Quebrada #20

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

4/6/97

FMW Yokohama Arena Lineup 4/29/97

Zach Arnold stayed up to 5:15 in the morning today to get this lineup. He’s wondering if anyone else in the U.S. has ever stayed up all night so they could get an FMW lineup. Anyway, the card is being headlined by an FMW vs. American FMW match where Atsushi Onita, Masato Tanaka, & W*ING Kanemura meet Terry Funk, The Gladiator, and a mystery partner. Not surprisingly, since Zach has been talking about this for weeks, the mystery partner is none other than the King of the Death Match Cactus Jack. This is a Texas Bronco Death Match. Honestly, I don’t know what that exactly means, but Funk is the Texas Bronco so it’s most likely (in angle) his stipulations. This looks like a good match on paper because you have the four young guys who can work. The other two, Funk & Onita, have one of the most heated legit rivalries in the sport. This match should have tremendous heat, and although it may be a bit chaotic, it should be good. Cactus Jack will instill his tremendous psychology into the brawl. The addition of the Cactus is really a step above the 12/11/96 main event which had the lazy Head Hunters. I’m looking forward to this one, especially since Kanemura and Tanaka, who had the much talked about ***3/4 match on 8/1/96 are finally on the same team.

Megumi Kudo’s has the immensely disappointing opponent of Shark Tsuchiya in her retirement match. The stipulations for this match are as follows: No Rope, 200 Volt, Double Hell, Double Barbed Wire Barricade, Double Landmine, Glass Crush, Electrical Barbed Wire Death Match, WWA/IND. Title Match. The only cool thing about this is the title in on the line. If Kudo wins, she gets to retire as champion. The belts would then be forfeited and go to the #1 contender which would be either Kaori Nakayama, the only woman in FMW other than Kudo who can work, or the great Mayumi Ozaki. Either way, that’s a huge step up from Shark. They are calling this a Nightmares of Hell and Retirement Match. In Japan, Kudo is called a princess and in her death matches, she has to "go to hell" and become the evil princess to ward off her evil heel opponent, so I’m thinking that’s where the name came from. This match up is a huge disappointment, but since it’s Victor Quinones doing, I didn’t expect to like it anyway. Anyhow, Kudo is a very good worker, but FMW has no one for her to work with so it’s always these crappy gimmick matches where she has to sell most of the way because stiffs like Shark and Crusher can’t even take any of her athletic bumps. Rather than be a classic straight match, Kudo will leave the sport a bloody mess after a certain mediocre match against Shark. After seeing the Story of F Volume 1 and the 12/11/96 Komazawa show, Shark is my most hated wrestler in Japan. I’d rather see Kudo retire today then see her go out in a match where Shark no sells, displays no skill, and spends the whole match cutting Kudo up with objects. Combat Toyoda’s retirement match will certainly be more memorable. At least it looks like Kudo will retire with a win.

Hayabusa faces Mr. Gannosuke in a mask vs. hair match. I’m thinking Hayabusa may lose his mask here. Losing his mask would get him sentiment from the crowd. FMW needs someone to succeed Onita as a screaming, bloodied up babyface that the crowd can get behind. There aren’t many masked wrestlers left in Japan anyway. In Mexico, some of the top stars like Konnan were able to gain popularity after losing their mask. As a match, this does not excite me. I highly doubt Gannosuke will be able to contain Hayabusa, so it will most likely be one high spot after another with no build, psychology, or substance.

Kodo Fuyuki and two Fuyuki-Gun cronies, Jado & Gedo, defend their World Street Fight six man titles against the American FMW team of Hisakatsu Oya and The Head Hunters. Fuyuki-gun just won these titles from Oya & the Hunters on 3/21 in Sendai, so this is the rematch. It’s billed as a Losers Are Warus 6-Man Street Fight. A waru is an insult that’s basically like calling someone a wimp or a chicken. Fuyuki made a big deal out of unifying the 6-man titles from the independent groups, so one would believe he might keep the titles. However, Quinones is back and the Head Hunters are his number one bodyguards, so don’t be surprised if they get the belts back.

Jinsei Shinzaki of Michinoku Pro Wrestling faces Super Leather of American FMW. Shinzaki is involved because Hayabusa came to the 3/16 Michinoku Pro show to ask his friend Shinzaki if he could help him fight of the American FMW group. This is build as a Hell Hound on the Trail street fight. The match has suckiness written all over it. Shinzaki is a lazy, transitionless bumb. If you haven’t seen Leather since his WWF days as Corporal Kirschner, he’s put on about 50 pounds of table weight. Basically, he’s just a large, poor working, stiff that’s copying Rick Patterson’s gimmick that was a ripoff of Ed Gein's sickness. Maybe if they use a ton of gimmicks, they can mask their poor workrate and make it watchable. Hope for *.

In a match billed as Revolutionary Girls Change the World, FMW’s Kaori Nakayama, Rie, & Yoko Ikeda team with the two babes of their respective leagues Chikako Shiratori of Jd’ and Michiko Omukai of LLPW. This team takes on the Moudou-Kai group of Eagle Sawai, Lioness Asuka, Crusher Maedomari, Michiko Nagashima, & Miss Mongol. Moudou-Kai is Eagle Sawai’s heel group. I’m not sure what to think of this match. It probably won’t be good though. Kaori is basically a high spot wrestler. It doesn’t bode well that she’s the best worker on her team. Eagle will have huge problems working with any of her opponents because she’s about twice the size of them. Eagle won’t be able to take their bumps and none of her small opponents have a chance of lifting her. I mean, Hokuto could barely Northern Lights Bomb her 3 years ago and that was a slimmer Eagle. Lioness will have to try to save this one. Unfortunately, she’s no Oz at directing traffic. Lioness has slowed up a lot from her days as a super worker in the Crush Gals and the matches I’ve seen in Jd’ with the youngsters were in the 1-2 star range. Michiko Nagashima is half decent. Miss Mongol has one of the worst gimmicks I’ve ever seen and her workrate doesn’t exactly exceed the gimmick either. Not promising.

Koji Nakagawa vs. Katsutoshi Niiyama is kind of a match that’s just there. No stipulations, no angles, no solid wrestling. I’m not a fan of Nakagawa since he’s a Bret Hart wanna be, but this match might be alright.

Tetsuhiro Kuroda & New Mr. Pogo meet Flying Kid Ichihara & Crypt Keeper. Kuroda is showing signs of improving. I haven’t seen Gosho as Pogo, so I don’t know how he’s looking. Ichihara is a very underrated worker who made the poor career choice of following Tarzan Goto around. Now that he’s away from Goto, maybe he can reach his potential. If it’s going to be good, it will have to be Ichihara saving it. Crypt Keeper is one of the worst around. He’s a totally talentless scrub who’s only pushed because he’s a Quinones cronie.

The last match I have here is billed as Born to ROCK vs. Born to be W*ING. The New Rock ‘N Roll Express of Ricky Fuji & Ricky Morton along with Hayato Nanjyo, who may or may not be in the R & R (he’s teaming with them sometimes on the tour) take on Dragon Winger, Hido, & Hideki Hosaka. This match is a real sleeper. The W*ING team has two good flyers in Dragon Winger & Hosaka and they will finally get a chance to show that ability. Hayato is the best in the match and matching him with Dragon & Hosaka looks very promising. Fuji has a problem of working worse with guys that can work than with guys who can’t. If he’s good here, which he can be, this should be a good match. I get into Morton in the regular FMW section.

Mayumi Ozaki, who FMW announced as Kudo’s opponent a couple of weeks ago and could have had a memorable match with her is booked on Gaea’s Korakuen Hall show at night on 4/29, so she won’t be wrestling.

All Japan

The main news coming out of the Carnival is Akira Taue avenging his 7/29/96 loss off the Triple Crown to Kenta Kobashi on 4/5. Gary Albright scored a minor upset defeating Jun Akiyama on 4/4. Albright followed on 4/5 with a much greater upset as he defeated Steve Williams. Albright’s matches remain short as he only logged a combined 18:11 of ring time in his two upsets. Steve Williams, who’s conditioning and stamina are questionable, went to a 30:00 draw with Toshiaki Kawada. Kawada wasn’t able to put either of the top two foreigners (Hansen or Williams) away in the Carnival. Akiyama was behind Takao Omori, but he defeated Ace with his exploder in a mere 2:29 on 4/6. I’m wondering why Williams and Hansen are going 30 minutes and a great worker like Ace is losing in less than 3. Honda defeated Omori on 4/6, so now every participant has at least 1 legitimate win.

Here’s the results:

Standings after the 4/6 bouts:

16 - Taue (8-0-0)

14 - Kobashi (7-1-0)

14 - Kawada (6-1-2)

12 - Hansen (5-0-2)

11 - Misawa (5-2-1)

10 - Williams (4-2-2)

08 - Ace (4-5-0)

06 - Albright (3-4-0)

05 - Akiyama (2-5-1)

04 - Kimala II (2-6-0)

04 - Omori (2-5-0)

04 - Honda (2-6-0)

Key upcoming matches are:

4/7-Misawa vs. Taue

4/10-Kobashi vs. Hansen

4/12-Kawada vs. Kobashi

4/13-Misawa vs. Hansen

4/14-Kawada vs. Taue & Kobashi vs. Williams

4/15-Taue vs. Hansen & Akiyama vs. Williams

4/17 (final night)-Misawa vs. Ace

Correction from last issue, Hayabusa and Tornado defeated Mossman & Kentaro Shiga on 4/2.

FMW

FMW Guru Zach Arnold reports that Ricky Morton has signed on with FMW promotion. The terms are unknown. Ricky’s superior Rock ’N Roll Express teammate Robert Gibson was supposed to come along with him, but he didn't. So, now we have "The New Rock 'n Roll" express with Ricky Fuji and Ricky Morton. If it were 1987, I’d be excited, but it’s 1997 now and seeing the washed up Morton doesn’t excite me. Morton worked FMW’s Kawasaki Stadium show last year and the tour leading up to it. His only singles match on the current tour is against Hayato Nanjyo on 4/15. The Morton of old could have a nice match with Hayato, but with the current Morton it’s only a possibility. Either way, he's worth a lot more in tag, especially with his rightful partner. The of the time he teams with Fuji or Fuji & Hayato.

Based on previous history, the best matches on the current tour would be Hayabusa vs. Hisakatsu Oya on 4/20 and 4/21. Oya has proven that he can contain the high spot machine Hayabusa and get some build and transitions out of him.

Zach says Victor Quinones contacted Vince McMahon a couple of weeks ago about a deal where he would provide all non-core FMW wrestlers (Oya, Kanemura, Gladiator, Gannosuke, Funk, Ichihara, Head Hunters, Super Leather, Hosaka, Hido, Dragon Winger, the Mad Dog Military women) to the WWF's disposal in exchange for some extra WWF wrestlers showing up in Puerto Rico. McMahon expressed some interest, but there’s a catch. It’s rumored that McMahon wants Atsushi Onita to be included in the package. Supposedly, if Quinones can get Onita, McMahon will agree to this. I think the chances of Onita working WWF are less than 1%. I can’t see FMW guys fitting in with WWF because McMahon won’t be able to market them. Just look how he’s marketing the Luchadores, he has Sunny come out during their matches. Rather than make a feeble attempt to call the Lucha moves, they do promos and make stupid jokes. An agreement might happen, but I’d say it’s highly unlikely that WWF would be able to make it work for them. I’m not sure that WWF would want to use everyone anyway, I mean, they can’t even get 1 Luchador out of the whole group over, so why should I think they would even want to attempt to get 15 FMW workers over?

JWP

JWP is headlining Tokyo Korakuen Hall on 4/8 with an interpromotional gimmick tag match and an Open Singles Title match. The tag match pits the Oz Academy team of Mayumi Ozaki & Rieko Amano against the FMW team of Megumi Kudo & Rie. This is a street fight match, so Ozaki will have free reign to create havoc. Ozaki is really great as a heel and as far as I’m concerned she’s the second best heel in the country behind Masa Chono. The main idea here is that Kudo is looking to fight some top notch women before she retires and Ozaki certainly falls in that category. Despite the fact that Rie is one of the worst workers in Japan, I think Oz can make this a good match. Oz is the best woman in Japan at directing traffic. She’s constantly working with lesser workers and she gets a lot out of them. If it’s booked right, Rie will stay out of the spotlight most of the match letting the very good worker, Kudo, carry the load. Rie could be used to make saves and for double team moves. I’ve seen Rie look pretty good in a match once in AJW. Going back to 3/27/94 for AJW’s Yokohama Arena show (back when they could draw there) Kudo & Rie teamed up to meet the now retired Suzuka Minami and Chikako Shiratori. It was a slightly above average match, but very well booked in that Kudo & Minami carried the load and the youngsters would come in for short periods, do what they could do and tag out. There was a ton of double teaming and with the veterans directing traffic, the many weaknesses of Rie and Shiratori weren’t apparent. I’ve only seen Amano a couple of times because I’m sorely lacking in JWP footage (anyone got some for trade?), but she seems fairly decent. She’s not as good as Oz’s fine Gaea team of Sugar Sato & Chikayo Nagashima, but she got some potential. She seems to be more to the Yumi Fukawa direction right now, in that she’s good at selling, but has a very limited offensive arsenal. *This turned out to be an excellent match, as did the Kudo vs. Ozaki singles match*

The Open Singles Title match pits Dynamite Kansai against Hikari Fukuoka. The Open Singles Title is the highest title in JWP. It was created on 12/1/92 when Kansai defeated Cuty Suzuki in the tournament final. Kansai held the title until 9/18/94 when Devil Masami stopped her. Masami vacated the strap on 10/20/94. The belt was revived on 10/15/95 when Kansai once again defeated Cuty Suzuki in the tournament final. So, in four plus years, the belt has only changed hands twice. With that kind of track record, it would be pretty hard to predict a title change, but I actually think there’s the possibility of one. Kansai and Masami have been the top stars in JWP since the group restarted in 1992. Interest in all the women’s groups other than Gaea is severely waning because there’s no new stars, so everything is stale. Fukuoka’s been in the second tier in JWP with Ozaki & Suzuki for a while now. She’s 26 years old now, so she’s not getting any younger. It’s kind of funny that the woman dubbed as the Manami Toyota clone is actually a bit older than the original. I think it could be time to shake things up. Try something different to create some interest. Also, if they want to make an excuse for Kansai’s loss, they can say she wasn’t 100% due to her disease. I have no problem with Kansai as champion. She’s a great worker and to me she’s the best of the large women. It’s like AJW though, they need to do something to stir up some interest. This would take the company in a new direction and if nothing else they could draw a couple of average houses for Fukuoka’s title defenses and then have her drop the belt back to Dynamite. If they don’t think Hikari is championship material, then they should give the strap to Ozaki since it would give her heel group more credibility. If JWP can’t sell out Korakuen here, they are in big trouble.

New Japan

On 3/30, Jushin Liger attended Michinoku Pro’s show in Akita and he was perturbed by what he saw. Dick Togo and his Kaientai DX heel group were stabbing Sasuke’s Sekigun group with forks and blood was splattered all over the ring. The DX has been provoking Liger in the Puroresu mags. Liger was angry with Sasuke asking him if this was the direction his promotion was going in. Basically, why do you want to do this and why are you letting your boys (Sasuke, who’s is President and CEO basically runs the promotion) get out of control? This is all an angle to set up the DX appearing on the Tokyo Dome show. It’s rumored that the DX will interfere in the Sasuke vs. Liger match causing Sasuke to lose. Liger won’t see the interference (maybe he’ll be "KO’d at the time), but when he finds out about it he will join forces with Sasuke to wrestle the DX on the May Osaka Dome show. Even cooler than this, Shinjiro Otani & Koji Kanemoto, who are in constant opposition to Liger in the great junior matches, have talked about joining forces with the DX if they can agree on a common goal. Think about this, Otani and TAKA joining forces to face Liger & Sasuke. It could happen at some point. I’m liking the idea of Liger, Sasuke, Samurai, Hamada, Naniwa, Delfin, Yakushiji, and possibly Benoit, Black Tiger, or Norio Honaga facing Otani, Kanemoto, the DX and possibly Takaiwa could be thrown in the mix. It’s like every great junior in Japan could be involved in one awesome fued. We’ll have to see what direction they take this in. I’m hoping aside from the May Osaka Dome show, they will take this into the Best of the Super Jr. Tour in May and June. Last year’s Best of the Super Jr. tour was a disappointment due to an unimpressive list of outsiders and injuries. However, if you get Michinoku Pro involved, you have loads of talent and it could be the deepest round robin tournament Liger’s ever run. Hopefully Guerrero’s ribs will be heeled enough so he can be defend last year’s title.

AJW TV 2/23/97 taped 2/15 Hakata Star Lanes

Yumi Fukawa vs. Yuka Shiina. Fukawa missed a splash off the top so Shiina backslided her. Shiina hit two missile dropkicks, but missed the third. Fukawa got a near fall with her fisherman suplex. Fukawa used the fisherman suplex for the win. Shiina showed nothing as usual. Fukawa can sell very well. She’s got the look and athletic ability to be pushed, but her offensive arsenal is very limited. AJW needs to let her use more than a few high spots because she’s doesn’t have enough offense to work a long match. Very basic match with not much going on. 9:27. *1/4.

Mima Shimoda & Yumiko Hotta vs. Aja Kong & Genki Misae. Aja hit a really stiff whip into the corner and clothesline on Mima. Aja no sold Hotta’s kicks and headbutts then gave her a series of headbutts followed by a piledriver for a near fall. The slug Genki came in and hit one missile dropkick, but missed the second. Totally dead crowd. Shimoda piledrove Genki for a near fall. Hotta had Genki in a cross arm breaker, but Aja saved. Genki held Hotta so Aja could come off the top with her can, but Hotta moved and Genki got clocked. Hotta gave Genki a Tiger driver, but Aja saved. Hotta held Aja & Genki and Shimoda toped them. Shimoda made every effort to get some reaction from the crowd, but it was for nought. Shimoda got a near fall on Aja with a missile dropkick. Aja hit a high cross body on both opponents. That spot finally got a little reaction. Aja splashed Mima off the 2nd for a near fall. Aja tried her back body drop off the 2nd, but Shimoda turned it into a sunset flip powerbomb for a near fall. Aja got a near fall on Mima with a backdrop driver. Shimoda ducked a huracan and hit a German suplex for a near fall. In a truly puzzling spot, Shimoda tried a Tiger suplex and Genki came running at Aja with a kick. Aja ducked her teammate’s kick allowing her to kick Shimoda. Yeah, I didn’t get it either. Aja then brainbustered Shimoda for the win. Not a bad match, but well below the typical high standards of Shimoda, Aja, and Hotta due to the presence of the useless Genki. Genki brings nothing to the table in any match, and this was no exception. Hotta & Shimoda were worse than usual, even when they were working with Aja. Aja was the best, but she wasn’t at her best either. The dead crowd didn’t help. Pretty lackluster. 16:47. **1/2.

Kyoko Inoue & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Kumiko Maekawa & Tomoko Watanabe-WWWA Tag Champs (sigh). Yamada worked Maekawa over with stiff kicks and her trademark snap suplex. Kyoko whipped Maekawa into the corner then DDT’s off the second. Kyoko did a torture rack into a backbreaker. Maekawa made her short-lived comeback with floating mule kick on Yamada. Yamada side suplex dropped Maekawa to regain control. Maekawa no sold two of Yamada’s stiff kicks. Then the two had a kick and slap exchange with both no-selling until Maekawa hit a slow spinning high kick. Watanabe hit two dragon screws, going right into the figure 4 after the second one (Takada/Muto lives on 14 months later). Watanabe got a near fall on Kyoko with her huracanrana. Kyoko did her arm drag off the top on Tomoko for a near fall. Kyoko tried her Niagara Driver, but Maekawa broke it up with a lame kick. Watanabe quickly hit her screw driver, but Yamada saved. Watanabe used the screw driver again for a near fall. Watanabe did a sky high Thesz press/crotch for a near fall. Kyoko German suplexed Watanabe for a near fall. Kyoko followed by Niagara Drivering Tomoko for the win. Unfortunately this was a non-title match. Good match, but nothing great due to Maekawa being quite mediocre and it being the 1997 version of Yamada. Finish was a surprise since it wasn’t really built to. Watanabe is living up to her push at least. Maekawa’s offense is really weak and slow. 13:36. ***.

Manami Toyota & Kaoru Ito vs. Mariko Yoshida & Takako Inoue. Yoshida hit her running cross body plancha early on. In typical Toyota fashion, it started off fast then slowed. Takako’s knee was bandaged. Yoshida looked really good early with her handspring moves. Ito used her rolling senton off the 2nd on Yoshida. Yoshida missed a reverse cross body, so Ito went into her double boot stomps. Ito then knocked Takako off the apron and sentoned Yoshida for a near fall. Yoshida & Takako hit simultaneous topes. Yoshida DDT’d Ito off the top for a near fall. Ito ducked a double clothesline and Toyota came off the top with a missile dropkick to both opponents. Toyota held both opponents so Ito could tope them. Ito then held both opponents so Toyota could springboard plancha them. Ito slammed so Toyota could moonsault, but Yoshida lifted her knees up and Manami caught them. Yoshida La Magistral’d Toyota for a near fall. Toyota did her rolling cradle to Takako for near fall. They went back to the Ito bodyslam then Toyota moonsault spot, this time doing it successfully on Takako for a near fall. Toyota tried her Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex on Takako, but Takako jumped off her shoulders and hit her bridging back suplex. Toyota dodged Takako’s Destiny Hammer finisher, but Yoshida hit her with a lame knee and Takako then hit the Destiny Hammer (enzui knee off the top) for a 2 3/4 count. Toyota counters Takako’s attempted bridging back suplex by landing on her feet. Toyota then tried to roll up Takako’s body into a sunset flip, but Takako powerbombed. Toyota countered Takako’s German suplex attempt with a bodyscissor victory roll for a near fall. Ito tried the double boot stomp off the top, but Takako avoided it. Ito uranage’d Takako. Toyota & Ito did a double diving headbutt. Toyota hit Takako with a sky high missile dropkick (sky high means her partner had the opponent on her shoulders when Toyota did the missile dropkick). Ito hit the double boot stomp off the top on Takako this time, but Yoshida saved. Ito hit another double boot off the top for a near fall. Ito tried to superplex Takako, but Yoshida broke it up and put Ito on her shoulders so Takako could deliver a sky high nodowa (chokeslam). Takako gave Ito the Destiny Hammer, but Toyota saved. Takako gave Ito another Destiny Hammer, but Toyota was taken care of by Yoshida so this time Takako got the pin. Typical great Toyota match with great setup and tons of near falls. The key spots were used very well as the match was effectively built around hitting the signature moves and coming closer and closer to winning with them. Toyota didn’t work as much as normal since the focus is on getting the other women, who were previously secondary, over. Everyone looked very good. 20:04. ****.

Jushin Liger vs. Shinjiro Otani from NJ TV 2/22/97 taped 2/9 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center

Liger was defending the J Crown in this match. New Japan, in all their brilliance joined this in progress cutting out the first half of the match. Liger worked Otani over in the corner with his palm blow and koppo kick. Liger hit a vertical bodypress plancha off the top. Liger powerbombed Otani on the floor. Otani recovering from this killer spot too quickly was the main weakness of the match. Otani reversed an Irish whip sending Liger into the security rail. Otani powerbombed Liger on the floor. Liger didn’t sell this killer move long enough, either. Otani hit a somersault bodyblock off the apron. Back in the ring, Liger matadored a springboard dropkick and hit La Magistral for a near fall. Liger Frankensteinered Otani off the top, but Otani rolled through into a sunset flip for a near fall. Otani did a Shiryu imitation landing on his feet for a German suplex. Otani followed with a standing leg lariat. Otani tried his Dragon suplex, but Liger powered out, so Otani went right into a German suplex for a near fall. Great spot. Otani whipped Liger into the corner and charged, but Liger ran out of the corner with a lariat for a near fall. Liger hit the running Liger bomb, which was the move that Ultimo defeated Otani with in their ***** (yeah, I saw the commercial tape and that rating held up) J Crown Classic, but Otani kicked out to a big pop. Liger tried for a brainbuster, but Otani blocked. When Liger finally got him up, Otani went over the back and hit a released German suplex. Otani hit his springboard enzui dropkick then his Dragon suplex finisher for a near fall. Another big pop. The crowd was really into this one and rightfully so. Otani tried to put Liger away with the Dragon suplex, but Liger got the rope. Otani ducked a palm blow, but he caught one when he rebounded off the ropes for a near fall. Remember, the move Liger used to defeat Otani in their classic from 3/17/96 was the palm blow. Well, this was the exact same sequence. A redo of the finish of that classic. That match put the palm blow on the map. Last time, it was 1 palm blow that did the job, but this time that’s not going to be enough. This shows Otani’s growth and gives you the idea this might be his night. The frustrated champion Liger goes into the well for one of his other finishers, the fisherman buster, but he doesn’t even try for the pin. Liger hits a second fisherman buster, but no pin because he’s seemingly afraid that Otani will break another one of his finishers. Liger goes back to the brainbuster, but Otani shifts his weight and lands on top of him. They went back to the Ultimo/Otani classic again this time going to the spot that lead to the finish where the veteran is on the top rope and Otani keeps trying desperately to hit his Frankensteiner off the top, but the veteran keeps knocking him off the rope. In the Ultimo match, this sequence ended with Otani taking a face-first superplex which lead to his demise. This time however, Otani gets the Frankensteiner off the top. A very tired Otani rests on the ring apron waiting for Liger to get up. Otani hits his springboard spin kick and covers, but he can’t put the champ away. Liger actually kicked out of this too quickly, as IMO, this should have been a 2 3/4 count or 2 9/10 preferable. Otani starts celebrating as if he won. Again, if it was a 2 9/10 count, Otani thinking he won would have made more sense. This worked in the Dragon match and last year’s Liger/Otani because it was a closer call, but didn’t work for me here. Seeing that he hasn’t won, Otani goes back over to Liger and covers, but Liger kicks out. In frustration, Otani covers again rather than try a move, but Liger kicks out again. Otani covered for a third time, but Liger kicked out once again. They went back to the Otani trying the Dragon and Liger busting out of it, but this time it’s Liger that goes on the offensive. After breaking the Dragon, Liger palm blows Otani 3 times with Otani no selling and making young punk like faces at Liger. Liger’s 4th palm blow knocked Otani to his knee. Liger’s 5th palm blow staggers him. The 6th palm blow knocks Otani back down to his knee. The 7th wavered Otani. Otani no-sold the 8th palm blow in young punk like fashion. Liger’s 9th palm blow knocks Otani to his knee once again. The 10th palm blow of the sequence set Otani up. Liger then ran off the ropes and hit a devastating running palm blow that Otani took a fabulous bump on for the win. Liger retained the J Crown. Super match. Set up and transition was awesome except on the powerbomb out of the ring. Great selling (with the exception of the powerbomb out of the ring) and psychology. The match combined the 3/17 Liger vs. Otani with the 8/4 Ultimo vs. Otani, but took them both 1 step further. High impact match. Liger works so much stiffer now than he did when they met last year. The crowd was really hot and they reacted really well. Both men went deep into their finishers. More like an All Japan style match as far as the selling, building, playing off previous matches, and psychology went. Even the finish was All Japan style, in fact the match was quite similar to the Misawa vs. Kobashi match that I’m talking about later in the column with Liger taking the role of the veteran Misawa and Otani taking the role of the up and coming Kobashi. Otani’s facials were super as usual. These guys are the two best workers in the world right now. The match had a little weakness, but in unedited form it’s most likely good enough to overcome that and be *****. In fact, since the best matches are constantly getting better than they were, this is better than some 5 star matches from the not too distant past. Anyone who thinks Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin was a better match than this is either blind, a complete moron, or the typical WWF brainwashed yes man baahing "WWF matches good, other matches baaad" The best match I’ve seen thus far in 1997. *Misawa vs. Kobashi was the biggest influence here. Though a few sequences played off other famous junior matches, the structuring and emphasis were obviously on doing a junior version of the recent great heavyweight match* 27:14. ****3/4.

Kenta Kobashi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa from AJ TV 2/2/97 taped 1/20 Osaka Furitsu Gym

Kobashi was defending the triple crown in this match. Unfortunately, like the Liger vs. Otani, this was joined in progress. Why doesn’t All Japan split matches between two tv shows anymore? I guess yen is the answer because this way we are stuck paying for the commercial tape. The exchanged stiff blows with Misawa eventually knocking Kobashi out of the ring with a forearm. Misawa tried a diving forearm off the apron, but Kobashi moved out of the way and Misawa’s forearm cracked the security rail. Misawa got up to the apron, but Kobashi lariated him off and this time Misawa’s head and back hit the security rail. Misawa sold this much better than Liger or Otani sold the out of the ring stuff. Kobashi worked the "injured arm." AJ skips. Kobashi went for his lariat, but Misawa caught him with a front kick. Kobashi tried his lariat again, but Misawa forearmed Kobashi’s arm with his injured arm. This was sold like a collision of epic proportions since both use the respective moves as finishers. With Kobashi selling out of the ring, Misawa hit a baseball slide and followed with his twisting plancha. Misawa hit his jumping lariat. Misawa tried a Tiger Driver, but Kobashi blocked. Kobashi tried his lariat, but Misawa blocked it and hit a released German suplex with Kobashi landing on his head. Misawa hit his Tiger Driver for a near fall. Misawa forearmed Kobashi down then tried a flying move, but Kobashi lariated him in mid-air. This played off the upset finish from last year’s Misawa vs. Taue match. Kobashi covered twice, but Misawa kicked out both times. Kobashi went for the powerbomb, but Misawa blocked. On the second try, Kobashi hit the powerbomb. Kobashi hit a verticle suplex powerbomb for a big pop and a near fall. The crowd was really into this match big time. Everything was getting a pop. Misawa blocked a lariat with both arms, but Kobashi still took him down. Both sold this spot. In the best spot of the match, Kobashi tried to powerbomb Misawa off the apron, but Misawa turned it into a Frankensteiner. Tremendous selling here. Misawa hit forearms then got waistlocked Kobashi. Due to exhaustion, Misawa was only able to belly to back suplex Kobashi. Misawa hit a discus forearm which knocked Kobashi down, but Misawa also fell down. Both got up about the same time and Misawa hit another discus forearm. When Kobashi staggered to his feet, Misawa threw another discus forearm, but Kobashi ducked and this time hit the lariat. Both staggered to their feet at about the same time and Misawa went back to the forearms, this time hitting three. Misawa’s momentum from the third forearm took him so that his back was to Kobashi and Kenta seized the opportunity hitting a deadly released German suplex with Misawa landing flush on his head. Kobashi ran at Misawa, but Misawa headbutted him in the gut then hit an enzui discus forearm. Misawa dragged Kobashi up. Although Kobashi fought it, Misawa was still able to hit a released Tiger suplex for a near fall. Kobashi missed his discus chop and Misawa hit Tiger Driver ’91. Stealing from the tremendously knowledgeable John D. Williams, the last time he used the move was October of 1995 to beat Kobashi. The place went nuts because no one has ever kicked out of the move. Misawa rarely uses it because it’s a dangerous move since he drops his opponent right on his head. This was surely the finish. Kobashi became the first person to ever kick out of the move. Another unbelievable pop from the crowd. Could this be the night that Kobashi finally gets his first win on Misawa? Kobashi hit 2 lariats from his knee, but he was "too hurt" to put anything on them. Misawa no sold the weak lariats. When Kobashi tried ducked and hit his other rarely used finisher, the Tiger suplex ’85. This is normally a half-nelson German suplex, which is the same move as Ozaki’s Tequilla Sunrise finisher. Misawa put Kobashi away with this in the 1995 Carnival. However, rather than bridge it, Misawa does a released version, once again planting Kenta on his head. This is another sure finish, but Misawa doesn’t go for the pin. The idea is that he’s both frustrated and afraid. He can’t believe Kobashi broke his 100% successful finisher the Tiger Suplex ’91, so he doesn’t even want to give Kobashi the chance to break this finisher, which he also only uses when the stakes are at their highest. Misawa prefers to go back to his trusty forearm, a move that’s got him big wins in the past. This time, Misawa doesn’t just use a forearm or a discus forearm, he clocks Kobashi with a running forearm. Misawa covers and Kobashi is unable to kick out. Misawa regains the Triple Crown. Awesome match. Super psychology playing off previous Kobashi vs. Misawa matches along with a lot of All Japan history. The selling was phenomenal. The build was great. The crowd reacted to perfection. Very stiff. Everything was executed perfectly. The only knock on this match is that All Japan aired it in highly edited form. Based on what aired it looked like a very strong candidate for match of the year. However, the match was 42:06 and only around 22 minutes aired on tv. I’m biased toward the juniors and Liger is my favorite wrestler. I simply liked the moves Liger & Otani were doing better and I prefer the faster pace of that match. This match was kind of slow-paced, but that’s a given when you have super selling. It was a more basic match than Liger vs. Otani. I think the two are practically equal. Right now I’m saying, even with the out of the ring flaw, that Liger vs. Otani is slightly better. I need these unedited as this is probably a 5 star match also. *At this point I greatly prefer the slow match where everything is meaningful. No matter how great the move it gets boring quickly if only performed to show off. On the other hand, any move can be exciting if it's incorporated cleverly enough. Liger vs. Otani isn't guilty of pyroduds, but in general there's not enough substance in wrestling right now to show up on a microscope.* 42:06 ****3/4.

FMW 12/11/96 Tokyo Komazawa Olympic Park Gym from Samurai! TV

Chikako Shiratori & Rie vs. Shark Tsuchiya & Crusher Maedomari. This was the most unenjoyable match I’ve ever seen. I’ll admit I’m biased because I think Shiratori is The Goddess (I’d advise you to visit Glenn Tsunekawa’s Shiratori shrine at http://www.photon.co.jp/sections/f_staff/nCo/profiles/chikako/chikako.html), but I can’t see how anyone could have liked this match. Shark and Crusher displayed less than no skill here. Shiratori sold practically the whole match and got nothing in return. Shiratori was dominated early by Shark and finally she countered a press slam with a dropkicked and immediately tagged Rie. After taking a quick beating, Rie tagged Shiratori back. Shark started raking the barbed wire stick across Shiratori’s head. Shiratori quickly started bleeding hardway. Shark and Crusher really showed no interest in beating on Rie. Rie tried to make saves, but they just knocked her away. Eventually Shark bored of using the barbed wire stick on Shiratori’s head, so she hit her in the stomach with it a few times. Rie got a tilt-a-whirl headscissor in before Chikako came back in for another beating. Crusher gave Shiratori a stiff face-first underhook suplex. Shark tried to hit Shiratori with the stick again, but she moved and Crusher got hit with it. Shiratori hit two dropkicks followed by a missile dropkick for a near fall. Shiratori got another near fall with a victory roll. Shark and Crusher gave Shiratori double impact. Shark and Crusher got near falls on Shiratori with a double facebuster and a double back suplex. Shiratori showed the Jaguar influence several times by bridging out rather than kicking out. Unfortunately, Jaguar’s workrate isn’t rubbing off on her. Rie took the double impact. Shiratori took another double impact then Shark put her out of her misery with a powerbomb. You could hardly call this a wrestling match. There was a sequence or two of wrestling, but it was mainly a sick skillless exhibition. Shark and to a lesser extent Crusher simply sliced up and wrecked Shiratori for almost the whole 15:27. Very one-sided with barely any selling by the talentless stiffs Shark and Crusher. I have no idea why Jd’ agreed to this match. Why is Shiratori in a slice and dice match? This kind of thing makes it really hard to feel sorry for FMW when none of the women’s offices will work with them. This may be a questionable rating, but I can’t give credit to anything that was done in this "match." It’s the type of match that you simply can’t defend. I’d rather watch Sting vs. Tony Palmore 5 times consecutive than see this nightmare again. -**

Megumi Kudo vs. Shinobu Kandori. This was a surprisingly good match. The early portion was built around Kandori’s Wakigatamae. Kudo hit a tope. On the floor, both tried to use chairs and they wound up hitting each others chairs. Kandori swung a chair, but Kudo ducked it and the chair hit the ring post. Kandori tried a clothesline, but Kudo ducked this also and Kandori’s arm hit the ring post. Kudo hit a Tiger driver out of the ring. Back in the ring, Kudo got a near fall with a fisherman buster. Kudo hit a Tiger driver then went to the top for a flying move, but Kandori caught her arm in mid-air and turned it into yet another Wakigatamae. Their transitions into the Wakigatamae’s were quite good. Kudo back body dropped Kandori over the top, but Kandori landed on the apron and immediately applied the choke sleeper. Without releasing the choke sleeper, Kandori climbed to the top rope so she could get more leverage (idea is that Kudo’s feet would be off the ground). Kudo got away and Frankensteinered Kandori off the top. Kudo tried a German suplex. After several go behinds, she returned the favor by applying the choke sleeper. Kudo tried her reverse Gori especial bomb, but Kandori slipped out. Kandori immediately lifted Kudo up on her shoulders, but Kudo turned it into a sunset flip. Kandori got near falls with a lariat and a powerbomb. Kandori tried another powerbomb, but Kudo countered. Kudo ducked a clothesline, but Kandori immediately applied the choke sleeper for the win. Kandori was still a punk in this match, but wasn’t selfish here. Well laid out match. Very good psychology, set up, and transitions. Far better than I expected. 14:30. ***3/4. FMW Guru Zach Arnold had this to say about my rating "This was a pathetic piece of shit and I'm holding to my word of ** and it's not going any higher."

Dragon Winger & Hideki Hosaka vs. Super Leather & Crypt Keeper. This certainly looked like Quinones booking as his cronies Leather and Keeper dominated the match. Dragon Winger is a much cooler gimmick than Toryu was, but this match did nothing to get him or the gimmick over. Leather has gained considerable weight since his WWF days to the point where he was making moves look bad because he’s not athletic enough to roll with them. Dragon Winger hit a Quebrada, so I was happy. Keeper & Leather did a powerbomb/reverse neckbreaker combo. Keeper tried to lift Dragon up for the double impact, but he messed it up and wound up dropping Dragon from his shoulders. Finish saw Keeper take out Hosaka with a clothesline over the top and a dropkick off the apron while Leather tombstoned Dragon for a near fall. Leather then hit a brainbuster for the win. Set up and transitions weren’t much. This wasn’t the type of match the crowd is going to pop for. Pretty poorly booked one-sided affair. 11:43. *1/2.

W*ING Kanemura-Independent World Heavyweight Champion vs. The Gladiator-WWA World Brass Knucks Champion. Title unification match. Gladiator came into the match with his previously blown out knee all bandaged up. The key spot early was Gladiator trying a plancha, but losing his balance and getting tangled up in the rope. With Gladiator stuck in the rope, Kanemura got a chair and started bashing Gladiator’s knee with it. After Gladiator was untied, W*ING used submissions that concentrated on the bad knee. Kanemura set Gladiator up on a table outside the ring and climbed to the top with the W*ING banner. Kanemura held the W*ING banner in front of him as he splashed Gladiator off the top rope through the table. Back in the ring, W*ING ducked a clothesline and hit a kneecap dropkick. Kanemura used a piece of the broken table to injured knee. W*ING stiffed Gladiator with the piece of table. Kanemura tried a flying move, but Gladiator clotheslined in mid-air. Gladiator tried a powerbomb. W*ING escaped the powerbomb and ran off the ropes only to be slingshotted by Gladiator. Gladiator powerbombed W*ING over the top rope through a table. Hellacious bump. Gladiator stood a table up against the rope, picked W*ING up on his shoulder, and did a running ram into the table. Gladiator tried again, but slipped out the back. W*ING immediately tried to hit Gladiator with a piece of broken table, but Gladiator blocked it, kicked W*ING in the gut, and stiffed him with the piece of table. Gladiator got a 2 3/4 count after a flying splash. Gladiator went to the top, but Kanemura belly-to-belly superplexed him off for a near fall. W*ING used the Michinoku Driver II. W*ING got near falls with a guillotine leg drop off the top and La Magistral. Gladiator used his Liger bomb for a near fall. The crowd was really popping big for the near falls. Gladiator hit a running Liger bomb for a near fall. Gladiator broke a piece of the broken table over W*ING’s head then Liger bombed him for the win. Gladiator won the Independent World Heavyweight title, thus unifying the two belts. This was the best match on the card. It was very exciting with great high spots and near falls. Very stiff match. Built well and had good psychology for the genre. The booking was real good and the early portion was much stronger than your typical garbage match. It did have a few problems that are typical of garbage wrestling like some weak transitions and failure to sell the big moves long enough. 17:14. ***3/4.

Great Sasuke vs. Hayabusa. The matwork early was nothing to get excited about. I love Sasuke, but he’s not much of a mat wrestler and that hurts the majority of his singles matches. Since Hayabusa is devoid of mat skills, they just went right to the high spots. This logic may make a match more exciting, but a high spot fest isn’t a solid match. Hayabusa knocked Sasuke out of the ring with a leg lariat and hit a beautiful Liger dive. Hayabusa reentered the ring by hitting Sasuke with a springboard spin kick. He followed with a standing moonsault for a near fall. Sasuke knocked Hayabusa out of the ring with a handspring elbow then attempted a Quebrada, but Hayabusa hit him with a chair in mid-air. Hayabusa then used the Quebrada. Hayabusa got a near fall with his Falcon Arrow (similar to the Michinoku Driver II, but the opponent lands on his back so it’s a pinning maneuver). Hayabusa set Sasuke up with a fisherman buster then hit the Scorpio splash for a near fall. Hayabusa went to the top, but Sasuke dropkicked him, knocking him to the floor. Sasuke used his Quebrada in the ring for a near fall. Sasuke got another near fall with a German suplex. Sasuke used his old octopus finisher. Sasuke got near falls with his Tiger suplex and Thunder Fire powerbomb. Sasuke went to the top for a dropkick, but Hayabusa dropkicked at the same time so they "collided." Sasuke got a near fall with a huracanrana. Sasuke went to the top, but Hayabusa hit him then climbed to the middle rope. Hayabusa Falcon Arrowed Sasuke off the 2nd for the win. Exciting match, but it was all high spots. Very weak psychology and build. A Sabu-esque match that many people will love for the glamour. 19:12. ***.

Masato Tanaka, Atsushi Onita, Mr. Pogo, & Tetsuhiro Kuroda vs. Hisakatsu Oya, Terry Funk, & The Headhunters in a Texas street fight tornado death match. This was Mr. Pogo’s retirement match and Onita came out of retirement here. This was the first time the enemy’s Funk & Onita had been in the ring with each other since 5/5/93. The basic idea here was to have two workers going at it in the ring while the other six brawled outside. This match was very scattered and chaotic to the point where this write up probably won’t make a whole lot of sense. Anyways, Tanaka hit a nice cross body plancha. There was lots of blood early. Funk used the spinning toe hold on Onita, but Onita quickly broke it. Terry Funk did the worst, slowest, shortest rolling cradle I’ve ever seen. I’d advise him to save that move for those who can still work like the great Manami Toyota. A Hunter splashed Oya off the top through a table. The work was pretty weak, lots of weapons were used, I was not excited. Onita stiffed everyone with a piece of the broken table. This didn’t have any novelty after it was used several times in W*ING/Gladiator. Pogo choked Hunter A with a chain. In the second portion, most of the workers were in the ring at once. During this part, there were spots of dead time. Tanaka got a near fall on Oya with his discus forearm. Oya then got a near fall on Tanaka with his backdrop. Funk poured alcohol on Onita and tried to do the Pogo fireball spot, but Pogo saved. Onita Thunder Fire powerbombed Oya, but Hunter saved. Kuroda went to the top, but Victor Quinones chaired him twice. With Kuroda stuck on the top rope, the Head Hunters did the old Power & Glory superplex/flying splash finisher for a near fall. A powerbombed Kuroda into a pile of chairs for a near fall. Funk piledrove Onita on the chairs. Funk & Oya gave Onita a flying spike piledriver on the chairs. Pogo saved Onita by cleaning house with a barbed wire bat. Tanaka used his powerbomb on Oya but Hunter saved. Hunter A hit a Tiger driver on Tanaka, but Tanaka was saved. A missed a moonsault, so Tanaka discus forearmed him when he got up. Onita cracked A over the head with a chair and Tanaka immediately backdropped him for the win. The match was high on blood and gimmicks, but the work wasn’t so great and the psychology was nothing much. The transitions weren’t too good and it was too chaotic. Oya and Tanaka looked really good in their limited spots, but they were the only ones who could work here. Pogo’s retirement ceremony was pretty disappointing. It wasn’t very emotional or anything. To make things worse, Onita really stole the spotlight in the post match announcing he would fight again on 4/29. 28:34. **.

New Japan Commercial Tape 10/20/96 Kobe

Satoshi Kojima vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan. The crowd was pro-Tenzan, which was interesting because he’s a heel. It’s also interesting because Kojima has finally got some charisma now. Kojima seemed angered by this and flipped off the crowd. These guys are quite similar in build and do a lot of the same moves, but Kojima is easily the better worker of the two. Kojima missed his flying elbow. Tenzan used a leg lariat. Tenzan went to the top for a flying move, but Kojima clotheslined him in mid-air. Kojima went back to the flying elbow, this time hitting it. Kojima got a near fall with his lariat. The crowd was into this more than you would expect. Kojima tried another lariat, but Tenzan ducked and hit a lariat of his own for a near fall. Tenzan missed his diving headbutt. Kojima slammed Tenzan and was going to try his moonsault, but Tenzan got up and hit him before he got the chance. Tenzan hit a powerbomb. Tenzan used a headbutt to the groin followed by his diving headbutt for the win. A pretty simple match built around the signature moves. The moves were worked in well though and the execution was great. Not glamourous, but solid and effective. 11:06. ***1/4.

Scott Norton & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Riki Choshu & Kensuke Sasaki in a Super Grade Tag League match. The main thing here was that Choshu & Hashimoto were opposing each other. Hash tried his kicks on Choshu, but Choshu caught his leg. With Choshu holding Hash’s leg, Sasaki came off the top with an axehandle to the injured knee. Sasaki used leg sweeps to the injured knee. Norton and Sasaki worked a fast-paced sequence where both used their powerslams. Hash came back in and worked Choshu over with his kicks. Sasaki "injured" Norton’s shoulder with his ipponzei, so they double teamed Hash. When Norton recovered, Choshu & Sasaki used a series of lariats with Sasaki hitting the last lariat and pinning Norton. A basic and boring match. 9:40. **.

Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Great Muta. This was their "wild gimmick match." Muta suplexed Liger on the ramp then hit his windsprint clothesline. Muto, when he’s doing the Muta gimmick, is way too slow and deliberate. Muta missed his handspring elbow and Liger koppo kicked him. Liger used a dropkick off the top and hit a plancha. Muta choked Liger with a broom. Muta ripped Liger’s mask, revealing Liger’s face which was painted in Muta-esque style. As usual, something that "looked cool" was a distraction, but not to the point that people didn't realize the match was an incredible disappointment. Liger spewed mist at Muta. Liger ripped his top off exposing black war paint. Ditto. Liger used a chair off the apron. Liger got a metal object from under the ring and used it on Muta. Liger pulled the mat away and piledrove Muta on the cement. Liger hit a plancha off the top with a chair. Speaking of disappointing matches, I remember Casas doing that to Liger about 7 years ago. Anyways, Liger set a table up in the corner, whipped Muta into it, and tried to puncture his head with a knife, but Muta avoided. Muta spewed mist in Liger’s face. Muta used the knife on Liger. Muta hit his handspring elbow. Muta used a facebuster as a set up move. Muta then hit his moonsault for the win. Not a bad match, but a huge waste of talent. These two should have had a **** match together, but instead they were playing with knives. I’d rather see talented guys in a straight match then see them reduce themselves to Big Japan’s level. I didn’t think I’d see the day that Tenzan’s match was better than Liger’s for quite a few years. 17:35. **1/2.