Tuesday, January 12, 2021

El Diablo Is To Blame



CJD: You've got me feeling those mid 2000s puro feels right now. It seems to me that by the end of the decade Japanese wrestling settled into a landscape that is largely still the same today, but what a ride it was from 2000-2006. These 6 men put in some serious work in that era and this cast of characters plus a classic NOAH 6 man undercard match plus hot interpromotional action and this is about as 2006 as a match can be. We were watching so much NOAH in this time period that either one of us may have seen this match. But I checked my notes and I don't think I ever played it for you at least. And it didn't jog any memories and there's a headbutt that I certainly won't ever forget after watching this time. Not 2021 approved, that's for sure. This is the Murakami I'm used to. This is the type of Otani and Akiyama performance that has both perpetually fighting for spots in my all-time top 10. This is Hashi fighting from under like only he could. This is my kind of pro wrestling through and through and I have a sneaking suspicion it's in your wheelhouse as well.

JJZ: Man, this was the golden era of NOAH. When was the last time you got excited to watch a puro six man? I tried really hard to watch all the NOAH and NJPW six man matches that should have been good over the past few years and they always fell flat with a tempered crowd. But this ain't that. This is heat and anger and toughness and stiffness. Six wrestlers all wanting to put on a bust ass match that no one would be able to follow. This match was full of ass clinching spots and strikes that left me saying "that's gotta hurt!" to myself. I don't know if this was the main event of the show [editor's note - it wasn't] but it should have been. Super fun stuff.

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