Reviews thread

[Jack]

KENTA/Ki is just an awesome match. Ultra stiff, in a good way, highly atheltic, realistic, had a great atmosphere and so on. Not much was wrong with this match at all I don't think. KENTA, was, well, KENTA. You expect a enjoyable atch from him, and he did his share. Ki was the same wrestler, who put on smashing matches throughout 2002, and 3 to an extent. I have rarely seen him perform as good, since his prime a few years back.

It's a must see match no doubt about it.

[Evil Gringo]

Originally Posted by Jack KENTA/Ki is just an awesome match. Ultra stiff, in a good way, highly atheltic, realistic, had a great atmosphere and so on. Not much was wrong with this match at all I don't think. KENTA, was, well, KENTA. You expect a enjoyable atch from him, and he did his share. Ki was the same wrestler, who put on smashing matches throughout 2002, and 3 to an extent. I have rarely seen him perform as good, since his prime a few years back. It's a must see match no doubt about it.

If I had to pick at a few tiny things that I didn't like was that Ki was kicking out at one in the early going and being a bit shelfish in that respect which quickly ended when KENTA got a bit grumpy and nailed him with some seriously stiff kicks...

Also in the brawling segment outside the ring where Ki is working over the midsection using the rail and the apron one fan is a bit a tit and can be heard calling KENTA a 'gook'. Idiot.

[Fidel Cashflow]

Ok, I'm working on a review of Lesnar's IWGP Title win against Fujita and Chono!

[Fidel Cashflow]

It all starts off with some pretty cool dramatic music to introduce the IWGP title on the big screen. Then, someone with a big robe and a basket over there heads interrupts it from behind the stage. The crowd pops huge for whatever he said. It’s then that some Beethoven (I think) starts to play, then it turns into some kind of Techno mix of the same song, pretty cool.

The basket headed man walks out onto the stage, but Antonio Inoki (da boss) comes from behind him and walks/jogs to the ring excitedly, leaving the basket headed and robed man on the stage. It’s a BIG stage and ramp. WWE could learn from it.

By the way, the basket headed man towers over Inoki…

Inoki gets in the ring and starts to cut a promo. He gets some pops here and there (must be pretty good on the mic, or they were Foleyic). Pretty damn long promo too. Finally he says something and the crowd say it along with him. The same theme from before plays and he exits the ring and goes to the outside.

Damn, some damn cool calm before the storm windy theme starts playing. The camera pans and shows Chono’s video playing on the…oh…erm…what…PuroTron. There we go. DAMN, it turns into some death metal style riffs but with the windy stuff playing in the back ground. The lights flash powerfully so you don’t even see Chono until he is already ten feed down the ramp. The song gets pretty weird, but it’s still cool. The crowd never really popped for Chono though as he gets in the ring, but everyone is on there feet. Just noticed the Basket man is gone. Chono looks like a badass.

Then, as Gringo stated, a very Halo-esque theme starts to play. Since he has not wrestled in Japan for the vid they show him working out, although, it works better than in ring shots of him would. It turns into the guitar riff (and of course on the tron they flash the American flag), it’s an okay theme. Crazy pyro shoots off as Brock (who looks a bit chunkier than he was at the end of his WWE stint) walks out onto the ramp. I guess puro fans don’t mark for entrances. Brock has a new tattoo, one of a sword around his sternum area, pretty cool. The red attire is alright, I think it’s missing some MMA style glove and bigger shin pads, but that’s me. Scratch what I said earlier, Brock looks more muscular than before, but still a little flab around the edges.

Damn I just marked for him doing the march in step thingy. He’s looking across the ring straight at Chono.

Fujita gets announced as a kick ass guitar riff starts playing. I’m dissappoined though as it turns into some brassy/techno mix.

Gringo, who the hell were those in Fujita’s video? Some kind of faction?

Anyway, Fujita marches to the ring with belt in hand. They, of course, play the American anthem. Then the Japanese.

All three men circle the ring before Fujita gets in Lesnar’s face. Lesnar throws a big clothesline, but Fujita ducks it and kicks him in the gut. Chono joins in and both men beat down on Lesnar. Lesnar fights out and sends Chono to the ground with a one hand push and Fujita sent stubling back a few steps with the other. Brock gets the upper hand on Fujita and sends him to the ropes where Chono sends Fujita outside. Brock then beats down on Chono before jacking him up with a HUGE vanilla-gorilla press and slaming him down. The crowd pops for this. Chono rolls out of the ring, leaving Lesnar by himself in the squared circle.

Fujita gets back in and tries to shoulder block Brock, but of course he says no. Again, same result. He runs to the ropes again, this time ducking a Lesnar lariat and instead gets hit with a forearm by the same man.

Fujita reverses a Lesnar suplex attempt with a standing Fujiwara armbar. Chono comes in and breaks the hold before going to work on Brock. Chono dodges a running knee from Fujita, instead letting Lesnar get with the strike, sending him out of the ring. Chono yells something and the crowd pops. Chono gets it with a knee to the gut by Fujita, but then Fujita rushes into what I’m sure the announcer called a Kung-Pow Kick, basically a sigle legged dropkick to his GRILL by Chono. Chono can’t capitalize and his scoop slammed by Fujita. Lesnar comes in and beats down on Fujita before scoop slamming hard onto the mat.

Lesnar hits a running club to the back and sends Fujita out of the ring. Lesnar then hits seem really stiff looking shoulder thrust to Chono in the corner, he whips him to the corner before rushing in with a lariat, sending Chono down. Lesnar yells and gets his biggest pop of the night.

Lesnar jacks up Chono, into a firemans carry, maybe looking for IT, but Fujita rushes in and hits Lesnar in the back, causing him to toss Chono to the outside. Fujita tries to German Lesnar, but Brock breaks free and oshi~! Hits a nasty looking German on Fujita. Two count.

Brocks pounds away at Fujita and goes for a suplex, but Fujita reverses it into a standing choke. Chono watches from the outside as Brock breaks from the choke, then jacks Fujita up with another firemans carry, it could be TIME. Nope, Chono comes in and kicks Lesnar in the gut. Damn, Fujita freefalled to the outside after Lesnar let go of him. Brock just easily sends Chono to the outside after one kick and a whip.

The crowd pops as Lesnar measures up both men on the outside but are disappointed to see a missle drop kick. He sends Fujita to the ringpost but then runs into it as Fujita ducks a clothesline. Chono mafia kicks Brock, and Fujita levels him with a forearm. For the first time in the match, Brock seems hurt.

Chone kicks Fujita then sends him into the ring. Chone ascends the top rope before hitting a flying shoulder block..

Chono waits in the corner, and as soon as Fujita gets to his knee…

SHINING BLACK~!

Damn that move is stiff. Chone doesn’t pin, instead he locks Fujita into the FTS. Lesnar returns to action and breaks the hold up. Lesnar send Chono to the turnbuckle (or in this case turn pad) and rushes in with a big shoulder to the gut. He does the same to Fujita as he re-asserts his dominance. Lesnar misses a shoulder charge and Fujita slips behind him.

For the first time of the night, Lesnar is suplexed as Fujita takes him down with a back suplex. Lesnar kicks at ONE. Fujita tries to send Brock to the ropes, but Brock jacks him up once again with a firemans carry. It’s TIME.

For the first time in years, viewers get the sweet pleasure of seeing Brock Lesnar decimate someone with the F…woops…VERDICT. Fujita goes sailing through the air as the crowd pops the second biggest of the night (Inoki stole the show). Fujita is send outside.

The two biggest pops of the night occur when Chono gets lifted easily onto Brock’s shoulders, and then he is sent flying off of them! Back to back VERDICTS!

Brock easily gets the pin and is…Da Chanp.

As for my thoughts, it was an okay match with an okay crowd, it was basically a series of one on one’s rather than a true three way. None the less, it was carried by Lesnar’s presence as the match was nothing special. It told an okay story, with Chono and Fujita seemingly afraid of Brock, but most likely because of Brock’s stamina issues it went pretty short.

My Rating: **3/4

[Evil Gringo]

Gringo, who the hell were those in Fujita’s video? Some kind of faction?

I believe those men in question are Manabu Nakanishi, Kendo KaShin and Yuji Nagata who at the time made up Team JAPAN with Fujita...

[Evil Gringo]

Having downloaded this gem I thought I'd do a brief review...

Kaysuyori Shibata vs. Jun Akiyama - World-1 Grand Prix Tournement

Both men come to the ring and look like they would rather rip each others heads off then be in the same ring together... This is confirmed about two seconds after the bell when Shibata runs like a madman across the ring and boots Aki square in the jaw before dropping him HARD with a backdrop...

Clearly reeling early on Aki gets his forehead tattoo'd with some soccer kicks which force him into a sitting position from which Shibata nearly decapitates him with a roundhouse that BUST'S AKI WIDE OPEN....

Akiyama bails quick as hell and Shibata follows outside but unfortunately he runs into GRUMPY B**TARD Akiyama, my own favourite version... He just unloads straight off with elbows and knees, all of them stiff and all of them to prove a point... DON'T KICK ME!

He also just decideds to throw Shibata right into the crowd and pummel him with a chair before just hurling a couple of them under the prone from NJPW wrestler... It's clear that Akiyama really doesn't like him now...

Akiyama is clearly pissed as hell and is wiping the glourous cut on his head constantly, the sight of the blood making his anger only worse. Shibata is also not looking a happy bunny and as the two enter the ring from separate sides its clear this is going to hurt...

Aki walks right across the ring, grabs Shibata around the throat and slaps the hell out of him, Shibata repsonds in kind and the two trade slaps and European uppercuts until Akiyama goes to return the favour and backdrop Shibata. Bad move as Shibata counters into a sleeper in mid air and has it locked in tight...

The two worm around in the move and Aki can't get out but manages to get to a sitting position and remove some of the pressure... Shibata simply responds by breaking and running off the ropes and driving his foot RIGHT into Akiyama's sternum which clearly winds the merry hell out of the two time GHC champion...

Aki is hurt and is struggling to the corner to pull himself up to get his bearings, Shibata on the other hand is striding around the ring and wishing to god that the NOAH man would get up, keen to hurt him somemore....

Once Aki is up to his knees he is battered by Shibata, knees, forearms and finally a European uppercut send him into the corner dazed and bruised. Not content with that Shibata decides to kick another hole into Aki's chest and he just crumples to the mat a winded mess. Shibata isn't done and at the slightest sign of life he again and again lays in STIFF knee kicks into the chest of the fallen NOAH wrestler finally sending him outside...

Here Aki lies down and the referee will not let Shibata at him, the former Makai club member rabid to kill the fallen NOAH representive. Finally he shoves the referee aside and drops an elbow onto Aki's head off the apron before laying in knee after knee...

Here is where the grumpy and pissed off Akiyama emerges again. He ducks a HUGE roundhouse of Shibata's on the outside which collides with the ring post... He spots the opening and hurls the shocked Shibata onto the annouce table with a backdrop before taking a chair to the knee of Shibata to once more announce that he hates being kicked. And after a career that started with being Kawada's whipping boy who could blame him?

He then pulls the ringside mats away and spikes Shibata right on his head with a piledriver on the concrete before pulling out another solid looking chair and battering Shibata around the head with it a good three times before climbing back in the ring to rid his eyes of the blood flowing from his forehead...

Shibata is slow to get in the ring and when he does so he eats a Akiyama running knee in his chest right off the bat. Akiyama is also a sadistic git when it comes to handing out punishment as he batters Shibata with several STIFF soccer kicks to the forehead before knocking him through aloop with a straight knee to the face that Shibata sells beautifully....

Once more Shibata is slow to rise and Akiyama is quick to put him back down with a meaty backdrop suplex and he covers for barely a two count as Shibata is fierce and fiesty sod and won't be beaten just yet...

Akiyama therefore decides to stretch him in the AkiLock for a while but Shibata is a shooter and knows his way around the move and after trying to turn into a cradle he finally sneaks out and lays in some right hands and a kick to the mid riff of the GHC champion before backing off to get some air...

Big mistake though as Akiyama once more knee's him in the face HARD, Shibata responds with a kneel kick to the back of Aki's head but that just annoys the NOAH man who just squashes Shibata with a hard jumping knee...

The two rise and punch, slap, forearm and knee the hell out of each other until Shibata throws Akiyama into the turnbuckles and knees and kicks the man from Differ down hard before running the whole length of the ring and getting some awesome hangtime on a brutal dropkick to Akiyama's face...

Shibata then drags Aki to the middle of the ring and tease an Exploder before switching to a modified STO and slapping on a tight reverse Crippler Crossface... Aki squirms and locks uncomfortable but manages to find the ropes only to be slapped into another tight sleeper hold from Shibata but Akiyama is too close to the ropes and uses them to haul himself up to a vertical base...

In responce Shibata looks for a Dragon Suplex but Aki breaks the hands and Shibata just THROWS him on his head with a big time release German Suplex. He then kicks the seated Akiyama in the back before looking for the deadly PK kick which Aki ducks and pops up to hurl Shibata with an EXPLODER! Shibata is up though and BACKDROPS Aki on his head... Akiyama is up again! EXPLODER!! Shibata is up once more using his fighting spirit and just clocks Aki with a huge roundhouse and the two fall to the mat!

After a brief double KO moment Shibata is up first and drags Akiyama to his feet and begins to pummel once more with knees and fists to the gut and then looks for another big kick... BIG MISTAKE! CAPTURE SUPLEX! Akiyama has Shibata down once more and slaps him in a bad ass and tight as hell Crippler Cross Face!

Shibata is squirming all over the place and is in obvious pain as Akiyama has this in tight as hell and even has the other arm trapped in his grip and has it pushing in on the neck of the former NJPW wrestler....

Shibata thogh manages to extend his lanky legs and finds the ropes. He then uses these to pull himself up but in doing so gets met with a huge knee uppercut from Akiyama that seems to knock him out on his feet... Not content Akiyama then decides to push his knee right through the rising Shibata's face and covers but once more only for two...

Shibata springs to his feet somewhat groggily and wants to duke it out face to face and the two once more batter each other with slaps before Akiyama knees the hell out of him and drops him on his head with a big EXPLODER then another massive charging knee that unfortunately still only gains two...

Akiyama though smells the end and grabs the fallen Shibata... he tucks the wrist in... VERTICAL HEAD DROP WRIST CLUTCH EXPLODER!

ONE

TWO

THREE!

Chalk it up for Akiyama, he's through to face 'The Beast' Bob Sapp!

What a fantastic little brawl, the best thing the abortive Wrestle-1 Grand Prix cards produced. Akiyama and Shibata really looked like they hated each other and everything they did told this story to a tee as Akiyama had to get though and sadistic to put away the little punk who wanted to take a big name down a notch....

I'd have to give this a very solid **** and hope that Shibata's union with KENTA brings him to NOAH more and gives use a re-match.

[Bubba T]

First off this isn't the famous IWA Deathmatch tournament that had Cactus Jack Vs. Terry Funk in the finals, but from the FMW 7th Anniversy show from 96 (I think..). Except for the last 3, all the matches are MAJORLY and HORRIBLY clipped (about half the match) and the commentary is awful. Still the last 3 matches are some of the best Death matches you can find on DVD..

1. Bonus Match: Taka Michinoku Vs. Koji Nakagawa - Now were talking I.. Hey! Wha tha? They clipped everything?!! The Clipping totally messed up the pace of the match, more like a highlight reel - (DUD)
2. Jason da Terrible Vs. Nanjyo Hayato - Pretty neat spots early but it quickly becomes a typicaly quick RAW match (*1/2)
3. Mad Dog Nagayo Vs. Shark Tsuchiya - Womens Hardcore match, basically it's like seeing Mr. Pogo Vs. Cactus Jack in women's form. Typical bloody Garbage match but still OK. (**)
4. Mike Awesome, Horace Hogan & Hiskatsu Vs. The Headhunters & Leatherface - Kind of a letdown considering Awesome and the Headhunters (One of my favorite tag teams, imagine 2 Abdullah the Butchers doing moonsalts outside of the ring are in it. (*1/2)

5. Cactus Jack Vs. W*ing Kanemura (Barbwire, Broken glass match) - Now the REAL DVD starts. Barbwired-Ropes on 2 sides of the ring, other sides have no ropes and boards of barbedwire/broken glass laying on the outside to fall on. Ouch! Kanemura shows he can hang with Cactus by taking some outlandish punishment and cactus, like always, seems to bring some fun originallity to a death match. (****1/2)

6. Megumi Kudo Vs. Combat Toyoda - (Women's Electrified Barbed Wire match) Best match on the DVD. This is Toyoda's retirment match against her ex-teammate/(and lover?) Kudo. The ropes are lined with barbedwire AND electrified. The last two moves are two of the NASTIEST! moves you'll ever see. With the storyline, match, aftermath AND seeing Onita cry it gets my only perfect Deathmatch rating ever (*****)

7. Hayabusa & Masato Tanaka Vs. Terry Funk & "that crazy [...]" Mr. Pogo (Electricfied Barbedwire / Exploding Ring Deathmatch) - Terry Funk and Pogo don't think Hayabusa/Tanaka have the "heart" (balls) to represnt FMW so they challenge them to a ridiculouly crazy deathmatch. The ropes are electrified with more boards of barbed wire outside the ring. And of course Mr. Pogo and Terry Funk bring there own toys along. Oh, and the ring with explode in 15 min. Kind of a let down, but you definitly gets to see everything you'd thought you would, Fire, Blood, Knives, Terry Funk swinging and slipping around the ring... (****)

[Bubba T]

Big Japan - November 2004

The Date: November 5th and 12th, 2004
Location: Japan
Attendance: Varied

Daikokubo Benkei and Katsumasa Inoue vs. MIYAWAKI and Junji Tanaka
Kintaro Kanemura vs. Necro Butcher
MASADA and Mike Samples vs. Shadow WX and Men's Teioh
BADBOY Hido and 2 Tuff Tony vs. Ryuji Ito and GOSAKU
Junji Tanaka vs. ?
Katsumasa Inoue vs. Takashi Sasaki
Necro Butcher vs. Yuichi Taniguchi
Abdullah Kobayashi and Naoki Numazawa vs. Mad Man Pondo and 2 Tuff Tony
BADBOY Hido and Kintaro Kanemura vs. Ryuji Ito and Daisuke Sekimoto

Daikokubo Benkei and Katsumasa Inoue vs. MIYAWAKI and Junji Tanaka
The match is JIP, as Benkei and Inoue are kicking down MIYAWAKI in the corner. Double Irish whip by Benkei and Inoue, and they hit a double shoulderblock. Inoue stays in, and MIYAWAKI snapmares him to the mat. MIYAWAKI tags in Tanaka and he hits a variety of chops and kicks. Inoue finally manages to duck a kick and applies a waistlock, but Tanaka elbows out of it. Tanaka goes for a kick, Inoue grabs his leg, but Tanaka hits a enzigieri. Cover by Tanaka, but it only gets a two. Samoan drop by Tanaka, another cover, but Benkei breaks it up. MIYAWAKI is tagged back in, and he beats on Inoue in the corner. Irish whip by MIYAWAKI and he elbows Inoue in the gut. MIYAWAKI puts Inoue up on his shoulders and then tosses him down in front of him, sending Inoue crashing into the mat. Cover, but Inoue kicks out. After running over and hitting Benkei, MIYAWAKI nails a variation of the Final Cut, cover, but Benkei breaks it up again. Tanaka runs over and nails Benkei, double Irish whip from the corner, but Inoue avoids the charge by MIYAWAKI and then dropkicks Tanaka. Release German suplex by Inoue on MIYAWAKI which he follows up with a headbutt to the gut. He tags in Benkei, who shoulderblocks MIYAWAKI down. Tanaka gets a shoulderblock as well, and Benkei scoop slams MIYAWAKI. Elbow drop, cover, bit it only gets a two count. Irish whip by Benkei, MIYAWAKI ducks the clothesline, and both men collide in the middle with neither man budging. MIYAWAKI hits a quick low blow and goes for a suplex, he can't get him up, so he calls in Tanaka and together they manage a vertical suplex on Benkei. MIYAWAKI tags in Tanaka, Tanaka goes up top and hits a flying headbutt. Cover, but Benkei kicks out at two. Irish whip by Tanaka to the corner, reversed, but Tanaka gets his foot up when Benkei charges and then hits a diving clothesline from the second rope. Cover by Tanaka, but it only gets two. Tanaka goes for a Samoan drop, but he can't get Benkei up, so he hits a fireman's carry instead. Cross armbreaker is applied by Tanaka, but Inoue gets in the ring and breaks it up. Tanaka bounces off the ropes, but Benkei catches him and gives him a spinebuster. Benkei tags in Inoue, and Inoue hits a missile dropkick from the top turnbuckle. MIYAWAKI comes running in, but he gets clotheslined down for his trouble. Back to Tanaka, Inoue hits a vertical suplex hold, but it only gets two. Inoue then nails a release fisherman's suplex, cover, but MIYAWAKI breaks it up. Benkei tosses MIYAWAKI from the ring and takes over as the legal man. Back suplex by Benkei on Tanaka, cover, bit it only gets a two count. Benkei gives Tanaka a scoop slam and hits a big splash. Cover, but MIYAWAKI breaks it up. Benkei hits a ramming headbutt on MIYAWAKI, chokeslams Tanaka, cover, but it gets two. Inoue now hits a back suplex on Tanaka, goes up top, and he hits a diving headbutt. Benkei then follows up with a big splash, cover, and he gets the three count. Your winners: Daikokubo Benkei and Katsumasa Inoue

Match Thoughts: Actually, for the opening match of a independent Japanese promotion, it wasn't a bad opener. Not to say it was good, but they were fundamentally sound and didn't mess anything up. While they weren't particularly exciting by any stretch of the imagination, they wrestled a style typical in Japan of opening match. Nothing flashy, nothing stunning, just solid wrestling. Course, since the match was cut at the beginning, that might have helped the match some by making it shorter. Not a good match per se, but not offensive. Score: 5.3

Kintaro Kanemura vs. Necro Butcher
The two begin with dueling chairs, which Kanemura wins and he hits Butcher in the stomach with the end of the chair. Side headlock applied by Kanemura, Butcher Irish whips out of it, and the two collide with no one moving. Again they collide with neither budging, but the third time Butcher gets his boot up and catches Kanemura right in the face. Kanemura hits a quick low blow to regain the advantage and tosses Butcher to the mat. Kanemura goes up top, but Butcher is up and tosses Kanemura from the top turnbuckle to the apron outside the ring. Butcher joins him on the apron, but Kanemura hip tosses him from the apron to the floor. After making a special pile of chairs just for Butcher, Kanemura goes to suplex Butcher into them, but Butcher reverses it and it is Kanemura that hits the steel. Butcher hits Kanemura with a chair in the back and then rams his head into another. After biting Kanemura in the head, the now bleeding Kanemura fights back and cracks Butcher in the head with a chair. Kanemura throws another chair at Butcher and then throws a table at him. Walking with the table, Kanemura walks up above the crowd into the stands, setting it up in the aisle. He then goes back to get Butcher, and they wonder back to the table. Kanemura then picks Butcher up and tosses him down on the chairs in the row in front of where they were standing. After raking his face, Kanemura puts Butcher on the table, climbs up to the ledge above them, and splashes down on Butcher. I miss trash wrestling. Butcher seems to have secured him a table leg (needless to say, he is bleeding by now not only from his face, but his back as well) and he chases after Kanemura, who has returned to the ring. Finally Butcher makes it back, and Kanemura kicks him as Butcher is chucking a chair at him. Butcher then gives Kanemura a headbutt and tosses him out of the ring. Outside the ring, they climb up on a little stage where another table is set. From the bleachers above the stage, Butcher tries to suplex Kanemura back onto the table, but Kanemura blocks it and powerbombs Butcher from the bleachers onto a pile of chairs that was also on the stage. Kanemura tosses a bunch of the chairs in the ring as Butcher slowly gets to his feet. After piling 10 chairs or so in the ring, Kanemura gets tired of waiting for Butcher and decides to go back and get him. After hitting him in the head with a chair, Kanemura drags Butcher back towards the ring and tosses him in. Scoop slam by Kanemura into the pile of chairs, Kanemura goes up top, but Butcher gets up in time and tosses him from the top turnbuckle into the pile. Cover, but it only gets two. Back up, Butcher hits a swinging neckbreaker into the chairs, but again he only gets two. Butcher goes up top, but Kanemura hits him in the head with a chair and suplexes him into the steel chair pile. Kanemura calls for the powerbomb, but Butcher back bodydrops out of it (hitting, of course, the chairs). Both men slowly struggle to their feet, Butcher is up first and tries to hit Kanemura with a chair, but Kanemura blocks it and gets a roll-up for two. Irish whip by Kanemura to the corner, reversed, but Kanemura moves when Butcher charges and Butcher goes head-first into the steel chair set up in the corner. Kanemura quickly rolls Butcher up, and he gets the three count pinfall. Your winner: Kintaro Kanemura

Match Thoughts: Of all the Japanese hardcore wrestlers of the 90s, Kanemura was always one of my favorites. He connects well with the crowd, and he has some actual wrestling ability that he flashes whenever it is appropriate to make a match better. Necro Butcher is, well, Necro Butcher. Love him or hate him, he doesn't mind taking the bumps to make a match memorable. The powerbomb onto the chairs from the bleachers was just sick. The only real complaint I would have is that the chairs seemed over-used, with a pile of chairs used as a weapon half a dozen times in the match. But overall it was a fun little brawl, nice to see Kanemura still alive and kicking. Score: 6.6

Shadow WX and Men's Teioh vs. MASADA and Mike Samples
MASADA and Samples jump Shadow WX and Men's Teioh to start the match, with Men's Teioh and Samples staying in the ring as the legal men. Hiptoss by Men's Teioh and he gives Samples a back bodydrop. Another hiptoss sends Samples from the ring, and Men's Teioh chases after him, sending him head first into a row of chairs. Meanwhile, Shadow WX and MASADA have gotten in the ring as they exchange chops. Shadow WX gains the advantage with a low blow, side headlock is applied, MASADA Irish whips out of it, and both men collide in the middle with neither budging. Shadow WX goes off again with no effect, but the third time he knocks MASADA down. MASADA tries for a clothesline, but Shadow WX ducks it and slaps on the Crippler Crossface. Samples runs in to break it up, but Men's Teioh catches him and puts him in an abdominal stretch. Both men break their holds, while Men's Teioh takes over wrestling MASADA and tosses him from the ring. Men's Teioh follows him out, but MASADA gains the advantage. Meanwhile, Samples has taken over his battle with Shadow WX, and he sits Shadow WX down in a chair at ringside. Samples then climbs back in the ring and goes for a somersault tope suicida, but Shadow WX moves in time so Samples goes right into the chair. MASADA comes over to help, and he throws Shadow WX into the back wall. Men's Teioh then comes over to Samples and applies the Teioh Lock while still on the outside. MASADA rams Shadow WX into the ring post, and Samples joins him in double teaming Shadow WX outside the ring. Finally, Shadow WX is thrown back in the ring and MASADA joins him. Punch to the face by MASADA and he tags in Samples. Kick by Samples, and he rakes on Shadow WX's eyes. Samples tags MASADA back in and he kicks on Shadow WX while he is still down. Shadow WX fights back to his feet, but MASADA punches him back down and rakes his eyes. Kneedrop by MASADA and he tags in Samples. Samples and Shadow WX trade punches, Samples gets the better of it though, Irish whip by Samples, but Shadow WX clotheslines him down. Shadow WX tags in Men's Teioh, who works over Samples in the corner. MASADA comes in to help, Irish whip by MASADA to the opposite cover, but Men's Teioh reverses it and hits a clothesline on both of them. Men's Teioh gets MASADA out of the ring, goes for a suplex on Samples, it is reversed, Men's Teioh lands on his feet, but Samples clotheslines him down. Cover, but Men's Teioh kicks out. Men's Teioh sneaks in a roll-up for two, then Samples gets a roll-up for two. Punches by Men's Teioh, and he clotheslines Samples down. Shadow WX is tagged in and they hit a double shoulderblock. Stunner by Shadow WX, and he clotheslines Samples towards his corner, allowing Samples to tag in MASADA. Both men hit clotheslines, but MASADA gets the better of it and he chokeslams Shadow WX. MASADA picks up Shadow WX and hits a stiff lariat, cover, but Men's Teioh runs in to break it up. MASADA tags in Samples, Irish whip, and Samples dropkicks him down. Another Irish whip, and after two kicks to the head Samples hits a modified uranage. Cover, but Shadow WX kicks out. Waistlock by Samples, reversed, and Men's Teioh runs in to hit a German suplex on Samples. Shadow WX clotheslines the crap out of Samples and then tags Men's Teioh into the match. Irish whip by Men's Teioh, reversed, and they go into a pinning sequence with neither man getting the three count. Forearm shot by Men's Teioh, cover, but MASADA breaks it up. Samples holds Men's Teioh for MASADA, but MASADA hits Samples on accident. Shadow WX comes in and hits a delayed brainbuster on Samples, Men's Teioh quickly applies the Teioh Lock, and Samples submits! Your winners: Shadow WX and Men's Teioh

Match Thoughts: An odd assortment of wrestlers to say the least. While I like Shadow WX and Men's Teioh, Samples and MASADA don't do much for me. The match started slow with the meaningless brawling around the ring, but it slowly developed into a watchable match. It probably would have been smarter to have Men's Teioh wrestle more in the match though, for he is obviously the most skilled wrestler of the four when it comes to in-ring abilities. Overall nothing horrendous, but not particularly good either. Score: 4.4

BADBOY Hido and 2 Tuff Tony vs. Ryuji Ito and GOSAKU
Hido and Tony charge Ito and GOSAKU to start, and the match is under way. Hido chops on Ito, and the two exchange blows. Ito hits Hido with a series of kicks to the chest, but Hido shoulderblocks him down. Irish whip by Hido, but he misses two clotheslines and Ito dropkicks him to the ring. Major clip here, as suddenly it is a bloody GOSAKU and Hido fighting in the ring. Hido stomps on GOSAKU in the corner. Tony comes in to help, and both men choke GOSAKU. GOSAKU is tossed out of the ring by Hido and Tony, and his legs hit a stack of chairs that had been set up at some point. Ito suddenly appears, and Hido tosses him into a row of chairs. Tony sets a chair up on Ito's neck and then drives it down into him with a chair shot. Tony rakes his bat of nails against Ito's head before Hido brings Ito back to the ring. Tony rakes Ito with the nail bat again, Irish whip, and he hits Ito in the head with it. Cover, but Ito kicks out. Choke by Tony and he tags in Hido. Hido hits Ito twice with a chair, picks him up, Irish whip, and he nails another chair shot. Cover, but it gets two. Tony sets the chair up in the ring and brainbusters Ito into it. Cover, but again it gets two. Tony goes and gets a barbed wire bat, and with Hido's help he powerbombs Ito onto it. Cover, but GOSAKU breaks it up. Irish whip by Tony from the corner, but Ito gives Hido a boot and then clotheslines Tony. Spinning leg kick by Ito on Hido, and he manages to tag in GOSAKU. GOSAKU rams Tony and Hido together, Irish whip on Tony, and he hits a gawd awful Rock Bottom. Irish whip by GOSAKU to the corner and he hits a running clothesline. GOSAKU then puts Tony up on the top turnbuckle and tosses him back off. Cover, but it gets two. GOSAKU tags Ito back in, and he hits two kicks on Tony and a leg drop. Northern Lights suplex by Ito, he goes for a piledriver, Tony goes to back bodydrop out of it, but Ito reverses that into a sunset flip for two. After a pinning sequence, Tony blocks a shining wizard and then hits one of his own (the knee variety). Cover by Tony, but Ito kicks out. Hido is tagged in, Irish whip, and he hits Ito in the chest with a barbed wire bat. Cover, but it only gets a two count. Hido picks Ito up and hits a landing piledriver onto the barbed wire bat, clotheslines Ito, cover, but again it gets two. Hido tags in Tony, Tony delivers a sit down inverted piledriver, cover, but it gets a two count. Tony then hits the double stomp/senton combo, and Ito rolls out of the ring. On the apron, Tony tries to hit the Tony Driver (according to the announcers), but Ito reverses it and powerbombs him onto a few chairs set up at ringside. Ito then comes sailing back in the ring with a springboard dropkick on Hido and then he kicks the barbed wire bat into him. Shining wizard by Ito, cover, but it gets two. Ito scoop slams Hido, puts a chair on his chest, and hits a frog splash from the top. Cover, but Tony pulls the referee out of the ring. GOSAKU runs over to attack him, but Tony suplexes him from the apron to the floor. Meanwhile, back in the ring Ito hits a German suplex, but Hido kicks out. Hido then hits a release German suplex, but Ito hits a savate kick to the head when he charges towards him. Scoop slam by Ito, he goes up top again, but Hido is up and clotheslines Ito as he jumps off. Cover, but Ito kicks out. Hido clotheslines Ito twice, Ito won't budge, but the third one knocks him out. Cover, and Hido gets the three count. Your winners: BADBOY Hido and 2 Tuff Tony

Match Thoughts: Ordinarily I would complain about the clipping of the match, but since it seems it clipped GOSAKU wrestling, then as DDP would say.... it's not a bad thing. It's a good thing. Pretty much everything GOSAKU did here looked rough, so the less he was in the better. I can understand the praise for Ito, the man obviously has some real wrestling ability (beyond brawling, which some hardcore wrestlers do very well). When you see matches like these you don't expect to see Northern Lights suplexes, springboard dropkicks, and frog splashes with such high elevation. So while Ito did elevate the match, he alone couldn't make up for the other wrestlers, and there really weren't any "creative" hardcore spots in this match to make it special or memorable. I imagine if GOSAKU had landed in the middle of the chair pyramid that it would have been a great visual, but with only his legs hitting the chairs it somewhat hurt the spot. While I have seen far worse hardcore matches, I have also seen far better and I look forward to seeing Ito a little later on the DVD in a truly crazy hardcore match with my man Kanemura. Score: 5.4

On to 11/12/04. I am going to skip the match with the wrestler whose name is a mystery. It seemed to only be a five minute draw anyway, and was obviously intended to be a exhibition of sorts. I will assume no one will care.

Katsumasa Inoue vs. Takashi Sasaki
Tie-up to start, side headlock by Inoue, Sasaki Irish whips out of it, and both collide in the middle of the ring with little effect. Inoue goes off the ropes again, still no one gives, but the third time he knocks Sasaki down with a shoulderblock. Kicks by Inoue, and as Sasaki gets to his feet the two exchange blows. Sasaki gets the better of the dual as he elbows Inoue to the mat. Inoue is up quickly though and he headbutts Sasaki down. Back up again, they exchange chops, and Sasaki knocks down Inoue with a spinning kick. Snapmare by Sasaki and he kicks Inoue in the back. Sasaki picks up Inoue, scoop slam, and a quick leg drop. Cover, but it only gets a two count. Sasaki continues kicking on Inoue, but Inoue struggles to his feet and begins trading blows back. He finds little success however, and Sasaki kicks him back down again. Cover, but again it gets two. Sasaki tries to continue his kick barrage, but Inoue finally manages to catch one and he pushes Sasaki to the mat. Dropkick by Inoue and he clotheslines Sasaki. Tombstone piledriver by Inoue, cover, but Sasaki kicks out. Modified Northern Lights suplex by Inoue, but again it gets two. Inoue goes for a suplex, reversed by Sasaki, Sasaki applies a waistlock, Inoue elbows out of it, but Sasaki nails a dropkick to the head while Inoue is crouched over. Irish whip by Sasaki and he hits a side leg kick. Cover, but it gets a two count. Irish whip again by Sasaki, this time from the corner, but Inoue moves out of the way when Sasaki charges and hits a jumping headbutt. Fisherman's brainbuster by Inoue, cover, but Sasaki kicks out. Inoue goes up top, but Sasaki moves out of the way when he jumps off. Savate kick by Sasaki, Irish whip from the corner, and he nails a running side leg kick. Sit-down powerbomb by Sasaki, cover, but Inoue barely kicks out. Back up, Inoue sneaks in a punch and whips off a Tiger Suplex, but it only gets two. Inoue goes for a Fisherman's brainbuster, but Sasaki reverses it into a regular brainbuster. Cover, but it gets two. Sasaki charges Inoue, but Inoue gets a quick backslide for two. More kicks by Sasaki follow, he hits a lariat, cover, and he gets the three count. Your winner: Takashi Sasaki

Match Thoughts: Fundamentally sound, if nothing else. I come into these matches (opening matches in gyms for hardcore promotions) with such low expectations that when they are decent, it surprises the hell out of me. Besides a somewhat dead crowd and the large amount of kicks by Sasaki, there was generally nothing wrong with this match. Many opening Japanese matches rely on mat work, but this one didn't have any at all, making it a little different then New Japan or All Japan. Inoue had some impressive moves, including the Fisherman's brainbuster and Tiger Suplex. Seems off that these two moves (Liger and Tiger Mask's finishing moves, respectively) can't get the win, but an average-looking clothesline does. So other then a few relatively minor complaints, it was a decent match by two obviously young talented wrestlers. Score: 6.0

Necro Butcher vs. Yuichi Taniguchi
Irish whip by Butcher to start the match quickly and he boots Taniguchi down. Taniguchi rolls out of the ring and hides, so that Butcher can't find him. Someone tells Butcher that Taniguchi is under the ring, but by now Taniguchi has re-emerged on the other side and tosses Butcher into the ring post. Taniguchi then slams Butcher into a table and then into the ring post again. Headbutt by Taniguchi, and he clubs Butcher in the back. Butcher finally fights back and slams Taniguchi into the apron. After throwing Taniguchi into the chairs at ringside once, he tries it again, but the second time it is reversed by Taniguchi and Butcher goes sailing into the chairs. Taniguchi takes Butcher to the back and rams him into a truck. Taniguchi then takes him over to the concession stand, slamming him into the table. Back to another section, Taniguchi tosses Butcher into a table again. Slap to the chest by Butcher, he tries to Irish whip Taniguchi into some chairs, but again it is reversed and Butcher goes flying into them. Uppercut by Taniguchi, but Butcher hits him back and removes a mat at ringside. Butcher tries to piledriver Taniguchi onto the exposed floor, but it is reversed and he gets back bodydropped onto the concrete instead. Back in the ring, Taniguchi misses a charge on Butcher and Butcher chokes him with a belt. Elbows by Taniguchi to get out of it, and he back suplexes Butcher to the mat. Now Taniguchi grabs the belt and he whips Butcher in the back with it. Taniguchi takes off Butcher's shirt and whips him in the back some more. Taniguchi then chokes Butcher with the belt, but Butcher rakes his eyes to get him to stop. Butcher is tossed into the turnbuckle, Taniguchi charges from the opposite side and hits a double chop to the chest. Irish whip by Taniguchi, and again he hits Butcher in the chest. Choke by Taniguchi in the corner, Irish whip, and he hits a Northern Lights suplex for two. Off the ropes, Taniguchi goes for a body splash, but Butcher moves out of the way. Swinging neckbreaker by Butcher, cover, but Taniguchi kicks out. Butcher grabs Taniguchi, hits a running Ace Crusher, cover, but again Taniguchi kicks out at two. Butcher goes under the ring and grabs a few chairs, sliding them into the ring. Butcher uses one chair to scoop slam Taniguchi, cover, but it only gets two. After setting up the two chairs facing the corner, Butcher sits Taniguchi down into one of them, goes up top, but Taniguchi moves out of the way of the senton and Butcher goes into both the chairs. Taniguchi throws a chair at Butcher, cover, but it gets two. Taniguchi goes for another Northern Lights suplex, but Butcher reverses it into a swinging neckbreaker for two. Back up, clothesline by Butcher, cover, and he gets the three count. Your winner: Necro Butcher

Match Thoughts: Certainly not as good as the Necro Butcher match we saw earlier and hardly entertaining at all. I would have to assume after watching this that Taniguchi is just dead weight, for I know that Necro Butcher can put on very entertaining brawls when he is in the position to do so. The early part of the match was repetitive and un-creative, and when they got back in the ring things never really picked up. At least bump Necro Butcher around a little bit, toss him from the top turnbuckle to the floor or something. Pretty uninspired brawling and quite disappointing overall. Score: 3.0

Abdullah Kobayashi and Naoki Numazawa vs. Mad Man Pondo and 2 Tuff Tony
Match is JIP, as Numazawa is already bleeding and dragging Tony around ringside with a cart. Numazawa sets a chair up on the cart and sits Tony in it, while Kobayashi puts Pondo in a chair on a cart as well. They then ram the two into each other, with Tony ending up landing on Pondo. After getting them off the cart, Kobayashi chases Pondo to the back into a bowling area (?), but Pondo grabs a bowling ball and hits Kobayashi in the back with it. Back in the arena area now, Pondo hits Kobayashi with the bowling ball again and throws him back into the ring. Pondo sits Kobayashi up in the corner, and then rolls the bowling ball into his lower midsection. Tony then gets in the ring, grabs the bowling bowl, and chucks it at Kobayashi's face. Again he throws the bowling ball at Kobayashi, as Numazawa gets in the ring. Scoop slam by Tony on Numazawa, double stomp/senton combination by Tony, cover, but it only gets a two count. Tony hits Numazawa in the stomach with a chair, sets it up, and suplexes Numazawa into it. Cover by Tony, but again it gets two. Tony tags in Pondo, who immediately sets to make a pile of chairs in the middle of the ring. Scoop slam by Pondo on Numazawa into the pile, he goes up top, but he misses the twisting splash. Kobayashi comes in and puts Pondo up top, but Tony comes over and pulls Kobayashi off. Meanwhile, Numazawa has climbed up with Pondo, and Kobayashi throws a chair at Pondo as he is about to grab Numazawa. Numazawa takes way too long in doing his move though, so Pondo elbows him and sets up Numazawa for a superplex. Tony then comes up and powerbombs Pondo, which sends Numazawa with more force into the pile of chairs. Cover, but Kobayashi breaks it up. Tony and Pondo put Kobayashi onto the top rope, Pondo puts a chair on Kobayashi's back, and Tony comes off the side ropes with a somersault leg drop onto the chair. Back to Numazawa, they hit a double delayed suplex into the chair pile, cover, but it only gets two. Double Irish whip, Tony and Pondo go for a double suplex, but it is reversed into a double DDT. Numazawa tags in Kobayashi, Irish whip on Pondo, and he hits a running splash in the corner. Kobayashi scoop slams Tony, hits a splash off the second rope on Tony, then a big elbow from the top, cover, but Pondo breaks it up. Numazawa comes back in, Irish whip on Tony, and he hits a facebuster onto the steel chair. Clothesline by Numazawa, cover, but Tony kicks out. Numazawa hits a Northern Lights suplex, cover, but again it gets two. Irish whip by Numazawa, reversed, and Tony hits a swinging Rock Bottom. Tony Driver by Tony, but Kobayashi breaks up the fall. Pondo tosses Kobayashi from the ring and sets up a contraption with Numazawa lying between two chairs with a stop sign on his chest and another chair bridging the two chairs together. Pondo then goes up top and hits a twisting splash through the chair onto Numazawa, cover, but Kobayashi pushes Tony into Pondo to break up the fall. Tony goes for another Tony Driver on Numazawa, it is reversed, we get a pinning sequence, but neither wrestler can get the three count. Tony does manage to get Numazawa back up on his shoulders however, Tony Driver on the stop sign, and he gets the three count. Your winners: Mad Man Pondo and 2 Tuff Tony

Match Thoughts: Still not great, but better then the last match. Since two of the four men were already bleeding when the match started, I wonder how much of the match we missed. A few of the spots were innovative (such as the carts and somersault leg drop), but many of the others are either over-done or took too long to set up. I guess "pile of chairs" is the new craze, for it was used a lot in the Butcher/Kanemura match and again here quite a bit as well. The match wasn't really bad, but between the cut beginning and the slow parts it wasn't particularly good either. Score: 4.8

BADBOY Hido and Kintaro Kanemura vs. Ryuji Ito and Daisuke Sekimoto
This is a light tube death match, with light tubes taped to the ropes on two sides. Since two different things will probably be going on at different times during this match, I will probably just pick the more important/main pairing when that happens for the play by play. The two teams brawl to start, as in the ring Kanemura gives Sekimoto a belly to belly suplex. Kanemura goes off the ropes, but Sekimoto catches him with a scoop slam and clotheslines him over the top rope. Outside, Kanemura slams Sekimoto into the apron as Hido and Ito get back into the ring. Irish whip by Hido, and Ito goes into two of the light tubes before Hido clotheslines him down. Irish whip again by Hido, but he misses the clothesline and Ito dropkicks him to the outside. Ito comes flying out of the ring with a springboard attack, but Hido hits him in the chest with a light tube as he falls. Hido kicks Sekimoto in the chest, but Sekimoto gains the advantage and slams him into a table. Meanwhile, Kanemura hits Ito with a light tube and carries him to the back staging area. Hido and Sekimoto continue to pound on each other at ringside, while Kanemura takes Ito up to the staging area and then unceremoniously throws him off through a table. Kanemura intelligently walks down instead of jumping off himself, as at ringside Hido hits Sekimoto with a light tube. Hido slams Sekimoto into the ring post as Kanemura joins them, setting up a table at ringside. Hido puts Sekimoto on the table, but Sekimoto recovers as Kanemura is on the top turnbuckle. Sekimoto jumps up on the apron and tosses Kanemura off the top turnbuckle back inside the ring. Hido is back though, and knocks Sekimoto off the apron into the ring. Wielding chairs, Kanemura and Hido simultaneously hit Sekimoto in the chest/back and then Kanemura cracks him over the head with the chair. Hido then hits him with a chair, double Irish whip, and Sekimoto goes into the light tubes. Kanemura takes two light tubes off and cracks Ito in the head with them as he approaches the ring. In the ring, Irish whip by Hido, and Sekimoto goes into the light tubes again. Outside the ring, Kanemura tosses Ito into a row of chairs and applies a reverse chinlock. Meanwhile, in the ring Hido has found a barbed wire bat and rakes it again Sekimoto's face. Hido then hits Sekimoto in the chest, as Kanemura props two light tubes against Sekimoto's chest so that Hido can break them with the bat. Sekimoto begins to fight back, but is quickly knocked back down. Kanemura sets a chair up in the corner and pulls Ito into the ring, pushing him into a few light tubes. Kanemura sets a pile of light tubes up in the corner resting on the chair, he tries to Irish whip Sekimoto into them, Sekimoto reverses it, but Kanemura slams on the breaks before he reaches the light tubes. His quick thinking didn't save him though, as Sekimoto spears him into the light tubes anyway. Dropkick by Sekimoto on Hido, and Ito hits both Hido and Kanemura with a chair. Kicks by Ito on Hido, scoop slam, he goes up top and hits the 450 splash. Cover, but Kanemura breaks it up. Sekimoto quickly comes over and clotheslines Kanemura. Cover by Sekimoto, but it gets two. Chop by Sekimoto on Kanemura, Ito and Sekimoto get Hido and Kanemura in opposite corners and Irish whip them towards each other, they avoid the collision, but when they swing back around they are met with a DDT and Northern Lights suplex (respectively). Ito's Northern Lights suplex on Hido only gets two though, so Sekimoto grabs him and puts him in the Argentine Backbreaker. Kanemura kicks Sekimoto before Hido can submit, puts another tied together stack of light tubes in the middle of the ring, goes to powerbomb Sekimoto into them, but Ito kicks him in the head before he can do so. Sekimoto puts Kanemura up into the Argentine Backbreaker, Hido manages to hand Kanemura a light tube even though Ito is holding him back, Kanemura hits Sekimoto in the head with the light tube, but Sekimoto is too badass and won't release the hold. Another shot does it though, Kanemura goes off the ropes, but Sekimoto powerslams him into the stack of light tubes. Sit down powerbomb by Sekimoto on Hido, cover, but Hido kicks out. Sekimoto goes outside the ring to find Kanemura, puts him on a table at ringside with a stack of light tubes on his chest, and his partner Ito flies from the top turnbuckle with a splash on Kanemura. Sekimoto gets back in the ring and puts Hido up on his shoulders, and Ito comes off the top with a missile dropkick, sending Hido crashing to the mat. Cover by Sekimoto, but it only gets a two count. Ito grabs a stack of light tubes, Sekimoto puts it on Hido's chest, and Ito goes off the top with a frog splash onto Hido. Cover, but Hido somehow kicks out. Sekimoto goes for a German suplex on Hido, but Kanemura comes back in the ring and hits a German suplex on Sekimoto. Sekimoto takes a page out of Kawada's book though and doesn't sell it, hits Kanemura with a clothesline, goes for a German suplex again, but Hido hits him in the chest with a barbed wire bat. Kanemura gets a stack of light tubes, sets it laying on top the turnbuckle, and tosses Ito into it. Clothesline by Hido on Sekimoto, but Ito breaks it up. Kanemura tosses Ito from the ring and throws him into a row of chairs. In the ring, Hido clotheslines Sekimoto, sets a stack of light tubes in the ring, delivers a landing piledriver into the light tubes, and gets the three count pin. Your winners: BADBOY Hido and Kintaro Kanemura

Match Thoughts: I sure do enjoy "death matches" more when real wrestling moves are inserted in. Since you aren't going to get the FMW-like crowd atmosphere in front of only 100 people, you have to put on a better match to make a strong impression. Hido stuck out here as slightly out of place, since the rest were using moves such as DDTs, suplexes, splashes, etc. and he depended more on weapons and clotheslines to make an impact. As for memorable spots (which I think is important in death matches), the frog splash by Ito to the outside through a table was pretty awesome, and Kanemura calmly dumping Ito off the balcony was fun as well. Even though I don't feel I need to say any more about Ito since I talked about him before, I must say that he is impressive in that he has such an arsenal of wrestling moves that require skill and athleticism (such as the 450 splash) and tends to elevate death matches just by being in them. It wasn't the best death match I have seen, since light tube death matches aren't my personal favorite (give me a circus death match any day of the week and I am happy), but for what it was it was entertaining and overall fun to watch. Score: 7.1

Final Thoughts:

While the event didn't have any "blow away" matches, it did do a good job of showcasing the talent that is currently in Big Japan. Two matches with Kanemura, two with Ito, and two with Necro Butcher almost makes this a smart purchase alone (even though the second Butcher match was very disappointing). The only thing stopping me from giving it my highest recommendation is that it didn't really have a "must see" match, and only had three matches that I think are very good with the rest being average or worse. If you don't like hardcore matches, then obviously I wouldn't recommend it, since the non-hardcore matches are average at best.

[Evil Gringo]

Having watched all but the Nigel McGuiness defense of Marufuji's GHC title run over in NOAH I thought I'd give a nice review...

Against Akiyama in his win he didn't come over as the next ace but it did play off the fact that Aki had fallen to smaller foes in matches via cradles which got it browny points...

It wasn't mind blowing but it was a freshening switch as Jun's run was going no where but after the Exploder's, Shinarui's and the rest a small packagge (even the 'Perfect' Wrist clutch version used for the win) is a bit of a whimper....

Missed V1 over in RoH but people tell me it was a stormer and it went down really well with the American faithful...

The came V2 and Maru's rivalarly with KENTA coming to a head... Lets get this straight, much like their previous singles matches in KENTA's 7 match trail series (Maru via Super Shinauri) and KENTA's succesful defense of the GHC Jr title (a spot fest won by KENTA after a Go 2 Sleep and a trifecta of Buisaku's which is reviewed in this thread) this was fast and balls to the wall...

We had a top rope Tiger Suplex from KENTA, an Asai moonsault that bust open KENTA and smashed Maru's chin off the guard rail... a solo Spanish Fly off the top, a top rope Falcon Arrow, a Shinarui off the apron and a huge botch of KENTA trying to catch a flying Maru in the position for the G2S but dropping him...

So what did they do instead? A sequence of seven or eight no sell German and Backdrop suplex's that dragged the match down...

KENTA hits all his moves and is spent and Marufuji after nailing several Shinarui variations and the Solo SP goes to new move, the Pole Shift (Wrist Clutch Sit-out Fishermans ScrewDriver) to end it at 35 minutes of exciting, if slightly flawed action...

So then comes Misawa and its like Jumbo v Misawa from 1990 all over again or so they hoped...

But Misawa is not Jumbo and Maru is no Misawa and the roles don't quite sit as well as they hoped. Maru's knee attacks although varied do not do enough or have enough conviction to carry them over as a way to put the former 5 time 3-Crown and 2 time GHC champion down...

And here lies the problem... Misawa is a legend known as being able to put people down with a single elbow... Maru has had his big moves (Shinarui from the top, regualr, Solo Spanish Fly version etc) kicked out of numerous times and whilst he can rock Misawa, the old man has him scouted when ever he goes for the big moves...

He takes a Shinarui off the ramp which is comendable and then turns a regular one inside the ring into a Final Cut whilst Maru is in mind spring... He reverses a super one into a SUPER TIGER SUPLEX '85 which only gets a two which is insane...

He takes the Solo Spanish Shinuari and kicks out at two and you begin to realise that the crowd are still pro-Misawa... Although they like Maru they are still reacting to the older man as to them he is NOAH and far more legit...

Maru goes for the Pole Shift but gets countered out into the 'Super' Emerald Froison (Vertical suplex switched to the move) which gets a molten two count...

Then he endures the safest Tiger Driver '91 in history and the crowd are clearly routing for Misawa, groaning when his big moves do not equal the win... Maru is getting some rub though because only Kawada and Kobashi have ever kicked out of the Froison AND Tiger Driver '91... and never had a Super Tiger Suplex '85 thrown at 'em either...

Misawa then goes for the death blow... the Running elbow that killed off Tenryu, Kawada, Morshima et al... But Maru keeps on Superkicking it away and has the challenger stunned... he goes for one last Shinarui but gets dumped up top, Misawa quick to follow and BAM! Super Emerald Froison and NO ONE has ever kicked outta that sucka...

One...

Two..

Three...

Misawa is the only three time GHC champ and its the titles 11th titles change in 4 years... not that bad really...

So what of the reign?

Well Maru showed that he can ALMOST mix it with the big boys but is still a step away... It gave us some fun with the KENTA match and also this one which saw Misawa produce his best performance in quite a while...

But he still needs that big conclusive win over a big name to do it for him... A cradle win over Aki didn't do it for Ogawa and it didn't do for Maru...

So with that in mind I'll give the run a *** rating

And here is to the real inversion of Jumbo v Misawa... Jumbo Jnr, Morishma himself will be Misawa's V1 and really after there singles match needs a win as Misawa on top is a no no after his lose to Rikio and unless he puts over Aki or KENTA or Taue then this has to be the switch...

So that was the Maru run in brief, fun, short lived and a bit of freshness but until he hits the Pole Shift on a big name and gets the pin (mainly on Misawa) and drops the over use of the Shinarui then he will not get over as champ in NOAH.

[The Great Ahmar]

I watched Jun Akiyama V Kenta Kobashi from Departure 2004 a few nights back. I'll give a brief review of a great match, it was one of those matches where you don't realise how long the match actually is, I think it went some 40 plus minutes. Anyway as you can imagine with Kobashi it featured chops, a lot of chops. I was surprised to see Kobashi go for a Moonsault and hit perfectly, admittedly I haven't seen much NOAH pre-2004 and as far as I know he pretty much didn't do it (I could be wrong) The Suplexs and such to the floor were awesome and added a lot to the match. While it was good it wasn't ***** as Dave Meltzer put it, I'd rank it in the ****1/2 range personally. Kinda wish Kobashi would return to the ring soon and help get him back in NOAH more.