Quebrada #21

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

4/21/97

All Japan

Toshiaki Kawada won the Champion Carnival for the second time on 4/19 before a soldout Tokyo Budokan Hall pinning both Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi in the first triangle match since the Carnival was restarted. Kawada winning the Carnival didn’t come as a big surprise, however the fact that he scored his first even singles pin over Misawa was somewhat surprising. Of course, it’s not a true victory because it came in a gimmick match. It also came after Misawa had just wrestled a grueling 30 minute draw with Kobashi. Misawa came into the match with Kawada tired and with an injured neck from Akiyama’s exploder, so he’s got an out and All Japan will certainly use the excuse to build up the upcoming Misawa vs. Kawada Triple Crown match. Glenn was nice enough to give me a rundown of this weeks All Japan tv show which aired the first two segments of the triangle match.

AJ TV 4/20/97 taped 4/19 Tokyo Budokan Hall

The show begins with Misawa, Kawada and Kobashi drawing cards to determine the order of the ensuing matches. Misawa draws A, Kobashi draws B, and Kawada draws C. Thus, the matches will be:

1. Misawa vs Kobashi

2. Kawada vs Misawa

3. Kobashi vs Kawada

Mitsuhara Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi

The match is picked up in progress. Kobashi is in control, and promptly throws Misawa on the base of his skull with a released German suplex. Kobashi follows with a beautiful Tiger suplex '85 for a near-fall. Kobashi delivers two powerbombs in succession, for yet another near-fall. Misawa is soon able to gain the advantage and he hits two tiger suplexes in succession for a near-fall on Kobashi. Misawa hits his Tiger driver for another two count. At this point, the crowd starts a very loud "Ko-ba-shi" chant. Just as Kobashi gets up, Misawa hits his diving neckbreaker drop off the top. Misawa follows this move up with a somersault kick to the back of Kobashi’s head. Misawa goes back to the trusty Tiger driver for near fall. After staggering to his feet, Kobashi summons up enough energy to hit his lariat. Misawa is badly dazed, but Kobashi is still too hurt to cover. Kobashi gets to his feet first, and hits his signature Orange Crush suplex for 2 9/10 count. With time about to expire, Kobashi delivers a DDT. Kobashi has Misawa set up for one more lariat. Kobashi runs across the ring, but Misawa just manages to lift his arms enough to block the move and time soon runs out. 30 minute draw.

Toshiaki Kawada vs Mitsuhara Misawa

Misawa is sweating profusely when the match begins. As the bell rings, Kawada is all over Misawa with various kicks and chops. Kawada tried his powerbomb, but Misawa turns it into a huracanrana. Misawa is able to gain a little bit of momentum with a series of elbows, but Kawada quickly

regains the edge by getting behind Misawa and hitting a released German suplex. When Misawa finally staggers to his feet, Kawada sends him back down with a jumping high kick. Kawada follows with his high-angle powerbomb. Instead of going for the pin, Kawada slaps on the stretch plum. Misawa is able to break the hold, but he’s clearly weakened. Kawada hits yet another powerbomb, and goes back to the stretch plum. Still, Misawa will not submit, but he's badly hurt. Kawada delivers his high-angle powerbomb and rolls-up Misawa for the win. 6:07.

Next week’s show has Kobashi vs Kawada.

After scoring the biggest pinfall of his life, Kawada still had to beat Kobashi. Kobashi still hasn’t pinned Kawada in a singles match. It’s not surprising at all that they didn’t give away that result here because they already gave away Kobashi’s first win against Misawa in the league portion. Between giving away that first and the major first of Kawada over Misawa, tainted as it may be, there’s no way they could blow off another big money finish here. Kawada would defeat Kobashi with his jumping high kick in 21:27. So, the entire final lasted nearly an hour.

What’s apparent from this year’s Carnival is that Baba isn’t going to be so predictable anymore. He booked the first triangle match, gave away firsts, had Misawa do three jobs, and had a younger worker in the finals. They seem to think this unpredictability will renew interest in the promotion and get their attendance figures up. I don’t know if it will work, but AJ’s got problems and at least Baba is trying to do something (right or wrong) to address them. *The desperation, as desperation usually does, hurt tremendously in the long run. Kobashi over Misawa was bad enough, but the jewel was Kawada over Misawa, and they took all the luster off it. Then they put it as the main event of their first Tokyo Dome show with the result that would have made up for the rest of the show being nothing special had it carried the significance it should have. Even the way they did the first win was terrible because the win everyone cared about wasn't the climax, rather Kawada was wrestling again before people even figured out what hit them*

Kawada has pinned Misawa in the final of the last two major events (World's Strongest Tag League and Carny), but he still hasn't proved he can beat Misawa on an even playing field. He's a really strong challenger for the Triple Crown now. Maybe Kawada finally gets that win, maybe not, but it'll sell out if they do it in Budokan or Sapporo. Kawada beats Kobashi in the finals, so they continue Kobashi's singles problems against Kawada. If Kawada can finally get that pin on Misawa, they have Kobashi's pin on Kawada to work on. If not, then Taue has to get his push back or Akiyama and/or Ace need to become major players.

There’s still no good way to explain giving away Kobashi’s first win over Misawa when there were only 3,200 people in the building. They probably didn’t want to do two draws between Kobashi and Misawa during the Carny, but that doesn’t mean you should give away something you can never get back. They probably should have had Taue beat Misawa in the league portion rather than Kobashi. Like Williams win over Misawa, it wouldn’t be giving anything away. More importantly, it would hold off Misawa’s revenge for losing the Triple Crown to Taue last year until the met in a big money Triple Crown match.

Kawada clinched a spot in the finals when he pinned his partner Akira Taue on 4/14. This left Taue with 18 points and only the Hansen match remaining. That seemed like a match Taue could win, but in continuation of the way things have been going for him in singles since losing the Triple Crown, Hansen defeated him. Hansen, who came into the match with 16 points, was already eliminated at this point. Coming down the stretch, Kobashi was a lock to make it to the finals because he needed a win and his opponent was the lowly Giant Kimala II.

Whether Misawa would make the finals was really the only thing in question. As I said in my preview, it would come down to his match with Johnny Ace. The thing that surprised me was that Baba had the guts to book the three-way match. It really looked like Ace could be the spoiler once again.

The three former Carnival winners that didn’t make it to the finals, Hansen, Taue, and Williams all finished tie with 18 points. Jun Akiyama had the most disappointing outing as he not only finished the lowest of the second tier, but he was the guy in the second tier that had to do the lower level job to the scrub Kimala II. Ace had a disappointing Carnival as well as he didn’t even get to be the spoiler this year. Albright still finished ahead of these guys for reasons unknown to me.

Kawada, who won the 1994 Carny as well, joins Stan Hansen as the only two time winners since the Carny was restarted.

Champion Carnival results

4/7 in Tottori-Kimala II over Honda in 10:09, Hansen over Albright in 9:47, Misawa over Taue in 12:14

4/10 in Shizuoka-Albright over Honda in 8:08, Taue over Omori in 8:31, Kawada over Akiyama in 17:16, Kobashi over Hansen in 19:51

4/12 in Tokyo Korakuen Hall-Hansen over Omori in 10:18, Williams over Ace in 20:44, Kawada drew Kobashi 30:00

4/13 in Kanazawa-Albright over Omori in 4:58, Akiyama over Honda in 14:46, Misawa over Hansen in 17:59

4/14 in Niigata-Misawa over Kimala II in 9:48, Williams over Kobashi in 23:50, Kawada over Taue in 14:17

4/15 in Koriyama-Ace over Albright in 11:17, Kobashi over Kimala II in 13:23, Williams over Akiyama in 14:12, Hansen over Taue in 15:06

4/17 in Soka-Albright over Kimala II in 6:51, Akiyama over Omori in 11:25, Williams over Honda in 8:45, Misawa over Ace in 26:27

Final Champion Carnival Standings

wins losses draws points big win

1. Kawada 10 1 3 23 the final obviously

2. Kobashi 9 3 2 20 first win over Misawa

2. Misawa 9 3 2 20 revenge on Taue for losing the Triple Crown

4. Taue 9 3 0 18 revenge on Kobashi for losing Triple Crown

4. Hansen , Stan 8 2 2 18 Kawada

4. Williams 8 2 2 18 revenge on Misawa for recent TC loss

7. Albright 6 6 0 12 first win over Williams

8. Ace 5 7 0 10 Albright

9. Akiyama 4 7 1 9 Ace, drew Hansen

10. Kimala, Giant 3 9 0 6 Akiyama

11. Honda 2 10 0 4 Omori

11. Omori 2 10 0 4 Kimala

13. Izumida 0 12 0 0 *forfeited all matches due to injury*

AJW

I totally don’t understand what AJW is doing with their tv time. The last show aired on 4/6 and it showed matches from the 3/23 Yokohama Arena show. The most important match on that show in terms of building to the future is Kaoru Ito’s upset win over Manami Toyota. This win is supposed to propel Ito to a title shot. So, do they air this match on tv? Of course not, it would make too much sense to show people a match that was designed to make the people buy tickets to see a new challenger. Since Aja only drew 5,000 people for her title match what can they expect Ito’s to draw? Aja is an established top notch challenger who held the WWWA title from 1992-1995. Ito, who has little charisma and doesn’t appear to have a very large fan base, is getting her first major push. If no one sees the push, then what is the use in bothering? Of course the "legend" Maekawa’s match aired.

Yumiko Hotta is already back from her knee surgery. She was injured on 3/23, so she missed less than a month. Unfortunately, the great one, Manami Toyota has a neck injury. Luckily, this isn’t supposed to be that serious though. Knowing Toyota she’ll either continue to work or barely miss any time. Yumi Fukawa is definitely out though as she suffered a broken hip. They really need Fukawa since she’s one of the only youngsters that even decent.

FMW

FMW not only has some sort of deal with the WWF now, but they are working with AAA as well. The W*ING group along with Hayabusa and Hayato Nanjyo are supposed to work AAA shows sometime in the future. Aside from Puerto Rico, Victor Quinones now has some type of business arrangement with AAA, EMLL, FMW, ECW, & WWF. Hayabusa and Hayato are best at the Lucha style, so they should be able to fit in well in Mexico. Hayabusa’s already spent a considerable amount of time in EMLL, so he can step into a tag match and look great performing his high spots. If they use him in singles, then it’s another story. W*ING Kanemura should be pretty good in this style too. Hideki Hosaka, Hido, and Dragon Winger are the other guys said to be headed to AAA.

In basically her last chance for a great match, Megumi Kudo defeated JWP’s Mayumi Ozaki in a barbed wire match on 4/18 at Tokyo Korakuen Hall. Kudo scored the pinfall at 17:18 with a spinning version of her Gori especial. Ozaki bled heavily from her forehead and she did the spot where she licks her own blood to sicken the crowd. Kudo bled from her forehead, arms, and back. It was said to be a sick match. I hope they got some good wrestling sequences in there as well. Why couldn’t we see these two in a straight match? More importantly, why is Kudo getting stuck with Shark as an opponent for her retirement match while Ozaki is working a Gaea show at Korakuen Hall? Oh how l love that Quinones influence. The ridiculous thing about this match is that it was only 3rd from the top at Korakuen Hall. I mean, this is as close as you can get to an interpromotional dream match between FMW and JWP. The only women in JWP that you could have made a case for as being better than Oz is Kansai, but she’s not in top shape now and Oz is really the only woman in the promotion who’s been in bloody matches recently. They had Kanemura & Hosaka defeating Jado & Gedo in the semi. The main event had Hayabusa & Masato Tanaka & Koji Nakagawa & Tetsuhiro Kuroda over The Gladiator & Hisakatsu Oya & Katsutoshi Niiyama & Mr. Gannosuke. Those matches do not sound as important as the women’s match to me.

JWP

Hikari Fukuoka captured the open weight title from Dynamite Kansai on 4/8 at Tokyo Korakuen Hall. Fukuoka scored the pin after two moonsault double boot stomps. Unfortunately, the title change seems to be more because of Kansai’s disease than anything else. Also on the card, Mayumi Ozaki & Reiko Amano defeated the FMW team of Megumi Kudo & Rie when Oz huracaned Rie with the chain. This set up the Ozaki vs. Kudo barbed wire match which took place on the FMW show.

New Japan

New Japan made a ton of money with a poor lineup once again on 4/12 with their Tokyo Dome show. The show drew 60, 500 which should mean another $5 million gate. Judo superstar Naoya Ogawa made a successful debut defeating Shinya Hashimoto with a choke sleeper in 9:25. This had the controversial finish of Riki Choshu and Kensuke Sasaki complaining that Hashimoto didn’t tap out to Ogawa’s choke sleeper. This was a martial arts match, so Hashimoto’s title wasn’t on the line. The match was said to be below Hashimoto’s typical standards, but they made a ton of money off it and they’ll make a ton of money off the rematch on 5/3 at the Osaka Dome, so I’m sure that they don’t care. At least it supposedly had the proper realism and great heat. The heat was made even better because Antonio Inoki and Satoru Sayama, who trained Ogawa, were in his corner while Riki Choshu, Kensuke Sasaki, Takashi Iizuka, and Satoshi Kojima were in Hashimoto’s corner. The event got tons of mainstream publicity and drew and the taped tv special drew a great 13.0 rating.

The most surprising result has to be Satoru Sayama under the guise of Tiger King doing his first job of his comeback and his first job in Japan in a century (it’s at least 15 years although probably more). El Samurai defeated Shinjiro Otani in what was said to be a great match. Samurai’s win comes as no surprise since he’s the next New Japan worker in line for a shot at the J Crown. It’s nice to see him finally getting a big push. I doubt he’s had two bigger wins (he beat Liger in a non-title match on 3/25) in such a short time period since 1992. Jushin Thunder Liger retained his J Crown defeating Great Sasuke in 20:08 with a brainbuster off the top rope. Liger and Sasuke were talking to the reporters after the match when the DX attacked them. Liger and Sasuke then agreed to join forces to fight off the DX. The Great Muta moonsaulted his way to a victory over the NWO’s Masa Chono. Since Muta is in the Sting role, he shook hands with Chono after the match. The last important result is Riki Choshu practicing his typical ego feeding by booking himself and Kensuke "Choshu2" Sasaki to win the tag titles. Choshu, of course, scored the winning pin on Kimura with the Riki lariat. Choshu can’t retire soon enough to suit me.

New Japan announced the participants in the annual Best of the Super Junior tournament that runs from 5/16-6/5. I remember how disappointed I was when I saw last year’s weak field. Well, this year’s is even weaker. Of course you have the 4 great New Japan juniors Liger, Otani, Samurai, and Kanemoto that make up 20% of the top 20 workers in the world. Yeah, you have the great TAKA Michinoku, so we’ll finally get to see him in some great matches. Beyond that, there’s really nothing else. Tatsuhito Takaiwa is the next best worker, but he’ll just do a bunch of jobs and finish in the middle of the pack. I was hoping this Liger, Samurai, and Sekigun vs. Otani, Kanemoto, and DX fued would be in this tournament and it is except, the other DX guy is Hanzo Nakajima. Hanzo is quite mediocre and he’s way out of his league with the New Japan juniors. I could see if he had potential, but only Gran Hamada, Men’s Teoh, and Wellington Wilkins Jr in Michinoku Pro are older. With all the great workers in Michinoku Pro, they book this guy? Then we get the Luchadores and with all the great EMLL workers we get Scorpio Jr. and Dr. Wagner Jr. I’ll be surprised if both of these guys make it though the tournament injury free. Wagner Jr. is nice, but if I’m booking I want his brother Silver King or someone young with a lot of upside like Mr. Niebla. *I was way off the mark here, as Wagner Jr. was a big asset to NJ having consistently high level matches there during his entire run* The last two spots are filled by Rob Brookside and Doc Dean from England. I guess this means Doc will have a month or so where he doesn’t get bodyslamed by Jackie. These guys are bottom feed.

The next uninteresting New Japan Dome show takes place on 5/3 at the Osaka Dome. Shinya Hashimoto defends his IWGP heavyweight title against Naoya Ogawa in the main event. Hashimoto should get his revenge and keep his belt here. There’s one great match on the show. Shinjiro Otani and Koji Kanemoto will team with DX members Dick Togo, Men’s Teoh, and Hanzo Nakajima against Great Sasuke, Super Delfin, El Samurai, Gran Hamada, and Norio Honaga. It would be really hard to screw this one up. Adding Samurai, Otani, and Kanemoto to an already super feud should guarantee something super. What was the purpose of Liger agreeing to team with Sasuke when Liger isn’t even in this match? Hopefully Hanzo spends considerable time on the ring apron. Choshu will most likely do some more ego feeding as he teams with Sasaki to defend the tag titles against Manabu Nakanishi and Satoshi Kojima. I don’t see a title change in the making. Antonio Inoki & Tiger King face Jushin Liger and Yoshiaki Fujiwara. What a thrill that Liger gets the old stiff Fujiwara for a partner. Liger will probably get stuck doing the job here because he’s the non-shooter. Fujiwara isn’t in New Japan and hasn’t worked much lately, so hopefully he’ll be the one to do the job. Inoki and Sayama definitely go over. The Steiner Brothers and Keiji Muto face the NWO team of Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Masa Chono. The fans will be into it, but the work will be crap. Aside from Muto, everyone’s workrate is slipping. Then we have another NWO match. Buff Bagwell and Scott Norton meet the WCW bums Lex Luger and The Giant. Is there any reason why I should think this will be worthy of a *? Syxx and Sting the Farmer (NWO Sting) face Tadao Yasuda & Junji Hirata. I don’t even want to think about Yasuda in the ring with either of these guys. NWO goes over. Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan might be decent. Either guy could win. Tenzan’s technical skill will be tested. Shiro Koshinaka vs. Kengo Kimura should be a good match. Kimura left the Ishingun, so this is a grudge match. Shiro should win. Tokimitsu Ishizawa makes his return from Europe to face Kazuo Yamazaki. Ishizawa has been honing his Jui Jitsu skills. This will be a good shoot style match. Ishizawa should lose, but since he’s Inoki’s protége and Inoki seems to be expecting big things from him I could see him getting the upset.

All Japan TV 3/30/97 taped 3/30 Nagayo Aichi Gym

Yuhi Sano & Masa Fuchi vs. Tornado & Johnny Smith

Sano made his All Japan debut here. The angle was that Sano was defending the honor of shooting since fellow Kingdom member Yoshihiro Takayama lost in his tag title match against Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada on 3/1. Tornado really sucked. I think he screwed up more spots in this match than Misawa screws up in a year, but maybe I exaggerate. Anyway, Sano was the only guy who looked good. He was rusty because he hasn’t been working, but he’s still a great well conditioned athlete. The lowlight was Tornado totally screwing up Sano’s huracanrana for powerbomb counter. They redid the spot, but Tornado still couldn’t take the bump. It looked so bad that it has to be seen to be believed. Where was Jerry Estrada when we needed him? That extra weight Richard Slinger has put on since his last tour of All Japan didn’t help things. The finish was lame as Fuchi caught Tornado’s spinning high kick and just took him to the mat and pinned him. 14:59. *1/4.

Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada

This was a great Champion Carnival bout. They didn’t have enough time to show the whole match even if they didn’t air the Sano match, but it would have been nice to see 22 minutes of this one instead of roughly half of that. Kawada did stiff kick after stiff kick early on. Misawa came back with forearms and his diving neckbreaker drop, which both sold. Misawa did a diving forearm followed by his Tiger Driver for a near fall. Misawa applied his facelock, but Kawada got the ropes. Misawa tried another Tiger Driver, but Kawada blocked it. Misawa tried a German suplex, but Kawada enzuiguried him. Misawa forearmed Kawada and followed with a released German suplex. Misawa went back to his Tiger Driver, but Kawada blocked it again. Kawada tried a German suplex, but Misawa elbowed his way out and tried a forearm. Kawada ducked the forearm and hit a released dangerous German suplex. Very nice sequence. Both sold the spot. In what’s becoming a requisite spot in major Misawa matches, his opponent tried to powerbomb him off the apron. Misawa once again didn’t let it happen to him though. You can tell that there will be carry over psychology with this spot down the road. The seed has been planted, it’s just a matter of who will be the one to finally get Misawa with the killer move off the apron. Kawada Yakuza kicked Misawa over the security rail. Kawada hit his powerbomb out of the ring. Kawada rolled Misawa into the ring and covered for a near fall. Kawada lariated Misawa. Kawada hit his powerbomb, but he still couldn’t put Misawa away. Kawada applied his stretch plum, but Misawa got to the ropes. Misawa blocked Kawada’s enzuiguri. Misawa and Kawada forearmed each other then Misawa discus forearmed Kawada, but it didn’t put Kawada down. Instead, Kawada recovered real quick a hit a jumping kick to the front of the head and both sold. Kawada hit another jumping kick to the front of the head for a near fall. Kawada tried his powerbomb, but Misawa turned it into a huracanrana for a near fall. Kawada Yakuza kicked Misawa. Kawada dragged Misawa to his feet and tried his powerbomb again, but Misawa turned it into a Frankensteiner. Kawada used a series of kicks and an enzui lariat, but still couldn’t get the pinfall. Kawada finally hit the powerbomb. He leaned over so far on the pin attempt that his legs were off the ground. This way of covering usually means that it’s the finish, but Misawa kicked out. Kawada tried a German suplex, but Misawa elbowed out then hit his rarely used reverse discus elbow which got a good pop because it KO’d Kawada in one of their matches in 1995. With Kawada on his knees, Misawa did a somersault enzui leg drop for a 2 3/4 count. Misawa tried the Tiger suplex, but Kawada blocked it. Misawa forearmed and discus forearmed Kawada. Then he was able to Tiger suplex Kawada for a near fall. Kawada hit the Koppo kick and crawled over for the cover, but the time limit expired. As usual, these two had a great match. All the typical All Japan strong points apply here. The only negative was that the finish was kind of flat. I mean, did anyone really think Kawada would have got the pin had the time limit not expired? These Champion Carnival Commercial tapes are something I’ll definitely need to get a hold of. *Unfortunately, after doing a good job in '94 and '95 AJ only released two big league matches in '96 then dropped to highlights of the TV tapings plus the complete final* Once again, this match probably gains a quarter star in unedited form. 30:00. ****1/2.

Jushin Liger & Wild Pegasus vs. Shinjiro Otani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa

from New Japan TV 3/29/97 taped 3/8 Tokuyama

Every tag match involving the New Japan juniors that’s aired this year has been at worst a very good match. Unfortunately, I let all of them fall through the cracks as far as reviews go. This one was a bit more special because we finally got to see Beniot back working great matches in Japan. Unfortunately, this match was once again joined in progress. Benoit tried a leap frog, but Takaiwa caught him in the air and powerslammed him. Liger payed tribute to Beniot giving Otani an awesome high angle powerbomb. Otani hit Liger with his swandive (springboard) spin kick, but Pegasus saved. Liger reversed a whip into the corner and hit a super stiff palm blow which Otani, as usual, made look really good. Pegasus gave Otani a top rope superplex. Pegasus then delivered his high angle powerbomb, but Takaiwa saved. Otani turned Pegasus’ attempted powerbomb into a sunset flip. Otani ducked a lariat and hit a rolling savate. When the workers are great, the timing and execution are so good that spots that sound like no big deal can be extremely impressive. Otani used a released German suplex then his swandive enzui dropkick on Pegasus. Otani faked his Dragon suplex and instead did a German suplex. Takaiwa tagged in and hit his Death Valley bomb for a near fall. Takaiwa tried the Death Valley bomb again, but Pegasus escaped and lariated him. Liger tagged in, but ran into another nice Takaiwa powerslam. Takaiwa missed a flying elbow. Liger then brainbustered Takaiwa. Pegasus took Otani out by suplexing him to the floor and whipping him into the bars. With Otani out of the picture it looked like Liger would be able to put Takaiwa away. However, Liger lost the offensive when Takaiwa ducked his short clothesline and German suplexed him. Benoit had to run in from out of the ring to make the save. Otani throws Pegasus out of the ring, taking Pegasus out so Takaiwa has a chance to pin Liger. Takaiwa tried his Death Valley bomb off the middle rope, but Liger knocked him off the top with his palm blow. So, Takaiwa also lost the offensive when his partner had eliminated the save opportunity. When Takaiwa got up, Liger hit a diving neckbreaker drop. Benoit held Otani out of the ring. Liger hit a running Liger bomb and Otani couldn’t break Benoit’s grasp and make the save, so Liger scored the pinfall. Really good match with excellent setup, transition, psychology and execution. As with all Benoit matches, it was very intense. Benoit is clearly behind Liger and Otani as a worker, but his match quality has only slipped due to poor booking and/or poor opponents. He’s still an incredible worker. He was really impressive here because he was able to go from working short WCW matches and brawls with the old stiff Kevin Sullivan to working a state of the art junior match without showing any ring rust. Takaiwa was the most impressive of them all however, because he more then held his own in a match where the other three workers are all among the ten best in the world. This guy is the new sensation of the junior division. He’s already better than a good worker and he should improve into a great worker by the end of the year. 15:30. ****1/4.

Champ Forum Gaea taped 2/23 Nagoya

Mayumi Ozaki and her understudies Chikayo Nagashima & Sugar Sato were in the studio. Since Ozaki was in the only match, it was a whole hour of Ozaki. What could be better than this? They showed highlights of previous Ozaki vs. Chigusa Nagayo matches to set up their present day meeting. The key things in the 1/11/94 match was Chigusa breaking Oz’s tequila sunrise finisher. They did a sequence of reversals where Oz tried the Tequila Sunrise twice, but it wound up that Chigusa was the one to get the move off for the win. So, Chigusa not only beat Ozaki, but she beat her with her own finisher. The next match was the very good 5/22/94. I don’t know why they didn’t show the whole finishing sequence other than it’s one of the worst I ever saw from a believablity standpoint. The finish of this match has Oz hitting 4 tequila sunrises in a row, but she still can’t get the pin. Chigusa then does a running version of her thunderfire powerbomb for the win. I can’t even think of a Hogan finish that was so ridiculous. I mean, at least he hits that "deadly" boot to the head before he does the "devestating" leg drop for the win. It reminded me of that "retirement" match between Randy Savage and the Ultimate Warrior where Savage does like 5 consecutive flying elbows yet Warrior kicks out. Anyway, my point in all this is that the storyline of Oz not only trying to get her first win over Chigusa, but trying to get it with her tequila sunrise finisher is a key to the current match. The last match they showed a clip of was 9/17/95. Here Oz counters the thunderfire powerbomb with a sleeper, so she doesn’t get beat with the same move again. This time, she loses when Chigusa Doctor bombs her off a table. Now onto the current match.

Oz attacks Chigusa at the bell with a metal object. Chigusa got the object away and used it on Oz. Oz used it back on Chigusa and Chigusa started bleeding. It was quicker than you typically see blood in a non gimmick match, but Chigusa wasn’t exactly challenging Johnny Grunge for who can blade the earliest. They brawled outside the ring with Oz throwing a chair at Chigusa and ramming Chigusa’s head into a different chair. In the ring, Chigusa made a comeback with her leg lariat. Out of the ring, Chigusa threw chairs at Oz. Chigusa choked Oz with a chord. Chigusa piledrove Oz through a table. Oz sold this really well by struggling to crawl back to the ring in time to beat the count. Chigusa beat on Oz for a while. Ozaki made her comeback when Chigusa whipped her into the corner and she kicked the charging Chigusa. Oz then jumped off the middle rope with a swinging DDT ala Gran Hamada. Oz tried to roll up Chigusa’s body into a sunset flip, but it didn’t work and Chigusa had her in position for the thunderfire powerbomb. However, Oz jerked around and Chigusa lost balance. Oz wound up sitting on the top rope and she broke the attempted thunderfire with her huracan. Oz jumped off the top with her rolling senton bodyblock, but Chigusa moved out of the way. Oz used a kneecap dropkick. With Chigusa on her knees, Oz hit 3 running dropkicks, but Chigusa no-sold. Oz hit a somersault senton bodyblock. With Chigusa out of the ring, Oz performed her rolling senton bodyblock off the 2nd. Oz tried a lariat out of the ring, but Chigusa moved and Oz went over the guard rail. Chigusa plancha’d the whole Oz Academy. Chigusa did a side suplex drop. Oz counter Chigusa’s second side suplex drop by landing on her feet, but Chigusa elbowed her then backdropped her for a near fall. Chigusa whipped Oz into the ropes, but Oz caught her with a DDT. Oz used a sleeper with a bodyscissors, but Chigusa got to the ropes. Oz hit 2 fisherman busters. Chigusa rolled out of the ring after the second one and sold for a long time. Chigusa reversed an Irish whip, but Oz reversed again and hit her huracan. Chigusa no sold the huracan and quickly hit one of her own. Oz ran off the ropes, but Chigusa wound up Doctor bombing her. Ozaki ripped her pants, so they had to stop the match for a little while. They came up with some warm up pants for her to wear. These things were really baggy and they looked like something you would get stuck wearing if you forgot your gym clothes. Chigusa used some stiff kicks. Oz got a near fall with a Frankensteiner off the top. Oz tried her rounding body press, but Chigusa got her knees up. Chigusa tried her thunderfire powerbomb, but Oz turned it into a sunset flip. Chigusa Liger bombed Oz, but Oz turned it into a pin of her own. Oz ducked a clothesline and hit her huracan. Oz tried the tequila sunrise, but Chigusa made it to the corner. Oz huracaned Chigusa again. Oz got a chain and huracaned Chigusa, which should have been the finish, but rather than go for the pin she went to her tequila sunrise finisher for the win. Good match with some great sequences, but some dead spots. Chigusa is a shell of her old self. She’s lost much of her athletic ability and is really only a brawler with limited offense these days. Oz was really good here and she basically made the match what it was. The heel style Oz is working now should add a few years to her career. Much to Chigusa’s dismay, her youngsters Sakura Hirota and Hiromi Kato joined the Oz Academy. The camera focused on Chigusa’s distraught face. 22:02. ***1/4.  

Kanemoto defeated TAKA the week before to earn this shot at Liger’s J Crown here. This was similar to the Liger vs. Otani match from the week before in that the less established wrestler was trying to finally beat the superstar for the title. Kanemoto plays it a lot differently then Otani in that he’s a rat-bastard heel while Otani’s actions are generally meant to get a favorable reaction from the crowd. As usual, New Japan with their infinite wisdom, joined this one in progress. Kanemoto was punching Liger in the corner until Liger powerbombed his way out. Kanemoto’s delivered some stiff kicks. Kanemoto caught Liger in a cross arm breaker. Liger immediately got the ropes, but Kanemoto didn’t want to break the hold. Kanemoto punched Liger then tried to pin him with an arrogant one-handed cover. Kanemoto tried his moonsault, but Liger rolled out of the way. When Koji got up, Liger hit him with his palm blow. Liger hit Kanemoto with 4 more palm blows. Liger took Kanemoto’s knee out with a kneecap dropkick then went right into the figure 4. Liger delivered a stiff high angle powerbomb. Liger tried to suplex Kanemoto to the floor, but Kanemoto wound up knocking him off the apron. Liger whipped Kanemoto into the security rail. Liger brainbustered Kanemoto out of the ring. Just like the Otani match, failing to sell the killer out of the ring move was the major drawback. Kanemoto got back in the ring at 18, which is fine, but the following sequence was stupid. Liger ran off the ropes, but Kanemoto caught him with an overhead belly-to-belly. It’s a really bad transition when you have a guy who just got brainbustered on the floor be able to go right back on offense as soon as he reenters the ring. Kanemoto should have still been selling the killer move, instead he did some Liger punting and his rolling senton off the second. Kanemoto charged the corner, but Liger lariated him. Liger delivered a Super fisherman buster and one would think that would the finish since he’s won with a regular fisherman buster on many occasions, but Kanemoto kicked out. This got a huge pop from the crowd of course. Liger went to the well bringing out his old Frankensteiner off the top finisher, but he didn’t go for the pin. This is basically using the same psychology as Misawa vs. Kobashi from 1/20 with Liger playing the Misawa frustrated veteran who is pulling out all the spots to put away the youngster who’s looking for the biggest win of his career. Liger used his released German suplex, but the title was on the line so instead of using the typical version he "had to" use the more dangerous version and plant Kanemoto on his head. Liger La Magistraled Kanemoto, which of course got a nice crowd reaction. Liger tried a diving headbutt, but wound up taking two boots to the head. Kanemoto got a near fall with Liger’s own move, the Liger bomb. Kanemoto used a released Tiger suplex followed by his moonsault for a near fall. This got a big pop. Kanemoto tried another moonsault, but missed and "injured his knee." They exchanged palm blows twice then Liger knocked Kanemoto down with the palm blow. Liger did his running Liger bomb, which again should have been the finish since it’s a higher move then his regular Liger bomb finisher, but Kanemoto kicked out. Liger hit 2 palm blows. Liger then hit a running palm blow or in other words, the move that put Otani away the week before. Liger then delivered a Super brainbuster for the win. Excellent match. The heat, psychology (which was carry over), and execution were great. The work was stiff. I’d rate it as the third best match I’ve seen from 1997, trailing only Liger vs. Otani from 2/9 and Misawa vs. Kobashi from 1/20. The main drawback was Kanemoto’s selling of the brainbuster out of the ring. The other thing that didn’t make sense to me was why Liger didn’t work the knee after Kanemoto injured it on the moonsault. One would think that there would be some legwork done to a guy who’s only been back from a broken leg for a little over a month. Maybe my standards for the New Japan Junior division are a bit too high. *The only problem involving standards is they are never high enough, thus we are perpetually settling for the less or the least bad* Certainly a phenominal match that establishes Kanemoto as one of the elite workers in the business and proves that Liger is still God. 19:26. ****3/4.

Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Hijo Del Santo 2/21/97 Tijuana, Nortecalifornia

This was a much heralded match. Maybe I expected too much, but it didn’t turn out as good as I was led to believe. Rey’s WWA welterweight title was up for grabs. Misterioso, who’s been feuding with Rey for quite some time was Santo’s second. This served two purposes: 1) to build to the Rey vs. Misterioso mask vs. mask match 2) to make the crowd boo Santo. The former may work, but the latter definitely failed. Santo worked like a face and even though he was the visiting wrestler, he had roughly the same amount of support as Rey did. Rey turned a rocking surfboard into a crotch hold, but Misterioso jumped in and broke it up. Santo then ran Misterioso off and Super Calo was his second for the rest of the match. Nothing came easy here, which was the strong point of the match. Unfortunately, they did so few high spots that the finishes of the first and second falls seemed to come out of nowhere. Rey hit a Frankensteiner off the top then a crotch hold. With no Misterioso to save Santo, the crotch hold worked and Santo lost the first fall. The second fall started quickly with Rey dropkicking Santo to the floor. Rey did the Sayama fake suicida then plancha’d Santo. Rey reentered the ring with his springboard huracanrana finisher, but Santo turned it into a powerbomb for the pinfall. So, in the second fall, Santo did 1 move and he won the fall. Great idea for the finish, but no build to it. Santo started the third fall by dropkicking Rey. Santo did two bulldogs in a row. With Rey standing, Santo hit his diving headbutt, which got him a 2 ½ count. Santo tried another bulldog, but Rey threw him off. Rey hit his Arabian moonsault, but Santo got his foot on the ropes. With Santo draped on the middle rope, Rey hit a springboard leg drop and covered, but Santo got his foot on the ropes. Santo toped Rey. Santo got a near fall with his diving headbutt. Santo tried his camel clutch, but Rey escaped. Rey tried a springboard move, but Santo dropkicked him in midair. This time Santo was able to apply his camel clutch and Rey submitted. Santo won the WWA welterweight title. After the match, Misterioso attacked Rey. I’m really down on Misterio Jr. He’s had numerous occasions lately to prove he can work on the mat, but he hasn’t been able to do it yet. He’s an unbelievable worker when it comes to timing and execution, but he’s not a complete worker yet. *Misterio, Psicosis, & Juventud did really exciting quick transition matwork together, but none of them ever really learned how to mat wrestle. This was most apparent in their matches against Dean Malenko. I used to hold these matches against Malenko because he refused to speed up his matwork, and I still think this criticism is fair because he's capable of doing excellent fast matwork and simply refused. However, I was rating Misterio, Psicosis, & Juventud ahead of Dean in those days, and that now seems kind of silly considering they either refused or were incapable of learning to develop anything on the mat instead letting the matches come to a standstill anytime Dean did his thing* This was Santo’s style match. Santo’s done this type of match with Negro Casas a number of times and the Casas matches are better because Casas is better at mat wrestling and working to the high spots then Rey is. Santo’s definitely not as athletic as he was 3 or 4 years ago. He seems to be slowing up, but given the right opponent he can do this style of match and you wouldn’t even notice. The third fall was very good, but the first two were nothing special. ***1/2.

Michinoku Pro on Samurai! TV from 1/14/97 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center

Masato Yakushiji & Yoshito Sugamoto vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa & Wellington Wilkins Jr.

This was my first look at Sugamoto. He’s really small. He’s around the same size as Yakushiji and Kentaro Shiga although he’s stronger than both of them. His lack of size isn’s so much a factor in Michinoku Pro since everyone is small and it’s already been proven that all of the DX can work with Yakushiji. Sugamoto has been a pro for a year now. He’s 23, which is young, but it doesn’t sound so good when you consider that he’s older than TAKA Michinoku and Shiryu. Wilkins basically manhandled the much smaller Sugamoto early. Yakushiji gave Hoshikawa a great rana into a Frankensteiner. Yakushiji faked a suicida then gave Hoshikawa his baseball slide headscissors. Sugamoto turned a wristlock into a flying headscissors then Northern Lights suplexed Wilkins for only a one count. Wilkins used the wristlock again, this time on Yakushiji. Yakushiji used the ref’s shoulder for balance and backflipped out of it, but Wilkins short clotheslined him. It looked like Yakushiji was going to monkey flip Wilkins, but instead he jumped onto Wilkins shoulder and backflipped off. Yakushiji then hit a rolling savate and followed by jumping around Wilkins back into an arm drag. Yakushiji gave Wilkins the tilt-a-whirl headscissors. As far as quickness, athleticism, and high spots go, Yakushiji is really one of the best. He doesn’t do a lot of unbelievable stuff, but he’s so fast and agile that the spots he does look really cool. Unfortunately Wilkins isn’t the greatest athlete and some of the bumps he was taking here didn’t look that great. Wilkins no-sold some of Sugamoto’s spots then tombstoned him, but Yakushiji made the save. Hoshikawa got stiff with the youngster Sugamoto, but Sugamoto returned the stiffness rather than back down. Hoshikawa gave Sugamota a nice released German suplex. Hoshikawa whipped Sugamoto into the rope, but Sugamoto’s own partner Yakushiji tripped him so Hoshikawa would miss his dropkick. Yakushiji immediately hit a springboard spin kick on Hoshikawa. Yakushiji got a 2 ½ count on Hoshikawa with a moonsault off the middle rope. Hoshikawa came back hitting a uranage then tagged Wilkins. Wilkins gave Sugamoto an awesome high angle powerbomb where instead of driving him straight down into the mat, he threw him out about 5 feet. Wilkins wanted his dragon suplex, but Yakushi gave him a flying huracanrana. Yakushiji gave Wilkins a missile dropkick off the top then Sugamoto German suplexed Wilkins, but Hoshikawa saved. Yakushiji toped Hoshikawa. Sugamoto did the whip into the corner and dropkick to Wilkins twice. When Sugamoto tried it a third time, Wilkins kicked him in the face and lariated him. Wilkins got a 2 3/4 count with a diving clothesline. Wilkins tried the high angle powerbomb on Sugamoto again, but Sugamoto turned it into a sunset flip for a near fall. Wilkins jackknifed Sugamoto then went right into the kneebar for the submission. Good match that was much better then I expected given Wilkins was working with small guys and Sugamoto was an unknown quantity. Execution and transition was pretty good. Wilkins dragged the match down a bit. 17:31. ***1/4

Shoichi Funaki vs. Gran Naniwa

Funaki ripped one of Naniwa’s crab arms off before the match, so Naniwa threw the other crab arm into Funaki’s face. Funaki then threw it back at him. The match started fast with Naniwa ducking a lariat and hitting one of his own. Naniwa swiveled his hips like Rude after the lariat. Naniwa tried a huracanrana, but Funaki jackknifed him. There were lots of attempted pins early on. Naniwa landed on his feet for a back suplex and hit a kneecap dropkick. Naniwa pulled the knee pads and tape off of Funaki’s left leg (the one he injured with the kneecap dropkick). Funaki tried to comeback, but Naniwa continually took his knee out. Naniwa did his crab walk elbow. Naniwa gave Funaki the DDT then went into a figure 4. Naniwa tried a kneebreaker, but Funaki countered with an enzuiguri. When Funaki went on offense, he forgot that his knee was supposed to be injured. Funaki ripped Naniwa’s mask completely off. Funaki piledrove Naniwa on a chair for a 2 ½ count. Funaki tombstoned Naniwa for a 2 3/4 count. Funaki gave Naniwa a released German suplex, but Naniwa rolled through and quickly got up and lariated Funaki. Both sold this spot. Naniwa plancha’d Funaki. Naniwa hit a flying splash followed by a frog splash for a 2 ½ count. Naniwa got a near fall with a Doctor bomb. Naniwa tried a Doctor bomb, but Funaki turned it into a wakigatamae. Funaki delivered a fisherman buster for a 2 ½ count. Funaki kind of made up for his mental lapse earlier on by selling the knee injury really well in the later portion of the match. Funaki planted Naniwa with a dangerous backdrop and covered, but Naniwa kicked out at 2 3/4. Both were selling the big moves really well. Naniwa countered a suplex and kicked the injured knee. Naniwa came off the top with a kneecap dropkick. Naniwa applied the scorpion deathlock, but Funaki got to the ropes. Naniwa then applied the Texas Cloverleaf and Funaki submitted. Not a Lucha style match at all, rather it was much more "big 2" oriented. It resembled a simple New Japan heavyweight match in that the simple storyline was working on the injured leg, but the moves in this match were a lot better. It resembled an All Japan match heavyweight as far as being steeped in build, selling, and psychology. This is one of many matches that prove that Funaki is one of the most diverse workers in the sport. 13:40. ***3/4.

Daisuke Ikeda & Takeshi Ono vs. Yuki Ishikawa & Alexander Otsuka

This was the Battlarts match. Battlarts is probably the most interesting league to watch, not because they produce great matches, but because you never know what they are going to do. It’s shoot-style but it has pro-style psychology, more moves that that don’t hold water then you see in the other worked shoot leagues, and out of the ring action. Ishikawa and Otsuka worked over Ono’s leg with submission holds. The action spilled to the floor with Ikeda giving Ono two stiff kicks with each of them knocking Ono into the ringside chairs. Back in the ring, Ishikawa did a nice spot where he caught one of Ikeda’s kicks and turned it into a kneebar. Otsuka gave Ikeda an overhead belly-to-belly followed by the giant swing. Otsuka and Ishikawa put Ikeda in a double knee bar. Ikeda made a comeback by lariating Ishikawa for a knockdown. Ono knocked Ishikawa down with some weak jabs. Ikeda and Ono spike powerbombed Otsuka for a knockdown. Otsuka sold this well getting up by staggering to his feet then falling back to his knees. Otsuka came back with a released German suplex for a knockdown then tagging Ishikawa. Ishikawa applied the wakigatamae on Ikeda. Ono tried to save Ikeda by kicking Ishikawa in his face, but Otsuka dropkicked him before Ishikawa was forced to break the hold. Ikeda was still able to get out. Ono put Otsuka in the octopus. Ishikawa tried to save, but Ikeda was holding him off. Finally, Ishikawa got away and broke Ono’s hold. Ono high kicked Otsuka, who fell flat on his face like Greg Valentine. Otsuka staggered to his feet at 9, so Ikeda lariated him for another knockdown. It didn’t look like Otsuka was going to make the count, but Ikeda broke the count by kicking him. Ikeda hit a spinning savate that again staggered Otsuka. Ikeda knocked Otsuka down with a high kick. The ref counted to six then called the match off, so Ikeda and Ono won by TKO. Good work. It looked credible as far as selling and stiffness went. Ikeda is a really underrated worker. 14:24. ***1/4.

Masayoshi Motegi vs. Jinsei Shinzaki

The only cool thing about this match is that they kept it short. Shinzaki did all his usual garbage. There were a couple of good spots though. Motegi dropkicked Shinzaki at the bell and hit his tope. Shinzaki whipped Motegi into the corner and charged, but Motegi went over the top of him then ducked a lariat and hit a reverse cross body off the 2nd. The timing was really good, so it was more impressive then it sounds. After taking a few a Shinzaki’s moves, Motegi ducked a clothesline and went right into the uranage. Motegi got a near fall with the Northern Lights suplex. Motegi tried a crossbody off the top, but Shinzaki chopped him in mid-air. Shinzaki did his diving shoulderblock off the top then powerbombed Motegi for the win. Shinzaki needs to realize that his spots don’t warrant 30 seconds to 1 minute of selling, especially early on. It’s ridiculous for someone to be selling a reverse splash off the middle rope for so long so early. If it were a long match and the workers should be tired, it would be ok, but Shinzaki thankfully doesn’t work many long matches so his matches are generally ridiculous in this department. In typical Motegi fashion, he showed signs of brilliance against a crappy worker. We know that the second he’s in with a great worker he’s totally outclassed and the great worker is reduced. The spots were executed well, but the set up took forever and there was no build or psychology. 4:12. *1/2.

TAKA Michinoku vs. Tiger Mask Sayama

This is a dream match to me. It’s a shame that these two couldn’t meet with both in their primes. Even though Sayama is well past his prime and was obviously going over, this was a good match to very good match. Tiger used a spinning savate, a high kick, and a spinning high kick to knock down TAKA. Tiger performed a handspring cross body, which sent TAKA to the floor. Tiger then did his famous fake suicida. Tiger did his legendary super fast leg trip. TAKA had Tiger’s leg, but Sayama did his reverse spinning kick to the chest. TAKA came back with his whip into the corner then forearm spot. TAKA followed with a brainbuster. TAKA tried to use Tiger’s Tiger suplex on him, but Tiger turned it into a kneebar. TAKA tried his springboard plancha, but Tiger moved and TAKA "injured" his knee on the landing. TAKA sold the injured knee really well just making it back into the ring at 19. Tiger set TAKA up with a tombstone then came off the top, jumping 3/4 of the way across the ring, for a diving headbutt. Tiger covered, but TAKA kicked out at 2 1/2. TAKA no-sold a spinning high kick then caught a kick and went into his Michinoku Driver II. TAKA tried for another Michinoku Driver II. Sayama slipped out of it and had TAKA set up for his Tiger suplex, but TAKA elbowed his way out of it. TAKA used a springboard enzui dropkick followed by his Michinoku Driver II for a near fall. TAKA tried a move off the top, but Sayama dropkicked him in midair. Sayama then Tiger suplexed TAKA for the pinfall. I thought this match was much better in this version then it was on Champ Forum. It was kind of short, but it probably had to be due to Sayama’s current stamina and the fact that he hasn’t advanced his style to fit what’s currently being done. Sayama’s execution could have been crisper, but he still looked good. TAKA did an awesome job of putting Sayama over as he basically made the match with his selling and willingness to work to Sayama’s strengths. He deserves a lot of credit for selling the whole time despite the fact that he was the one doing the job. This is the best Sayama match I’ve seen since his return. *Either I overrated this match or TAKA must have been awesome because I don't recall Sayama doing anything else near this level after coming out of retirement* 10:49. ***1/2.

Super Delfin & Gran Hamada & Great Sasuke vs. Dick Togo & Shiryu & Men’s Teoh

This was the typical great Sekigun vs. DX match. These guys work so well together that you can almost pencil in **** on your sheet and decide on the quarter or half stars when you are done being blown away. As usual it started out with the moves that are basic in this style. In other words, lots of nice holds and counter holds. Togo put Delfin on a table and performed a springboard splash off a chair. Of course these table are too thick to break, so it was all impact. Shiryu hung Sasuke from the balcony by his leg. I wonder what Liger would have to say if he attended this show. Togo DDT’d Delfin on a chair. Shiryu took a great bump on Delfin’s tilt-a-whirl headscissors. Shiryu and Sasuke did a cool fast sequence running off the ropes with both ducking each others lariats then Sasuke tried a leg lariat, but Shiryu slid under it. Teoh whipped Hamada into the corner, but Hamada backflipped out and went into the wakigatamae. Funaki fisherman bustered Delfin, but Naniwa saved. Hamada gave Shiryu his back suplex twice for a near fall. Shiryu kneecap dropkicked Sasuke. Teoh then used his spinning toe hold on the injured knee. Teoh turned a hip toss into a nice floating DDT. Shiryu got a near fall on Sasuke with a German suplex. Teoh set up Sasuke with a slam and Shiryu came off the top with his moonsault for a near fall. Togo gave Sasuke a nice released German suplex. From this point on, the match totally ruled. Teoh and the DX tried to spike powerbomb Sasuke, but Sasuke chopped the other DX and huracanrana’d Teoh. Shiryu and Togo tried a double clothesline, but Sasuke ducked it and quebrada’d both for a two count on each. Sasuke knocked Teoh to the floor then hit a great tope con hilo. Delfin got a near fall on Shiryu with a DDT. Shiryu did his awesome spot where he lands on his feet for a German suplex. Shiryu then tried to lariat Delfin, but Delfin ducked it and Tiger suplexed him for a near fall. Delfin gave Shiryu his finishing sequence of the swinging DDT of the 2nd followed by the Delfin clutch, but Togo made the save. Togo caught Hamada with a turning powerslam for a near fall. Togo whipped Hamada into the corner and charged, but Hamada caught him with a knee lift and did the swinging DDT off the 2nd. Hamada Frankensteinered Togo off the top for a near fall. Hamada dropkicked Togo to the floor then plancha’d him. Hamada held Togo so Sasuke could quebrada him, but Togo moved and Hamada took the brunt of it. Shiryu did his great somersault suicida to Delfin. Sasuke German suplexed Teoh for a near fall. Sasuke had Teoh set up for the Frankensteiner off the top, but Togo came from behind and put Sasuke on his shoulders. Teoh then jumped off the top for the double impact. Teoh nodowa’d Sasuke then Shiryu hit a splash off the top. Togo followed with his senton off the top and pinned Sasuke. Streamlined work. Very fluid and graceful. The last 4 minutes were unbelievable. Tons of high spots and near falls. Very good execution. Sasuke, Shiryu, and Delfin looked great and Togo, Hamada, and Teoh weren’t far behind. The one drawback is that they recover from the big spots too quickly. 21:43. ****1/2.