-2hr 20min. Q=Master. 2 DVDs
11/20/92
Buffalo Chohi & Mongolian Yuga vs. Terry Boy & TAKA Michinoku
Coolie SZ & King vs. Super Brazo & Leopard Negro
Coloso vs. Super Delfin
Gran Hamada & Great Sasuke vs. Bulldog KT & Villano IV
Kato Kung Lee II & Robin Hood & Brazo de Platino vs. El Brazo & Brazo de Oro & Brzo de Plata
11/27/92
Coolie SZ & King & Robin Hood vs. El Brazo & Brazo de Oro & Brzo de Plata
Gran Hamada & Great Sasuke & Kendo vs. Villano IV & Bulldog KT & Super Delfin
Mask vs. Mask, UWF Super Welterweight Title Match: Super Delfin vs. Blackman 15:12
UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Title Match: Gran Hamada vs. Dr. Wagner Jr.
The Great Sasuke & Kendo & El Signo vs. El Rudo & El Sagrado & Rocky Santana
Battle Royal
The Great Sasuke & Kendo vs. El Signo & El Rudo
Andre the Giant Tribute
Buffalo Chohi vs. Shiryu 4:53
Leopardo Negro vs. Akihiro Yonekawa 7:23
TAKA Michinoku vs. Terry Boy 7:08
Seven Man Battle Royal: Leopardo Negro vs. Akihiro Yonekawa vs. Buffalo Chohi vs. Shiryu vs. TAKA Michinoku vs. Terry Boy vs. Yoshiko Kimura 3:00
Mongolian Yuga & Ricky Santana & Super Delfin vs. Black Man & El Sagrado & Kendo 11:32
El Rudo & El Signo vs. Gran Hamada & The Great Sasuke 13:01
1993 20min
3/16/93: El Rudo & El Signo vs. Gran Hamada & The Great Sasuke 13:01
7/24/93: Terry Boy vs. Jinsei Shinazaki
7/24/93 UWA World Welterweight Title Match: The Great Sasuke vs. Super Delfin
9/28/93: Super Delfin vs. SATO
9/28/93: The Great Sasuke & Atsushi Onita vs. Mr.Pogo & Jinsei Shinzaki
12/10/93 Mask vs. Mask: Super Delfin vs. SATO
12/11/93: Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto & The Great Sasuke vs. Mr. Pogo & Masaru Toi & Jinsei Shinzaki
12/26/93 No Rope Barbed Wire Street Fight Tornado 6 Man Tag Death Match: Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto & The Great Sasuke vs. Mr. Pogo & Masaru Toi & Jinsei Shinzaki
1994 37min
2/4/94: SATO & The Great Sasuke & Shiryu vs. Super Delfin & Jinsei Shinzaki & Gran Naniwa
3/4/94 Mask vs. Hair: Super Delfin vs. SATO
3/31/94: Yone Genjin vs. Wellington Wilkins Jr.
3/31/94: Jinsei Shinzaki vs. The Great Sasuke
4/29/94 Falls Count Anywhere Match: Wellington Wilkins Jr. vs. Yone Genjin
4/29/94 The Great Sasuke vs. Jinsei Shinzaki
7/30/94: The Great Sasuke & Ultimo Dragon vs. Jinsei Shinzaki & Gedo
9/15/94: Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Terry Boy
9/29/94: TAKA Michinoku vs. Gran Naniwa
9/29/94: Super Delfin vs. El Samurai
9/29/94: The Great Sasuke vs. Shinjiro Otani
10/30/94: Jinsei Shinzaki & TAKA Michinoku & Gran Naniwa vs. Dick Togo & MEN'S Teio& Shiryu
10/30/94 Eternal Flame No Rope Barbed Wire Electric Current Blast Mines Double Hell Bomb Death Match: The Great Sasuke vs. Atsushi Onita
12/17/94: Super Delfin & Gran Naniwa vs. TAKA Michinoku & Jinsei Shinzaki
1995 19min
3/3/95 Super Welterweight Title Match: Super Delfin vs. SATO
8/12/85: The Great Sasuke vs. Super Delfin
8/25/95 Mascara Contra Mascara: Gran Naniwa vs. Gorgota Cross
8/25/95 Fukumen World League Final: The Great Sasuke vs. Dos Caras
10/21/95: TAKA Michinoku vs. Tiger Mask
11/23/95: TAKA Michinoku vs. Tiger Mask
11/23/95 Michinoku Futaritabi 1995 Final: Kato Kung Lee & The Great Sasuke vs. Gran Naniwa & Super Delfin
12/13/95: Tiger Mask & Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. TAKA Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki
12/17/95: TAKA Michinoku vs. Tiger Mask
12/17/95: Super Delfin & Gran Naniwa & Sakie Hasegawa vs. The Great Sasuke & Kendo & Mima Shimoda
1996 27min
1/10/96: SATO & Terry Boy vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa & Masato Yakushiji
1/10/96: The Great Sasuke & Great Zebra vs. Mr. Pogo & Gran Naniwa
3/16/96: The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask IV & Shiryu vs. Super Delfin & Gran Naniwa & TAKA Michinoku
3/23/96: The Great Sasuke vs. Shiryu
6/8/96: Super Delfin & TAKA Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki vs. Dick Togo & MEN'S Teio & Shiryu
6/14/96: Gran Naniwa & TAKA Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki vs. Dick Togo & MEN'S Teio& Shiryu
6/23/96: The Great Sasuke & Super Delfin vs. Dick Togo & MEN'S Teio & Shiryu
8/25/96: Tiger Mask vs. MEN'S Teio
8/25/96: Dick Togo vs. Super Delfin
9/23/96 Super Welterweight Title: MEN'S Teio vs. Tiger Mask
10/10/96: The Great Sasuke & Shodai Tiger Mask & Mil Mascaras vs. Dynamite Kid & Kuniaki Kobayashi & Dos Caras
10/10/96: Gran Hamada & Super Delfin & Tiger Mask & Gran Naniwa & Masato Yakushiji vs. Dick Togo & MEN'S Teio & Shiryu & TAKA Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki
10/10/96: Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Hayabusa
11/10/96 Tag League: Super Delfin & Hijo Del Santo vs. Dick Togo & MEN'S Teio
12/19/96: Jinsei Shinzaki vs. TAKA Michinoku
12/20/96 Independent Junior Heavyweight Title Match: TAKA Michinoku vs. Super Delfin
1997 19min
3/1/97: The Great Sasuke vs. MEN'S Teio
3/20/97: Dick Togo & MEN'S Teio & Hanzo Najajima vs. Shiryu & TAKA Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki
5/5/97 Independent Jr. Heavyweight Title: TAKA Michinoku vs. Tiger Mask
5/5/97 UWF Super Welterweight Title: MEN'S Teio vs. Super Delfin
6/22/97: Dick Togo vs. Super Delfin
8/31/97: The Great Sasuke vs. Dick Togo
10/10/97: Hakushi vs. The Undertaker
10/10/97: Super Delfin & Naohiro Hoshikawa & Masato Yakushiji vs. Dick Togo & Men's Teioh & Shoichi Funaki
10/10/97: The Great Sasuke vs. TAKA Michinoku
Leopardo Negro vs. Akihiro Yonekawa 5:20
Terry Boy vs. Shiryu 5:47
TAKA Michinoku vs. Shiryu 5:47
7 Man Battle Royal: Buffalo Chohi vs. Akihiro Yonekawa vs. Leopardo Negro vs. Shiryu vs. TAKA Michinoku vs. Terry Boy vs. Yoshiko Kimura 5:06
Black Man & El Sagrado vs. Mongolian Yuga & Super Delfin 13:05
Kendo & The Great Sasuke vs. El Rudo & El Signo 13:39
Vol.10 9/28/93 Akita Civic Gym
Great Sasuke & Atsushi Onita vs. Mr.Pogo & Jinsei Shinzaki 9/28/93
Special 3/23/93 Yuda Farmers Training Center
Akihiro Yonekawa vs. Yoshiko Kimura
Shiryu vs. Leopardo Negro
TAKA Michinoku vs. Buffaro Chohi
Terry Boy vs. El Sagrado
Rocky Santana vs. Super Delfin
Great Sasuke & Blackman & Kendo vs. El Signo & El Rudo & Mongolian Yuga (Jinsei Shinzaki)
Special 6/17/93 Namioka Town Central Public Hall
Terry Boy & Kendo vs. Villano IV & V
Great Sasuke & TAKA Michinoku vs. Super Delfin & Leopardo Negro
Vol. 1 4/20/93 Esashi Citizens Sports and Culture Center
Xochitl Hamada vs. KAORU
Great Sasuke vs. TAKA Michinoku
Vol. 2
Akihiro Yonekawa vs. Yoshiko Kimura 6/12/93
Shiryu vs. Jinsei Shinzaki 6/11/93
Kendo & Terry Boy vs. Villano IV & Villano V 6/17/93
Great Sasuke & TAKA Michinoku vs. Super Delfin & Leopardo Negro 6/18/93
Vol. 3 6/27/93 Senmaya Town Gym
Great Sasuke & Kendo & TAKA Michinoku vs. Super Delfin & Villano IV & Villano V
TAKA Michinoku vs. Shiryu
CMLL Joshi Title Match: Xochilt Hamada vs. KAORU
UWA Middleweight & UWF Super Welterweight Double Title Match: Super Delfin (UWF champ) vs. Celestial (UWA champ)
2/3 Falls: Brazo de Platino & Brazo de Bronze vs. The Great Sasuke & SATO
Kendo & Rocky Santana & Battle Ranger vs. Espanto IV & Espanto V & Scorpio Jr.
Vol.10 9/28/93 Akita Civic Gym
Great Sasuke & Atsushi Onita vs. Mr.Pogo & Jinsei Shinzaki 9/28/93
Special 3/23/93 Yuda Farmers Training Center
Akihiro Yonekawa vs. Yoshiko Kimura
Shiryu vs. Leopardo Negro
TAKA Michinoku vs. Buffaro Chohi
Terry Boy vs. El Sagrado
Rocky Santana vs. Super Delfin
Great Sasuke & Blackman & Kendo vs. El Signo & El Rudo & Mongolian Yuga (Jinsei Shinzaki)
Special 6/17/93 Namioka Town Central Public Hall
Terry Boy & Kendo vs. Villano IV & V
Great Sasuke & TAKA Michinoku vs. Super Delfin & Leopardo Negro
NHK TV documentary on Sasuke and starting Michinoku Pro
Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Akihiro Yonekawa
Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Shinryu
Super Delfin vs. TAKA Michinoku
The Great Sasuke & Kendo vs. Los Villanos IV & V
W*ING World Heavyweight 1st Champion Decision Tournament 2nd Round: Mitsuhiro Matsunaga vs. Dick Murdoch
Goliath El Gigante vs. Masked Superstar
Undertaker Death Match, Loser Leaves W*ING: The Cryptkeeper vs. Jason the Terrible
Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Terry Boy
UWA World Welterweight Title Match: Super Delfin vs. The Great Sasuke
Shiryu vs. Gran Naniwa
Wellington Wilkins Jr. vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa
Terry Boy vs. Jinsei Shinazaki
Martial Arts Match: Tajiri Shigekazu vs. Akihito Yonekawa
SATO vs. TAKA Michinoku
UWA World Welterweight Title Match: The Great Sasuke vs. Super Delfin
Vol. 4 7/24/93 Morioka Mach Land Parking Lot
Great Sasuke vs. Super Delfin
Vol. 5
Martial Arts Match: Akihiro Yonekawa vs. Shigekazu Tajiri 7/24/93
Terry Boy vs. Shiryu 7/30/93
TAKA Michinoku vs. Jinsei Shinzaki 7/28/93
Great Sasuke & Sato vs. Super Delfin & Gran Naniwa 7/26/93
Vol. 6
Akihiro Yonekawa vs. Wellington Wilkins Jr. 8/23/93
Terry Boy & Shiryu vs. Jinsei Shinzaki & SHINIGAMI 8/7/93
Jiraiya vs. Azteca 8/14/93
Akihiro Yonekawa vs. Jinsei Shinzaki 8/16/93
Piloto Suicida vs. Super Boy 8/29/93
Great Sasuke & Sato & TAKA Michinoku vs. Super Delfin & Jinsei Shinzaki & Gran Naniwa 8/18/93
Gran Hamada & Sato vs. Super Delfin & Super Boy 8/11/93
Vol. 7 8/20/93 Odate City Gym
Shiryu vs. Jiraya
Wellington Wilkins jr. vs. Akihito Yonekawa
Jinsei Shinzaki & Gran Naniwa vs. TAKA Michinoku & Terry Boy
Tajiri vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa
UWA World Welterweight Title: Sasuke vs. Shinigami
Piloto Suicida & Sato vs. Delfin & Super Boy
Vol. 8 7/24/93 Iwate Morioka-shi Machland Special Ring
Shiryu vs. Gran Naniwa
Wellington Wilkins Jr. vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa
Akihiro Yonekawa vs. Tajiri Shigekazu
Terry Boy vs. Jinsei Shinzaki
SATO vs. TAKA Michinoku
UWA World Welterweight Title: Super Delfin vs. The Great Sasuke 20:54
Vol. 9 9/23/93 Sagae Civic Gym
Akihiro Yonekawa vs. Gran Naniwa 9/25/93
Terry Boy & TAKA Michinoku vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa & Masato Yakushiji
UWF Super Welterweight Title: Super Delfin vs. Piloto Suicida
SATO vs. Super Delfin 9/28/93
Point Match: Wellington Wilkins Jr. vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa
TAKA Michinoku & Terry Boy & Jiraiya vs. Shiryu & Leopard Negro & Mercurio
Jinsei Shinazaki vs. Akihiro Yonekawa & Masato Yakushiji
SATO & Piloto Suicida vs. Super Boy & Gran Naniwa
UWA World Welterweight Title Match: The Great Sasuke vs. Super Delfin
Vol.11
Kazumichi Nakajima vs. Masato Yakushiji 9/18/93
Terry Boy & TAKA Michinoku vs. Leopardo Negro & Shiryu 10/2/93
Great Sasuke & Akihiro Yonekawa vs. SATO & TAKA Michinoku 9/5/93
Wellington Wilkins Jr. vs. Yone Genjin
Vol.12
Wellington Wilkins Jr. & Leopardo Negro vs. Jinsei Shinzaki & Yone Genjin
Oriental vs. Tsurako 10/16/93
Terry Boy & TAKA Michinoku & Shiryu vs. Jinsei Shinzaki & Gran Naniwa & Yone Genjin
UWF Super Welterweight Title Match: Super Delfin vs. Oriental 10/21/93
Independent World Junior Heavyweight Title Qualifying Tournament Final Match: Great Sasuke vs. Gran Naniwa 10/21/93
Great Sasuke & SATO & Oriental vs. Super Delfin & Super Boy & Tsurako 10/24/93
Wellington Wilkins Jr. & Terry Boy vs. Leopaldo Negro & Akihito Yonekawa
Gran Naniwa vs. TAKA Michinoku
Super Delfin vs. SATO
Champ Forum 10/93 taped 9/28/93
Shiryu & Piloto Suicida vs. Capitan Oro & Lover Boy
Atsushi Onita & The Great Sasuke vs. Mr. Pogo & Jinsei Shinzaki
Vol.10 9/28/93 Akita Civic Gym
The Great Sasuke & Atsushi Onita vs. Mr.Pogo & Jinsei Shinzaki 9/28/93
Special 3/23/93 Yuda Farmers Training Center
Akihiro Yonekawa vs. Yoshiko Kimura
Shiryu vs. Leopardo Negro
TAKA Michinoku vs. Buffaro Chohi
Terry Boy vs. El Sagrado
Rocky Santana vs. Super Delfin
Great Sasuke & Blackman & Kendo vs. El Signo & El Rudo & Mongolian Yuga (Jinsei Shinzaki)
Special 6/17/93 Namioka Town Central Public Hall
Terry Boy & Kendo vs. Villano IV & V
Great Sasuke & TAKA Michinoku vs. Super Delfin & Leopardo Negro
The Great Sasuke & SATO & Oriental vs. Super Delfin & Super Boy & Turako. Closer to straight Lucha than the later matches when their own style developed. There was more flying, but it was faker looking than when the puroresu elements were fully incorporated. 6:36 shown
Wrestling List-Technicos. Shows highlights and profiles of the faces.
Masato Yakushiji vs. Leopard Negro (Hanzo Nakajima). 3:57 shown
Wrestler List-Rudos. Shows highlights and profiles of the heels.
Scramble Survival Tag: SATO & TAKA Michinoku & Shiryu & Jiraya vs. Jinsei Shinzaki & Super Boy & Turako & Yone Genjin. Exciting match with lots of flying. The eliminations came way too fast though. TAKA & Shiryu put on good shows. ***3/4
Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. Wellington Wilkins, Jr. Typical Wilkins. *
Yone Genjin vs. Wellington Wilkins, Jr. They brawled through the crowd into the parking lot. The kept brawling until they got to a pond, which Yone & Mr. Toyota took bumps into. Mainly it was a bunch of pointless meandering though. 1/2*
SATO & Shiryu vs. Super Delfin & Gran Naniwa. The match had some good moments, but it never picked up like I expected. ***
Independent World Junior Heavykyu Oza Kettei Leaguesen: The Great Sasuke vs. Gran Naniwa. Good moves, mainly Sasuke's spectacular flying, but they slowed the match down too much for the selling since the selling wasn't good or effective. Not much build to the finish. **1/2
Shiryu vs. Masato Yakushiji
Wellington Wilkins Jr. vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa 5:24
Kazumichi Nakajima vs. Gran Naniwa 14:38
Damien & Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Predator & Yone Genjin 13:20
Battle Ranger & TAKA Michinoku & Terry Boy vs. Crazy Boy & Ricky Fuji & Super Boy 13:53
Sabu vs. Jerry Lynn 10:22
Tarzan Goto & The Great Sasuke vs. Masaru Toi & Mr. Pogo 14:23
Mask vs. Mask: Super Delfin vs. SATO 15:50
Shiryu vs. Masato Yakushiji
Wellington Wilkins Jr. vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa 5:24
Kazumichi Nakajima vs. Gran Naniwa 14:38
Damien & Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Predator & Yone Genjin 13:20
Battle Ranger & TAKA Michinoku & Terry Boy vs. Crazy Boy & Ricky Fuji & Super Boy 13:53
Sabu vs. Jerry Lynn 10:22
Tarzan Goto & The Great Sasuke vs. Masaru Toi & Mr. Pogo 14:23
Mask vs. Mask: Super Delfin vs. SATO 15:50
Wellington Wilkins Jr. vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa
Kazumichi Nakajima vs. Yone Genjin
TAKA Michinoku & Shiryu vs. Crazy Boy & Super Boy
Sabu vs. Terry Boy
Ricky Fuji vs. Jerry Lynn
Damian vs. Gran Naniwa
SATO & Battle Ranger vs. Super Delfin & The Predator
Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto & The Great Sasuke vs. Mr. Pogo & Masaru Toi & Jinsei Shinzaki
9 Women Battle Royal
Gran Naniwa & Hisakatsu Oya & Akihito Yonekawa vs. Sambo Asako & Terry Boy & Koji Nakagawa
No Rope Barbed Wire Street Fight Tornado 6 Man Tag Death Match: Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto & The Great Sasuke vs. Mr. Pogo & Masaru Toi & Jinsei Shinzaki
Seishinkaikan Champ Forum 2/10/94
Preliminary matches
Akitoshi Saito vs. Jun Kikawada
Masashi Aoyagi vs. Hiroshi Itakawa
3/17/93 Iwate
Blackman & El Sagrado vs. Super Delfin & Rocky Santana. Digest
The Great Sasuke & Kendo vs. El Signo & El Rudo. Digest
12/10/93 Iwate Kenmin Taiikukan
Jinsei Shinzaki & Damian (666) vs. Predator & Yone Genjin
12/11/93
Terry Boy vs. Sabu. Digest
Gran Naniwa vs. Damien. Digest
2/4/94 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
TAKA vs. Yone Genjin. Genjin used a bunch of illegal moves, so TAKA returned the favor. TAKA tried to wrestle, but there's only so much you can do with Genjin. TAKA was good. Match was ok, but poor for a TAKA match.
3/4/94 Osaka Rinkai Sports Center
TAKA Michinoku vs. Monkey Magic. Digest
The Great Sasuke & Terry Boy & Shiryu vs. Jinsei Shinzaki & Gran Naniwa & Yone Genjin. Some good comedy and playing to the crowd. Cool spots including a lot of dives. Good match.
4/29/94 Tokyo Ota-ku Taiikukan
Wellington Wilkins Jr. vs. Yone. They brawled into the parking lot with Genjin getting knocked off a bridge into the water. Poor match.
SATO & Shiryu & Kendo vs. Delfin & Naniwa & Rams. Digest
7/30/94 Iwate
TAKA Michinoku vs. Jado
The Great Sasuke & Ultimo Dragon vs. Jinsei Shinzaki & Gedo. Digest
9/15/94 Fukushima Shi Taiikukan: Terry Boy vs. Jinsei Shinzaki. Terry piledrives Shinzaki on a ping pong table
9/29/94 Aomori Kenmin Taiikukan: The Great Sasuke vs. Shinjiro Otani. Otani attacks Sasuke's arm and Sasuke sells it well. Very good match, but actually could have used more spots.
8/24/93 Tokyo JCTV Studio: Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Akihiro Yonekawa & Masto Yakushiji. No cut
9/28/93: Atsushi Onita & The Great Sasuke vs. Mr. Pogo & Jinsei Shinzaki
12/11/93 Miyagi: Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto & The Great Sasuke vs. Mr. Pogo & Masaru Toi & Jinsei Shinzaki. No cut
12/26/93 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto & The Great Sasuke vs. Mr. Pogo & Masaru Toi & Jinsei Shinzaki
3/31/94: The Great Sasuke vs. Jinsei Shinzaki. No cut
4/29/94 Tokyo Ota-ku Taiikukan: The Great Sasuke vs. Jinsei Shinzaki. No cut
9/28/93: Sato vs. Super Delfin
12/10/93 Iwate Mascara Contra Mascara: Sato vs. Delfin. Excellent, well built match. It lacked the atmosphere of a big match, but that may have been in part because the announcers seemed to drown the crowd out. Sato unmasks. ****1/4
1/14/94 Sapporo: Sato & The Great Sasuke & TAKA Michinoku vs. Delfin & Jinsei Shinzaki & Gran Naniwa. Highlights.
2/4/94 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Sato & The Great Sasuke & Shiryu vs. Super Delfin & Jinsei Shinzaki & Gran Naniwa
3/4/94 Osaka Rinkai Sports Center Mascara Contra Cabejira: Sato vs. Super Delfin. Sato loses hair.
Champ Forum Michinoku Pro Collection #1 4/6/98 originally aired 1/13/94 taped 12/10/93 Iwate-ken Ei Taiikukan
Tarzan Goto & Great Sasuke vs. Mr. Pogo & Masaru Toi. Dull bloody brawl with no heat and weak work. Sasuke gets little offense in. Bad match.
Mascara Contra Mascara: Super Delfin vs. Sato (now Dick Togo). Excellent, well built match. It lacked the atmosphere of a big match, but that may have been in part because the announcers seemed to drown the crowd out. Sato unmasks. ****1/4
Champ Forum Michinoku Pro Collection #2 4/13/98 originally aired 1/27/94 taped 12/23/93 FMW at Tokyo Korakuen Hall
9 Woman Battle Royal. Beyond awful.
Sambo Asako & Terry Boy & Koji Nakagawa vs. Oya & Naniwa & Yone Genjin. Poor.
No Rope Barbed Wire Tornado 6 Man Death Match: Onita & Tarzan Goto & Sasuke vs. Pogo & Toi & Shinzaki. Shinzaki does his rope walk on the barbed wire. Sasuke does Sasuke Special over the barbed wire. No work or sequences, just slice and dice. Poor.
Champ Forum Michinoku Pro Collection #3 4/20/98 originally aired 2/19/94 taped 2/4/94 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Terry Boy vs. Ricky Fuji. Fuji tried to carry, but he didn't look too good. Terry juiced a gusher over his eye. Dull match with very little offense. Terry does his Funk offense. Average.
Shin Michinoku The Best: Sasuke & Sato & Shiryu vs. Delfin & Shinzaki & Naniwa. Not surprisingly, Shinzaki was the weak link in the match, but everyone else was damn good. They did all their classic spots. Too much comedy though, which hurt the pacing. Great work. ***3/4
Michinoku Pro 5/3/94 taped 3/31/94 Noshiro
TAKA Michinoku vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa
Terry Boy vs. Masato Yakushiji
Wellington Wilkins Jr. vs. Yone Genjin
Kazumichi Nakajima vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa
TAKA Michinoku vs. Monkey Magic
Megumi Kudo vs. Tsuppari Mack
Gran Naniwa & Jinsei Shinzaki & Yone Genjin vs. Shiryu & Terry Boy & The Great Sasuke 28:23
Mask vs. Hair: Super Delfin vs. SATO 16:26
Terry Boy vs. Masato Yakushiji
TAKA Michinoku vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa
Yone Genjin vs. Wellington Wilkins Jr.
Monkey Magic & Super Delfin vs. Leon Guerrero & Shiryu 17:11
Jinsei Shinzaki vs. The Great Sasuke 22:25
2/16/97 Gran Hamada & Gran Naniwa & The Great Sasuke vs. Dick Togo & TAKA Michinoku & Terry Boy
Various features involving Shinzaki
4/29/94 Tokyo Ota-ku Taiikukan: Jinsei Shinzaki vs. The Great Sasuke. This got a decent amount of support for 1994 Observer Match of the Year. It was an excellent match with some incredible high spots, but I've yet to figure out how someone could think it was one of the top 30 matches of 1994, much less top 3. That said, it's definitely one of Sasuke's best performances to carry Shinzaki to a match of this level. Probably the best singles match Shinzaki has had. ****
Vol.16
Hanzo Nakajima vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa
Terry Boy & TAKA Michinoku vs. Rayo Negro & Monkey Magic
Falls Count Anywhere Match: Wellington Wilkins Jr. vs. Yone Genjin
SATO & Shiryu & Kendo vs. Super Delfin & Gran Naniwa & Rams 22:42
The Great Sasuke vs. Jinsei Shinzaki 21:32
Special
Great Sasuke vs. Leopardo Negro
Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. Hanzo Nakajima
TAKA Michinoku & Terry Boy vs. Monkey Magic & Rayo Negro 16:32
Falls Count Anywhere Match: Yone Genjin vs. Wellington Wilkins Jr.
Kendo & SATO & Shiryu vs. Gran Naniwa & Rams & Super Delfin 22:42
Jinsei Shinzaki vs. The Great Sasuke 21:32
Michinoku Pro 6/7/94 taped 4/29/94 Tokyo Ota-ku Taiikukan
Terry Boy & TAKA Michinoku vs. The Monkey Magic & Rayo de Negro
The Great Sasuke vs. Jinsei Shinzaki. This got a decent amount of support for 1994 Observer Match of the Year. It was an excellent match with some incredible high spots, but I've yet to figure out how someone could think it was one of the top 3 matches of 1994. That said, it's definitely one of Sasuke's best performances to carry Shinzaki to a match of this level. Probably the best singles match Shinzaki has had. ****
Michinoku Pro 8/16/94 taped 7/30 Iwate-ken Yahaba Chomin Sogo Taiikukan
Infernal KAORU vs. Chaparrita ASARI
SATO & Kendo & Piloto Suicida vs. Super Delfin & Super Boy & Gran Naniwa
TAKA Michinoku vs. Jado. This is on par with the Sasuke vs. Shinzaki match, IMO. First 10 minutes were solid then they did some awesome high spots. Crowd was getting really into TAKA getting near fall after near fall. Jado does a Frankensteiner with TAKA standing on the top rope.
Various features involving Shinzaki
4/29/94 Tokyo Ota-ku Taiikukan: Jinsei Shinzaki vs. The Great Sasuke. This got a decent amount of support for 1994 Observer Match of the Year. It was an excellent match with some incredible high spots, but I've yet to figure out how someone could think it was one of the top 30 matches of 1994, much less top 3. That said, it's definitely one of Sasuke's best performances to carry Shinzaki to a match of this level. Probably the best singles match Shinzaki has had. ****
Terry Boy & Shiryu vs. Hanzo Nakajima & Masato Yakushiji. Terry & Shiryu carried this. It's very good to have a flying offensive junior like Shiryu on the rudo side. As long as the guy can take, having him as a rudo can allow him to show more all around ability. Certainly, it improves the chances of having an interesting match with a guy like Hanzo that isn't exactly known for his plethora of moves. The problem with this match is Terry & Shiryu pretty much squashed the opposition. Good wrestling, but no drama. What they did was well done, but they could have done a much better match if they laid it out so there was at least some thought that Hanzo's team had a chance. 7:53 shown.
Infernal KAORU vs. Chaparrita ASARI. KAORU carried this sloppy Lucha style match that had a lot of problems but still wasn't a bad watch. ASARI was still really green. She was trying to do a senior match because she had superior athleticism to almost all the women and a few spots that top them, but that put her in positions where her lack of experience showed, and her hesitation hurt the match. 5:06 shown
TAKA Michinoku vs. Jado 9:11 of ?. TAKA wasn't going to back down to Jado, and this was all about him pushing the more established wrestler to the brink. TAKA got off to a good start, and was able to use his athleticism to stay a step ahead. They worked well together and showed a lot of impressive offense. TAKA's flying and bumping were making the match, but Jado was solid and did a nice job of setting TAKA's offense up and tossing him around. Jado laid things out, building the match around their standing on the top rope moves. The first try for each backfired, with Jado turning TAKA's into a front layout suplex. It went back and forth often, with a lot of effort put into making it dramatic and making the fans believe TAKA would win. They were really into him pushing Jado and believed it was going to be his night, but finally Jado hit a Frankensteiner with both standing on the top for the win. ***1/2 range
Sato & Kendo & Piloto Suicida vs. Super Delfin & Super Boy & Gran Naniwa. Michinoku had the Lucha comedy matches down pat in these days. Fun wrestling with impressive flying and good moves. It was light hearted extremely choregraphed stuff with much of the comedy revolving around hitting the wrong man. Sometimes it was kind of corny, but the fans were cracking up and since they were into it and they were actually wrestling the fans cared about who won. The problem with the current comic wrestlers is not only don't they put together any wrestling, they just develop a few gags, throw them in anywhere, and that's their match. More important than any joke you can do in the ring is the timing of it. Look at how this match was laid out, they knew what the crowd would react to and how they would react to it, so they did a match that got them involved and kept them involved. Since these guys actually can wrestle, they could do more than one thing at once and go between styles effectively so the lucha set up the comedy and vice versa. They could also do a finish that had some drama because it wasn't reliant on silliness. 21:23. ***1/2
The Great Sasuke & Ultimo Dragon vs. Jinsei Shinzaki & Gedo. A very good match predominantly because the offense was superior. This was one of the first Sasuke matches I saw, and I was pretty impressed with it at the time because there wasn't much more spectacular than the highspots of him and Dragon. Looking back on it, it seems like a match that should have been as great as I remembered but wasn't due to some goofiness. One of the key spots was Sasuke arguing with the ref Ted Tanabe that there should be a 10 count after Gedo missed a moonsault. This makes no sense, if you think you can beat the guy you are much better going for the 3 count pin than waiting on the 10 count, and if he somehow kicks out but can't get up, there would be a 10 count anyway. This silliness was just to set up a stop where Gedo dropkicked Sasuke into Tanabe then Shinzaki shoulderblocked Dragon and came off the top with a chair to Sasuke. A more annoying portion was when Sasuke had an opening to tag after avoiding Shinzaki's diving headbutt. Shinzaki got to the corner first, which I expected would mean his teams domination of Sasuke was to continue. Dragon quickly stopped Gedo's moonsault though, leading to Sasuke's comeback. This could have been a decent swerve, but Dragon actually tagged Sasuke bck in less than a minute after Sasuke finally made the tag. Sasuke & Dragon did some spectacular flying, but Sasuke's selling in particular left someting to be desired. I was disappointed they had Shinzaki in the main event of a Universal reunion show, you'd think they could get someone that actually wrestled in the league. Shinzaki was at his best here though, stepping up in a big way and giving something of an overall performance rather than his usual give only crap. It was cool seeing a rudo turn a powerbomb into a huracanrana, and his diving shoulderblock is maybe the best ever because he comes at his opponent like a torpedo and really knocks them back. Long, well done, exciting, well executed (Dragon was shaky on a couple of spots), junior spectacle. Delfin got on the mic after the match and wound up in a fight with Jado & Gedo. 22:28. ***3/4
7/30/94
Terry Boy & Shiryu vs. Hanzo Nakajima & Masato Yakushiji
The Great Sasuke & Ultimate Dragon vs. Jinsei Shinzaki & Gedo
9/15/94
Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Terry Boy
Independent World Junior Heavyweight Title Match: The Great Sasuke vs. Turako
Super Delfin & TAKA Michinoku vs. SATO & Shiryu
Terry Boy & SATO vs. Hanzo Nakajima & Naohiro Hoshikawa
TAKA Michinoku vs. Gran Naniwa
Super Delfin vs. El Samurai 13:51
Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Shiryu
The Great Sasuke vs. Shinjiro Otani 21:46
Michinoku Pro 10/29/94 taped 9/29/94 Aomori
SATO & Terry Boy vs. Hanzo Nakajima & Naohiro Hoshikawa. Pretty good match, but not long enough to turn into anything.
TAKA Michinoku vs. Gran Naniwa 15:58. TAKA was on fire here, really elevating Naniwa's level, though Naniwa still does one lame backbreaker. TAKA was being a punk from the get go, getting in Naniwa's face before the bell and taking cheap shots to annoy him and ref Ted Tanabe. He did a nice job of mixing his brash attitude with Naniwa's knee attack, his arm attack, and lucha sequences and high spots from both. Though Naniwa was totally along for the ride, he was more precise and efficient than usual even if his selling was a bit weak, especially when compared to TAKA's. ***1/2
Super Delfin vs. El Samurai (NJ) 11:24 of 13:51. I expected more effort from these two given Samurai was making a rare appearance in Michinoku. The first half had surprisingly little intensity, and there just wasn't much going on. They woke up in a big way when they went to the spots, really picking things up after Samurai's tope with quick counters avoiding the big moves and leading into others. These final 4 1/2 minutes were loads of fun, but the action started too late and the match ended too soon. **3/4
Michinoku Pro 11/18/94 taped 10/30/94 Iwate Sangyo Bunka Center Okugai Tenji-jo
Masato Yakushiji vs. Shark Machine (Wellington Wilkins Jr.)
No Rope Explosive Barbed Wire Land Mine Double Hell Time Bomb Death Match (or something like that): The Great Sasuke vs. Atsushi Onita (FMW)
Masato Yakushiji vs. Shark Machine (Wellington Wilkins Jr.) 15:33
Hanzo Nakajima vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa 8:57
Jinsei Shinzaki & TAKA Michinoku & Gran Naniwa vs. Dick Togo & MEN'S Teio& Shiryu 19:00
UWF Super Welterweight Title: Super Delfin vs. El Pantera 11:27
Eternal Flame No Rope Barbed Wire Electric Current Blast Mines Double Hell Bomb Death Match: The Great Sasuke vs. Atsushi Onita 14:58
Michinoku Pro taped 10/30/94 Iwate Sangyo Bunka Center Okugai Tenji-jo
Highlights of Sasuke vs. Onita Death Match
UWF Super Welterweight Title: Super Delfin vs. El Pantera. Pantera could do great spots and complicated sequences better than he could do basic wrestling. Delfin tried to carry this, but as usual wasn't very successful. Short match that was enjoyable because of the spots, but kind of weak in the mental aspects. **1/2
Jinsei Shinzaki & TAKA Michinoku & Gran Naniwa vs. Dick Togo & MEN'S Teioh & Shiryu. Shinzaki did a mini rope walk on the bar of the scaffold. Sasuke was the best of the 6. Togo & Teioh didn't do all that much wrestling as the concentrated on being heels. Match did a good job of getting the heels over, but it was fairly one-sided with the heels dominating and TAKA in particular getting destroyed. ***
Michinoku Pro 1/27/95
12/15/94 Nagoya-shi Taiikukan: SATO & Terry Boy & Shiryu vs. Super Delfin & Jinsei Shinzaki & Gran Naniwa 19:27 of 24:54. The state of the art Michinoku tag of the era, focusing mainly on light hearted athletic lucha comedy but containing enough quality wrestling and teamwork to take notice of. It was more a fun match than a great one, as they were more focusing more on spots such as Naniwa getting dizzy from his own airplane spin than on spots such as the simultaneous triple huracanrana. However, there's definitely something here for everyone who enjoys Lucha Libre. SATO & Shiryu were genuinely good, but some of the others, particularly Naniwa, got away with some less than top notch execution because it wasn't exactly an intense match. ***1/4
12/17/94 Tokushima Shimin Taiikukan
Yone Genjin vs. Wellington Wilkins Jr. Highlights. Wilkins falls off the balcony to the floor (although some spotter helped catch his fall and the balcony wasn't all that high).
Terry Boy vs. Yakushiji in his green ant outfit. Highlights
Sato & Shiryu vs. Great Sasuke & Gran Hamada. Highlights
Super Delfin & Gran Naniwa vs. TAKA Michinoku & Jinsei Shinzaki. Battle of the heel side. Match got off to a slow start, but got really good toward the end, mainly due to TAKA. ***
12/15/94
Yuki Ishikawa vs. Daisuke Ikeda
Ryuko Shachihoko vs. Yone Genjin
The Great Sasuke vs. TAKA Michinoku
SATO & Terry Boy & Shiryu vs. Super Delfin & Jinsei Shinzaki & Gran Naniwa 19:27 of 24:54. The state of the art Michinoku tag of the era, focusing mainly on light hearted athletic lucha comedy but containing enough quality wrestling and teamwork to take notice of. It was more a fun match than a great one, as they were more focusing more on spots such as Naniwa getting dizzy from his own airplane spin than on spots such as the simultaneous triple huracanrana. However, there's definitely something here for everyone who enjoys Lucha Libre. SATO & Shiryu were genuinely good, but some of the others, particularly Naniwa, got away with some less than top notch execution because it wasn't exactly an intense match. ***1/4
12/17/94 Tokushima Shimin Taiikukan
Yone Genjin vs. Wellington Wilkins Jr. Highlights. Wilkins falls off the balcony to the floor (although some spotter helped catch his fall and the balcony wasn't all that high).
Terry Boy vs. Yakushiji in his green ant outfit. Highlights
Sato & Shiryu vs. Great Sasuke & Gran Hamada. Highlights
Super Delfin & Gran Naniwa vs. TAKA Michinoku & Jinsei Shinzaki. Battle of the heel side. Match got off to a slow start, but got really good toward the end, mainly due to TAKA. ***
10/30/94 Iwate: Sato & Terry Boy & Shiryu vs. Jinsei Shinzaki & TAKA Michinoku & Gran Naniwa. Digest
11/15/94 Iwate: Yoshiaki Fujiwara & The Great Sasuke vs. Jinsei Shinzaki & Gran Naniwa. Digest
12/15/94 Aichi Nagoya-shi Taiikukan:
R. Shachihoku vs. Yone Genjin
Sato & Terry Boy & Shiryu vs. Jinsei Shinzaki & Super Delfin & Gran Naniwa
The Great Sasuke vs. TAKA Michinoku 16:57. Could have been a classic if they took some time to think about what they were doing. TAKA was pretty hyper here, which produced some beautiful athletic spots and segments, but also some of his worst selling. He was really pushing the pace and emphasizing the athleticism, which overall made it one of their best matches as physically he was tremendous, even if mentally he was questionable. The early portion was much better than in their later matches, as they did a nice job of mixing strikes and lucha segments in, minimizing the generally weaker submission portion rather than doing a lengthy mat segment. TAKA was taunting Sasuke, but Sasuke shut him up by injuring his knee. The mat segment also produced an injury to Sasuke's arm, but while Sasuke continued to sell it throughout the match, TAKA completely forgot his bad knee as soon as he got off the mat and also wasn't going back to Sasuke's bad arm after a certain point. Sasuke was using more kicks here, including a nice spot where he stopped TAKA's plancha with a middle kick. The match was always exciting, with quick sequences and super athletic flying flying moves. The work and workrate were very high. The offense was thrilling with spot on execution. I didn't care much for the finish though, as you had a submission that had nothing to do with anything in a match where both had a body part injured during the initial submission portion. ***3/4
12/17/94 Tokushima Shimin Taiikukan
Hanzo Nakajima vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa. Digest
Gran Hamada & The Great Sasuke vs. Sato & Shiryu
Jinsei Shinzaki & TAKA Michinoku vs. Super Delfin & Gran Naniwa
Highlights of career with clips as Wakida from Hamada' s UWF, vs. Shiryu, Samurai, more!
Wellington Wilkins Jr. & Don Arakawa vs. Yone Genjin & Tsubo Genjin. Digest
Takeshi Ono vs Minoru Tanaka. Digest
Shoichi Funaki vs. Shinjiro Otani. Digest
Yuki Ishikawa & Naohiro Hoshikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda & Hanzo Nakajima
Yoshiaki Fujiwara & The Great Sasuke vs TAKA Michinoku & El Samurai 19:13. Fujiwara's presence shifted the match toward the technical end. That might have been okay, except he didn't really contribute to it. He mainly did headbutts, which they oversold to the point of jumping. I can't exactly blame Fujiwara for that, it seemed TAKA had so much reverence for him that he put everything Fujiwara did over 10 times more than it deserved. A junior match would break out now and then, as Sasuke was sure to get a handful of dives in, generally taking place around Fujiwara. Fujiwara did get a big hand for running the ropes with Sasuke even though he didn't actually follow through with diving to the floor with Sasuke. Later they had him whip Sasuke for a tope, but outside of a dropkick, TAKA didn't try any junior moves on Fujiwara until the finish where Fujiwara countered into his wakigatame. Generally, Sasuke was the highlight, TAKA would have been as good if not for the corny selling, Samurai was going through the motions, and Fujiwara was standing around. **3/4
Michinoku Pro 3/16/95 taped 3/3/95 Osaka Furitsu Rinkai Sports Center
Terry Boy & Hanzo Nakajima vs. Yone Genjin & Tsubo Genjin. Horrible match. Luckily the skipped the vast majority of it.
TAKA & Gran Naniwa vs. Sasuke & N.G. Hammer (Hamada). Good work and a lot of nice spots. ***
Super Welterweight Title Match: Super Delfin vs. SATO. Good solid match with the focus on psychology, selling, and putting over the toll of the match. Sato worked on Delfin's left knee. More like a Liger match than the typical Lucha. Very good comebacks by both men. Cheesy US style finish hurt the match. Sato wins title. ***1/4
Michinoku Pro 4/15/95 taped 3/25/95 Sendai
Sasuke vs. Stevie "J" "J's" execution was kind of slow and sloppy. Sasuke tried hard to carry him, but "J" kept screwing things up. One of Sasuke's worse, all due to "J." *1/4
TAKA vs. Minoru Tanaka. A combination of pro style and shoot style. TAKA's selling was really good. Tanaka did some cool counters into submissions. Much too short as there was no build at all. **1/2
Michinoku The Best 6 Man Tag Match: Sasuke & Sato & Shiryu vs. Delfin & TAKA & Naniwa. Too much comedy. Got off to a slow start, but really picked up for a great final 3 minutes. Overall, it was disappointing given the talent. ***
Sasuke vs. Stevie "J" "J's" execution was kind of slow and sloppy. Sasuke tried hard to carry him, but "J" kept screwing things up. One of Sasuke's worse, all due to "J." *1/4
TAKA vs. Minoru Tanaka. A combination of pro style and shoot style. TAKA's selling was really good. Tanaka did some cool counters into submissions. Much too short as there was no build at all. **1/2
Michinoku The Best 6 Man Tag Match: Sasuke & Sato & Shiryu vs. Delfin & TAKA & Naniwa. Too much comedy. Got off to a slow start, but really picked up for a great final 3 minutes. Overall, it was disappointing given the talent. ***
Kendo vs. Talisman Jr.
The Great Sasuke & Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. TAKA Michinoku & Gran Naniwa
Shiryu & Terry Boy vs. Masato Yakushiji & Kideki Yamada
Wellington Wilkins Jr. vs. Yone Genjin
UWF Super Welterweight Title Decision Match: Super Delfin vs. Triton
3/3/95 Osaka Furitsu Rinkai Sports Center
Shiryu vs. The Monkey Magic
Super Welterweight Title Match: Super Delfin vs. Sato 19:54. Solid but unspectacular match. Very nice performance by Sato, who dictated the entire match, but unfortunately didn't get a great deal of help from Delfin. They worked a stiff opening before settling into the mat section, which featured Sato attacking Delfin's knee. Sato kept the pace moderate throughout to aid the selling, doing a good job of putting over the toll of the match. Delfin and MEN'S Teio started jawing in the final minutes, leading to the cheesy finish of Teio interfering to cost Delfin the match. If Delfin brought something to the table and they did a real finish, it could have been really good. ***1/4
3/24/95 Sendai
Hanzo Nakajima & Shiryu vs. Super Delfin & Gran Naniwa
The Great Sasuke vs. Stevie J
3/25/95 Sendai
The Great Sasuke & Sato & Shiryu vs. Super Delfin & TAKA Michinoku & Gran Naniwa
5/14/95 Fukushima Kooriyama Central Hall
Terry Boy & Shiryu vs. Masato Yakushiji & Yamada
The Great Sasuke & Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. TAKA Michinoku & Gran Naniwa
Super Welterweight Title Decision Match: Triton vs. Super Delfin
6/17/95 Fukushima Sunshine Namie
Hanzo Nakajima vs. Doc Dean. No cut
Super Welterweight Title Match: Super Delfin vs. TAKA Michinoku 16:35. TAKA was all over Delfin's arm from start to finish. He gave a strong performance, selling well and coming up with some creative arm spots such as turning Delfin's swinging DDT into a wakigatame. Delfin was alright, but too often just along for the ride. He didn't do a good job of playing around the arm attack. He made TAKA pay early, including stopping an armbar with a good, old fashioned knuckle sandwich, but he eventually needed to provide the offense to counterbalance the arm attack. Since he never did, the match was solid, but rarely spectacular. ***1/4
Note: Part of every (or at least close) match is shown, but I'm only listing the complete matches here
7/27 Iwate
Super Delfin vs. Gorgota Cross (Jerry Lynn) 11:38. Good entertainment, but I was hoping they'd challenge themselves. The early portion, a series of 80's style clutch and athletic escape spots, showed promise, but after that they settled into the standard you do a few strikes/spots then I'll do a few strikes/spots rather than continuing to develop their potential to truly work together. The execution was fine, but in the end, it was pretty standard undeveloped junior action. Cross scored the upset with a tombstone on the floor, but rather than reacting to the winner or the surprise, the fans just booed the countout, which I was all for. **1/2
The Great Sasuke vs. Gran Naniwa 20:37. Sasuke had all the ability to be one of the greatest singles wrestlers of all time, but matches such as this show why he was generally only great in tag unless he had a really strong (generally NJPW) opponent to carry him. The match meandered endlessly, going nowhere on the mat. The matwork was technically competent, but it was very obvious they were killing time rather than putting the effort into developing the match dramatically. Of course, it got interesting as they approached the finish because Sasuke can pull spots with anyone that ever wrestled, but had there been a thoughtful bridge during the first 13 minutes to the thrilling final 7 minutes of spots, instead of Sasuke just getting by on his amazing athleticism, the match would have been excellent. Sasuke's no touch tope con giro was some kind of awesome though. It's hard to hate too much on a guy who is willing to take an avalance style Frankensteiner to the floor, but on the other hand, it's hard not to feel he injured his lower back and hip for nothing. Naniwa, at least, followed with his powerbomb for the upset win. **
8/12/85 Yamagata Shi: The Great Sasuke vs. Super Delfin 21:14. A perfect counterpoint to the Naniwa match, here we see the awesome potential Sasuke had in singles. Sasuke comes out strong to ignite the crowd, but spends the body of the match selling his previous back injury extremely well. Finally, Sasuke makes his hot comeback for the finishing sequence, so basically he just sells his ass off and takes advantage of his fantastic offense, but he's wrestling a smart match in the process. Delfin killed as much time as anyone else, the thing is since he kept advancing the match by using moves that attacked the back it didn't feel as though he was doing so. That's basically the difference between doing a good body and doing a bad one. You know you are accomplishing something when a hiptoss becomes a big move, but again, if you can tell a story, relevant offense will work even if it isn't equal to what we'd describe as good or interesting offense. It was also a perfect match for Delfin, as he really lacks of the offense for a big singles match, but in this context, keeping it simple and merely focusing on stretching Sasuke out, it was easy to ignore the fact he's not the most dynamic junior in the business. Granted, this was the marquee match in the company at this point, but the fans were really into the contest because they built up the intensity by continually using moves that, however big or small, could be said to have a potential bearing on the outcome of the match due to fitting into the context. They were able to get over just how much agony Sasuke was in, and Sasuke showed the heart of the champion with this pained performance where he hung on when he really had no right to, and even made it pay off despite having only sporadic bursts of offense. Unfortunately, the Naniwa match was more typical of Sasuke, but in any case, this was some really impressive stuff. ****
8/13
The Great Sasuke vs. The Convict (Sergio "Super Boy" Torres) 14:03. Sasuke may have pulled the upset against Delfin, but it took pretty much everything he had left physically. Trying to come back the next day against a tough, and much bigger opponent was a hard ask. Sasuke was having a difficulty simply walking at the beginning of the match, and Convict made sure to work on his back early and often, mixing submissions and somersaults. Sasuke may not have had to do that much acting, but, in any case, he delivered some of his best and most consistent selling ever in this league. Sasuke had a few highlights, but he was essentially too injured to sustain any offense. Convict resorting to using a chain on his back, which the fans booed heavily, didn't exactly make things easy on him. The match was basically a squash, but it was also an intelligent, well focused and laid out story match that was entirely successful. There was no potential for excellence, but I think they got about as much out of the match as they could have. ***
Super Delfin vs. Gran Naniwa 16:28. A flat match where Delfin sold for his understudy the whole time then put him away. These two generally had the problem in these days of being unable to decide if they want to be badass heels or comedic jokers. One minute Naniwa wasn't being too friendly to his mentor, low blowing Delfin and trying to rip his mask, but the next they were clowning around, so there was never any intensity. Naniwa's offense wasn't looking that good, to the point it was generally hard to take the moves that were intended to do damage seriously. In particular, his submission work was Mexican level loose. **
8/18 Yamagata: Dos Caras vs. Super Delfin 18:16. As bad a performance as Delfin gave in the 90's. He just didn't care. They meandered for a while on the mat then Caras picked it up to set up his tope. Though they soon returned to the mat, submission master Caras was working from this point forward yet Delfin remained half asleep. Caras was beginning to wonder what would get Delfin to do something, as Delfin had clearly graduated the Keiji Muto school of refusing to bite at your opponents openings for counters. I was beginning to think this was going to be a draw, but, as weak an excuse as that would have been, Delfin ultimately had no reason pace himself as the match was shorter than his excellent match against Sasuke. Delfin finally showed a little motivation doing a couple of his favorite holds, but promptly pinned Caras. *1/4
8/23 Aomori-ken Mutsu Shi: The Great Sasuke vs. Dos Caras 19:47. Dos isn't the wrestler you want to fight when you're injured. He has such a vast arsenal; he'll stretch you, bend you, then break you. Caras showed great focus, quite simply dismantling poor Sasuke's back for the better part of 20 minutes. Unlike Delfin, Sasuke was very responsive and active, but was just too injured to come up with more than the occassional hope spot. Sasuke once again did a very nice job of selling. The match was very solid, with a strong performance by Caras. I don't think Sasuke should have won this match, but given that he "had to", I actually didn't totally hate that he got a fluke countout after a quebrada and space flying Tiger drop, as it at least elevated the risk moves to something above mere spectacle. The finish certainly didn't help the match, but it was at least more creative than the usual flash pin. ***1/2
8/24 Aomori-ken: Super Delfin vs. Mongolian Yuga 9:27. Delfin seemed to be sulking that he had to job to this chump and miss the finals. The expected win would have put him in a 3 way tie with Sasuke & Caras. Delfin decided to be Super Lazy, just going along with Yuga as if sleepwalking. Yuga is a very standard, non-descript junior. He did his moves fine, but his moveset is from a decade ago. Delfin finally woke up for the briefest of finishing segments, getting pinned setting up his Delfin clutch. *
8/25/95 Aomori-ken Aomori Shi
Mascara Contra Mascara: Gran Naniwa vs. Gorgota Cross 16:26. A fantastic life or death effort from start to finish. They had a memorable match largely do to their desire to do so, as the execution was far from perfect (typical of Naniwa, who was by far the sloppiest of the Michinoku main players), but they wrestled over their head, showing tons of heart. Though Lynn, who was mediocre throughout the round robin, can wrestle at this level, Naniwa was pretty much willing it. That will was very infectious as the fans were super into him and the match itself. They pulled out all the stops and the match was very dramatic, even the seconds were into it with TAKA jumping up and down and smashing the canvas to urge Nanaiwa on. Lynn instilled the urgency and intensity from the get go with a hot start, but injured his knee landing on his pescado, setting up Naniwa to attack it throughout the body of the match. Lynn went rudo on his comeback, ripping Naniwa's mask and piledriving Naniwa on a chair to bust him open, or rather, Naniwa wasn't used to blading so he and/or the seconds shredded his mask and put three or four gashes in between his eyes. Naniwa did a good job of looking run down, half out of it, to put over the beating and blood loss, including some nice touches such as laying back exhaustedly after a Frankensteiner off the top for the dramatic near fall. There were several other impressive near falls, and I'd say the audience was on the edge of their seat for them, except this is Michinoku, where you get great wrestling even though they can't afford chairs! ****
Fukumen World League Final: The Great Sasuke vs. Dos Caras 20:07. In their league match, Caras picked on Sasuke's bad back merciliously but lost, albeit on something of a fluke. In the final, Sasuke got a miracle cure and Caras more or less ignored his back - he threw in a couple ceiling holds early but that was about it - but won. I don't get it. There wasn't any particular storyline to them deciding to wrestle as equals or Caras being above attacking the back, as far as I could tell they just inexplicably did a match that was apart from the rest of the league. It was otherwise well wrestled and entertaining, but I was too distracted and annoyed by it not fitting the story they spent the last month telling. The effort was fine, but it was about the same as their very good league match rather than the expected attempt to do a blowout match for the final, and they wound up looking bad considering what Naniwa vs. Lynn had done - mostly through effort - especially since they are certainly more talented. Sasuke did a bunch of dives, but though he generally sold well, it was almost surreal to see him not even act hurt when he landed on his hip missing a dive over the top. Sasuke was badly injured legit taking Caras's powerbomb off the apron, cracking his skull for the 1st time. Ted Tanabe could tell Sasuke was hurt right away, but while Caras probably knew because they went home two moves later, one has to wonder why he'd choose to make them two more powerbombs considering that means Sasuke has to take the same sort of impact, and was thus likely to aggravate the same injured area. Satoru Sayama presented Caras with the championship trophy. ***
Note: This is a digest of the league, with part of 15 matches, the 6 listed below being featured but only the final is complete.
7/27 Iwate: The Great Sasuke vs. Gran Naniwa 11min of 20:37. Sasuke had all the ability to be one of the greatest singles wrestlers of all time, but matches such as this show why he was generally only great in tag unless he had a really strong (generally NJPW) opponent to carry him. The match meandered endlessly, going nowhere on the mat. The matwork was technically competent, but it was very obvious they were killing time rather than putting the effort into developing the match dramatically. Of course, it got interesting as they approached the finish because Sasuke can pull spots with anyone that ever wrestled, but had there been a thoughtful bridge during the first 13 minutes to the thrilling final 7 minutes of spots, instead of Sasuke just getting by on his amazing athleticism, the match would have been excellent. Sasuke's no touch tope con giro was some kind of awesome though. It's hard to hate too much on a guy who is willing to take an avalance style Frankensteiner to the floor, but on the other hand, it's hard not to feel he injured his lower back and hip for nothing. Naniwa, at least, followed with his powerbomb for the upset win. **
8/12 Yamagata Shi: The Great Sasuke vs. Super Delfin 11min of 21:14. A perfect counterpoint to the Naniwa match, here we see the awesome potential Sasuke had in singles. Sasuke comes out strong to ignite the crowd, but spends the body of the match selling his previous back injury extremely well. Finally, Sasuke makes his hot comeback for the finishing sequence, so basically he just sells his ass off and takes advantage of his fantastic offense, but he's wrestling a smart match in the process. Delfin killed as much time as anyone else, the thing is since he kept advancing the match by using moves that attacked the back it didn't feel as though he was doing so. That's basically the difference between doing a good body and doing a bad one. You know you are accomplishing something when a hiptoss becomes a big move, but again, if you can tell a story, relevant offense will work even if it isn't equal to what we'd describe as good or interesting offense. It was also a perfect match for Delfin, as he really lacks of the offense for a big singles match, but in this context, keeping it simple and merely focusing on stretching Sasuke out, it was easy to ignore the fact he's not the most dynamic junior in the business. Granted, this was the marquee match in the company at this point, but the fans were really into the contest because they built up the intensity by continually using moves that, however big or small, could be said to have a potential bearing on the outcome of the match due to fitting into the context. They were able to get over just how much agony Sasuke was in, and Sasuke showed the heart of the champion with this pained performance where he hung on when he really had no right to, and even made it pay off despite having only sporadic bursts of offense. Unfortunately, the Naniwa match was more typical of Sasuke, but in any case, this was some really impressive stuff. ****
8/13: Super Delfin vs. Gran Naniwa 5 min of 16:28. A flat match where Delfin sold for his understudy the whole time then put him away. These two generally had the problem in these days of being unable to decide if they want to be badass heels or comedic jokers. One minute Naniwa wasn't being too friendly to his mentor, low blowing Delfin and trying to rip his mask, but the next they were clowning around, so there was never any intensity. Naniwa's offense wasn't looking that good, to the point it was generally hard to take the moves that were intended to do damage seriously. In particular, his submission work was Mexican level loose. **
8/18 Yamagata: Dos Caras vs. Super Delfin 5 min of 18:16. As bad a performance as Delfin gave in the 90's. He just didn't care. They meandered for a while on the mat then Caras picked it up to set up his tope. Though they soon returned to the mat, submission master Caras was working from this point forward yet Delfin remained half asleep. Caras was beginning to wonder what would get Delfin to do something, as Delfin had clearly graduated the Keiji Muto school of refusing to bite at your opponents openings for counters. I was beginning to think this was going to be a draw, but, as weak an excuse as that would have been, Delfin ultimately had no reason pace himself as the match was shorter than his excellent match against Sasuke. Delfin finally showed a little motivation doing a couple of his favorite holds, but promptly pinned Caras. *1/4
8/25 Aomori-ken Aomori Shi
Mascara Contra Mascara: Gran Naniwa vs. Gorgota Cross 15 min of 16:26. A fantastic life or death effort from start to finish. They had a memorable match largely do to their desire to do so, as the execution was far from perfect (typical of Naniwa, who was by far the sloppiest of the Michinoku main players), but they wrestled over their head, showing tons of heart. Though Lynn, who was mediocre throughout the round robin, can wrestle at this level, Naniwa was pretty much willing it. That will was very infectious as the fans were super into him and the match itself. They pulled out all the stops and the match was very dramatic, even the seconds were into it with TAKA jumping up and down and smashing the canvas to urge Nanaiwa on. Lynn instilled the urgency and intensity from the get go with a hot start, but injured his knee landing on his pescado, setting up Naniwa to attack it throughout the body of the match. Lynn went rudo on his comeback, ripping Naniwa's mask and piledriving Naniwa on a chair to bust him open, or rather, Naniwa wasn't used to blading so he and/or the seconds shredded his mask and put three or four gashes in between his eyes. Naniwa did a good job of looking run down, half out of it, to put over the beating and blood loss, including some nice touches such as laying back exhaustedly after a Frankensteiner off the top for the dramatic near fall. There were several other impressive near falls, and I'd say the audience was on the edge of their seat for them, except this is Michinoku, where you get great wrestling even though they can't afford chairs! ****
Fukumen World League Final: The Great Sasuke vs. Dos Caras 20:07. In their league match, Caras picked on Sasuke's bad back merciliously but lost, albeit on something of a fluke. In the final, Sasuke got a miracle cure and Caras more or less ignored his back - he threw in a couple ceiling holds early but that was about it - but won. I don't get it. There wasn't any particular storyline to them deciding to wrestle as equals or Caras being above attacking the back, as far as I could tell they just inexplicably did a match that was apart from the rest of the league. It was otherwise well wrestled and entertaining, but I was too distracted and annoyed by it not fitting the story they spent the last month telling. The effort was fine, but it was about the same as their very good league match rather than the expected attempt to do a blowout match for the final, and they wound up looking bad considering what Naniwa vs. Lynn had done - mostly through effort - especially since they are certainly more talented. Sasuke did a bunch of dives, but though he generally sold well, it was almost surreal to see him not even act hurt when he landed on his hip missing a dive over the top. Sasuke was badly injured legit taking Caras's powerbomb off the apron, cracking his skull for the 1st time. Ted Tanabe could tell Sasuke was hurt right away, but while Caras probably knew because they went home two moves later, one has to wonder why he'd choose to make them two more powerbombs considering that means Sasuke has to take the same sort of impact, and was thus likely to aggravate the same injured area. Satoru Sayama presented Caras with the championship trophy. ***
1st League digest
8/25/95 Fukumen World League Final: The Great Sasuke vs. Dos Caras 20:07
2nd League digest
8/22/99 2nd Fukumen World League Final: Dos Caras vs. Tiger Mask 16:09
3rd League digest
8/24/03 Fukumen World League 2003 Final: Atlantis vs. Kendo Kashin 18:38
8/25/95
Mascara Contra Mascara: Gran Naniwa vs. Gorgota Cross 16:26. A fantastic life or death effort from start to finish. They had a memorable match largely do to their desire to do so, as the execution was far from perfect (typical of Naniwa, who was by far the sloppiest of the Michinoku main players), but they wrestled over their head, showing tons of heart. Though Lynn, who was mediocre throughout the round robin, can wrestle at this level, Naniwa was pretty much willing it. That will was very infectious as the fans were super into him and the match itself. They pulled out all the stops and the match was very dramatic, even the seconds were into it with TAKA jumping up and down and smashing the canvas to urge Nanaiwa on. Lynn instilled the urgency and intensity from the get go with a hot start, but injured his knee landing on his pescado, setting up Naniwa to attack it throughout the body of the match. Lynn went rudo on his comeback, ripping Naniwa's mask and piledriving Naniwa on a chair to bust him open, or rather, Naniwa wasn't used to blading so he and/or the seconds shredded his mask and put three or four gashes in between his eyes. Naniwa did a good job of looking run down, half out of it, to put over the beating and blood loss, including some nice touches such as laying back exhaustedly after a Frankensteiner off the top for the dramatic near fall. There were several other impressive near falls, and I'd say the audience was on the edge of their seat for them, except this is Michinoku, where you get great wrestling even though they can't afford chairs! ****
Fukumen World League Final: The Great Sasuke vs. Dos Caras 20:07. In their league match, Caras picked on Sasuke's bad back merciliously but lost, albeit on something of a fluke. In the final, Sasuke got a miracle cure and Caras more or less ignored his back - he threw in a couple ceiling holds early but that was about it - but won. I don't get it. There wasn't any particular storyline to them deciding to wrestle as equals or Caras being above attacking the back, as far as I could tell they just inexplicably did a match that was apart from the rest of the league. It was otherwise well wrestled and entertaining, but I was too distracted and annoyed by it not fitting the story they spent the last month telling. The effort was fine, but it was about the same as their very good league match rather than the expected attempt to do a blowout match for the final, and they wound up looking bad considering what Naniwa vs. Lynn had done - mostly through effort - especially since they are certainly more talented. Sasuke did a bunch of dives, but though he generally sold well, it was almost surreal to see him not even act hurt when he landed on his hip missing a dive over the top. Sasuke was badly injured legit taking Caras's powerbomb off the apron, cracking his skull for the 1st time. Ted Tanabe could tell Sasuke was hurt right away, but while Caras probably knew because they went home two moves later, one has to wonder why he'd choose to make them two more powerbombs considering that means Sasuke has to take the same sort of impact, and was thus likely to aggravate the same injured area. Satoru Sayama presented Caras with the championship trophy. ***
9/25/95
Tiger Mask & Kato Kung Lee vs. Super Delfin & TAKA Michinoku
British Junior Heavyweight Title Match: The Great Sasuke vs. Stevie Jay
11/23/95 Morioka Iwate-ken'ei Taiikukan: TAKA Michinoku vs. Tiger Mask. Excellent junior match. Exciting and stiff, with all the big spots, but also kicks and submissions like a U.W.F. match. TAKA was on top of his game here, and made the near falls really dramatic. ****1/4
12/11/95 Aichi Nagoya Shi Nakamura Sports Center: TAKA Michinoku vs. Tiger Mask. This match was not that similar to their 11/23 match. This match started with TAKA working Tiger's knee,. but later Tiger used that same strategy on TAKA. The finishing hold was goofy, but the match had excellent work and up to that point a focused storyline. It was pretty much what a junior match should be. They did a lot of nice moves, but that was hardly the match. ****1/4
12/14/95 Hakata Starlanes: Tiger Mask & Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. TAKA Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki. Hoshikawa probably gave his best performance up to that point in time, which really made the match because we knew TAKA vs. Tiger was going to be excellent, but the expected sizable dropoff when Hoshikawa tagged in wasn't there. Hoshikawa was doing all his moves really fast, and was a key to the macth being stiff. TAKA, of course, was the man though. The last 5 1/2 minutes were really what made the match. I've certainly seen better in Michinoku, but rarely in a regular four person tag match. ****
12/17/95 Osaka Takaishi Rinkai Sports Center
TAKA Michinoku vs. Tiger Mask. This wasn't that great of an effort, as the work and drama were way down. It was still a good match because they work that well together, it's just that it was disappointing coming after two matches that were so choice. ***1/4
Super Delfin & Gran Naniwa & Sakie Hasegawa vs. The Great Sasuke & Kendo & Mima Shimoda. These mixed matches don't do anything for me because I want to see serious wrestling between quality wrestlers, but instead I get a bunch of comedy between the genders. The Michinoku fans were as vocal as ever, so it worked for them. I wanted more big moves and less comedy and stalling though.
1/10/96 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
SATO & Terry Boy vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa & Masato Yakushiji. This match would be a lot better today than it was then because Hoshikawa & Yakushiji had no standing and were still developing. Some good wrestling, but there was no drama at all because it was a glorified squash. **
The Great Sasuke & Great Zebra vs. Mr. Pogo & Gran Naniwa. Pogo destroyed Sasuke like he did on Onita. The main exceptions were that Sasuke took a bump off the balcony (which hehe barely even sold) and Sasuke didn't make the big comeback at the end for the win or even get Pogo to take one bump for him. Zebra is terrible and mainly punched and kicked. Highlight is Pogo breaking up the pin on Sasuke's thunder fire powerbomb by blowing a giant fireball on Sasuke and his own partner Naniwa. Sasuke proved he could take a lot of punishment, but I'm not sure what else he gained from letting Pogo massacre him. *
This tape also has highlights of about 13 other matches interspersed.
British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Title Match: The Great Sasuke vs. Danny Collins
Shiryu vs. Ricky Knight
SATO & Terry Boy vs. Rob Brookside & Rico Gladiator
The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask IV & Hanzo Nakajima vs. Shiryu & Terry Boy & SATO
4/6/96
Yuki Ishikawa vs. Takeshi Ono
Carl Greco vs. Satoshi Yoneyama
Katsumi Usuda vs. Alexander Otsuka
Daisuke Ikeda vs. Shoichi Funaki
3/15/96
Blizzard YUKI vs. Chaparrita Delfin (Chaparrita ASARI) 16:43
Gran Naniwa & Shoichi Funaki & TAKA Michinoku vs. The Great Sasuke & Shiryu & Tiger Mask IV
CMLL World Welterweight Title Match: El Pantera vs. Super Delfin 14:01
*note matches without star ratings are all shown in highlight form*
3/15 Osaka CMLL World Welterweight Title: El Pantera vs. Super Delfin. Delfin wins title
3/16 Tokyo Ota-ku Taiikukan: Gran Hamada & Pantera vs. Dick Togo & MEN'S Teioh
3/16/96: The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask IV & Shiryu vs. Super Delfin & Gran Naniwa & TAKA Michinoku. TAKA was definitely the best here. He made Tiger look great. A bit sloppy, but a hot crowd responding to some awesome dives and a great near fall fest at the end. ***3/4
3/23/96 Fukushima Shi Taiikukan: The Great Sasuke vs. Shiryu. Mainly an angle match. Shiryu worked on Sasuke's bad knee and Teioh came in and chaired it, which set up Shiryu applying the ½ crab for the upset. **1/4
3/23: Delfin & Naniwa vs. Togo & Teioh. Togo ripped Naniwa's mask so his whole face was exposed.
3/24 Shirakawa Shi Nakajima Taiikukan WWF World Light Heavyweight Title: Aero Flash vs. Sasuke. Sasuke wins title.
4/23: Sasuke vs. Danny Collins
5/6 Nakayama Cho Sogo Taiikukan: TAKA & Shoichi Funaki vs. Teioh & Shiryu. Very good work. TAKA was the best and Teioh was 2nd best. After the match, Teioh tried to get TAKA & Funaki to join KDX, but they walked out. ***1/4
5/6 British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Title: Danny Collins vs. Togo. Togo wins title. Togo bloodied Collins, who was really no match for him. Collins offense sucked, and Togo couldn't carry this so it wasn't too good. **
6/8/96: Super Delfin & TAKA Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki vs. Dick Togo & MEN'S Teio & Shiryu. KDX once again tries to get TAKA & Funaki to join. DX rips Delfin's mask and double and triple teams him. TAKA & Funaki don't really do anything to help Delfin, so Sasuke has to come out and make the save.
6/14/96: Gran Naniwa & TAKA Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki vs. Dick Togo & MEN'S Teio& Shiryu. TAKA & Funaki join DX after the match, but Naniwa declines
6/15 Iwate Cho Training Center: Delfin & Naniwa vs. Teioh & Shiryu. Heels KO'd Naniwa, Delfin, and referee Ted Tanabe so they dragged Tanabe over and lifted his hands up and down for the 1-2-3 on Naniwa
6/23/96 Fukushima Sunshine Namie Handicap Match: The Great Sasuke & Super Delfin vs. Dick Togo & MEN'S Teio & Shiryu. Got off to a hot start, slowed in the middle, then picked up for the typical great finish. Togo ripped Naniwa's mask while Teioh put Sasuke through a table. ***3/4
7/6/97 Pista Arena Revolucion: The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask & Atlantis vs. Dr. Wagner Jr & Negro Casas & Satanico
Highlights of Grand Prix International '96 Tournament 7/5/96 - Sasuke/Bucanero, Sasuke/Bestia, Sasuke/Santo, etc.
7/7/96 Arena Coliseo, NWA World Welterweight Title Match: Negro Casas vs. The Great Sasuke
7/21/96 Iwate Yahaba Machi Min Sogo Taiikukan
IWGP Junior Heavykyu Senshukenjiai: The Great Sasuke vs. Shiryu. ***
7/26/96 Aizu Wakamatsu
WWA Sekai Junior Light Heavykyu Senshukenjiai: Gran Hamada vs. MEN'S Teioh. ***3/4
7/27/96 Sakata
WWA Sekai Middlekyu Senshukenjiai: Pilota Suidica vs. The Great Sasuke. 1/3 shown. Sasuke wins title
8/3/96 Koriyama Central Hall
Chubei (Central America) Middlekyu Senshukenjiai: Gran Naniwa vs. Shiryu. ***1/2
8/16/96 Mitsu Shi Min Taiikukan
Independent World Sekai Junior Heavykyu Senshukenjiai: TAKA Michinoku vs. Shiryu. ***1/2
8/18/96 Aomori-ken Min Taiikukan
WWA Super Welterkyu Senshukenjiai: Super Delfin vs. El Pantera. Delfin wins title. *
Gran Hamada & Jushin Thunder Liger & Gran Naniwa vs. Dick Togo & TAKA Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki. Full Match Review 13:23. ****1/4
8/25/96 New World Sendai
Tiger Mask vs. MEN'S Teio. **
Dick Togo vs. Super Delfin. ***
*I have a very limited quantity of additional 1st Gen SP VHS available*
Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. Johnny Saint
PWA Heavykyu Senshukenjiai: Wellington Wilkins, Jr. vs. Lenny Lane
Yuki Ishikawa & Alexander Otsuka vs. Daisuke Ikeda & Satoshi Yoneyama
The Great Sasuke & Shodai Tiger Mask & Mil Mascaras vs. Dynamite Kid & Kuniaki Kobayashi & Dos Caras
Gran Hamada & Super Delfin & Tiger Mask & Gran Naniwa & Masato Yakushiji vs. Dick Togo & MEN'S Teio & Shiryu & TAKA Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki 32:07. *****
Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Hayabusa
10/2/96: Minoru Tanaka vs. Katsumi Usuda
10/4/96: Minoru Tanaka vs. Shoichi Funaki
10/2/96: Daisuke Ikeda & Takeshi Ono vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa & Yuki Ishikawa
10/4/96: Daisuke Ikeda & Takeshi Ono vs. Katsumi Usuda & Yuki Ishikawa
10/19/96
Tiger Mask & Wellington Wilkins Jr. vs. Gran Naniwa & Yone Genjin
Dick Togo & MEN'S Teio & Shiryu vs. Gran Hamada & Masato Yakushiji & The Great Sasuke
Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa
10/30 Akita highlights
11/6 Aomori-ken
Gran Hamada & Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. Tiger Mask & Gran Naniwa
The Great Sasuke & Kato Kung Lee vs. Dick Togo & MEN'S Teio
11/7 Aomori-ken
Gran Hamada & Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. TAKA Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki
Super Delfin & El Hijo Del Santo vs. Dick Togo & MEN'S Teio
11/9 Aomori-ken
Super Delfin & El Hijo Del Santo vs. TAKA Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki
11/11 Fukushima-ken Tag League Final
Super Delfin & El Hijo Del Santo vs. Dick Togo & MEN'S Teio
9/23/96: Hamada & Delfin & Astro & Otsuka vs. Togo & Shiryu & Funaki & Collins ****1/4
11/12/96: Sasuke & Hamada & Delfin vs. Togo & Men's & Shiryu-super stretch run ****1/2
12/9/96: Sekigun vs. DX Elimination Match: The Great Sasuke & Gran Hamada & Super Delfin & Gran Naniwa & Tiger Mask IV vs. Dick Togo & Men's Teio & TAKA Michinoku & Shiryu & Shoichi Funaki 8:27 of 30:38. Some of the eliminations come too quick, but other than that it's awesome. Naniwa is the man here. Looks great from the 9 minutes they show.
12/16/96: Sasuke & Hamada & Delfin & Naniwa & Yakushiji vs. Togo & Men's & TAKA & Shiryu & Funaki-there's about 500 people in the crowd, but these guys have an incredible match that's not as good as 10/10/96 but it's on that level and it's the best match these guys have done since 10/10. 25 minutes of one great spot after another with perfect execution. An incredible display of athleticism. *****
12/17/96: TAKA vs. Shinzaki-TAKA probably should have just packed it in since he was doing the job to the lazy stiff, but instead he caries Shinzaki to his best match in a long time.
12/20/96: TAKA vs. Delfin-TAKA's selling is phenomenal. First half is fine, but 2nd half, particularly the finishing sequence, is great. ****
More!
Yumi Fukawa vs. Mima Shimoda
TAKA Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki & MEN's Teio& Dick Togo & Shiryu vs. Tiger Mask IV & Gran Naniwa & The Great Sasuke & Super Delfin & Gran Hamada 24:27 of 30:38. ****1/4
Champ Forum Battlarts 2/8/97 taped 12/26/96 Tokyo JCTV Studios
Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. Satoshi Yoneyama
Minoru Tanaka vs. Yuki Ishikawa
Alexander Otsuka & Daisuke Ikeda vs. Takeshi Ono & Katsumi Usuda
1/18/97 taped 12/19 Tokushima
12/17/96 Kumamoto, Central American Heavyweight Title Match: Shiryu vs. Kendo
Dick Togo & MEN'S Teio & Shiryu vs. Gran Naniwa & Amani (Masato Yakushiji) & Naohiro Hoshikawa
Jinsei Shinzaki vs. TAKA Michinoku
Champ Forum #128 1/25/97 taped 12/20/96 Nagoya
Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Vampiro
The Great Sasuke & Gran Hamada & Gran Naniwa & Masato Yakushiji vs. Dick Togo & Shiryu & MEN'S Teio & Shoichi Funaki
Independent Junior Heavyweight Title Match: TAKA Michinoku vs. Super Delfin
Wellington Wilkins Jr. & Naohiro Hoshimkawa vs. Masato Yakushiji & Yoshito Sugamoto
Gran Naniwa vs. Shoichi Funaki
Daisuke Ikeda & Takeshi Ono vs. Yuki Ishikawa & Alexander Otsuka
Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Masayoshi Motegi
Shodai Tiger Maskvs. TAKA Michinoku
Dick Togo & MEN'S Teio & Shiryu vs. The Great Sasuke & Super Delfin & Gran Hamada ****1/2
Alexander Otsuka (Battlarts) & Yoshito Sugamoto vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa & Beef Wellington
Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Masayoshi Motegi (Wrestle Yume Factory)
Sekigun vs. Kaientai DX 5 vs. 5
Masato Yakushiji vs. Dick Togo
Gran Hamada vs. Shoichi Funaki
The Great Sasuke vs. MEN'S Teio
Super Delfin vs. Shiryu
Gran Naniwa vs. TAKA Michinoku
Vampiro & Pantera vs. Perro Ruso & Tsurako
Shiryu vs. Jinsei Shinzaki
TAKA & Men's & Motegi & Togo & Funaki vs. Sasuke & Delfin & Naniwa & Hamada & Yakushiji-****1/2
Champ Forum Michinoku Pro 5/10/97
Solar & Ichihara vs. Genjin & Yakushiji
Shinzaki vs. Bobby Blayze
TAKA & Funaki & Super Boy vs. Tiger Mask IV & Naniwa & Hayabusa. Good match.
Champ Forum Michinoku Pro 5/17/97
Naniwa & Hamada & Sasuke vs. Togo & Funaki & Hanzo. ***3/4
Independent Jr. Heavyweight Title: TAKA Michinoku vs. Tiger Mask IV. ***1/2
UWF Super Welterweight Title: MEN'S Teio vs. Super Delfin. Good match.
Champ Forum Michinoku Pro 6/28/97
Sasuke & Tiger Mask IV vs. Hamada & Shinzaki. Good
Dick Togo vs. Super Delfin. The infamous match where Delfin surrenders by crawling through Togo's legs. Good match.
Naniwa & Yakushiji & Hoshikawa vs. Teioh & Nakajima & Funaki ****
Beef Wellington vs. Yone Genjin
Gran Hamada & Gran Naniwa & Masato Yakushiji & Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. Dick Togo & MEN'S Teioh & Shoichi Funaki & Hanzo Nakajima
The Great Sasuke vs. Tiger Mask
7/23/97: Masato Yakushiji vs. Shoichi Funaki
7/25/97: Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. Dick Togo
7/26/97: Gran Naniwa vs. MEN'S Teio
Gran Hamada vs. Shoichi Funaki. **1/2
Masato Yakushiji & Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. Dick Togo & MEN'S Teioh. ***
Ladder Match: The Great Sasuke vs. Super Boy. *1/2
Champ Forum GAEA 9/20/97
*Note: The first 3 matches are from the One Night Tournament and are shown in highlight form*
Sonoko Kato & Chikayo Nagashima vs. Rina Ishii & Sakura Hirota
Meiko Satomura & Makie Numao vs. Toshie Uematsu & Sugar Sato
Maiko Matsumoto & Hiromi Kato vs. Sonoko Kato & Chikayo Nagashima
One Night Tournament Final: Uematsu & Sugar vs. Sonoko Kato & Chikayo. Uematsu joined Sato in her heel tactics, which Sato had no problem using on her regular partner Chikayo. Good work and a lot of spots. Sato & Uematsu win tournament. ***1/4
WCW Women's Cruiserweight Title #1 Contenders Match: Uematsu vs. Sugar. This occurred right after the tag final. Fast paced match with big spots from the get go. Good while it lasted, but really short. **1/2
KAORU & Yamada vs. Chigusa & Hokuto. Sprint. Spotfest with no psychology, storyline, or selling. Work was real good though. ***1/4
Champ Forum Michinoku Pro 9/27/97 taped 8/31 Sendai
*reviewed in Quebrada #33*
UWA Super Welterweight Title: MEN'S Teio vs. Tiger Mask IV 15:32. The signature Teio technical match, getting Tiger to smoothly depart from his usual flying style into a style closer to that of Super Tiger. The match was definitely notable for their success in incorporating MMA into a technical wrestling match, especially the way they were able to do it without departing too greatly from what they normally do so well. Teio did a beautiful job of carrying this match, setting things up at the outset by taunting Tiger until he snapped and "shot" on him. Teio protested once he escaped, pretending he was going to leave. They traded knee attacks including Teio hitting a kneebreaker off the apron. There was some high flying, but it wasn't necessarily successful, including a beautiful spot where Teio turned Tiger's diving body attack into an Ace crusher. Tiger shifted to attacking Teio's arm, which set up a great spot where Teio ducked a kick to the arm and hit his miracle ecstasy, but Tiger went right into a triangle. I was impressed by the way they saw the match through from start to finish, unlike the Sasuke/TAKA matches that start out as Battlarts and then morph into aerial extravaganzas. ****1/4
The Great Sasuke vs. Dick Togo 17:06. A major match from the Sekigun and KDX leaders, with a ruthless Togo really putting a beating on Sasuke's braced up knee. Togo carried the match, dominating the first half wrenching Sasuke's knee and wrapping it around the post after Sasuke reinjured it when Togo stopped an early quebrada by pulling him off the apron. The match seemed to be employing the usual structure of Sasuke selling then coming back with his big flying spots such as the quebrada and Sasuke special, but Sasuke switched it up by attacking Togo's arm. This didn't actually last all that long, but it broke up the finishing sequence, and made it a lot more difficult to tell when the match would end as their signature spots were more interspersed and the climax was more evenly paced. Togo was on top of his game here, garnering sympathy for Sasuke with his ruthlessness and reigning Sasuke in intelligently so Sasuke got more out of his offense than usual. ****1/4
This tape is like The Story of F, except it highlights the important matches/events of the DX from 10/30/94-11/1/97 instead of the entire league. The one thing that separates it from Story of F is a 12 minute DX highlight reel at the end of the tape that is just awesome.
9/14
Wellington Wilkins Jr. vs. Masaru Seno
The Great Sasuke & Gran Hamada & Masato Yakushiji vs. Dick Togo & MEN'S Teioh & Shoichi Funaki
UWA World Middleweight Title: Minoru Tanaka vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa
9/23
Wellington Wilkins Jr. vs. Yone Genjin
The Great Sasuke & Gran Hamada & Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. Dick Togo & MEN'S Teioh & Shoichi Funaki
TAKA Michinoku vs. Tiger Mask
Satoru Sayama (free) vs. El Satanico (EMLL). *1/2
Hakushi (Kensuke "Jinsei" Shinzaki) vs. The Undertaker (WWF). ½*
Super Delfin & Naohiro Hoshikawa & Masato Yakushiji (all Sekigun) vs. Dick Togo & Men's Teioh & Shoichi Funaki (all Kaientai DX). ****1/4
The Great Sasuke vs. TAKA Michinoku (WWF) ***1/2
Yone Genjin vs. The Magicman
Michipro vs ECW: Gran Hamada & Tiger Mask vs. Chris Candido & The Convict
Satoru Sayama vs. El Satanico. *1/2
Michipro vs WWF Heavyweight: Hakushi vs. The Undertaker. ½*
Sekigun vs. Kaientai DX 6 Man Tag Match: Super Delfin & Naohiro Hoshikawa & Masato Yakushiji vs. Dick Togo & Men's Teioh & Shoichi Funaki. ****1/4
The Great Sasuke vs. TAKA Michinoku ***1/2
5/5/97 Nakayama: Super Delfin vs. MEN'S Teio. Good.
6/22/97 Namie: Super Delfin vs. Dick Togo. Delfin crawls through Togo's legs. Good.
10/10/97 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan: Super Delfin & Naohiro Hoshikawa & Masato Yakushiji vs. Dick Togo & MEN'S Teio & Shoichi Funaki. ****1/4
10/25 Tag League Matches
Masato Yakushiji & Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. Super Boy & Dick Togo
The Great Sasuke & Super Delfin vs. Gran Hamada & Tiger Mask
11/1 Tag League Matches
Dick Togo & Super Boy vs. Men's Teioh & Shoichi Funaki
11/2 Tag League Matches
Dick Togo & Super Boy vs. Yone Genjin & Perro Ruso
The Great Sasuke & Super Delfin vs. MEN'S Teioh & Shoichi Funaki
Highlights of Tag League bouts from earlier in the tour
Perro Ruso & Yone Genjin vs. Dick Togo & Super Boy. Started off as a lousy brawl, but turned into an average match due to Togo, and to a lesser extent Super Boy, being good. Genjin actually wrestles seriously most of the time. **
Magic Man vs. Jinsei Shinzaki. The announcers thought this was the funniest thing they had ever seen, but if you don't think it's funny, which I didn't, it's a worst match of the year candidate. At one point Magic Man breaks Shinzaki's bear hug by pulling a party popper (or whatever those things are called) next to Shinzaki's ear. -**
Gran Hamada & Masato Yakushiji vs. Tiger Mask IV & Naohiro Hoshikawa. Good work and lots of high spots. A little sloppy. ***
Tag League Final: The Great Sasuke & Super Delfin vs. MEN'S Teioh & Shoichi Funaki. Read Review ****1/4
12/1 Osaka
Dick Togo & MEN'S Teioh vs. Gran Hamada & Naohiro Hoshikawa. Match was good, but not much stood out. Hoshikawa looked good athletically, but not as a worker. Excellent finishing sequence. ***1/4
Great Sasuke & Masato Yakushiji & Hikari Fukuoka (JWP) vs. Super Delfin & Yone Genjin & Tomoko Kuzumi (JWP). Good performances by Yakushiji, Hikari, & Kuzumi. Good work, spots, and comedy. Very goofy, but fun. **3/4
12/7 Kyoto
Yone & Hoshikawa vs. Gran Hamada & Super Delfin. Surprisingly good match because Genjin pretty much stayed out of the way. Mainly the finish, with Delfin vs. Hoshikawa, was good. **3/4
Dick Togo & MEN'S Teioh vs. Great Sasuke & Solar. Solar wasn't on the level. Disappointing. Solid, but not as many spots as usual and a far worse finish with things never kicking into high gear. ***
Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Tiger Mask IV. Shinzaki didn't want to do anything. Annoying match because they did a few great things, including an awesome finish, but for the most part they just went through the motions. *1/2