iNeed a ROH Show - January 17, 2012

Kyle Patin and Zach Grigg of iNeedWrestling.com discuss the latest Ring of Honor TV episode and much more.

Remembering a Forgotten Classic (Reflecting on AJW) By Shaun Nichols

Left: Legendary female Japanese wrestler Aja Kong

Long time readers of this site and perhaps those who read when WLH was around in a sheet format will probably remember that I've always been a big fan of Japanese women's wrestling in the heyday of the early to mid 1990's. Most fans are aware of legendary shows like Dreamslam I and II, Big Egg Wrestling Universe and others may have actually seen shows like Dream Rush, St Battle or took the time to seek out legitimate classics like Manami Toyota vs Toshiyo Yamada (Hair vs Hair, and we are not talking about the loser getting a little trim).

The year of the two Dreamslam shows of 1993 were a fantastic example of several promotions working together to put on superb events which saw fans witness ***** star calibre matches, the first saw AJW's Akira Hokuto take a terrible beating against Shinobu Kandori before eventually being victorious. A week later AJW's representatives of Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada lost the tag titles to the JWP team of Dynamite Kansai and Mayumi Ozaki in what was their second of their awesome trilogy of matches.

AJW were the only promotion to host these major events and on 31/7/1993 the JWP promotion hosted an event called Thunder Queen Battle which simply put is one of the greatest matches of all time. It pitted JWP vs AJW, two teams of four wrestlers in a 60 minute match. The first 20 minutes would be split into four individual singles matches and would then culminate in a 40 minute featuring all eight wrestlers. Pinfalls could happen at any time, there would be no eliminations and it was simply a case of the team with the most decisions at the end won. What as surprised me is that this match format as never been copied elsewhere which is pretty disappointing as it worked so well here, maybe it's a combination of promotions not having the quality of worker to make it work or when you've seen the match done to perfection it might make sense to avoid the temptation to try and emulate it.

Anyway let me introduce the teams, representing AJW were Aja Kong, Kyoko Inoue, Takako Inoue and Sakie Hasegawa going against Team JWP who consisted of Dynamite Kansai, Mayumi Ozaki, Cuty Suzuki and Hikari Fukouka. The fans were going crazy before the match even started and it was very clear that the two big hitters (Kong and Kansai) were looking especially focused.

The initial pairings worked really well and told a very simple and thoughtful story. The fans were desperate to see Dynamite Kansai go against Aja Kong so they were saved until last not to overshadow anyone else in the match. The match started with Hasegawa facing Fukouka, this made sense on two levels. Firstly they the least experienced out of the wrestlers but they also had an immediate story to tell. Hasegawa had defeated Fukouka at Dreamslam II, now was the time for revenge. Fans immediately started a 'Hikari, Hikari' chant but it was Hasegawa that dominated until she got caught in a roll up after going for a spinning toe hold and all of a sudden the much favoured AJW team were losing 1-0.

The surprise pinfall so early, ensured the fans were not going to switch off. Next was Kyoko Inoue vs Mayumi Ozaki and Ozaki took no time in nailing Kyoko with 2 DDT's in an effort to increase the lead. Kyoko responded by going for long term damage including her famous giant swing spot which seemed a curious choice considering Mayumi would have at least 10 minutes to recover.

We then had the glamour element as Takako and Cuty went at it but still the AJW still trailed 1-0 even after Takako had dominated most of her period. At the start of the final 5 minute period Kansai charged at Aja only to met by a perfectly nailed spinning backfist which knocked out Kansai. Aja tried to pick up the limp body of her opponent but couldn't do so. So she simply instructed the referee to count Kansai out, while staring at the smaller members of the JWP team which gave a clear message of 'I've knocked her out, what do you think I'm going to do to you?'. Scores were tied at 1-1 and while Aja was never in any trouble during the rest of the period, Kansai did start to get some offence in to give the JWP team some hope.

The dominance of Aja Kong was even more solidified only 3 minutes into the final 4 vs 4 finale. In a melee she nailed poor Cuty with a crushing elbow drop and the AJW team had now completely bounced back from their earlier setback and were now leading 2-1. The match began to settle down with frequent quick tags from both teams. Kansai was determined to restore her credibility after the early loss, Ozaki and Kyoko were both simply fantastic as the two major workhorses in the match. Aja cut a threatening figure anytime she was in the fring and the AJW team decided at the 30 minute mark that they would settle on a new strategy.

Anytime of the AJW girls got in trouble, Takako Inoue would make the save. This did wonders to upset the crowd and the way she would give them smirk as she made her way back outside was excellent. During the match there was a clash between Kyoko and Ozaki which left Kyoko with a bad cut and Ozaki had a left eye that nearly swelled shut during the rest of the match. Not that either of them allowed that to stop them putting in career defining performances.

It was about at the 45 minute point that the JWP team really started to go all out to get a pinfall that would even the score, it had been over 20 minutes since Aja had pinned Cuty and now the fans wondered if their team could even the odds. Hikari Fukouka was the main star at this point using victory rolls, moonsaults to gain a number of close 2 counts but it was never quite enough. Finally at the 50 minute mark Kansai got her redemption and used her splash mountain (think Razor's Edge) on Kyoko to even things up at 2-2.

It was pretty clear at this point that the match may end with this score but it seemed unlikely that we would see anymore than one pinfall that would give victory to that team. Aja entered the fray once again to try and give her team the all important win and it was Mayumi Ozaki who took the brunt of her anger. The normally elegant Ozaki looked like anything but. With her left eye nearly shut and Aja beating the hell out of here, she really looked like the ultimate babyface in peril. Although she eventually made the tag to Kansai, Kansai wasn't able to run wild and quickly found herself on the defensive.

With only 3 minutes or so the match completely broke down into a number of hot falls, desperate kick outs and finishers being hit all over the place. The fans were all standing up cheering their team on but each time it looked like we would see the winning pinfall it was broken up. In the final minute Takako tried to lock Ozaki in her cross arm special but she escaped only to catch Takako with her tequila surprise suplex in a last minute attempt to snatch the win. The referee slowly made his count and Takako who had taunted the fans for so long could not escape. Against all odds JWP had defeated AJW 3-2, the fans are screaming 'JWP, JWP' in their happiness.

They had witnessed one of their greatest matches ever seen. I urge any wrestling fan who has not seen this match to do so, you really won't regret it.

Rating: *****

Let Me Speak On This - WWE & TNA Talk (13/01/12)

Please visit WLH sponsor The Marks For Xcellence Podcast right here http://mfxpodcast.com

Well, here we are 2012 and pro wrestling is in full swing. Everyone knows I am all about Indy wrestling but I do keep up to date with some WWE & TNA stuff so I’ll just scribble a few of my thoughts here.

Now, after all the It Begins hype we finally got the return of one Chris Jericho, I’d gone on record on twitter etc. Beforehand saying that if it were to be Jericho who returned I’d find it boring and even before RAW aired it was all but confirmed it was Jericho booked to return as he was spotted in the airport where RAW was being filmed so that was enough as far as I was concerned. But, I did think, this is pro-wrestling, could this be a swerve was the sighting of Jericho a planned thing by the WWE because they wouldn’t be that slack would they given the big build up to the return? To answer that, yes of course. I got up early on the Monday morning here in the UK to catch the end of RAW so I could see the return which of course was Jericho and all the fallout from it was a hot topic by the internet wrestling community.
Like many, I thought at the time it was poorly done, Jericho in his bright, sparkly jacket with flashing lights on and then he came down all smiles, really corny, hand slapping all the fans at ringside but then when he got in the ring, he just didn’t speak and ended up leaving the ringside area, went up the ramp and just went backstage. As I said, I ,like many thought other than I was already bored as it was Jericho returning it got worse when he did what he did with the not talking etc. I thought it was very poor. Not everyone however on the internet thought the same, they thought it was done very well because, they knew, no matter what Jericho’s past character was in the WWE, he was going to get a big pop and cheered by the fans. So the WWE could of gone down the obvious route, let him cut a promo in the ring saying how he hates all the fans and that type of stuff where he would of got his heel heat but no, what they decided to do was the total opposite, he just didn’t say a word which did just as good of a job of annoying the fans.

After a few days of the RAW show taking place, in retrospect I looked back put my disappointment of it being Jericho who returned behind me and realized that this angle was indeed done very well so I wants to pay kudos to the WWE for that for doing something different.
What took place on this past Monday’s RAW with Jericho coming out and once again not talking but crying in the ring was something totally different and I really don’t know what to make of it.

Another return to the WWE was on Brodus Clay who finally re-debuted on RAW under the tag line of Funkasaurus which for me and many others came across as a mix between Flash Funk (a character played by Too Scorpio in the WWF back in the mid 90’s) ,The Godfather who was one of the many characters played by Charles Wright in the WWF (some of the others were Papa Shango & KAMA) and Rikishi. I have told people who will listen; I think WWE have done this as a big F YOU to the internet fans. For weeks, months even fans have been moaning about him not making his comeback so WWE thought, tell you what, have this. Some say it’s a case of WWE not knowing what to do with him, I mean, we thought he may have been a bulldozer type gimmick like the late Umaga but we got the total opposite and it was well strange to say the least. It seems to be liked by many and if for whatever reason you missed it, the video is below.



Also on this week’s past RAW Edge was announced as the first official inductee to the class of 2012 Hall of Fame. I personally never liked Edge as a wrestler or a character but I cannot take away from him what he achieved in his WWE career before it was cut short after last year’s Wrestle Mania.

Also announced for the Hall of Fame were The Four Horsemen consisting of Barry Windham, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, JJ Dillon and yes that man Ric Flair. Even though Flair is already in the HOF he is going in once again and the Horsemen without Flair just doesn’t work so it should be a night to remember. Of course, Flair is under contract with TNA so can he appear at the HOF? Well take a look at the video below from a fan who spoke to Flair at a recent signing.



A little on TNA now, they have announced that when they do their UK tour at the end of the month here in the UK the London show will be filmed for episodes of IMPACT Wrestling. It’s good in one way that the fans are getting to be a part of the TV show but on the downside, it’s TV so there may be a bit of hanging around, the matches won’t be as long, there may be a lot of in-ring talking because one thing TNA is good for despite all the bad press they get, the house shows are usually very good and I have been to a TNA house show myself and it was very good indeed, a good 90% better than the WWE Smack Down house show I went to a couple of months ago.

Anyway, that’s it for now, any comments, drop me a line on twitter @WLHSTU or email me wlhstu@aol.co.uk

Just A Note From Stu Rodgers

As some of you may know, The Indy Corner, my weekly audio show on all things independent wrestling has a new home and that is the MFX podcast (http://mfxpodcast.com) many are asking why I left TWS and to be honest, I'm not going to rant on them but I'll just say a little bit, people who followed The Indy Corner will know it wasn't on every week, sometimes due to myself and sometimes due to them. Various things happened behind the scenes shall we say, that just made the partnership between TWS and I just untenable I do however want to publicly thank my former Indy Corner co-host Steve Grieve, I never had a problem with Steve it's just one of those things. I know TWS are carrying on with an Indy wrestling based show but I hope anyone who use to enjoy my coverage of Indy wrestling will continue to support me on the MFX podcast.

Now, I want to thank Duckman & Sir Ian for giving The Indy Corner a spot on MFX, Duckman will be doing the show with me (our first was on episode 4 which is on the site now and iTunes) and he knows his stuff and is a BIG fan of the independent wrestling scene as well as wrestling in general.

So the site is above but if you can also LIKE the shows page on facebook, just search for Marks For Xcellence and while doing that please also LIKE The Indy Corner on there too.

Thanks again for those who have supported me, I hope you listen to us in 2012 and enjoy what you here.

Support Indy Wrestling

iNeed a ROH Show - January 10, 2012

Kyle Patin and Zach Grigg of iNeedWrestling.com discuss the latest Ring of Honor TV episode and much more.

iNeed a ROH Show - January 3, 2012

Kyle Patin and Zach Grigg iNeedWrestling.com discuss the latest Ring of Honor TV episode and much more.

2011 End of Year Awards By AH Walker

Above: Mr Walker's wrestler of the year: Kevin Steen

1st off, my apologies for not contributing to this site as much as I should have in the year of 2011, my new year’s resolution is to write more here more. 2nd, I can imagine some of you won’t like what I have to say. Now let’s get to it.
Actual Intro

2011 has been in all accounts a great year for wrestling for the smarks. It has been full of great talking points stemming from various good and bad angles, matches, storylines and promos and it is here that I will show to you, the loyal readers of wrestling’s last hope. En-fucking-joy

Wrestler of the Year

So many people deserve this award. The WWE have guys like CM Punk, R-Truth, Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan and Alberto Del Rio. TNA have, Bobby Roode, James Storm and Crimson. The Independent Scene saw guys like El Generico, Eddie Edwards, Davey Richards, Chris Hero amongst a lot of others, but there is only one man that I can say has had the best year in the world of wrestling and it is Kevin Steen. Since the beginning of 2011 he has upped his in ring work, lost weight and has been in the biggest storyline in all of indy wrestling, without being in the actual promotion in 6 months and only wrestling one match in the company all year and that was a few weeks ago. He had carried this storyline in various promotions all across the US all year and now he has the most momentum in all of wrestling, going into 2012. All eyes on him. Honourable mention goes to Akira Tozawa, Mark Henry and Bully Ray.

Tag Team of the Year

Unfortunately, the WWE has neglected the tag team division in recent months and they have only just started to revitalise it, meaning that I am not taking that into account here. Sorry Air Boom. TNA’s best tag team have wrestled about under 5 times all year due to injury and the other decent tag team were split up to get singles pushes. So this is mainly down to independent tag teams. This year 3 tag teams have risen above the rest. Sorry Young Bucks and Bad Intentions, The Briscoes doing two double turns, cutting amazing promos and capturing more tag team gold have solidified them as my favourite tag team of the year

Show of the Year

Without a shadow of a doubt Steen Wolf presented by PWG was by far the show of the year. Every match was great, the last 3 were phenomenal. The crowd loved it from start to finish. And the return of Super Dragon was one of the best moments of wrestling PERIOD. The fact that a near 4 hour show had my attention from start to finish is a feat in itself.

PPV of the Year

Money in the Bank presented by the WWE. Great matches. Great commentary. Great moments that most people (I know I will) watching will remember. Fantastic PPV. Special mention goes to High Noon for pretty much the same reason.

Mark Out Moment of the Year

This does not go to the return of Super Dragon to PWG. This does not go to the return of The Rock to the WWE. This goes to Christian winning the World Heavyweight Title. This is because it gave off the feeling of a Lifetime achievement award. And whilst watching this I was transported 10 years prior to when I first saw Christian in the WWE. He was looked at as not to succeed and he did and it was a great sight to see.

Facepalm moment of the year

I really wanted to give this ‘award’ to Jeff Hardy’s ‘performance’ at Victory Road. But it has to CM Punk’s return from leaving the company. I mean come the fuck on. The moment they created at Money in the Bank was truly a once in a lifetime moment and the WWE went and took a big dump on it because they are about the almighty dollar. Also the utter burial of the WWE Championship in the following month as they had 4 champions in 4 weeks. Well done WWE. Well done.

Match of the Year

I wanted to give this to Steen vs Generico in a ladder match from Steen Wolf but I am giving it to John Cena vs CM Punk from Money in the Bank. Why? I am glad you asked. This match had perfect psychology, it was thoroughly entertaining and it had a perfect moment at the end. The crowd was into it the entire time and you can’t get that all the time with some matches that go that long which are not the Royal Rumble or a ladder match. Also the sheer unpredictability and the mark out moments were fantastic. 5 out of 5.

Commentator of the Year

I have two choices for this. The first of which was Excalibur. This man has the ‘don’t give a fuck’ mentality as he says whatever the fuck he wants to and will make his feelings known. His views then become your own as you love what he says. The second choice? Michael Cole. I don’t care what anybody says. When he buries people he is putting them over. Case in point Daniel Bryan. Half of his push was down to Michael Cole and he is a bigger star because of it. Same goes with The Miz. Sure some of the time he completely negates the matches going on but is that his fault. Let’s not forget who there is someone that is barking him orders through his headset. Honourable mention goes to Nigel McGuiness because he is a genius.

Heel Turn of the Year

Mark Henry. He made the turn from high 5’ing happy go lucky pussy giant to believable badass World Champion. He may not be the best worker but he was a believable World Champion. It is a shame he got injured as I felt he needed to walk into Mania as the World Champion.

Face Turn of the Year

Sheamus. He started this year as King Sheamus and I thought he was doomed. Eventually he returned to badass Celtic warrior and when he arrived in Smackdown he was caught up with a feud with Mark Henry and since then he is super over with the crowd. He is possibly 4th biggest face in the company and I see more world championships in this guy’s future.

So that was 2011 in my eyes. If you want to debate @AH_Walker is my Twitter. Also check out my podcast the PK and AH show, which can be found here. Peace NERDS. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/trendingtopics