2024 MOTYC List Update #3

 

Chon Shiryu vs Keisuke Ishii, Ganbare Pro 7/15/2024

Chon Shiryu big match!! I love Chon Shiryu, and this was a nice chance to see him do his thing. He is still really fast and slick, and his kung fu technique really add a lot to the Japanese big match formula. Initially Keisuke Ishii did not impress me, but he redeemed himself when he started destroying Shiryus mid section with violent looking knees. Ishii dropping Shiryus throat across the rope with a nasty move and then going for a piledriver on the apron made things quite intense. Shiryu pulls off some great transitions as usual that are a level above what you usually see in these matches, and his signature odd angle 619s and diving kicks still rule. Last couple minutes were buil around Shiryu taking crazy bumps, trying to crush Ishiis throat with his flying stomps, and delivering some really great glassy eyed selling as he kept dying and ressurrecting over and over. Could have done with a few nearfalls less, but what the hell, you don’t get to see Shiryu doing matches like this often! I also like that they made a spinning wheel kick into a finisher in 2024.

 

Super Taira vs Kenta Kosugi, Sportiva 10/30/2024

Really good match that told a great story, was interesting all the way through and had some great wrestling. I really like Super Taira, who has such a diverse skillset. In this case he was facing Kosugi who is like twice his size, so he couldn't do much lucha libre or llaves, so Tairas answer was to just try and rush him with leg kicks. Taira kicking at Kosugi and trying to hurt his legs was simple but really good. Anytime Kosugi fired back, he looked like an absolute bear. I cannot emphasize enough that every single moment in this match mattered and added to the story. I loved the way Kosugi would slap his knees to try as if to try and get some feeling back into it after taking damage. Taira using his agility in interesting ways and trying to grab submissions was really good. There were some really choice counters without being too cute. By the end Kosugi was basically an angry bear mauling Taira with Taira trying to hit a desperation move and get a flash pin or submission. I really like a simplistic wrestling match that ads some interesting touches, and this one really hits thats spot.

Demus vs. Lunatik Xtreme, Zona 23 1/21

I am not super interested in deathmatches at this point, there are only so many idiotic bumps one can see before it gets old, and  I have little interest in seeing guys stand around and rubbing light tubes in each others face. That said the psychotic violence here was really fun with the apocalyptic junkyard bumps. Early brawling could have been better, aside from Demus great elbows there was still a bit much of idle walking around and an exhibitiony feeling to me. Match took a steep upturn when Xtreme started hitting those wild stomps. After some fun comeuppance we get Demus throwing what is pretty much the greatest punch combo I've ever seen in a match and some savage headbutt exchanges which were easily the highlight. I honestly expected the match to go longer so the finish was an amusing surprise. I didn't like it as much as I liked Black Terry vs Wotan or Ricky Marvin from memory, but it was a fun slice of psycho violence.

2024 MOTYC List

2024 MOTYC List #1

 

Demus vs. Mad Dog Conneely, ACTION Wrestling 4/4

This was slightly hurt by the overwhelming praise it has received, calling it the match of the year and best chain match since Valentine/Piper. It's not that good in my eyes, but it's a fun violent match. The start with the chain whip to the face was nice.  Connellys strikes in the corner looked great- I would have liked to see more like that. Connelly seems certifiably insane to bite a bleeding Demus. The brawling on the outside was fun with a bleeding Demus falling into audience members and both guys smashing each other with a huge trashcan. When Demus took control, he amped up the violence yanking Conneelly around by his shirt and the chain. The ending with the chain assisted submissions was nasty. Good stuff.

Timothy Thatcher vs Axel Tischer, Bloodsport 4/4

I have yet to watch the full show but I thought this was better than Thatcher/Makabe  (which was solid). Opening grappling was very tight and felt different, like a good hybrid of shootstyle and 50s/60s style grappling. Thankfully Tischer did not do any thigh slapping. Him coming down hard to pounce on Thatcher with nasty elbows whenever openings presented was really good. His suplexes were also great. Thatcher did not goof up the match and the "any move could end the match" factor kept things interesting. Not blowaway great but a nice surprise.

Shinya Ishida vs Hakaru Imai, Sportiva 2/22

Gritty MUGA-esque match with some unexpected hate filled stiffness. That kind of match is pretty much the only thing I care about coming out of Japan these days. Imai was great here, he's this 47 year old ghoulish looking guy who barely wrestles but somehow is really good in gritty technical matches. He looks like he struggles to bump but he is great on the mat. Imai does lots of nifty things here as they hit the ground for a grappling section that actually feels fresh and tight. Imai gets the advantage locking a short arm scissor on Ishida and then proceeds to work the arm the entire match. Ishida actually adds to the match by finding ways to kick Imai in his bald head while entangled in submissions. Imais stubbornness and constantly cranking Ishidas shoulder with nasty Fujiwara armbars and kimuras made a lot of this feel like an El Samurai match as opposed to Zack Sabre Jr esque stuff. Ishida actually doesn't have bad offense for a pretty boy wrestler, and he keeps firing back pretty stiff, making things look like a struggle  and selling the arm. As the match progressed they never lost me and kept working in nifty stuff that I like, such as awkward lariats that land hard against the side of someones head, flash submissions, odd pinning combos on the ground etc. Nice stuff that is well worth checking out in the vein of the Mutoha stuff from the past few years.

2024 MOTYC List Project

GWE Watching: Demus

 

Demus vs. Mascarita Dorada, CMLL 1/11/2008

Freaking spectacular match worked at a feverish pace. Opening matwork was brief but great as it really looked like Dorada had to use technique and quickness to not get squished. Dorada is mostly known for highspots but he is really good working as Marcelo Garcia slipping out from underneath a much bigger opponent. Doradas crazy ringpost bump followed by Demus‘ psycho splash was completely unexpected and great. 2Nd and 3rd fall where just a lunacy show with Demus tossing Dorada around, who took some lunatic bumps, and Demus taking Doradas offense which may be the most complex and spectacular of all time ridiculously well. Highlights include Doradas gigantic dive off the ring post, later a huge diving rana and Demus just smashing his body into the ringpost. Also really loved Doradas submission where he just jumped on Demus back and went for the submission like Chiatzu jumping on Nappa. Also, Mascarita Dorada moonsaulting right into Demus outstretched legs was quite insane, so was his twisting face bump when Demus just launched him. Great big vs. little match, blows away a lot of highly praised matches.

Demus vs. Bam Bam, CMLL 7/27/2008

This was also really good. Really enjoyed the opening fall matwork where Demus did a really nice heel cob, mostly controlling Bam Bam in interesting ways, fish hooking him etc. Bam Bam is not as spectacular as Mascarita Dorada but he still has some quite spectacular offense, lots of difficult jumping ranas off the ropes etc that Demus catches perfectly. Demus busts out some big stuff himself including an awesome fast dive where he whipes out Bam Bam. I also loved his big submission. Demus seemed to have difficulties with his second which kept costing him in the match and his selling of being brought to the edge of defeat was intrigueing. Really really liked the finish too. These two had a lot of matches so I‘ll gladly move on to their hair match.

Demus vs. Bam Bam, CMLL 8/24/2008

As far as bloodless hair vs. Hair matches go, this was quite good. I wanted a bit more violence, there was some biting and floor brawling but I wanted more, that‘s 2000s CMLL for you I guess. Aside from that, they worked a breathless pace trying to wipe each other out with huge dives and bombs. Some nice submission nearfalls between the fury. The ending was really memorable as Demus hit this sick running powerbomb to the ramp on Bam Bam. Modern wrestling has conditioned me to expect Bam Bam to make a comeback rally, but Demus just finished him off right there and pinned him. Cold way to take someones hair.

Demus vs. Shockercito, CMLL 6/2/2009

Another hair vs. Hair match. Spectacular start to this as Shockercito hits a crazy spinning headscissor to Demus on the ramp and then nails him with an epic, horizontal landing tope. Shockercito has some quite spectacular moves, but Demus quickly goes to town on him slamming him with his power offense. Demus hits a huuuuge powerbomb off the top and I really liked how Shockercito actually sold that, having a hard time fighting back into the match and looking like he had his bell rung. The match also had a big more violence with both guys punching each other angrily here and there, so I guess I liked it more than Demus/Bam Bam. Shockercito took the win hanging onto the ropes which I thought was a bit strange but other than that this was really good.

Demus & Pierrothito & Pequeno Warrior vs. Shockercito & Mascarita Dorada & Pequeno Olimpico, CMLL 6/12/2009

After Shockercito took his hair in sneaky fashion I wanted to Demus to beat the shit out of him, but I guess that happened in another match. This was just about 10 minutes so you can imagine how short each fall was, but it was a quite fun, complex sprint with an unpredictable layout. Everyone looked amazing and was in and out of the ring really fast so I can‘t really make a huge cases for Demus based on this, but he did look really good when he was in. This match also had one of the best triple team moves I‘ve ever seen as Pierrothito & Warrior bounced Dorada ribs first into Demus outstretched legs. Add a share of spectacular technico highspots into this and you have a quality TV match.

Demus & Pequeno Halloween & Mr. Aguilita vs. Tzuki & Ultimo Dragoncito & Pequeno Olimpico, CMLL 4/1/2007

Earliest Demus match I could find in the matchfinder. Of course, he pretty much looks like a complete wrestler already. This was a short albeit super fun unpredictable trios. Really liked how the technicos kept denying the rudo beatdown and outwrestling the rudos in fun ways. Demus was paired with Tzuki and a really good dance partner. As usual Demus catches his opponents offense flawlessly inbetween crushing them with big slams etc. How he can slam a guy as small as Tzuki so hard with out killing him is beyond me but its extremely entertaining. Excellent finish between Demus and Ultimo Dragoncito. It‘s crazy how much work and passion these guys would put into matches that would end up being rather short and insignificant.