Quebrada

by Mike Lorefice (M.L.Liger@juno.com)

New Japan

The biggest card of the early part of the year took place on 1/4/97 at the Tokyo Dome. "’97 Wrestle World in the Tokyo Dome" drew an announced crowd of 62,500 fans, which means it failed to sell out. Even though New Japan traditionally sells out the Dome for the annual big show, failing to sell out really isn’t that big a deal. Consider that the 1/4/95 show "Battle Seven" made an estimated $5.5 million by selling out the Dome with the same attendance figure (more seats were available for this show). The 10/9/95 New Japan vs. UWF-I Dome show drew a record gate of $6.1 million selling out the Dome with 67,000 fans. The 1/4/96 "'96 Wrestle World in the Tokyo Dome" made between $5-6 million drawing a turn away crowd of 64,000. The 4/29/96 "'96 Battle Formation" Dome show made around $6 million with a sellout 65,000. The attendance figures of all these shows are close, but the reported gate is much different. This show supposedly brought in $7 million which is unreal. Merchandising must have been going at a record pace. Consider that All Japan’s biggest shows are the usually monthly Budokan Hall shows that make $1 million. If AJ sold out Budokan once a month, it would take them until July to tie the revenue for this show. If the revenue figure for the Dome show is correct, then it would be the largest in the history of pro wrestling. It’s awful hard to criticize the attendance of the most lucrative show in history.

The booking for this show was extremely predictable. The two surprise finishes were Power Warrior (Sasaki) defeating Great Muta (Muto) and Fujinami & Kimura defeating Chono & Tenzan for the IWGP tag titles. It’s interesting that NJ would allow Sasaki Northern Lights Bomb Muto through a table, but wouldn’t let the Big Japan garbage wrestlers to do much in the way of hardcore techniques (Nagasaki did win with a piledriver on a chair and Nakamaki brought a barbed wire board to the ring, but wasn’t allowed to use it). This continues Sasaki’s megapush, which includes winning the awful WCW vs. New Japan Tournament back in September. Sasaki is the logical opponent for Hashimoto on the planned Osaka Dome show on 5/3 although they may put the match off until the Nagoya Dome in October. On 8/6 at Tokyo Sumo Hall, Sasaki defeated Hashimoto with the ipponzei at 9:13. This was a below average match, but Hashimoto’s knee was hurt. The title match will be average to good, but with the storyline of Hashimoto avenging the loss or Sasaki finally defeating one of the 3 Musketeers for a title, it will draw. Fujinami & Kimura are the first four-time IWGP Tag Team Champions. This move was probably done to keep Fujinami concentrating on NJ rather than his Muga Promotions and to free Chono up for a singles megapush that will probably include an IWGP Title run in 1997. Chono & Tenzan were both sporting NWO attire. Fujinami & Kimura’s first title defense is on 2/8 vs. Muto & Hirata. The winner of that match faces Satoshi Kojima & Manabu Nakanishi on 2/16 at Sumo Hall. Either of those could be a title change.

On 8/2/96 at Tokyo Sumo Hall, lightning stuck during the Choshu vs. Hashimoto match as it was actually quite good. On 1/4/97, it sounds like reality set in. The match was said to have been horrible. The pacing was snail speed and Choshu’s selling was bad as usual. Sounds like Hashimoto did a ton of kicks and Chono did a ton of Riki lariats. I have to give Choshu credit for doing the best thing for the company by putting Shinya over. Hashimoto’s next title defense is 2/16 at Tokyo Sumo Hall vs. Kazuo Yamazaki. I’d love to see Kazuo win that because he’s always been a great worker who is pushed near the top, but never to the top. Of course, I know Hashimoto will not be dropping the strap there.

Jushin Liger captured his brainchild, the J Crown, for the first time and the IWGP Jr. Title for a record 8th time when he pinned Ultimo Dragon in 18:21 with the SSD. The WCW Cruiserweight title wasn’t included. The angle here is that the match was signed prior to Ultimo winning the title. It’s definitely good that the title wasn’t included because WCW would most likely forget about the division if the champion was overseas. Liger’s 1st J Crown defense is 2/9 vs. Shinjiro Otani. That will definitely be a super match. On the same card, TAKA Michinoku takes on Koji Kanemoto in a #1 contenders match. TAKA is taking Hayabusa’s place, since Hayabusa doesn’t fight juniors anymore. That will also be a super match. I’d love to see TAKA win and face Liger as they could do a ***** match. Somehow, I doubt TAKA will win though. The winners of both those matches meet on the 2/16 Sumo Hall show. I don’t see Liger dropping the title any earlier than the next dome show.

Chris Jericho made his New Japan debut pinning Koji Kanemoto in 11:11 with a Tiger suplex. Jericho is under a mask as Super Liger. This is a bad idea unless Jericho is going to be a heel version of Liger. Unfortunately, I don’t think we have a Santo Negro (Jesus Salas) or Ultimate Dragon (Thunderbird Como) here. Giving a wrestler the gimmick of an active wrestler never works because everyone looks at them as a bad imitation. Even Mascara Sagrada Jr., who is at least 5 times the worker the original is right now, isn’t over with the crowd. If Liger was retired, I wouldn’t be opposed to giving a hot young worker his gimmick because then it would be more of a tribute. I wasn’t opposed to giving Misawa, Kanemoto, or #4 Sayama’s gimmick because in a way it keeps the legend alive. I also wasn’t opposed to giving Eddy Guerrero Mark Rocco’s Black Tiger gimmick. When you try it when the original wrestler with the gimmick is still active, you are dooming the wrestler who’s getting the established gimmick. Everyone has seen how over Rick Bogner and Glen Jacobs are as Ramon & Diesel.

Junji Hirata, Manabu Nakanishi, Osamu Nishimura, & Santoshi Kojima defeated Yugi Nagata, Takashi Iizuka, Osamu Kido, & Kazuo Yamazaki in 11:21 when Hirata pinned Nagata following a clothesline. This was Nagata’s last New Japan match for a while as he’s off to be reduced in WCW. He was supposed to be in WCW for 1 year, but now I’m hearing it’s 3 years. Basically you have a bad move turned to horrible. To make things even worse, he’s been talking about the NWO in his recent interviews. Nagata could actually improve if he were programmed with someone like Malenko, but if he joins NWO he’s doomed to be a Hogan lackey who works infrequently. Nagata was the most improved wrestler in the world in 1996. He’s 28 years old, so he would be 31 when he returned. He would return as a star, but it would still take a while for his megapush in Japan and he would have to prove he can draw. Nagata is the 2nd best working heavyweight (behind Shiro) in the New Japan, but he’d basically be past his athletic prime before he could hold the IWGP Title.

FMW

I’m sad to report that this promotion is in major trouble. The first tour of the new year got off to a good start selling out Korakuen Hall, but the gate was down from the usual $80,000 to $65,000. Here’s what the FMW Guru Zach Arnold is reporting about the house shows.

FMW 1/5 Korakuen Hall

attendance 2,150

Gosho Goshogowara 7'06 Hideo Makimura

Rie Nakamura 8'59 Miss Mongoru

Kudoh 10'34 Youko Ikeda

Hisakatsu Ohya 22'05 Ricky Fuji

Head Hunters 11'45 Hayabusa/Niiyama

Kanemura/Hosaka/Dragon Winger 19'35 Tanaka/Kuroda/Hayato

This is an impressive crowd because it’s not a loaded show by Korakuen Hall standards. The six-man main event only had two main eventers, Tanaka & Kanemura, and the women’s matches weren’t out of the ordinary. Hayabusa vs. Gladiator for the double world titles didn’t take place because Gladiator no showed. Gladiator got a deal with ECW and apparently he thinks living in Florida and working for peanuts is better than being World Champion and making good money in Japan. Gladiator took the titles with him to America, so President Arai can’t get the titles back from him until he returns to Japan. Akihito Ichihara and Mr. Gannosuke have rejoined this group, since FFF folded before it even started. The surprising thing about seeing these two is that for once they didn’t tag along with Tarzan Goto. Ichihara & Gannosuke attacked Hayabusa at this show to set up a Hayabusa vs. Gannosuke feud. Gannosuke will be programmed with Hayabusa. Gannosuke has barely worked a straight match in two years but can actually work when given the chance. Ichihara has been strapped with a bad gimmick. He used to be the Flying Kid, but now he’s wearing a mask as the Flying Spider. After the Korakuen Hall show, the crowds completely dropped off.

FMW 1/6 Tokyo

750

Kuroda 9'48 Mamoru Okamoto

Niiyama 13'30 Ricky Fuji

Tanaka 9'51 Gosho Goshogowara

Shark/Crush 12'11 Kudoh/Rie

Hayabusa 12'21 Hayato

Ohya/Hunters 13'52 Kanemura/Hosaka/Dragon

FMW 1/7 East Osaka

720

Niiyama 5'25 Hideo Makimura

Kanemura/Dragon Winger 10'40 Hayato/Gosho Goshogowara

Shark Tsuchiya/Crusher Maedomari/Mongoru 17'56 Kudoh/Rie/Ikeda

Ohya 18'14 Hosaka

Hayabusa 14'46 Ricky Fuji

Head Hunters 13'52 Tanaka/Kuroda

FMW 1/8 Kawasaki

700

Niiyama 8'44 Okamoto

Crusher 10'22 Miwa Sato

Kudoh/Rie 16'00 Shark/Mongoru

Ricky Fuji 11'33 Dragon Winger

Kanemura/Hosaka 13'05 Tanaka/Gosho Goshogowara

Ohya/Hunters 15'22 Hayabusa/Kuroda/Hayato

FMW 1/9 Kawasaki Touch Club

750 announced, but actually 450

Niiyama 7'07 Makimura

Kudoh/Rie/Kaori Nakayama 14'50 Crush/Shark/Mongoru

Hayato 11'02 Dragon Winger

Hayabusa 14'08 Hosaka

Kanemura 10'59 Ricky Fuji

Ohya/Hunters 13'46 Tanaka/Kuroda/Gosho Goshogowara

FMW 1/10

830

Ricky Fuji 7'42 Okamoto

Tanaka/Kuroda 11'35 Hayato/Gosho Goshogowara

Kudoh/Rie/Nakayama 15'19 Shark/Crush/Mongoru

Hayabusa 10'19 Dragon Winger

Ohya 18'49 Niiyama

Head Hunters 12'40 Kanemura/Hosaka

FMW 1/11

1,220

Niiyama 8'10 Gosho Goshogowara

Crusher 8'14 Sato

Tanaka/Kuroda 11'49 Hayato/Makimura

Kudoh/Kaori 17'05 Shark/Mongoru

Hayabusa 15'28 Ricky Fuji

Ohya/Hunters 15'03 Kanemura/Hosaka/Dragon Winger

The cards weren’t much different with the exception of the Head Hunters working in the main event rather than the semi. Bad booking has been a problem since Koji Nakagawa and Victor Quinones got involved. Quinones is back in Puerto Rico now as The Wizard, so he can’t be blamed anymore. All of Quinones cronies are gone except the Headhunters. No doubt most of them "Are off to see the Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Puerto Rico." Head Hunters are "free agents" now. Nakagawa is out of the picture as well, so the blame has to fall on President Arai. On paper, these cards were not bad FMW cards. The problem seems to be that people want blood and gimmicks. FMW is trying to become a more technically sound league, and as you can see there were no gimmick matches on this tour. Oya and Hayabusa’s work was said to be exceptional. Oya’s been going long every night and undoubtedly is carrying the Head Hunters. Toryu, in his new gimmick as Dragon Winger, has also looked good. Unfortunately, FMW fans are used to and demand gore. They want Onita or an Onita-like babyface that will cut himself to shreds and scream and cry after his match. Arai’s booking of good solid matches on this tour isn’t bad booking, but it’s not what FMW fans are looking for. It appears FMW will have to go back to the craziness because they don’t have the money to withstand the string of money losing shows it will take to get the new style over.

The 1/9 show at the Kawasaki Touch Club was a total disaster. The Kawasaki Touch Club was a deal where the people ate dinner there and after super they were treated to the FMW show. To show how bad the attendance really was, W*ING was doing better numbers there when they were in their infancy in 1992. This was a sold show, so it didn’t hit FMW in the wallet this time, but it will have a much worse effect.

One of the problems with FMW is that they don’t have any sponsorship. FMW profits over the past two years are less than New Japan makes each year from sponsor B.V.D. This two years of combined profits includes the Onita farewell tour and Onita’s Last Stand at Kawasaki Stadium. That first part of 1995 was extremely successful, with sellouts almost every night and people travelling for miles to see Onita’s last match in each arena. Still, New Japan gets more money from the B.V.D. company (to litter their ring with that insignia) than FMW’s combined profits in 2 years. FMW’s only sponsorship is the ads on the padding inside the ring. This isn’t exactly bringing the promotion a lot of money. Failing to draw 500 at the Touch Club not only hurts the chances of being asked back in the future, but will scare potential sponsors away.

Another major problem is the lack of a tv deal. The only tv exposure FMW gets is the rotating Champ Forum show on Gaora. Gaora doesn’t pay FMW any money for the Champ Forum shows. The only time FMW makes any money from TV is when Champ Forum does a special like the 5/11 & 5/18 specials where they aired the matches from the 5/5 Kawasaki Stadium show. Gaora doesn’t exactly give them millions for these specials either. Even Samurai Fighting TV, which has tons of time to fill since they air everything three times a day wants nothing to do with FMW. I’m not sure if it’s because of the blood and violence or because they think they could make more money off other leagues. Since they gave Wrestle Dream Factory, which considers drawing 500 fans a success, a tv show I’d assume the former.

With all the money losing shows on this tour, FMW will only break even. The profits from the Korakuen show will have to be used to pay the debts from the other shows. Merchandising has been a major problem. The items just aren’t moving. The only thing selling on the 12/11 Komazawa show was Onita merchandise. That was Onita’s only match since 5/5/95, so it isn’t like his merchandising is carrying the company every night. ECW recently did $9,400 in merchandising at a spot show in Revere, while FMW didn’t make that much over a 6-month stretch in 1996.

FMW traditionally relies on the 5/5 Kawasaki Stadium show to pay off their debts and/or fund much of the rest of the year. This year, Kawasaki Stadium is under construction so the major show will be at Yokohama Arena. The major difference here is that a Yokohama sellout is usually 17,000 while a Kawasaki sellout is usually 50,000. FMW is trying to sign a deal with the arena to allow extra seats in the arena. This would make a sellout 23,000. Onita was able to get Kawasaki Stadium to agree to extenders in the past by assuming responsibility if an accident such as a fire occurred. Hopefully Onita, rather than Arai, will do this negotiating. Ticket pricing for this show will be $100 for front row seats, $70 for Class A seats, $50 for Class B seats, and $30 for general admission. The gate for Onita’s retirement show was around $2.5 million, but with so many less seats and fewer people to buy merchandise they might be hard pressed to gross 40% of that.

Aside from the Kudo retirement, the 4/29 Yokohama card will be built around a "Best of Junior" tournament. Hayato Nanjyo and Dragon Winger are the main workers they will be pushing here. Nanjyo is a really underrated worker who can fly with the best of them. Dragon Winger will be good by the time this show roles around. Hideki Hosaka will be the top seed in the tournament, but it doesn’t sound like he will win. This won’t be a J Cup, but it should definitely provide some good technical matches. Since the crowd for the big show will be large and hot, this is the best chance the non-brawlers have of getting over.

The telling sign about the companies future is that if things continue at the current pace the company will be sporting a $250,000 debt on 5/5/97. FMW has never exactly had a lot of money at once. After all, Onita started the company in 1989 with $400. Luckily the first 2 shows, which had Onita vs. Masashi Aoyagi, sold out. When Onita retired six years later, he left the company with $250,000. This means that in the 2 years since he left, the company stands to lose $500,000. Even if they get financial backing there’s no guarantee they won’t become another Tokyo Pro. Tokyo Pro had $50 million in sponsorship, but it wasn’t readily available. They had to ask the sponsors for the money and would only get it if the sponsors felt it would be beneficial to the company. When Tokyo Pro became a money loser, the sponsorship abandoned the company and they were basically screwed.

The women’s division is in major trouble. Kudo is retiring on 4/29 and there’s no one to pass the torch to. AJW, JWP, & Gaea Japan won’t work with FMW anymore. This leaves LLPW, a league with nothing to offer. The Kudo vs. Shinobu Kandori feud isn’t getting over. Harley Saito would make a good opponent for Kudo, but that hasn’t been booked. The wild card is Jd’ who have worked with FMW a bit. They have 3 stars in Jaguar Yokota, Bison Kimura, & Lioness Asuka that could have a good match with Kudo that would draw. The problem is that FMW has agreed to let LLPW absorb all their women after Kudo retires. Kandori has most of the power in LLPW, so she will make sure she’s in the picture fighting Kudo rather than Saito or any of the Jd’ women. It’s doubtful someone like Jaguar would agree to a match with Rie Nakamura. Jd’ is more likely to send someone like Bloody Phoenix, who is still green and has no drawing power. If they are lucky they could get Chikako Shiratori from Jd’, but that still won’t help at the gate.

Onita and Mr. Pogo have returned to FMW to help President Arai out. Both will be wrestling, but they will not be forming a league of retired wrestlers. The fan based jumped as soon as the Puroresu fans heard Onita had returned.

The funny thing about all this bad news regarding FMW is that they may sway the balance of power between the "big 2." The group needs a promotional fued to survive and has been in discussions with both All Japan & New Japan for the last couple of months. The New Japan deal appeared to be signed, sealed, and delivered, but it never went down. The main problem is that Onita and Choshu despise each other. Onita hates Choshu’s booking more than I do, as he basically disagrees with everything Choshu has ever booked. He also doesn’t like the way Choshu runs the New Japan cards. It’s really hard to make a deal when Onita needs New Japan because they make money, but Onita doesn’t like the methods they use to make it. Nippon Sports reported that Onita has a meeting with Baba soon (possibly January 13). At the meeting the two will discuss and interpromotional fued that would include joint events and talent exchange. For FMW, this would generate a lot of money and could get the technical matches over. The top natives, Oya, Hayabusa, Tanaka, and Kanemura are all good workers that could have great matches with the likes of Kobashi, Misawa, Kawada, Akiyama, etc. This would also help All Japan because it would assure them that they could draw a large crowd and hopefully lead to them running a stadium or dome show.

All Japan

Hiroshi Hase made his All Japan debut on 1/2. Hase was in tremendous shape and looked great. He was out of his opponent Kentaro Shiga’s league to the point that Shiga was embarrassed. Hase was so good that the fans wanted him to do a second match. Unfortunately, Hase hasn’t worked since 1/10 and won’t return to the ring until 8/2. Hase is being accused of working All Japan just so he can get new voters and be reelected to the Japanese Diet (equivalent of Senate).

Michinoku Pro

I’ve got to wonder what Great Sasuke is thinking. Sasuke recently agreed to work some ECW dates. Here’s a super worker that has suffered two cracked skulls and instead of taking care of his body, he agrees to work with a garbage league. Hopefully Sasuke will stay away from table breaking spots and other dangerous stuff because one wrong bump could end his great career. Another reason this is stupid is that Sasuke runs Michinoku Pro. Who will take over as all his duties while he’s gone? Sasuke’s trips to other leagues in the past have made more sense. He would work a couple matches for a league that supplied him with workers and often gave him one of their belts. His trips to Mexico have been to scout talent to bring back to Michinoku Pro. ECW has no talent to offer him other than maybe Mikey Whipwreck because the other small wrestlers like Sabu or Rob Van Dam already have a much more lucrative deal with All Japan. The purpose of this trip seems to be to sell Michinoku merchandise, but I wonder how much merchandise he can sell when 10% of the 1,500 people at the arena have seen him more than a couple of times. At least this gives me a chance to see him live. If I go there, I will "Buy the shirt! Buy the shirt!"