MICHINOKU PURORESU TAPES 2000
Magnum TOKYO vs. Kazuya Yuasa. Yuasa got a few minutes of offense in then TOKYO did a couple moves and put him away. *
Chaparrita ASARI & Hiromi Yagi vs. MIMA (Shimoda) & RIMA. Best women's match I can remember being on a Michinoku show. ASARI & Yagi stole the show with their offense, although the match was totally designed for that to happen. ASARI appeared to have a legit chance of pinning Shimoda here. Yagi was the best wrestler in the match, but the focus was on ASARI pushing MIMA. ***1/2
Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Sumo "Dandy" Fuji Nichi. Most of the match was more for comedy, although it got serious toward the end. Match was adequate, but never really had any intensity and there was no doubt that Jinsei was going over. *1/2
The Great Sasuke & Gran Hamada vs. Tiger Mask & Masaaki Mochizuki. Kind of contrived, but definitely action packed. Mochizuki was on offense a lot, but his kicks weren't as impressive as they usually are. Good match, but better on paper than in actuality. ***1/4
CIMA vs. Minoru Fujita. This match was almost 50% longer than the previous pedal to the metal match, and thus they took the time to structure it a lot better. Each guy had one section that was completely focused on a body part. Unfortunately, the selling of the injuries they developed in this part didn't come natural and once they went to the spots they never came back to the injuries. They did some great sequences, particularly due to the speed, but their placement didn't always make sense. This was a better match than than their previous one because it had the same quality of work, but it was longer and more diverse. However, it was more frustrating because I thought it was going to be a great match after watching the first 11 minutes, but once they went to the spots there were too many holes mentally even though the work itself was great. ****
Beef Wellington vs. Kazuya Yuasa. Wellington was probably in his glory here since he didn't even have to do the little bumping or selling he usually does. 3:40 shown
Chaparrita ASARI & Hiromi Yagi vs. MIMA (Shimoda) & RIMA. Nothing earth shattering, but the expected quality of work. ASARI & Yagi work well together. RIMA isn't on the level with the others, but she wasn't involved that much. CIMA cut ASARI off on the top when she was about to beat RIMA with her sky twister press, which allowed RIMA to use CIMA's iconoclasm on ASARI for the upset win. ***
Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Tsubo Genjin. Shinzaki rolled Tsubo up in the tarp that was on the floor, resulting in Tsubo getting counted out. DUD
Tiger Mask & Masaaki Mochizuki & Magnum TOKYO & Minoru Fujita vs. CIMA & SUWA & Sumo "Dandy" Fuji Nichi & TARU. CRAZY MAX suckered Magnum into entering the ring and taking them on before any of his partners were out there. They beat him up until his parters came out, but really that didn't help much as MAX dominated the 1st 12 minutes. It wasn't as good as usual because this first 3/4 was mainly all brawling. Magnum bled. The match really took off when the faces took over. Not surprisingly, there was really no transition or justification for the pace suddenly quadrupling. It's understandable that the faces wanted to pick the pace up, but MAX were destroying them in the methodical paced game, so suddenly deciding to try to match spots with the opposition was CRAZY. In any case, these last 5 or so minutes were great with one big spot after anoter and tons of last second saves. ***3/4
The Great Sasuke vs. Gran Hamada. About what you'd expect from Sasuke in a singles match against a quality opponent. There's so much excellent, but the match is a succession of segments rather than a whole. Hamada did so much arm work, but it was totally forgotten...until he suddenly won with an arm submission. ***1/2
NWA Sekai Middlekyu Senshuken: The Great Sasuke vs. Tiger Mask
Full match list coming soon
Tournament Ikkaisen
CIMA vs. Ricky Marvin. Great athletic display highlighted by Marvin's swandive corkscrew plancha. Marvin also countered an irish whip with a handstand then jumped backwards onto CIMA's shoulders and spun into a Misteriorana. CIMA did a great job of setting Marvin up and going with his moves, leading to the best execution I've seen from Marvin in Japan. Spectacular one great spot after anothe match, but not even 6 minutes long. ***
Ricky Fuji vs. Sasuke The Great. Started off decently because they went to the spots, but quickly degenerated into worthlessness with spots centering around Great's valet leading to a lame DQ. 1/2*
Naoki Sano vs. SUWA. Sano would have been a good opponent for the spectacular Magnum TOKYO, but with neither guy having tremendous offense they didn't exactly play into each other's hands. Furthermore, Sano is a technical wrestler, while SUWA is a Lucha catcher and thrower. It turned out to be a solid match with both doing fine, but the match never really took off. **
MEN'S Teio vs. Katsumi Usuda. Technical match. I don't like the mix of traditional pro and wannabe shoot style much, but this wasn't a bad example of it. The problem was the match just kind of went along. They didn't make me believe in these submissions they were doing. The match had some creativity and Usuda's offense was very credible. It picked up considerably in the final 2 minutes with some good transitions and counters into finishers leading to one of the better finishes that for once didn't make the match seem to short. **1/2
Curry Man vs. Onryo. The work was very good and both men were impressive. Lots of nice spots, but so short. **1/2
Gran Hamada vs. Shinya Makabe. This match was not bad, but certainly out of place. On a New Japan undercard as a lead in to a few big junior matches it would be nice. That the matches are short could help Makabe, but his problem is not so much that he doesn't have any moves, but that he doesn't have any big ones (it's hard to get excited for a muscleladen ex-football player doing a spear much less a little guy). If you aren't going to build a match then I expect you to impress me with some offense, but Makabe does neither. I guess where I'm going with this is that Hamada did try to sell for him, it's just that Makabe did little that would make an impression. Hamada did nothing special either, making it puzzling why their match was one of the "longest" of the tournament. What they did was well done. **
The Great Sasuke vs. Kaz Hayashi. The first well laid out match of the night. I thought it would be a little smoother, but they surprised me with how much they struggled to avoid the big moves. The counters were impressive as well. Hayashi was the better of the two, although both were impressive. ***1/4
Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Tiger Mask. The best match of the tournament. A nice combination of strikes, submissions, high impact moves, and flying. Both guys were fired up and made it look like they were putting that little extra into everything they did because they didn't like each other. Tiger was somehow the most over performer in the tournament. He excited the fans right away with his aggression, including an plancha. They went nuts any time Tiger had even a remote chance of winning. Liger was punking Tiger, but he kept coming right at him, eventually decking him with a few kicks and his new punch. By the last few minutes, which had highly dramatic near finishes, the fans were on their feet if not jumping up and down. I thought the finish was really clever. Tiger used both hands to catch Liger's shotei, but before he could follow up Liger used his free hand to clock him with a shotei. ***3/4
Special 10 Man Tag Match: Tiger Mask & Minoru Tanaka & Masaaki Mochizuki & Shinya Makabe & Ricky Marvin vs. Kendo Kashin & El Samurai & SUWA & Chabinger & Super Boy. The whole was not tremendous do to indecision and guys being out of position, but a number of individual moments were at least close. These guys, among other things, lacked the familiarity to pull off an excellent 10 man. SUWA did a good job of taking the other wrestlers moves, but not as good as usual since he's not working withthe usual suspects. I don't think they ever found their rhythm or hit their stride. Samurai, Tanaka, & Tiger were the best. Of course, Marvin made a few mistakes, but pulled off a couple moves I've never seen elsewhere. **3/4
Tournament Nikaisen
CIMA vs. Onryo. Onryo hid under the ring, emerging with a swandive missile kick to the back to interrupt CIMA's bell ringing performance. Following with a dive, the tone was set for a fast-paced exciting mach. On this they didn't disappoint, but again it was so damn short. The near falls, which started before the 3 minute mark, were actually dramatic though. You could tell this wasn't going to last long (it went all of 4:23), but in a sense you didn't care because they were putting everything they had into the match from start to finish. I can't give it a huge rating, but it was definitely one of the most enjoyable matches of the tournament. **3/4
Ricky Fuji vs. Gran Hamada. Adequate. Hamada wasn't going to let Fuji hold him down, but doing his thing for 7 1/2 minutes against a mediocre opponent doesn't make for more than a mediocre match. **
The Great Sasuke vs. Naoki Sano. This was one of those matches where Sasuke thinks he's a mat wrestler, so it was mainly technical wrestling. Sano worked on Sasuke's head with kicks and suplexes, highlighted by a wicked released German suplex off the top rope. The match was a little sloppy though and never really got going. **1/4
Jushin Thunder Liger vs. MEN'S Teio. Every one of Liger's matches was the most heated in the round. The Black Liger gimmick was successful in that regard because the reaction didn't lesson, it just switched to being for his opponent. Solid match with a few good near falls, but overall Liger didn't let Teio be particularly competitive. Everything they did was well done, but I was hoping for more than just a solid match. **3/4
WWWA Sekai Super Lightkyu Senshukenjiai: Chaparrita ASARI vs. Hiromi Yagi. They tried to win the crowd over in the first minute with their athletic spots before getting into the technical wrestling. The thing with Yagi is her matwork and submissions are as athletic as anything else she does offensively. This was the most diverse match of the night, and the transitions between the styles worked. While the heat was disappointing, the match was 5 minutes to short, and the finish came with neither seeming to be in bad shape, this was still easily the best match of the night. Fluid, graceful, and smooth match with great counters. Some perfect bumps, particularly by Yagi who made moves like ASARI's corbata look outstanding. With the exception of Liger, Yagi was the most impressive wrestler involved in the J Cup, followed by Tiger. ***1/2
Tournament Junkessho
Naoki Sano vs. CIMA. CIMA was clearly more comfortable doing Sano's style than SUWA was, but their chemistry wasn't great, resulting in only a marginally better match. The selling was good, but seemed overdone given that they'd done little particularly damaging offense. With this in mind, the execution was also a little disappointing. The fans got behind CIMA when it looked like he was on the verge of losing, aiding the drama of the final few minutes. **1/4
Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Gran Hamada. The first half largely consisted of Hamada working over Liger's preferred shotei arm. Liger came back with the shoteis and powerbombs anyway to start off a 2nd half that was mainly perfectly executed high impact moves. Once again it was a good solid match, but there was nothing really special about it because, while Liger sold for Hamada, he didn't put him over as being on his level. ***
Tournament Kesshosen: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. CIMA. CIMA was impressive doing his PuroLucha style with Marvin and Onryo, but very ordinary doing a more traditional junior styles with Sano & Liger. Liger wasted most of the first half. The idea was to establish CIMA as someone who, like Liger's previous opponents on this night, couldn't compete. However, this time it would be proven that CIMA could compete, which would bring the crowd to life. While this did work for the most part, the match was still incredibly disappointing. For a Liger match, it was lacking directiion, build, and selling. Not that it was a bad match or anything, but this tournament badly needed a climactic final and this match was not laid out to even have a chance of being one. My favorite spot was CIMA doing his double jumping knee in the corner then charging only to get creamed with a shotei. Unfortunately, CIMA barely sold this and started hitting Liger with uppers. **1/2
*I have a limited supply of additional 1st gen SP VHS*
Highlights of Big Japan's and Battlarts' qualifying tournaments
Tournament Ikkaisen
CIMA vs. Ricky Marvin. Great athletic display highlighted by Marvin's swandive corkscrew plancha. Marvin also countered an irish whip with a handstand then jumped backwards onto CIMA's shoulders and spun into a Misteriorana. CIMA did a great job of setting Marvin up and going with his moves, leading to the best execution I've seen from Marvin in Japan. Spectacular one great spot after anothe match, but not even 6 minutes long. ***
Ricky Fuji vs. Sasuke The Great. Started off decently because they went to the spots, but quickly degenerated into worthlessness with spots centering around Great's valet leading to a lame DQ. 1/2*
Naoki Sano vs. SUWA. Sano would have been a good opponent for the spectacular Magnum TOKYO, but with neither guy having tremendous offense they didn't exactly play into each other's hands. Furthermore, Sano is a technical wrestler, while SUWA is a Lucha catcher and thrower. It turned out to be a solid match with both doing fine, but the match never really took off. **
MEN'S Teio vs. Katsumi Usuda. Technical match. I don't like the mix of traditional pro and wannabe shoot style much, but this wasn't a bad example of it. The problem was the match just kind of went along. They didn't make me believe in these submissions they were doing. The match had some creativity and Usuda's offense was very credible. It picked up considerably in the final 2 minutes with some good transitions and counters into finishers leading to one of the better finishes that for once didn't make the match seem to short. **1/2
Curry Man vs. Onryo. The work was very good and both men were impressive. Lots of nice spots, but so short. **1/2
Gran Hamada vs. Shinya Makabe. This match was not bad, but certainly out of place. On a New Japan undercard as a lead in to a few big junior matches it would be nice. That the matches are short could help Makabe, but his problem is not so much that he doesn't have any moves, but that he doesn't have any big ones (it's hard to get excited for a muscleladen ex-football player doing a spear much less a little guy). If you aren't going to build a match then I expect you to impress me with some offense, but Makabe does neither. I guess where I'm going with this is that Hamada did try to sell for him, it's just that Makabe did little that would make an impression. Hamada did nothing special either, making it puzzling why their match was one of the "longest" of the tournament. What they did was well done. **
The Great Sasuke vs. Kaz Hayashi. The first well laid out match of the night. I thought it would be a little smoother, but they surprised me with how much they struggled to avoid the big moves. The counters were impressive as well. Hayashi was the better of the two, although both were impressive. ***1/4
Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Tiger Mask. The best match of the tournament. A nice combination of strikes, submissions, high impact moves, and flying. Both guys were fired up and made it look like they were putting that little extra into everything they did because they didn't like each other. Tiger was somehow the most over performer in the tournament. He excited the fans right away with his aggression, including an plancha. They went nuts any time Tiger had even a remote chance of winning. Liger was punking Tiger, but he kept coming right at him, eventually decking him with a few kicks and his new punch. By the last few minutes, which had highly dramatic near finishes, the fans were on their feet if not jumping up and down. I thought the finish was really clever. Tiger used both hands to catch Liger's shotei, but before he could follow up Liger used his free hand to clock him with a shotei. ***3/4
Special 10 Man Tag Match: Tiger Mask & Minoru Tanaka & Masaaki Mochizuki & Shinya Makabe & Ricky Marvin vs. Kendo Kashin & El Samurai & SUWA & Chabinger & Super Boy. The whole was not tremendous do to indecision and guys being out of position, but a number of individual moments were at least close. These guys, among other things, lacked the familiarity to pull off an excellent 10 man. SUWA did a good job of taking the other wrestlers moves, but not as good as usual since he's not working withthe usual suspects. I don't think they ever found their rhythm or hit their stride. Samurai, Tanaka, & Tiger were the best. Of course, Marvin made a few mistakes, but pulled off a couple moves I've never seen elsewhere. **3/4
Tournament Nikaisen
CIMA vs. Onryo. Onryo hid under the ring, emerging with a swandive missile kick to the back to interrupt CIMA's bell ringing performance. Following with a dive, the tone was set for a fast-paced exciting mach. On this they didn't disappoint, but again it was so damn short. The near falls, which started before the 3 minute mark, were actually dramatic though. You could tell this wasn't going to last long (it went all of 4:23), but in a sense you didn't care because they were putting everything they had into the match from start to finish. I can't give it a huge rating, but it was definitely one of the most enjoyable matches of the tournament. **3/4
Ricky Fuji vs. Gran Hamada. Adequate. Hamada wasn't going to let Fuji hold him down, but doing his thing for 7 1/2 minutes against a mediocre opponent doesn't make for more than a mediocre match. **
The Great Sasuke vs. Naoki Sano. This was one of those matches where Sasuke thinks he's a mat wrestler, so it was mainly technical wrestling. Sano worked on Sasuke's head with kicks and suplexes, highlighted by a wicked released German suplex off the top rope. The match was a little sloppy though and never really got going. **1/4
Jushin Thunder Liger vs. MEN'S Teio. Every one of Liger's matches was the most heated in the round. The Black Liger gimmick was successful in that regard because the reaction didn't lesson, it just switched to being for his opponent. Solid match with a few good near falls, but overall Liger didn't let Teio be particularly competitive. Everything they did was well done, but I was hoping for more than just a solid match. **3/4
WWWA Sekai Super Lightkyu Senshukenjiai: Chaparrita ASARI vs. Hiromi Yagi. They tried to win the crowd over in the first minute with their athletic spots before getting into the technical wrestling. The thing with Yagi is her matwork and submissions are as athletic as anything else she does offensively. This was the most diverse match of the night, and the transitions between the styles worked. While the heat was disappointing, the match was 5 minutes to short, and the finish came with neither seeming to be in bad shape, this was still easily the best match of the night. Fluid, graceful, and smooth match with great counters. Some perfect bumps, particularly by Yagi who made moves like ASARI's corbata look outstanding. With the exception of Liger, Yagi was the most impressive wrestler involved in the J Cup, followed by Tiger. ***1/2
Tournament Junkessho
Naoki Sano vs. CIMA. CIMA was clearly more comfortable doing Sano's style than SUWA was, but their chemistry wasn't great, resulting in only a marginally better match. The selling was good, but seemed overdone given that they'd done little particularly damaging offense. With this in mind, the execution was also a little disappointing. The fans got behind CIMA when it looked like he was on the verge of losing, aiding the drama of the final few minutes. **1/4
Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Gran Hamada. The first half largely consisted of Hamada working over Liger's preferred shotei arm. Liger came back with the shoteis and powerbombs anyway to start off a 2nd half that was mainly perfectly executed high impact moves. Once again it was a good solid match, but there was nothing really special about it because, while Liger sold for Hamada, he didn't put him over as being on his level. ***
Tournament Kesshosen: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. CIMA. CIMA was impressive doing his PuroLucha style with Marvin and Onryo, but very ordinary doing a more traditional junior styles with Sano & Liger. Liger wasted most of the first half. The idea was to establish CIMA as someone who, like Liger's previous opponents on this night, couldn't compete. However, this time it would be proven that CIMA could compete, which would bring the crowd to life. While this did work for the most part, the match was still incredibly disappointing. For a Liger match, it was lacking directiion, build, and selling. Not that it was a bad match or anything, but this tournament badly needed a climactic final and this match was not laid out to even have a chance of being one. My favorite spot was CIMA doing his double jumping knee in the corner then charging only to get creamed with a shotei. Unfortunately, CIMA barely sold this and started hitting Liger with uppers. **1/2
5/4 Miyagi Iwanawa Shimin Taiiku Center: Minoru Fujita vs. Kazuya Yuasa. Fujita dominated this, but Yuasa is green so he didn't try much. 7:50 of 9:12. *1/4
Tiger Mask vs. Minoru Fujita. Match was alright, but hardly what they are capable of. It got good toward the end, but they still didn't go as much as I expected. 7:09 of 16:22
Chaparrita ASARI & Kamen Tenshi Rosetta vs. Saya Genjin & Devilrats. Saya just goofed around, so Devilrats had to do all the work. As Devilrats isn't good, ASARI & Rosetta didn't have much opportunity to impress. When Rosetta had Devilrats set up for the finish, Onryo showed up and distracted Rosetta, allowing Devilrats to win with the Onryo clutch. Garbage. 12:40. 1/2*
Tiger Mask vs. Tsubo Genjin. 0:07
Tiger Mask vs. Tsubo Genjin. They had a rematch since the first match was so short. Genjin did his usual "jokes" then Tiger pinned him with one move.
The Great Sasuke & Gran Hamada & Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Sasuke The Great & Apache & Chad Collyer. Got off to a slow start, but got really good in the last few minutes. Even though everyone was average to below average, it's hard to figure them editing this in favor of complete Genjins. 9:19 of 14:10
Naoyuki Taira Debutsen: Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Naoyuki Taira. Shinzaki was interested in doing some things. This wasn't at all his typical match. There was a lot of shoot stuff since that's Taira's background, though done in a pro style way like in Battlarts. The psychology was not surprisingly weak and there were a lot of holes, but there were some interesting spots. Taira got a knockdown right of the bat, but Shinzaki killed him with a stiff powerbomb for a knockdown. Taira tried to kick Shinzaki's left knee out. Shinzaki isn't the one to carry someone, but his offense was really well executed and Taira did a great job considering it was his first try. 13:46. **1/2
Chaparrita ASARI & Hiromi Yagi vs. Saya Endo & Malsera
Kazuya Yuasa vs. Pentagon
Jinsei Shinzaki & Gran Hamada & Tiger Mask vs. Sumo "Dandy" Fuji Nichi & Bobby Blaze & Chad Collyer
The Great Sasuke vs. Apache
6/11 Aomori, NWA World Middleweight Title Match: The Great Sasuke vs. Minoru Fujita
Minoru Fujita vs. Masaaki Mochizuki
Gran Apache vs. Kazuya Yuasa 4:36
Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Bobby Blaze 9:03
Onryo vs. Kazuya Yuasa 2:36
Gran Hamada vs. Pentagon 6:15
Jinsei Shinzaki & Naoyuki Taira vs. Chad Collyer & Sumo "Dandy" Fuji Nichi 16:47
P*Mix Grand Prix Tournament 2nd Round Match: Hiromi Yagi & Tiger Mask vs. Chaparita ASARI & The Great Sasuke 20:29. I'm not a huge fan of mixed tag matches because they usually degenerate into something sexual and/or have men who feel humiliated selling for the women. This had neither of those problems, and is actually the best I've ever seen, succeeding in being a match you could take seriously at the same time it was fun. It's a shame these teams had to meet in the 2nd round because this was the only match where they men & women were natural rivals who were regularly programmed together. Well, rivals might not exactly be the right term for Sasuke & Tiger since they were in the same face unit, but it was Tiger's singles matches with Sasuke over the past year that had elevated him to the top in Michinoku. The main pairings being very familiar with one another & having good chemistry together played a huge part in the success, but what set this match apart is the great performance by Yagi. It's such a shame she retired the 1st time just as JWP was finally giving her a push, and they'd imploded by the time she returned to the ring, but being a free agent without ever having been a star rather than going back or hooking on with some other league (ARSION would have been ideal as she was the closest Mariko Yoshida had to a technical rival) just kind of made her, as her great Iron Maiden theme song suggests, a Stranger in a Strange Land, kicking around the midcards but not getting a lot of big wins or main events because it's hard to push a tiny wrestler who isn't yours. Yagi's quickness & flexibility were even more pronounced with the men involved, and even though she's the only one who isn't a high flyer by trade, she was pretty clearly the one who could control & manipulate her body in the most precise manner. While Sasuke & Tiger's mat portion was outright complacent dullardry laying in some lame hammerlock or ankle twist to kill time, Yagi was doing quick, inspired back & forth lucha sequences with ASARI from the opening bell that showcased ASARI's flying & Yagi's sweet submission counters. Outside of the requisite Yagi material, there was a nice spot where she turned ASARI's Michinoku driver II into a leglock that ultimately was adjusted into kneebar. ASARI & Yagi always had good matches, but this was shockingly better because of how well Yagi & Sasuke worked together. When Sasuke & Tiger came in for their 2nd sequence, they decided it was time to start wrestling, but Yagi came in to stop Sasuke from hitting a dive, & was countering everything he threw at her as well. In particular, Sasuke kept trying to take Yagi out with his thunderfire powerbomb, but twice Yagi turned it into a different armdrag variant & the third time a huracanrana. Yagi vs. Sasuke was easily the best pairing in the match, and by a mile the best male/female pairing of the entire tournament, as Sasuke didn't mind being made a fool of, allowing Yagi to be a step or counter ahead of everything he tried while continuing to work with her because he was determined to actually do something to her. It may sound silly, but it's a shame these two never had a singles match as they had great chemistry together & it undoubtedly would have been excellent if Sasuke wanted it to be. ASARI vs. Tiger was fine as well, with ASARI turning a powerbomb into a facecrusher, but these two are both much better at making themselves look good than the opponent, so the sequences were a lot less challenging than Yagi vs. Sasuke. ASARI was the sketchiest of the bunch overall, she'd grown stagnant before joining NEO & the weight she'd put on since wasn't helping her high flying style, but she worked hard & fast throughout & Yagi gave her excellent setups & bumps as always. I figured Yagi would do the job since the match showcased her, but she not only won, she even got to tap ASARI, avoiding her sky twister press & swinging from a bridging hammerlock suplex into an armbar. In a vacuum, I'm probably overrating this slightly, but this match not only didn't feel sleezy, it gave a reason for intergender matches to exist at a time when they were basically displaced pole dancers getting molested. ****
6/25 Namie digest
NWA Middleweight Title: The Great Sasuke vs. Masaaki Mochizuki
British Jr. Title: Tiger Mask vs. Pentagon
First round highlights
Tournament Nikaisen ARSION 6/7/00 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Minoru Tanaka & Yumi Fukawa vs. Alexander Otsuka & Mariko Yoshida. Tanaka was really impressive. It was quite good when he was in with Otsuka, but Otsuka really hurt the match by going so easy on Fukawa that it was bad comedy. Yoshida and Tanaka worked together fine, but the match was definitely better when it was man vs. man and woman vs. woman. Good technical match, with quality mat wrestling from Tanaka, Yoshida, & Fukawa. Fukawa finally got that win over Yoshida, but another year of bad booking has forced everyone to give up on her, so it didn't even get a reaction. ***
Yuki Ishikawa & Aja Kong vs. Tsubo Genjin & Gami Metal. Tsubo did more posing than Hogan. Almost as soon as he finally locked up, Ishikawa made him submit. DUD
Gran Hamada & Ayako Hamada vs. Ikuto Hidaka & AKINO. The match was kind of slow and tame for the first five minutes, but once it picked up they did all the big moves. AKINO vs. Ayako was the best combination. Hidaka vs. Hamada wasn't as good as it sounds on paper. The last two statements are probably both due to the familiarity factor. **1/2
Tournament Nikaisen Michinoku Puroresu 6/24 Miyagi Naruko Cho Sports Center
Hiromi Yagi & Tiger Mask vs. Chaparita ASARI & The Great Sasuke 20:29. I'm not a huge fan of mixed tag matches because they usually degenerate into something sexual and/or have men who feel humiliated selling for the women. This had neither of those problems, and is actually the best I've ever seen, succeeding in being a match you could take seriously at the same time it was fun. It's a shame these teams had to meet in the 2nd round because this was the only match where they men & women were natural rivals who were regularly programmed together. Well, rivals might not exactly be the right term for Sasuke & Tiger since they were in the same face unit, but it was Tiger's singles matches with Sasuke over the past year that had elevated him to the top in Michinoku. The main pairings being very familiar with one another & having good chemistry together played a huge part in the success, but what set this match apart is the great performance by Yagi. It's such a shame she retired the 1st time just as JWP was finally giving her a push, and they'd imploded by the time she returned to the ring, but being a free agent without ever having been a star rather than going back or hooking on with some other league (ARSION would have been ideal as she was the closest Mariko Yoshida had to a technical rival) just kind of made her, as her great Iron Maiden theme song suggests, a Stranger in a Strange Land, kicking around the midcards but not getting a lot of big wins or main events because it's hard to push a tiny wrestler who isn't yours. Yagi's quickness & flexibility were even more pronounced with the men involved, and even though she's the only one who isn't a high flyer by trade, she was pretty clearly the one who could control & manipulate her body in the most precise manner. While Sasuke & Tiger's mat portion was outright complacent dullardry laying in some lame hammerlock or ankle twist to kill time, Yagi was doing quick, inspired back & forth lucha sequences with ASARI from the opening bell that showcased ASARI's flying & Yagi's sweet submission counters. Outside of the requisite Yagi material, there was a nice spot where she turned ASARI's Michinoku driver II into a leglock that ultimately was adjusted into kneebar. ASARI & Yagi always had good matches, but this was shockingly better because of how well Yagi & Sasuke worked together. When Sasuke & Tiger came in for their 2nd sequence, they decided it was time to start wrestling, but Yagi came in to stop Sasuke from hitting a dive, & was countering everything he threw at her as well. In particular, Sasuke kept trying to take Yagi out with his thunderfire powerbomb, but twice Yagi turned it into a different armdrag variant & the third time a huracanrana. Yagi vs. Sasuke was easily the best pairing in the match, and by a mile the best male/female pairing of the entire tournament, as Sasuke didn't mind being made a fool of, allowing Yagi to be a step or counter ahead of everything he tried while continuing to work with her because he was determined to actually do something to her. It may sound silly, but it's a shame these two never had a singles match as they had great chemistry together & it undoubtedly would have been excellent if Sasuke wanted it to be. ASARI vs. Tiger was fine as well, with ASARI turning a powerbomb into a facecrusher, but these two are both much better at making themselves look good than the opponent, so the sequences were a lot less challenging than Yagi vs. Sasuke. ASARI was the sketchiest of the bunch overall, she'd grown stagnant before joining NEO & the weight she'd put on since wasn't helping her high flying style, but she worked hard & fast throughout & Yagi gave her excellent setups & bumps as always. I figured Yagi would do the job since the match showcased her, but she not only won, she even got to tap ASARI, avoiding her sky twister press & swinging from a bridging hammerlock suplex into an armbar. In a vacuum, I'm probably overrating this slightly, but this match not only didn't feel sleezy, it gave a reason for intergender matches to exist at a time when they were basically displaced pole dancers getting molested. ****
Battlarts 6/29 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Tournament Junkessho: Gran Hamada & Ayako Hamada vs. Tiger Mask & Hiromi Yagi. Ayako was exposed here. She looks really good when she's doing a bunch of spots with someone she wrestles regularly, but out of that setting even Yagi couldn't make her look good. This match never really got going, and only Hamada & Tiger worked well together. A major disappointment. **
Tournament Kesshosen: Minoru Tanaka & Yumi Fukawa vs. Gran Hamada & Ayako Hamada. This was a bit sloppy, with Ayako screwing up in seconds the first time she worked with Tanaka. Tanaka was the best in the match. Gran is more effective at this age when he's only wrestling once per night and again this wasn't Ayako's style, so both Hamada's were disappointing. Ayako gave Tanaka a Hama-chan cutter, and a little later the Hamada's gave him a double Hama-chan cutter for the win. During the belt presentation, Xochilt Hamada's future husband Pentagon attacked Gran Hamada.
Candy Okutsu & Ai Fujita sing a song
Tournament Ikkaisen: The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask & The Great Sasuke Tiger Tower Type vs. Shinigami & Onryuo & Shigeo Kato. I'm not sure why you'd want a combination of Sasuke & Tiger to be powerful. Seems like wanting The Great Vanderlei Rizzo Submission Type. Anyway, this was an adequate short match. It had a lot of good moves, often aerial. The execution was spotty though and it never came together into something with cohesion or direction. 8:47. **
Tournament Ikkaisen: Sasuke The Great & Masked Tiger & NANIWA vs. junji.com & Katsumi Usuda & Ikuto Hidaka. Hidaka, the lone member of the Battlarts team that's suited for Michinoku style, looked good. Usuda was fine in spite of having no one to work his style against. Sasuke's team, particularly Sasuke, did too much lame brawling. 8:19. *1/2
Tournament Ikkaisen: Sumo "Dandy" Fuji Nichi & CIMA & SUWA vs. Sanshiro Takagi & Exciting Yoshida & Showa. Showa has a white mask with the kanji for that period on it, but wears the traditional black tights and does Inoki's moves. Showa vs. Fuji was half the match. Even that was passable, but nothing was better than that and the match was too short to even get everyone involved. The presigious Iron Man Title changed hands in the stands after the match. 4:05
Tournament Nikaisen: The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask & The Great Sasuke Tiger Tower Type vs. Sasuke The Great & Masked Tiger & NANIWA. Match was good when Sasuke The Great wasn't stomping away, and luckily he decided to actually do some wrestling this time. NANIWA was the member of that team the opponents did all their moves to. Last few minutes were pretty hot with everyone getting involved and doing dives. 9:30. **1/2
Tsubo Genjin vs. Stalker Ichikawa. Ichikawa's contribution was seeing how long he could be out there without doing anything. Considering Tsubo was on offense virtually the entire match, I almost couldn't blame him. Match seemed endless because they either did nothing or the most pathetic things that could possibly be called offense. Genjin won by making Ichikawa submit to a leg stretching exercise. 8:43. -**
Tournament Kesshosen: The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask & The Great Sasuke Tiger Tower Type vs. Sumo "Dandy" Fuji Nichi & CIMA & SUWA. No surprise that these teams made the finals, and should have been an extremely good thing because these teams are at least a couple steps above the rest. It just seemed like everyone on this show was given a dose of disinterest. The match started slow and didn't pick up until the 13-minute-mark. Normally that would be fine because the best Michinoku tags have been 20-38 minutes, but this was over by 14 1/2. No effort was put into laying any of these matches out, and even CIMA didn't do anything in the tournament. After the match, Sasuke the Great burned some of the prize money then his team cleaned house. 14:36. **
Kazuya Yuasa vs. Hiroyoshi Kotsubo. Kotsubo fought extremely basic for Yuasa, mainly grappling. At 7:30 they picked it up, and this portion was still adequately done. Yuasa did a nice Northern Lights suplex. 9:33. *1/4
Misae Genki vs. Saya Genjin. Saya stalled for several minutes. When they did wrestle it was pretty lame, like they weren't even trying to work well together. Genki totally dominated. Saya's "back gave out" trying to life Genki off the 2nd into a buster, so Genki just pinned her. 9:31. -**
Gran Hamada & Naoyuki Taira vs. SUWA & The Convict. The moves were good, but the execution left something to be desired. Theyy weren't always on the same page. Looked like it would be a 12 minute match, but by 8 it broke down leading to a quick DQ. 8:31. *1/2
Jody Fleisch & Oscar Sevilla & Genki Horiguchi vs. Psicosis & Maniaco & Histeria & Apache. Rudos dominated with their brawling tactics. They regularly had two or more on one, but the ref did nothing. The beginningwas dull, but it got good when they rudos were taking Sevilla & Fleisch's flying. They did good stereo tope con giros. Fleisch did the fastest backflip I've ever seen from a wrestler. At one point the rudos all grabbed an appendage and tossed him up, but instead of landing on his stomach and "getting hurt" he somehow landed on his feet. Hamada also had his moments. The problem with this match was the same as always from Psicosis and co., they rely too much on gimmick spots and even when they aren't doing the ECW style spot brawling there's no flow to their offense. There was one kind of interesting spot where they set the opposition on chairs and dropkicked them over, but when you think about it the spot is much ado about nothing. 19:03. **1/2
NWA Middleweight Title Match: The Great Sasuke vs. Onryo. In every way you felt this could be better. Even in its strength, the moves, it was too short and one sided for Sasuke to need to dig deep. Match wasn't dynamic and had no flow. I know Onryo is no Sasuke, but especially since it was a title match I was surprised at how poorly he faired. Psicosis' team attacked Sasuke after the match. 11:46. **1/2
7/27 Hokkaido Sapporo Teison Hall, British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Title Match: Tiger Mask vs. Psicosis. Psicosis dominated. Highlight was putting Tiger through a table with a senton off the security rail on the upper level (not all that high). Once Tiger went on offense, Psicosis was overwhelmed. After a half dozen moves he did his German suplex and Psicosis obviously kicked out, but the ref counted 3 anyway. Very basic structuring with a low difficulty level. No exchanges or sequences, but both showed good offense and executed well. 10:55 of 13:46. ***
7/28 Hokkaido Sapporo Teison Hall: The Great Sasuke & Gran Hamada & Tiger Mask vs. Psicosis & Maniaco & Histeria. Everyone went at it at once, with tables coming into play. Heels didn't dominate this one, allowing Sasuke's team to get their flying moves in. 6:01 of 14:58.
8/13 Aomori Kenmin Taiikukan Main Arena Exhibition Match: Minoru Fujita vs. Gran Naniwa
8/16: The Great Sasuke & Hayabusa & Ricky Marvin vs. Fuerza Guerrera & Grandeador & Rocky Santana
Gran Naniwa vs. Kazuya Yuasa
Minoru Fujita vs. Jodie Fleisch
Gran Hamada vs. Tsubo Genjin
Hiromi Yagi vs. Chaparrita ASARI
Tiger Mask & Kendo & Ricky Marvin vs. Ballrei & Grandeador & Rocky Santana
NWA World Middleweight Title: The Great Sasuke vs. Fuerza Guerrera
English Rules: Hanzo Nakajima vs. Kazuya Yuasa
Man & Woman Mixed Tag Match: Stalker Ichikawa & Mima Shimoda. vs. Tsubo Genjin & Etsuko Mita
Shiryu II vs. MEN'S Teioh
Gran Hamada & Dragon Kid & Genki Horiguchi vs. CIMA & Sumo "Dandy" Fuji Nichi & TARU
Tiger Mask vs. SUWA
NWA World Middleweight Title: The Great Sasuke vs. Naomichi Marufuji
10/9/00 Tokyo Differ Ariake NWA World Middleweight Title: The Great Sasuke vs. Dos Caras. About 5 min shown
TAKA Michinoku vs. Kazuya Yuasa
Yoshiko Tamura vs. Tanny Mouse
Sanshiro Takagi & Issei Fujisawa vs. Takashi Sasaki & Yuki Nishino
Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Electro Shock
(Royal Rumble style) Elimination 10 Man Tag Match: The Great Sasuke & Gran Hamada & Tiger Mask & Magnum TOKYO & Pantera vs. Pentagon & CIMA & Sumo "Dandy" Fuji Nichi & Masao Orihara & Sasuke The Great
Kazuya Yuasa vs. Ryuji Ito
Chaparrita ASARI & Sumie Sakai & Malsera vs. The Bloody & Fang Suzuki & Drake Morimatsu
Naoyuki Taira vs. Tsubo Genjin
Solar & Shiryu #2 vs. James Mason & Thunderbird Como
Tiger Angel Debutsen: Hiromi Yagi vs. Tiger Angel
Gran Hamada & Tiger Mask & MEN'S Teio vs. Pentagon & Apache & Rocky Santana
The Great Sasuke & Sanshiro Takagi vs. Masao Orihara & Sasuke The Great