The Wrestling Framework 02.05.12: NWA/AWA vs. Japan

And here we are, another edition of The Wrestling Framework!

How about that Royal Rumble? A lot of people seemed very unimpressed by it, and I have to agree. I think it could have been MUCH better than it was. And I would really like to get past the fact that I went like 1 for 4. Just not a good day for my prediction skills.

So, anyhow, this week I’m taking a look at another match from Japan. If you didn’t see the description, the match is between the then NWA and AWA champions Ric Flair and Rick Martel taking on two legends of their home country, Jumbo Tsuruta and Genichiro Tenryu. I’m usually not a fan of tag matches, but this one is a great one.

Then it comes to the Past vs. Present segment of the column. I’m taking on all comers to answer the challenge of comparing someone today to….Rick Martel. Like I said last week, this was going to be a tricky one. Only person I could think would come close would have been Val Venis. But Venis didn’t really have the same in-ring ability in my eyes. But we’ll get in to that more later.

In the Bonus Round, I’ll be doing what I’ve done before and go over this last week in wrestling. So lets get to it.

Every category is rated 0-2.
0-.5: Bad
.5-1: Okay
1-1.5: Good
1.5-2: Excellent

Then the scores are added up from the five different categories of the Big 5; psychology, work rate, crowd, spots and finish. The final score will be a number 1-10.
0-1: Unwatchable
1-2: Terrible
2-3: Bad
3-4: Passable
4-5: Okay
5-6: Not Bad
6-7: Decent
7-8: Good
8-9: Really Good
9-10: Excellent

MATCH: Ric Flair & Rick Martel vs. Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu

Psychology: 2
Work Rate: 2
Crowd: 1.4
Spots: 1
Finish: 1.7
Overall: 8.1

Psychology: There was some great chemistry here. First, lets take a look at the work between both teams. Tsuruta and Tenryu have worked as a tag team known as Kakuryu. They have held the NWA International Tag Team titles on two separate occasion. So they have had experience together as a team. They’ve also had a lot of experience against each other. Tsuruta and Tenryu have had some amazing matches one on one in the past. So they know each other quite well. Then you have Flair and Martel on the other side. I can’t find anything on if they’ve teamed before, but the two have faced off numerous times. Mostly during Martel’s first reign as AWA champion. And I have to admit that both men have different styles, but made them mesh really well in this match. Flair is a more mat based grappler while Martel has a more high flying style. And they really made it work well together. I think their tag team came off better than Kakuryu. I’m thinking that it’s the difference between the American and Japanese tag team mechanics. I haven’t watched many classic matches between two Japanese teams, but I’m thinking that the Japanese mechanic is a little different. I tend to over analyze things, but it seemed there was a lot more double team action from the Flair/Martel side. Probably just me.

Work Rate: The work here was damn fantastic. It was the high point of this match. Most of the execution of maneuvers was damn good. Perfect example of why all four of these men are legends today. Well, unfortunately, Rick Martel isn’t well known for his amazing in-ring ability to a lot of people. He’s better known for his model gimmick in WWF. As well as his damn good promo skills. And lets not forget Arrogance, the fragrance that comes in a classic can. It’s really unfortunate. Martel was a great in-ring worker. In my opinion, Martel was the shining star in this match. He went above and beyond everyone else and looked like a true champion. Not to say that the other three guys didn’t give it their all and do their part, but Martel just seemed to really be on his A game throughout the entire match. I think the Japanese team were working a little slower and more methodical as the American team seemed to be a little more fast paced. It’s a shame to know that guys like this are few and far between these days.

Crowd: The crowd did not impress me at all. Sure, they were vocal and seemed to buzz throughout the match, but they just didn’t come across as really excited about this match. They weren’t as excited as I think they should have been. This was a high profile match. Two legends from their own country against two of the top talents from America. This was a blockbuster of a main event. There were times when the crowd should have popped like crazy, but it seemed like they were just sitting on their hands. They didn’t even pop like a traditional Japanese crowd. It was just very disappointing to me that the crowd seemed not be as excited and in to the match. They were vocal, though, as I said. So, I didn’t detract a whole lot from this. I think what could have saved it was if there was more interaction with the crowd from the wrestlers. More taunts, more gestures, something. If the crowd had been as white hot as they should have been, I’m 100% sure that this match would have felt a whole lot better than it did. A good example of how a crowd can make a damn good match seem off at times. It hurt the flow a little bit.

Spots: There wasn’t a whole lot of really big spots in the match. Things that should have been huge turning points seemed a little off. I think they could have used a little more brawling on the outside. I guess they were saving all that for the ending, so I can’t really fault them for that. The lack of crowd reactions definitely has something to do with the fact that a lot of spots were just bad. There were a few comebacks and big moves that just seemed like they weren’t that important. And I really have to blame the crowd for that. And if the crowd doesn’t respond to the spot, it’s a blown spot. It’s annoying, but it’s true. Most spots depend on the crowd crowd reactions to make them come off as a huge point in the match. It’s nothing against the wrestlers, they did great. The crowd just sucked any heat from the spots by not responding to them. And that, therefore, hurt the score for spots.

Finish: The finish was chaotic. And I’m not sure if I like it or not. They brawl on the outside and before the count hits the top, the legal man from Kakuryu slides in the ring and claims the victory. I’m not a big fan of count-out victories. Especially not if they’re in an overly chaotic way like this. I like the concept they were going for. It helped keep all four men looking strong. I can’t fault them for that. I just think it was poorly executed. I’m probably in the majority on this, but I think it could have been done better. A last minute slide in would have been great. I would even prefer a double count-out finish here. They just continue kicking the crap out of each other on the outside until the ref calls for the bell. That would have been a great way to end the match and keep all participants looking strong. But, hey, it was still a decent finish. I’m not just overly a huge fan of it.

Overall: I really, really enjoyed this match. From all these Japanese wrestler vs. American wrestler matches that I’ve been watching and reviewing, I’ve come up with a conclusion on what we need. We need more interaction with the big American stars and the big Japanese stars. We need to integrate again. We need to show on American TV some big names from Japan taking on some big names from here. The best we got right now is freaking Yoshi Tatsu. And look where he is. I think TNA would be perfect in this role. They could easily bring in guys to be a part of Team Japan and do another World X Cup. That would be awesome. And they could keep some guys coming around for a while to get some American training and exposure before going back to Japan. That would be epic.

WINNER: KAKURYU!

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COMMERCIAL BREAK

Dude beats Super Mario 3 in 11 minutes.

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PAST VS. PRESENT

Rick Martel

VS.

?

THOUGHTS

Okay, so, as you can see I chose Rick Martel. Now, here’s the thing. There are two sides to Rick Martel. There’s the AWA side, then there is the WWF side. The AWA side he was a bit of a shaky talker, but a phenomenal in-ring worker. But once he got to the WWF, the second time, he became a damn good heel that, for whatever reason go ask Sforcina, didn’t get him over like it should have. Maybe it had to do with the ridiculous stuff he wore. But he was infinitely more talented on the mic as an arrogant heel than he was as the AWA champion. The only person that I could see resembling anything of “The Model” Rick Martel would be Cody Rhodes. Rhodes was known as Dashing when he first broke out as a competent singles competitor. And Rhodes is also a damn good in-ring worker. The promo styles I’m not so sure about. I haven’t taken time to compare and contrast them, but if you guys think Rhodes could be the modern day Martel, I’ll definitely do that. So, I’m sitting here with an idea, but I’m not 100% sure of my idea. I want to hear what you guys have to say and who you think would be today’s Rick Martel.

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COMMERCIAL BREAK

Keeping with the video game theme.

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B-B-B-BONUS ROUND!

Here we go again with the bonus round and here I go again boring you with my thoughts on this week in wrestling! So let’s get to it!

RAW SUPERSHOW

So, the start of the show wasn’t so bad. I expected Johnny Ace to come out and continue to kiss ass. Was some interesting stuff he had lined up for the night and the announcement of the elimination chamber for RAW was about the only highlights until Punk made his way in to drop a pipebomb or whatever the hell the saying is. So, Punk and Bryan is set up and Bryan comes on down and the back and forth between the two is pretty entertaining. Especially later on in the show when they’re talking in the back. Funny stuff. Orton and Ziggler was a damn good match. I mean, it was exactly on par with Punk and Bryan. They were both ***1/2 in my mind. For different reasons, mind you. Just blame Barrett and Jericho. Another William Regal sighting and it’s quite hilarious hearing him talk about his daughters. The Brodus Clay squash was interesting. It seems the squashees are getting a little more offense these days. I’m hoping this is building up to Brodus actually being challenged by someone and we get him in a match instead of messy squashes. To revisit some more Punk/Bryan, that match was amazing. It could have ended better though. The Jericho interference just doesn’t make sense at this point. Hope they explain it tomorrow. Oh hey, Tyson in the HOF. Whatever. Truth on commentary! Fantastic! He’s mildly funny as Kofi beats Miz in a decent little match. The divas matc was a waste, if they wanted to set up Cena attacking Kane, they could have done it better. Like not wasting close to a minute of our time with Beth and Eve in a “match”. Am I the only one who wasn’t all super excited with the ending here? I’m pissed that they left off Johnny Ace being fired just to have Taker come back and Trips tell him to no. We know they’re going to slow build Trips and Taker, but I wish it wasn’t so. I’m kind of hoping that Trips said no, so someone else will take his spot to try and break the streak. That’s be cool. Overall, not too bad of a show. Some really great wrestling coupled with really mediocre story advancement. If you haven’t seen it, I’d suggest finding it on YouTube to at least check out the wrestling.

IMPACT WRESTLING

Impact was a let down this week. It started off in the same old fashion and I just wasn’t all that interested to hear Roode and Ray talk. And then they hype Hogan throughout the show. A lot. I understand he’s one of the biggest names ever, but there’s only so much he can do. And wrestling is not one of them. Well, wrestling like he used to. Not trying to take anything away from Hulk. The tag match was pretty decent, hoping to see Joe and Magnus actually win the titles of CriMorgan. Is it just me, or are the Bischoffs getting way too much TV time? Probably just me, right? So…Garret tells daddy that he’s wrong, and it’s not Hogan who is his trainer. Except that it is later revealed that it is indeed Hogan. And we all knew it. They were hyping his return. This all just confuses me as to who the hell thought this was smart or who they think they’re kidding. The X-Division match was good. Not sure how I feel about Mark Haskins, though. He did botch the SSP. More Bisch. Followed by the only match I feel is worthy of over ***. This match was on par with the Orton/Ziggler & Punk/Bryan matches on RAW. I really enjoyed it and I thought the ending was good. It’s following along with the Ray helps Roode win kind of thing. I just hope the Roode will get a legit win sometime soon. It would help him, I think. Knockouts. Okay. Not bad. More Bisch followed by more Bisch. And, oh I lied, sorry guys. The Ray/Storm match was another match that I’d rate over ***. And considering that Storm had two great matches in one night, I’d say he’s got what it take to be “the guy”. Look for him to win the title soon. Overall, I really only enjoyed the wrestling. The rest I was just bored with. I saw way too much Bishoff(both of them) for my liking. I know the main story was the return of Hogan and all, but I wish they could have had some better filler than Bischoff, Bischoff, Bischoff.

SMACKDOWN

I think SmackDown was the worst show of the week. I just didn’t get in to anything quite as much as I did from RAW or iMPACT. The opening segment was good only in the fact that I know they’re giving Henry time off to heal. That’s great as I want him back in top shape. He’s been really entertaining to me. Oh, and Sheamus was there, too. Which he was talking about who he was going to challenge. And this brought out Cody Rhodes. They talk and get put in a match that ends with Sheamus using a new move for the win. Wasn’t so impressed with the match. Both men are capable of much better. Gabriel and Hunico are entering for their match while Rhodes is still at ringside. Knowing that Gabriel and Rhodes have had run-ins the past few weeks, Cody attacking him was kind of predictable. And while Cody, Hunico, and Camacho are attacking Gabriel, Kahli makes the save. Why did it have to be Kahli? I was so happy with that big, dumb oaf off of my TV. He is NOT entertaining. AT ALL. Drew Mac hasn’t been fired, yet? Teddy Long is a weaksauce boss. I kind of like the concept of Santin-Hooooooo! And it’s always kinda fun to see Duggan. He’s hilarious. But he looks pretty bad. The following tag match was pretty bad, too. I was actually hoping Santino would have stayed in a team with Yoshi Tatsu. I’d like to see more Yoshi on my TV. On of the two highlights of the night was Bryan doing his thing to run down Big Show and his cute little girlfriend saving his bacon. Er, ass. Bryan is a vegan. A ROLE MODEL! Natalya has bad gas. I wish they wouldn’t do that to one of like three women they have that can actually wrestle. But Santino’s reactions are pretty funny. I think there was a Divas match, but I was busy cooking some food at the time. Boring video package. Then we get Orton and Barrett which is the second highlight of the night. I don’t even think it was worth sitting through show to get to this match, though. I’d say it was about a ***1/4 match. They could have done better, but it was good for what it was. The show just sucked in my opinion. I found myself on my laptop most of the time reading about conspiracies or something. That’s pretty bad.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Well, another week in the books. Hope you guys have enjoyed the read as much as I enjoyed the write. See you guys next week. But remember that there’s only one way to party, and that’s to ….

PARTY HARD!