the "not close" part may have been a bit of hyperbole. he's the most over guy in most arenas he's in and Tanahashi is close. I don't think Shinskay is close and Sakuraba is considerably behind him..
i love the burning hammer. i get so giddy when he does it. i recently watched his entire GHC title reign (14 defenses + title win). he only used it 3 times (vs Misawa to win, vs Akiyama, and vs Taue). i never get sick of watching Kobashi, truly the GOAT of ring workers. he makes people that have no business in the ring with him look like a million bucks. i'm moving on to a bit of Misawa singles action .
I have seen a few Misawa matches and was always impressed, mostly because it was one of his matches I watched that had be thinking puro was a shoot, lol. I mean I obviously knew it wasn't but was wondering if those two guys just agreed to beat the **** out of each other in that match just for the hell of it. I have since found quite a few puro matches are like that and they work a lighter load because of it. If my last few sentences don't show how much of a noob I am to puro I don't know what does, lol.
I was joking. I think their 4/7 match is the best of the 2000's with only Undertaker/HBK from WM 25 and Kobashi/Misawa from 3/1/03 coming anywhere close. Their 1/4 match is the worst of the four which is still elite. They also had a great match on 6/16/12 that shouldn't be slept on. Their first match from last February is their worst but still really good.
me some Ohtani. Still going strong after all these years but I prefer his '95 work. Had some epics with Liger.
30 Years Ago
December 26, 1983
WWF Champion Bob Backlund vs. The Iron Sheik at Madison Square Garden
The result of this match shocked me more than I've ever been as a wrestling fan. Granted, I was only 12 and hadn't known any other WWF champions.
This version is edited.
The Preamble
This was taped on December 7th and first aired on the WWF syndicated program, All Star Wrestling, on the 24th, just two days before the title match.
The Iron Sheik would regularly bring his Persian execise clubs into the ring and claim that no American wrestler could use them proficiently. For weeks, the challenge wasn't met by anybody. Then, Bob Backlund, stepped up.
The Consequences
On December 27th, Hulk Hogan returned to the WWF, though very few of the WWF's fans would see it. At a TV taping of WWF Wrestling at the Chase (the St. Louis territory's show until it was cancelled in September of 1983), Hogan beat jobber Bill Dixon.
At the next TV taping for the syndicated WWF Championship Wrestling (taped January 3rd and aired on the January 7th), former champion Bob Backlund takes on Samoan #3. However, the other two Samoans and their manager, Capt. Lou Albano, harass Backlund from outside the ring. So, the former champion goes to the dressing room to bring out his new friend, Hulk Hogan.
The crowd's reaction to Hogan is extraordinary.
This version is complete but is poor quality, probably taken from a VHS.
This version is excellent quality but just focuses on the introduction of Hogan.
At the same TV taping (and airing a week later on 1/14), Bob Backlund and Hulk Hogan teamed up to face Mr. Fuji and Tiger Chung Lee.
This is poor quality, again probably from an old VHS tape.
At a new WWF Wrestling at the Chase (taped 1/16 and aired 1/21), Hogan was interviewed on Victory Corner (replaced by Piper's Pit a week later) and said he wanted to challenge the Iron Sheik for the WWF title. The Victory Corner segment would be shown on the other WWF syndicated shows.
Later, Hogan beat jobber Gilbert Guerrero in about a minute.
Hulkamania
Bob Backlund was scheduled to get a rematch against the Iron Sheik at the next Madison Square Garden event. On the weekend before the match, Hogan replaced Backlund. The reason given was Backlund injury.
Hogan's match against the Iron Sheik was just his fourth since his return to the WWF.
January 23, 1984
WWF The Iron Sheik vs. Hulk Hogan at Madison Square Garden
This version includes the pre-match interview with the Iron Sheik He calls Hogan a bitch and Okerlund cuts the interview short.
At the end is Hogan's post-match interview and celebration in the locker room.
Vince McMahon Sr., who fired Hogan from the WWWF in 1981, can be seen holding the curtain open for Hogan from 2:46 to 2:48. This was an intentional welcome back gesture.
Such an underrated match in my mind. They put it all on the line that night and it wasn't a PPV.
Watched this last night. Awesome. There's like a 6 year period I didn't watch wrestling and didn't think I missed much, but love catching up on the things I missed that were good. Like this.
Watched Steiner Brothers VS. Sting and Lex Lugar from SuperBrawl 91 last night. Fantastic match, among the best non-gimmick tag-team matches I've seen.
Tiny tiny booking nitpick, and I realize this is lol, being it was coming up on 25 years now but I didn't like when Sting moved Lugar out of the way to get his by Koloff and his chain. Koloff had a beef with Sting, so it would have made more sense for Sting to get pushed out of the way by Lugar and then for Sting to realize what happened (after Lugar gets pinned) and run down Koloff (which he did). Like I said, huge nitpick, lol.
just watched the WM20 main event, for some reason I watch this whenever I feel down/depressed
Probably because it has the GOAT finish. I remember watching it live and actually yelling TAAAAAAAAPPPPP at the screen. I never verbally assault my TV when watching wrestling, but i sure did there
Watching SurSer2006, funny line by Sunny (guest commentator) as 'sober' Jake the Snake is getting into the ring..."Jake wanted to be a lawyer growing up but he couldn't pass the bar".
nice. love Gorilla's call in that match. Dynasty, if you can stomach Japanese commentary you should check out Andre vs Hansen from 9/23/81. Only 15ish minutes of two guys beating the crap out of each other. Don't turn off till end of video
watched Rock vs HHH in an Ironman match from some ppv in 2000. this match was a drag. gets lots of good reviews in wrestling forums but meh, thought it was borderline bad.
ROH - Generation Next (Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, Jack Evans, and Matt Sydal) vs. The Embassy (Jimmy Rave, Alex Shelley, Abyss, and Prince Nana) in Steel Cage Warfare.
Loved it. Thought it was excellent. Some sick spots involving Evans and Aries delivering the suplex onto the chair.