The Goodness of 2008 #2

Angle vs Samoa Joe

04/13/2008 - Total Non-Stop Action

Well this certainly has been a hot topic at the moment. In light of all the recent debate, I thought I'd lift my TNA embargo and have quick look at this match. Kurt looks like an MMA fighter, decked out in shorts and taped ankles. Joe just looks like Joe. Karen Angle gets thrown out before the match. THERE WILL BE NO SHENANIGANS. They start off trading strikes and then take it to the ground and grapple. Very MMA based as you would expect. Actually this is exactly what I wanted, a physical yet believable bout. My mind wandered and I got to thinking that a promotion that did this style in one form or another in every match and did it correctly, could be so fucking hot. Seriously I reckon like 1999 WWF levels. You'd need guys like Kurt and Lesnar who could adapt to this method, and it'd have to be done right with minimum bullshit, but it could be a US version of UWFi. One can dream. Anyway Angle pounds on Joe and it is grand. As Joe gets more into the match it definitely becomes more of a traditional pro wrestling match and less of a MMA battle, which is fine as Joe is a great wrestler, but I wanted them to go whole hog here. Anyway they go back to submission work, but with pro wrestling holds like STFs and Liontamers. Finally Joe wins with a Muscle Buster. Not as great as the first 5 minutes led me to believe it would be, but still entertaining nonetheless. Recommended viewing for an insight into how pro wrestling could be done in a new millennium.

Kojima vs Kawada

04/05/2008 - All Japan Pro Wrestling

It's time again for the motherfucking CHAMPION'S CARNIVAL! A time for celebration I'm sure you'll agree. Well Kawada does, and he chooses to celebrate the start of the tournament by kicking Kojima around the ring for the opening 5 minutes, which is good stuff. I love Kawada with all my heart, but he does seems to lack a certain conviction these days. In the old days you just know he's trying to kill fools with his feet, but now he seems to be going through the motions. Still complacent Kawada is better than no Kawada. There is an Japanese lady on commentary who is apparently rooting for Kawada; booing when he gets chopped and cheering when he delivers a palmful of hatred to Kojima's chest. Anyway she is rather annoying. They fight on the apron over a suplex, until Kojima gets bored and hits a DDT instead. Ouch. The girl on commentary seems to be half-arsing it a bit now, leading me to think she's not the die-hard Kawada fan I once believed her to be. The match builds very nicely until Koji tries to uses a chair to take the advantage. However Kawada will be fucked before he allows these sort of shenanigans to take place. A lariat and brainbuster adquetely convey how he feels about the situation. Koji's back up and blocks a jumping kick with a lariat. Awesome. Then Kojima's stablemate TARU gets involved and whacks Kawada on the back with a chair. The referee investigates this apparent infringement and Kojima takes advantage by hitting a Koji Cutter and planting Kawada on the chair with a brainbuster. However Kawada will not be beaten by such despicable methods. So Kojima lariats him out of his boots, picks up the win and Baba cries tears from heaven. A good match that started out slow, but really built well to the finish, even if Kawada did get fucked over.