MICHINOKU PURORESU TAPES 1999
Beef Wellington vs. Ryuj Hijikata. *
Jinsei Shinzaki vs. SM Revolution. DUD
Gran Hamada & Tiger Mask vs. SASUKE & Masaaki Mochizuki. **
Naohiro Hoshikawa & Masato Yakushiji & Masaru Seno vs. Shiima Nobunaga & Judo Suwa & Sumo Fuji 17:48. Overachieving tag match where everyone contributed, resulting in a whole that was certainly better than the sum of the parts. Started impressive, had a quality middle, and went into overdrive for a great, dramatic finishing sequence. The Toryumon team was still developing as all around wrestlers, but they could sure sprint when they wanted to. They put their speed, teamwork, and timing together right from the outset. The Michinoku team showed lots of nice double and triple teams as well, and it was clear neither promotion wanted to be shown up. Seno was obviously the weak link on his side, but he was the whipping boy, and Hoshikawa & Yakushiji helped him out with some double teams when he was on offense. They transitioned into the lengthy, fever pace climax when Suwa tried so hard to put over Hoshikawa's kick he jumped into the camera man, resulting in a momentary dead spot in the relay. Nobunaga was a man possessed down the stretch, doing a great sequence with Hoshikawa, but more impressively pulling off some really dramatic stuff with Seno of all people. They did a great job of making the near falls credible with wrestlers diving from all angles for desperate, last second saves. You kept figuring Seno would be the one to get pinned, so it was extra intense every time Shiima or Suwa had him in trouble. ****
Super Welterweight Title: Super Delfin vs. Solar. 1/2 aired and it was decent
Adios Yone! Saishusen: Gran Naniwa vs. Yone Genjin. Yone worked really hard in his retirement match and the fans were into it, but he's still Yone. A little less than half aired and it was average.
Match list coming soon
Solar vs. Mararu Seno. 3:45 shown
Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Jinsei Shinzaki. *1/2
Riley Shonen vs. SM Revolution. DUD
Naohiro Hoshikawa & Masato Yakushiji vs. Super Delfin & Gran Naniwa. ***
SASUKE & Sasuke The Great & Takeshi Ono vs. Gran Hamada & The Great Sasuke Tiger (Yuki Ishikawa) & Tiger Mask. **
3/3/99 Nagayo Nakamura Sports Center: The Great Sasuke & Gran Hamada vs. TAKA Michinoku & Gran Naniwa
3/6/99 Tokushima : The Great Sasuke & Gran Hamada & Pablo Marquez vs. TAKA Michinoku & Gran Naniwa & (Yon-dai) Tiger Mask
3/3/99 Nagayo Nakamura Sports Center: Men's Teio vs. Cosmo*Soldier
3/6/99 Tokushima: Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Alexander Otsuka (Battlarts)
Beef Wellington vs. Pero Ruso. 1/2*
Chaparrita ASARI vs. Saya Endo. 5:41 shown
Flying Kid Ichihara & Cosmo*Soldier & Piloto Suicida vs. Sasuke The Great & The Convict & Akinori Tsukioka. Fast-paced all action match. Exciting with good moves, but too short with no build and too many missed spots. **1/4
TAKA Michinoku & Gran Naniwa & Tiger Mask vs. The Great Sasuke & Gran Hamada & Pablo Marquez. Contained spectacular moves, but didn't build as well or have as great a finishing sequence as we've come to expect from these guys over the past four years. Pablo brought very little to the table, but the other guys made up for him. ***1/2
Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Alexander Otsuka. A very good match, but they could have done better if this wasn't so ridiculously long (nearly 35 minutes). ***1/2
Beef Wellington vs. Perro Russo 5:08 of 7:48. 1/2*
Gran Hamada & Tiger Mask vs. Zorro & Cosmo*Soldier 6:57 of 13:35. ***
Piloto Suicida vs. Super Boy 9:15 of 13:06. **
Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Pablo Marquez 5:42. *1/4
The Great Sasuke & TAKA Michinoku & Gran Naniwa vs. Shiima Nobunaga & Judo Suwa & Sumo Fuji. 24:15 Spectacular match where they had a lot of fun with each other. There was considerable interplay, mind games, comedy, and showy high spots, trying to entertain in all manners. The pace was at least good from the outset, with the teams getting other each others skin in between spots so it wasn't to the detriment of the match or the excellent quality of the work. The Toryumon team started mocking the Michinoku team early, but TAKA answered mimicing Fuji's sumo pose, all of these touches adding to the interpromotional rivalry. TAKA was eager to work with Shiima. I'd say Shiima was a young TAKA, except TAKA is still quite young. In any case, they used their similarities to their advantage, making the match about which young punk could show each other up, but doing so in a manner that gave the spots some meaning and the taker time to sell them. Everyone was on top of their game, except Fuji who dragged it down some early, but TAKA & Shiima stole the show, especially when in together. Most of the first 15 minutes was double or triple teaming, mainly by CRAZY MAX, which helped hide Fuji's lack of offense. After that they kicked it up to hyper speed for a killer 8-minute finishing sequence utilizing just about every big move they know, most resulting in near falls. Shiima did enough cool moves to make up for his partners, and TAKA was so smooth and precise, not to mention topping Sasuke's super quebrada turned into a tope con giro with his own version that included a midair twist so he hit the opposition with his legs (but that made it hard to catch him smoothly). ****1/4
Highlights of Tiger Mask & TAKA Michinoku vs. Shiima Nobunaga & Sumo Fuji and The Great Sasuke vs. Judo Suwa NWA Sekai Middlekyu Senshuken Jiai from 3/28/99
A year plus in review tape going from 1/10/98-3/6/99. It has highlights of 33 matches, focusing on things like the last big matches of KDX, JYB League, Crazy Max, etc.
Match list coming soon
Survival Tobita vs. Origin Ape Man VIRGON. VIRGON did a good baboon impersonation, but that's not what I watch wrestling to see. This was beyond pathetic DUD
Royal Rumble style Battle Royal. Nearly as bad as the WWF version.
Beef Wellington vs. Chad Collier. Digest
Chaparrita ASARI vs. Saya Endo. Digest
Yasushi Kanda & Genichiro Arai vs. Ricky Fuji & Magnum TOKYO. Too short to amount to anything. *
Yuki Ishikawa vs. Ryuji Hijikata. See previous match.
The Great Sasuke vs. Jinsei Shinzaki. Sasuke was pretty spectacular here with his flying. Shinzaki used more power moves since his advantage is strength not speed. Sasuke was real good and Shinzaki worked hard. ***1/2
4/27/99 Tokyo Ota-ku Taiikukan
Survival Tobita vs. Ape Virgon
The Great Sasuke vs. Jinsei Shinzaki
4/29/99 Niigata Phase
The Great Sasuke & Magnum TOKYO & Kendo vs. Gran Naniwa & Masaaki Mochizuki & Pablo Marquez
5/9/99 Iwate Cho Training Center
Yasushi Kanda & Kennichiro Arai vs. Tiger Mask & Ikuto Hidaka
Gran Hamada & Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Gran Naniwa & Masaaki Mochizuki
The Great Sasuke vs. Sasuke The Great
Match list coming soon
Beef Wellington vs. Perro Ruso. ½ shown. Poor
Chaparrita ASARI & Tanny Mouse vs. Yoshiko Tamura & Yuka Nakamura. ½ shown. Decent
The Great Sasuke & Minoru Fujita vs. Gran Hamada & Gran Naniwa. ***
Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Masaaki Mochizuki. *1/2
TAKA Michinoku & Sho Funaki & Tiger Mask vs. Shiima Nobunaga & Sumo Fuji & TARU 18:42. A major dropoff from the previous matches in the MPW vs. Toryumon series, partially because TARU is nowhere near SUWA. It was more the attitude of indifference though, as it lacked spark and intensity. Toryumon dominated the majority of the match, getting some heat by trying to unmask Tiger and holding a battered Sho's hand out so it was just beyond TAKA's reach. They didn't try much early, and the Toryumon team was still a bit sloppy. At the 15 minute mark, everyone woke up and did 4 outstanding minutes, kicking it up 5 gears and doing all the hot spots for near falls. If the opening and body had the usual effort, it would have been another excellent match. ***1/4
Match list coming soon
Beef Wellington vs. Chad Collyer. Awful
Gran Hamada & White Bear & Dakko CHAN vs. Black Warrior & Curry Man & Chabinger. CHAN did a springboard shooting star attack to the floor! *3/4
TAKA Michinoku & Minoru Fujita vs. Shiima Nobunaga & Sumo Fuji 11:52 of 17:11. Fujita isn't as polished as the Michinoku veterans, but brought the motivation and enthusiasm that was missing from the 6/19/99 MPW vs. Crazy Max encounter. Crazy Max mainly dominated the kid, but Fujita had everyone moving from the get go. The match got really good when the Michinoku team made their comeback. After they hit stereo dives, TAKA slapped the fighting spirit into Fujita to get him up off his back and onto the attack so they wouldn't miss a chance to double team Shiima while Sumo was still down. Big time action down the stretch, though they didn't go as crazy with the near falls as they had been in 6's. TAKA was into this match, and Shiima was back to his usual form, so their work together was memorable. Fujita vs. Fuji wasn't great, but it was more than adequate. ***3/4
Dainikai Fukumen (mask) World Leaguesen: The Great Sasuke vs. Dirtbike Kid. Kid injures himself, so Sasuke gets a quick win. DUD
Dainikai Fukumen (mask) World Leaguesen: Gran Naniwa vs. Tiger Mask 17:48. One of Naniwa's best singles performances. He's highly motivated and pulling out all the stops, which he needs to be as effort and will power are making up for his work and execution being above average to good. Started hot with Naniwa jumping Tiger at the bell and hitting rolling body attack off the apron, but Tiger quickly came back with a pescado. Tiger took control of the match as soon as Naniwa made the mistake of exchanging with him. Naniwa decided he had to rough Tiger up, including crotching him against the ring post. Naniwa tried to follow with a windsprint lariat, and nearly broke his arm cracking the post when Tiger avoided. Tiger worked the arm on and off, an improvement over the more resthold like matwork of the earlier portion though you never truly felt as though it was going to play a crucial role in the outcome of the match. They were going for something more spectacular, taking chances including Naniwa missing a plancha then Tiger trying some sort of reverse plancha that didn't quite come off. Tiger was otherwise in top form, definitely the star of the match. Naniwa got him working harder, but Tiger was clearly the one who can really work. ***3/4
Clip of Sasuke vs. Dakko CHAN. Sasuke tries to whip CHAN into a wall, but CHAN climbs up it and moonsault attacks Sasuke off it!
Clip of Sasuke vs. White Bear
7/17 Iwate Yahaba Chomin Sogo Taiikukan
Dainikai Fukumen (mask) World Leaguesen: The Great Sasuke vs. Dirtbike Kid. Kid injures himself, so Sasuke gets a quick win. DUD
Dainikai Fukumen (mask) World Leaguesen: Gran Naniwa vs. Tiger Mask. ***3/4
Highlights of Naniwa vs. CHAN, Sasuke vs. White Bear, CHAN vs. Tiger, Naniwa vs. Super Boy, Tiger vs. Curry, and Sasuke vs. Naniwa where Naniwa breaks his arm from World League
7/17 Iwate Yahaba Chomin Sogo Taiikukan
Gran Hamada & White Bear & Dakko CHAN vs. Black Warrior & Curry Man & Chabinger. CHAN did a springboard shooting star attack to the floor! *3/4
TAKA Michinoku & Minoru Fujita vs. Shiima Nobunaga & Sumo Fuji. ***3/4
7/25/99 Yamagata Kogita Chomin Taiikukan
Shima Nobunaga vs. Minoru Fujita. Match was strong when it came to work, spots, sequences and counters, but there was really no doubt that Shima was going over. 4:01 shown
TAKA Michinoku vs. Sumo Fuji. TAKA sold almost the whole match, particularly doing an excellent job of putting over his left knee which Fuji was destroying. This seemed like a very good match due to another strong performance by TAKA. The only downer was the match ended almost immediately when TAKA finally did comeback, and this wasn't due to a flash pin. 7:23 shown
Highlights of Super (Boy) Curry (Man) MAX
8/13/99 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center, Dainikai Fukumen World League Match: The Great Sasuke vs. Gran Naniwa
8/21/99 Yamagata, Fukumen World League Semifinals
Dos Caras vs. Curry Man
The Great Sasuke vs. Tiger Mask
8/22/99 Miyagi New World Sendai Tennis Club
TAKA Michinoku & Magnum TOKYO & Minoru Fujita vs. SUWA & Super Boy & Curry Man. ****
Dainikai Fukumen (mask) World Leaguesen Yushoketteisen: Dos Caras vs. Tiger Mask. *1/2
Highlights of 7/17 World League matches
Highlights of the following World League matches: Sasuke vs. Naniwa, Sasuke vs. Tiger Mask, Sasuke vs. Curry Man & Dos Caras vs. Curry Man
Beef Wellington vs. White Bear. 1/4*
Highlights of the Dakko CHAN vs. White Bear loser must unmask match. CHAN counters Bear's whip into the wall by jumping and pulling himself up to the balcony. Then he does a plancha off the balcony
Jody Fleisch (Dakko CHAN) vs. Mr. Aguila. Some cool spots, but otherwise...*
Gran Hamada vs. Chad Collyer. *3/4
TAKA Michinoku & Magnum TOKYO & Minoru Fujita vs. SUWA & Super Boy & Curry Man 14:34 Active and creative spotfest. They made a few mistakes, but I can live with that since they were being ambitious. SUWA's team brawled around the arena at the outset, using everything from the ring post to a bouquet of flowers to soda. It quickly turned into a flashy sprint. There was one funny comedy spot where TOKYO had TAKA get him a spoon so he could eat the curry rice off the plate on Curry's head then had TAKA get him a drink because it was too spicy, but SUWA clubbed him in the back as he was gulping so TOKYO spewed the water on TAKA. Super Boy was actually taking the match seriously for once, backflipping all over the place. They kept most of the wrestlers involved at all times, double teaming or fighting on the outside. Finally, TAKA & TOKYO took SUWA & Boy out with stereo super quebradas so there was no one to save Curry from Fujita's Dragon suplex hold, allowing the newly arrived 2nd year wrestler to pick up his first TV win. ****
2nd Fukumen World League Final: Dos Caras vs. Tiger Mask 16:09. *1/2
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
9/11/99 Iwate
Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Kazuya Yuasa
Gran Naniwa & Chabinger (Masayoshi Motegi) & Sasuke The Great vs. The Great Sasuke & Minoru Fujita & Masaaki Mochizuki
Tiger Mask & TAKA Michinoku & Genki Horiguchi vs. Shiima Nobunaga & Sumo Fuji & Taru
9/19/99: Tiger Mask & TAKA Michinoku & Minoru Fujita vs. Shiima Nobunaga & Sumo Fuji & Taru
9/23/99 Fukushima: The Great Sasuke & TAKA Michinoku vs. Tiger Mask & Minoru Fujita. ***1/2
Beef Wellington vs. Kazuya Yuasa. *
Yuka Nakamura vs. Lady Victoria. 1/4*
NANIWA vs. CIMA (Shiima Nobunaga). *1/4
Masaaki Mochizuki & Magnum TOKYO vs. Sasuke The Great & SUWA. *1/2
Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Sumo "Dandy" Fuji. *1/2
The Great Sasuke & TAKA Michinoku vs. Tiger Mask & Minoru Fujita. ***1/2
Gran Hamada & Masaaki Mochizuki (Buko Dojo) vs. Masao Orihara (Mebius) & Takeshi Ono. Digest
Kazunari Murakami (U.F.O.) vs. Mohammad Yone. *1/4
TNT (Savio Vega) vs. Daisuke Ikeda. 1/2*
The Great Sasuke & Yuki Ishikwa vs. Jinsei Shinzaki & Alexander Otsuka. Nice spots, but they didn't seem to lead anywhere. Highlight was a new double German suplex (three guys together-one getting suplexed, one suplexing and getting suplexed, and one suplexing). **1/2
Ikuto Hidaka & Minoru Fujita vs. Mach Junji & Ryuji Hijikata. About half of the match is shown. I hoped that Hidaka & Fujita could draw Junji & Hijikata up, but unfortunately it was the other way around.
Tiger Mask vs. Katsumi Usuda. 1st U.W.F. with a few high spots at the end by Tiger. *1/4
Independent World Junior Heavykyu Senshuken. Naoki Sano vs. Curry Man. Curry Man was badly outclassed. Sano looked good on offense, but Curry Man got to control the match since he was jobbing. Curry's antics got little reaction and his offense was too deliberate and light. *1/2
TAKA Michinoku vs. Minoru Tanaka 19:26. TAKA did Tanaka's very technical quasi-shoot style match with an occasional bomb, similar to Mariko Yoshida's early matches in ARSION. The pro style spots they used, with the exception of TAKA's enzui missile kick, were worked in really well, though, in general, the choice of holds seemed too random despite both working each other's knees and Tanaka also attacked TAKA's left arm. It wasn't the most exciting match, but I felt what kept it from being truly memorable is that indescriminate nature to the choice of the next hold. TAKA put the submissions over in a major way, although they tended to stay in the submissions a bit too long to be credible. They have great chemistry, working smoothly and transitioning really effectively. TAKA's slaps looked weak, but otherwise the execution was about perfect. ***3/4
Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Kazuya Yuasa. Mochizuki dominated the rookie in a very short match.
Gran Hamada & MEN'S Teio vs. Judo Suwa & Curry Man. Good action, but awfully short. MEN'S wasn't too fired up in his return, but Curry Man looked better here than in the past. **1/2
CIMA vs. Minoru Fujita 12:00. Inspired non-spot action. Fujita wanted to prove he could go with the young junior star that was all the rage. He wasn't as skilled, but he made up for it with amazing desire. Fujita's heart, willpower, and enthusiasm were driving the contest. They set out to make Fujita credible, having him take it to CIMA and get slightly the better of him. CIMA is better, but it was hard not to root for Fujita because he wanted it so badly. He won over the crowd, and by the time he got to his Dragon suplex hold finisher the match built to, the fans wanted him to win with it. The downside, apart from the brevity and lack of selling, is they didn't really know how to transition from this peak to the finish, and pretty much just had CIMA turn the tide and end it. Still, a genuinely exciting bout that proved Fujita was a now also a force to reckon with in singles. ****
Junsei Shinzaki & Magnum TOKYO vs. Sumo "Dandy" Fuji & TARU. Magnum & Shinzaki were good enough to make this a pretty good match in spite of the lackluster opposition. 9:28 shown.
The Great Sasuke vs. Tiger Mask 15:03 of 24:16. One of the major Michinoku matches of the year, culminating Tiger's push to the top level, but it lacked emotion and the editing was kind of awkward. Spectacular back and forth action I felt as though I should be enjoying a touch more than I was; I'm not sure if it was the lack of story and selling or the clipping that kept me from being fully emersed. They reached a high note early into what aired and continued at this top level as they threw everything they could think of at each other until one could no longer stand. It was a highlight reel, but the timing of the comebacks was a bit awkward. Sasuke did an interesting counter, punching Tiger out of the air when Tiger tried a pescado, though he at least pretended to hurt his hand in the process. ***1/2 maybe ***3/4
10/23 Iwate
Michinoku Futari Tobi '99 Tag Leaguesen: The Great Sasuke & Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Tiger Mask & Magnum TOKYO. Lots of good action here. The fans really got into it at the end. 9:22 shown.
Match list coming soon
Match list coming soon
Chaparrita ASARI vs. Yuka Nakamura. The wrestling was better than expected, but it was so short.
Beef Wellington vs. Kazuya Yuasa. 2:54 shown
Chaparrita ASARI vs. Misae Genki. 3:43 shown
Sekai Martial Arts Senshukenjiai: TARU vs. Kendo. 5:36 shown
Tag League digest
The Great Sasuke & Gran Hamada & Masaaki Mochizuki & Minoru Fujita vs. Sasuke The Great & Sumo Fuji & Curry Man & NANIWA 19:04 of 24:08. Some of the performances weren't great, but they used the numbers well. The first half had too much brawling, but they really turned it on in the second half. This had so many near fall saves that it almost got ridiculous. Fujita was the standout. He even made a strong impression on his opponents, working so hard they were forced to raise their level. Fujita had plenty of help, as Mochizuki was quite good when he was in and Sasuke and Hamada were as expected, but the rudo side wasn't that amazing with only Sasuke The Great being particularly sharp. A bizarre portion saw another wannabe Sasuke save Fujita from Fuji's lariat and pretend to be athletic, clumsily setting up signature Sasuke moves he didn't (couldn't) perform. Sasuke wasn't sure he what to think of this dude, but the heels attacked both before he had a chance to decide. ***1/2
Michinoku Futari Tobi '99 Yushoketteisen: Tiger Mask & Magnum TOKYO vs. CIMA & SUWA 19:19. SUWA was raising havoc from the outset, strolling around the arena before the match started and bullying the fans. He treated his opponents with similar disdain, particularly TOKYO who came in with a bad knee, and left with it in far worse condition. Crazy Max brawling around ringside early with CIMA choking Tiger with a rope and ripping his mask, while SUWA ripped Magnum's flamboyant jacket and crotched him on the ringpost. Tiger & TOKYO were always playing from behind. The fans tried to get behind them, and they did make enough comebacks to keep it interesting, though it was still a bit difficult to envision them overcoming the odds. TOKYO is prone to sloppiness and delayed reactions, but outside of occasional lameness that he was directly or indirectly responsible for this was a pretty hot match. It was ultimately a spotfest, but these guys are among the best at the style, and actually it wasn't nearly as one dimensional as I had remembered. ***1/2
Tiger Mask vs. Kazuya Yuasa. Tiger totally dominated the rookie. *
Chaparrita ASARI & Hiromi Yagi vs. Yoshiko Tamura & Tanny Mouse. ASARI & Yagi got almost all the offense in, so it was pretty good. ASARI did even more flying than usual. 4:33 shown
Beef Wellington vs. Chad Collyer. Collyer has potential, but right now his mechanical American style with cartoonish selling doesn't fit in. 6:15 shown.
Minoru Fujita & Shiryu 2 & Jody Fleisch vs. CIMA & Super Boy & Curry Man 16:05 of 16:51. The most spectacular Michinoku match of 1999. You knew it would be a wild spotfest, but it really didn't have a right to be this good considering it was basically a bunch of young guys who haven't worked in the league much, and have worked together even less. It was constant showing off, setting up the next crazy move, with the timing being right on. Fujita vs. CIMA continued where TAKA vs. CIMA had left off as the most interesting Michinoku program, but the main thing was the rudos held it together in between the great flying with good looking and well executed offense and teamwork. CIMA & Fujita got tons of help here, as everyone took plenty of opportunity to impress. Shiryu 2 isn't as slick a worker as Hayashi, and was a bit nervous at the outset, but he did all the old Shiryu spots without coming off as a pale imitation. His no touch senton atomico was particularly beautiful. Fleisch is one of the best pure athletes in the sport. Among his highlights were a shooting star attack to the floor and a corbata off the apron. I liked the spot where he jumped off Super Boy's back onto Curry's shoulders and then gave CIMA a corbata. It was that level of working together that made the match standout, and the rudos really deserve tons of credit as they did such a good job of positioning themselves and catching that Shiryu 2 & Fleisch looked like spectacular veteran aerialists rather than athletic projects. ****1/4
Jinsei Shinzaki & Gran Hamada vs. Masaaki Mochizuki & Magnum TOKYO. Shinzaki had his working boots on. Hamada & particularly Mochizuki were impressive, but Magnum wasn't that great. They did all their good spots, but the match had the typical problem of Mochizuki & TOKYO never being in danger of winning. ***1/4
The Great Sasuke & Great Sasuke Dina & Great Sasuke Tiga vs. Sasuke The Great & Masked Tiger & NANIWA. Match didn't have much in the way of direction, focus, or flow. There was too much brawling and the heels were unimpressive. **