|
|
Dai Nihon Nintei Death Match
Heavykyu Senshuken Big Japan Grand Prix 2000 Tournament Ikkaisen Kosunkugi (spike) & Barbed Wire Board Death Match: Ryuji Yamakawa vs. Tomoaki Honma 1/2/00 Tokyo Korakuen Hall (2,100 sellout) From Battle Station Big Japan 1/23/00 ~Shinshun Great Series 2000~ |
|
|
DEATH MATCH OF THE YEAR, AGAIN! This time they not only had the best death match in company history, but the best match in company history. This probably sounds weird, but it was kind of like Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi in a death match. No, these guys aren't as good, but Honma suddenly got all Misawa-esque both in his offense and in his ability to really stepped up and carry Yamakawa to one of the only death matches with a great deal of technical merit. This was neither as bloody nor as psychotic as their quickly becoming legendary among hardcores 6/20/99 match, but it was so much better all around. The wrestling itself was stiffer, crisper, and better executed, but the main differences were the psychology and the selling. They actually built the match, and even played off the previous death match. They made the moves have meaning by ordering them better, most importantly made the spots along the way mean something by taking a little time to put them over, and had enough focus that the finish worked. They started out by teasing the boards again, but this time it had a little amateur wrestling flavor before they started kicking each others asses. They also went away from the teases before going back to them, and since they still couldn't board the person when they returned, they left them again for more weardown. By making it obvious where they were trying to go and that the reason they couldn't get there is that their opponent wasn't beat down enough, it made the first bump into the barbed wire boards have meaning and gave purpose to the offense that led up to it. It looked like Honma would be the first one to have his flesh ripped by the unforgiving barbed wire, but he shocked us with an incredible new counter. When Yamakawa whipped him at the corner, he jumped onto the barbed wire board and backflipped out of the corner to safety. This was like the old Sayama spot, except he jumped onto it instead of ran up the corner, and the footing on a barbed wire board is nonexistent while anyone could stand on the turnbuckle. Yamakawa just stood there in amazement, and that cost him because by the time he decided to charge at Honma, Honma was standing there staring at him. Honma stopped Yamakawa's charge with a kick to the stomach than whipped Yamakawa into the barbed wire board to end that chapter of the match. Honma took it to the floor where he used chairs, but Yamakawa reversed his whip into the wall. This lead to the annoying, incredibly contrived walk all over the building just so the fans can say there were close to some "action" (yes, I think this sucks when you are at a show because most of the time you can't see anything and if you leave your seat to try to get only a a semiobstructed view you wind up with some asshole standing on it with his sticky, muddy shoes). When they stopped meandering around, Yamakawa did two killer moves to Honma on the stage, a Ligerbomb and a "brainbuster." Honma was acting really staggered after this, so that helped make dragging him around look a little more plausible. Back in the ring, they teased Yamakawa suplexing Honma over the top onto the spikes, but Honma wound up draping Yamakawa over the top rope with the suplex Benoit used to do. Honma ran off the ropes and blew Yamakawa away with a jumping elbow, allowing Yamakawa to jump off the apron far enough that he didn't land in the spikes. Honma put Yamakawa's head into the spikes to make him bleed, but actually this wasn't convincing again and Yamakawa quickly swiped his head to get the juice. Honma set a chair up in the ring so it looked like he might Death Valley bomb Yamakawa onto it, but instead he did a Samoan drop through a barbed wire board. This was really nasty because the barbed wire boards were practically straight up in down in the corner so Honma had to scrape Yamakawa's back on the barbed wire on the way down. Honma set up another barbed wire board across two chairs and tried to nadare shiki no Frankensteiner Yamakawa through them like he did in the previous match, but this time Yamakawa knocked Honma off the top and got his revenge, or so he thought, by doing the said move to Honma. Yamakawa Ligerbombed Honma on the broken board for a near fall. When Honma came back, he set up a barbed wire board across two chairs on the floor and raised the bar in a major way by giving Yamakawa a nadare shiki no Frankensteiner though the board. This wasn't done perfectly because Honma was trying to figure out how he could do the move without killing himself when he crashed to the floor, but almost no one else is psychotic enough to even do the Frankensteiner off the top to the floor, much less with a barbed wire board involved. Yamakawa has taken so many crazy bumps that you need a scorekeeper, but this is another that will be remembered for a long time. That said, I had a major problem with Yamakawa here because he should have put this over HUGE, at least a minute and a half without really moving minimum. Instead, it was like it was just any old move. Honma gave the sign for his elbow then gave Yamakawa two big running elbows for a near fall. Both men were doing a pretty good job of putting over the toll of the match. Honma used fire thunder on Yamakawa for another near fall then both men sold for a long time. Honma eventually dragged Yamakawa up and tried to lay him out with a running elbow, but Yamakawa went around it and German suplexed him. Honma hit a really weak elbow and blocked Yamakawa's lariat, but Yamakawa lariated him when he tried to follow with the rolling elbow. While Honma was selling, Yamakawa put a table next to the spikes and draped a barbed wire board from the apron over the spikes to the table. Yamakawa tried to powerbomb Honma off the apron though the board, but Honma blocked it and used elbows to open up the opportunity to pull the stunned Yamakawa off the apron and powerbomb him through the board. Yamakawa's butt touched the nails a little, but Honma was careful that Yamakawa's weight landed on the barbed wire board so the spikes wouldn't do any damage. Of course, the barbed wire board is no picnic either. Honma got Yamakawa back in the ring and once again tried to end it with versions of the elbow. He was too tired to capitalize after he gave Yamakawa too more running elbows, which lead to the Misawa vs. Kobashi spot where Misawa tries the running elbow but Kobashi lariats him at the same time. Their version was a bit different because neither man went down. Instead, Honma summoned up all his strength and energy and blew away Yamakawa with an elbow to take the title. It made sense to end with the elbow because Honma had been trying to win with them for a long time. It's really great to see a promotion give the top title to the best wrestler in the promotion even though he hasn't "paid his dues." Of course, if the washed up stiffs like Mr. Pogo, Shoji Nakamaki, Mitsuhiro Matsunaga, and Kendo Nagasaki were still around, the league would still suck and Honma would probably be the guy that takes all of their bumps and does the job because they have all that seniority and name "value" on him. Big Japan is doing better now than they were with those old stiffs, and I'm sure they made a lot more than Honma & Yamakawa to do a lot less. Honma actually left his character and cried when Yamakawa put the belt around his waist. When Honma was giving his post match interview, Abdullah Jr. Kobayashi wearing a T-shirt with his red sequined turban (or whatever it's called), made a lame attack to set up Honma's first defense. I realize it's too early to say that a match will be the best of it's type for the year, but realistically the only way this might be topped is if they improve upon it themselves. I'm sure we'll see matches that are crazier because most of the death match types need to be sick to mask their lack of actual ability, but they won't come close to matching this for the combination of mental aspects and work. I hope this wasn't a one time thing and Honma's psychology continues to improve, but I can't see him doing an overall better match with any of the other guys he'd defend against because they aren't that good, and even if he winds up defending against anyone from FMW they aren't going to be familiar enough with each other to top this the first time out. That said, at the rate Honma is improving, as long as his body holds up (which may not be long) it's going to be hard to stop him from from having several more damn good matches this year. I'm just skeptical that guys like WX or Kobayashi can step up to the point that improved Honma at his best can carry them to an excellent death match. Jerome's review: After breaking the boundaries of insanity six months ago, the demented duo went for another round, this time giving the death match maturity and intelligence. This match was less insane and less bloody than their previous one, but it didn't matter because they got more out of doing less. I never expected Big Japan would be a refuge for match building and psychology in these time of poor stuntmen shows and no-selling, but they were at least for this day. Most of the credit goes to Honma for laying out the match, but one should not overlook the performance of Yamakawa, who was more than able to follow the lead of the challenger. The beginning saw a few barbed wire board teases, but they quickly went to more traditional offense to wear each other down. When Yamakawa whipped Honma onto one board, it was time for the first stunning spot of the night, as Honma jumped on the board and backflipped to avoid the impact. Yamakawa's reaction was great, he just stood in the middle of the ring with a "WTF?" expression on his face. The surprise factor cost him the advantage, and he was the first to taste the bite of the barbed wire. The next segment was the obvious weak part of the match : the tour guide spot. They both walked all over Korakuen Hall, not doing much except throwing themselves against the walls. From there the match got much better, with Yamakawa destroying Honma on the stage, first with a stiff Ligerbomb, then with a brainbuster. Honma's selling was really good, and Yamakawa was now taking his time, bashing him with chairs to further damage the lower back. Then came a great sequence, with Yamakawa trying to suplex Honma on the outside, and on the bed of nails, but the challenger blocked it and suplexed the champion on the top rope. He then ran the ropes and ejected Yamakawa from the ring with an elbow, after that executing his great tope con hilo, once again flying over the spikes. All this action happened in a few seconds, with a great timing and perfect execution. This transition allowed Honma to punish the champion with a sadistic and unexpected Samoan drop on a vertical board. Like on 6/20, this resulted in the barbed wire ripping the flesh of Yamakawa's back. Honma prepared his top rope Frankensteiner into a board, but Ryuji countered it this time, and gave the young punk a dose of his own medicine. He tried to end the match with another stiff Ligerbomb on the board, but Honma kicked out despite his flesh being scrapped by the wire. It was really intelligent because this whole sequence was done in reference to their previous match. As should be the case in every garbage match, they went back to wrestling with another nice transition in the form of Honma giving his tormentor an Owen-like enzuigiri. Certainly pissed by the fact that Yamakawa stole his spot, Honma went to the outside and set up another board between two chairs, then placed Ryuji on the top rope. A few seconds later, the champ was the recipient of the sickest spot of the match, a nadare shiki no Frankensteiner through the said board. Hey, I said that match was less insane, but it was insane anyway. Back in the ring, Honma knocked him out with two running elbows for a great near fall. Yamakawa regained control after a German suplex and a stiff lariat, and set up his own demented spot, as he placed a board between the apron and a table, over the bed of nails. They teased a powerbomb from the apron, but Honma blocked it and hit some stiff elbows, giving him the time to get off the apron, take Yamakawa on his shoulders to powerbomb him through the board. He took him back in the ring and finally won the match and the title after a brutal elbow a la Misawa. Both men really put the toll of the match over, with Honma's selling being particularly good. The execution was far from perfect, but the timing was excellent during the whole match. There was some flaws like the walk in the crowd or Yamakawa's quicky comeback soon after the most dangerous spot of the match, but overall it was a stunning performance. The build was very good, with intelligent transitions and a logical ordering of the garbage spots. They really did themselves proud. IMO, this is the best death match of all time, but they still have room for improvement. Special thanks to: Jerome Denis 23:45 (23:01 aired)
|
|
