MAtch of the Year
Podcast
Exploring the Evolution of Pro Wrestling through its Best Matches!
Your Host - Christopher J Garcia
Your Host - Christopher J Garcia
I've worked with the Cinequest Film Festival since 2001. I mostly program the Short Films (including Last Year's Best Documentary Short, Luchadora, which you can find out more about at http://www.luchadorathemovie.com) but once in a while, I consult on the Features. This year, one I got to view and helped select was Mikiko Sasaki's The Great Sasuke, a wonderful Doc about the legendary Japanese wrestler/politician/promoter/icon. On the final screening, the man himself joined us for Q+A, and I invoked the Divine RIght of Festival Programmers and handled said Q+A! The crowd was great, with tons of local fans, and even Dave Meltzer (San Jose's Own!) joined us for the show!
Sasuke was great, the movie AWSUM (you can read mt review on KLAUS AT GUNPOINT) and tons of folks got pics and autographs! You can listen to my outdoor, West Oakland interview with director Mikiko Sasaki on THEMED FOR YOUR PLEASURE and find out more about the film here |
Three match of the year winning matches, 1997, 2009, and 2010's best matches (well, according to RSPW, and the Observer) were between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. Episode 14 is an intro, Episode 15 is 1997, Episode 16 is 2009 at Mania, and 2010 is featured in Episode 17!
All three matches are on the WWE Network. |
The most widely-remembered matches by two of the most beloved wrestlers ever, and yet also a match that defines much of what is wrong with wrestling these days. Chris asks some tough questions, and delves into the emotional response to a match that won the RSPW and PWI Match of the Year for 1998. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2ey9sg_the-undertaker-vs-mankind-hd-hell-in-a-cell_tv |
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The third of the three Ring of Honor Match of the Year winners is Bryan Danielson vs. Takeshi Morishima for the RoH World Title. Chris looks at various reasons why this might be the perfect Match of the Year for him! Thrill to the hard-hitting description of Morishima as the hybrid of Stan Hansen and Terry Gordy! Enjoy Chris totally misremembering things!
You can see the match at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0Zms-3xXg0 |
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Recorded in the back of a Google Self-Driving Car, it's the episode of Match of the Year Podcast that looks at the Dragon Gate six-man tag match from 2006 that won the WON Match of the Year. Chris talks about it, about how it probably wasn't the best Six-man/Japanese-Lucha hybrid, and why you need to look at TNA for what was the best of 2006.
You can find the match at https://vimeo.com/109053397 And you can find other great 2006 matches at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhbVYaAanIR9DYvCfms9fH2MwHPosvl6y |
Ring of Honor's 2005 classic between Samoa Joe and Pro Wrestling NOAH legend Kenta Kobashi! We use this as a jumping on point to discuss what wrestling means to smarts, how match of the year is dealt with, when wrestlers are awesome, and the careers of these two amazing performers!
You can see the match at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZNiNWKC5jY |
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Arguably the most important series of matches of the 1980s, Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid is legendary, and we talk about these two guys' careers, the feud, the drugs, the 'roids, the way they changed wrestling, the people they inspired, and the ideas behind it.
We've also put together a YouTube Playlist for Tiger Mask! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhbVYaAanIR-_ZeFFb6YCj3yjVsC1pBuZ |
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