Board 8's Match of the Week - Just Good Matches This Time (MOTW)

Welcome back to Board 8's Match of the Week where myself, Bidoof and Iceman nominate matches for each other and all of you to watch and comment on.

This week we are getting back on track with just a regular week with no theme, just good matches.

Next week we are going to be doing a special Match of the Year edition where we nominate Matches of the Year from previous years.

If you want to take a guest spot in that topic speak up!

WIthout further ado here is my match:

Black Tiger II (Eddie Guerrero) vs Wild Pegasus (Chris Benoit) Super J Cup, First Round Match 4/16/1994
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6drjk

Inspired by Voices of Wrestling's Rich Kraetsch's discussion this tournament on an episode of his retro series regarding Best of the Super Juniors, I did myself a major solid and checked out the original Super J Cup from 1994. It was a legendary one night tournament show and if you've never seen it, do yourself a favor and make time to correct that. As our resident guy who focuses on American fan favorites this match caught my eye as a candidate for this topic.

It's super short at just 11 minutes and features icons Eddie and Benoit back in their early years and under weird pseudonyms and gimmicks. Hell Eddie is under a mask. Neither was yet anything resembling a star, though Benoit was already developing a reputation among the tape traders for the speed and intensity of his work and this tournament would earn him his first five star match. But I assume most people have seen Wild Pegasus vs Great Sasuke by this point, so I figured I would go for a deeper dive.

This match presents an excellently executed match that is built around the clash in styles between Black Tiger's aerial maneuvers and Wild Pegasus' penchant for the ground game and chain-grappling. The result is fast and furious and serves as showcase for Black Tiger's athleticism, including a glorious springboard rana that was truly innovative in 1994.