So, what is this?
Being a newer fan to the more intricate side of wrestling, most notably non-American wrestling, there are many matches and classics I have never seen which I must watch, whether that be King’s Road, old Joshi classics from AJW, JWP and the like, classic NJPW and NOAH matches or CMLL spectacles. All of these are things I want to be able to say I have watched and enjoyed, in order to expand my wrestling knowledge, but on top of that, I want to watch many smaller, lesser known but equally awesome matchups I don’t even know about yet. Thanks to the wonderful means of YouTube, Youku, VK and the many similar wrestling fans I talk to, I can get recommendations on what to watch and also be able to watch every single match I’ve never seen, and all of this is what led me to create…
B_Cube’s Legacy Review Watch List
On Twitter I call this the “Matches I watch that have happened in history thread”, but that’s a bit of a mouthful. This is a series where I create a thread of matches that I watch with thoughts, feelings, opinions, and reviews, where every I give my comments, insight and star ratings for historically famous, renowned classics, recommended matches or just anything at all from previous years, whether that be 2022 or 1960. Now, we are going to transfer this series from my little Twitter account to also feature here at 6to10, and give monthly updates on what I’ve watched that month and what I thought! My ratings aren’t exactly similar to others, I use the regular .25/.5/.75 for all star levels except 4 stars, where I then go up to .25/.33/.5/.66/.75. It’s a little confusing, but you’ll get it!
Currently, since June, these are the matches I’ve watched and their star ratings:
- Riki Choshi vs Genichiro Tenryu – 21/06/1985 – 4.25 Stars
- Natsumi Maki vs Sareee – 04/01/2020 – 4 Stars
- Katsuyori Shibata vs Kazuchika Okada – 6 Stars
- Katsuyori Shibata vs Tomohiro Ishii – 4.75 Stars
- Kenny Omega vs Kazuchika Okada 1 – 5.75 Stars
- Kenny Omega vs Kazuchika Okada 2 – 6.5 Stars
- Kenny Omega vs Kazuchika Okada 3 – 5.75 Stars
- Kenny Omega vs Kazuchika Okada 4 – 6.25 Stars
- Yota Tsuji vs Tomohiro Ishii – 02/10/2022 – 4.5 Stars
- Mayu Iwatani vs Takumi Iroha – 12/10/2020 – 4.5 Stars
- Mayu Iwatani vs Mercedes Mone – ASG Queendom 2023 – 4.33 Stars
- Arisa Nakajima vs Kana – 15/12/2013 – 5.25 Stars
- Yoshiko Tamura & Ayumi Kurihara vs Kana & Io Shirai – 08/01/2010 – 5 Stars
- Kenta Kobashi vs Mitsuharu Misawa (c) – 25/10/1995 – 4.66 Stars
- Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi (c) – 20/01/1997 – 5.5 Stars
- Arisa Nakajima vs Command Bolshoi – 28/07/2013 – 4.33 Stars
- Tsukasa Fijimoto vs Maya Yukihi – 03/08/2019 – 4.33 Stars
- Megumi Kudo vs Mayumi Ozaki – 18/04/97 – 3.5 Stars
- Alex Windsor vs Hyan – 12/07/21 – 3 Stars
- Do FIXER vs Blood Generation – 31/03/2006 – 5.5 Stars
- Katsuhiko Nakajima vs Kento Miyahara – 5 Stars
- Sareee vs Arisa Nakajima – 25/08/23 – 5 Stars
Each of the listed matches have all have been featured on my Twitter thread, so if there’s any you’d like to check out and see my thoughts and opinions on, I have written about them on there in full, however now is the time for my September Watch list, and from now on as we go forwards, I will write each month about what I have watched, and I shall add here – as always it will include my thoughts and opinions of the matches I watched in that month, so without further ado – Here is B_Cube’s September Legacy Reviews!
Kana vs Meiko Satomura – 13/02/11 – 5 stars
Holy lord above this match was just painful, the kicks just kept coming from the start and each one just made myself wince, Kana not wanting to shake hands was just the beginning, and then they decided yeah fuck it we’re beating the ever living hell out of each other.
This is that real wrestling where people just kick the hell out of each other and then grapple for their lives and everything, the mat work between the two is smooth, they know each other well it seems, and they know exactly what to do, it’s fluid between submissions, holds and kicks, they just have each other at such a straight equal level you don’t know who is doing better. I love how neither wants to reach for the ropes, until it will literally be the end of their limb, they just want to outsmart and show their skill, this match feels PERSONAL. The head kicks carry on, each one makes me have to slightly look away, the grappling IS THAT REAL GRAPS.
There was one stomach kick Meiko did which made me physically grab my stomach, I just don’t know how people can do this shit, it’s crazy good. The kicks started coming, and they never stopped coming, this match is the perfect example of why I have fallen in love with Joshi wrestling, like this has an immaculate vibe which I’ve never experienced from any type of wrestling before or after, and I find it mainly in these older Kana matches.
This wrestling doesn’t feel like it’s fake, it feels so real and so deep and personal, partly because I think it is at times, they genuinely do just go for each other, it feels vintage but also modern and it’s so violent but not in a death match way, just a human way, like the finish to this match is just her completely choking Meiko out, nothing else, I love this match, go and watch it.
Fujita Jr Hayato vs Kenny Omega – 02/06/10 – 4.75 Stars
The match started off with just both of them hitting each other with the stiffest forearm strikes ever, and the crowd just screaming Kenny’s name. And then we got some lovely Junior action, we can see a glimmer of 2016 Kenny starting here, the speed of these guys is awesome, and the Kenny dive with no Terminator feels weird, it’s one of my first early Kenny matches I’ve seen.
Kenny is just as ripped as today, but just a little smaller in looks and style, makes him more of a beast in my opinion. Fujita is also a skinny beast, his kicks and dropkicks look on the verge of being deadly, and he’s so bouncy and the lifting moves from him are crazy, what a powerful guy. Both of these men I regard as great wrestlers since I’ve discovered them, and seeing them both try to kill each other 13 years ago was great, I love both of their styles and how they merged together in this match, Kenny’s personality is just as big in 2010, and Hayato only aged like wine.
They’re just swearing at each other and trying to hit each other as hard as they can. This is a fantastic match, and it gives the exact same sort of feeling than as an early 2010s Joshi match does as well. These guys kick out of everything. Really grasping for the win, you can feel their desperation, and the top rope move from Kenny was genuinely crazy, both of these men put their entire heart and spirit into this competition. These guys felt hungry to win and to make a name for themselves, taking some brutal knees to the face and just toughing them. I can’t imagine how they felt in the morning after this match, Fujita won with genuinely one of the most painful knee strikes I’ve ever seen, like a penalty knee, what a match, what a goddamn match – On the edge of 5 stars
Clown Kana vs Clown Hanako Nakamori – 14/10/2013 – 4.66 Stars
The Kana formula works its magic again, I love the brawl out on the floor, especially with the chair just chucked into Kana’s face, always a good spot. Just enough shoot style wrestling to make me a little scared… A solid match with lots of good submission work from both side, as often we see with Kana, and just brutal kicks from both competitors, I loved Kana’s spinning back fists, they always have an aura unlike others, and this being my first Nakamori match, I get the hype now, these two had some great kicking at each other chemistry and worked well with how they both wrestle, similar styles pull off good matches and I can’t wait to watch more of these 2 women just simply attack each other, Kana remains at the top of my list, and Nakamori has entered my view, I’ve heard she’s had a great 2023, so I’ll have to investigate.
Mika Iwata vs VENY/ASUKA – 08/01/2022 – 3.75 Stars
I watched this match because I wanted to familiarize myself more with both competitors, and I feel this was a good representation of how both wrestle. VENY was obviously the heel here to me, playing with Mika and annoying her constantly. Mika had the upper hand for much of the match, with some very solid knees and kicks, one of my favorite things in wrestling really, but VENY pulled it back with her usual form here, a playful style mixed in with but then transitioning into the serious, winning capable style, some solid forearms leading to some powerful offense of headbutts, powerbombs and the finishing moonsault. This was a simple match, but done very well and showed off both’s skills as competitors.
Bull Nakano vs Aja Kong – 14/11/90 – 4.66 Stars
First ever Aja Kong and Bull Nakano match that I’ve watched, I’ve heard lots and lots about them both, so I’m excited to finally watch them. The match opened with Aja just attacking Bull with scissors before they both entered the cage, they attacked each other and threw each other around and into the cage and more, a very heated feud I imagine, I’m going to read up on it soon.
Oh my god this match is nuts, after Aja just spams back fists for a good few minutes, Bull just gets a piece of metal and hits her with it, then some solid offense back from Bull with a proper good lariat and then NOW SHE HAS NUNCHUCKS? I couldn’t have anticipated that at all, like oh my goodness what, when have you ever seen nunchucks in a match before, it’s such a perfect weapon too, Aja gets split open by them, she doesn’t care, headbutts the whole brain out Bull just to say that she doesn’t care, and solidifies it with a PIPEDRIVER.
Some fight breaks out outside the cage, no idea why but there’s just a 10-foot pole in the mix, random, but I love it, it made me chuckle. It does get kind of disturbing when Bull uses the scissors on Aja, I was a little like what am I watching right now, had to take a step back again, then a fight outside the cage, again. And THEN THEY GO TO CLIMB IN, and Bull just nopes them, only for Aja to literally hang Bull from the top rope, it was a little insane, more than the Hangman Moxley ones.
The match intensity ramps up after the rope spot, they both try to escape but all the outside the ring folks go to attack whoever tries to leave, a long chain gets added into the mix, fights between a bunch of people break out, almost attacking the commentators. The chain sequence was mental, having it around Aja and tied to either side of the ring like a REAL torture rack submission, and again she just gets up, turns to Bull trying to escape in the corner and whacks her with a huge pole despite being chained to 3 sides of the ring, a spectacle to see.
The weapons in this match are very crazy, I had zero expectation of all this variety and randomness of what I was going to see, and how they were just tossed in like streamers. They used the cage so well when it comes to fighting, and the world-famous leg drop was actually mental, how did Nakano’s spine not just shatter from jumping off and landing, she just got straight up from it, walked to the corner and escaped to win, a totally insane match this was. Aja Kong after the match on the mat was crazy, they all were just shouting and screaming, and it felt like such an emotional climax to see all the wrestlers I recognize have a huge brawl inside the cage, like 15 people, a classic match for a reason, spectacular, need more of this and the experience in today’s wrestling, the sheer want to win, and all people involved giving their all, even stablemates and onlookers added to the match by trying to stop them from escaping the cage – 2023 should take some notes on how to keep people on their feet.
To finish this month:
Thank you all for reading my September Legacy Review, I know that many of you have seen many of these matches already, but for a fan like me who is just beginning the dive into the wider wrestling world, being able to document what I watch and how I feel about the matches is a great thing to be able to do. My ratings may change over time, and all I write is only accurate to the time of publishing, but it allows me and others to take a look back at how I thought about wrestling over the years, and I hope to continue this as long as possible.
I’m also going to publish an article about a few examples of what I regard professional wrestling to be all about, ones you’ll find on the list above of matches I have rated already, so stay tuned!
Once again, a big thank you to all who read this article, and I hope to see you all again soon! I appreciate you all for reading my reviews of these matches, expect some more reviews soon and for next month’s watch list! Let me know on Twitter (@BCubePuro) about any other wrestling matches, albums, movies or games you’d like me to write about next!
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