Welcome, welcome, one and all! This is week 70 of the Wrestling Vault which means only one thing!
The Weekly Watchlist Wrestling Roulette!
Yes, that's right folks, it's time for the once-every-10-weeks tradition to return! You guys know the deal (and if you don't, I break it down in the Weekly Roundup), I let a random number generator pick matches from my master spreadsheet of matches. I've got almost 2400 matches to pick from (including stuff I've watched already, obviously) so only the RNG gods know what I'll be watching this week!
Why don't you read on and find out, eh?
Weekly Roundup
Here's the rules for Wrestling Roulette;
1: I am allowed to pick 5 matches of my own from the list/not on the list I want to watch.
2: I am allowed as many rerolls as necessary until I land on a match I have not watched yet.
3: I am allowed 3 rerolls total if I land on a match I do not want to watch.
4: I am allowed to skip a match for free if it is too difficult to find or exists behind a paywall I do not want to pay for.
5: Wrestling matches can still be watched if they are not going to be up for consideration for a Wrestling Roulette review.
So, here's what I watched for the week;
And here's what we're reviewing for Wrestling Roulette this week;
Kyle O'Reilly vs. Roderick Strong - Guerrilla Warfare Match
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Shitty little jumper. PWG |
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| Consider your Heartache, Ended. PWG |
• • • • •
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Keiji Muto
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| Champions introductions. AJPW |
This Tenryu guy only seems to show up in Roulette week? Eh? I'm starting to think it's a sign to watch his stuff during non-Roulette weeks to properly appreciate his work. I mean, it's not like I don't or anything, I just don't watch a lot of his stuff, that's all! I will never, however, pass up the opportunity to point out that his theme song, "Thunder Storm" is off of Masayoshi Takanaka's magnum fucking opus album "The Rainbow Goblins" which you need to listen to yesterday. As good as Tenryu is in ring, this album blows him out of the water. I'm listening to it as I draft this review and the goosebumps are starting to build. It's nuts.
Alright, back to the match. Tenrty is AJPW Triple Crown Champion here for this match, with Muto challenging. Right from the opening moments, Muto looks to be a coiled fucking spring. I mean, he is, because the moment that bell rings, Muto flies out of the corner with a dropkick to Tenryu. He focuses on the right knee of the champion, drilling him in the head with a Shining Wizard when he tries to block his offence. The intensity at the opening moments is off the fucking charts here, with the reserved Tenryu pacing himself against the fiery and intense Muto. When he is on Tenryu, he is on him. Headlocks to try and squeeze a head already drilled by a knee, top wristlocks to weaken the chops, a kimura out of a pinfall attempt to apply unexpected pressure. Muto is wrestling a highly technical match here that Tenryu was not expecting.
Climbing back inside the ring after being crushed by a diving Muto, Tenryu's right leg gets sniped not once, but twice by dropkicks. Using his positioning on the apron to his advantage, Tenryu drills Muto with a brainbuster on the apron. Absolutely disgusting. Tenryu tries climbing back inside, but Muto hauls him down with a Dragon Screw, trying to completely destroy his leg on the way down to the floor. Back inside, Muto keeps the pressure on with a dropkick off the top rope, once again into the right knee of Tenryu. He's found a weakness and is honing in as much damage as he can to it, finding every single opportunity he can to turn offence against him into a way to damage Tenryu's foundation.
Tenryu isn't a slouch here either, he's decided to try and take out Muto's base as well, focusing in on his left leg, even twisting him around in a Texas Cloverleaf at one point, putting a high angle stretch on his limb. From there, the offence only gets heavier and heavier. Corner headscissors, chop and punch combinations in the corner, spider suplex's and knees to the face to counter brainbusters. Both men know they are shifting into the third gear here and are upping their offence to reflect that. Feeling the end is near, Muto begins drilling Tenryu with Shining Wizards over and over, pinning after each one but the champ is refusing to give in.
A backbreaker sets Tenryu up in the centre of the ring, with Muto running for the corner, ascending, and soaring, crushing the champ with a moonsault before covering for the one, the two! The three! We have a new Triple Crown Champion!
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| What a gorgeous moonsault. AJPW |
An exciting ride of a match from the very start. Muto is dangerous in his intensity and focus, knowing exactly what needs to be done from the very start of the match to try and take the champion down. Tenryu, to his part, is resilient and gives it right back to Muto, even make a valiant effort to escape the final pin, but the damage is just too much for the champ to handle. The damage to the legs eliminate his foundation and most of his power, and the Shining Wizards left him compromised enough to get caught with the fatal moonsault. A strong effort, but not quite strong enough to topple Muto. Fantastic match.
• • • • •
Big Van Vader & Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Hiroshi Hase & Keiji Muto
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| Talk about stacking the deck, eh? NJPW |
What a difference 9 years makes, eh? 1992 Muto is a different cat compared to the 2001 Muto we just talked about. For those that don't know the players involved here, Muto is in the orange trunks and Hase is in the yellow, brandishing a pretty decently sized bandage over his left eye. Vader and Bammers, you guys should know from a quarter mile away, Vader at the very least. I could almost call this blog "Cliff Morgan's Vader Vault" with how many times he's been featured. What can I say, I love me some Vader!
This is Vader and Crusher's last defence of the titles before losing them to The Steiners in a month. They didn't hold the titles for very long, but man, these guys didn't need to. Honestly, I really think this team was just Vader and Bammers having fun. You can tell these guys were enjoying themselves from their entrance and introduction alone. They do, what I can only liken to, a rope drill, where Vader and Bammers run adjacent ropes while missing each other at the pass. Think about it this way, Vader hits the north rope and Bammers hits the east rope right after, by the time Vader clears the middle, Bammers is just about to reach the middle, one heading south, the other west. They run this back and forth before doing their own little back-and-forth secret handshake in the corner, both men smiling and ready to clobber these poor suckers into dust.
Bammers and Muto start the match off, with Crusher able to stand to to toe and match speed with the quick footed Muto. Hase is in the ring quick and so is Vader, the massive Vader overpowering Hase quickly. Hase is able to technically tie Vader up, but grizzly-sized paws in the corner do their damage quickly. Surprisingly, Hase is able to take Vade off his feet with a suplex! and Muto is able to back body drop Crusher as well! Despite their size, they show that brute strength isn't the only thing you need to take another human body to the canvas.
There are a lot of quick tags outs from Hase and Muto, with Bammers and Vader switching out when they need a breather and know the other man will be far better suited to lay in the heavy offence right now. Muto is able to get Vader over with a beautiful bridging German for a pin attempt, a move that would have been impossible if not for the frequent tags. At one point, Crusher decides that Hase won't be needing his bandage anymore, so he kindly removes it for him, before laying in some quick punches to the dome. I saw some comments speculating if Hase ran the razor in this match but I have a theory, and I think it's a pretty good one.
Hase, having already being busted open recently enough to warrant a bandage, only needed to have Vader punch him in the head a maximum of two times and bam, you're busted wide open. Simple equation.
From there, a bloodied Hase is their new victim, getting absolutely hammered and destroyed by Vader and Bammers. A lariat from Vader coats his pec and bicep in a deep layer of crimson, a sickening visual. Muto tries to save his partner, but Hase is completely isolated in no mans land, with the wolves picking his carcass apart piece by piece. He tries to make tags out, but he gets snatched and brought back to enemy territory in a hurry. Muto does make it in the ring- illegally, I might add, to fend off Crusher when he tries to help Vader with some double team offence, but this only leaves Hase alone with Vader. They take out Bammers on the floor by dropping him gut first on the barricade, leaving Vader all alone now for Hase and Muto to damage as much as they please.
When Bammers recovers, it turns into a four man scrum, with Muto and Hase once again isolating Bam Bam on the floor, He's back in the ring in a hurry to lend backup to Vader, with both men focusing in on Hase after Muto struggles to get back inside the ring. A senton from Crusher and a splash from Vader isn't quite enough for the big men to get the victory, with Vader resorting to a uranage for the decisive three count.
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| Your spine is no more. NJPW |
• • • • •
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Randy Savage
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| He's totally nuts! Ooooh yeeeah! WWF/AJPW/NJPW |
Y'know, the older I get, the more I realize the true character Randy Savage was portraying during his wrestling career. His persona was always a tough one for me to pin down, being a child of '96 and thus missing Randy's entire wrestling career. He was portraying a complete psychopath. I mean, just watch the guy! Was he even remotely sane for any part of his run in the WWF?! No! Randy verged on a complete mental breakdown on the regular! I say all this leading into this match with Tenryu, again, who only seems to show up during roulette week, because Randy is in peak psycho mode here. He's completely off his rocker.
Joined by Sensational Sherri, Savage is in his Macho Kind regalia and looks to be about as composed as the Macho King usually is when marching down to the ring. But when Tenryu comes out? Holy hell, he loses it. He's on the turnbuckle shouting down at him, ready to kill on sight. Tenryu tosses off his jacket as he makes his way to the ring, refusing Randy's offer as he holds the ropes open for him. I don't know if Randy thinks he pissed in his cheerios this morning or something, but Randy is out for blood here.
The bell sounds and we're off, a shoving match turns into shots back and forth, with Randy powdering to the floor when Tenryu shoots him into the ropes. Tenryu flattens Savage in the corner with an outright assault of chops, barking at him as he backs away. Tenryu back bodies Savage out to the floor and gives chase, with Sherri jumping him to distract for her man to get the upper hand. They brawl on the outside before Savage sends Tenryu back inside the ring, only to get caught with a kick upside the head that stuns the Macho King.
Chocking Tenryu leads to Savage shoving the ref down, but he decides better when he wants to cover his opponent, pulling the ref back to his feet so he can do his job and make the two count. Savage starts to build some momentum, resorting to chokes and cheap shots whenever he can. He even leaves Tenryu on the outside for Sherri to assault, totally fine with winning by count out. Back in the ring, Savage flies off the top with a crossbody, catching his leg on the way down. Tenryu seizes on this weakness and lands an enziguiri, dropping Savage in a heap. Pulling him in, he drills him with a powerbomb and covers for the three.
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| Sniped the King. WWF/AJPW/NJPW |
A pretty decent little match, clocking in right around 10 minutes. There was good intensity, pacing, and action from both men. Tenryu felt like he was genuinely needing to defend himself at times when Savage was on offence, ready to tear his opponent limb from limb if he had the chance to. In the end, Savage's high-flying did him in, creating enough of a weakness for Tenryu to capitalize and take him down. Fun little match!
• • • • •
Konosuke Takeshita vs. Mike Bailey
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| Respect. MLP |
It's a big fight feel in the main event of Maple Leaf Pro's first night of a two night event, Forged in Excellence. Takeshita went back to back main eventing this show, going against Josh Alexander in defence of his AEW International Championship on the second night of the event. This night one match with Bailey was truly exceptional, and may have even been a match of the year contender had I watched it last year. Dang, off by one.
A handshake starts this match off, both men pulling the other in without breaking the grip to get their last words in. Takeshita tries to take advantage of this by pulling Bailey in for a quick start, but after trading back and forth, a shoulder tackle from Takeshita takes Bailey down.
Honestly, this match is pretty mile-a-minute. I highly recommend you seek this one out and watch it yourself, as Roulette week is a bad way to try and get the general feel for this match, honestly. But, as a dedicated, wrestling reviewer, I'll do my best.
Bailey is on offence from the start, nearly landing his signature double knees on the apron, but a Death Valley Driver halts his momentum in a major way. Takeshita's size and striking power present some pretty major problems for Bailey. His strong Taekwondo background helps him to strike on equal footing, but it's hard to get the best of someone that is nearly a head taller than you. Takeshita is a freak athlete, man.
Again, Bailey tries to go for his moonsault double knees, but Takeshita just dropkicks him out of the sky, kinda like when Strowman did that to Apollo Crews all those years ago, except a bit less impressive. Sorry, Take. He lands a big german suplex and goes for another, but Bailey flips out of it, landing on his feet and trying his moonsault knees again. He is unsuccessful once, but the second time he tries, he lands them, stabbing right into the chest of Takeshita.
Attempting to mock Bailey by doing his big moonsault knees, Takeshita sets up above Bailey and gestures as if he's ready to flip, but instead changes course and just rips Bailey off the canvas by his head, clobbering him with a forearm shot that drops him heavy. Charging from the corner, Takeshita falls to the floor, only to get taken out by a corkscrew body press from Bailey from the inside out! A powerbomb attempt is countered into an alley-oop of sorts into the corner pads, with Bailey landing the Ultimate Weapon out of the corner on Takeshita, only to go for a big Canadian Destroyer! He wants to get the pin off of it, but Takeshita rolls to the outside, his larger body totally limp as Bailey struggles to roll him back inside.
A head scissors off the top rips Takeshita to the canvas, with a tornado kick attempt from Bailey being turned into a Blue Thunder Bomb from Takeshita, using his own momentum against him! Back to basics, they exchange strikes in the middle with Bailey nearly getting the best of the exchange until a heavy forearm from Takeshita drops Bailey flat out. Bailey recovers and lands a thrust kick, a tornado kick in the corner, and barely lands the Ultimate Weapon, going for a pin, only to score two!
Bailey tries to fend Takeshita off with punches and kicks, but he proves to be too much. A running knee strike nearly takes Bailey out, but he escapes at two. Grabbing his opponent by the hair, not wasting a second, Takeshita pulls Bailey in and drills him with Raging Fire, covering and pinning for the final three count.
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| The fire is raging! MLP |
What an esceptional match this way, truly. I know I couldn't give this the match the review I normally would for something of it's magnitude, but man, it was a real ripper. I've made it no secret how I feel about Takeshita, but Bailey is no slouch either. He was a huge part of what made DPW so much fun and, when he's on his own and the reigns are off, he's as good as some of the best on any roster. I mean that. I really hope we get to see this match again in AEW sometime this, or even next year. I just know they'll blow the lid off the place.
• • • • •
And there we have it, another Roulette week done! 5 really fun matches this week! I had a blast dipping into the retro rings of Japan and finally, finally getting those MLP matches off of my list. They were my two picks for Roulette, knowing one of them would be worthy of a review if nothing else this Roulette week panned out. Thankfully, the RNG gods were on our side this week.
So, until next week! Look forward to the revamp! Not to the site, but to the look and feel of the Weekly Watchlists! I've been cooking up a new format for the reviews that I think will really help everyone in the long run. I'm proper excited.
So, with all that said! Take it easy, be well, and love one another.
cliffmorganwstl@gmail.com
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