Quebrada

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

With 1996 coming to an end, many of the Independents are running their final major show of the year this week. The first of these shows is All Japan Women’s on 12/8 from Tokyo Sumo Hall. This should be a very good show because the main event will be great. The match I am referring to is Manami Toyota vs. Kyoko Inoue for Toyota’s WWWA title. I have never seen a singles match between these two that was below 4 3/4 stars. This match should be particularly good for two reasons. First it is a title match, so that always raises everyone to their peak (remember I’m talking Puroresu not Hogan). More importantly is the fact that the last time they met (3/31/96) was Kyoku’s return from a shoulder injury and she wasn’t 100%. The selling point of this match has been that they couldn’t do the match they wanted last time because of Kyoko’s injury. I don’t know if the 5/7/95 60:00 draw could be topped, but it sounds like they might try. Toyota won the last match, so if they plan another rematch in 1997 they probably need to do another draw (though it wouldn't be worth the toll on their already aging bodies in the long run) or give Kyoko the title. I think the former is more likely than the latter, since Toyota basically carries this promotion on her back with the Matsunagas seeming unwilling to repush Aja Kong or bring a younger wrestler near Toyota's level. Either way, I’m sure they will have an excellent long match and the possibility of another draw or even a teased draw really excites me. I will predict a 4 3/4 star draw, but I can see that undefeated record in my predictions from the Inoki festival on 12/1 going out the window.

Another interesting match pairs the two best female brawlers in Japan, Aja Kong and Dynamite Kansai vs. Takako Inoue & Mariko Yoshida. This should be an excellent match because they are all very good workers. Kong & Kansai, who are two of the biggest women in Japan, have their best matches against the smaller athletic girls so this should be no exception. I will be shocked if Kong & Kansai lose, especially because Kansai is JWP’s top star and that promotion has to get a win on this card somewhere. Should be around 4 stars.

Chaparrita ASARI defends her WWWA World Super Lightweight Title against JWP’s Fusayo Nouchi. ASARI has always been a great flyer and she has become a good worker. Both women are very small. This should have a lot of action and some great flying spots. I expect ASARI to win, hopefully with her awesome sky twister press. 3 ½ star range.

The other interesting match on the card is Yoshiko Tamura, Yuka Shiina, & Yumi Fukawa vs. Chiquita Azteca (Esther Moreno of EMLL), Pequena Azteca (Alda Moreno of EMLL), & Bloody Phoenix (Naomi Kato of Jd). The AJW team consists of three of their so-called promising young wrestlers. Tamura has fire and is a good athlete, so she should be good sometime soon. Shiina and Fukawa are green and don’t really do much. AJW really needs to do something to stir up interest among teenage girls. Since they started appealing to everyone, rather than just teenage girls, their applications are way down and they can’t be nearly as selective of their wrestlers as they were. Right now aside from ASARI and Tamura all the young girls are mediocre. The AJW team doesn’t have much in the way of hot moves, but they are more well rounded when it comes to transitions and selling. The Azteca’s on the other hand are great aerial wrestlers and do high spots galore but in recent years seem to miss more than they hit. It’s always interesting to see how a match with high spot wrestlers vs. solid, but unexciting workers goes. Unfortunately it usually turns out disappointing because the solid worker can't harness the spot machine. It’s also interesting to see former AJW wrestlers like Bloody Phoenix work for the old promotion. I think the AJW team will win and the match will be in the 2 ½ star range.

The uninteresting part of this show to me is the four shoot matches. Yumiko Hotta vs. Rosina Elina (Soviet judo) and Kaoru Ito vs. Tania White (Jui Jitsu fighter from Australia) are under UFC rules. Kumiko Maekawa vs. Aya Mitsui (Fudoukan) and Sayo Endoh vs. Yoko Takahashi (Jd’) are under kickboxing rules. I like legit matches, but for some reason they always bore me and are the lowlights of the show. Maybe it’s because no matter how good a legit match you have you can’t compete with a great worked match. Maybe it’s because AJW’s legit matches just aren’t that good because their wrestlers barely have time to train for them. Hotta was defeated by Elina in the finals of the U* tournament over the summer and this is the first rematch. Takahashi is a former AJW wrestler who concentrates on legit fighting a lot. Only prediction here is that Takahashi will win.

The next big show is FMW on 12/11 at Tokyo Komazawa Olympic Park Gym. This is the show where Mr. Pogo retires. Pogo has had an interesting career. He was trained by New Japan and debuted for that promotion on 3/30/72 against Tatsumi Fujinami. If they had that match today you would sure see conflicting styles. Anyway, Pogo was a lazy bumb who didn’t like training so he up and left New Japan. Pogo moved to Puerto Rico and became a star there. He also wrestled in Mexico and the U.S. He was actually Mr. Togo, but a Texas promoter (in typical American fashion) misadvertised his name as Mr. Pogo. Apparently it was too late to change the advertising or something because the name stuck. In the late 1980's Victor Quinones, who Pogo worked for in Puerto Rico, brought him to Japan. Pogo was immediately a star there and he competed in some of the wildest matches in the history of wrestling. He might be the most famous wrestler that was predominantly a free agent. Pogo is a terrible wrestler, but he is a great heel with good psychology by garbage standards (yes, he is currently a face). He is also a proven draw. Atsushi Onita certainly wouldn’t have been as popular if he didn’t have Mr. Pogo to scar him up.

Pogo’s match is an eight-man elimination tag match where Victor Quinones has to leave FMW if Pogo’s team wins. Pogo teams with Atsushi Onita, Masato Tanaka, and Koji Nakagawa against the Headhunters, Hisakatsu Oya, & Terry Funk. This match certainly spans the spectrum when it comes to workrate. Oya and Tanaka are two of the three best workers in FMW. I bet New Japan is kicking themselves for getting rid of Oya because he is better than most of their heavyweights. Tanaka has improved a lot and has become a really underrated worker. Pogo is injured up and pretty much shot since the Shiodome, but he doesn’t do anything athletic so it won’t hurt the match that much. Injured or not he can still use the Ginsu knife and blow fireballs. As I mentioned previously, Onita is coming out of retirement for this show. He hasn’t wrestled in 19 months, but like Pogo he doesn’t rely on conditioning and workrate. He might be rusty, but it won’t affect him like it will affect Hiroshi Hase when he returns. Nakagawa is a Bret Hart wanna be. He dresses like Hart and wins with the sharpshooter. Unfortunately he is no where near as good as Bret in the ring, and like most things today all comparisons are on the superficial level. Headhunters were very good in 1995, but in 1996 whether it be in ECW or FMW they have been lazy. Funk and Onita despise each other to the point where one of them might shoot. It’s hard to predict the quality of this match. It will probably be around 3 stars, but it could be a bit better or a lot worse depending on the competitor’s physical condition and what mood the Headhunters are in. Pogo’s team will definitely win because Victor Quinones, who was the booker, has been fired from FMW.

The main event of Hayabusa vs. Great Sasuke is a match that should have been great, but won’t be. The reason it won’t be great is that it’s a no rope barbed wire spider net glass crush death match. Way to go Victor! What a stroke of genius booking two of the greatest high flyers ever in a match that will contain almost no flying. I generally like Quinones, but this is sheer stupidity. FMW has to be better in 1997 because Nakagawa and Quinones will not be booking. Those two are not necessarily bad bookers (depends on who you talk to), but with them booking along with FMW President Arai you have a promotion going in three different directions. One person’s vision, even if it is bad, is generally better than no focus at all. Getting back to the match, this should have been a great chance for Hayabusa to improve. The problem with Hayabusa is that, although he might be the best for pure aerial ability, he isn’t close to a great worker. Hayabusa could certainly learn a thing or two about how to set your moves up from Sasuke, but instead he will learn if his body can withstand some more crazy bumps. Hayabusa is really injury prone and his body is already a mess, so this match could be the last we see of him for a while. Sasuke has only been back from his injured skull for two months, but this match might actually be less dangerous for him because we won’t be seeing any Rider Kicks. Sasuke has proven in past matches of this sort that he doesn’t want to take bumps into the barbed wire. The worst Sasuke match I ever saw was vs. Onita in a no rope barbed wire explosive electrified land mine double hell death match. I am very leery about this one and will be glad if these two escape without injury. Hayabusa will win because he put over Shinzaki on the 10/10 Michinoku show. 2 stars seems like a fair estimate although Sasuke matches are that bad about as often as El Boricua matches are that good.

Gladiator takes on Yukihiro W*ING Kanemura to unify the World Brass Knucks title and the Independent world title. Kanemura is among the three best in this promotion. He can wrestle, but for some reason (masochism?) prefers bloody brawls. He will wrestle in this one though. Gladiator is the best big man in the sport when it comes to flying. Unfortunately, like Hayabusa, he is very injury prone and not great all around. Gladiator has approached 4 stars with Hayabusa, so he could do it again against a better opponent like Kanemura. This will certainly contain a plethora of high spots, but I suppose you could say that about every FMW match. This has a chance to be the best match of the show.

LLPW’s Shinobu Kandori challenges Megumi Kudo for her WWA/Independent women’s title. Kudo is the only woman in FMW that can work. She’s obviously not in the class with the Toyota’s, Kyoko’s, or Shimoda’s of the world, but she is good enough to have a good match with anyone capable. Kandori is considered the toughest of all the female wrestlers in Japan. She does the tough girl/shooter gimmick. I generally don’t like Kandori’s work, but this could be decent. There is certainly a style clash here. Kudo has had good matches with Hotta, who’s is a lot better than Kandori but wrestlers a similar style, so she could carry this to around 3 stars. I don’t think FMW is thrilled enough with about LLPW to give one of their wrestlers the belt.

Rie Nakamura & Chikako Shiratori of Jd’ vs. Crusher Maedomari & Shark Tsuchiya will be awful. Tsuchiya is the worst of all the veteran women in Japan. Nakamura might not have the Bad (Nurse) moniker anymore, but she is still a bad worker. Shiratori used to work for All Japan Women and is easily the best of this group. Crusher is another "killer" heels with silly painted hair. Crusher can do a few things decently and is less lazy than Shark. 1 star is about all you can hope for. Actually, all I hope for is Shiratori escaping without scars.

TAKA Michinoku vs. Hayato Nanjyo for TAKA’s Independent Title should be the show stealer. These are two of the best flyers on the planet. TAKA is the most athletic wrestler I have ever seen. Hayato is an unheralded wrestler. He has a lot of great spots and when he fights someone that’s good (other than Riki Fuji) he has a good match. TAKA beat Nanjyo on 8/1 in a hair vs. hair match. Shouldn’t be worse than 3 ½ stars and 4 isn’t out of the question.

WAR, Kitao Dojo, Wrestle Dream Factory, Michinoku Pro, Big Japan, Samurai Project, Battlarts, and the remains of IWA have joined together to form "The Union." The purpose of the Union is to combat Tokyo Pro Wrestling and their owner Kataro Ishizawa. Ishizawa had a crazy idea that he could buy every indy promotion in Japan, but none of these groups were willing to sell. The first combined project for these promotions is WAR’s Ryoguko Crush Night on 12/13 at Tokyo Sumo Hall. Despite all these groups working together, this 11-match card looks mediocre. Ultimo Dragon vs. Rey Misterio Jr. for the J-CROWN should be awesome. They had a super match in WCW and in Japan it won’t be any worse. Yuji Yasuraoka & Lance Storm defend their International Junior Heavyweight titles against Tiger Mask Sayama & mystery partner. This should be good as long as the mystery partner is good. Everyone will be raving about Storm if/when he works in the U.S. in 1997. Luckily they got New Japan to help out because the only other definitely good match is Kazuo Yamazaki & Takashi Iizuka of New Japan vs. Nobutaku Araya & Koki Kitahara. Yamazaki and Kitahara should have a good kicking exchange. Nobuhiko Takada vs. Genichiru Tenryu could be good. Their match in September was supposed to be good. Tenryu is rarely good these days though he's a big match wrestler and should be motivated and Takada simply isn’t what he used to be and has lost much of the motivation he had during the interpromotional drubbing against NJ. Takada will do the job here to return the favor. Takada should be given most of the offense since he is losing, so if he’s fired up he might be able to save it. If Takada is indifferent like against Abdullah then forget about it. Although it will be horrible, the most intriguing match on this show might be a rematch 5 years in the making between Koji Kitao vs. John Tenta. On 3/30/91 at the Tokyo Dome, the two met in one of the most infamous matches of all-time. Kitao was supposed to do the job, but he refused (eventually gave in though) since he was a Sumo star while Tenta was an opening card wrestler. Great Kabuki was mad at Kitao because he didn’t like his attitude and told Tenta to make him look foolish. The result was a no cooperation match. Tenta basically did all the no cooperating as he no sold shoulderblocks and forearms. Kitao just kept giving Tenta a funny look. Kitao had Tenta set up for big clotheslines twice, but when he started running Tenta moved as quickly as Tenta ever moves to get out of the way. After the match, Kitao was so pissed he got on the house Mic and said pro wrestling was fake. This is sure to be a terrible match that will be very forgettable. Kitao will win this worst match of the year candidate.

I got a chance to see the Michinoku Pro tv special from 10/13/96. The show, which was one of the biggest shows in the history of the promotion, was taped on 10/10 from Tokyo Sumo Hall. The show certainly had its highs and lows. The first match was Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. Johnny Saint. Thankfully this was just a clip because Saint looked awful. The match could best be summed up by saying that Saint even blew the Muta spot where he enters the ring by slinging over the top rope and landing on his feet. Hoshikawa, who is normally good, showed nothing either. I have no idea why it even aired. Next was Wellington Wilkins Jr. vs. Lenny Lane for Wilkins PWA title. This was clipped, but it was ok. The post match was actually the best part as Yone Genjin attacked Wilkins with a briefcase and plancha’d him. Wilkins made a comeback and wound up laying Genjin out with a powerbomb. The Battlarts tag match with Yuki Ishikawa & Alexander Otsuka vs. Daisuke Ikeda & Santoshi Yoneyama was a pleasant surprise. Although I have seen Ishikawa & Ikeda, this was the first Battlarts match I ever saw. I knew Battlarts was a worked shoot group, but figured it wouldn’t be that good. Instead I saw a good, stiff, exciting match that was well booked. The nostalgia match was chopped to bits to protect the innocent. The team of Mil Mascaras, Tiger Mask Sayama, and Great Sasuke had the "best flyer" from each of the past three decades. They faced Mascasas’ brother Dos Caras and two of Sayama’s most famous opponents in Dynamite Kid and Kuniaki Kobayashi. Sayama and Dynamite hadn’t faced each other since their last legendary match 13 years ago. Unfortunately this Dynamite Kid was a shell of his former self who weighted anywhere from 125-145 pounds. He looked really anemic and couldn’t take bumps because the entire left side of his body is numb from nerve damage. It was really sad to see one of the greatest performers of all-time in such sad physical condition, but this is one of the dark sides of an industry that is more and more built upon roids. At least he was able to give us one last snap suplex. Mascaras has no physique left (not that I care and I'd much rather see him like than as an artificial freak), but he worked hard and even did a cross body plancha off the top. What they showed looked pretty good, but the fact that they only aired 3 minutes of the main draw on the show tells you all you need to know. Next was a 32:56 second high spot fest that is reviewed in detail at the end as a match of the year candidate. Last was Hayabusa vs. Jinsei Shinzaki (Hakushi) in one of the weirdest matches. The match was totally devoid of transitions and psychology. Even that description may not due it justice. Hayabusa did some of the best moves known to man, but he had no clue how to set them up. Shinzaki is a real Jekyll and Hyde and on that night we saw Hyde. Meltzer reported that a female wrestler at the show said you could do your nails in the time it took them to set up their wild spots.

I also saw 3 matches on Champ Forum from FMW’s 8/1/96 Shiodome show. Hayabusa vs. Nakagawa was bad. It was a slow dead match with a lot of blown spots. Hayabusa got no reaction after moves like the Frankensteiner off the top, moonsault, and Scorpio splash. The crowd may not have known whom to root for since they were both faces or didn’t care because it was so awful or because they knew it was going to be a screw job. In any case, the lack of reaction for Hayabusa’s return from injury isn’t a good sign. W*ING Kanemura vs. Masato Tanaka was very good. Tanaka had a slew of new scars since I last saw him. Lots of hot moves and near falls. The match had psychology, their big moves were important, and the execution was good. Next was the match that ruined Pogo’s career. There was explosive barbed wire and no ropes on two sides of the ring. The other two sides had no ropes and a platform out of the ring that had barbed wire wrapped around wooden post and broken glass inside. Funk exploded Pogo by back suplexing him on the barbed wire. There is really nothing you can do in these no rope explosive matches but build to the explosions. Quinones lit Funks branding iron on fire and gave it to him. Funk blew a fireball at Pogo, who leaped into the platform full of goodies and basically never moved again. Someone should have told Pogo to roll into the platform. Funk wasted time waiting for Pogo to get up because that wasn’t the planned finish. Meanwhile, the ref and Hideo Makimura were talking to Pogo. Obviously Funk knew Pogo was seriously hurt, but he carried on anyway. I would excuse this as him not knowing what else to do if the ref hadn't already waved the match off. Funk tried twice to blow a fireball at Pogo, but the wind blew it back. Then Funk bent down to avoid the wind and blew a fireball that ignited the paralyzed Pogo. Makimura tried to stop Funk, so Funk branded him with the flaming iron. Funk got on the house Mic and said he was happy. "No more Pogo, Pogo is dead! No More Onita, Onita is dead! No more FMW, FMW is dead!" Then Funk said, "Pogo, you’re a piece of shit." Funk & Quinones both taunted Pogo and yelled for him to get up. Pogo was eventually helped up. He was able to lean against the ring and address the crowd before being stretchered out and taken to the hospital in an ambulance. I realize that Funk wanted to turn this injury into an angle, but blowing the fireball on Pogo when he was paralyzed was uncalled for.

This week’s match of the year candidate is the Sekigun team of Masato Yakushiji, Gran Naniwa, Super Delfin, Tiger Mask #4, and Gran Hamada vs. the Kaientai team of Dick Togo, Shiryu, Mens Teoh, plus TAKA Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki. The match started off with great chain wrestling by Togo and Yakushiji. Yakushiji is like a poor man’s Rey Misterio Jr. He’s not as good a worker, but he’s extremely fast, incredibly small, and a great flyer. The match built as well as a Lucha style match can. Naniwa forward rolled under Yakushiji’s Yakuza kick and did a monkey flip, but Yakushiji cartwheeled out of it. With a great transition, Hamada turned Funaki’s clothesline into a Wakigatamae. Delfin & Shiryu worked really fast together. Highlights were Delfin sliding under a leapfrog and clotheslining Naniwa and Delfin using his tilt-a-whirl headscissors. TAKA & Naniwa traded snapmare then dropkick to head spots then got in each others face and exchanged slaps. Yakushiji did a nice Misterio Jr. baseball slide headscissors out of the ring on Teoh. Hamada countered Togo’s press slam with a huracanrana for a 2 ½ count. Yakushiji did a great spot where TAKA tried to tilt-a-whirl him. Yakushiji was actually spun around 360 degrees on this before turning it into an arm drag. Dick Togo, who is a short chubby guy, gave Naniwa a rolling senton bodyblock. Teoh turned 4's hiptoss into a jumping DDT. Teoh is a good mat wrestler, but he was out of place in this match with all the flyers. 4 did a whole Sayama sequence where he landed on his feet after a back body drop then did a rolling savate kick, backflipped out of the corner, and did another rolling savate kick. Hamada got a 2 1/4 count on TAKA after his back suplex. Delfin did a delayed brainbuster. Shiryu gave Naniwa a spinebuster, which he turned into a Boston crab and Kaientai started triple teaming. All five gave Naniwa Animal Hamaguchi elbow drops. Then Teoh gave him a double boot stomp off the 2nd, Shiryu knee drop off 2nd, TAKA and Funaki double boot stomps off top. TAKA & Funaki showed their great teamwork when Naniwa was whipped into the corner. Funaki charged with a flying forearm, TAKA did his high knee where he lands on the apron, Funaki snap suplexed Naniwa, and TAKA gave him a springboard knee drop. That entire sequence was done in 9 seconds, so that tells you the kind of speed and timing it took. Teoh and TAKA gave Hamada a flying piledriver spike. Kaientai tried to rip 4's mask off. Naniwa gave TAKA a sidebreaker and went for his crab elbow (rope-walk elbow drop off 2nd), but TAKA dropkicked him to the floor then faked a springboard plancha and instead backflipped back into the ring. Teoh suplexed Yakushiji and Shiryu came off the top with a splash for a 2 ½ count. From this point the match got really hot and the pace was even faster. Yakushiji did a different spot where he reversed TAKA’s Irish whip and turned it into a short spin kick. Hamada gave TAKA the tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Hamada powerbombed TAKA, but Funaki made the save. 4 gave Funaki a moonsault off the 2nd. Kaientai did simultaneous Frankensteiners and simultaneous topes. Funaki hit a springboard plancha on Hamada. TAKA did the move of his life and almost anyone else’s for that matter when he reversed position on a springboard and did a Super Quebrada where he flew all the way into the 2nd row ringside. The move is so awesome that words really can’t describe it. 4 countered a Shiryu suplex and tried to German suplex him, but Shiryu landed on his feet. Shiryu used a tombstone followed by a moonsault for near fall. Shiryu pressed Yakushiji and Teoh caught him in the air and powerbombed him. Togo tried for his flying senton finisher, but 4 saved Yakushiji by kicking Togo off the top to the floor. Hamada then plancha’d Togo. Yakushiji did a flying dropkick where 1 leg hit Shiryu and the other hit Teoh. Yakushiji and 4 then hit simultaneous topes. TAKA and Funaki tried springboard dropkicks on Naniwa and Delfin respectively, but got dropkicked while in midair. Naniwa and Delfin did simultaneous DDT’s for near falls. Delfin & Naniwa did simultaneous planchas. Hamada delivered a flying swinging DDT off the 2nd for a near fall on Togo. Hamada got another near fall on him with a Frankensteiner off the top. Naniwa had Shiryu in a front facelock and in a Gedo like maneuver climbed the ropes and turned it into a swinging DDT for a 2 7/8 count. Shiryu Frankensteinered Naniwa off the top, but at the 2 count Naniwa turned it into a sunset flip for another near fall. Naniwa got a near fall with a spinning Doctor bomb. Yakushiji gave Teoh a springboard spin kick. Teoh got 2 3/4 counts on Yakushiji with both a powerslam and a chokeslam. 4 countered Funaki’s back suplex, kicked him in the gut and used a fisherman buster for a 2 ½ count. 4 countered a tombstone with one of his own and leaped 3/4 of the way across the ring with a diving headbutt. 4 went for the Tiger suplex, but TAKA saved by giving him a springboard dropkick to the back. Delfin used his flying elbow and his swinging DDT off the 2nd on TAKA for near falls. Delfin did another swinging DDT off the 2nd and applied his Delfin clutch for a near fall. The crowd was getting hotter by the minute. Delfin used his German suplex into rolling crotch hold, but Teoh made the save. Delfin tried a Tiger suplex, but Togo kicked him low and jackknifed him. Togo delivered his senton off the top for the win. *****

This was the best possible match you can have in the Michinoku style. It was a nearly flawless off the charts aerial exhibition. There were high spots galore with super fast transitions. Given the style, there is really no way to improve this match without substituting talent. Delfin and Naniwa showed what they can do when they work seriously. Unlike a Michaels match, no one was out here to show up their opponents. Aside from doing possibly the greatest move ever, TAKA seemed to be holding back a bit. He certainly looked great though, as did everyone else.