OPW Meibutsu Sekaiichi Title Decision Match: Kuishinbo Kamen vs. Ebessan 13:43. This was one of the better comedy matches I've seen because they actually built a match that made gags about finding ways into avoiding wrestling into a match with a pretty decent level of actual wrestling. Once they started wrestling they did a nice job of actually escalating things, doing better and better wrestling moves and sequences as the match went on & really turning it into an actual match. **3/4
Chikako Shiratori vs. Dynamite Kansai 8:10. Shiratori lacked the firepower to really make a go against an opponent of this size. Kansai mostly stretched her out, but then Shiratori actually made a good brief run standing up to Kansai with her backfists, and while this was no Kansai vs. Ozaki, you suddenly felt like there was some potential here. Kansai went right into her finishing sequence though.
Ultra Ace & Ultra Monkey vs. Gokuaku Kaiju Z Mandora & Gokuaku Kaiju King Mandora 12:39. Flying and comedy. These guys have a lot of kinks to work out, but the Ultra's have potential. *1/2
Tsubasa & Yoshihito Sugamoto & Super Demekin vs. Black Buffalo & Daio QUALLT & Police Me~n 20:10. Althougth Osaka Pro was a lucha promotion, they had a lot of singles matches & rarely had more than one 6 man per show because they just didn't have a large enough roster to make that feasible. Their bigger tag matches tended to be good though, and this matchup of their up and coming young stars was no exception, though it's not the best example because none of the masters from the Michinoku days were involved, and while the 90's Michinoku stuff still looks great to me, this lesser version hasn't aged that well because it doesn't have a lot going on beyond the moves. Buffalo is always fun to watch though, he'd taken over the mantle as the guy who made these matches tick. Daio always worked well with Buffalo, but was still figuring it out on his own, and the technicos, while not individually amazing except perhaps for Tsubasa, who like Buffalo could have been an asset to just about any company, had enough going on to shine in this setting where you went hard & fast & threw out the best thing you could think of even if it was a dropkick or sunset flip. The rudos did much better as a cohesive unit that had everyone working in unison to make their offense seem better & use their numbers to maintain the advantage, but Tsubasa had his diving Frankensteiner, springboard body attack to the floor, quebrada, and so on, and the others had their moments. Police Me~n was one of the lesser workers, but was still improving, and even had a few things better than what Demekin & Sugimoto could come up with, surprising me by pulling out a shooting star press. They did a dive sequence & the usual staples, but the match was never amazing, it mostly got there through effort & quantity. Though the moves got better as the match progressed, the problem here is the match never really became dramatic; it was all those near falls and saves that really got you invested in the Michinoku classics. The finish where Buffalo had a sleeper on Tsubasa in the corner, and Demekin schoolboyed Police after his attempt to corner charge Tsubasa was greeted with a double boot was pretty anti-climactic. ***
Takehiro Murahama Debut Match, Martial Arts Style Fight 3 minutes 5 rounds: Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. Takehiro Murahama R3 1:38. Murahama had been a star in Shootboxing since the mid 90's & worked sporadically for K-1 as well when they used lighter weights, but this quasi shoot style match was his first attempt at pro wrestling. Shoot style was about the furthest thing from what Osaka Pro was about, but that changed in 2000 with the emergence of Murahama as their hottest new star. Hoshikawa was the best possible opponent for him, having dabbled into PWFG & Battlarts on the side, as well as just generally being one of the best workers in the country though he sadly never got his due. He was great here because while Murahama was basically doing a version of what he'd been doing all the time, Hoshikawa really changed his game to make this come off as a real fight. I feel like that was the biggest reason this wound up being one of the best debuts & best wrestler vs. kickboxer matches I've seen. Simple but effective is the way to go when starting out, and Murahama's simple was still very high level technique in his field, but the key for both is Hoshikawa never felt like a stand in for the bag. He moved, asked questions, and answered Murahama so well that you believed he was doing something entirely different than you'd ever seen from him before. It felt urgent for him, and that gave it a sense of realism. Murahama may not have had pro wrestling experience on his side, but I'd suggest that was as much a benefit to the match as a detriment. I loved this match from the outset because they were light on their feet bouncing around, using feints, entries, and set up strikes. They even kept their hands up to block. In other words, they did everything right that pro wrestling always does wrong because people accept every form of laziness & technical incompetence as some kind of machismo. Again, Murahama was just fighting properly, but Hoshikawa had to lose all his bad habits and "fight for real" while actually fighting for fake as always. Even though Hoshikawa is a good pro wrestling kicker, instead of just standing there seeing if he could take enough shots from one of the best pound for pound fighters in the country to somehow beat him, Hoshikawa did his best to get him to the ground, looking to catch a kick or just charge in when Murahama committed or left himself off guard because he's not used to amateur wrestling style takedowns being legal. Though Hoshikawa was able to interfere with what Murahama wanted to do enough to be competitive, Murahama was still winning with his speed & creating enough openings to chip away at Hoshikawa with volume to win the long game the way he would in Shootboxing. When Murahama finally got a knockdown midway through the 2nd, it wasn't a single strike or Hoshikawa's body finally giving in after willfully letting Murahama hit him one too many times, instead Murahama was able to follow his jab with a right cross to the nose. The only sequence that really felt like pro wrestling was when Murahama entered with a knee to set up a backdrop, which is actually a regularly executed throw in Shootboxing that he's done a number of times, but the way Murahama celebrated it felt more like he was playing it as the one pro wrestling thing he'd managed to incorporate. In any case, Hoshikawa popped up while Murahama was being amazed by himself & hit his (released) German suplex then knocked him down with a high kick as soon as Murahama got up. This was their way of giving Hoshikawa a run without having him out technique Murahama, so Hoshikawa followed with a double leg & worked body punches from half guard. Though Murahama couldn't really grapple given he wore his boxing gloves while Hoshikawa was bare fisted, the deck was still really stacked against Hoshikawa because they had rope breaks, so his path to victory was so easily impeded by Murahama simply not being a turtle. This did cost Murahama a point, but obviously that only matters if the fight last long enough to go to the scorecards. The only problem with this match is Murahama was still learning how to pull his punches, so sometimes he was clearly going too easy on Hoshikawa. Murahama definitely did a better job with his kicks than his punches, but while the first knockdown was great, none of his flurries of quick punches that got him three different knockdows in the 3rd to win the fight were particularly convincing. Still, this was a resounding success. ***1/2
Osaka Puroresu 1st Champion Decision Match: Super Delfin vs. Dick Togo 21:04. Delfin is one of the best examples in Japan of a guy whose stardom exceeded his ability because he had a cool costume & was charismatic. Talent wise, I'd rate him above behind (in no particular order) Togo, TAKA, Sasuke, Hoshikawa, Yakushiji, Shiryu, Hamada, Funaki, MEN'S, & Tiger Mask on the classic Michinoku roster, but he was one of their biggest names, and now the top star of his new split off company. That's not to say he wasn't very good, that was a hell of a roster, and he was often excellent in the big tags where his signature moves, timing, & character work would carry the day so he didn't need to be that diverse or dynamic. Still, he did have a few **** level singles matches with Togo, TAKA, & Sasuke over the years when he was willing to really apply himself. This was the biggest match in the brief history of Osaka Pro, and a fully engaged Delfin was ready to climax what had already been a resounding success, but he's also still Super Delfin. So what do we want to focus on here, I prefer to see this as capping the best solo show in the history of the company with one of the best matches in the history of the company. It wasn't a perfect match, but both men were going the extra mile right from the get go, even their basic stuff was performed with extra energy & care. What I liked about this match that sets it apart from even the really good Delfin matches though is it actually was quite diverse. Apart from Togo just being great in any setting, this was a successful long match because while Togo carried it working over Delfin's leg, Delfin didn't just lay there & take it. Sure, he still largely did Delfin things, but rather than Togo doing all the work until Delfin miraculously hit his signature moves for the win, which would have been their lazy big match, Delfin had to keep coming up with counters to merely stay in it & keep progressing one step at a time to actually hit the moves he basically just did in any other match. Though Togo is always going to be the one to watch here, Delfin made himself interesting by coming up with ways to try to get a foothold in the match while also making the top heel seem stronger as Togo outsmarted and outmaneuvered him, and when that didn't work some good old cheating or outside interference from the rudos could always do the trick. The fact that the match was so back & forth even though Togo dominated the majority made it constantly engaging, and this was definitely one of Delfin's most thoughtful performances. Togo injured Delfin's knee with a chair shot early on after Delfin had a nice tilt-a-whirl headscissors on the floor. Delfin had a hope spot enzuigiri, but Togo stopped his Tiger suplex with a kick to the kneecap & rolled into a kneebar. Delfin kept threatening to regain control only to get quickly cut off, finally seeming to make some progress only to have Togo counter his swinging DDT with a handspring & get the first real near fall with a Ligerbomb. Delfin was able to stop Togo's diving senton, and the fact they were able to keep progressing the match while simultaneously building to & avoding the big spots was a big asset here. They were able to work in a table, outside interference, and so on as misdirection without these things taking away from the basic thrust of the match. Even after Togo knocked Delfin off the ropes to stop another swinging DDT, Delfin surprised him by getting up quickly & dropkicking Togo out of midair. It was annoying that Delfin forgot about his injured leg in the later stages, but the match did keep evolving in steps. Delfin finally countered into a regular swinging DDT, check one thing off and then move on to the next big move he needs to hit to win while still waiting for him to hit the swinging DDT off the 2nd. There were a lot of near falls down the stretch because that's what Michinoku fans expected. I wouldn't say this was the most dramatic finishing stretch by any means, but given the match swayed so far in Togo's favor, Delfin was doing to need to do some things after finally taking over avoiding the diving senton to get the job done & become the first champion. ****
OPW Meibutsu Sekaiichi Title Decision Match: Kuishinbo Kamen vs. Ebessan 13:43. This was one of the better comedy matches I've seen because they actually built a match that made gags about finding ways into avoiding wrestling into a match with a pretty decent level of actual wrestling. Once they started wrestling they did a nice job of actually escalating things, doing better and better wrestling moves and sequences as the match went on & really turning it into an actual match. **3/4
Chikako Shiratori vs. Dynamite Kansai. 2:45 shown
Ultra Ace & Ultra Monkey vs. Gokuaku Kaiju Z Mandora & Gokuaku Kaiju King Mandora. Flying and comedy. These guys have a lot of kinks to work out, but the Ultra's have potential. *1/2
Tsubasa & Yoshihito Sugamoto & Super Demekin vs. Black Buffalo & Daio QUALLT & Police Me~n 6:51 of 20:10. Althougth Osaka Pro was a lucha promotion, they had a lot of singles matches & rarely had more than one 6 man per show because they just didn't have a large enough roster to make that feasible. Their bigger tag matches tended to be good though, and this matchup of their up and coming young stars was no exception, though it's not the best example because none of the masters from the Michinoku days were involved, and while the 90's Michinoku stuff still looks great to me, this lesser version hasn't aged that well because it doesn't have a lot going on beyond the moves. Buffalo is always fun to watch though, he'd taken over the mantle as the guy who made these matches tick. Daio always worked well with Buffalo, but was still figuring it out on his own, and the technicos, while not individually amazing except perhaps for Tsubasa, who like Buffalo could have been an asset to just about any company, had enough going on to shine in this setting where you went hard & fast & threw out the best thing you could think of even if it was a dropkick or sunset flip. The rudos did much better as a cohesive unit that had everyone working in unison to make their offense seem better & use their numbers to maintain the advantage, but Tsubasa had his diving Frankensteiner, springboard body attack to the floor, quebrada, and so on, and the others had their moments. Police Me~n was one of the lesser workers, but was still improving, and even had a few things better than what Demekin & Sugimoto could come up with, surprising me by pulling out a shooting star press. They did a dive sequence & the usual staples, but the match was never amazing, it mostly got there through effort & quantity. Though the moves got better as the match progressed, the problem here is the match never really became dramatic; it was all those near falls and saves that really got you invested in the Michinoku classics. The finish where Buffalo had a sleeper on Tsubasa in the corner, and Demekin schoolboyed Police after his attempt to corner charge Tsubasa was greeted with a double boot was pretty anti-climactic. ***
Takehiro Murahama Debut Match, Martial Arts Style Fight 3 minutes 5 rounds: Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. Takehiro Murahama R3 1:38. Murahama had been a star in Shootboxing since the mid 90's & worked sporadically for K-1 as well when they used lighter weights, but this quasi shoot style match was his first attempt at pro wrestling. Shoot style was about the furthest thing from what Osaka Pro was about, but that changed in 2000 with the emergence of Murahama as their hottest new star. Hoshikawa was the best possible opponent for him, having dabbled into PWFG & Battlarts on the side, as well as just generally being one of the best workers in the country though he sadly never got his due. He was great here because while Murahama was basically doing a version of what he'd been doing all the time, Hoshikawa really changed his game to make this come off as a real fight. I feel like that was the biggest reason this wound up being one of the best debuts & best wrestler vs. kickboxer matches I've seen. Simple but effective is the way to go when starting out, and Murahama's simple was still very high level technique in his field, but the key for both is Hoshikawa never felt like a stand in for the bag. He moved, asked questions, and answered Murahama so well that you believed he was doing something entirely different than you'd ever seen from him before. It felt urgent for him, and that gave it a sense of realism. Murahama may not have had pro wrestling experience on his side, but I'd suggest that was as much a benefit to the match as a detriment. I loved this match from the outset because they were light on their feet bouncing around, using feints, entries, and set up strikes. They even kept their hands up to block. In other words, they did everything right that pro wrestling always does wrong because people accept every form of laziness & technical incompetence as some kind of machismo. Again, Murahama was just fighting properly, but Hoshikawa had to lose all his bad habits and "fight for real" while actually fighting for fake as always. Even though Hoshikawa is a good pro wrestling kicker, instead of just standing there seeing if he could take enough shots from one of the best pound for pound fighters in the country to somehow beat him, Hoshikawa did his best to get him to the ground, looking to catch a kick or just charge in when Murahama committed or left himself off guard because he's not used to amateur wrestling style takedowns being legal. Though Hoshikawa was able to interfere with what Murahama wanted to do enough to be competitive, Murahama was still winning with his speed & creating enough openings to chip away at Hoshikawa with volume to win the long game the way he would in Shootboxing. When Murahama finally got a knockdown midway through the 2nd, it wasn't a single strike or Hoshikawa's body finally giving in after willfully letting Murahama hit him one too many times, instead Murahama was able to follow his jab with a right cross to the nose. The only sequence that really felt like pro wrestling was when Murahama entered with a knee to set up a backdrop, which is actually a regularly executed throw in Shootboxing that he's done a number of times, but the way Murahama celebrated it felt more like he was playing it as the one pro wrestling thing he'd managed to incorporate. In any case, Hoshikawa popped up while Murahama was being amazed by himself & hit his (released) German suplex then knocked him down with a high kick as soon as Murahama got up. This was their way of giving Hoshikawa a run without having him out technique Murahama, so Hoshikawa followed with a double leg & worked body punches from half guard. Though Murahama couldn't really grapple given he wore his boxing gloves while Hoshikawa was bare fisted, the deck was still really stacked against Hoshikawa because they had rope breaks, so his path to victory was so easily impeded by Murahama simply not being a turtle. This did cost Murahama a point, but obviously that only matters if the fight last long enough to go to the scorecards. The only problem with this match is Murahama was still learning how to pull his punches, so sometimes he was clearly going too easy on Hoshikawa. Murahama definitely did a better job with his kicks than his punches, but while the first knockdown was great, none of his flurries of quick punches that got him three different knockdows in the 3rd to win the fight were particularly convincing. Still, this was a resounding success. ***1/2
Osaka Puroresu 1st Champion Decision Match: Super Delfin vs. Dick Togo 21:04. Delfin is one of the best examples in Japan of a guy whose stardom exceeded his ability because he had a cool costume & was charismatic. Talent wise, I'd rate him above behind (in no particular order) Togo, TAKA, Sasuke, Hoshikawa, Yakushiji, Shiryu, Hamada, Funaki, MEN'S, & Tiger Mask on the classic Michinoku roster, but he was one of their biggest names, and now the top star of his new split off company. That's not to say he wasn't very good, that was a hell of a roster, and he was often excellent in the big tags where his signature moves, timing, & character work would carry the day so he didn't need to be that diverse or dynamic. Still, he did have a few **** level singles matches with Togo, TAKA, & Sasuke over the years when he was willing to really apply himself. This was the biggest match in the brief history of Osaka Pro, and a fully engaged Delfin was ready to climax what had already been a resounding success, but he's also still Super Delfin. So what do we want to focus on here, I prefer to see this as capping the best solo show in the history of the company with one of the best matches in the history of the company. It wasn't a perfect match, but both men were going the extra mile right from the get go, even their basic stuff was performed with extra energy & care. What I liked about this match that sets it apart from even the really good Delfin matches though is it actually was quite diverse. Apart from Togo just being great in any setting, this was a successful long match because while Togo carried it working over Delfin's leg, Delfin didn't just lay there & take it. Sure, he still largely did Delfin things, but rather than Togo doing all the work until Delfin miraculously hit his signature moves for the win, which would have been their lazy big match, Delfin had to keep coming up with counters to merely stay in it & keep progressing one step at a time to actually hit the moves he basically just did in any other match. Though Togo is always going to be the one to watch here, Delfin made himself interesting by coming up with ways to try to get a foothold in the match while also making the top heel seem stronger as Togo outsmarted and outmaneuvered him, and when that didn't work some good old cheating or outside interference from the rudos could always do the trick. The fact that the match was so back & forth even though Togo dominated the majority made it constantly engaging, and this was definitely one of Delfin's most thoughtful performances. Togo injured Delfin's knee with a chair shot early on after Delfin had a nice tilt-a-whirl headscissors on the floor. Delfin had a hope spot enzuigiri, but Togo stopped his Tiger suplex with a kick to the kneecap & rolled into a kneebar. Delfin kept threatening to regain control only to get quickly cut off, finally seeming to make some progress only to have Togo counter his swinging DDT with a handspring & get the first real near fall with a Ligerbomb. Delfin was able to stop Togo's diving senton, and the fact they were able to keep progressing the match while simultaneously building to & avoding the big spots was a big asset here. They were able to work in a table, outside interference, and so on as misdirection without these things taking away from the basic thrust of the match. Even after Togo knocked Delfin off the ropes to stop another swinging DDT, Delfin surprised him by getting up quickly & dropkicking Togo out of midair. It was annoying that Delfin forgot about his injured leg in the later stages, but the match did keep evolving in steps. Delfin finally countered into a regular swinging DDT, check one thing off and then move on to the next big move he needs to hit to win while still waiting for him to hit the swinging DDT off the 2nd. There were a lot of near falls down the stretch because that's what Michinoku fans expected. I wouldn't say this was the most dramatic finishing stretch by any means, but given the match swayed so far in Togo's favor, Delfin was doing to need to do some things after finally taking over avoiding the diving senton to get the job done & become the first champion. ****
Kuishinbo Kamen vs. Policeme~n. Kamen fought seriously. It wa a little indyish, but a good little junior match with nice moves by both men. One interesting spot saw Police stop Kamen from reentering the ring by kicking his briefcase into him. 6:12 shown.
The Monkey Magic & Super Demekin vs. Ebessan & Kaiju Z Mandora. Comedy match. Monkey, who was holding his sore butt, jumped onto the ref after Mandora gave him an atomic drop, so the ref slapped Monkey and kicked him in the butt. There was a quadruple headlock spot where Demekin dropkicked Ebessan, who was at one end, causing everyone to fall. Demekin then walked all over everyone and they acted like they were going to throw up. In additon to the clowning there was a lot of decent wrestling. **
Takehiro Murahama vs. Shusaku Wada. Quick worked shoot style match to put over Murahama as legit.
Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. Yoshihito Sugamoto. Hoshikawa looked good, but Sugamoto was screwing up early on. No one gave Sugamoto a chance to win, and the match was consistent with that philosophy. Sugamoto did a cool move where it looked like he was going to do a spinning headscissors, but he turned it into a DDT. **
Super Delfin & Masato Yakushiji & Tsubasa vs. Dick Togo & Black Buffalo & Daio QUALLT. Heels controlled the match, mainly destroying Delfin. Delfin countered into some good brief comebacks. This led to a surprise finish where he actually pinned QUALLT off a huracanrana counter. Delfin, Togo, & Buffalo were good, but this finish came much too soon. The finish had it's point which I can respect, but in grading the match I also have to say that it clearly hurt the overall quality because they hadn't even reached the point where the near falls could be the finish. **1/2
HELLO TOKYO! OPENING ACT: Shusaku Wada vs. Takashi Tachibana 4:08. This didn't have the look of a rookie match even though it was just strikes and dropkicks. The difference is they had confidence in what they were doing and showed some fire and charisma. It was very short, but not bad to watch if you don't mind matches without even medium level offense (which these guys are too inexperienced for). *
good-by Nise Onita: Nise Great Nita vs. Nise Atsushi Onita 5:04 of 7:21. The regular fake Onita was fake Great Nita this time. The fake Onita wore this ridiculous mask that was like a bandaged up rabbit. He even had a tail! His wrestling was better than the real Onita. The problem was comedy match was not funny. They pretty much just did the Onita spots like Onita. As they aren't funny when Onita does them, they aren't funny simply because imposters are doing them. They needed to change them in some way to make them humorous. *
Chikako Shiratori vs. Takako Inoue 10:34. This was embarassing. Takako was doing her "striker" gimmick even though her strikes were usually worse than Shiratori's, who is at least smart enough to know she's not a striker and barely use any. These two didn't work well together. Their execution wasn't good, but also spots didn't look right because the person taking the move wasn't going with it quick enough. There were a lot of near falls at the end and the fans got into it even though it stunk. *
Yoshihito Sugamoto & The Monkey Magic & Dream Casko vs. Kaiju Z Mandora & Kaiju King Mandora & Policeme~n 6:21 of 15:20. Good moves here. The highlights were Dream did a moonsault attack off the top to the floor and Policeme~n superplexed Monkey off King's shoulders. Unfortunately, it was not real smooth and kind of deliberate. One comedy spot was Policeme~n hitting Dream Casko (does a Dreamcast gimmick) with a Playstation. Seemed like an average match. 6:21 shown
Kuishinbo Kamen vs. Ebessan 5:14 of 10:53. These two aren't the most talented wrestlers, but they have a really good act together that combines laughs with the best wrestling you'll find in a comedy match. This wasn't as funny as some of their others, or maybe the comedy was clipped since that occurs more during the early stages, but it's hard to complain about a joker like Kamen when he finds a way to give you a quebrada, Frankensteiner off the top, and twister/tornado. Pretty good stuff. 5:14 shown
Masato Yakushiji & Naohiro Hoshikawa & Super Demekin vs. Dick Togo & Black Buffalo & Daio QUALLT 15:18. The best tag in the brief history of Osaka Puroresu. Not surprisingly, it was in the vein of the classic Michinoku 6 mans with Yakushiji, Hoshikawa, & Togo still doing a tremendous job and Buffalo being a very underrated tag performer. Inexperienced Demekin & QUALLT not being able to live up to the standard set in Michinoku is a given. However, Demekin shows a lot of potential in holding his own, and is already a big improvement over having Seno on the face side, and QUALLT, who is actually Seno under a hood, seems much bigger in his new gimmick, adding the element of power without compromising the Lucha style. The main difference between this match and the Michinoku ones is the length. This was a little over 15 minutes, so it a pauseless full speed ahead sprint. Aside from one section where QUALLT slowed things down, it was almost too fast to keep up with. Togo is clearly the ring general of the promotion. Unlike most stars who dog it in the 6 mans, Togo is front and center, taking charge early and appearing often. Though Togo & Hoshikawa were great, Yakushiji, who is one of the quickest wrestlers ever, made this into a vehicle to show his tremendous atheticism. Yakushiji isn't the singles wrestler Hoshikawa is because he's not as willing to take charge, but Togo & Buffalo provide both with tremendous setups for their impressive spurts of hyper action. The highlight for me was Togo catching Demekin's head in midair (he was trying a diving shoulderblock) and using his momentum against him with an Ace crusher. ****
Osaka Puroresu Senshukenjiai Ishu Kakutogisen 3 Minutes 5 Rounds: Super Delfin vs. Takehiro Murahama 3R 2:00. It would have been better if it wasn't supposed to be a shoot, but Murahama (who still fought with gloves) had been built up huge as a "shooter" and this title win was designed to solidify him as a star (of course, you aren't much of a star when almost all your performances are before a few hundred people but at least they had over 2000 for their Tokyo debut). It was weird seeing a masked guy "shooting," but the match was still intense and had good heat. Although this doesn't compare favorably to some of the mixed matches that the U.W.F. guys have had like Yamazaki vs. Clarke or Maeda vs. Nielsen, Delfin deserves credit for totally altering his style so the match could have some credibility and integrity. he showed a lot more shooting prowess than I expected. It had it's share of holes, but it was both exciting and successful. **1/2
Shusaku Wada vs. Takashi Tachibana
Super Demekin vs. Kaijo Z Mandora
CMLL JAPAN Joshi Senshukenjiai: Chikako Shiratori vs. Pesadejya Roca 10:57. Roca was much better than I anticipated, certainly the better wrestler of the two. She controlled the early portion with basic heel tactics and submissions, combining the two when she had the opportunity. She soon busted out some good moves though including a nice huracanrana, Frankensteiner off the top, and moonsault. the sequences weren't the greatest because they weren't used to each other, and Shiratori at least is a slow reactor. **1/4
3 Way Dance: Kuishinbo Kamen vs. Ebessan vs. The Monkey Magic
Chikako Shiratori sings
Debut 1st Anniversary 100,000-en Ladder Elimination Match: Super Delfin & Masato Yakushiji & Naohiro Hoshikawa & Yoshihito Sugimoto vs. Dick Togo & Black Buffalo & Daio QUALLT & Policeme~n 16:35. A very odd match. On one hand it's a tag match, but on the other only the wrestler who climbs the ladder and grabs the paper gets to cash in for 100,000. They used two big ladders, so clumsy that Togo quickly gave up climbing them on his own. The first few minutes were great with Delfin establishing himself early, and the expansion to 8 wrestlers adding a bit more diversity and keeping the pace that much higher. Unfortunately, the ladders were always set up after the first few minutes, so there was less and less of what they do best as the match progressed. Some of the new spots were nice additions to Osaka rings, though the requisite ladder moves overall such as the moonsault off and the crotch spot. Fans of ladder matches will no doubt enjoy it for the genre staples, but I found it disappointing because there was too much Shawn Michaels and too little of what makes these guys so good. They had a hard time making the ladders fit their style rather than compromising it by creating an obstacle course, and there was simply too much climbing. While it's good they did something different, the fact that their regular tag match is far superior was all too obvious when they couldn't follow the early great wrestling once the gimmicks came into play. ***
Policeman vs. Torakichi Kurumawa 9:06
Masato Yakushiji vs. Super Demekin 12:48
8/6/00 Osaka NGK Studio: Ebessan & Kuishinbo Kamen & Monster Zeta Mandora vs. Masato Yakushiji & Monkey Magic & Tsubasa 13:22
Dick Togo & Black Buffalo & Daio QUALLT vs. Super Delfin & Tsubasa & Yoshihito Sugamoto 13:54
Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. Takehiro Murahama 12:58
Takashi Tachibana vs. Shusaku Wada
Yoshihito Sugamoto vs. Policeman
Man & Woman Mixed Tag Match: Ebessan & Kaiju Zeta Mandora & Yuki Miyazaki vs. Kuishinbo Kamen & Monkey Magic & Chikako Shiratori
Super Delfin vs. Takehiro Murahama
Masato Yakushiji & Naohiro Hoshikawa & Tsubasa vs. Dick Togo & Black Buffalo & Daio QUALLT
2/13/00 Kyoto KBS Hall, CMLL JAPAN Joshi Senshukenjiai: Chikako Shiratori vs. La Diabolica
3/23/00 Strait Messe Shimonoseki CMLL JAPAN Joshi Senshukenjiai: Chikako Shiratori vs. Yuki Miyazaki 12:29
3/24/00 Okayama Budokan, Osaka Puroresu Special Mixed Match: Super Delfin & Super CHIKAKO & Super Demekin vs. Kuishinbo Kamen & Ebessan & Yuki Miyazaki 19:15
Chikako Shiratori sings
3/17/00 Osaka Umeda AM Hall: Takehiro Murahama vs. Daio QUALLT. Daio actually fought shoot style. Murahama is so quick that especially with gloves on he ought to be able to throw some fast punches that have enough impact to be credible. He almost had a KO from some lame strikes when the lights went out. QUALLT spewed him when they came back on, disposed of the ref, and chokeslamed him with a bull rope. L.O.V came in and beat Murahama until Justice saved, but Murahama still decked Delfin rather than join him. The angle was much better than the match. 6:56. *
3/25/00 Osaka NGK Studio: Takehiro Murahama vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa. Fairly credible mixed match since Hoshikawa has all the Battlarts experience. Hoshikawa must have told Murahama to hit him because his strikes were definitely better here, though he still missed or grazed too many times. They kept it even for the first three rounds then did several big moves and near finishes in round 4. That style can work in a regular pro style match, but you never see near finish after near finish in a shoot. An enjoyable match with some definite problems. R5 1:30. ***
5/7/00 Tokyo Ota-ku Taiikukan Osaka Puroresu Senshukenjiai Ishu Kakutogisen 3 Minutes 5 Rounds: Super Delfin vs. Takehiro Murahama. It would have been better if it wasn't supposed to be a shoot, but Murahama (who still fought with gloves) had been built up huge as a "shooter" and this title win was designed to solidify him as a star (of course, you aren't much of a star when almost all your performances are before a few hundred people but at least they had over 2000 for their Tokyo debut). It was weird seeing a masked guy "shooting," but the match was still intense and had good heat. Although this doesn't compare favorably to some of the mixed matches that the U.W.F. guys have had like Yamazaki vs. Clarke or Maeda vs. Nielsen, Delfin deserves credit for totally altering his style so the match could have some credibility and integrity. he showed a lot more shooting prowess than I expected. It had it's share of holes, but it was both exciting and successful. **1/2
6/18/00 Osaka NGK Studio Osaka Puroresu Senshukenjiai Ishu Kakutogisen 3 Minutes 5 Rounds: Takehiro Murahama vs. Super Delfin. Delfin's positioning and transitions were surprisingly good. Since he's not well versed in this style they just burned through what he could do and got out. The match was entertaining while it lasted and didn't expose Delfin even though his offense isn't right for shoot style. 2R 1:27.
6/24/00 Osaka Umeda AM Hall: Super Delfin & Takehiro Murahama vs. Masato Yakushiji & Naohiro Hoshikawa. Fast-paced all action match that everyone contributed to and kept getting better and better. Murahama permanently switched from shoot style to PuroLucha style. This was kind of inevitable since he couldn't keep fighting Hoshikawa forever, but isn't it pointless to give a rookie the title for a month then have him change his style as soon as he loses it? Now it was like he was starting from scratch again. Murahama & Hoshikawa had developed better chemistry & timing, so they were now able to choreograph some kicking sequences. More importantly, Hoshikawa could carry him a lot better since Murahama was now doing his style. Murahama immediately looked better in his new style simply because he wasn't doing all those fake looking punches. 16:12. ***1/2
7/1/00 Osaka Umeda AM Hall: Super Delfin & Naohiro Hoshikawa & Takehiro Murahama vs. Black Buffalo & Daio QUALLT & Dick Togo. This was in the vein of the classic Michinoku tag matches as far as how it was structured and worked, though it was faster-paced and not as long. The extra two guys on one hand improved the quality over the previous match because the pace was increased and there were more dives, but QUALLT isn't made for this style and was the only guy that wasn't good. 16:43. ***1/2
7/22/00 Osaka Umeda AM Hall MURAHAMA TRIAL 5 1st Match: Takehiro Murahama vs. Black Buffalo. Buffalo is capable of doing the opponent's match, and is out there to make them look good. In one of Buffalo's best performances, he expanded his game to include UWF style stiffness and matwork to keep Murahama in his comfort zone. Murahama's transitions on the mat were really slick, and he was starting to get good at lucha segments. Buffalo controlled the match, setting Murahama up for brief hot segments before cutting him off. Just as a legitimate Murahama comeback seemed imminent, Murahama injured his leg, blasting the post when Buffalo avoided a kick. This allowed Buffalo to incorporate some of his brawling, but staying with the focus of the match, he quickly transitioned to leg submissions. The story of the match is Buffalo throwing everything he can at the phenom to defeat him, but still being unable to put him away. The finish was wholly unconvincing, as Murahama never had the big run we expected, instead taking Buffalo out with a few strikes that shouldn't beat anyone, and in fact it was ridiculously obvious Buffalo kicked out at 2 1/2. Murahama was exciting but flawed, but Buffalo was on top of his game, doing an excellent job of carrying the green but gifted opponent. If they had seen it through, going another 3 minutes to a legitimate finish this would likely have been an excellent match. Beyond the obvious, the problem with the finish is you didn't feel bad for the face when, after LOV protested the bad count, QUALLT spewed mist in Murahama's face and chokeslammed him to set up the next challenge. 15:28. ***1/2
7/23/00 Osaka Umeda AM Hall MURAHAMA TRIAL 5 2nd Match: Takehiro Murahama vs. Daio QUALLT. You know you've put together a bad match if QUALLT has to carry it. Daio, who has the dullest offense in PuroLucha, dominated the match. He actually did a pretty good job of putting Murahama over when he tried, but Murahama hadn't figured out how to use all his athleticism to make his opponent look better and that task was his main one for the match. They had one nice idea where QUALLT lifted Murahama up for his chokeslam, but Murahama high kicked him in the head. 12:21. **
7/30/00 Osaka NGK Studio: Takehiro Murahama & Tsubasa vs. Dick Togo & Black Buffalo. Togo was acting tougher, more dickish and arrogant than normal. He was really blasting Murahama. Tsubasa wasn't much of a factor except in double teaming. Good match, but Murahama's team was overmatched. 13:20. ***
8/6/00 Osaka NGK Studio MURAHAMA TRIAL 5 3rd Match: Takehiro Murahama vs. Dick Togo. Murahama was taking it to Togo with the shoot stuff, so Togo turned it into a brawl, piledriving Murahama through a table. Togo also put a chair over Murahama's face and jumped off the 2nd with a stomp. Murahama facebustered Togo onto a chair, but he was overmatched in this world and quickly succumbed to DICKMANIA. Good while it lasted, but now you have a guy that's less than 2 months removed from being the champ not even able to hang with your top guys. 7:01. **1/2
8/12/00 Osaka Umeda AM Hall MURAHAMA TRIAL 5 4th Match: Takehiro Murahama vs. Masato Yakushiji. Like the previous, this match started more towards Murahama's style then shifted to his opponent's. The difference is Murahama was able to get it back to his style. Good work, but not a lot of direction. Minute for minute the Togo match was better, but this lasted twice as long. 13:53. **3/4
8/13/00 Osaka Umeda AM Hall MURAHAMA TRIAL 5 THE LAST TRIAL: Takehiro Murahama vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa. Pretty much a worked shoot. Transitions and counters were nice, but the execution was a bit suspect, particularly some incredibly lame mount strikes by Murahama. 12:57. ***
11/6/00 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Takehiro Murahama vs. Super Delfin. Better than their previous matches. Murahama had improved a lot and it wasn't hampered by the mixed match style, plus Murahama was clearly better in Delfin's style at this point than Delfin had been in Murahama's. Murahama's kicks were solid and his transitions from submission to submission were really nice, especially since he didn't get as much help as he would from a ground guy. There was one extremely bad part where Murahama stumbled trying to do his tope con giro, bouncing off the top rope to the floor. He then slammed Delfin on the floor and reentered to do it again. Considering this was a bigger arena and the deciding match between the two, I expected a lot more build and drama. 16:24. ***