July 14th, 2024: Book Club - Session 2
Admittedly speaking, the 1990s, especially outside of Japan, are a blind spot for my wrestling knowledge and fandom. As someone who first began watching wrestling in the 2000s, as a child, I was not attracted to the older, more grounded-style. I was your typical kid, attracted to the flashy high-fliers; the Jeff Hardys, the Rey Mysterios... My deepest cut as a kid was stumbling upon TAKA Michinoku in the WWF, and that was about as far as I went.
I preface this article by saying this because you are about to read through what is, in essence, my blind thoughts, as I watch these matches for the first time.
The "Royal Road" style. The term has become enough of a buzzword to the point where it has lost the meaning that it once had.
So, what do I know about what it used to be?
Royal Road, from my understanding, has its roots in the American territories and their structure of wrestling. From having watched my fair share of the Four Pillars in the past, I understand it to be an incredibly slow, even laborious buildup, upping the ante until the heaviest bombs are dropped. An arms race.
Three out of the Four Pillars are in attendance for this match, each stylistically different from each other, yet nearly equal in magnitude to their overall degree of skill. Kawada, clad in yellow, with hard kicks. Misawa, in green, with a style that is reminiscent of the contemporary junior heavyweight style, peppered with hard forearm smashes and heavy-feeling suplexes. Taue, in red, with his raw strength and power; was never the smoothest, but his physicality, always a joy to watch (my personal favorite pillar!). Jun Akiyama, the unofficial "fifth pillar" also adds his own shade to this match, mostly just throwing people with his exploder suplex.
A match like this had to be good on paper, and it was in practice. However, I must be honest with you. I find that the amount of labor that it takes to get to the end is *a bit much*. It is a style that lends itself to feeling the amount of effort the people in that ring are exerting, throwing everything at the wall in order to get that win; and you feel every single moment of that.
It's a style that takes a lot out of you, and, as a result, in most cases, I have a disconnect with this style of work. In most cases, I lack the patience to sit through the beginning halves of matches like these, and doubly so due to an unknown personal disconnect with Jun Akiyama's work that I am trying to understand the reason behind,
BUT. These four conduct a tremendous presence together that I felt compelled and simply magnetized to, and even in a seemingly maximalist style on the surface, there was an attention to detail in the selling that I appreciate, especially with Kawada. It was a pace that never let up, even if it started slow; I knew it was building to something hard-earned, and it felt hard-earned.
I enjoy these matches, but only once in a while. Matches like this really take a lot out of me...
Verdict: Really liked
Anything prior to 1998 WWE has flown under my radar. For whatever reason, matches from this period tend to elude my attention. However, I do know who Bret Hart is, and I am familiar with his work. We all know that he is the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be. Clad in black and pink, his entrance theme, with loud, shrieking guitars, was one of the first videos I stumbled upon in my wrestling fandom. Applying my knowledge now, I know that he is one of the best wrestlers of all time; that he has an immaculate eye for details for not just his in-ring performances, but in everything that he does, and it shows.
Roddy Piper? Completely a blind spot for me. All I know about Roddy is that he played a loud-mouth heel who entered to blaring bagpipes, and was in They Live. Prior to this match, I had only seen him cut promos, and not once had I seen a single second of his in-ring work.
Immediately, as I see these two in the ring, I realize how much I have been missing out on. The match began with a slow, methodical pace. It wasn't the empty sort of slowness, but it was a slowness with an intent. Immediately, I knew that this match was like a powder keg, and I knew the keg would blow, but how?
There was a clear shift in energy when Bret began to bleed after Piper's bulldog out of the corner. It was clear to me that nobody expected to see blood, especially not when it happened. Commentators Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan were also in doubt, whether Bret was truly bleeding or not; adding to the uncertainty.
All the actions that both men built towards reached its peak via a sense insecurity over the outcome. I bit on Piper threatening to hit Bret with the ring bell after the ref bump, and thought that like any other wrestler in his shoes, that he would hit Bret. However, unexpectedly, Piper hesitates; instead attempting to choke Bret out as the referee slowly got back to his feet. Seeing this as an opportunity, Bret would run into the turnbuckles, reversing the hold and putting Piper into the winning pin.
Bret. Won.
Amidst all the uncertainty, chaos, and confusion, the consistent torrent of underdog energy emanating from Bret Hart at that very moment made him feel like the most hard-working man on Earth. Bret really fought hard to take that win, and I felt relieved.
I understood what was so different about this match. This match, while not speeding up in-ring or "shifting a gear", kept the pressure going. It was fine for them to stick to the one gear, because it was in the "sweetspot", allowing them to demonstrate their intents behind each decision. Within this gear, both the drama and sense of progression were built upon naturally. I really felt the wear and tear that Bret was going through, and was not sure whether he would pull through.
This is the type of drama and palpable tension many WrestleMania matches have tried since then to recapture, but have failed to do so. An organic, natural progression done with intent. Each decision was not done to blatantly manipulate the audience into reacting in the way that they should.
This is how things should be. A great example of understanding the purpose behind your work, and making the most of it.
Verdict: Loved, would recommend
I preface this article by saying this because you are about to read through what is, in essence, my blind thoughts, as I watch these matches for the first time.
Match 1: Holy Demon Army (Akira Taue and Toshiaki Kawada) vs. Super Generation Army (Jun Akiyama and Mitsuharu Misawa) (AJPW, December 6th, 1996)
1996 Real World Tag League Final
The "Royal Road" style. The term has become enough of a buzzword to the point where it has lost the meaning that it once had.
So, what do I know about what it used to be?
Royal Road, from my understanding, has its roots in the American territories and their structure of wrestling. From having watched my fair share of the Four Pillars in the past, I understand it to be an incredibly slow, even laborious buildup, upping the ante until the heaviest bombs are dropped. An arms race.
Three out of the Four Pillars are in attendance for this match, each stylistically different from each other, yet nearly equal in magnitude to their overall degree of skill. Kawada, clad in yellow, with hard kicks. Misawa, in green, with a style that is reminiscent of the contemporary junior heavyweight style, peppered with hard forearm smashes and heavy-feeling suplexes. Taue, in red, with his raw strength and power; was never the smoothest, but his physicality, always a joy to watch (my personal favorite pillar!). Jun Akiyama, the unofficial "fifth pillar" also adds his own shade to this match, mostly just throwing people with his exploder suplex.
A match like this had to be good on paper, and it was in practice. However, I must be honest with you. I find that the amount of labor that it takes to get to the end is *a bit much*. It is a style that lends itself to feeling the amount of effort the people in that ring are exerting, throwing everything at the wall in order to get that win; and you feel every single moment of that.
It's a style that takes a lot out of you, and, as a result, in most cases, I have a disconnect with this style of work. In most cases, I lack the patience to sit through the beginning halves of matches like these, and doubly so due to an unknown personal disconnect with Jun Akiyama's work that I am trying to understand the reason behind,
BUT. These four conduct a tremendous presence together that I felt compelled and simply magnetized to, and even in a seemingly maximalist style on the surface, there was an attention to detail in the selling that I appreciate, especially with Kawada. It was a pace that never let up, even if it started slow; I knew it was building to something hard-earned, and it felt hard-earned.
I enjoy these matches, but only once in a while. Matches like this really take a lot out of me...
Verdict: Really liked
Match 2: Roddy Piper (c) vs. Bret Hart (WWF, April 5th, 1992)
WWF Intercontinental Championship
Anything prior to 1998 WWE has flown under my radar. For whatever reason, matches from this period tend to elude my attention. However, I do know who Bret Hart is, and I am familiar with his work. We all know that he is the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be. Clad in black and pink, his entrance theme, with loud, shrieking guitars, was one of the first videos I stumbled upon in my wrestling fandom. Applying my knowledge now, I know that he is one of the best wrestlers of all time; that he has an immaculate eye for details for not just his in-ring performances, but in everything that he does, and it shows.
Roddy Piper? Completely a blind spot for me. All I know about Roddy is that he played a loud-mouth heel who entered to blaring bagpipes, and was in They Live. Prior to this match, I had only seen him cut promos, and not once had I seen a single second of his in-ring work.
Immediately, as I see these two in the ring, I realize how much I have been missing out on. The match began with a slow, methodical pace. It wasn't the empty sort of slowness, but it was a slowness with an intent. Immediately, I knew that this match was like a powder keg, and I knew the keg would blow, but how?
There was a clear shift in energy when Bret began to bleed after Piper's bulldog out of the corner. It was clear to me that nobody expected to see blood, especially not when it happened. Commentators Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan were also in doubt, whether Bret was truly bleeding or not; adding to the uncertainty.
All the actions that both men built towards reached its peak via a sense insecurity over the outcome. I bit on Piper threatening to hit Bret with the ring bell after the ref bump, and thought that like any other wrestler in his shoes, that he would hit Bret. However, unexpectedly, Piper hesitates; instead attempting to choke Bret out as the referee slowly got back to his feet. Seeing this as an opportunity, Bret would run into the turnbuckles, reversing the hold and putting Piper into the winning pin.
Bret. Won.
Amidst all the uncertainty, chaos, and confusion, the consistent torrent of underdog energy emanating from Bret Hart at that very moment made him feel like the most hard-working man on Earth. Bret really fought hard to take that win, and I felt relieved.
I understood what was so different about this match. This match, while not speeding up in-ring or "shifting a gear", kept the pressure going. It was fine for them to stick to the one gear, because it was in the "sweetspot", allowing them to demonstrate their intents behind each decision. Within this gear, both the drama and sense of progression were built upon naturally. I really felt the wear and tear that Bret was going through, and was not sure whether he would pull through.
This is the type of drama and palpable tension many WrestleMania matches have tried since then to recapture, but have failed to do so. An organic, natural progression done with intent. Each decision was not done to blatantly manipulate the audience into reacting in the way that they should.
This is how things should be. A great example of understanding the purpose behind your work, and making the most of it.
Verdict: Loved, would recommend
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