Quebrada #29

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

8/5/97

AJ Furthers Misuse of Hiroshi Hase

Hiroshi Hase, who as far as I’m concerned is the best working heavyweight in the history of New Japan, will wrestle against some members of the AJ big four (Misawa, Kobashi, Kawada, & Taue) on the next tour. Normally, this would get me really excited, but AJ has handled Hase’s push in entirely the wrong manner.

Hase had pretty much been out of the ring for over a year and a half (he only wrestled a couple of shots after 5/95) due to being elected to the Diet (equivalent to the Senate). When Hase joined AJ in January, he was rusty and not in as good of shape as he used to be in, so they didn’t immediately put him in main event matches. Instead he started at the bottom and beat guys like Kentaro Shiga. I have no problem with this and it’s actually what I expect from the traditional company. It wouldn’t be fair to the greats, who have given their heart and sole to AJ for years, if they immediately put Hase up there with them based on his name value and past history.

When he returned to AJ on the tour that just ended, he had been off 6 months, so he was basically in the same situation he was in when he returned to the ring in January. He fought in mid-card tag matches, mainly teaming with other midcarders, but also teaming with Taue & Akiyama. His biggest wins were 7/6 in Koga teaming with Taue to beat Williams & The Lacrosse, 7/8 in Niigata teaming with Akiyama to beat Hansen & Smith, and on 7/21 in Kawagoe teaming with Omori to beat Hansen & Smith. Hase’s team went over on most nights, but he did lose a few, with the glaring loss being on 7/15 in Yamaguchi when he and Ikeda to lost to the lowly team of Masa Fuchi & Yoshinari Ogawa. Quickly glancing through the results, I don’t think Hase wrestled a singles match on the entire tour. Now that he has wrestled for a whole tour, he should be in better conditioning and have less ring rust on the next tour (although he still won’t be near the level he was once at), so I can see moving him up but not the way AJ is doing it.

Hase’s first big match on the next tour is a 6-man tag where his team will meet Misawa’s team. This is fine as it gives them a chance to get the feel of working with each other by doing a few sequences together and it’s possible they can even set something up for the future. Neither man will be pinned and figuring they will have some good teammates, it sounds like a good match.

The big problem is that Hase will wrestle Kenta Kobashi on 8/26 in Sapporo. Normally I would be stoked beyond belief as this is a dream match. If these guys could have met in 1993, this would have been at least ****3/4. I doubt it can reach that level right now because Hase isn’t at the level he once was, but I still think it can be a very good if not great match. The problem is that AJ did nothing to build Hase up. Hase has no major singles wins and no mid-level singles wins. They did the right thing in not putting him in the with big four initially as that would have just been off reputation. However, booking this match now is throwing away all that they had done right. Since Hase has not advanced up the ranks in AJ, it’s actually much worse from a push standpoint then if they would have thrown him in with Kobashi back in January.

What they should have done is have Hase vs. Akiyama first. They could use the storyline that it’s a battle of Senshu college amateur wrestling stars. AJ has all the time in the world to elevate 27-year-old Akiyama, who hasn’t been pushed to Budokan Hall singles main event level until this upcoming Triple Crown match with Misawa. We just saw Akiyama job in a non-title match to Misawa on 5/27 at Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center. That was the semifinal on that show. With no big singles wins in between, giving Akiyama a Triple Crown shot as a Budokan Hall main event doesn’t make a ton of sense. I’m one of the biggest supporters of Akiyama and I think his TC match vs. Misawa will be great, but I think it would be better for business to hold that off in favor of the Hase match. Akiyama can still be sacrificed, hell they did it throughout the Carny, and this would give Hase the credibility he needs against the big 4. It would also give them a reason for a rematch or series, which would culminate with Jun being elevated later by beating the legendary Hase. After that win, you have Akiyama challenge for the TC. You don’t necessarily have to wait that long for Akiyama to challenge for the TC though. To me, doing Akiyama vs. Misawa in September, with Akiyama coming off no major wins since his semifinal loss to Misawa, is just a case of being desperate for a TC contender. If you really have to do Akiyama vs. Misawa so soon, they still should have had Akiyama vs. Hase first, but with Jun coming out on top. That win would mean a heck of a lot more to Akiyama then it would to Kobashi and that could propel him to the title shot. You could give Kobashi the TC shot on 9/6 rather than Akiyama as he would be waiting about 8 months for his chance to avenge losing the TC to Misawa on 1/20.

Getting back to Hase, another simple option would be to have Hase beat some of the midcarders in singles. They could sacrifice any of the Americans, any of the juniors, or whatever useless natives they consider to be midcarders. This would at least move Hase up the ranks before he met the big four. The problem with this is that AJ doesn’t really have much of a midcard. The guys who can work don’t have credibility and the guys with credibility can’t work anymore.

Another option would be to have Hase wrestle beat the capable undercarders like Kikuchi, Mossman, Ogawa, or Smith. Granted those workers are small, but Hase still has a lot of name value since, although he hasn’t been wrestling much, it’s not as if he’s vanished from the public eye by being a politician. If Hase could work some good matches and prove to the AJ fans that he’s still really good, then it should increase the anticipation for his matches with their best workers. If anticipation is increased then the drawing power of his matches with the big 4 should also be increased.

Instead they are basically wasting his first ever match with Kobashi. If Hase wins, it’s ridiculous as he hasn’t had a major singles win in 2 years, so how can he beat one of the top heavyweights in the world? If Hase loses, which is almost a certainty, then it sticks with the athletic credibility, but kills Hase’s aura and reduces him to a midcarder that has to work his way up to a match with one of the big 4. If the latter is the case, they may as well have done the midcard matches first to build more anticipation to this match.

Neither result would be good for business, but here’s the thing to think about. They are taking a dream match and making it the semi-final, but not even a 16,000 capacity Budokan semi, a 6,500 capacity Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center semi. The match is so reduced that it’s behind a Misawa & Akiyama vs. Williams & Albright tag title match that will only be good if Misawa & Akiyama are so great that night that even two stiffs can’t hold them down. Granted Hase was never a singles headliner in NJ, as he had like one IWGP title shot in his career, but NJ and AJ are different. NJ appeals to the marks, so workrate is not that important. AJ is a workrate promotion and Hase excels (or at least used to) in that department, so he could be much more credible as a draw in AJ. With the right build up, Hase vs. Kobashi could be a Budokan main. AJ could really use another headliner. If AJ did things right, when he’s available, Hase, at least on occasion, could become that headliner. The timing for this match is simply not right though, so it doesn’t have close to Budokan main event drawing power.

To me the significance of this matchup is twofold. On one hand, two of the greatest heavyweight wrestlers of all-time, both of whom could outwork Ric Flair in his prime, are finally meeting. On the other hand, due to misuse of Hase, a promotion that can draw fans is blowing off a dream match as the semi-final in their secondary arena.

Choshu #2 Captures G-1 #1

Riki Choshu booked his successor, Kensuke Sasaki, to his first G-1 Climax Championship on 8/3 at Tokyo Sumo Hall. Sasaki, who got a gift first round bye do to injuries depleting the original field of competitors, began the tournament in the quarterfinals on 8/2, defeating Marcus "Buff" Bagwell with his gyaku-ipponzei in a mere 8:04. Sasaki went on to beat Scott Norton in the semi-final on 8/3 in a brief 5:16 with the Northern Lights bomb, which is finisher of the real wrestler of his family, Akira Hokuto (unfortunately Sasaki’s wife). Sasaki may have had to break a sweat on 8/3 as he was forced to wrestle twice, and go a whole 8:09 in the second match, before Northern Lights bombing Hiroyoshi Tenzan to win the G-1 for the first time. Sasaki was able to win a 14-man elimination tournament in only 21:29 of ring time or basically the same amount of time as Misawa’s short, yet great, title defense vs. Taue the week before.

As much as I hate him, Sasaki winning the tournament makes sense right now as his 8/31 Yokohama Arena match vs. Hashimoto is almost a lock to be for the IWGP title (Hashimoto may have a title defense before there match, but he’s not dropping the strap before it), so it gives Sasaki a big push going into his title shot. I worry that Choshu will begin giving Sasaki a huge push though, as it’s a given that he will put Sasaki over before retiring. Choshu won’t want to make himself look bad by losing what will most likely be his retirement match to a lower level guy, so he’ll probably continue elevate Sasaki as much as possible before doing that job. This doesn’t mean Sasaki definitely wins the IWGP title from Hashimoto, but with Choshu booking, such a result wouldn’t shock me.

If Chono was originally scheduled to win, the plans were obviously changed due to Chono’s broken heel and ligament damage. Although the doctor cleared Chono to wrestle, Chono was in really bad shape. It’s going to require surgery, which will cause him to miss a couple of months. Obviously, he couldn’t continue to work on it or his title shot for 8/10 wouldn’t have been cancelled. NJ did the right thing, which was to have Chono defeat Michiyoshi Ohara in the first round then lose in the quarterfinal to Hashimoto. Chono’s first round match went 18:39, so maybe they were playing up that his ankle was so bad that he could barely beat lowly Ohara. Chono’s loss to Hashimoto was a short 5:45 match, so the champion probably overpowered his injured rival.

The biggest upset of the tournament was a repeat of one of last year’s big G-1 upsets as Hiroyoshi Tenzan of NWO Japan and Team Wolf beat IWGP Champion Shinya Hashimoto in the semi-final with his diving headbutt. This result continued Hashimoto’s G-1 woes as he’s now been in all seven G-1 Climaxes without winning one.

Tenzan had advanced to the final by beating Tadao Yasuda in the first round with his moonsault at 10:31 and Satoshi Kojima in the quarterfinal on 8/2 with his moonsault at 11:43. It’s just like NJ to elevate Tenzan over Kojima. Both men are 26, but Kojima is the much better worker of the two. Kojima has improved a lot in the past year, while Tenzan has remained stagnant. So, of course, NJ opts to push the NWO heel over the guy who actually deserves the push. Kojima suffered a bad concussion during this match. Tenzan was named as Hashimoto’s opponent in the IWGP title match on 8/10, but he injured his thigh during the tournament, so that match was canceled.

The quality of all 3 shows was said to be unimpressive. The best matches were supposed to be the undercard junior matches and they were only said to be "almost good." The G-1 quarterfinals were said to be particularly bad. The worst match was supposed to be the Great Muta vs. Scott Norton, which to me shows how far Muta has fallen and really what a disgrace Muta has become. Of all the people I’ve seen work with Norton, none were able to work to his strengths better than Keiji Muto. Yet, in a tournament that on paper looked to have one bad match after another, it’s Muta who once again proves to be a lazy overrated stiff by not carrying Norton to something at least better than Tenzan vs. Tadao Yasuda or injured Chono vs. Ohara. An even more embarrassing thing to think of is that, if Muta vs. Norton was indeed the worst match, then Sasaki had a better match with Norton than Muta did.

All 3 shows soldout the 10,500 seat arena, but this wasn’t as hot a ticket as it has been in the past since scalpers couldn’t sell all their tickets to this show.

G-1 results courtesy of Koji Yamamoto

NJ Tokyo Sumo Hall 8/2-G1 tournament quarterfinals

Kensuke Sasaki (8'4" gyaku-ipponzeoi -> pin) Marcus Bagwell

Hiroyoshi Tenzan (11'43" moonsault press) Satoshi Kojima

Scott Norton (6'31" powerslam -> pin) Great Muta

Shinya Hashimoto (5'45" Achiless tendon hold) Masahiro Chono

NJ Tokyo Sumo Hall 8/3

G1 semi-final

5.. Hiroyoshi Tenzan (14'1" Diving headbutt -> pin) Shinya Hashimoto

6.. Kensuke Sasaki (5'16" Northern-lights bomb -> pin) Scott Norton

7.. Great Muta (6'40" moonsault press) Steve Regal

8.. Fujinami, Kimura, Nogami b Hirata, Nakanishi, Kojima

Nogami (12'57" diving splash) Kojima

G1 climax final

9.. Sasaki (8'9" Northern-lights bomb) Tenzan

FMW Shiodome seems like Shiodud

FMW ran it’s major show of the summer on 8/2 at the Tokyo Shiodome. The show was soldout, although there were some empty seats because the scalpers weren’t able to unload all their tickets for this show either. Overall, a show which seemed uneventful to start, seems to have been even more uneventful than I suspected.

W*ING Kanemura defeated Masato Tanaka in a No Rope 200-Volt Exploding Electrical Barbed Wire Death Match when W*ING Thunderfire powerbombed Tanaka at 13:05. This match, which was one of two matches that looked good on paper, was supposed to be bad with both workers looking bad. The short length seems to signify that they didn’t build to the gimmick spots very well. After the main event, Kanemura said something like the following: "This time we could not show all of our power & skill, but believe me, next time we will show you that we are super-indies!" This angered the fans, who "went into a quarrel" although there was no physical contact made. This was FMW's biggest show of the summer and here’s the main event winner making excuses and saying he’ll do better next time around. This isn’t the first time Kanemura has made such a speach, as Kanemura has been giving this same speech after all his recent matches. The speech may be part of some angle, but when I asked about this, I got the comment that Kanemura’s not smart enough to do it as an angle. Since Kanemura won, he gets to face Onita in the main event of FMW’s 9/28 show at Kawasaki Stadium. Maybe the speech is supposed to mean that he will do better when he faces Onita, but if so, that really downgrades the ability of Tanaka. Due to giving this same speech after his recent matches, Kanemura’s popularity is declining. To me, the key to the speech is that he’s doing it often. If he did it once then I could see as I’d rather have him admit the match was bad then say it was great (like WWF). However, since it’s been done often, it almost seems like he’s mocking the fans. Hopefully this is an angle with a point. If so, the point better not be to make him the heel for the 9/28 match with Onita because FMW is already filled with heels (all the Vicronie’s) and what they need is a face who can put fans in the seats. No matter what happens with Kanemura, Onita will get most of the cheers during their match anyway.

In what looks like it was the best match on the show, Ricky Fuji pinned Hayato Nanjyo at 16:43 to win the Rocky Mountain middleweight title. It’s good that they gave these guys some time as these two actually have something to offer. Fuji’s first title defense will be against Gedo. That match would have been a lot better if it was still 1995.

The Gladiator & Super Leather defeated The Head Hunters at 15:07 when Gladiator pinned B with his powerbomb. Gladiator was said to be good, which both is and isn’t surprising. Gladiator is always good when he has someone to sell for him most of the match and his selling is kept to the basics. The latter seems like it would have happened in this match, but the former seems like a reach. I guess if Gladiator was good then the fact that it was a big show must have got the Hunters to show up.

Pretty much everything else went as planned. Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki beat Hisakatsu Oya & Mr. Gannosuke when Hayabusa pinned the big show jobber Oya with his falcon arrow at 20:43. The fact that Shinzaki was in the longest match on the card is extremely scary. Hiromuchi Fuyuki used his lariat to pin Hido at 13:07. Fuyuki recently asked Hido to join Fuyuki-gun as Hido used to be with Fuyuki’s cronies Jado & Gedo during their days with the W*ING promotion. The useless bloody thirsty heels Shark Tsuchiya & Lioness Asuka & Eagle Sawai beat the understudy heel team of Crusher Maedomari & Miss Mongol & Sayori Okino when Eagle powerbombed Mongol at 17:55. Tetsuhiro Kuroda beat Hideki Hosaka with a lariat at 11:41. In the opener, Koji Nakagawa beat Mr. Pogo with a fisherman suplex at 9:09. Most of these matches were short and the only one that seems like it might have been good is Fuji vs. Hayato.

Ken Shamrock vs. Vader was announced for the 9/28 Kawasaki Stadium show. Since Shamrock screwed NJ over in May by pulling out of his announced Dome match against Hashimoto, some of the Japanese media is very much against him returning to Japan. However, it's thought that the media's protest won't have any effect. NJ fans and FMW fans are totally different, so Shamrock should face less resentment then he would if he was working in NJ. It's thought that FMW fans will have interest in seeing Shamrock vs. Vader live, but I don’t really buy that. In general, FMW fans aren’t educated to the shoot style and they are there for death matches. I can’t really picture them being too into the matwork and submissions, but maybe they will since both guys are very famous. I would not be surprised if Vader and Shamrock get about the same response. The fans of the shoot style remember Vader from his days with UWF-I and fans who support NJ also might support Vader, who was a huge star for that company. I don’t know that either will be over though.

AJW Japan Grand Prix ’97

With only a few matches remaining, things are really starting to fall into place. There have really been no surprises over the past couple days with the most important result being the predicted Manami Toyota win over Tomoko Watanabe.

Ito is in first place with 16 points and matches against Toyota & Watanabe remaining. It looks as if Ito won’t win either of those matches. Ito definitely loses to Toyota, but the Watanabe match is more questionable. They could do a 20:00 draw there, which would leave Ito with 17 points, but require Toyota and Shimoda to draw also if Toyota is indeed going to win.

Toyota is in 2nd place with 15 points and matches vs. Ito & Shimoda remaining. There are two ways they could go. They could have Toyota beat Ito and draw Shimoda, which would give Toyota 18 points and allow them to do the Watanabe/Ito draw, which would result in those two both finishing in 2nd with 17 points. They could also have Toyota beat Ito and lose to Shimoda, which would give Toyota 17 points. To do that and avoid a tie for first, they would have to have Ito lose both matches and have Maekawa at least hold Watanabe to a 20:00 draw. I think that Toyota finishes with 17 because Shimoda is too key a player right now to be finishing in 6th or 7th place with 13 points. A Shimoda win would also tie her with her partner Mita, who is the lesser star of the two right now.

Maekawa is in 4th with 14 points and matches vs. Watanabe & Tamada remaining. Tamada should beat Maekawa. This leaves Maekawa vs. Watanabe which could be either a draw or a Maekawa win. I think they will draw though because if Maekawa won, she would finish ahead of Watanabe, which seems improbable given their current positioning.

Watanabe is in 5th with 13 points and matches against Ito & Maekawa. It looks as if she finishes with 16 after beating Ito and drawing Maekawa.

It looks like the final standings will be Toyota in 1st with 17 points, Ito & Watanabe in 2nd with 16 points, Mita & Shimoda & Maekawa in 4th with 15 points.

Rie Tamada will finally have her knee surgery after the 8/20 Budokan Hall show. The surgery was originally scheduled to keep her out of action for 6 months, but now that her knee has gotten worse from working all these matches on it, I wonder if she can even return that soon.

Japan Grand Prix Results from Koji Yamamoto

8/1 Utsunomiya

Maekawa(12pts) (10'33' kick -> pin) Tanny(4pts)

Mita(13pts) (8'40" Deathvalley bomb) Tamura(4pts)

Mita(15pts) (15'55" Deathvalley bomb) Maekawa(12pts)

*Mita & Maekawa where scheduled to fight on 7/30, but that show was rained out.

8/2 Sagamihara

Toyota(13pts) (16'42" moonsault press) Tamura(4pts)

Ito(16pts) (13'17" fisherman buster off the top) Maekawa(12pts)

8/3 Sagamihara

Maekawa(14pts) (12'54" brainkick -> pin) Endo(7pts)

Toyota(15pts) (17'8" Japanese Ocean Cyclone suplex) Watanabe(13pts)

Shimoda(13pts) (18'28" Deathlake drive) Mita(15pts)

Japan Grand Prix Standings (sorted by points)

Place wrestler wins losses draws points matches remaining

1 Ito 8 1 0 16 2 (Toyota & Watanabe)

2 Toyota 7 1 1 15 2 (Ito & Shimoda)

3 Mita 7 3 1 15 0

4 Maekawa 7 2 0 14 2 (Watanabe & Tamada)

5 Watanabe 6 2 1 13 2 (Ito & Maekawa)

6 Shimoda 6 3 1 13 1 (Toyota)

7 Tamada 4 3 2 10 2 (Maekawa & Genki)

8 Endo 3 7 1 7 0

9 Genki 2 7 1 5 1 (Tamada)

10 Tamura 2 8 0 4 1 (Tanny)

10 Tanny 2 8 0 4 1 (Tamura)

12 Yoshida 1 10 0 2 0

AJ 7/25 Tokyo Budokan Hall Details

Hiroshi Hase & Jun Akiyama vs. Johnny Smith & Jinsei Shinzaki was said to be really good with tremendous crowd heat. Although Hase got a huge reaction coming out, and was easily the most over of the four, it was the solid but unspectaular Johnny Smith who was the key to making this the 2nd best match on the show. Despite teaming with "so-so" Shinzaki and facing a rusty Hase and a disinterested Akiyama, Smith carried this match to better than ****. Smith’s timing was highly praised as it’s said he turned simple moves into dynamite. Combined with his matwork and selling, Smith was the glue that held the match together.

Shinzaki got big pops for his novelty spots and the booking did a good job of incorporated those moves without compromising the AJ style. After Smith opened the match with three minutes of moves focused on Hase's arm, he tagged in Shinzaki, who did his rope walk spot ending with a flying chop to the arm. The spot is still out of place in my opinion, but it fit right into the flow of this match and was said to have seemed natural. Later in the match, Shinzaki went for the rope walk just after Jun had tagged in. Jun was at full strength, so when Shinzaki tried the rope walk, Jun simply pulled his arm free and gave Shinzaki a look of disgust. It was a Shinzaki novelty spot, but again done without hurting the flow and the result was believable. A few minutes later, when Jun was stunned, Shinzaki went to the top and walked halfway around the ring before hitting the "revenge" flying chop to the head. The crowd loved it and it wasn't comedy. During Hase’s giant swing, Shinzaki did his praying routine, which was said to be funny. However, Smith quickly brought focus back to the match by hitting the spot of the match; with Hase staggering around after his giant swing, Smith came off the top, nailing Hase with a dropkick to the side of his head. The timing was great and the spot was recieved by a big pop. Believe it or not, Shinzaki was said to be the 3rd best in this match with Akiyama being below him because Akiyama was tanking it. However, I’ll believe that when I see it myself. Smith was the obvious jobber in the match, getting pinned in Hase’s Northern Lights suplex, but the match was worked so he would come out looking really strong. Smith got a big well deserved ovation when he left the ring. From the sounds of this, this may have been one of the best performances of Smith’s career.

Ikeda was also very over as he got good pops and shouts of "Daisuke" could be heard frequently during the match. This was said to be the third best match on the card, but the strange thing is that this was due to the incorporation of comedy spots by both men. They traded Arn Anderson "point to my head because I outsmarted you" gimmicks. Later, Ikeda laid out Kikuchi with twelve straight blistering kicks, which were said to look extremely credible, and applied a loud "eight count" in the center of the ring. When Kikuchi got to his feet he showed his fists like a boxer, and the crowd loved it. They reversed rolls with Kikuchi laying out Ikeda then a repeat of the same schtick. By the time Ikeda showed his fists the crowd was coming unglued. Ikeda getting pinned in Kikuchi’s German suplex was an improbable finisher however. With results like this, Ikeda will have to rely on the fans realizing the difference between pro style and shoot style. If they accept that the shooter is just "pretending" while in AJ, he may be able to escape with his credibility. Perhaps the emphasis on clowning was a conscious effort to protect Ikeda by showing that it was just an "exhibition." However, there was a conscious effort on clowning in the Hiromuchi Fuyuki vs. Yoji Anjoh match and the result of that was a pitiful 5,000 in Tokyo Jingu stadium on 8/17/96 to see Nobuhiko Takaka vs. Anjoh.

Misawa vs. Taue was said to be between ****1/4 based solely on workrate and psychology. If the spots held up under the close scrutiny of the camera, the match can go all the way to ****3/4. Misawa's counter for the nodowa off the apron was so incredible that people are still in disbelief. It's said to be the spot of the year!

The last ten minutes of Kobashi & Ace vs. Williams & Albright tag title match were said to be pretty good, with Kobashi and Ace making saves and trying to hold on to their titles. It could have been much better, but the first twenty minutes meandered with no real storyline, theme, or momentum. Halfway through the match you could see that Ace and Kobashi would lose because Kenta looked flat and they hadn't really built anything for themselves. There were plenty of high spots, but with no storyline to connect them, they all blended together. The finisher was a joke as Doc’s powebomb off the 2nd consisted of just dropping Kobashi off the 2nd rope while Albright pulled Kobashi’s hair for added momentum. I had incorrectly reported that Ace was pinned in the last column. Actually, Ace was taken out by a double team shoulderblock, which allowed them to finish Kenta with this "deadly" double team. Sounds like one memorable way to win the Double Tag titles. Ace worked much of the tag match and most of his work was said to be bad. The crowd snickered when Ace "hit" his lame backheel in the corner spot. Ace’s judgement was suspect as he tried to finish Doc with his cobra suplex even though he can’t lift Doc and Doc can’t jump to assist him. Williams & Albright & Lacrosse are being billed as the International Varsity Club, which plays off their college credentials and the fact that Doc was in WCW’s version of the Varsity Club.

Toshiaki Kawada & Tamon Honda vs. Yoshihiro Takayama & The Lacrosse was said to be awful. They all tried to use pro style moves and psychology, but Kingdom’s Takayama, who can’t even work the shooting style, is much worse in pro style. It was said to be sickening to see Kawada, who’s known for his seriousness, have to hang around the apron and watch Honda do his twelve headbutt spot. The match was said to be a waste of time that did absolutely nothing to build heat or storyline for the Kawada vs. Takayama rematch.

Michinoku Pro Attendance or Lack Thereof

With most of the big stars not working the recent cards, attendance has hit rock bottom. On 7/24 in Fukauru, they drew 125 to see Dick Togo & Mens Teioh defeat Gran Hamada & Masato Yakushiji. On 7/25 in Wakayanagi, they drew 164 to see Tiger Mask 4 & Gran Naniwa & Hamada beat Hanzo Nakajima & Shoichi Funaki & Mens Teioh. On 7/26 in Kamiyama, they drew 308 to see Mens Teioh defend his UWF super welterweight title against Gran Naniwa. On 7/27 in Oga, they drew 108 to see Dick Togo & Mens Teioh & Hanzo Nakajima beat Gran Hamada & Tiger Mask & Masato Yakushiji. These are only a few shows, but it seems to show that Hamada & Togo don’t have close to the drawing power necessary to carry the promotion in Sasuke’s absence. Granted these are small venues, but the gates are probably in the $5000 range. Even if merchandise was moving like hotcakes, which I doubt, there can’t be much money to pay anyone. Sasuke better concentrate on saving his own league real fast or it’s going to join Hamada’s UWF as a footnote in wrestling history.

Lucha News

Groupo Revolucion is holding a tournament in September with several big names, although they haven’t been specifically announced yet. The promotion is run by Ultimo Dragon’s uncle. Dragon will be booking the tournament. Promo Azteca & EMLL should be sending wrestlers as they are on good terms with Ultimo. AAA won’t send anyone, but with the shape there in, I don’t think anyone really cares.

WCW supposedly had a tv taping at Arena Mexico last week with Konnan’s group. What’s notable about that is that Konnan’s guys are Promo Azteca wrestlers while Arena Mexico is an arena owned by EMLL. Maybe Eric Bischoff is getting them to work together so they can do an interpromotional fued which WCW would show matches from or maybe Promo Azteca will be shown on Televisa. Maybe neither. I don’t really have a read on this, but it’s pretty damn odd.

Vampiro says there’s dollars floating around everywhere. He was offered a $150 per night raise to jump to his former promotion, EMLL, and be their #1 technico. The reason there is more money down there could be because WWF has Victor Quinones down there to sign some talent and WCW is thinking about going as far as running PPV’s from Mexico. Also there could be as many as 3 new tv shows starting in the fall. One should be a Groupo Revolucion show, as it has already been pre sold to several stations. Another could be a show on Channel 22 in Los Angeles which would be one of the local L.A. promotion’s shows. In any case, that could provide some added revenue. However, the Mexican economy is really horrible. Ticket prices have hit rock bottom, with up to 2 children under 12 being allowed in free with the purchase of an adult ticket in D.F. Adult ticket prices in D.F. costs anywhere from $5.33 to $0.66 now, which obviously is extremely low. Given that, it’s really weird for there to be a lot of money down there. Vampiro wrestled before 14,000 in Veracruz & 17,000 in Aguascaliente last week, so maybe he’s just getting offered a raise because he’s one of the top drawing technicos in Mexico. WCW offered Vampiro a start date next month, so were willing to bring him in without a tryout, but they are only offering about 1/3 of what he wants, so don’t expect to see him unless they up the ante.

One of the guys Quinones is thinking of signing is Chilango. Chilango is a local L.A. Luchador, who’s said to be real good. Quinones has made an offer to him, but so far they have just been talking. Bob Barnett is going to try to get WCW to make Chilango a counter offer.

EMLL, who recently sold their famous Pista Arena Revolucion, has also sold Arena Coliseo. Aside from the historical significance of EMLL selling two of their most famous and history rich arena’s, the current significance is that it no Arena Coliseo shows cuts out about 3 EMLL shows per week. Less work means less money, which in Mexico means it’s time for everyone to jump ship.

AJW Presenting Better Main Events at Korakuen Hall

In one of her last matches for AJW, Aja Kong will face Kyoko Inoue in the main event of AJW’s 8/10 Tokyo Korakuen Hall show. This is a really big match for AJW to be running at Korakuen these days. In the early to mid 1990's, AJW used to routinely sellout Korakuen Hall and the heat in the building was really good. However, over the past year, Korakuen attendance and heat have plummeted because the youngsters aren’t over and there are no new matchups. For the past year, AJW was actually doing some of the lower attendances in the building, while their rivals Gaea & JWP were routinely selling out and even Jd’, who rarely runs the building, had a sellout or two. It seems that AJW has changed their philosophy a bit as they are running the same Aja vs. Kyoko main event in the 2,150 seat hall that they ran in the 16,000 seat Yokohama Arena only 5 months ago. The change in philosophy, if there actually was one, seems to have taken place when the decision was made have Toshiyo Yamada’s last AJW match be against Manami Toyota at Korakuen Hall. Aja vs. Kyoko should sellout for sure and it’s a certainty that Kyoko will go over. The unfortunate thing is that AJW’s drawing power has decreased so much that a match that should be a big show main event, or at worst a semifinal, has now been reduced to 2,000 seat arena material. The way things are going, AJW might have to go back to running their big show of the month at Korakuen on at least some occasions.

All Japan Pro Wrestling 30 6/8/97 taped 6/6 Tokyo Budokan Hall

(with help from John D. Williams)

Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada for Misawa’s Triple Crown. This was an absolutely fantastic bout that was just plain awesome! The match played off both men’s key spots extremely well. There were no holes in the psychology, but this was not one of the greatest psychological matches I’ve ever seen. The psychology of the match wasn’t deep as it really didn’t play off old matches or AJ history that much. The deepest sequence was actually a brilliant play off the finish two of their most famous peers, Shinya Hashimoto & Nobuhiko Takaka, used over a year ago at the Tokyo Dome. This match also didn’t play off previous Misawa vs. Kawada matches that much, as it really only played off the finishes of their previous matches. In the past, when there was a victor in a Misawa vs. Kawada match, Misawa always knocked Kawada out. Kawada owns one singles win over Misawa, on 4/19/97, when he pinned him with his powerbomb finisher. The main point in the psychology of this match was Kawada trying like hell to avoid getting knocked out once again and Misawa trying like hell to make sure he didn’t become a two-time victim of Kawada’s deadly powerbomb. With Misawa trying to avoid Kawada’s powerbomb at all costs, Kawada was forced to shift to two of his other favorite finishers, the Dangerous backdrop and the jumping high kick, both moves that rock his opponents head and neck. It just so happens that Misawa’s neck was injured during this year’s Champion Carnival, an injury that played right to Kawada’s offensive strengths. Kawada using several lethal moves that were directed at Misawa’s injured neck was a key to the psychology of the match, however, the match just flowed to that psychology rather than it being something the two had to dig for. What made this match great was that after all these years, Misawa and Kawada were able to break new ground and tell a new story. The really incredible thing about this new story was that although both men delivered several bonecrushing moves, they were predominantly just doing their regular big spots. Misawa didn’t have to pull out his Tiger Suplex ’85 or his Tiger Driver ’91. They didn’t have to give anything away in that regard, nor did they plant any seeds for the future, yet this match was sheer brilliance. The last 21:30 aired. It started off with Kawada in Misawa’s facelock, a move that is permanently over for Misawa because he used it to become the first native to force the legendary Jumbo Tsuruta submit back on 9/4/91, but Kawada escaped it by getting to the ropes. Misawa rocked Kawada with his trusty elbows then tried his Tiger Driver finisher, as he was going for the typical KO then power pin finish, but Kawada blocked it. They teased a suplex on the head before Misawa hit a Dangerous released German suplex. Misawa hit his running elbow finisher, but didn’t cover Kawada. Kawada crossed up Misawa’s elbows before hitting one of this own, which both sold. Kawada used his shotgun lariat for a near fall. Misawa elbowed Kawada, but Kawada fired back with an elbow and his spinning high kick, both abnormally hitting the side of Misawa’s neck. Misawa was down in the corner brilliantly selling his neck, but Kawada attacked Misawa anyway, rocking his helpless foe with a series of knees to the head. Kawada tried his powerbomb, but Misawa turned it into a corbata (twisting Frankensteiner). Kawada cut Misawa’s comeback off then tried to end it with his powerbomb. Misawa fought for dear life, but eventually fell prey to the powerbomb for a near fall. Misawa ducked Kawada’s jumping high kick and tried his rolling elbow, but Kawada ducked it and Dangerous backdroped Misawa for a big pop. Misawa rolled to the floor and sold the spot like he was dead. Kawada tried to powerbomb Misawa on the floor, but Misawa blocked it, so Kawada axe kicked Misawa then delivered the killer powerbomb on the floor. Misawa sold this perfectly as he lied on the floor for about a minute (they didn’t fall prey to the big problem in the great Liger vs. Otani and Liger vs. Kanemoto matches from Feb., not that this should surprise anyone) before Kawada dragged him into the ring. Kawada once again tried to end it with his powerbomb, but Misawa resisted. Kawada became so frustrated with his inability to finish Misawa off that he punched him Misawa in the face. Both men hit big strikes, but the sequence climaxed with Misawa crossing up Kawada’s spinning high kick, then Kawada failing to return the favor and getting caught with a Misawa enzuiguri. Misawa did his elbow followed by his Tiger Driver, but Kawada kicked out. Misawa tried to get extra impact from his elbow by doing a diving version, but it backfired as Kawada jumping high kicked him in midair. After the workers sold the spot really well, they staggered to their feet at the same time and Misawa tried his running elbow, but Kawada once again saw it coming and jumping high kicked Misawa. Kawada went from finisher to finisher, with the crowd popping, but the title win over Misawa remained elusive as the sequence culminated with Misawa resisting Kawada’s powerbomb for 30 seconds before both men "collapsed from exhaustion." Kawada went back to the powerbomb, but Misawa blocked it for 15 seconds before back body dropping Kawada. Misawa’s counter did little damage, so Kawada got right up and hit an enzui lariat. Kawada hit yet another Dangerous backdrop. Kawada transformed himself into his NJ counterpart Hashimoto, for the first time delivering Hash’s brainbuster DDT then applying the triangle hold. This was the finish of Hashimoto vs. Takaka from 4/29/96, but it was more brilliant here as Kawada not only incorporated the finish of one of the biggest money matches in the history of wrestling, but incorporated it in a manner where it perfectly fit the bad neck storyline. Although the moves were new to AJ, the fans, who seemed to be in awe, recogized what they were seeing and understood this could very well be the finish. However, unlike Takada, Misawa was able to escape by a rope break. Kawada Dangerous backdropped Misawa once again. Misawa, who seemingly had about had it, was able to summon all his energy to get up and lay Kawada out with his elbow before falling down. Both beautifully sold this spot for about a minute. What followed was an excellent sequence where either man could seemingly have won with one more big move, but both men were able to avoid falling prey to one as the sequence ended with a simple Misawa dropkick. Misawa hit his Tiger suplex on Kawada, which seemed to be where Kawada’s neck was injured legit, but couldn’t hold the bridge and had to do a lateral press for a near fall. Misawa hit a Dangerous released German suplex, but Kawada got up and tried his shotgun lariat, which Misawa ducked then went right into a released German suplex that didn’t work quite right. Kawada once again countered Misawa’s running elbow with his jumping high kick, which got a big pop and both sold. Misawa blocked Kawada’s high kick and connected with his rolling elbow. Misawa did a released Tiger suplex, which Kawada sold as well as anyone possibly could. Misawa tried to go back to that spot, but Kawada blocked it, so Misawa delivered his enzui rolling elbow then tried to put Kawada away with a German suplex, but Kawada still managed to kick out. Misawa hit two more elbows then went for his running elbow, but Kawada saw it coming. However, this time Kawada was "too injured" to counter it with a jumping high kick, so he simply collapsed to avoid it. Kawada blocked Misawa’s Tiger Driver and tried to comeback with chops, but Misawa cut him off with elbows. Misawa tried his rolling elbow, but Kawada blocked it and with the title at stake, resorted to punching Misawa. Misawa put Kawada down with his rolling elbow. Misawa delivered a stiff elbow, to a huge pop, which for all intents and purposes KO’d Misawa. Misawa covered, but Kawada somehow escaped at 2.9+ (you couldn’t see him budge at all on tv as they had a bad camera angle, although the Budokan fans were also fooled as you could see them running up to the guard rails like the match was over). Misawa dragged Kawada’s limp KO’d carcass up and German suplexed him for the win. Super must see match. Brilliant work. Extremely stiff and bone crunching match that may have set a record for most times with guys taking bumps directly on their head. In the 21:30 that aired, there wasn’t one more that was out of place or one move that didn’t add to the match. Tremendous selling. Very intense and riveting. Great crowd heat. Near perfect execution. Better than the tv version of the 1/20/97 Misawa vs. Kobashi match. Probably the best match thusfar in 1997 and clearly one of the greatest men’s heavyweight matches of all-time. I’ll hold off any further comparisons until I see this masterpiece unedited. 31:22. *****

Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue for Kawada & Taue’s Double Tag Titles

from All Japan Pro Wrestling 30 6/1/97 taped 5/27 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center

The action was already hot when tv picked it up about 16:30 in. Ace was in trouble and Taue was trying to finish him off. Ace avoided Taue’s nodowa’s, but after a series of Kawada high kicks, he fell prey to the dreaded nodowa-backdrop combo for a near fall. Kawada applied his stretch plum, but Ace made it to the ropes, so Kawada simply dragged Ace back to the center of the ring and reapplied the stretch plum, forcing Kobashi to make the save. Kawada attacked Kobashi with a kick, but it backfired doubly as Kobashi countering it with his Dragon screw bought Ace enough time to make the hot tag. Kobashi hit two of his rolling chops then German suplexed Kawada for a near fall. Kawada blocked Kobashi’s powerbomb, so Kobashi kneed Kawada, which allowed him to execute his powerbomb. Rather than go into the jackknife, Kobashi dragged Kawada up and tried for another powerbomb, but Kenta’s strategy didn’t work as Kawada kicked him on the way up. Kobashi tried his lariat, but Kawada high kicked him. Kawada made his comeback with his enzui shotgun lariat and jumping high kick. Taue tried to nodowa Kobashi, but Kenta got to the ropes. Taue used his jumping high kick on Kobashi then dragged Kenta up and nodowa’d. Taue wanted to do his nodowa’s in rapid succession, but Kobashi blocked the 2nd one. Taue tried his Dynamic bomb (Liger bomb), but Kobashi shifted his weight so he landed on top and both sold. The spot looked pretty weak, but still served it’s purpose as it allowed Kobashi to tag. Ace went through most of his finishers, but the time wasn’t right as Taue was not in that bad of shape and Kobashi hadn’t taken Kawada out of the picture. The sequence culminated with Kawada saving his partner from Ace’s Cobra suplex then Taue finally chokeslamming Ace. Kobashi saved Ace, but Kawada did what Kobashi had failed to do, as he took Kobashi out, giving his partner a free path to the finish. Taue came up empty though as Ace kicked out of his Dynamic bomb. In the hottest spot of the match, Ace elbowed out of Taue’s nodowa and immediately Ace Crushered Taue. Ace had been getting pounded, so he had no choice but to tag out as going for a pin would simply have been too risky. Kobashi came in, but seeing his partner was "ripe for the pickens," Kawada entered the ring and unloaded a series of kicks on Kobashi, which led to a now recovered Taue giving Kobashi a released German suplex. Taue tried his nodowa on Kobashi, but Ace broke it up with his diving lariat and Kobashi DDT’d Taue. Kobashi used his powerbomb & jackknife on Taue, but Kawada made the save. Ace took Kawada out with his Cobra suplex. The finish of the match was foreshadowed as Kobashi no sold Taue’s offense and ran at Taue, overpowering Taue’s attempted nodowa, and laying Taue out with his lariat. All 4 workers were down in the ring selling and when Kobashi finally made it over to Taue for the cover, but by then Taue had recovered enough to kick out. Kobashi tried for his powerbomb, but Taue high kicked him. Kobashi no-sold once again and charged at Taue hoping to lariat him, but Taue got Kobashi in nodowa position. Kobashi wouldn’t fall prey to the nodowa again, but seeing this, Taue decided it was better to settle for a foot sweep then be overpowered and lariated again. What Taue didn’t bank on was exactly what happened as Kobashi popped up, made one of his young punk gestures that used to pop the crowd when he actually fit that role, and hit Taue with his running lariat for the win. Kobashi & Ace won the Double tag titles. An exhibition on how to build a great match around the workers signature spots. Kobashi’s work was really good and he was the star of the match, but his gestures toward the finish are further proof that he’s still trying to play the young punk role at 30. Ace & Taue more than served their purpose, especially Taue as he worked most of the portion that was shown. Taue & Ace’s conditioning seems to be declining though, which may result in their workrate dropping a notch. Great ebb and flow. The action seesawed back & forth, but not in the quick comeback way. This back and forth was with counters and saves in a way that the finish could come at any time if one of the workers could get their big move off, be "healthy" enough to immediately make the cover, and be lucky enough to have their partner hold their opponents partner off so he couldn’t make the save. Great work. The pacing was neither fast nor slow, but was just right within the context of the match. Obviously real stiff. It’s hard to give a match a super rating when you’ve seen less than half of it, as sometimes you can really be fooled by a hot finishing portion. However, this is one of those matches where the exception should be made as, if the beginning holds up to these guys usual standards, it might be the best tag match thusfar in 1997. I definitely need to see this in unedited form. 28:40. ****3/4

AJW TV 6/29/97 taped 6/17 Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center

This was the first night of AJW’s Sapporo double flop. Sparse crowd and little crowd heat, so what else is new? Actually a lot is new as blood is back and a rookie was in a match with the veterans and wasn’t even pinned. The main thrust was Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita in their 1st tv match since becoming heels. The duo did more heel stuff than I had originally expected and their brawling was strong. I’m not so sure I’m going to like them as much as heels as I anticipated, but how could you not love Shimoda?

Mariko Yoshida vs. Rie Tamada for Yoshida’s CMLL title. This match was a definite step back in Tamada’s quest to become a star, a quest that is looking more and more grim by the day as her knee gets worse and worse. She not only lost quickly, but really didn’t even challenge Yoshida. Really the only thing Tamada did was cross up a few of Yoshida’s favorite spots. Tamada’s knee was taped up and she wore a knee pad designed for support over the tape. Tamada did a quick start like her mentor Toyota doing 3 dropkicks, the third of which knocked Yoshida to the floor. Tamada did a cross body off the apron. Yoshida did two stomach breakers then her running plancha. Yoshida got a near fall with her flying splash. Yoshida slammed Tamada and covered her, but Tamada did the Jaguar bridge out then twisting high cross body spot. Yoshida toped Tamada. The odd thing about that was Yoshida jumped between the bottom and middle rope rather than between the middle and top rope. Yoshida set Tamada up on the top rope, but Tamada knocked her off. Tamada then tried her missile dropkick, but Yoshida avoided it. Tamada sent Yoshida to the floor with a very lame tilt-a-whirl headscissors then plancha’d Yoshida. Tamada did two of her missile dropkicks for a near fall. Yoshida used a reverse diving sunset flip, but Tamada turned it into a pinning predicament of her own for a near fall. Yoshida did her handspring counter for a lariat, but Tamada caught her in a fisherman suplex on the rebound for a near fall. Tamada German suplexed Yoshida for a near fall. The bridges on both of those pinning moves were bad. Tamada used her kannuki suplex (not a special name for the move, rather kannuki is the name, derived from sumo wrestling, for the position where she holds her opponents arms in front of them. Basically this is a bridging double arm suplex where her opponent's arms are hooked in front of them rather than behind their back like in a regular double arm suplex) for a near fall. Tamada tried a German suplex, but Yoshida wakigatame’d. Tamada ducked a lariat and Dragon suplexed Yoshida for a near fall. Another bad bridge by Tamada. Tamada tried a suplex, but Yoshida wakigatame’d. Yoshida went right into her La Magistal, but Tamada crossed her up once again, turning it into a cradle for a near fall. Yoshida did a T-bone suplex for a near fall. Yoshida then did her Air-raid crush finisher. Rather than do a regular cover, Yoshida used her La Magistral for the win. Yoshida was good, while Tamada was sloppy. Tamada’s bad knee caused her to not wrestle at her previous standard. As long as she continues wrestling with that injury, you can’t expect that much of her. It was an action packed fast-paced match with nice high spots. It was the most exciting match on the show, but the worst match on the show from a technical standpoint. What was the point of this match if Tamada wasn’t going to look strong or push Yoshida before jobbing to her? 12:46. **3/4

Aja Kong & Takako Inoue & Momoe Nakanishi vs. Yumiko Hotta & Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa. This match showed the difference between the way JWP and Gaea are handling their youngsters and the way AJW handles their’s. In JWP & Gaea, the youngsters that are promising or pushed are more than credible against the veterans and the veterans sell for them. Momoe is both promising and being pushed, but she didn’t even come close to being credible against anyone but Maekawa, who is a "star" but still at the bottom of the stars totem pole. The main problem is the way AJW trains their youngsters. I don’t have a problem with limiting the rookies and youngsters move sets, but by doing so, they can’t have the rookies do anything against the veterans. A dropkick or a back body drop can be a big move in a rookies match, but when that’s all you do, how can anyone take you seriously against the veterans who all have good sized move sets and established big moves? While it’s a good thing that Momoe, now 17, is getting to work with the veterans, she’s just selling the whole time like Sakura Hirota, a 19-year-old Gaea youngster who’s not pushed in the least, rather than looking good win or lose like Meiko Satomura, 17, who’s already good and something of a star. Granted Momoe is so young, but I see the same problem when watching 21-year-old Fukawa. The youngsters have to work with the veterans now, so there’s simply no reason to stick with the old extremely limited move set method. They don't need to become spot machines, but if the veterans are going to sell for them they need to do a few things the veterans could sell without making themselves look silly. Watanabe hit two nice springboard moves on Takako early. Hotta laid the kicks in on Takako then told Aja to tag in so she would have some competition. Aja and Hotta exchanged stiff kicks with Aja, who was kicking Hotta’s bad knee, surprisingly winning. Hotta whipped Aja into the corner then hit her wheel kick. Hotta applied her jujigatame (cross armbreaker). Maekawa came in and tried to manhandle Aja, but Aja would have no part of it. Aja roughed Maekawa up, culminating with a vicious palm blow. Momoe came in and dropkicked Maekawa, but Maekawa quickly cut her off. Takako DDT’d Watanabe. Aja gave Watanabe a series of stiff kicks. Aja ran off the ropes for a kick, but Watanabe did her dragon screw to kneelock combo. Hotta & Maekawa stood on opposite sides of Aja-who was sitting-and took turns kicking her. Hotta used a ½ crab, but Aja powered out, so Hotta applied a kneelock. Hotta no-sold Momoe’s strikes. Maekawa thrust kicked Momoe for a near fall. Maekawa put Momoe in a bodyscissors, but Momoe turned so she was facing Maekawa and began slapping and forearming Maekawa. Momoe slapped Maekawa, but Maekawa then put her down with a slap. Aja canned Maekawa then Takako arm dragged Maekawa off the top. Momoe hit 4 of her dropkicks for a near fall on Maekawa. Momoe ducked Maekawa’s high kick. Aja then lariated Maekawa and Momoe German suplexed Maekawa for a near fall. Aja high cross bodied Watanabe & Maekawa. Watanabe avoided Aja’s splash off the 2nd. Watanabe hit her diving bodyscissors drop for a near fall on Aja. Aja blocked Watanabe’s suplex. Aja then blocked Watanabe & Maekawa’s double suplex and suplexed both of them. Watanabe did a back suplex followed by a huracanrana for a near fall on Aja. Watanabe tried her lariat, but Aja went right into her backdrop for a near fall. Takako tried her front kick, but Watanabe did her Dragon screw to figure 4 combination, which Aja then broke up. Takako ducked Watanabe’s diving bodyscissor drop. Takako then ducked a lariat and used her bridging back suplex for a near fall on Watanabe. Takako went to the top for her Destiny Hammer, but Watanabe climbed up the ropes, so Takako nodowa’d her off the top for a near fall. Takako tried her bridging back suplex, but Watanabe elbowed out. Watanabe hit her lariat on Takako. Hotta tried her Tiger Driver, but Takako blocked it and DDT’d Hotta. Takako whipped Hotta into the corner and charged, but Hotta wheel kicked Takako for a near fall. Hotta got her jujigatame on Takako, but Momoe broke it up. Hotta ducked a double lariat and facebustered Takako & Momoe. Hotta tried her pyramid driver on Takako, but Aja broke it up by canning Hotta. Aja canned Hotta off the 2nd. Takako hit her Destiny Hammer for a near fall on Hotta. Takako tried another Destiny Hammer, but Hotta kicked her in midair. Hotta Tiger Drivered Takako for a near fall. Hotta got Takako in her jujigatame again, but still no submission. Watanabe hit a sky high bodyscissor drop on Takako. Hotta then delivered her pyramid driver to Takako. Aja was supposed to make the save on this spot, but Aja was to slow so the ref simply stopped his count at 2 ½. Takako hadn’t kicked out and Aja didn’t get there for another second, but the count was just stopped. Hotta then gave the ref a dirty look then put Takako in the jujigatame for the submission win. Real bad finish to an otherwise good match. Momoe showed good spirit by kicking out and standing up to Maekawa. Maekawa was the worst of the bunch as her kicks are so slow. Hotta & Watanabe were both good and made up for Maekawa’s typical suckyness. Aja and Hotta were dominant when they were in. A solid but unspectacular match. 20:00. ***

Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita. The first sign that this was a new Shimoda & Mita was seeing them carry their "own" chairs to the ring. Mita is still wearing a knee brace. Mita piledrove Toyota then it looked as if she would cover, but choked out Toyota instead. Mita held Toyota in the air and Shimoda came off the top with what I’ll call a diving hair slam. It looked as if Shimoda would arrogantly cover Toyota, but Shimoda choked Toyota with her boot instead. Shimoda did several variations of the choke on Toyota. Shimoda piledrove Toyota. Shimoda wanted a test of strength, but when Toyota agreed, Shimoda put Toyota’s hands on the mat and stepped on them. Shimoda put Toyota in an arm bar then tagged in Mita. It looked as if Mita would continue the arm bar, but she bit Toyota’s arm instead. Toyota finally did something, hitting her springboard reverse cross body, then immediately tagged Yamada. Yamada gave Mita her single underhook snap suplex then stiff kick to the back combo twice. Mita & Shimoda cheated some more. Shimoda put Yamada in a bodyscissors then put her hands in Yamada’s eyes. Toyota & Yamada gave Shimoda a double side suplex drop. Toyota & Yamada then went for their double diving headbutt, but Mita chaired Yamada and Shimoda gave Toyota a Super underhook superplex for a near fall. Shimoda tried her Tiger suplex, but Toyota blocked it, so Mita chaired Toyota. Shimoda then threw a chair at Toyota’s head twice. Shimoda used scissors on Toyota’s forehead then gave the scissors to Mita to use on Yamada’s scalp. Toyota bled heavily, which pissed me off of course. Aside from the fact that I feel it’s a waste for anyone with talent to bleed and a triple waste for anyone who’s a great wrestler and great looking to bleed, why is Toyota bleeding in the first match against the heels? Why not have other people bleeding first then build up to having the major star, Toyota, bleed. It’s not as if the blood here led to anything down the line with these four. I don’t think it has anything to do with Toyota & Kyoko vs. Shimoda & Mita on 8/22, so it had little point other than possibly helping to get Shimoda & Mita over as heels and the vaunted shock value which might have got them a bit larger spread in the magazines, but did nothing as far as making money. The weird thing about Toyota bleeding was that Mita used the same weapon, scissors, on Yamada, but Yamada didn’t bleed. Shimoda whipped Toyota into the guard rail. Shimoda threw another chair at Toyota’s head and Mita did the same to Yamada. Yamada revenged by throwing a chair at Mita’s head. Yamada then started walking back to the ring, but Mita blindsided her with a chair. Mita powerbombed Toyota on a table. Shimoda German suplexed Toyota. Mita tried to powerbomb Toyota again, but Toyota countered with her Toyota roll for a near fall. Mita tried her Death Valley bomb, but Toyota slipped out and German suplexed Mita for a near fall. Toyota moonsaulted Mita, but Shimoda saved by using their chair on Toyota. Mita held Toyota so Shimoda could chair her, but Toyota avoided it and Mita got hit. Yamada threw her opponent's chair at Shimoda twice. Toyota and Yamada used their old back superplex with overhead flip finisher on Mita, but couldn’t put her away. Toyota used her Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex for a near fall on Mita. Toyota had trouble doing that spot again. Yamada tried her reverse Gori special bomb on Mita, but Shimoda chaired her. Mita hit her Death Valley bomb on Yamada, but Toyota made the save. Mita tried to pick Yamada up, but Toyota missile dropkicked Mita. Yamada tried her reverse diving brainkick, but Mita chaired her in midair. Mita tried her Death Valley bomb, but Yamada slipped out. Yamada then tried a spinning high kick, but Mita ducked it and tried her Death Valley bomb again, but Yamada turned it into a sunset flip for a near fall. Yamada used her high wheel kick for a near fall on Mita. Yamada tried her reverse Gori special bomb, but Mita Death Valley bombed Yamada for the win. I don’t think Toyota or Yamada have been dominated like this in the past 5 years. Yamada at least resisted a bit. Toyota was just plain overwhelmed by the heels. Shimoda & Mita were put over incredibly strong. It seems AJW has no patience at all these days as it looks like they want Shimoda and Mita to be regarded as killer heels overnight. Shimoda & Mita were good as heels as their brawling was strong and all the chairshots in this match were credible. They did a lot of heel stuff early then went to wrestling later although I still thought they overdid the heel stuff. Using the chairs to break up pins and stuff like that gets them over as heels while still allowing for wrestling, so that was good. If this kind of domination, excess brawling, and blood is going to be commonplace in Shimoda & Mita matches then it will start to suck, but if this is just going to happen the first few times to get them over then it’s a good idea. Oz Academy is still the best heel group in wrestling. About 14:30 aired and it was good, but not close to the level it should be with these 4. 22:10. ***1/4

Kyoko Inoue vs. Kaoru Ito for the vacant WWWA title. This was much better than I had been led to believe. It wasn’t the typical women’s style match at all, but it had very good psychology, which is more important than the fact that it was slower paced than it would have been if Kyoko had better conditioning. The match was similar to a great AJ match, although not close to that level of overall greatness, in that it was totally built around the signature spots with both trying like hell to hit the big moves and win the title, but neither making it any too easy to execute the key spots. A main point to this was Ito’s several ways of avoiding Kyoko’s finishers the lariat and the Niagara driver, with the key spot foreshadowed almost immediately when Ito ducked Kyoko’s lariat and tried to German suplex her, but Ito was unsuccessful here as Kyoko got the ropes. They went right back to the spot with Ito once again unsuccessful as Kyoko elbowed her way out of the German suplex. Ito went to her usual favorite spots the hip attack and the rolling senton off the 2nd for near fall. After some submission work by Ito, Kyoko showed her first offense of the portion shown, then quickly tried to go to the finish with her famous Niagara driver, but Ito slipped out. Kyoko, opting against any wear downs, tried her other key finisher, the lariat, with Ito against the ropes, but Ito had too much left and back body dropped Kyoko over the top. Ito toped Kyoko. Ito used her favorite move and one of her main finishers, the diving footstomp, for a near fall. Ito tried for her diving footstomp again, but Kyoko got up to avoid it. Kyoko immediately tried her lariat on Ito, but this time Ito ducked it and bodyscissor victory rolled Kyoko for a near fall. Kyoko reversed Ito’s whip into the corner, so Ito jumped on the 2nd, but Kyoko released German suplexed Ito off the middle rope. Kyoko was slow in getting to the corner in this spot and Ito just waited for her, so it was not the greatest. With Ito against the ropes, Kyoko went back to her lariats, but this time Ito had no counter and was nearly pinned. Kyoko then went to both her finishers with Ito stopping the Niagara driver on the way up then going into a uranage after she ducked the lariat. Ito was ready to go to her footstomps, but Kyoko, saw this and tried her headscissor cradle off the top. Ito knocked Kyoko off the top and was not able to hit two of her diving footstomps for a near fall. Ito tried her most deadly finisher, the Super fisherman buster, but Kyoko knocked her off the top rope, so Ito got up and knocked Kyoko off the top to the floor. Ito then delivered two lethal diving footstomps, the first off the apron and the 2nd off the top to the floor. With Kyoko now softened up from the deadly footstomps, Ito was able to execute her Super fisherman buster, but Kyoko kicked out. Ito went back to her diving footstomps, this time hitting 3 before covering for a near fall. Ito went to the top, but this time Kyoko arm dragged her off. Kyoko then went to the top, but Ito cut her off and tried her Super fisherman buster. Kyoko resisted the Super fisherman buster for 20 seconds before turning it into her powerslam off the top for a near fall. Kyoko hit her Niagara driver on Ito, but Ito was just able to kick out. For the third time of the match, Ito ducked Kyoko’s lariat and tried to German suplex Kyoko, but this time things were different as she was finally successful in executing the spot, but really unsuccessful as she couldn’t put Kyoko away with it. Ito whipped Kyoko into the ropes, but off the rebound, Kyoko lariated her for a near fall. It looked as if Kyoko could end it with her Niagara driver, but Ito once again stopped it by kicking Kyoko on the way up. A brilliant sequence followed as the workers seemingly switched places for a moment with Ito trying Kyoko’s move, the lariat, but Kyoko outsmarting Ito by using her counter for the move, the German suplex. The German suplex for the lariat spot proved ineffective as a finisher in this match, as Ito also kicked out, but the spot led to Ito’s demise as Kyoko followed it with her Niagara driver for the win. Kyoko captured the WWWA title for the 2nd time. After the match, Hotta challenged Kyoko to a title match and Kyoko accepted the challenge (title match will occur on 8/20). Nice set up and counters of the key spots and all around solid work. Not very flashy, just good solid and effective stuff. The sparse crowd wasn’t into Ito’s offense at all, which may be due to the fact that she is devoid of charisma. Only 12:30 aired, which makes it kind of hard to judge and hard to compare to their 5/11 match as less than half of that was shown as well. Definitely a very good match. 26:01. ****1/4

Champ Forum Michinoku Pro 6/28/97 taped 6/22 Namia

Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask 4 vs. Gran Hamada & Jinsei Shinzaki. This was billed as a dream tag match. The thought of Shinlazy in a dream match just doesn’t sit right with me. The match definitely fell quite a bit short of the standards you would expect from a dream match. Shinzaki used his reverse splash off the 2nd on Sasuke. Tiger did a series of kicks which Shinzaki barely sold (Tiger didn’t seem too happy about that either). Shinzaki did his rope walk. Shinzaki tried his reverse splash off the 2nd, but Sasuke got his knees up. Tiger missile kicked Shinzaki. Shinzaki’s selling was so bad. Tiger & Sasuke tried a double jujigatame, but Shinzaki ridiculously resisted both. Sasuke & Tiger applied a double heel hold. Sasuke rolled under a wheel kick then tried a wheel kick of his own, but Hamada avoided it. Sasuke knocked Hamada to the floor with a handspring elbow then quebrada’d him. Tiger dropkicked Shinzaki to the floor then toped him. Sasuke did a great Liger dive to Shinzaki. Hamada gave Sasuke his swinging DDT off the 2nd. Hamada held Sasuke and Shinzaki tried a diving shoulderblock, but Sasuke avoided it and Shinzaki got hit. Sasuke & Tiger Mask 4 double teamed Shinzaki, including doing the double elimination, for a near fall. Shinzaki ducked a double high kick then chopped Tiger. Shinzaki tried a strike on Sasuke, but Sasuke rolled under it then hit a rolling savate. Sasuke went to the top looking to dive at Shinzaki, but Hamada reentered the ring and Frankensteinered Sasuke off the top. Shinzaki used his diving headbutt for a near fall on Sasuke. Tiger moonsaulted Shinzaki for a near fall. Tiger ran off the ropes, but Shinzaki caught him with a spinning savate. Shinzaki then used his powerbomb on Tiger. Shinzaki applied his gokuraku hold for the win. Work was fine. Shinzaki was bad, but Sasuke can get more mileage out of him than anyone, so he was not as bad as usual. Hamada barely worked in the part that aired, which took the match down a lot. Disappointing. 21:53. ***

Dick Togo vs. Super Delfin. This looked to be the burial of Super Delfin. He might be able to come back in a different role, but after seeing this match, I don’t see how he could possibly return as a top face. The crowd was chanting for Delfin. Togo was in the ring first (they didn’t show the ECW influenced part where he came out to The Pitbulls music and drank beer in the ring like Beachbum). Delfin was in the dressing room and Gran Naniwa showed up in the ring as he was originally scheduled for this match. Delfin had asked Naniwa to give him the match instead, but Naniwa didn’t want to give the match up (Sasuke changed the card against his will). Delfin came out and saw Naniwa in the ring, which lead to a somewhat heated discussion between that culminated with Delfin in the ring to wrestle and Naniwa watching from the aisle. The crowd was very pro Delfin. Togo’s initial offense was extremely short lived as Delfin ducked Togo’s lariat and hit a thrust kick, which popped the crowd. Delfin totally controlled the early portion, using several of his favorite spots including his brainbuster, backdrop, quebradora, and a beautiful rana into a huracanrana. Delfin was so dominant that he went to his finishing sequence, the swinging DDT off the 2nd then Delfin Clutch, however, Togo not only kicked out of the Delfin Clutch, he kicked out quickly. Togo looked like taking Delfin’s best offense had not phased him at all. This scared the crap out of Delfin, who crawled into the corner as if he was backing away from Jason Voorhees. From this point forward, Togo totally dominated the match. Initially, the DX helped Togo as Teioh distracted the ref while Togo tried to rip Delfin’s mask, however Togo really didn’t need much help. Togo took the action to the floor, connection on a stiff chair shot then hitting a killer DDT’d off the stage through a table. That was not the end of the ECW spots as when they finally returned to the ring, Togo splashed Delfin off the top through a table. Togo used a released German suplex and a gutwrench suplex. The crowd was chanting for Delfin to come back, but there hero was just further embarrassed as Togo put two Delfin signs over their fallen hero. What followed was 6 seconds of footage that summed up the events of the day, Togo’s with his foot on top of signs that were on top of Delfin then a tilt up to see Togo posing like a champion body builder then a cut to another closeup of Togo’s foot on the helpless hero. Togo had Delfin surely pinned after his backdrop, but chose to pull him up so he could dish out an even fiercer beating. Togo delivered a double arm suplex, but rather than cover Delfin, he taunted and slapped him. Togo used a brainbuster DDT. Togo played to the crowd while Referee Ted Tanabe tried to persuade Delfin to fight back. Delfin was shaking his head and telling Tanabe, "NO!" Togo got on the house mic and said, ""Shame on you! If you crawl through my legs, I will stop attacking you." In Japan and China, crawling through ones legs means you submit. The DX grapped Sasuke, who was watching at ringside, and Hanzo piledrove him on the floor. Meanwhile, Naniwa was just hanging around in the aisle watching with his hands crossed. Delfin crawled though Togo’s legs, so Tanabe called for the bell since this was the equivalent of Delfin submitting. Togo got on the house mic and said (not sure if this was shown), "Did you really think I was gonna stop?" There was a great shot of Sasuke screaming to his friend Delfin while one of the DX held him by strings attached to his mask. Togo & Teioh stomped on Delfin. The DX capped it all off by restraining Sasuke at ringside while Teioh gave Delfin his his miracle ecstasy (nodowa bomb) and Togo followed with his diving senton. Sasuke was screaming at ringside, but Naniwa had disappeared. At some point they cut Delfin’s costume apart, cut his hair, then sprayed fool on his back, but this wasn’t shown on tv. You could hear a pin drop while Sasuke was carrying Delfin, who now had no top on, back to the dressing room. It seemed as if the fans had just seen Superman lose his cape. Sasuke laid Delfin on the floor and unlaced his boots with Delfin not moving a muscle. The work was good and the match was good for what it was, which was basically a glorified squash match. 11:11. ***

Gran Naniwa & Masato Yakushiji & Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. Men’s Teioh & Shoichi Funaki & Hanzo Nakajima. This was actually the 2nd match on the 4 match card, but it was shown last I guess to not leave viewers on a sour note like they did to the fans at the arena. Naniwa was the big star of the face side here as he controlled things when he was in, while his partners were not so successful in doing the same. Hoshikawa ducked Hanzo’s lariat and tried to German suplex Hanzo, but after several go-behinds, Hanzo German suplexed him. Naniwa did a cool swinging DDT where he climbs the ropes to Hanzo. Naniwa DDT’d Hanzo. Yakushiji tried his moonsault off the 2nd, but Hanzo got his boots up. Teioh piledrove Yakushiji for a near fall. Yakushiji was dominated. Naniwa powerbombed Funaki for a near fall. Yakushiji missile dropkicked Funaki then Naniwa Doctor bombed Funaki for a near fall. Teioh powerslammed Yakushiji for a near fall. Yakushiji ducked a lariat and tried a German suplex, but Teioh lariated him and covered, but Hoshikawa made the save. Teioh used his old full nelson suplex finisher on Yakushiji. Teioh put Yakushiji in a submission that was kind of like an inverted stretch plum, but Hoshikawa broke it up. Teioh went to the 2nd & Funaki & Hoshikawa were going to hand Yakushiji to him, but Naniwa & Hoshikawa dropkicked them to break it up. The faces did a triple dive with Nawiwa doing a plancha and the other two doing topes. Funaki put Hoshikawa in a ½ crab. Funaki backdropped Hoshikawa for a near fall. Funaki then lariated Hoshikawa for a near fall. Hoshikawa landed on his feet for a suplex and tried a German suplex, but Funaki got the ropes. Funaki tried a lariat, but Hoshikawa kicked him then used his Northern Lights suplex for a near fall. Hoshikawa German suplexed Funaki, but Hanzo saved. Yakushiji missile dropkicked Hoshikawa. Yakushiji moonsaulted Hoshikawa off the 2nd for a near fall. Yakushiji ran off the ropes, but Hanzo Death Valley bombed him. Hanzo used a bodyslam position piledriver on Yakushiji. Hanzo did the Kobashi powerbomb and jackknife on Yakushiji, but Naniwa saved. Teioh ducked a lariat and backdropped Naniwa. Teioh tried his miracle ecstacy, but Hanzo came off the top with a great enzuiguri. Yakushiji hit his swandive spinkick on Teioh. Naniwa used his spinning Doctor bomb on Teioh, but Funaki saved. Yakushiji used a rana into a Frankensteiner off the top for a near fall on Funaki. Yakushiji fisherman bustered Funaki, but Hanzo saved. Funaki rolled Yakushiji into a kneebar for the submission. Real exciting. Great work, highspots, and near falls. Great finishing sequence. Fans were into Naniwa. Hanzo was even good here. A couple of screwed up spots, but definitely a very good match. 16:18. ****

Champ Forum Gaea 6/21/97 taped 5/25 Tokyo Korakuen Hall

KAORU vs. Chigusa Nagayo. This match showed Gaea’s move (or at least current trend) toward more realistic submission oriented matches. KAORU put Chigusa in the jujigatame (cross armbreaker), but Chigusa got a rope break. KAORU hit her swandive missile kick. KAORU tried a springboard move, but Chigusa threw her off the 2nd. Chigusa then put her in the jujigatame, but KAORU got the ropes. Chigusa used an armbreaker. Chigusa tried another armbreaker, but KAORU turned it into a sleeper. Nice spot, which Chigusa got out of it by ramming KAORU into the corner. KAORU avoided a high kick and went into a choke sleeper, but Chigusa got a rope break. Chigusa tried a backdrop, but KAORU switched it and backdropped Chigusa. KAORU backdropped Chigusa again then went back to the jujigatame, but Chigusa got another rope break. KAORU used her moonsault 3 times in a row, but rather than cover, KAORU applied a headscissors. Chigusa escaped the headscissors with another rope break. KAORU ducked Chigusa’s leg lariat then Chigusa ducked KAORU’s springboard moonsault, so the signature high spots weren’t working in this more realistic match. Chigusa used a version of the facelock on KAORU, who of course got a rope break. Chigusa applied a kneebar, but KAORU got a rope break. Chigusa used her running three finisher. Chigusa then went to pick KAORU up for another powerbomb, but KAORU applied a headscissor arm bar. Chigusa tried to roll out of the headscissor arm bar, but wound up in the more lethal jujigatame. KAORU used a series of lame kneecap dropkicks to weaken Chigusa’s knee then put Chigusa in a kneebar, but there was yet another rope break. KAORU hit her excalibar (Michinoku Driver II). Rather than go for the pin, KAORU tried for another kneebar, but Chigusa turned it into the heel hold for the win. Totally submission oriented match with the only high spots being the signature spots. The selling of the submissions could have been much better though. They really didn’t get the submissions over because they went through submission after submission, in many cases with the workers in the middle of the ring, and they were all escaped with rope breaks. Just way too many rope breaks. If you want to get submissions over, you can’t have the workers not submitting to locked in submissions and being able to struggle to the ropes time after time. It was kind of like the bad of Battlarts, as in they were going through submissions left and right with little psychology to the workers being able to escape them. Some of the spots were nicely set up and the work was solid. This seemed to be the two workers just trying to learn different submission spots and show them to the crowd in the process. This could lead to a very good match once they get everything down as they could incorporate their regular spots with the submission moves and have a more diverse match with better psychology. This style is good for Chigusa because it requires much less movement and athleticism. After the match, Chigusa gave KAORU her shin pads and KAORU cried in joy. 8:46. **3/4

Toshiyo Yamada & Meiko Satomura & Sonoko Kato vs. Akira Hokuto & Maiko Matsumoto& Toshie Uematsu. Kind of a scattered match. No one really looked good or bad here, although Matsumoto is by far the worst of the bunch. Kato had her bad knee taped and wore a kneepad over it. Kato’s shoulder was also taped. Satomura’s arm was bandaged up, so a key to the early portion of the match was her opponents working that over, but all this never led anywhere. Hokuto dangerous backdropped Satomura and covered, but pulled her up. Matsumoto tried to apply the jujigatame, but Satomura blocked. Satomura turned to her stomach, which allowed Matsumoto to get the jujigatame on. Matsumoto put Satomura in an arm bar and Uematsu came off the top with a boot. Uematsu worked Satomura’s bad arm some more, then Hokuto joined in the fun. Hokuto put Satomura in a boston crab and Uematsu & Matsumoto both put Satomura in arm bars. Satomura finally tagged Yamada, who came in and dominated Uematsu. Uematsu had knee support on, so Satomura worked her knee. Matsumoto & Uematsu both jujigatame’d Satomura at once. Matsumoto put Satomura in an arm bar then Hokuto came off the top with an elbow to Satomura’s bad arm. Hokuto hit her spin kick on Satomura. Yamada and Hokuto finally squared off. Yamada hit her reverse diving brain kick on Hokuto. Hokuto ducked Yamada’s high wheel kick. Satomura & Kato tried to superplex Uematsu, but Hokuto knocked both off the ropes. Uematsu then tried to flying splash Kato, but missed. Kato hit her bulldog on Matsumoto. Kato tried her bulldog, but Matsumoto slammed her off. Hokoto tried her Northern Lights bomb, but Kato slipped out. Yamada tried her reverse Gori special bomb, but Hokuto turned it into her deadly henkei backdrop. Uematsu tried a Dragon suplex, but Yamada got out. Uematsu tried a German suplex, but Satomura picked her leg out and turned it into a kneebar. Yamada’s team tried a triple front kick on Uematsu, but Hokuto hit them with a missile dropkick. Hokuto plancha’d all. Matsumoto used her gutwrench suplex on Satomura. Uematsu Northern Lights suplexed Satomura, but Kato saved by pushing Uematsu into the ropes. When Uematsu ran back off the ropes, Satomura Death Valley bombed her for the win. Too long. Some good stuff, but also a lot of filler. Not much in psychology and lacked the workrate required to somewhat make up for it. 18:13. **

Women of FMW on Samurai! TV Megumi Kudo Retirement block

This show makes a good complement to Anthology as it adds the matches after 3/14/97 when Anthology ends and shows Kudo’s wretched retirement match.

First they showed highlights of the 4/29/97 Yokohama Arena undercard. These were different highlights then the commercial tape. The camera angles on the whole tape were different than the camera angles on the FMW commercial tapes as I guess Samurai has their own crew film this stuff. The angles on the commercial tape were much better in almost every case, which I guess isn’t very surprising. Ricky Fuji & Ricky Morton vs. Dragon Winger & Hido looked worse here as the execution was far from good. Koji Nakagawa vs. Katsutoshi Niiyama was much better on the commercial tape as they showed a lot more of the match. Their match was actually told a solid story, so it fell flat in this short chopped up version. The 10-woman tag was a bit better in this version. Michiko Nagashima did a spot with Kaori Nakayama outside the ring on a table where Nagashima climbed up the ropes then splashed Kaori, which cracked the table. Hiromuchi Fuyuki & Jado & Gedo vs. Head Hunters & Hisakatsu Oya looked like it was at least a better than average match. Some highlights that weren’t shown on the commercial tape where A using the Michinoku Driver II on Jado and B (?) trying a splash off the top rope with Gedo on a table, but Gedo moved so the Hunter broke the table. The Hunters seemed to finally be trying again. The crowd was popping during this match. Overall, the crowd seemed a bit noisier on this tape, so maybe Samurai! Mic’d it better or maybe crowd noise was added in post production. Hayabusa vs. Mr. Gannosuke was the match they featured during these highlights. They showed a lot of it, more than any of the other matches, which shows that they also recognized this was the best match. They didn’t show Quinones bump though, which greatly took away from the enjoyment of the match.

They went through the Kudo vs. Kandori series, showing the 3/14 match. They also showed the 3/21 Kudo vs. Shark match where Shark wins the WWA & Independent women’s titles. I’ve discussed all this before.

Kudo & Bison Kimura vs. the lowest form of life Shark Tsuchiya & Lioness (but I really wish I was a Shark) Asuka in a bunkhouse death match from 3/28/97. This was pretty much what you would expect as Kudo did all the selling. The "luminary" Bison was absolutely useless in this match. She pulled a Rie, as in, she may has well have bought a ticket and watched the match from the front row. Kudo’s ribs were all taped up. Shark tried to use her rod on Kudo, but Kudo turned it into a wakigatame. Kudo gave Shark a flying Frankensteiner. Kudo then toped Shark. Lioness tried a kick, but Bison caught her leg, so Lioness enzuiguried. Lioness tried a kick, but Bison caught her leg and Dragon screwed. Lioness & Shark gave Kudo a sandwhich lariat. Shark used her barbed wire rod to Kudo’s taped ribs. Bison tried to save Kudo, but Shark hit her with the rod. Shark used her sickle to bloody Kudo’s scalp. Shark swung the sickle at Kudo twice, but Kudo, of course, avoided that. Lioness used a chain to tie Bison to the ring post. That was the end of Bison in this match as she was stuck there. Shark used the barbed wire rod on Kudo. Kudo came back with elbows. Lioness tried a back body drop, but Kudo turned it into a DDT, which was a nice spot. Kudo threw Lioness to Bison, who was still tied to the ring post. Bison was able to hold Aska for a little while and allow Kudo to go 1-1 with Shark. Shark tried her Tsuchiya bomb, but Kudo turned it into a Toyota roll for a near fall. Kudo tried her spinning Kudo driver, but Lioness broke it up with kicks. Lioness did a henkei powerbomb on a chair. Shark Tsuchiya bombed Kudo with Lioness spiking it. Shark could have won, but chose to pull Kudo up instead. Shark piledrove Kudo on chairs for a near fall. Lioness used her Towerhacker bomb (torture rack turned into a powerbomb) on Kudo for a near fall. Shark then powerbombed Kudo for the win. Real one-sided. Not horrible because Kudo did all the selling, as opposed to Shark trying to sell and screwing things up. Not enjoyable. Shark wasn’t ruining as many spots as usual, but there weren’t really any difficult spots at all for her to botch or blunder. *3/4

Megumi Kudo vs. Mayumi Ozaki in a no rope barbed wire barricade double hell death match from 4/18/97. For a women’s gimmick match, this is about as good a match as you can get on paper and after seeing it, it more than met my expectations. Seeing Ozaki, the coolest of the cool and the minkiest of the minky, against Kudo after seeing the crap Kudo is stuck doing with the lowest form of life, Shark, was like the difference between day and night. Instead of the usual crap where the face, Kudo, takes all the bumps and the heel sells nothing and cuts Kudo up, Ozaki sold even more than Kudo in this match. You would figure Ozaki would be out of her element here as, although she’s the queen of the street fights, this was her first (and actually hopefully last) venture into the barbed wire death match. As always though, Ozaki proved that she could more than adapt to any situation she’s in and proved once again to be credible against any opponent in any style of match. Ozaki is the best heel in the world right now. The main reason she is such a great heel is that she has so much character, personality, and charisma. As is usually the case with great heels, she is so good and so cool that it’s near impossible not to like her. Anyway, this was basically the two babes of wrestling that are willing to put their looks on the line doing a crazy death match which had good wrestling and very good transition, but also sick bumps. The only sucky thing about this match was that Samurai! didn’t air the whole thing (at least not on this show) and what they cut out was the build to the gimmick spots, which is really what makes or breaks these matches. Kudo threw her t-shirt in Oz’s face then Ozaki attacked Kudo. Both women tried to slide each other off the apron into the barricade, but were unsuccessful. Kudo tried to whip Oz off the apron, but Oz reversed, so Kudo slid to avoid going into the barricade. Samurai cut out a chunk of the match here. Oz tried to whip Kudo into the barbed wire, but Kudo reversed and ran Oz into the barbed wire. Kudo pushed Oz’s head into the wire, but Oz looked to get the blood by blading. Kudo used a studded chain and collar, rubbing it into Oz’s head. Oz pushed Kudo into the barbed wire. Kudo didn’t bleed as much in this match as she does with Shark, but this match was much more effective as the amount of blood isn’t really important at all. Oz then charged at Kudo, but Kudo got her foot up. Oz tried to lariat Kudo to the floor, but Kudo ducked and tried to German suplex Oz to the floor, but Oz elbowed her way out. Oz charged, but Kudo kicked her then Kudome Drivered her for a near fall. Oz’s kickout from the Kudome Driver sent Kudo flying off the apron onto the barricade, which had a ton of barbed wire on it. Ozaki put the collar, with chain attached to it, around Kudo’s neck and pulled her around the ring by the chain. Ozaki used the chain to whip Kudo into the chairs twice. Ozaki tried to pull Kudo by the chain into the barbed wire, but Kudo hip attacked Oz and sent Oz into the barbed wire. Kudo used her spinning choke sleeper for a near fall. Ozaki actually never kicked out of this, the ref just stopped the count before 3 and checked to see if Ozaki was ok then gave her a 10 count to get up. Kudo German suplexed Oz for a near fall. Kudo hit 2 Dangerous backdrops. Oz and Kudo struggled to knock each other off the apron into the barricade. Ozaki arm dragged Kudo, but Kudo pulled Ozaki and both took the bump onto the barricade (much better in actuality than in this description). That was a pretty crazy bump. With Oz still lying on the barricade filled with barbed wire, Kudo splashed Ozaki off the apron. Insane spot for both, but especially Kudo as she had to land in the barbed wire. Ozaki delivered a pyramid driver for a near fall. Kudo reversed Oz’s whip into the barbed wire, but Oz got her foot up to avoid being sent into it. Kudo ducked Oz’s uraken and elbowed Oz into the barbed wire. With Oz leaning against the barbed wire, Kudo charged at Ozaki with a lame elbow. Kudo used a fisherman buster for a near fall. Kudo tried her Kudome driver, but Oz blocked it. Oz tried a lariat, but Kudo caught Oz’s lariat arm and went into her Kudome driver for a near fall. Kudo tried a powerbomb, but Oz slipped out. Oz tried a Toyota roll, but Kudo turned it into a spinning powerbomb. Kudo showed her Misawa influence by elbowing Oz. Kudo tried to elbow Oz off the apron, but Oz ducked. Kudo elbowed Oz for a near fall. Kudo tried her spinning Kudo driver, but Oz flipped over and landed on her feet then hit her Tequila Sunrise (1/2 nelson German suplex not the submission move the Konehead does) for a near fall and a big pop. Oz wrapped the chain around her hand and swung it at Kudo, but Kudo ducked. Oz swung the chain back in the other direction, but Kudo ducked again and did her spinning Kudo driver for the win. Oz & Kudo shook hands after the match. Real good match with enough wrestling and enough gimmick spots. One of the best death matches I’ve ever seen. Maybe the best women’s death match of all-time, but only about 10:30 aired, so you can’t tell. I’m not much of a fan of this style match, but this was just plain good and I liked it a lot. 17:18. ****

Kudo & Kaori Nakayama vs. the lowest form of life Shark Tsuchiya & Crusher Maedomari from 4/25/97. They basically only showed the parts where Kudo was wrestling. Seemed ok as Crusher was actually half decent and this match was a wrestling match rather than the usual Shark cuts up the faces stuff. Shark used her Tsuchiya bomb to pin Kaori.

Megumi Kudo vs. the lowest form of life Shark Tsuchiya in Kudo’s retirement match from 4/29/97. This was a tamer version than the commercial tape version as the camera was farther back, so it was much less graphic. The Tsuchiya bomb into the land mine, particularly didn’t look as sick as you couldn’t see how bad Kudo landed. Most of the match aired, but the post match stuff was barely shown.

Special Thanks to (in alphabetical order) Zach Arnold, Bob Barnett, Frank Jewett, Scott Lacy, Koji Yamamoto, & John D. Williams