricate attention to detail, some total commitment, an undeniable physical skill on display, mechanical perfection, a perfectly executed story, and of course any one of those kinds of things working in sync with another. Other times, something is just really fucking cool. This match is a hair under seven minutes and it's entirely made up of the bad doctors bleeding a lot, old man Sheik stabbing both of them in the face as often as possible and recklessly throwing tables into them and throwing them into other objects, and then early era but still pretty nutty Sabu flips and table spots.

The Sheik/Sabu vs. Dr. Hannibal/Dr. Luther, FMW Genten Day Ten ~ 4th Anniversary Show (5/5/1993)

Matches can be great for lots of reasons. Sometimes there's some intricate attention to detail, some total commitment, an undeniable physical skill on display, mechanical perfection, a perfectly…

Volk Han vs. Mitsuya Nagai, RINGS Battle Dimension 1993 ~ Tokyo Bay Area Circuit #1 (4/24/1993) In the same way that styles make fights, matchmaking really does matter, at least so long as it's reflected in the match itself in some way. Take a look at this match for an example. Mechanically speaking, Mitsuya Nagai is not yet lighting the world on fire, to whatever extent he ever did years later when he became a very very reliable wrestler, and although he's perfectly fine, he doesn't exactly dazzle as a Volk Han opponent.

Volk Han vs. Mitsuya Nagai, RINGS Battle Dimension 1993 ~ Tokyo Bay Area Circuit #1 (4/24/1993)

In the same way that styles make fights, matchmaking really does matter, at least so long as it's reflected in the match itself in some way. Take a look at this match for an example. Mechanically…

Sergei Sousserov vs. Todor Todorov, RINGS Battle Dimension 1993 ~ Tokyo Bay Area Circuit #1 (4/24/1993) The thing about RINGS, for those wondering in real time why I haven't covered any RINGS in 1993 prior to this, is that it really can all run together sometimes. RINGS is rarely ever bad, the majority of RINGS shows are made up entirely of matches with a floor of "pretty good", but when you watch enough, the lower or mid-level work (relative to RINGS itself) kind of all blends together.

Sergei Sousserov vs. Todor Todorov, RINGS Battle Dimension 1993 ~ Tokyo Bay Area Circuit #1 (4/24/1993)

The thing about RINGS, for those wondering in real time why I haven't covered any RINGS in 1993 prior to this, is that it really can all run together sometimes. RINGS is rarely ever bad, the…

Bull Nakano vs. Devil Masami, JWP (4/18/1993) Once again, many things can be true at once. First off, this is cool as hell. Throwing two different generations of mean and cool top AJW antagonists at each other is already a winning formula on paper, especially when they had little enough overlap (three six or eight woman tags in 1985-86, when Bull wasn't really Bull at all) to make this essentially a first time ever meeting. 

Bull Nakano vs. Devil Masami, JWP (4/18/1993)

Once again, many things can be true at once. First off, this is cool as hell. Throwing two different generations of mean and cool top AJW antagonists at each other is already a winning formula on paper, especially when they had little enough overlap…

that time again

(matches, fights, fight scenes, 1 movie per $10, etc.)
(feel free to double/triple/etc. up)
(all promotion bans lifted)
(but try not to be a jerk, make sure your picks haven't been covered yet, etc.)

ko-fi.com/elhijodelsimon

Mano Negra vs. Oro, CMLL 37 Aniversario del Arena Mexico (4/2/1993) Commissions continue again, this one coming from frequent and generous Ko-fi contributor @beenthrifty. You can be like them and pay me to write about all different types of stuff. People tend to choose wrestling matches, but very little is entirely off the table, so long as I haven't written about it before (and please, come prepared with a date or show name or something if it isn't obvious).

Mano Negra vs. Oro, CMLL 37 Aniversario del Arena Mexico (4/2/1993)

Commissions continue again, this one coming from frequent and generous Ko-fi contributor @beenthrifty. You can be like them and pay me to write about all different types of stuff. People tend to choose wrestling matches, but very…

Mark Kerr vs. Enson Inoue, PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 Opening Round (1/30/2000) Commissions continue again, this one coming from frequent and generous Ko-fi contributor Carlos O. You can be like them and pay me to write about all different types of stuff. People tend to choose wrestling matches, but very little is entirely off the table, so long as I haven't written about it before (and please, come prepared with a date or show name or something if it isn't obvious).

Mark Kerr vs. Enson Inoue, PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 Opening Round (1/30/2000)

Commissions continue again, this one coming from frequent and generous Ko-fi contributor Carlos O. You can be like them and pay me to write about all different types of stuff. People tend to choose wrestling matches, but…

The British Bulldog vs. Shawn Michaels, WWF One Night Only (9/20/1997) Commissions continue again, this one coming from Ko-fi contributor Jack Mangoon. You can be like them and pay me to write about all different types of stuff. People tend to choose wrestling matches, but very little is entirely off the table, so long as I haven't written about it before (and please, come prepared with a date or show name or something if it isn't obvious).

The British Bulldog vs. Shawn Michaels, WWF One Night Only (9/20/1997)

Commissions continue again, this one coming from Ko-fi contributor Jack Mangoon. You can be like them and pay me to write about all different types of stuff. People tend to choose wrestling matches, but very little is entirely…

Bobo Brazil vs Giant Baba, JWA Golden Series 1968 Day Thirty One (6/27/1968) Commissions continue again, this one coming from regular Ko-fi contributor Trevor Fitzpatrick. You can be like them and pay me to write about all different types of stuff. People tend to choose wrestling matches, but very little is entirely off the table, so long as I haven't written about it before (and please, come prepared with a date or show name or something if it isn't obvious).

Bobo Brazil vs Giant Baba, JWA Golden Series 1968 Day Thirty One (6/27/1968)

Commissions continue again, this one coming from regular Ko-fi contributor Trevor Fitzpatrick. You can be like them and pay me to write about all different types of stuff. People tend to choose wrestling matches, but very…

GUNTHER vs. The Miz, WWE Raw (12/18/2023) Commissions continue again, this one coming from Ko-fi contributor MainsTheMad. You can be like them and pay me to write about all different types of stuff. People tend to choose wrestling matches, but very little is entirely off the table, so long as I haven't written about it before (and please, come prepared with a date or show name or something if it isn't obvious).

GUNTHER vs. The Miz, WWE Raw (12/18/2023)

Commissions continue again, this one coming from Ko-fi contributor MainsTheMad. You can be like them and pay me to write about all different types of stuff. People tend to choose wrestling matches, but very little is entirely off the table, so long as I…

Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat, NWA Chi Town Rumble (2/20/1989) Commissions continue again, this one coming from an anonymous Ko-fi contributor. You can be like them and pay me to write about all different types of stuff. People tend to choose wrestling matches, but very little is entirely off the table, so long as I haven't written about it before (and please, come prepared with a date or show name or something if it isn't obvious).

Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat, NWA Chi Town Rumble (2/20/1989)

Commissions continue again, this one coming from an anonymous Ko-fi contributor. You can be like them and pay me to write about all different types of stuff. People tend to choose wrestling matches, but very little is entirely off the…

Genichiro Tenryu/Takashi Ishikawa vs. Riki Choshu/Shinya Hashimoto, WAR (4/2/1993) Outside of the Tenryu vs. Hashimoto singles matches, and maybe a few other Tenryu singles matches, I wouldn't argue too heavily if someone thought this was the highpoint of WAR vs. New Japan. The crowd here in the Sendai City Gymnasium at least ensures that, atmosphere wise, this is right up there with the very start of the feud.

Genichiro Tenryu/Takashi Ishikawa vs. Riki Choshu/Shinya Hashimoto, WAR (4/2/1993)

Outside of the Tenryu vs. Hashimoto singles matches, and maybe a few other Tenryu singles matches, I wouldn't argue too heavily if someone thought this was the highpoint of WAR vs. New Japan. The crowd here in the…

Shiro Koshinaka/Kengo Kimura/Kuniaki Kobayashi/Akitoshi Saito vs. Ashura Hara/Super Strong Machine/Hiromichi Fuyuki/Koki Kitahara, WAR (4/2/1993) Once again, in ways I'm sort of running out of words to describe given how rarely the reasons for it change, this card's Heisei Ishingun vs. WAR tag delivers. There are a bunch of moving pieces here, guys rotating in and out quickly enough for nothing to weigh down on it like it might in a two on two tag or even a regular six man, sick brawling spots early on like another piledriver on a table from Koshinaka, and what feels like a million awesome kicks.

Shiro Koshinaka/Kengo Kimura/Kuniaki Kobayashi/Akitoshi Saito vs. Ashura Hara/Super Strong Machine/Hiromichi Fuyuki/Koki Kitahara, WAR (4/2/1993)

Once again, in ways I'm sort of running out of words to describe given how rarely the reasons for it change, this card's Heisei Ishingun vs. WAR tag…

Jushin Liger/El Samurai vs. Ultimo Dragon/Masao Orihara, WAR (4/2/1993) Finally, the juniors of New Japan and WAR have something to add to the best feud of the year. That's not to say they haven't had the chance before. All through these shows I've been watching, there have been NJPW vs. WAR juniors matches, usually involving El Samurai and Ultimo Dragon. They just haven't done a whole lot for me, or stood out really much at all compared to the heavyweight stuff.

Jushin Liger/El Samurai vs. Ultimo Dragon/Masao Orihara, WAR (4/2/1993)

Finally, the juniors of New Japan and WAR have something to add to the best feud of the year. That's not to say they haven't had the chance before. All through these shows I've been watching, there have been NJPW vs. WAR…

Mitsuhiro Matsunaga/Jason the Terrible vs. Freddie Krueger/Leatherface, WING Rose-Colored Future Day Five (3/20/1993) This was a no ropes barbed wire net steel cage match. Following the collapse of his Puerto Rican army (and apparently the defection of Jason to the side of good, along with Miguel Perez Jr.), Victor Quinones has enlisted pure monsters, as well as the helpful use of two vowels instead of one to gracefully sidestep any potential lawsuits, to destroy (stop the???) Matsunaga, inside one of WING's many many wonderful contraptions.

Mitsuhiro Matsunaga/Jason the Terrible vs. Freddie Krueger/Leatherface, WING Rose-Colored Future Day Five (3/20/1993)

This was a no ropes barbed wire net steel cage match. Following the collapse of his Puerto Rican army (and apparently the defection of Jason to the side of good, along with Miguel…

Genichiro Tenryu/Ashura Hara/Masao Orihara vs. Shiro Koshinaka/Kengo Kimura/The Great Kabuki, WAR (3/5/1993) Repeating myself isn't especially fun to me as a writer, and I can't imagine it's any more fun to read over and over again, but this is is another one. One more on a bunch of different piles. Another great WAR vs. New Japan tag. Another great WAR vs. New Japan tag where Heisei Ishingun makes up the New Japan side of things.

Genichiro Tenryu/Ashura Hara/Masao Orihara vs. Shiro Koshinaka/Kengo Kimura/The Great Kabuki, WAR (3/5/1993)

Repeating myself isn't especially fun to me as a writer, and I can't imagine it's any more fun to read over and over again, but this is is another one. One more on a bunch of different…

Genichiro Tenryu/Takashi Ishikawa vs. Riki Choshu/Osamu Kido, WAR (3/3/1993) Like the Hashimoto vs. Fuyuki match that came right before it, this is not the most traditional interpromotional fight, likely owing to a choice to play a little more to a more vocal pro-New Japan audience in Yokohama than had been the case on previous WAR shows. Like that match, it's played much more evenly, with tension on both sides, and in this case, as a dueling control segment type of a tag team match.

Genichiro Tenryu/Takashi Ishikawa vs. Riki Choshu/Osamu Kido, WAR (3/3/1993)

Like the Hashimoto vs. Fuyuki match that came right before it, this is not the most traditional interpromotional fight, likely owing to a choice to play a little more to a more vocal pro-New Japan audience in Yokohama…