The New Japan Juniors 1990-1999 Pt. 1: Jushin "Thunder" Liger

If you're going to write a multi-part tribute to the finest era of junior heavyweight wrestling that has existed anywhere in the world, which was 1990-to-2000 in New Japan, there really isn't a better place for anyone to start than with the man who was, and still remains this in some ways now, the personification of what the junior heavyweight ace is supposed to be. We're starting with the king, the gold standard, the guy who is to junior heavyweight wrestling what the 4 Corners of Heaven are to heavyweight wrestling: Jushin "Thunder" Liger.

Now to be fair, the title up there and the first paragraph might very well give you a very real expectation that somehow the junior heavyweight division of New Japan just sort of went into thin air in 2000. It didn't. Right now, Prince Devitt is doing some good work as is matinee-idol in training Kota Ibushi and a lot of other people. But when I, and the people who love this era, talk about the New Japan Juniors we mean the Liger, Kanemoto, El Samurai, Pegasus Kid, Shinjiro Ohtani, and Great Sasuke era. That's the era everyone means, and that's the era I'm talking about here.

Bad Mood Championship Wrestling.

http://parkersbighead.tumblr.com/post/48208673428/ladies-and-gentlemen-my-name-is-richard

In 2014, a new wrestling promotion is going to appear out of the mind of the guy who ran Arena Door Bus Trips, and is currently running Taking Back Queens. I hope to have a role in this promotion in some way, even if it's something as simple as just providing them with free publicity here on the Majesty of Wrestling. Watch this space.

What I'm watching: Mike Quackenbush vs Johnny Saint

I admit this freely. I am a huge junkie for top-notch technical wrestling. But here's the problem: So much of what people understand as top-notch technical wrestling really isn't. It's not just knowing a billion million holds. It's knowing how to apply them. It's being slick and artistic without having it look forced, and making your trademarks look like you were smart to get your opponent in that position rather than you and your opponent both were playing off of the same script. This is harder than it seems. And two of the masters of this style are perhaps best known as partners, but I'm watching one of their matches when they were as opponents. The only trouble with this is that I can't find this match, and I'm not about to send you off to torrent it. I like the people at Chikara too much for that. So what I would suggest is google Mike Quackenbush vs Johnny Saint and then buy the match. It's worth it. It really is. To whet your appetite, here is a video of Johnny Saint doing what he does followed by a video of Mike Quackenbush doing what he does.

What I'm Watching: Motor City Machine Guns vs American Wolves

In my last post, I showed you a burly heavyweight tag team war between two teams who were literally purpose-built to have a Hoss Fight, as my friend Thomas Holzerman says. Frankly, that was a match in the wrong country. You put the Steiners at the peak of their powers, and Williams and Gordy not too far off from theirs, in Japan at any point in the 1990's and that match is huge. Huge feels like a disservice to it quite honestly.   But this match isn't that. This is a match of the 21st century. And yet, this feels a bit.... empty. Not because the teams aren't good. They are. It's that, at their apex, they remind you of someone else more than they seem to be unique. When the Motor City Machine Guns are really humming along, they seem like a combination of the Rockers and the Midnight Express. Conversely, with the American Wolves, their aping of the British Bulldogs is stunning. So really, what this match is at its core is a tad bit of wrestling karaoke. But it's not bad wrestling karaoke. In fact, it's very good. Just as long as you understand that the original songs should be seen and heard too.

What I'm Watching: The Steiner Brothers vs The Miracle Violence Connection

The Bill Watts era of WCW is widely, and correctly, regarded as a bad one. Despite the ridiculousness of his top rope rule, and his promotion of his feckless son Erik Watts to a level that would make Shane McMahon think pushing someone that much was a bad idea, there were highlights. And at the very top of that list is this match here. This is from the apex of the Steiner Brothers as a tag team. Watch and Enjoy.

Why I stopped watching WWE, and why I am still a wrestling fan anyway

In the interest of full disclosure, I have not spent nearly as much time watching WWE or televised wrestling as so many of the people with whom i have some sense of kinship in the wrestling blogosphere with. But I'm still a wrestling fan regardless, and the reason for that is simple: Corporate wrestling no longer speaks to me.

To be sure, I'm not overly precious about this. I'm not saying that you should never watch Raw if that's what you like. I'm not saying that if you are enthralled by the majesty of the Undertaker, or captivated by every promo CM Punk has ever done, that you're a bad wrestling fan or a bad person. The first one doesn't really exist, and you'd have to do a whole hell of a lot worse than like the Undertaker or CM Punk to make you a bad person.

But what I am saying is that for me, WWE no longer gives me what I want. And rather than watching them with all of the love gone and nothing but hate in my heart, I think it's better for me to move on.

To be sure, there was a time when it did. I am still a Rockers completist, constantly looking for the matches they had that made me believe they were the team of the 1990's. Bret Hart was my gateway drug into all of that high-end, slick without seeming forced, technical wrestling that has grown to be the thing I absolutely love more than anything else. And Randy Savage was explosive and kinetic in a way that few wrestlers NOW could ever dream of being, much less when he was at his possibly cocaine-addled apex having great matches.

But those days are gone. Instead, I find the things I love in other places (with the exception of Randy Savage. He was as Sui Generis as any wrestler could ever be. There will never be another like him.)

If now I want to watch tag team artistry at its highest level, I can watch the Young Bucks ply their trade in PWG. I can also go in my DVD's from the not too recent past and see Mike Quackenbush and Jigsaw, or watch the Colony or the Canadian Ninjas. Tag team work, of the kind perfected by the Midnight Express and the Rock N' Roll Express, is no longer practiced on your TV in the same way as it was during even the Monday Night Wars, much less that period when WWF Superstars and WCW Saturday Night was all that you got and you liked it.

Technical wrestling is a different matter. The trouble with technical wrestling now is that too many people Malenko-ize it. (Which is to say, nothing ever looks like it was particularly hard to get. Also, occasionally brainless.) The masters make slickness never seem forced. That old wrestling announcer cliche about how they never waste a move? That's what Mike Quackenbush does, and what Colt Cabana does, and what KANA does.

So to sum up, just because I no longer watch televised wrestling doesn't make me any less of a wrestling fan than someone who still does. it just means we're different.

The Indies and You: Why going to a smaller show is the best way to see the sport.

In the shadow of Wrestlemania, and the Raw after Wrestlemania, some of you might have been wondering where to go to see wrestling. I mean, big box corporate wrestling may or may not be coming to your town in the future. And even if it does, there's a very real chance that it's going to be in a crowded arena and you'll have the kind of seats that make you think you are watching two specks wrestle each other.

Instead, what I'm going to recommend instead for you to try is something that feels counter-intuitive. Don't go and see John Cena. Instead, go and see a smaller indy show in your town. The reasons to do this instead of putting your money in Vince McMahon's pockets are innumerable.

A: You see the stars before they become stars.

You know that guy CM Punk that people fawn over, and proclaim him to be the "Best in the World"? Well, before he was the WWE's big deal, he was wrestling on smaller shows. Same thing with Rey Mysterio and Alberto Del Rio in Mexico, and look at how important they are to the WWE now. The indies are where kids, of both genders, fresh out of wrestling school refine their craft. Right now, at the show being held at your local armory or church, there may very well be someone who could be a big deal in a couple of years. And you're seeing him when he was just starting out, rife with potential. Does that honestly sound like something that you want to miss.

B: We are in a bumper crop right now.

With the Wrestling Is.... projects, the Dual Anarchies in St. Louis and Texas, PWG on the West Coast, AAW, Shimmer, AIW in the Midwest, Chikara traveling the country, and the south becoming a breeding ground for awesomeness, there's really no good reason for anyone to say with a straight face that they can't find an indy show that's good. But if you can't find something near you, or if you're the sort who needs to know what you're getting into before you head out, this should help you find what you're looking for.

Also, believe me when I say that the talent level is as good as it's been in a while. This is a generation of wrestlers schooled on all different styles. There are too many good wrestlers right now for me to name them all. But believe me when I tell you, they're out there. All you have to do is go find them.

C: You are a part of the Show.

It's a simple thing. Might not seem like much. But I can guarantee you: It is a lot harder to feel a part of the show in an arena packed to the brim with people with pyro and propane going off every 20 seconds than it is in a hotel ballroom with 1000 people. When you cheer or boo at one of those big-box corporate shows, the chances that the object of your words hears it? Pretty small. You become part of a low keen at that point.

But on an indy show? This can happen. So can this:

Go. Be entertained. Honestly.

And that's that. Thank you for reading, and go and support your local indy.