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Reposted by Matt D - SC

don't hug me I'm porksweats @porksweats.bsky.social · 3d

the island death match is cinema, therefore should be on letterboxd

Matt D - SC @mattd-sc.bsky.social · Apr 29

THREAD🤼‍♂️: The Island Death Match (10/04/87): Antonio Inoki vs Masa Saito is one of the most remarkable wrestling matches ever. It was a stunt to boost flagging ratings and runs over 90 minutes as the sun sets. I'm going to give some sense of it in 25 clips, starting with Inoki walking from his tent.

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Reposted by Matt D - SC

Matt D - SC @mattd-sc.bsky.social · 5d

On Orange Cassidy; symbols and conventions in pro wrestling, using the 10/1/25 Dynamite match with Kyle Fletcher as a quick case study to highlight what some are too stubborn to see.

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Matt D - SC @mattd-sc.bsky.social · 3d

The unfortunate finish to Kazuo Yamazaki v Akira Maeda from April 1989. Yamazaki's finally leveled up to the point where he can dodge Maeda's Spin Wheel Kick and jam his capture suplex counter with a headbutt, but in doing so, he opens himself up huge.

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Reposted by Matt D - SC

Matt D - SC @mattd-sc.bsky.social · Apr 29

THREAD🤼‍♂️: The Island Death Match (10/04/87): Antonio Inoki vs Masa Saito is one of the most remarkable wrestling matches ever. It was a stunt to boost flagging ratings and runs over 90 minutes as the sun sets. I'm going to give some sense of it in 25 clips, starting with Inoki walking from his tent.

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Matt D - SC @mattd-sc.bsky.social · 5d

On Orange Cassidy; symbols and conventions in pro wrestling, using the 10/1/25 Dynamite match with Kyle Fletcher as a quick case study to highlight what some are too stubborn to see.

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Matt D - SC @mattd-sc.bsky.social · 14d

Oof. Did that make it into the review or just the post I just made? I should probably update that.

Ok, paragraph updated. Thanks Alan.

There we have it. What I need is a copy editor. They'd hate all the sentences I start with And and But though.

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Matt D - SC @mattd-sc.bsky.social · 14d

Faith, doubt, and salvation in Arena Mexico.

Build, payoff, and comeuppance at the 2300 Arena.

MJF vs Mistico. MJF vs Mark Briscoe.

Mask. Title. Tables. Tacks.

2000+ words to cover one hell of a weekend.

segundacaida.blogspot.com/2025/09/aew-...

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Matt D - SC @mattd-sc.bsky.social · 15d

Honestly, this is a relatively early example of this sort of "no consequence" fighting spirit strike exchange. You don't see it quite like this earlier (this is 89). And I can just imagine Lou Thesz thinking to himself "What are these idiots doing?"

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Matt D - SC @mattd-sc.bsky.social · 16d

Eddie Kingston comes back and runs right into a boot.

The walls close in on Jon Moxley and he only has his own unyielding hypocrisy to save him.

All Out 2025

Good matches to write about. Wonderful spectacles to overwrite about. Do give it a look.

segundacaida.blogspot.com/2025/09/aew-...

Segunda Caida: AEW Five Fingers of Death 9/15 - 9/21 (Part 1?)

segundacaida.blogspot.com

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Matt D - SC @mattd-sc.bsky.social · 18d

This feels like the most iconic wrestling in the world to me. Huge stakes (semis of a one-night tournament for the IWGP title). Huge crowd. The unclean impact, the stagger sell, the crumble in the ropes, Vader raising his arm, and then Fujinami just barely hanging on and getting him over.

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Matt D - SC @mattd-sc.bsky.social · 19d

George Takano and Tatsutoshi Goto were having a perfectly gentlemanly tag match in 1989 when this broke out.

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Matt D - SC @mattd-sc.bsky.social · 21d

4/24/89. Choshu and Hashimoto meet in the first round of a one night tournament. Hash was still the underdog upstart. Believe it or not, things got chippy.

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Matt D - SC @mattd-sc.bsky.social · 21d

You have to love the auto translate function on YouTube.

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Matt D - SC @mattd-sc.bsky.social · 21d

Some of it was stylistic hyperbole I'm sure based on that frustration. I've written a lot elsewhere about wrestling criticism over the decades and how workrate/execution are overrepresented/valued relative to more performative and reactive elements. Here's an example.
bsky.app/profile/matt...

Matt D - SC @mattd-sc.bsky.social · Nov 25

🤼‍♂️ I wrote this about the state of Pro Wrestling criticism and the opportunities therein a few weeks ago, when we were all fighting with Dave about something, and I think it's all the more important for what people are trying to build here. There's work to be done and everyone has a part to play.

(1) Here's a secret for everyone. Pro Wrestling criticism is woefully underdeveloped relative to criticism of almost every other artform. You might stop me here and ask how this could possibly be. There have been fan publications and even quasi-professional ones (in as they turn a profit) for decades. There are millions upon millions of words written about wrestling online: message boards, blogs, articles, tweets, everything under the sun.

Be that as it may, it's true. As much as anything else, it's because one school of thought, one preeminent voice dominated the conversation for much of that time. It's the elephant in the room and we have to deal with it up front. Look, I don't blame Dave. I'm not sure intent matters when it comes to pro wrestling itself (and that's a great question to tackle critically and not just dismiss out of hand with a story about how the Destroyer once said "I was just listening to the crowd!"), but I suppose it does to a degree with criticism. Dave meant no harm. He means no harm. He works with the now, primarily trying to chronicle the happenings on a week by week basis, year after year after year, in an industry which is built on lies and deception.

(2) You have to remember that the Observer started as a fan publication. It grew into a monolith over time, but at first it was channeling the thoughts of a particular group and was self-replicating as new fans came into wrestling and discovered it. It was never necessarily intended to change the way matches operated. In the early days, match ratings were primarily about tape trading and keeping up with what was going on and figuring out what was worth seeing. For a chunk of the 80s, they felt like a way to rebel in the name of certain preferences in the face of looming Tian domination, to push back against the side winning the war when there was no other way to do so.

As it became more read within the industry and especially as it inspired the first generations of online fans and how they saw things and wrote about things, the mindset went from niche to increasingly pervasive. Dave was the central light shining the way and trendsetters like Scott Keith were his ideological children. As footage became easier to watch, the point of the ratings became more to chronicle history as it happened, but by then things were more or less set in. I don't hold any of that against Dave, save maybe for that he tended to state his own preferences as those of others’, that he consistently refuses to admit his own historical influence, and that he continues to push certain critical narratives without being open to the other side.

(3) While yes, there have always been certain counterculture views (DVDVRs for instance), they were always both rooted in and reacting to this one prevailing school of thought. When you, as a new fan becoming “smart”, were oriented into thinking about pro wrestling critically, you were oriented into a certain canon and fed certain arguments that pushed against most of what was successful on American television but that was ultimately limiting in its overall view.

That school was primarily based on action, on moves, on sensation and crowd reaction in the moment. It is a response to much of the state of wrestling before the onset of the sheets, when less was generally more. It believes in the notion of athletic progress and endless escalation. It sees wrestling more like sport than art or drama. Almost the entirety of pro wrestling criticism was utilizing this one specific lens to first push against what was financially successful at the time, to put on a pedestal those elements from other countries or the undercards of the territories that might fit these very limited set of norms, and to ultimately reward those who were able to break through into the mainstream with a more action-oriented style.

(4) Up until this last decade so much of pro wrestling criticism has been monolithic. The democratization of footage that came with DVDs and streaming allowed more people to participate in the conversation and slowly, has allowed people to form and express different opinions. For the most part, however, these opinions were cordoned off on message boards and contained projects.

In the last few years as new generations have come into the pro wrestling sphere with the entirety of wrestling footage at their disposal, we've started to see more openness to examine things along different lines. People are not immediately shoved into the same traditional canon. Matches and style are being examined along different cultural, social, structural lines. Even though the action-oriented way of judging still feels predominant, it's not with the same deathgrip of previous generations.

Given that it is so underdeveloped, there are opportunities (especially relative to most other artforms) for those who want to watch, to learn, to study, to look for patterns, to develop their preferences and try to overlay theories upon pro wrestling. Those willing to think hard about what they're watching and share their thoughts with the world can contribute more in wrestling than elsewhere. To those reading, I say watch, read, learn, and think, and then be bold enough to share your views. There’s so much more to be done and everyone's contribution is welcome and necessary.

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Matt D - SC @mattd-sc.bsky.social · 21d

It's all part of a bigger argument and I realize I haven't laid the groundwork here as well as elsewhere, which probably made my post feel out of left field. Some of it was frustration from reading a bunch of 88-89 Observers for the news and seeing this again and again.

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Matt D - SC @mattd-sc.bsky.social · 21d

The claw in general was treated far differently in Japan than in the states. Check out some of Fritz's stuff in the 60s-70s, especially the late 70s Jumbo match and how Kerry and Kevin used it in 80s NJPW (shortly before this) as well. Even a stomach claw was hugely over.

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Matt D - SC @mattd-sc.bsky.social · 21d

Appreciate the earnest response.
Personally I think the fans responded to Sid dragging Choshu back with the claw and the counter to the Scorpion (both were striking to me) and went up for the comeback. The below is how they reacted to Sid in the Fujinami match by the way.
bsky.app/profile/matt...

Matt D - SC @mattd-sc.bsky.social · Aug 20

I've watched literally every minute of January 1986 to February 1989 NJPW footage that we have on tape, and trust me when I tell you that this reaction by the crowd to Sid doing Sid stuff was not at all normal. This isn't how they reacted the first time they saw Vader for instance. It's wild.

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Matt D - SC @mattd-sc.bsky.social · 22d

This one was one of my favorite 80s Different Styles fights. Judo made for a very different sort of fight than the usual kickboxers or whatever that we get.

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Matt D - SC @mattd-sc.bsky.social · 22d

Inoki fought Soviet Judo Olympic Champion Shota Chochishvili in a different styles fight on the April 1989 Dome show. Inoki held his own for the first round or so, but when Chochishvili shifted gears, he really shifted gears.

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Matt D - SC @mattd-sc.bsky.social · 22d

Day 2 of D3AN reviews. Matthews vs Starkz. Character-driven, hard-hitting, full of contrast and comeuppance. (And the most satisfying lariat of the year)

segundacaida.blogspot.com/2025/09/d3an...

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Matt D - SC @mattd-sc.bsky.social · 22d

Covering D3AN~!! show over at Segunda Caida one a day. Maestros first, where they went above and beyond making use of the strengths of the form and their wealth of experience.

segundacaida.blogspot.com/2025/09/d3an...

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Matt D - SC @mattd-sc.bsky.social · 23d

The smoke and mirrors are so much of what makes wrestling interesting as an art form in the first place. It’s a feature, not a bug.

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Matt D - SC @mattd-sc.bsky.social · 23d

Here's the start of that Inoki vs Koshinaka match. You'd think this would turn the fans and get them more behind Koshinaka because there was both a weight class and a hierarchy difference and Koshinaka didn't do anything to deserve this but dare face Inoki, but nope. They loved him all the more.

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Matt D - SC @mattd-sc.bsky.social · 23d

God dammit, Dave. No one's done more damage to pro wrestling than you over time. Not even Russo. (Maybe the other Vince). But this is just ridiculous.

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Matt D - SC @mattd-sc.bsky.social · 24d

This Inoki Missile Dropkick. My god.

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