Professional wrestling, puroresu, pro-wres, lucha libre, whatever you may call it in your particular native tongue, is about different things to different people. Some watch it for the highspots, some for the technical aspects, and some for the extreme violence of it. The tie that binds us, however, is our love for this quasi-sport.
And without the wrestlers and performers that have helped us suspend reality and drawn us into their matches, that love wouldn't be there. Period.
So the point of this site is not to bitch about what's "wrong" with professional wrestling, why we hate Vince McMahon and Antonio Inoki, or to get up on our soapbox about which wrestlers "suck".
Because no wrestler truly "sucks". To even be able to get into the ring, you need heart and determination. More than any of us have, and that's why the wrestlers are in the ring and we're in the seats watching.
If a wrestler has ever done a spot that made you take notice, has made you feel any kind of emotion towards their character, or has drawn you into their match, even just once, they've done their job.
Do I hear some murmurs in the peanut gallery? The rest of us don't care what you smarks and workrate fiends have to say. Sit back down and shut up.
To cap this installment of Battle Wonderland, I leave you with this.
Mitsuharu Misawa has been wrestling for 22 years, and counting. In those 22 years, he's put on some of the greatest matches ever seen in a wrestling ring. He's the total package. He has highspots, he brings excellent technical skills, he can turn up the violence when the match calls for it, elbowing and kicking his opponents senseless, and allowing the same to be done to him. Above all, he draws you in, and makes you respond to his matches.
Yet, the most common thing I hear about Misawa is that he's "broken down", and that he "can't deliver" anymore.
To this, I ask the question, "so what?"
You've got two decades of stellar matches to look back upon, and you still complain. Shame on you.
However, I get what it's all about. And so do these guys. Ready for some top-notch Misawa viewing? Listen to my friends.
Tabe - "For me, Mitsuharu Misawa's definitive match is his 6/8/90 victory over Jumbo Tsuruta. The match is incredibly historic, heralding a changing of the guard for All Japan after the SWS defections of Tenryu and his crew to a new group of young superstars like Misawa and Toshiaki Kawada. In addition, it served as Misawa's first big singles victory after he was unmasked as Tiger Mask II. And finally, the match roughly fits a pattern of future Misawa matches in that Misawa served as the main recipient of punishment throughout the match, only to pull off a victory in the end. His later Triple Crown matches with Kenta Kobashi would follow a similar theme, as would other high-profile matches of Misawa's. So with the history of the match and the common thread to his later matches, while perhaps not his absolute 'best' work, 6/8/90 is my choice for the 'definitive' Misawa match."
Ramsey - "Misawa and Akiyama v. Kawada and Taue, Real World Tag League Finals '96. For the pure essence of what Mitsuharu Misawa really was in his prime, you need look no further than this match. Misawa and his young partner face off against the most feared team in Japan. Kawada and Taue team up to eliminate Akiyama early and leave Misawa to fight them off by himself. Misawa absorbs an enormous amount of punishment and yet, he digs deep and even in defeat he looks unbeatable. He was THE wrestler of the 90's and this match shows why."
See? Neither of these guys picked what the workrate nazis would call the best match of all time (although some would try to make a case for Misawa/Akiyama v. Kawada Taue as best tag match of all time, but I digress), but they both have legitimate reasons for picking what they did, all because Misawa was able to draw them in at the sound of the bell and make them believe for twenty minutes that followed.
Catching my drift yet? I'll be back sometime within the next seven to ten days, this time talking about a wrestler who is a household name throughout the world, yet is almost universally maligned by die-hard wrestling fans. That's right, I'm talking about Hulk Hogan.
Got something to say about next installment's topic? E-mail me, and maybe it'll end up here.
-Highwind17
highwind17@hotmail.com