Stan Hansen vs Antonio Inoki - 02/08/80

This was one of many matches I intend to cover here between perhaps the greatest wrestler ever for me, Stan Hansen and another favorite of mine, Antonio Anoki.  Stan Hansen is American wrestling's biggest loss and one of Japanese wrestling's biggest gains.  If you had to look at Hansen without knowing anything about him, you'd be forgiven if you assumed he wrestled in backwood Southern territories all his career or bullying people in saloons.  But no he didn't do that, he spent most of his career in Japan.

This match was excellent.  It started off looking like a basic wrestling match when it all of a sudden it turned into a brief spell where it looked like they were shoot fighting.  To be honest they probably were.  If not they sold those punches well.  Afterwards, it progressed into some excellent slow paced mat wrestling, with long spells dominated by Inoki, but Stan Hansen held his own and managed to get back into the match and establish dominant spells of his own with some dirty roughneck tactics and impressive match wrestling of his own.  What does Stan Hansen do to you when you're on the mat, laying down?  He either wrestles and puts you in a hold or he starts digging his knees into your throat.  Inoki was able to use his speed to reverse much of Stan's superior power, but the match ended with a good ol' fashioned dirty ass whoopin' by Stan on Inoki where he clotheslined him off the apron to outside of the ring, causing Inoki to be counted out.  We're even treated to an insulting promo by Hansen afterwards that ends with a ''WOOOOOOo.''

Overall, great match, great chemistry and one of many between these 2 legends.

Some Good Danielson Matches on Youtube

Brian Danielson, or Daniel Bryan if you prefer, had many critically acclaimed matches on ROH and the independent circuit.  Before joining WWE, Danielson had been competing for a decade, gathering himself a cult following and gaining a reputation as the best wrestler in the world, a claim that many argue over, but Danielson certainly has a back catalogue that he could use to really present a strong case.  As a fan of Danielson, I'm happy that he's in WWE.  I love tuning in to Smackdown every week and seeing him on my screen, however, as a fan of wrestling, I really miss seeing him wrestling all over the world, taking on some of the greats, going for sometimes hours at a time and delivering memorable matches.  The matches I'm about to show aren't even his best, they;re on Youtube though and they still are pretty damn impressive.

The first match is against a wrestler many have claimed is underrated - Lance Storm.  Personally, I think anyone who watches wrestling knows Lance Storm is a great wrestler, and he did achieve quite a lot during his career and held respectable titles like the Intercontinental and United States in WWE and WCW.  Many would agree that those titles are more respectable than the World titles as they have that reputation as ''worker's titles.''  If Lance Storm was anything, it was a worker.  In this match with Danielson though, he came out of retirement to WIN the ROH World title.  It was a great match up and showcased a clinic of pure wrestling.  It lasted 36 minutes and maintained great physicality throughout.  Enjoy.

The next match was always going to be a dream match up for indie wrestling fans.  Any time these 2 compete it will be a dream match.  KENTA is another great wrestler with a large cult following, so any time he and Danielson face up, you have every right to have high expectations - and I'm sure those 2 always want to deliver.  This was a great match up, with 2 great wrestlers going at it.  So sit back and enjoy 42 minutes of intensity and excellence as Brian Danielson faced KENTA.

TENRYU vs HASHIMOTO - Quarter Finals of G-1 Climax Tournament, 1998

You know those people who say wrestling is fake?  Well, they haven't seen this match.  This is sheer brutality, and there's no barbed wire, there's no chairs, tacks, tables, piranha fish - NOTHING.  Just two crazy old bastards chopping burns into each others sagging skin.  And not the type of chops that make the fans go, ''WOOOOOO.''  No, these are the type of chops that would make any normal human being utter the words, ''what the fuck is wrong with them?''  Or, if you're like me, ''Hahaha, go for it.  Crazy old mongrel bastards.''

Joking aside though, these are 2 of the greatest wrestlers ever to grace a ring.  Tenryu was trained to wrestle by Terry and Dory Funk Jr, so you know he's tough as nails if he survived that.  I imagine Terry Funk's training regimes to be like redneck Mortal Kombat.  Name your Japanese legends - The Muta's, the Inoki's - Tenryu has fought and beat them, and the match I'm about to show you is a great one against another legend in Shinya Hashimoto, who was one of NJPW's infamous ''Three Muskateers,'' who dominated the promotion throughout the 90's.  Hashimoto has fought, beat and lost to some of the best wrestlers the East and West had to offer including Western tag team legends the Fabulous Freebirds and arguably the most naturally gifted wrestler of all time, Barry Windham, among others.

So, why are these 2 ''real'' for lack of a better word?  Well, Japanese wrestling is famed for its Puroresu style, and this incorporates Mixed Martial Arts like bouts.  If anyone could go out there and strike the living hell out of each other it was these 2.  Tenryu is basically just a tough as nails old bastard and he'll probably die doing something brutal, and Hashimoto was famed for successfully competing in MMA bouts in NJPW.  So, why don't I quit rambling and let you see just how tough these 2 are for yourself.  If you want flashy, technical wrestling then you won't get it here.  If you can appreciate ugly, brutal physical human wrecking, then you're in for a god dang treat and you can suck my dick in Hell for introducing you to this if you haven't already seen it.  Enjoy.

RIP HASHIMOTO.  Thanks for giving us such great matches.

So I Decided To Make A Wrestling Blog Because...

Dear current non-existent reader.  I realise right now I'm talking to myself, because let's face it, no one can be reading yet as I'm typing this right now, but if you suscribe andyou start reading my little wrestling blog, then maybe you'll be reading these words some day in future, or in your case dear reader - the present.  If you are reading right now, then you're Philip Hayton.  And if you are Philip Hayton, I hate your trolling.... Anyway, luckily for you lot you'll never need to know who that wank is.

I created this blog to discuss wrestling, so I'll review matches, shows, PPV's, discuss my thoughts on those things I just mentioned, discuss my thoughts on wrestling rumors, how I'd fix it if I was in charge even though I never will be, because just like everyone else who thinks who has the answer, all I have is my meaningless opinion.  I'll rant, I'll rave, I'll post pictures of me shirtless if that's what you want and basically, I'll just be talking wrestling in all it's splendid forms.  Wrestling, along with movies are my geeky pleasure.  And where I live, I can't really discuss my geeky pleasures.  Sure I have friends who watch wrestling and movies, but they don't watch WRESTLING AND MOVIES.  But I won't talk about movies here, I'll talk about wrestling.  I need to vent, I need to force my worthless opinion and in turn, I hope you either feel entertained or pissed off, and if it's either feel free to use the comments to agree or disagree.  I want to discuss wrestling with wrestling fans.  I might provide the subject matter, but you can add so much more to it.  I'm no expert, and I don't pretend to be.  I just love wrestling.  If you want an expert, check out my buddy, 'Whiskey & Wrestling' on Blogspot.  He's my real life best friend, the guy I get in lots of drunken bother with and the only guy I can discuss wrestling with and get a good discussions.  He's pretty encyclopedic on it actually.

So, as soon as this is posted I'll try and dazzle you with great wrestling chat and even upload some matches before the FBI fucks Youtube as well.  Enjoy.