Bookmark Monday

 Hi y'all this blog post is an excuse for me to go through my twitter bookmarks (with a handy dandy wheel) and watch some great wrestling.

Randy Savage Jerry Lawler vs Rick Rude King Kong Bundy 9/10/1984

Savage and Lawler throw amazing punches, and as they beat up Rude, as the crowd roars. No better punches to be found anywhere in the land. The delayed lock up before Lawler losing the lock up, leading to Savage making the save is incredible pro wrestling. The stalling as Lawler sells the threat of Bundy is a perfect example of doing less but getting so much more out of it. Savage on the apron isn't physically involved in the match until his tag but is fantastic. These four are doing so little and I do not mean that in a bad way. I mean to say that they are getting so much out of every single thing they do, not a moment or an action wasted. The crowd reacts to every single thing they do. All four men have the crowd in the palms of their hands. The pop for Lawler knocking the heads of the heels together is amazing. The double team offense from Savage and Lawler is fantastic as the crowd roars. Savage also hits one of the best airplane spins I have seen, with an even better sell by the future Ravishing One. This is the first time I really get it with Lawler but by gods, is he ever great here. Savage as well, just amazing, taking down Bundy. The way Rude taunts and drives Savage to the point of violence drawing the ref away for Bundy to work over the King is awesome. Lawler's selling and exhaustion after he kicks out makes this extended heat segment just that much better. The commentary is even better putting over the amazing punches from Lawler before we get the classic 1980's double count out so no one has to lose. Was awesome genuinely.

65/80

Masanobu Fuchi vs Terry Gordy April 2nd 1992

This is the fan cam version of the match. Begins with a lock up that Gordy easily has the advantage in and then the heavy strikes begin. These chops are loud and very good from both. Gordy has the power advantage as the hierarchy would dictate, so Fuchi is bumping his ass off in this one. Pretty fun match so far where Gordy has the power advantage but the wily vet Fuchi is able to attack the limbs of Gordy. It's a pretty fun short match, wish we had more of Fuchi committing murder on Bam Bam's leg, but what we got was really fun. Gordy sells the leg pretty well whilst throwing Fuchi around taking the moment to shake it out etc. Fuchi even gets one or two close near falls on roll ups. I like how they establish the hierarchy but show a way that Fuchi could still win. Was a very fun match.

55/80

Ultimo Dragon Dragon Kid vs Ultimo Guerrero Rey Bucanero

Kid and Bucanero start with a lock up before we start with the fast paced action I am here for. Dragon Kid is doing crazy shit and Los Guerreros del Infierno are basing perfectly for said crazy shit. Both Ultimos tag in and it's a more grounded and submission base start from these two. Dragon doing all his signature escapes with someone as sturdy as UG is fucking awesome. This is fantastic as one would expect with the talent involved. The crowd is already reacting to Bucanero's rudoness and it is a sight to behold. the Dragons get worked over massively here as the control is firmly in the hands of Infierno. Ultimo Dragon uses his quickness to find space and Dragon Kid hits a massive dive onto Bucanero. Ultimo Guerrero at one point power bombs the shit out of Dragon Kid off the top rope before hitting an avalanche inverted vertical suplex, into a cover that Ultimo Dragon breaks up. The extended Infierno control segments are fantastic as they are able to throw the other two all over the place, before bumping like mad men when it's time. I love the way Infierno constantly cuts off the attempted signature Ultimo Dragon spot. Makes the moments where he does hit them even better. I do feel the comeback segment was too short, but nonetheless, a great match.

60/80

Gran Hamada Gran Naniwa Masato Yakushiji The Great Sasuke vs Dick Togo MEN's Teoih Shiryu Taka Michinoku

Kai En Tai DX starts the festivities early before the bell rings. One of the best feuds ever is as hot as ever in this one. They're away from their usual home in M-Pro but here for Investigation Team Battlearts. Taka and Sasuke begin this one. Sasuke kicks the daylights out of him before he works him over with the legend that is Hamada. The crowd loves every moment of Taka getting his ass beat. They just as much hate watching Yakushiji get his ass beat by the dastardly Kai En Tai. Can never go wrong with an M-Pro loyalists vs Kai En Tai multi man tag around this time and this is no exception, now featuring wild brawling through the legendary Korakuen hall. Absolutely wrecking the joint as the babyfaces are on the back foot. Was not expecting this brawling and it absolutely rules. Posing in the ring as the crowd serenades the dickheads with boos. Everyone's favorite crab is the one getting his ass beat as the crowd wants nothing more then to see Kai En Tai get beat. Hamada's old man fire as he gives Teoih the old what for is fantastic. I'm having a grand old time with this. Just as it was when Taka was being worked over, Togo is worked over and it's the crowd's favorite thing ever, wanting nothing more than for him to be one upped. Hamada being as smooth as a motherfucker no matter what time period you are looking at is a treat. This is another amazing Kai En Tai vs Michinoku Pro multi man that just simply never missed. What holds this incredibly fast paced and chaotic match together so well is the established dynamics along with awesome selling from every man involved. Kai En Tai DX are such dickheads, going as far as to unmask Naniwa before braining him with a chair as the ref is distracted. Naniwa is bleeding buckets and gets his revenge by unmasking Shiryu as the mat is now blood soaked. This is an amazing match you have to go watch.

70/80

MASADA vs GENTARO

Gentaro early on has the power advantage here before the grappling begins. I usually associate Masada fully with death matches, so seeing him pull off great grappling is awesome to see. I am really enjoying this match as the blood begins to flow after a sharp object of some kind is utilized by Masada. Masada hits a massive plancha, seemingly hurting his knee, before he continues to work over Gentaro. I really enjoy Masada as a monster working over Gentaro. Gentaro coming back with throws and crazy weapons is truly awesome before introducing essentially spiked sponges, it looks like. Masada also had a bandaged wound from a previous match which Gentaro focused on and is now bleeding spectacularly. Masada, as an unkillable monster, is fantastic, and Gentaro valiantly fighting back is an awesome story. This is a traditional match wrestled around a few key deathmatch elements and it is absolutely fantastic at it. A really good match hampered a little bit by the skewer spots taking forever to set up, but once they happened, they were amazing. Chair shot to the head to hit the skewers is peak deathmatch and Masada using a roll up after was even better. This was a king's road style deathmatch and was stellar.

60/80

5 really fun matches to varying extents. If you only watch one match here its the M-Pro tag but all are least worth a watch.