JWP
KORAKUEN SPECIAL THE DRESS UP WILD FIGHT TAG MATCH:
Mayumi Ozaki &
Rieko Amano vs. Megumi Kudo & RIE (FMW team)
That RIE could be in a match this good was a minor miracle. I mean, she had never been in a very good match in her entire life. Ozaki & Kudo were great here. Kudo has long had the ability, but almost always lacked the opposition. With all her experience in garbage matches, it was obvious that she was going to deliver the goods now that she had opponents that were actually capable of wrestling. Kudo & Ozaki both incorporated great wrestling into this brawl. What really stood out about Kudo was that her timing was excellent. Amano knew what she wanted to do, but she was really green in this style so she didn't always get the job done. She made a good showing, but she's definitely been better. Well, I suppose everyone could say they've had better days after they finished a match with RIE. Ozaki is just the complete package. Other wrestlers might be better workers and certainly there are a lot who have better high spots, but to try to compare her based on one facet of wrestling, whether it's one she is about the best in or not, is almost missing the point. It's hard to put a value on someone whose every move is so right on and adds something to the match. RIE obviously took the match down because for her level of experience she is just about as bad as they come.
"RIE was really pathetic here and her offense was beyond terrible. She still didn't kill the match too much, but even though I actually like her there is nothing positive that can be said about her performance," wrote Michael.
Ozaki was able to carry her here, but there is only so much one person can do. RIE's offense was still going to be awful, and as usual she looked like she didn't have a clue. I don't think there's a woman in Japan that isn't a rookie that has more indecision and hesitation than RIE.
"There are some wrestlers who just look comfortable, like everything comes naturally and instinctively. Ozaki IS an example of a natural wrestler. She looks perfectly at home in the ring, always relaxed and comfortable with what she is doing. It's not just her wrestling, but her emotions and facials. Everything she does looks spontaneous. RIE is exactly the opposite. Though she's not a beginner, she still looks like she has to think everything through instead of just doing it. I remember watching one sequence Rie had with Ozaki where RIE hesitated for no apparent reason before doing a move and I could just imagine Ozaki wondering what she was waiting on," wrote Miko.
The problem with this match was that it was just too long. When a match is predominantly brawling, going longer than 20 minutes is probably going to lead to overkill. No matter how good you are, you can only do so much with a chair, a chain, a table, or any other gimmick before it gets repetitive. These gimmicks also increase the likelihood of sloppiness and blown spots. RIE is lucky to have a minutes worth of "good" material, so imagine how good the others must have been to wrestle twenty seven and a half very good minutes when you couldn't even have her spend the majority of the time on the apron because this was "Texas Tornado" rules.
"For me the down parts of this match, aside from Rie, were the length and some of the spots. You were right about this match being a little long. At times the brawling looked to be of the 'waste time to set up a gimmick' variety. Some of the gimmick spots didn't do anything for me either, especially the 'tape the bat to part of my body' spots. The taping just took too long and it always seemed like the bat would be better used if they just held it themselves and hit their opponent with it. In particular, Rie's bat assisted Destiny Hammer looked like a ‘seemed like a good idea before the match' spot," wrote Miko.
Oz, of course, was in bitchy street fighting mode today. She extended her hand to Kudo for a handshake. Kudo knew better than to bite at Oz's ploy, but Oz still caught her by urakening her with the chain then beating her down with precise chain shots. Amano tried a sky high bat, but it was too early so Kudo slipped out and Ozaki got hit with the bat. This allowed RIE to get her offense in on Ozaki. RIE had problems just climbing up to the top rope, and her diving facebuster looked terrible because her legs hit the mat before she did the facebuster. Oz was finally going to get some offense in on RIE, but Kudo recovered from Amano's beating and cut her off with a chair shot. Kudo dominated Ozaki, brawling all over the arena, until Ozaki was out of the picture. Ozaki, of course, was making all kinds of cool faces to sell the moves.
"I
like her range of emotions when losing, not just her selling when she is hit
with a big move, but even the disgusted ‘I can't believe I got caught with
that move' look. Of course, I also like Ozaki's facials when she's winning.
She looks like she's having a lot of fun, and it's generally fun to watch someone
who looks like they are enjoying themselves. On a deeper level though, her having
fun adds to her persona because it seems genuine and believable. She's being
the nasty Oz when she's having fun by punishing an opponent. A good actor plays
a role and makes it credible. A great actor plays a role and you swear it's
not acting, but real. The same goes for wrestlers, and Oz falls into the makes
it seem real category. Of course, there is a lot more to playing your role on
offense than looking like you are having fun. Misawa and Kawada are not exactly
lighthearted in their matches, but they are very effective at getting across
emotions. The key to the ‘realness' is not to underdo or overdo the emotions.
If you take emotions too far, they become bad comedy like the stupid overreactions
Hogan calls acting, but obviously the lines between good and the greats like
Ozaki are more narrowly defined than the lines between bad and the greats like
Kawada," wrote Miko.
While Ozaki was selling, they double teamed Amano, who bladed from a series of chair and chain shots by Kudo. Kudo was really punking Amano, pretty much showing that she wasn't on her level. Oz turned the tide by catching Kudo with her uraken. Ozaki dominated RIE, including Ligerbombing her on a table, while Amano took care of Kudo. RIE, who was now bloody, was just no match for Ozaki, but she wouldn't stay down. Kudo finally came back and saved RIE. She choke sleepered Ozaki with the bat while RIE gathered chairs and piled them in the ring. Kudo tried to nadare shiki no Frankensteiner Ozaki onto the pile of chairs, but Oz pushed her off the top into the chairs. Oz then tried her rolling bodyblock off the top, but Kudo avoided it, so Oz also landed on the chairs. Amano stopped Kudo's reverse Gori special bomb with her jumping lariat. Ozaki nodowa otoshi'd Kudo on the chairs and powerbombed her on a bat. Kudo countered a double backdrop onto a table and chain by landing on her feet, but Ozaki & Amano immediately cut off her comeback by wrapping a chain around her neck and played tug of war. They tied Kudo in the corner and Ozaki beat on her until RIE made the save with a Destiny Hammer. RIE tried her rolling cradle, but the ring was way too full of objects. Oz tried to come back with her uraken, but RIE avoided it and, after a little hesitation, facebustered Ozaki. Oz had seen enough of RIE's bad offense, so she cut her off with an uraken and began powerbombing RIE on chairs. Kudo, who was still tied in the corner, undid the chain enough that she was able to facebuster Ozaki onto the chairs. This bought RIE enough time to completely untie Kudo, who Tigerdrivered Oz on the chairs then hung her with a chain. Amano tried to make the save, but she couldn't do anything to Kudo, who backdropped her on her head for her trouble.
Amano finally made a comeback, including Oz throwing Amano the bat when she was on the top rope so she could diving lariat Kudo with it. This was a far better spot than when Amano taped the bat to her arm a bit later because it was essentially the same thing, but we didn't have to wait for the tape to be applied. Amano used the bat on RIE until Kudo came up from behind and hit her with a chair then nadare shiki no Frankensteinered her for a near fall. Amano taped the bat around her arm then used it to sky high lariat Kudo onto a pile of chairs. Ozaki finally tequila sunrised Kudo for a near fall. She tried another, but Kudo turned it into her Tiger suplex for a near fall. Everyone had about had it by this point. Oz tried to uraken Kudo with a chain, but Kudo blocked it with a chair. Kudo laid Ozaki out with a spinning fisherman buster then ordered RIE to make the cover, but Ozaki kicked out at 2 ½. RIE taped the bat to her foot and used it to Destiny Hammer Oz, but Amano made a diving save. Kudo took Amano to the back so she couldn't make a save, but it was almost like Oz was playing possum. Ozaki immediately turned RIE's Irish whip into an uraken then wrapped the chain around her hand and pointed at Kudo, taunting her because she was way too far away to make the save. Oz then urakened RIE with the chain for the win.
Oz challenged Kudo to the killer death match that took place on 4/18/97. This would also have been a great match if Kudo had a competent partner, but then again, you could say that almost every Kudo match would have been a lot better if she had anyone to work with and against. Even with RIE, it could have been great if it was shorter and more focused. Everyone knew their role, although some did a better job of playing it than others. This wasn't the best example of an Ozaki brawl because there were a lot of gratuitous gimmick spots. Still, it was definitely one of the best brawls of '97. 27:26 ****