First off the big news is that Ohnita is looking to do a DeathMatch in America. Now ShootAngle.com (Man I am shilling today) has a good biography of Atsushi going on right now, so go check that out. It notes that he has wrestled very little in America. Ohnita wrestled some in the early 80s late 70s and besides that only had one show in Southern California. So, this is a very big event. I would have to think that Ohnita might not be the best one. His body is breaking down. When you have had more than 1000 stitches in your body time is your enemy. I am worried that he could get seriously injured doing such a match at his advanced age. They have not announced his opponent yet but there are several people in the running. One is The Sandman. I think that if they are going to do an explosive match SandMan is not a bad choice. You could see in WCW that his strong point is really hardcore matches. When he tried to have a regular match his skills were exposed. And how more hardcore do you get than explosive death matches. Think about it. Japan's Hardcore Legend versus one of the best hardcore wrestlers in America today. It could be a classic at the expense of Ohnita's career.

Speaking of old guys whose bodies are breaking down, it seems that Misawa is going crazy. His booking patterns are very odd. Kawada has just returned from an injury and already he has something like a three match losing streak. Now I can see elevating the talent. Especially in AJ's case with their big name stars reaching the twilight of their career. Having a guy come back only to lose match after match does not seem right. Plus also, with all of the matches he has at his disposal, i.e. Aikayama vs. Vader and Kawada vs. Vader and Kawada vs. Aikayama, Misawa seems to be building up to another Kobashi vs. Vader match for the TC. Frankly, though I find this not to be as bad as people say. It is like the Tajiri SuperCrazy feud. They might have had a lot of matches but each one is really good. Even Sean Shannon, who seems to hate ECW with a passion, still admits that the matches are good. While I think that Vader is highly overrated, he can still put out a decent match. Of course, you have Kobashi on the other end, who may be the greatest wrestler in the world today. This seems like it cannot be all that bad. I mean at least he is not going for a MossMan vs. Vader match or something super duper crazy like that. I am sure that a lot of people have missed the other matches, i.e. me, and would be willing to purchase this match on videotape if it turns out to be as good as advertised. Plus, when guys wrestle each other a lot, the matches get better. One, because they know how the other person works out and the timing and improv just gets better and better. Also, because they can work in precious psychology from earlier matches. The plot just gets richer and thicker with each match. So, I view another Kobashi vs. Vader match as "not that bad".

It looks like the Poruresu world is on the way up. Last year was a pretty poor year for wrestling, but with Kawada back and Toryumon growing bigger and bigger, life can only improve.

Anyway, if you have any comments, concerns, complaints, questions, or just wanna chat about how that Misawa Kobashi match from 6/99 was NOT as good as the Misawa Kobashi match from 10/98, then please by all means email me at talboito@uclink4.berkeley.edu.