What are you watching? (2012)

[Tim Evans]

Cien Caras and Mascara Ano Dos Mil vs Rayo De Jalisco Jr. and Huracan Ramirez (ACM 12/30)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rHUcxwfRxg

I still like Cien and Mascara is ok but this was pretty bad. Rayo looked slow as hell and all this was was basically Cien and Mascara bumping around for Rayo's offense and Ramirez didn't look terrible.

[Dylan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2rE2-SPnKY

Vordell Walker v. Simon Sez - Rampage

Fun but uneventful match. Walker is fun as the heel here and he looked good albeit not outstanding.

[Hector]

Johnny Curtis vs. Jamie Noble- 12/28

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z4EtZsFO8E

This was a pretty fun little house show match. Nice to see Noble wrestling again, even it is against Johnny Curtis. He looks every bit as fluid as he was back in his crusierweight days. It's a real shame WWE doesn't use him more often. Oh well, at least someone was enough of a fan to get their phone out for this.

[Phil Schneider]

Man Hector you are awesome at finding crazy shit like this. I always get excited when I see you post in one of these MOTY threads

[Hector]

I don't think I've ever used YouTube for any other purpose other than watching the occasional bootleg concert or draft scouting video.

[Phil Schneider]

Wolfie D v. Chris Michales SAW 12/16

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqHnSCPHTdU

SAW is back on youtube which is exciting. Two veteran guys I like having a title match. Starts out a bit slow and both guys seem to have some early timing issues. Built to a hot finish though, with Michaels empting his arsenal. Fun stuff and good to see both guys show up

[Phil Schneider]

Chris Dickinson & Eric Corvis vs. Darius Carter & TJ Marconi Beyond 11/4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id...4&v=lhNtMzYzNpk

Surprised at how much I dug the early Dickinson v. Carter matwork. I had always thought of Dickinson as a Davey clone but I dug him here. Corvis is always fun too, he hits hard and comes up with weird cool shit. Like large parts of this a bunch but Marconi stinks and keeps it from a nom

[Dylan]

Has anyone watched the Wolfie D USWO matches? He might be a guy who could squeeze into my top hundred in a weak year

[Hector]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6qxMCmYQ64

Tatsumi Fujinami & Ultimo Dragon vs. Yuki Ishikawa & Alexander Otsuka- RJPW 12/7

Not good. Otuska looked lazy, UD just plain stinks and Fujinami is too old to contribute much. Ishikawa is the only guy who came out looking good, but he's no miracle worker.

Mitsuya Nagai vs. Super Tiger II

This was a decent title match that was hurt by the lack of audio (they kick a lot, after all). Nagai worked over the arm, ST worked over the leg and somehow it wasn't completely boring. Not going too long always helps. I haven't put together my wKo 100 list, but I think Nagai might be in the running now.

[Wrestling_KO Mike]

Valiente vs Namajague, 4/20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zls5f7NNGaI

If you want to see why Valiente's a top 20 guy, then go out of your way to see this. It's a fun carry job, which is especially impressive when you realize Namajague's a generic New Japan rookie. Valiente kept things interesting on the mat and his nutty bumping made his opponent look like a genuine threat. The last few minutes were excellent as Valiente busts out these two awesome topes, the second one was particularly brutal. I liked how after the topes, Namajague went into survival mode and it was clear that it was only a matter of time before Valiente was victorious.

[Wrestling_KO Mike]

Dragón Rojo Jr. vs Valiente, 10/22
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mHlKOqn8xY

Rojo's bordering on utter shit, at least based on his performance here. Don't think he fully grasps psychology, he's a weak base, struggles to set up his mediocre spots (mushroom stomp, for example) and just doesn't know what the fuck he's doing half the time. Valiente looked really good working the mat, though. Some of his arm attacks, such as the seated kimura, were great, so were his set ups. Rest of the match was pretty mediocre.

[Wrestling_KO Mike]

NOAH 09.08.2012 - KENTA vs Atsushi Kotoge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46V_fcCFF8U

KENTA gets busted open hardway at the start so decides to assault the backyarder for the next 10 minutes or so. Gets a little too super kick heavy at the end but still a pretty fun match.

[Wrestling_KO Mike]

Brief thoughts on the 12/9 IWRG show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neM_KQjc51g

Centvrión, Cerebro Negro, Freelance
vs
Alan Extreme, Eita, Imposible

Couple of weak links otherwise this would have been good enough to nominate. Cerebro Negro and Freelance both looked world class and, after watching this, there's no way Freelance is falling out of my top 20. Liked Negro's torturous stretches and matwork in general. Later on in the match, he punts a dude in the face. Freelance was pretty great overall, even on the mat, and he took a super high back body drop bump. Alan Extreme was solid as well.

Super Libre
Oficial AK47 & Oficial Fierro
vs
Rayan & Spartan

Nothing special but still an amusing bloody brawl. Some nice dives and bumps. Fierro may be the best Oficial at this point.

Dr. Cerebro, el Ángel, Trauma II
vs
Canis Lupus, Carta Brava Jr., Oficial 911

Solid trios. Angel has improved a lot although he's still not top 100 material. 911's animated selling was great stuff. I need to see more Lupus and Brava Jr matches as they both impressed me here. Lupus tagged Angel with a few really great looking punches on the outside. Trauma II was fine although only started to impress during the post-match brawl. Dr Cerebro was obviously the best guy here, his tope followed by a punch was the highlight of the match. Really vicious post-match brawling, too.

[Wrestling_KO Mike]

"LONESOME" JAY BRADLEY vs HARRY SMITH© 7/27/12
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPWq9H0RWRg

After watching this I'm starting to regret leaving Harry Smith off my list. Bradley drags this down a lot with his loose offense but Harry was really, really good throughout, particularly on the mat. He looked totally comfortable grappling, busting out slick transitions on the ground etc. Favorite spot had to be when Harry prevented Bradley from escaping a headlock via rope break by kicking off the ropes.

[Wrestling_KO Mike]

Sakuraba/Shibata vs. Inoue/Takahashi, 9/23
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xy8mho_ka...rt#.UUqOVTcauMQ

Sakuraba and Shibata assault a rookie, fun stuff.