Quebrada #26

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

6/20/97

AJW

Aja Kong has taken herself out of the title picture in AJW for the moment, but possibly for good. Aja announced that she won't be participating in this years Japan Grand Prix tournament. She said that she no longer has interest in the WWWA rankings and she has no desire to hold (or pursue) the WWWA title. Instead of going for the gold, Aja wants to wrestle opponents from other promotions. However, Aja doesn’t want to wrestle against JWP wrestlers since she’s done that before. For instance, she’s already faced her most obvious rival in JWP, Dynamite Kansai, on several occasions. Some of the workers Aja is interested in wrestling are LLPW’s Eagle Sawai, FMW’s Shark Tsuchiya, & Jd’s Lioness Asuka. Don’t think for a minute that Aja has never worked against LLPW, FMW, or Jd’ workers. Aja will also be teaming with former Jungle Jack partner Bison Kimura on at least one occasion (but maybe more) before Bison retires on 9/7.

This seems to be Aja’s move, not an AJW angle to get the interpromotional ball rolling. This could be similar to what Bull Nakano did in 1993-94 and Akira Hokuto did in 1994-95, but I’m not really sure. It’s possible that Aja will become a free agent. If so, she would probably work less, skipping the small shows, but appearing on the major shows. Aja isn’t really much of a factor as a draw these days. If she becomes a "gimmick" performer working only on the major shows, her drawing power would probably increase a lot though, especially since the matches would be interpromotional. As a free agent, she would have more say over who she wrestles. However, this would mean that AJW can’t really go anywhere with her, especially since she’s no longer pursuing the WWWA title. Maybe AJW didn’t have any plans for her in the future anyway. She has kind of fallen by the wayside since her title match with Toyota on 10/6/96. Her last title shot, on 3/23/97, was a flop at the box office, so maybe AJW decided that they need to go in other directions. It’s tough to say.

Even though Aja’s drawing power has declined and there is no heat on her at all, she’s still one of the best workers and biggest stars in AJW. AJW has little depth now, so really can’t afford to lose Aja as a title contender. Without Aja, the only people who can really challenge for the WWWA title are Manami Toyota, Yumiko Hotta, Kaoru Ito, and Takako Inoue. AJW would have a tough time moving anyone else up to the highest level right now. The only possibilities are really Etsuko Mita or Mima Shimoda, but neither of them was really ever in contention for the All-Pacific title much less the WWWA title. Both Mita & Shimoda have always been pushed as tag team wrestlers, where they are far superior, so it would take a lot to get them up to WWWA contention. Even if AJW could get either of them to the level of WWWA contention, unless they really get over as heels, their drawing power probably wouldn’t be that great. AJW has major problems because Ito doesn’t have major arena drawing power by any means. Neither does Takako and she probably can’t even challenge for the title since she has the All-Pacific title (she could but after breaking up the Triple Crown what since would it make). Hotta’s drawing power is questionable as people didn’t take to her shoot stuff, which she wasn’t even able to win. Toyota is the only draw, but her neck is a big question mark.

AJW cleared up their title picture during their two big shows on 6/17 & 6/18 at Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center. Both shows were box office flops as they drew announced crowds of 3,200 on the first night and 3,700 on the second night. That’s really bad for Sapporo Nakajima and since those figures are announced, you can bet that they were inflated. Supposedly, the capacity for these shows was 4,500, so I guess AJW used a smaller set up or something. Sapporo Nakajima is capable of holding nearly 6,500 for wrestling with the right set up, so you can add these two shows to the list of AJW’s recent big show box office busts.

As expected, Kyoko Inoue captured the vacant WWWA title, pinning Kaoru Ito at 26:01 with her Niagara Driver. Kyoko is now a two-time WWWA champion. I think the main thing to point out here is that the WWWA title match was the main event of the 6/17 show, which means that AJW drew less with the WWWA singles title on top than they did the next night with the WWWA tag title on top. Even sadder is that the WWWA title was vacant, which guaranteed that a new champion would be crowned. Of course, the second night of any double shot always draws better, and that show guaranteed a new All-Pacific champion would be crowned and pointed to a tag title change. Still, this seems to show the meaning (or lack thereof) the WWWA belt has when it comes to drawing these days. It also shows that Ito doesn’t have much drawing power as even though she had a very good 60:00 match with Kyoko on 5/11, less people came out to see her challenge for the title the 2nd time.

Takako Inoue captured the vacant the All-Pacific title on 6/18, pinning Toshiyo Yamada in 15:08 with her Destiny Hammer. Takako, who held the belt before losing the unification match that created the now defunct Triple Crown, is now a two-time All-Pacific champion. Takako winning the title whipes out everything that’s happened in AJW since 1/19/97. Kyoko & Takako held the belts on 1/19 and they hold the belts now. The only real difference it that that IWA title is still dormant and Aja is no longer a title contender. Three cheers to AJW for flushing half a year down the toilet. Even though I would have had Kyoko & Takako win these matches, it makes little sense to go back to a situation that didn’t work before. I could see if something had changed, such as AJW deciding to have interpromotional title matches or, by some miracle, there were credible new challengers in AJW, but unfortunately that isn’t the case. AJW is back to being a promotion with two many titles and too few challengers.

The heel tag team of Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda finally captured the WWWA tag titles on 6/18, defeating Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa in a 2/3 fall match. Watanabe pinned Shimoda with her screw driver at 9:02 to win the first fall. The score was evened up when Kumiko Maekawa was disqualified at 9:14. Maekawa was punching Shimoda in the face and she didn’t hear the ref tell her to stop, so she continued to punch Shimoda until the ref called for the DQ. After not booking a DQ in a title match for ages, AJW has now done it in each of the past two months. This seemingly signifies that AJW has changed their booking and will no longer present 100% clean finishes. However, I don’t think screw jobs will become common by any means. Mita scored the pin in the deciding fall when she Death Valley bombed Maekawa at 8:29. Maekawa did both jobs here. She also did her teams only job in the 5/18 2/3 falls title defense against Mita & Shimoda when Mita also pinned her with her Death Valley bomb. Maekawa also did the job in the non-title match against Toyota & Yamada on 5/11. So, it’s safe to say she’s not being protected like she was when she began teaming with Watanabe. Mita and Shimoda are first time WWWA tag champions. The duo was the last UWA tag champs before the belts were abondoned, holding the titles from 3/30/94 when they defeated Yumiko Hotta & Takako Inoue, until 9/2/95. They also had a ten month run as JWP tag champs, as they defeated Mayumi Ozaki & Cuty Suzuki on 3/27/94 and held the belts until Ozaki & Hikari Fukuoka defeated them on 1/8/95. Mita & Shimoda are said to be getting over as heels, however, some AJW fans are not happy that AJW has gone back to having heels. I think it's a good thing because it brings some diversity to a once great league that had degenerated into Toyota or bust. Toyota's style is great for those who can do it, but there's a lot more to wrestling than workrate and even those who can do it (for example Sakie) might not be able to do it for long because it puts such an unnecessary toll on the body.

Mariko Yoshida retained her CMLL women’s title on 6/17, pinning Rie Tamada in her La Magistral at 12:46. I really don’t see the logic in this move. The only way I can justify it is to say that it was Tamada’s first shot at the title and you don’t usually win the belt on your first try. Yoshida is too old and established for a third tier title to mean anything on her. She should be challenging for Takako’s All-Pacific title rather than holding this belt. As I’ve ragged about before, Tamada is 24 and if she’s ever going to be a star, it has to be done right now. Instead you have Tamada, who’s been wrestling for 6 years, still in possession of a rookie level title (AJ singles title).

Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita were also victorious on the first night, defeating Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada when Mita Death Valley bombed Yamada at 22:10. The significance of this match is that Toyota & Yamada were supposed to challenge the winner of the 6/18 WWWA title match on 7/11. Since Mita & Shimoda are now champions and they just beat Toyota & Yamada, they are refusing to give Toyota & Yamada that title shot.

Yumiko Hotta has formed a group with Tomoko Watanabe, Kumiko Maekawa, & Kaoru Ito. The basis for the group is that Hotta thinks that Mita & Shimoda are destroying the promotion by wrestling the heel style. Putting Maekawa in Hotta’s group is a great idea because Maekawa is supposed to be Hotta’s successor as the tough, ass-kicker, shooter type. For now though, she can be a Hotta disciple and that may help her get over. At worst, Hotta might be able to teach Maekawa how to kick properly. I can see Ito with the group because Ito is very serious and seriousness will be a characteristic of this group. My problem with Ito being in the group is that since she’s one of the few WWWA title challengers, she should have her own group rather than being a #2 in Hotta’s group. Watanabe makes little sense in this group. She’s too much of a giggly joker type to be in a serious group with Hotta. She made more sense with Kyoko since they have similar personalities and both are Bull Nakako proteges. This may be a move to break Watanabe from the Kyoko mold. This could be a move to change or mature her so they can take her to the next level. If so, being with Hotta could give her a tougher mentality. I question whether, after all these years of laughing and joking, the fans could ever see Watanabe as a real serious type. In order to form Hotta’s team, two old groups had to be broken up. Manami Toyota’s Freedom Force group, which contained Toyota, Ito, & Yoshida, was dissolved, which freed up Ito to join Hotta. Bull Nakano’s old Gokumon-tou group, which contained Bull & Sakie Hasegawa when they were in AJW, as well as Kyoko Inoue & Tomoko Watanabe was also split up. This freed up Watanabe to join Hotta’s group. Hotta’s team won both of their tag matches on the Sapporo shows. On 6/17, Hotta & Watanabe & Maekawa defeated Aja Kong & Takako Inoue & Momoe Nakanishi when Hotta forced Takako to submit to the jujigatame (cross arm breaker) at 20:00. On 6/18, Hotta & Ito defeated Manami Toyota & Mariko Yoshida when Ito won with a triangle hold at 22:11.

Hotta will be the next challenger for the WWWA title. This seems like a kind of ridiculous move, new group or not, because Hotta has no steam coming in. Hotta has yet to avenge her two losses to Rosina Elina in shoot matches. She also hasn’t won a major singles match in recent memory. Moreover, she just missed time due to reconstructive knee surgery and hasn’t been wrestling singles matches since she returned. I realize that AJW revolves their challengers for the title just like All Japan does, but at least All Japan has their challengers come in with some steam. It’s been well documented that doing the shoot stuff with Hotta was a mistake in the first place. AJW should have been working toward her next title shot, but since her big matches were legit, they were hung out to dry when she failed to beat Elina on both occasions. I expect that Hotta’s group will get a big push and she’ll most likely get at least one fairly big win (she can’t really get a big win unless she pins Toyota, Aja, or Kyoko in a non-title match) before the title match, but that will be an obvious result now that the title match has been announced, so it will have less impact. I have no problem with Hotta getting at title shot, but at least give her a singles push before announcing that she’s the next challenger.

Rie Tamada & Yumi Fukawa lost to Kyoko & Aja twice in a row on 6/18. Kyoko pinned Tamada with her lariat in just :40 seconds. Aja then demanded that they had another match because the first match was so short that she didn’t work in it. In the second match, Aja pinned Fukawa at 5:09 with a spinning backbreaker. I think that AJW goes about pushing their youngsters in totally the wrong way these days. How can you give Tamada a title shot one day, then have her lose in only 40 seconds the next day. Tamada & Fukawa are a credible team and should be used the way Gaea uses their youngsters, which basically means that they at least challenge the veterans and look somewhat credible before jobbing. Having them lose twice in less than 6 minutes, even if it’s to two of the biggest stars in woman’s wrestling, isn’t going to get them over with the fans. Moreover, they aren’t going to improve by working with the veterans if the veterans just squash them.

Last point I have to make about AJW is that they seem to really think they have something in 16-year old first year wrestler Momoe Nakanishi. Anyone who follows women’s wrestling would tell you that if the team of Aja Kong, Takako Inoue, and Momoe Nakanishi is going to lose that it’s a given that Momoe is the one who’s doing the job. Well, on 6/17, you had the team of Aja & Takako & Momoe and they lost the match to Hotta’s team, but Takako did the job rather than Momoe. Aja should have put Hotta over here since Hotta put Aja over on 5/11 as that would have been the big win Hotta needed to propell her to the title shot, but I digress.

FMW

Masato Tanaka will meet W*ING Kanemura in an Explosive Barbed Wire Death Match in the main event of FMW’s major show of the summer on 8/2 at the Tokyo Shiodome. The storyline behind the match is that the winner will face Atsushi Onita in the main event of FMW’s 9/28 Kawasaki Stadium show. On 5/25 at Hakata Star Lanes, Kanemura & Hido & Onita faced Tanaka & Tetsuhiro Kuroda & Koji Nakagawa. Onita said that, based on who’s team won this match, he would grant either Tanaka or Kanemura the right to wrestle him on 9/28. Kanemura’s team was victorious when Onita pinned Tanaka with a Thunder Fire powerbomb at 13:51, so W*ING should have been granted the right. However, Tanaka begged and pleaded for one more chance. Onita granted Tanaka his second chance, which brings us to 6/13 at Tokyo Korakuen Hall. As Zach Arnold predicted, Tanaka & Nakagawa & Kuroda defeated Kanemura & Hido & Hosaka in a 6-man street fight on 6/13 when Kuroda pinned Hosaka at 14:17. This evened the score between Takaka’s team and Kanemura’s team. The third and deciding fight was to be a singles match on Kanemura's own W*ING Reunion show on 7/13 at Tsu Messe Wing. However, Tanaka thought that Kanemura would have an unfair advantage if the bout took place in Tsu, since Tsu is Kanemura’s hometown, so the bout was then moved to the Shiodome. Tanaka is the best worker in the promotion right how. However, Kanemura has basically taken over the Onita role in the promotion. He still needs to be fully established and it needs to be done soon because house show business has been so poor. Of the regular workers, Kanemura’s the best draw they have, so he’s the guy who has to be pushed here. Kawasaki Stadium’s capacity is much greater now since it’s been renovated. FMW needs the better draw to face Onita on that show. They need a big house on 9/28 because they rely so heavily on the money from their major shows. Kanemura will put more people in Kawasaki Stadium than Tanaka will, so expect Kanemura to win the death match on 8/2 and go on to face Onita at Kawasaki Stadium.

Mr. Pogo, who retired on 12/11/96, is already coming out of retirement to face Big Japan President Shinya Kojika on Big Japan’s 7/23 show at Tokyo Korakuen Hall. Kojika put Pogo over on 5/22/96 at Korakuen Hall in a "100 million yen match." It seems that at the time, Pogo agreed to return the favor, so he’s returning to the ring to face Kojika. However, that may just be an angle created to give Pogo an excuse to return to the ring. To quote Zach Arnold, "I truly think that Mr. Pogo wants back in wrestling, no doubt about it, but he doesn’t want to make the mistake that Onita did and just immediately come out of retirement without an excuse. With this "promise" that he made Kojika, it's virtually an "escape clause" for Pogo to use to return to wrestling." FMW could really use his drawing power, so it’s pretty sad that he’s working a lousy Big Japan Korakuen show rather than FMW’s upcoming Shiodome or Kawasaki Stadium shows.

JWP

Devil Masami & Jaguar Yokota reformed their legendary team, defeating Dynamite Kansai and Candy Okutsu in the main event of the 6/15 Korakuen Hall show. The show was the second of two shows that were in celebration of Devil’s 20th year as wrestler. Devil won the match, pinning soon to be retired Candy with a Liger bomb. Anyone surprised that Okutsu was the one who jobbed here?

JWP’s two brightest young stars, Tomoko Kuzumi & Tomoko Miyaguchi went to a 30:00 draw on the same Korakuen show. This is a good sign because Kuzumi & Miyaguchi wouldn’t be booked in a 30:00 draw unless they were good enough to have a hot match (the other major reason for a 30:00 draw would be to protect someone from doing a job, but obviously that’s not the case here). Koji Yamamoto, who attended the show, said that this was a great traditional wrestling match. A 30:00 draw in a women’s match is a pretty uncommon result. Some other 30:00 draws at Korakuen Hall include Toyota vs. Yamada (when Yamada was a great worker), Toyota vs. Shimoda, Takako vs. Kyoko, & Aja vs. Ito. That’s definitely a good group to be joining.

The rest of the results saw Hikari Fukuoka pin Kanako Motoya at 18:08 with a missile dropkick, Bolshoi & Plum Mariko beat Mayumi Ozaki & Reiko Amano when Plum pinned Amano at 18:37, & Cuty Suzuki pin Sari Osumi following a double boot stomp at 8:46.

Pancrase

Minoru Suzuki KO’d Jagjit Singh in just 21 seconds in the main event of Pancrase’s 6/18 Tokyo Korakuen Hall show. As Dave Caldwell said, "It’s got to feel great to be a mediocre striker and knock someone out in 21 seconds." Singh was India’s national champion in wrestling in his weight division in 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, & 1995. He also placed third in the World Cup. Singh was not highly thought of though and was basically brought in as a push over. Suzuki is now 2-0 since returning from injury.

20-year-old 2nd year figher Kiuma Kunioku upset Jason Delucia when the doctor stopped the bout due to a cut at 18:51. I have been a big proponent of Kunioku since I first saw him, so although I didn’t predict this win, the win is not a shock to me. The way he won is quite surprising though since Delucia is by far the better striker of the two. If you said Kunioka vs. Delucia was a doctor stoppage, you could basically not say who won because everyone would assume that, given that result, Delucia must have won. Going into the show, this looked to be the most competitive bout. Given the length, that was most likely the case. 19-minute bouts are pretty rare in Pancrase. I’m looking forward to seeing this one.

Takafumi Ito defeated Jason Godsey with a sleeper hold at 11:55. Godsey is a small town warrior who has competed in the Extreme Challenge shows. He holds a win over UFC 3 Champion Steve Jennum as well as Jeremy Horn. Godsey is said to be quite good. He was brought in as a job boy, but it looks like he held his own. Lasting nearly 12 minutes in your first Pancrase fight is an accomplishment.

Osami Shibuya defeated David Moore in 5:45 with an ankle lock. Nobody I’ve talked to knows anything about Moore. All I can tell you is that he’s from Australia and he was brought in to give Shibuya an easy ride.

Ryushi Yanagisawa defeated Les Johnston in 8:35 with a leg split. Johnston, who’s from Australia, is a friend of David Moore. Like Moore, he was expected to lose. It looks like he put up a good fight here though. Yanagisawa, who’s mainly a striker, is reportedly leaving Pancrase to do some kickboxing. Yanagisawa is ok, but nothing great as his ground skills are below average for the Pancrase natives. He’d most likely be a lifetime mid carder, so if he’s gone temporarily or permanently, it’s no great loss.

Satoshi Hasegawa defeated Paul Lezenbee on lost points 2-0. Hasegawa, who just turned 21 on 6/19, is still in his first year with Pancrase. He’s not bad, but he’s doesn’t really stand out at all. So far, he’s the kind of guy that you forget by the time your done watching the tape. Lezenbee is really bad, so a win over him is just going about business.

The next show is on June 30 at Hakata Star Lanes. Yuki Kondo faces Semmy Schilt in the main event. Kondo is much better and should win. Schilt may give him a tough time because he’s really big and knows how to use his size to his advantage. I would say that Kondo will win via submision in between 5-10 minutes.

Bas Rutten, who’s conspicious by his absence from Pancrase’s top ten rankings, will face Takaku Fuke. Bas will have a cake walk. I’ll take Bas to win in under 5 minutes.

An interesting match pits Guy Mezger, who won the light heavyweight division on the last UFC show, against up and coming Keiichiro Yamamiya. Guy, who used to way 207 pounds, has trimmed down to 191 pounds. This should be to the small Yamamiya’s favor because Guy won’t really have a weight advantage over him. Both men are patient fighters. I see this being a long bout with each man patiently looking for an opening to apply a submission. I expect Guy to win, but I think Yamamiya will put up a good fight. Guy in upwards of 8 minutes.

Masakatsu Funaki will meet Wesley Gassaway. Wesley is the better of the Gassaway brothers. He’s primarily a ground fighter, but he is quite skilled in striking. He’s not in Funaki’s class though. I say Funaki via submission in under 5 minutes.

Osami Shibuya faces the other Gassaway brother, Brian. Brian has basically the same background as his brother. Both have participated in IFC events. Shibuya and Hasegawa are the only two fighters who are appearing on both Pancrase shows this month. They would not give either a tough opponent since there is only 12 days between shows. Taking that into consideration, one would figure that Shibuya will be able to beat Gassaway.

The last bout is Satoshi Hasegawa vs. Alex Andrade. Kind of a nothing match. Andrade is being brought in to lose and I expect that he will do just that.

WAR

Genichiro Tenryu vs. Tarzan Goto headlines WAR’s Tokyo Sumo Hall show on 7/6. The match is being billed as a "Terrible Death Match." That title is very fitting considering the poor workrate of the two ancient workers. I guess if you say it’s going to be terrible coming in, then people really can’t be disappointed when it stinks up the joint. Obviously the terrible they are thinking of and the terrible I am thinking of are two different things. This Tenryu vs. Goto fued has been going on since Goto began working in WAR. It’s an interpromotional fued since Goto has his own league known as Shin-FMW that consists of Ryo Miyake and Ryo Miyake only (large league).

The good match on the show is Yuji Yasuraoka defending his WAR International Jr. title against the very underrated Masao Orihara. Both of these guys are two of the lesser known and talked about good juniors. Orihara seemed like a guy that was sure to be a star back in his days with the glass company (SWS), but somehow things never really materialized for him. He’s basically been wasting away in the garbage leagues for the past couple of years. This match should have a lot of nice high spots and near falls and may be the only highlight of the show.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara will face Abdullah the Butcher. This is a worst match of the year candidate. Fujiwara will have little credibility remaining if he puts over Butcher. Since Butcher never jobs, that’s the likely result unless they do some type of screw job.

Koki Kitahara & Nobutaka Araya & Lance Storm take on Koji Kitao & Nobukazu Hirai & Tommy Dreamer. I see this match as having too many varying styles. Kitao can’t work a lick. The only worker who makes any sense opposing Kitao is Kitahara, so that’s one likely pairing. Kitahara is good, but he’s not Superman, so don’t expect him to be able to save the useless Kitao. Hirai is very okay. He can work with any of the opposing guys, but most likely he’ll be the guy working with Storm. That is a pretty decent pairing because Storm will be good here since he won’t be stuck having to use chair shots to get over like in ECW. That leaves Nobutaka Araya to work with Dreamer. Araya doesn’t really impress me too much anymore. He’s decent, but he hasn’t live up to the promise he once showed as a worker. Dreamer, who’s making his WAR debut, is bad in a straight match (then again, he's bad in a garbage match too). They’ll have to get into gimmick stuff if they want to make that portion of the match "watchable." This should be a fair match, but could be poor as either Kitao or Dreamer could kill it.

AJW TV 5/25/97 taped 5/11 Nagoya Aiichi Gym

Momoe Nakanishi vs. Yuko Kosugi for Nakanishi’s AJ Junior title. This was your typical AJW rookies match that’s very basic and just designed for the youngsters to learn the basics of working such as transition. Kosugi is from Jd’ and they have a different style of training their youngsters, which is more along the lines of Gaea, where they usually book two youngster & veteran pairs in a tag match. Momoe is much better at this basic style than Kosugi is, since although she is very limited at this point, she is good at what she does. Kosugi has a move set and can do a more interesting match that is similar to the matches the veterans would have, only shorter and not as good. Kosugi did 4 Kengo Kimura style leg lariats in a row. Kosugi did 4 double boot stomps in a row. Kosugi did a double boot stomp off the 2nd. Kosugi then hit a back suplex. Momoe made her comeback with 3 consecutive dropkicks. Momoe then hit 2 consecutive dropkicks with Kosugi on the mat. Momoe dropkicked Kosugi again then body slammed her for the win. Set up and transition wasn’t too good. No back and forth at all. Pretty uneventful. 9:35. *

Jungle Jack (Bison Kimura & Aja Kong) vs. Takako Inoue & Yumiko Hotta. This was the "one night reformation" of the Jungle Jack heel team, which raised hell in AJW back in the early 1990's. Hotta was coming of reconstructive knee surgery, but she showed no signs of knee problems and seemed to be as good as she was prior to the injury. The action immediately spilled to the floor with Aja hitting Takako with a guard rail. Bison & Aja worked over Hotta’s bad knee. Hotta came back with a series of knee lifts with the bad knee. Aja used leg sweeps to Hotta’s bad knee, then high kicked Hotta. Hotta enzuiguried Aja. Hotta gave Aja a series of stiff leg sweeps. Aja did a hard open hand strike off the ropes to Hotta. Bison laid in the chops for a near fall on Hotta. Takako hit her nodowa off the top for a near fall on Aja. Takako tried her Destiny Hammer, but Aja kicked her in midair. Bison gave Takako a diving headbutt for a near fall. Bison tried her chop off the ropes, but Takako held the ropes and Hotta leg lariated Bison. Bison ducked a double lariat. Aja then canned Hotta and Bison chopped Takako for a 2 9/10 count. Bison went for her moonsault, but Hotta held Bison in the corner and Takako suplexed Bison off the 2nd for a near fall. Bison ducked Takako’s Destiny Hammer. Bison used a billy club on Takako. Bison was now able to hit her moonsault for a near fall on Takako. Takako DDT’d Bison for a near fall. Hotta tried her Tiger Driver but Bison wouldn’t go up. Hotta then tried a roundhouse kick, but Bison dragon screwed Hotta and applied the STF. Hotta ducked a double lariat and facecrushered both opponents. Hotta tried for her Tiger Driver again, but Aja hit her with the can. Bison tried her moonsault, but Hotta avoided it. Hotta finally hit her Tiger Driver on Bison, but Aja made the save. Hotta tried her powerbomb, but Bison slipped out and chopped Hotta. Aja high cross bodied both opponents. Aja splashed Hotta off the 2nd for a near fall. Aja tried her back body drop off the top, but Hotta knocked her off the top rope and hit a diving leg lariat. Hotta tried her powerbomb, but Aja blocked it. Hotta ducked Aja’s uraken and tried an enzuiguri, but Aja ducked it. Aja then backdropped Hotta. Hotta tried for the jujigatame (cross arm breaker), but Bison broke it up. Aja whipped Hotta into the corner, but Hotta ran out of the corner and leg lariated Aja. Hotta then tried for the jujigatame again, but Bison gave Hotta a diving headbutt. Aja brainbustered Hotta, but Takako saved. Aja hit Hotta with her stiff uraken for the win. Very good build and psychology with the spots coming in logical order and a lot of teasing of key spots. Set up was good. Stiff match. No crowd heat. Aja and Hotta were very good here, working most of the way and really making the match. 23:12. ***3/4

Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa. Watanabe & Maekawa hold the WWWA tag title, but this was a non-title bout. This is the first I’ve seen Toyota since her neck injury and her condition seemed to be as bad as I had feared. Toyota looked to be no where near 100%. She was really sloppy, but even worse than that is the fact that she was blowing spots that she never had any trouble with before. This sucks as hard as anything can suck. AJW really should just give her a nice long vacation and have her come back when she’s able to perform at close to the level she could in 1996. Hopefully part of the problem was working with the useless Maekawa. Yamada gave Maekawa her single underhook snap suplex. Yamada used a series of kicks on Maekawa. Yamada hit a thrust kick on Watanabe. Yamada tried her reverse Gori especial bomb on Watanabe, but Watanabe powered out of it by standing up. Yamada then jumped off Watanabe’s shoulders and enzuiguried her for a near fall. Watanabe tried to German suplex Yamada, but Toyota missile dropkicked Watanabe to break it up. Yamada ducked a double lariat and Toyota came off the top with a missile dropkick to both opponents at the same time. Yamada slammed Watanabe then Toyota moonsaulted her. Toyota tried her moonsault on Watanabe again, but Watanabe got her legs up. Watanabe tried her diving crotch, but Toyota ducked it. Watanabe dragon screwed Toyota. Watanabe dragon screwed Toyota again and tried for a figure 4. Yamada came in to break it up, so Watanabe lariated her. Watanabe lariated Toyota for a near fall. Watanabe tried for her screw driver, but Toyota elbowed out. Toyota ducked a lariat & tried her Toyota roll, but Watanabe Liger bombed her for a near fall. Maekawa whipped Toyota into the corner and tried her high kick, but Toyota back body dropped her over the top rope. This spot was really slow and sloppy, although everytime I’ve seen Maekawa try the whip into corner and high kick, something always goes wrong. Toyota tried her springboard somersault plancha, but only 1 of her feet made it to the top rope. Toyota still managed to save the partially spot and it wouldn’t have been so bad, except she couldn’t jump as far as Watanabe and Maekawa were expecting her too. Watanabe came forward to catch Toyota, while Maekawa really didn’t know what to do. Maekawa really took no impact from this spot, but sold it as if she did. Toyota & Yamada tried their double diving headbutt, but Maekawa moved out of the way. Maekawa then axe kicked Toyota, but Yamada saved. Toyota Japanese Ocean suplexed Maekawa for a near fall. Toyota & Yamada set Maekawa up for their double back superplex with overhead flip, but Watanabe broke it up. Toyota & Yamada ducked a lariat then double back suplexed Watanabe. Toyota & Yamada were now able to hit their double back superplex with overhead flip to Maekawa for a near fall. Watanabe screw drivered Toyota. Watanabe gave Toyota a sky high crotch hold, but Yamada made the save. Toyota ducked Maekawa’s hook kick, then Yamada thrust kicked Maekawa. Yamada gave Maekawa a sky high reverse enzuiguri and Toyota dropped it into her Japanese Ocean Cyclone suplex for a near fall. This spot was really bad as Yamada didn’t even come close to hitting Maekawa in the back of her head and Toyota totally blew the bridge. Toyota Japanese Ocean Cyclone suplexed Maekawa for the win. This spot was also really sloppy as Toyota had a hard time keeping her balance. Match was a very good match in theory, however, sloppiness and missed spots really hurt it. Watanabe was the best worker in this particular match and she looked good. None of the other three looked particularly good and Maekawa has no excuse because she’s healthy and "in her prime." 18:18. ***

Kyoko Inoue vs. Kaoru Ito for Kyoko’s Triple Crown. This was the 60:00 draw. About 25 minutes aired. It was definite quality, but it’s one of those matches you either like a lot or you don’t like much at all. The main thing as far as whether you will like it or not is if you have a problem with spots being repeated. Ito’s move is the double boot stomp and in the most important match of her life, she was going to use her best offensive weapon every chance she got. Ito picked Kyoko’s knee as her point of attack, and she continually went back to the knee, which is good psychology not annoying repetition. Kyoko was the champ, so she stuck to trying to win with the spots she’s been using all along such as her Niagara Driver finisher and her lariat. Kyoko caught Ito in the air and gave her a fall away slam. Kyoko lariated Ito. Kyoko did a DDT. Kyoko applied la tapatia (Romero special). Ito used 2 consecutive hip attacks. Ito ducked a lariat then back body dropped Kyoko over the top. Ito toped Kyoko. Ito did her double boot stomp off a table. Ito did her double boot stomp off the top for a near fall. Ito double boot stomped Kyoko off the top to the floor. Ito did her double boot stomp off the top two more times. Ito double boot stomped Kyoko off the top for a near fall. Ito went for a superplex, but Kyoko knocked her off the top and missile dropkicked her off the 2nd. Kyoko hit her lariat. Ito tried for the superplex again, but Kyoko powerslammed her off the top. That spot took too long to set up. Kyoko set up her Niagara Driver, but Ito pulled her legs out and double boot stomped her. Ito went to the top, but Kyoko arm dragged her off the top. Kyoko got a near fall with her lariat. Kyoko tried for her Niagara Driver again, but Ito slipped out and kneecap dropkicked her. Ito applied a knee scissors. Ito continued to work the knee by slapping on a figure 4. They exchanged stiff slaps. Kyoko tried her springboard reverse elbow, but couldn’t get both feet up to the 2nd rope. Kyoko’s weight gain has definitely resulted in a drop in her athleticism. Ito avoided the reverse flying elbow and went back to the knee scissors. Ito worked on the knee some more. The action spilled to the floor with Kyoko repeatedly slamming Ito’s head into a table. Kyoko did a released German suplex out of the ring. Back in the ring, Kyoko tried for her Niagara Driver, but Ito blocked it. Kyoko lariated Ito for a near fall. Ito ducked a lariat, then Kyoko ducked a lariat, but Ito caught her with a uranage. Ito double boot stomped Kyoko off the top rope for a near fall. Ito was finally able to execute the superplex for a near fall. Ito tried a backdrop, but Kyoko countered with a headlock takedown. Kyoko lariated Ito for a 2 3/4 count. This finally got a reaction from the crowd. Kyoko, who was selling the knee injury well, did her running lariat with Ito against the ropes. Kyoko went for a second lariat with Ito against the ropes (usually she does 3 in a row), but Ito ran at her and hit a kneecap dropkick. Ito got the figure 4 on, but Kyoko got to the rope. Ito hit yet another kneecap dropkick and went into the knee scissors again, but Kyoko was once again able to make it to the ropes. Kyoko reversed and Irish whip and hit her lariat. Kyoko did three consecutive released German suplexes. Kyoko then Niagara Drivered Ito for a near fall, which got the 2nd real pop of the match. Kyoko went for her Niagara Driver again, but Ito slipped out and backslid her for a near fall. Ito got a near fall with a sunset flip. Kyoko lariated Ito, but the 60 minute time limit expired. Kyoko vacated the Triple Crown after the match. The pacing was slow, but it really had to be since the match was so long. The selling was very good, so that made the slow pacing not be at all a negative. The set up was too slow in some spots. It was a stiff match, but not as stiff as I had been led to believe. The psychology was very good. The execution was good, with a few spots not hitting perfectly but still hitting enough. The crowd didn’t react much at all. The heat has been non-existent in AJW for a while, but for a match like this, it’s probably more because they didn’t give Ito a chance to win. Kyoko’s workrate, stamina, and athleticism continue to decline. She’s definitely more limited with what she can now. She seems to be moving toward the style of a larger wrestler-basically smaller move set but higher impact moves-but her style for so long was fast-paced with athletic moves that it will take a while to completely make the transformation. What she really needs to do is just shed some weight. Ito was really good in this match. In this particular match, she was the better worker of the two. Of course, the match was designed to make her look good, and it did because she stepped up. I don’t know if Ito’s really improved that much, but she’s definitely having better matches now that she’s in the spotlight. Kind of hard to rate this one since less than half of the match aired. 60:00. ****1/4 range

Champ Forum Michinoku Pro 5/17/97 taped 5/5 Nakayama

Gran Naniwa & Gran Hamada & Great Sasuke vs. Dick Togo & Shoichi Funaki & Hanzo Nakajima. Another Sekigun vs. DX tag match, another very good match. What’s left to say? Gran Hamada continues to amaze as, in this particular match, he was the best worker despite being more than 15 years older than all the other participants. Naniwa did his crab walk, but Hanzo avoided the splash. Hanzo & Togo tried a double facecrusher on Naniwa, but Hanzo blew the spot as he was unable to grab hold of Naniwa’s mask. Funaki fisherman bustered Sasuke for a near fall. Sasuke reversed an Irish whip into the corner, but Togo gave him a rolling senton block off the top. Hanzo rolled under a leg lariat and dropkicked Sasuke to the floor. The DX took the action to the floor using various obstacles and weapons on the Sekigun. The DX assisted Hanzo by spiking his powerbomb on Naniwa. Hamada plancha’d Togo. Sasuke quebrada’d Funaki out of the ring. Hanzo did a cross body off the top to Naniwa for a near fall. Hanzo snap suplexed Naniwa then splashed him off the top for a near fall. Naniwa used his Doctor bomb on Hanzo. Naniwa then used his spinning Doctor bomb on Hanzo, but Togo saved. Sasuke quebrada’d Togo for a near fall. Sasuke tried to German suplex Togo, but Togo landed on his feet like Shiryu. Togo then tried a German suplex, but Sasuke went behind him, so Togo kicked him low. Togo jackknifed Sasuke. Togo went to the top for his senton, but Hamada Frankensteinered him off the top and covered, but Funaki saved. Sasuke piledrove Funaki, with Hamada spiking it off the top, but Hanzo saved. Hamada back suplexed Funaki, but Togo saved. Hamada did his diving swinging DDT to Funaki for a near fall. Hamada then huracanrana’d Funaki for the win. The beginning was way down from normal with too much brawling, but the long finishing sequence was excellent as usual. Hanzo really didn’t drag this down. 17:44. ***3/4

TAKA Michinoku vs. Tiger Mask 4 for TAKA Independent junior title. I think the main thing to notice here is just how much better TAKA has gotten. When these guys were having very good to great matches in 1995 & 1996, they were on the same level. TAKA was still the better of the two, but the gap has really widened now. Of course, this is in part due to Tiger missing a lot of time due to injury. Tiger dropkicked TAKA off the top to the floor then plancha’d him. TAKA sold a rib injury. TAKA reentered the ring and snuck a kneecap dropkick in. TAKA then pointed to his head, signaling that he was faking the rib injury. TAKA used a kneebreaker then a dragon screw. TAKA applied the scorpion. TAKA kicked Tiger’s knee, but Tiger no-sold and came back with a series of fast kicks. Tiger knocked TAKA down with a high kick. Tiger used a released version of his Tiger suplex. Tiger delivered a top rope double-arm superplex. Tiger got a near fall with a Tiger driver. Tiger tried a diving cross body, but TAKA dropkicked him in midair. TAKA tried for his Michinoku Driver II, but Tiger went over his back and tried a German suplex. TAKA elbowed out of the German suplex and tried a German suplex of his own, but Tiger blocked it. TAKA delivered 3 backdrops for a near fall. TAKA did his swandive missile dropkick. TAKA hit his Michinoku Driver II for the win. Work was very good. I didn’t particularly like TAKA’s first two backdrops, but basically everything else was nicely done. The problem was that the finish came too soon. Even the announcer was dead for the finish. The match should have been more back and forth. Tiger wasn’t credible enough in his loss. 12:00. ***1/2

Super Delfin vs. Men’s Teioh for Delfin’s UWF Superwelterweight title. I’ve been getting into Delfin more as of late, but this match set him back a bit when it comes to what I think of him as a worker. Teioh had a patch above his eye from a previous wound. Teioh attacked before Delfin even got his rope off. Teioh used Delfin’s belt on him. Kaientai DX beat on Delfin out of the ring. Delfin used his tilt-a-whirl headscissors. The Sekigun beat on Teioh out of the ring. Delfin put Teioh in a figure 4. Delfin kneebreakered Teioh then went back to the figure 4. Delfin used the dragon screw into figure 4 combination. Delfin got a near fall with a backdrop. Delfin worked on Teioh’s head-specifically the patch-causing Teioh to bleed heavily. Delfin rammed Teioh into a door. Teioh tried to chair Delfin, but Naniwa came into the ring and grabbed the chair. Delfin then thrust kicked Teioh and Naniwa chaired Teioh. Delfin DDT’d Teoh for a near fall. Delfin DDT’d Teioh for another near fall. Delfin tried his swinging DDT off the 2nd, but Teioh attempted to turn it into an inverted atomic drop. Delfin avoided the inverted atomic drop and lariated Teioh. Delfin now hit his swinging DDT off the 2nd. Delfin tried his Delfin Clutch, but Teioh cradled him. Teioh delivered an inverted atomic drop. Teioh used his nodowa bomb (choke slammed into a powerbomb) for a near fall. Teioh applied the Teioh Clutch. Delfin brainbustered Teioh then Tiger suplexed him for a near fall. Delfin powerbombed Teioh and had him pinned, but the DX broke the count by taking the ref out. Delfin tried to backslide Teioh, but Teioh gave him a low blow. Teioh nodowa bombed Delfin. Teioh then applied Delfin’s own finisher, the Delfin Clutch, for the win. Teioh won the UWF Super welterweight title. Work was fine. Too gimmicky for me though. American style booking with all the outside interference and the screw job finish. The pacing was too slow. Delfin in particular was in no hurry to do anything. The finish was good in that Teioh beat Delfin with his own hold, but it was still a lousy screw job. In this match, Teioh was the better worker.

Jd’ Special on Gaora 5/11/97 taped 4/6 Osaka

They did a weird and confusing 5-woman battle royal with The Goddess Chikako Shiratori, Yuko Kosugi, co-master of spot blowing Esther Moreno, co-master of spot blowing Alda Moreno, & Neftaly. They do something similar in Mexico when everyone’s mask is on the line, but there were no masks here, so it really made little sense. The basis of the match was that when there was a pin, the person who scored the pinfall left the match and the person who was pinned continued to work. So, the way I saw it, the person who was in the ring last was the loser and there was no real winner. Alda tried to turn Kosugi’s German suplex into a bodyscissor victory roll, but Kosugi turned it into a cradle for the pin. Meanwhile, Neftaly tried to German suplex Esther, but Esther turned it into a bodyscissor victory roll for the pin. So Kosugi and Esther were out of the match and Neftaly and Alda continued to work. Neftaly dropkicked both Shiratori & Alda. Neftaly & Shiratori arm barred Alda, but Alda climbed the ropes. Alda then backflipped off the ropes and arm dragged them. That spot never looks good because Alda lands on her feet before doing the arm drag. Neftaly held Alda so Shiratori could missile dropkick, but Alda moved, so Neftaly got hit. Alda tried a rana into a Frankensteiner off the top on Neftaly, but the spot was blown. Shiratori held Neftaly so Alda could do her somersault block off the top, but Neftaly moved, so The Goddess got hit. Neftaly then powerbombed Shiratori for the pin. So Neftaly was out of the match and it was down to Shiratori vs. Alda. Shiratori whipped Alda into the ropes, so Alda gave her a reverse cross body. Alda hit her somersault block off the top. Alda did her somersault block off the top for a near fall. Alda missed a moonsault. Shiratori then used her La Magistral for the pin. Alda was awful blowing lots of spots. Work wasn’t good at all. Sloppy. *

Yuko Kosugi vs. co-master of spot blowing Esther Moreno. Kosugi, 16, definitely has potential as a worker although she could probably get by just on her looks. She’s improving, but she’s still far from good. All the Moreno’s are a lost causes these days. Their work is so hit and miss that you never know what to expect. They try a bunch of tough moves and when they hit them, the moves look great and they are good enough to be the highlight of the show. All to often though, they screw up the spots and sometimes bad enough that they are injuring their opponent. Kosugi did 2 consecutive Kengo Kimura style leg lariats. Kosugi then did the Kimura leg lariat off the 2nd. Kosugi got a near fall with a high cross body. Esther got a near fall with a bodyscissor victory roll. Esther whipped Kosugi into the corner, so Kosugi countered with a sunset flip off the 2nd. Kosugi missed a missile dropkick off the 2nd. Esther missed her moonsault. Esther got near falls after 2 missile dropkicks. Esther hit her moonsault. Esther then moonsaulted Kosugi again for the win. Good at times, but real sloppy at other times. Lots of near falls, but the work was below average. 10:19. *3/4

Jaguar Yokota vs. Yuki Lee. If you want proof that Jaguar can still go, watch this match. Actually, what you need to do is get a hold of classic Jaguar footage and trade it to. Jaguar did a great job here of carrying the well below average Lee to a good match. Jaguar applied a figure 4. Jaguar worked on the knee some more by throwing a chair into it then stomping on it. Lee was limping considerably. Jaguar tried a huracanrana, but Lee powerbombed her. Jaguar did her handspring to avoid the clothesline spot, then did her twisting high cross body for a near fall. Jaguar missed a kneedrop off the 2nd, so Lee used her kneebreaker position bridging back suplex finisher for a near fall. Lee missed an elbow off the top. Jaguar then went to the top, but Lee got up and gave her a fall away slam off the 2nd for a near fall. Jaguar got a near fall with a victory roll. Lee ducked a lariat, and with a horrible transition, tried a back suplex, but Jaguar landed on her feet. Jaguar tried a tombstone, but Lee reversed it and tombstoned Jaguar. Jaguar got near falls with a missile dropkick and her underhook tombstone piledriver. Jaguar won with a cool superplex that I’ve never seen before where she turned in midair so she landed on top of her opponent in position for the pin. This was the best match I’ve seen Lee involved in. It was also the best Jd’ match I’ve seen thusfar. Work was fine. The match actually went somewhere. Lee looked credible before doing the obvious job. 13:59. **3/4

Bison Kimura vs. La Infernal. Bison is looking like she’s on the way out, although Infernal isn’t someone that too many workers could have a good match with. Luckily, Infernal is now wearing an outfit that doesn’t flaunt her very oversized rear. Infernal no-sold Bison’s chops. Bison then did her double chop off the ropes. Bison tried a powerbomb, but Infernal back body dropped her. Infernal powerbombed Bison for a near fall. Bison did her diving headbutt for a near fall. Infernal landed a somersault block off the apron. Infernal splashed Bison off the 2nd for a near fall. Bison nodowa’d Infernal off the 2nd for a near fall. Bison used her moonsault on Infernal. Bison tried for her moonsault again, but Infernal avoided it. Infernal tried a powerbomb, but Bison turned it into a huracanrana. Infernal took one of the worst bumps of all-time on this. To say that she totally ruined the spot would be an understatement. Bison then small packaged Infernal for the win. Bison was ok I guess, but her opposition was just horrible. Infernal is just a stiff. She has no offense and when she’s on defense, she’s only capable of making her opposition look bad. 12:15. 1/2*

Cooga & Miyuki Sagabe vs. Lioness Asuka & The Bloody Phoenix. Sagabe is a 17-year-old rookie who debuted back in November. To say that she was given the young punk treatment would be a major understatement. To say that it was an education and discipline match for her would be true, but also an understatement. To say that she was Tsuchiya’d would be very accurate, except the stiff Shark was not involved in this match. Lioness, who’s now aligned with Shark, is starting to work like Shark. Lioness & Bloody totally destroyed poor Sagabe in this match and since she is a youngster, Cooga did little to help her out. Cooga used the microphone on Bloody. Cooga tombstoned Bloody out of the ring. Asuka destroyed Sagabe while Cooga destroyed Bloody. Asuka back suplexed Sagabe and covered, but then pulled her up. Asuka piledrove Sagabe on a chair. Bloody used a metal object to bloody Sagabe. Asuka used her giant swing on Sagabe for a near fall. Asuka piledrove Sagabe, but Cooga saved. Bloody spiked Asuka’s Liger bomb on Sagabe, but Cooga saved. Cooga gave Asuka her swinging DDT off the 2nd. Cooga used her somersault block off the top on Asuka for a near fall. Asuka Liger bombed Cooga, but Sagabe saved. Asuka slammed Cooga and Bloody tried to giver her a reverse splash off the 2nd, but Cooga avoided it. Cooga Tiger Drivered Bloody, but Asuka saved. Cooga Destiny Hammered Bloody for a near fall. Cooga & Sagabe used the old Midnight Express flap jack on Bloody. Sagabe did a somersault senton off the top for a near fall on Bloody. Bloody used a rolling German suplex on Sagabe, but Cooga saved. Asuka back suplexed Sagabe and covered. Cooga tried to make the save by throwing a chair at Asuka, but Asuka moved and Sagabe got hit. Bloody jumped off the 2nd, spiking Asuka’s piledriver on Sagabe. Asuka covered, but pulled Sagabe up. Asuka Liger bombed Sagabe, but Cooga saved. Asuka ran off the ropes, but Cooga grabbed her and told Sagabe to attack. Sagabe was "too injured" to seize the opportunity, so Bloody came up and hit her in the back. Asuka got away from Cooga, so Bloody whiped Sagabe into Cooga, knocking Cooga off the apron to the floor. Bloody held Cooga off while Asuka back superplexed Sagabe for the win. Way too long. Way too one-sided. Much too Tsuchiya-esque. Sagabe’s blows have no impact at all. Asuka is way over the hill. A match like this with all the heel spots comes off terrible in front of a small crowd because the heel spots are designated to get heat and how much heat can you get when there’s 400 people in the building? You have to feel sorry for poor young Sagabe. 27:29. 3/4*

Pancrase Special on Gaora 5/10/97 taped 4/27 Tokyo Bay NK Hall

TAKA Michinoku vs. Keiichiro Yamamiya. This was TAKA’s first endevor into Pancrase, and any regular pro wrestler’s for that matter, so you couldn’t expect him to be acclimated to the style. TAKA seemed fairly good on defense, but didn’t have the experience or skills to take Yamamiya down. Yamamiya wasn’t rushing things. Yamamiya controlled the action and was very patient in doing so. He seemed to know that it just was a matter of time before TAKA made a rookie mistake, so he wasn’t going to press too much and make a mistake himself. Yamamiya got an ankle lock, so TAKA was forced into a rope escape. Yamamiya applied a choke, forcing TAKA into another rope escape. Yamamiya tried for a kneebar, but TAKA got up. Yamamiya tried to extend TAKA’s arm, but TAKA turned out of it. Yamamiya tried for a kneebar, but TAKA got on top and threw some strikes. TAKA was too high on his mount, so he got reversed. Yamamiya got on top and applied an arm bar for the win. TAKA basically mounted no offense. Even though Yamamiya has been pro for less than a year, he does this style all the time, so he had a big advantage. He was simple too experienced for TAKA. Yamamiya basically had his way. The result was never in question. TAKA gave a valiant effort though as he lasted a hell of a lot longer than most people with no holds barred experience do. If you compare the time he lasted to the time the typical foreigner Pancrase brings in lasts, TAKA has a decided edge. 7:38

Takaku Fuke vs. Paul Lezenbee. Fuke has really fallen by the wayside. He hasn’t been a player in some time. Lezenbee is just a jobber. This wasn’t very eventful at all. Fuke lured Lezenbee in and applied the winning heel hold. 7:45

Satoshi Hasegawa vs. Yoshiki Takahashi. Hasegawa, 20, is one of Pancrase’s young punks. Takahashi really let him have it in this match, continually taking him down and smacking the crap out of him. Takahashi got on top and threw strikes until a knock down was called. Takahashi took Hasegawa down and used more strikes for another knock down. Hasegawa’s nose was now bloody. Takahashi took Hasegawa down again and threw some wicked shotei (palm strikes). Hasegawa couldn’t defend himself from the shotei, so the ref mercifully stopped the bout. Takahashi was totally dominant. 6:20

Jason Delucia vs. Takafumi Ito. Delucia got a weak knock down with a shotei. Ito got out of the mount and with Delucia behind him on the mat, he went for a submission. Bad mistake because Delucia was right behind him and Ito was leaving his neck wide open. Delucia seized the opportunity, applying a rear choke for the win. 4:54

Osami Shibuya vs. Leon Dyke. Shibuya tried for a heel hold, but Dyke wound up getting the effective heel hold and Shibuya was forced into a rope escape. Dyke had an arm bar, but Shibuya escaped. Dyke tried for the arm bar again, but couldn’t lock it in. With Dyke on top of Shibuya, Dyke threw an open hand strike to the head. This stunned Shibuya and allowed Dyke to go right into an ankle lock for the win. 5:30

Ryushi Yanagisawa vs. Paul Varelans. This was Varelans first match in Pancrase. Just like in UFC, althought obviously to a greater extent, Varelans had a big weight advantage. Varelans isn’t really skilled in submissions though, so his style isn’t really suited for this promotion. Varelans threw shotei after shotei from the mount, which made Yanagisawa very bloody. Varelans had a rear choke almost sunk in, but Yanagisawa used a rope escape. Yanagisawa seemed reluctant to strike Varelans on the mat. Varelans had his back to Yanagisawa, but Yanagisawa didn’t try a choke. Instead, he went to the ankle and focred Varelans into a rope escape. No one did anything major after this and the time limit expired. Yanagisawa won via decision. Varelans controlled the early portion, while Yanagisawa controlled the latter portion. Varelans seemed blown up by the end of the match, so Yanagisawa would most likely put him away if the time limit had been longer.

Bas Rutten vs. Kiuma Kunioku. Kunioku applied the proper strategy when facing Bas, which is to not stand toe to toe with him. Kunioku continually tried to take Bas down. When he was unsuccessful, Bas generally took him down, so that wasn’t so bad for Kunioki either. Neither could really get any advantage on the mat early on. Bas got a front chancilry on, so Kiuma had to use a rope escape. Bas eventually won with an armlock. Kunioku didn’t win, but he was at least successful in making Bas beat him on the mat.

Masakatsu Funaki vs. Yuki Kondo for Funaki’s King of Pancrase. Funaki seemed kind of tentative in this match. Funaki tried an ankle lock early, but Kondo twisted out of it. Funaki tried another ankle lock, but once again Kondo twisted out. I think the thing to point out about Funaki’s attempted ankle locks is that he seemed to be settling for them rather than working toward them. Funaki hit a nice uraken. Kondo had the quickness advantage, so it was hard for Funaki to land any effective strikes. The uraken, of course, is an out of nowhere type move (in Pancrase anyway). Kondo had Funaki backing up all match. Funaki had an ankle lock hooked in deep, but Kondo rolled to his stomach and Funaki lost his leverage so he released the hold. Kondo went for the jujigatame, but Funaki blocked it. Funaki tried a choke sleeper, but Kondo squirmed out. Kondo got two good shoteis in, so Funaki laid on his back hoping Kondo would follow him to the ground. Funaki got the ankle lock once again, this time causing Kondo to use a rope escape. Kondo put Funaki down with a shotei. Kondo tried for the jujigatame, but Funaki avoided it. Kondo worked for the jujigatame again. In defense, Funaki tried twice to get Kondo in a headscissors. Kondo got the jujigatame on, but Funaki didn’t submit. Kondo wrenched the arm, forcing Funaki to finally surrender. Kondo, 21, won the King of Pancrase, making him the youngest to ever be King. All I have to say is, those of you who were foolish enough to not vote for Kondo as rookie of the year in last year’s awards should be kicking yourself. Good bout. 15:12

Champ Forum Michinoku Pro 5/10/97 taped 5/3 Koden

This wasn’t one of the better Michinoku Pro shows because most of the stars were working New Japan’s Osaka Dome show that day. FMW sent some of their workers to fill in the gaps, but no matter what you think of FMW, they don’t have anyone that can replace Sasuke & Co.

Solar & Flying Kid Ichihara vs. Yone Genjin & Masato Yakushiji. Yakushiji did a tilt-a-whirl headscissors to Solar. Yakushiji then faked a tope and backflipped into the ring instead, but screwed up the landing on the backflip. Yakushiji did his baseball slide headscissors to Solar. Ichihara hit his moonsault block on Genjin. Yakushiji toped Solar. Genjin Northern Lights suplexed Ichihara for a near fall. Genjin then spinebombed Ichihara for another near fall. Ichihara rolled under a leg lariat then dropkicked Genjin. Ichihara gave Genjin a baseball slide then hit a quebrada. Yakushiji snap suplexed Solar then moonsaulted him off the 2nd. Yakushiji tried a moonsault, but Solar stood up to avoid it, then lariated Yakushiji. Solar used a quebradora (tilt-a-whirl backbreaker) on Yakushiji. Solar then applied a weird submission move called the Solarina for the win. The match didn’t really go anywhere. There were some good spots and some missed spots. Ichihara looked the best. Yakushiji was sloppier than usual. Genjin wasn’t really a factor, which is a plus. 12:14. **

Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Bobby Blayze. Blayze showed some promise a few years back in Smokey Mountain, but he is out of shape and looked pretty bad here. Shinzaki ridiculously oversold the bump he took on a dropkick which knocked him out of the ring. Shinzaki then walked around the ring forever. Shinzaki took forever between spots as usual. Shinzaki got a near fall with a swandive headbutt. Blayze used his Northern Lights suplex for a near fall. Blayze got a near fall with a flying forearm. Shinzaki tried for his powerbomb, but couldn’t get it off. Shinzaki did his diving shoulder block. Shinzaki hit his powerbomb. Shinzaki then applied what I’ll call a cross-arm choke sleeper submission. Slow motion piece of crap with little effort shown. 9:57. *

TAKA Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki & Superboy vs. Tiger Mask 4 & Gran Naniwa & Hayabusa. This was an interesting pairing with two members from each side of the major feud paired with an outsider. Superboy used to fit in perfectly when Michinoku was more comedy oriented. He and Hayabusa were kind of out of place here since he was in the middle of a heated fued. However, neither of the two’s work reduced the match. This was more toward the traditional Lucha Libre that you would see in Mexico than the Michinoku Pro style of Lucha. The DX team brawled outside the ring, ramming the Sekigun team into walls and using objects. Superboy and Naniwa worked a nice sequence together. Hayabusa gave TAKA a swandive elbow. Funaki asked Naniwa to shake his hand, but when Naniwa gave him his hand, Funaki pulled Naniwa toward him and hit an Ace Crusher. TAKA jumped off the top, spiking Funaki’s piledriver. Superboy gave Tiger a moonsault off the 2nd. Funaki used a kneecap dropkick followed by a kneebreaker and a figure 4 on Naniwa. TAKA slammed Naniwa in Naniwa’s corner and called for Hayabusa to come in. Hayabusa came in, so Funaki cheap shoted him from behind. Funaki whipped Hayabusa into the corner and hit a jumping elbow. Taka followed with his high knee where he lands on the ring apron. Funaki then snap suplexed Hayabusa and TAKA hit his swandive knee drop. TAKA whipped Tiger into the corner and tried to lariat, but Tiger ducked the lariat and gave Funaki a rolling savate. Tiger then back body dropped TAKA. Tiger dropkicked TAKA to the floor. Hayabusa tope con hilo’d TAKA and Tiger toped Funaki. Superboy powerbombed Naniwa for a near fall. Superboy moonsaulted Naniwa, but Tiger saved. Tiger landed on his feet for Funaki’s back body drop and tried for his Tiger suplex, but Funaki kicked him low. Tiger revenged by crotching Funaki on the top rope. Tiger went for his Tiger suplex, but TAKA broke it up. Hayabusa gave TAKA a swandive wheel kick (or spin kick or leg lariat) then a standing moonsault for a near fall. Hayabusa fisherman bustered TAKA. Hayabusa back body dropped TAKA over the top rope. Hayabusa then quebrada’d TAKA. Tiger held TAKA and Hayabusa tried a swandive missile dropkick, but TAKA moved and Tiger got hit. TAKA gave Tiger a swandive missile dropkick. TAKA used his Michinoku Driver II on Tiger, but Naniwa saved. Naniwa Doctor bombed TAKA. Hayabusa used his Falcon Arrow on TAKA, but Superboy saved. Hayabusa swinging DDT’d TAKA. Naniwa gave TAKA his Doctor bomb. Naniwa used a spinning version of his Doctor bomb on TAKA, but Funaki saved. Hayabusa Fire bombed (Scorpio Splash) TAKA for a near fall. Hayabusa tried a swandive move, but TAKA dropkicked him in midair. Hayabusa slipped out of TAKA’s Michinoku Driver II and spinning high kicked him. Hayabusa hit his Falcon Arrow on TAKA for the win. Typical Michinoku match in that the early portion was fine, but nothing to write home about, but they really picked it up for the finish and turned it into a very good match. TAKA and Tiger carried the load for their sides. Hayabusa was very effective when he was in. I’m thinking that Hayabusa should be used in tag as much as possible because he’s fine in small doses, but exposed when he has to work a singles match. Naniwa was good when he was in, but didn’t work enough. 16:32. ***1/2

Special Thanks to Zach Arnold, Dave Caldwell, Ramon Lores, Glenn Tsunekawa, John D. Williams, & Koji Yamamoto