DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
TNA Fan World
HTML https://tnafans.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: Sheriff Lonestar's PPV of the Week
*****************************************************
#Post#: 14323--------------------------------------------------
Sheriff Lonestar's PPV of the week; The Best in the World Part 1
By: SheriffLonestar Date: July 6, 2013, 1:32 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Whose the best in the world? A simple question that in Pro
Wrestling is very hard to answer. However having set this
particular albatross around my neck I intend to answer it in the
coming weeks and by encouraging you to watch a series of PPVs
whilst doing so. The obvious answer is of course CM Punk the man
who popularised the saying in the common wrestling parlance and
he has every right to be considered such in this particular
cross section of wrestlers. How we define the best is another
thing though. Back in the day it was simple, the NWA champ had
to be the best. From Yokohama to the York Hall, they had to have
everyone on the edge of their seats every night for up to and
over 60 minutes and that really is the essence of greatness I am
looking for. Who can make you feel IT, every time they step into
the ring. From the ring entrance to the closing bell, who has
more people on their feet than anyone else. It isn't always the
obvious answers.
In my other obsession filling pass time MotoGP it would be hard
to argue that anyone but Jorge Lorenzo is currently THE Best.
Current World Champion, three time winner this year second place
in the title and looking good to close down and surpass Dani
Pedrosa. Is he the best? I would argue its Valentino Rossi,
still at 34 incredibly dangerous. Having had his confidence
knocked by dodgy Ducati's these last two seasons and getting
back on a bike at Yamaha that feels unfamiliar it took him a
while to get on his groove. Then last weekend with a front end
he could trust he beat everyone at Assen. I mean he destroyed
them. They pushed the pace so he went faster, lap after lap on
the most demanding circuit in modern GP racing.
In wrestling we have a tendency to think of the WWE Champion, or
certainly the top half of their card as the best. They
definitely make the most money and for the cynical among us that
is all that matters. However I am not looking at those guys,
okay I am, but not in that way. We are looking for the person
who personifies pro wrestling, who from the moment the curtain
comes up the crowd wants to hang on their every move. Remember
the night that Austin Aries won the World Title? I am looking at
those nights, the ones he has delivered on every night since.
More of Austin in future episodes though.
How we define greatness is as long as a piece of string and if
fifteen different contributors to this wrote this article you'd
get fifteen different opinions. My list will be what I can
representatively say is the top workers currently on full time
schedules working anywhere for anyone in the world. The people
who really make the scene move and jump. Some of them may not be
champions, all of them matter. These matches are some of the
best I have ever seen, and they are happening right now. All you
have to do is go look for them, or come read my posts and you
can find them.
Today we look at a card from 2012 by the nature of this list
most of the cards you will see will have taken place in the last
two years. Also by the nature of this list everyone has a body
of work so you can find out what I mean. This is We Are Pro
Wrestling Love,. It was something as bit special. A two parter,
four hours of wrestling pleasure from All Japan Pro Wrestling
AND New Japan Pro Wrestling, with some help from NOAH. An
anniversary show which features two of my claimants to the Best
in the World title. Firstly, then defending Triple Crown
Champion Jun Akiyama defending Taiyo Kea and in the second half
of the main, my other claimant Hiroshi Tanahashi defending the
IWGP Heavyweight title against Togi Makabe.
Akiyama has one of the best pedigrees of anyone in the wrestling
world. A 21 year veteran who looks as fresh today as he did in
1992. A hard working tag specialist who broke into the single
ranks with a major win over Mitsuharu Misawa. His tag team with
Kenta Kobashi Burning created five star matches at will.
Suffering the long term All Japan syndrome of being clogged in
the mid card, he followed Kobashi and Misawa to NOAH where he
became a breakout star becoming the second GHC Heavyweight
Champion beating Kobashi for the belt in 2000. He was actually
to good for the job. He lost the title a few months later after
having a few incredible matches against New Japan opposition but
NOAH realised they needed to hold him check. Dropping the title
he went back to his bread and butter of tag team work and helped
build the NOAH tag division. After the loss of Misawa he
suffered from post traumatic stress syndrome, and numerous
injuries but he was a main stay for NOAH during the early 2000s.
NOAH wasn't the only company who believed in him. He won his
first Triple Crown (All Japan's top title) not long before this
match while still under contract to NOAH. Which is the
equivalent of Bobby Roode turning up in WWE and beating John
Cena for the title. Not long after, with the unceremonious
departure of Kenta Kobashi and his subsequent retirement he was
back in All Japan full time. So here is my first candidate for
consideration in my Best in the World list. Jun Akiyama.
My second is Hiroshi Tanahashi a former 6 time IWGP champion
highly regarded by New Japan fans and the WWE (every six weeks
there is some rumour abounding that they want to hire him). A
former baseball player in college he graduated the NJPW dojo in
1999. He was to put it mildly and instant hit. He was also the
subject of a real life drama that paused his career but got him
over great guns. His former girlfriend who happened to be an
television presenter stabbed him in the back. He returned to a
sell out crowd in 2003 and his star shone brightly from there on
in. G1 Climax Finals and IWGP title shots abounded, he was due
to challenge Brock Lesnar during his short tenure with the belt.
As Lesnar no showed and was stripped of the title he was placed
in the tournament to name Lesnar's successor and won. He has had
spot visits in TNA and in CMLL (not so successfully in TNA) and
he is clearly the biggest draw NJPW have right now hence those
precious six title reigns.
Why are these the first two people on my list? Watch these
matches, the presence, the execution and the story telling are
perfect. They understand what the audience want and want to
steal the show, there is palpable excitement in the air when
they enter the ring and the matches are tense drama filled
affairs which is really what you want from a title match. Few
people on the planet can make wrestling this good, and this is
what we are looking for in the Best in the World.
The under card isn't half bad either, I strongly recommend
Jushin "Thunder" Liger, Tiger Mask IV, Shiryu, BUSHI & SUSHI vs.
Prince Devitt, Ryusuke Taguchi, KAI , Hiroshi Yamato & Hiromu
Takahashi which is just amazin in talent depth, this is what the
X Division could be with a shed load more cash. As well as a
trip down memory lane with Keiji Muto, Satoshi Kojima &
Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka & Tomohiro Ishii.
The veterans versus the heel upstarts, what could be simpler?
Enjoy the show.
HTML http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l97dSOewzhs
HTML http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwwddd_B4b8
*****************************************************