Puroresu Wrap Up #18

[Guest Stuart]

Welcome to Puroresu Wrap Up #18! It's been about two weeks since my last issue (2/6) and so much has happened. Where to start? Well, alphabetical order will do the trick.

 

All Japan: The "EXCITE SERIES 2001" series began on 2/9 at Tokyo Korakuen Hall. With Muto, Kojima and Ka Shin jumping, there was much anticipation about this show. Indeed, the three showed up, Kojima looking like a sharply dressed man and Muto looking like an electrician. Muto got heel heat, which isn't too surprising, because the 2,100 people that turn up to All Japan Korakuen shows are the absolute diehard fans and know that their company is leaving the old way forever now, perhaps. The first match of interest saw Nobutaka Araya & Shigeo Okumura beat Masato Tanaka & Hideki Hosaka (18:09) when Okumura used a brainbuster on Hosaka. This was a rematch from their 5/20/01 bout at the same building, which lasted 22:04 and saw Tanaka pin Okumura. This was a revenge win for Araya & Okumura, although given the happenings later in the tour, the win was sort of pointless. This would have been a good match. I got a big kick out of Tanaka & Hosaka vs. Araya & Hijikata from some recent All Japan TV. It reminded me so much of what All Japan has always stood for, hard work and no nonsense. Tanaka looked a million dollars in that match and is a franchise player for whoever wants to make him a franchise player. Steve Williams & Mike Rotundo beat Mitsuya Nagai & Kazushi Miyamoto (1:29) when Williams used a dangerous backdrop driver on Nagai. This was following Ka Shin's scuffle with Miyamoto, which is the bizarre thing, as you'd expect the rookie to lose this in a squash after being beaten up, not the guy being pushed. Toshiaki Kawada beat Tomoaki Honma (6:24) with a Stretch Plum. Obviously, I'd have liked to see this go longer, with Honma perhaps in a Shiga-esque underdog role, but I don't expect that at this stage. I saw Honma's All Japan debut against Nobukazu Hirai recently and he looked very sharp, but has been kind of dumbed down to play the rookie type. He got streamers from the fans and was over with them, and is another guy who adds depth to the undercard and could be something more in the future. The main event saw Genichiro Tenryu & Arashi beat Taiyo Kea & George Hines (11:46) when Arashi lariated Hines. Arashi was the big standout on the recent TV footage, but for the wrong reasons. This guy was bad in 1996, but he's gotten even worse now. He's probably the third worst heavily pushed wrestler in the big promotions, behind Giant Singh (it's close between Arashi and Silva, but I'd say Silva is probably more carryable now) and Scott Norton, and just ahead of The Undertaker and Giant Silva. If they canned him and gave his slot to Tanaka, the upper card would suddenly look a lot better. Even Kitahara, another washed up guy who appears to be through with All Japan, would be a better fit. The tour rolled along with some small spot shows. I have a gripe about a match on 2/10. Masato Tanaka & Tomoaki Honma lost to The Double Iron Sheiks (Kasey Geyer & Shawn Hernandez). I can understand Honma losing to guys like Araya, Okumura and even Hirai, but for once, he's actually a senior to these guys, at least in Japan, as is Tanaka, so that excuse for losing isn't there. 2/11 had Mike Barton powerbombing Masato Tanaka (16:09) for a win. I'm glad Tanaka got plenty of time to carry Barton to what was probably a good match. I wish All Japan would realize that Barton isn't ever going to be good enough to sustain a top push, unlike Hansen and Williams. I think only Tenryu and Kawada have jobbed less than he has in the past year. Tenryu rolled over Hosaka, lariating him (6:03). The main event looked all kinds of good, Toshiaki Kawada, Mitsuya Nagai & Shigeo Okumura beating Taiyo Kea, George Hines & Tomoaki Honma (21:27) when Nagai used the Hyper Knee on Honma. You have six good wrestlers there and no Arashi's or Barton's to act as handicaps. The next day, 2/12, All Japan drew 1,250 (out of a possible 1,800) at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium #2, which has to be considered a disappointing number, given the main event. Arashi beat Nobutaka Araya (12:11) with a frog splash. After the match, Araya shook hands with Arashi and returned to Tenryu's side as a member of WAR. This is a fine move, adding some depth to the faction. It takes me back to day one though, where Araya & Okumura downed Tanaka & Hosaka. Why bother booking the team about to split up over the possible next All Asia Tag Team Champions? I don't know, maybe they're booking on the fly, until Muto and company debut. The main event looked awesome and saw Toshiaki Kawada & Mitsuya Nagai beat Genichiro Tenryu & Masato Tanaka (18:08) when Kawada used a brainbuster on Tanaka. This was Masato's second loss in two days, though a very understandable one. This should have been great and given it was at the "big" mid-tour show, hopefully will make the GAORA TV show. The 1,250 crowd for this, as I said, has to be considered disappointing. With Tanaka in FMW, a match like this, replacing Nagai with say Kuroda, would have drawn 2,000+.

 

Araya got off to a winning start with WAR on 2/14, teaming with Tenryu and Arashi to beat Toshiaki Kawada, Mitsuya Nagai & Shigeo Okumura (16:02) when he lariated ex-partner, Okumura. A lot of these six man main events are looking better nowadays, with guys like Tanaka, Honma, Nagai and Okumura being given roles in them. Arashi remains the glaring Norton-esque handicap, as he is liable to suck the life out of a match single-handedly. 2/16 looked like a very good show, despite one disappointment. The third match saw Jim Steele beat Hideki Hosaka (9:31) with the Turbo Drop II, which could have been okay. Taiyo Kea beat Shigeo Okumura (14:04) with the Hawaiian Smasher. Here's the disappointment. No, not the match, because it sounds like a lot of fun. However, Honma was Kea's original opponent for this day, but Araya's turn forced booking changes. Still, Honma's replacement role was certainly not bad compensation. Mike Barton & George Hines beat The Double Iron Sheiks (18:27) when Barton used the Barton Death Star on Sheik #2. Of interest, the Sheiks have only jobbed to their fellow foreigners so far and have beaten all native teams in their path. The main event is what I want all of. Tenryu, Arashi & Tanaka beat Kawada, Nagai & Honma (20:47) when Tanaka used a Superfly splash on Honma. Excluding Arashi, you have a wealth of workers there. I wasn't too impressed by the recent Nagai I saw though, because the Iizuka incident seems to have scared him into throwing Naruse-level kicks (read: tickling) and those were his primary strength. He's still decent enough for the Kawada underling role though. This main event made me feel a little better after reading the New Japan travesty from the same day, which I'll get into in detail later on. 2/17 saw Williams & Rotundo beat Tanaka & Honma (16:31) when Williams used the Doctor bomb on Honma. The semi final didn't look very nice, seeing Tenryu, Arashi & Araya beat Barton, Steele & Hines (13:44) when Arashi used a frog splash on Hines. This sounds like one of those matches that Tenryu will dog his way through, leaving the WAR team with little. The main event looked good, seeing Toshiaki Kawada & Mitsuya Nagai beat Taiyo Kea & Hideki Hosaka (17:00) when Nagai used a running knee attack on Hosaka. It's good that they're giving undercarders #2 or #3 roles in these main events. Hopefully these wrestlers will have more focused roles when the new system is set into place soon. The big 2/24 show at Tokyo Nippon Budokan is a very important one. National TV outlets will be watching to see how they put together their shows. For the first time in over a decade, All Japan will be live, with Softbank using it's connections to secure them a slot on SKY PerfecTV! PPV for this show.

 

1. Nobukazu Hirai vs. Ryuji Hijikata. This will be a fine technical opener. WAR's Hirai will win. *1/2 to **.

2. Gran Naniwa vs. Yaz Urano vs. Hi69 in a Triple Threat Match. I haven't seen Hi69 yet, but Urano shows promise, although is still very basic. Naniwa will win. *1/2 to *3/4.

3. Masato Tanaka & Hideki Hosaka vs. The Double Iron Sheiks. I really don't know much about Geyer and Hernandez, so can't predict how good this will be. I suspect this will be the tour culmination of a minor, almost subtle angle, where natives haven't been able to defeat the Sheiks in tags. I'd expect Masato to score the pin here.

4. Shigeo Okumura & Tomoaki Honma vs. Steve Williams & Mike Rotundo. With the Williams and Rotundo of 10 years ago, this might have been a good match, but Williams is shot and Rotundo is just bad. Okumura and Honma will try, but I don't see this topping *1/2, unless they go all out. Honma will be pinned.

5. Kazushi Miyamoto vs. Kendo Ka Shin. These two got into that fight at Korakuen, so this will be the blowoff. They moved this below the last six man, because no one buys Miyamoto as a threat. After a few scares, Ka Shin will win this. Could be short and since Minoru Tanaka hasn't even been able to take stubborn Ka Shin to *** the last three times they've met (well, it was impossible the last time, with their match being about 90 seconds long and all), I don't think this will be very good. Probably heated though. * to *3/4).

6. Yoji Anjo, Arashi & Nobutaka Araya vs. Mike Barton, Jim Steele & George Hines. This won't be very good, but the action will probably be continuous. Hines will job as always. *1/2 to **.

7. Taiyo Kea vs. Mitsuya Nagai. This is where the show starts to pick up. These two are pushed as AJPW's next generation stars, Kea moreso. Nagai will step up I imagine, though I don't know how far this will go. Kea is the certain winner, but it'll be a grueling challenge. **1/2 to ***.

8. Genichiro Tenryu vs. Satoshi Kojima. This is a #1 contender match for the Triple Crown. This won't have a lot of moving, but it'll be physical and violent. Expect some bloody noses. It's really stupid to job Kojima on his first show for the company, because first impressions last and it'll hurt his instant superstar status. I understand why they wouldn't want the NJPW trio to go 3-0, but I'd job Ka Shin before Kojima. This will be competitive, but I have problems imagine Kojima winning, unless of a major upset. *** to ****.

9. Triple Crown: Keiji Muto © vs. Toshiaki Kawada. It's been a long time in coming, but it's now time for Kawada's big win and his time to lead All Japan as the ace. Right? Well... people are having doubts now. I won't try to pretend I know what's going on backstage, but surely Muto requested some guarantees when he agreed to join. Muto dropping the belt and winning the Champion Carnival? Kawada not winning the belt, but winning the Champion Carnival? Muto jobbing to Kawada in a Muto & Kea vs. Kawada & Nagai Tag Title match, but winning the TC match? Several possibilities, all of which are realistic. The match quality is questionable too. Muto was in better shape and was better overall when they had their ***1/2 range match last April, when Muto was *guaranteed* to win (we know that now, but don't know the outcome of the upcoming match), so how will he perform in this? Well, after some awesome months, his late 2001 work was uninspiring at best. His and Fujinami's match stands in between Muto vs. Hall (*3/4) and Muto vs. Chono (**1/4) in terms of match quality, meaning the last three TC matches have been some of the worst ever. Surely though, this will greatly surpass those three, with Kawada involved. I don't know who'll win. I'll pick Kawada. As someone joked in the #Puroresu chatroom on irc.starchat.net, this match could be anywhere from DUD (okay, maybe not that bad) to ****1/2.

 

Overall, it should be a good, heated show. I actually thought it was a lot better on paper before I just did that brief analysis, but just noticed the undercard stuff may not be so hot. The Budokan crowd will be rallying though and I look forward to getting a copy of the tape. Interesting times ahead for All Japan.

 

Big Japan: Still no word on the status of Shoichi Maruyama (Kamikaze), but hopefully some of the big leagues have been in contact with him. Big Japan announced the full card for their "HARDER THAN HARDCORE" 3/3 show at Yokohama Bunka Gymnasium.

 

1. Ryuji Ito & X vs. Naoki Numazawa & Marcella. It's an intergender match, so X will be female. Maybe the much anticipated return of Kiyoko Ichiki (/sarcasm)!?

2. MEN'S Teioh, Fantastik & Daisaku Shimoda vs. Katsumasa Inoue, Masanori Ishikura & Kyoji Shinohara. This is Big Japan vs. REX Japan. I've never heard of REX or what it is, but their guys have been on Big Japan undercards for a while now. Since this is a Big Japan show, I'd expect Team Dai Nihon to win, especially with Teioh on their side.

3. BJPW vs. XCT: Trent Acid vs. The Winger. I guess this makes Acid a face. These two had a decent match in 2000 at Korakuen Hall, when Winger did one of his highest balcony diving sentons ever. Hopefully the BJPW Jr. Heavyweight Title will be on the line here, so that they can grasp it from CZW once and for all. Winger will win, since he's getting the heel push.

4. BJPW vs. XCT: Shunme Matsuzaki vs Nate Hatred. Hatred is terrible and wrestles like a kid who painted his face and started scrapping with his friend on the backyard trampoline. Matsuzaki is solid, but will make nothing of this. I think Hatred will win, so that CZW gets a win in return for Acid's loss.

5. BJPW vs. XCT: Abdullah Kobayashi vs. Shadow WX. Hopefully, this means WX has turned heel, as I said should happen. WX and Winger must stay together, as they have the whole "we've been to hell and back together" bond going. WX should win this and probably will, but I'm not totally sure. These had what looked to be a good, but heavily clipped Death Match on TV last year.

6. BJPW vs. XCT: Kintaro Kanemura vs. Hido. W*ING Alliance collides! And this isn't the only case of that happening soon, which I'll get into below. These two will try to revive the old days, but Hido's broken neck some years back slowed him down and he went from being one of the biggest bump maniacs around to just a routine guy. Kanemura will win.

7. BJPW Heavyweight Title: Daikokubo Benkei © vs. Daisuke Sekimoto. Sekimoto has gotten the big phenom push for a while now, so this should be his crowning glory to officially move him up from the young lion role. Benkei is worthless and I think was only intended as a transitional champion, but Kamikaze left, so they had to change plans.

8. BJPW vs. XCT - Russian Roulette Exploding Land Mines Death Match: Ryuji Yamakawa vs. Jun Kasai. If my predictions are right, it'll be 2-2 going into this match, which will heat things up, just like the mines will. This will be Yamakawa's first Death Match since the return and I fear for him, hoping he's fully over the injury. I don't think he'll bump a lot here and has the perfect guy to bump around for him, as Kasai is a lunatic. I'm really looking forward to seeing this and hope the stipulations aren't the sort that decreases workrate (like the Fire Death Matches). I'll pick Yamakawa as winning, but won't rule out Kasai getting the victory, as XCT are the fresh heels and need momentum.

 

FMW: From 1989 to 2002, Frontier Martial-arts Wrestling provided some of the most violent, shocking, brutal, absurd, comedic and memorable moments in wrestling history. Atsushi Onita was an outcast you could say. He was once a very promising junior heavyweight in All Japan, who did tope suicidas and flashy moves in the early 1980's. A serious knee injury forced him into retirement though. He eventually felt the need to return and rather than wallow as a freelancer, struggling for work, he decided to try something. With influences from Japan, Memphis and the Caribbean, Onita formed FMW, a group that would specialize in experimental match concepts, called Death Matches. In the 1970s, Rusher Kimura and Gypsy Joe had a much heralded series of Cage Death Matches, which perhaps influenced Onita. Onita brought barbed wire to Japan in a serious way, wrapping and eventually replacing the ring ropes with it. Onita would invite shoot fighters (as a shot at Maeda's UWF, who claimed to be a rebel promotion, yet who ignored Onita's challenges, making Onita the new rebel) and former "pure" wrestling stars in need of work to fight in these dangerous concept matches with him. Also, several new hardcore warriors, such as Mr. Pogo (Tetsuo Sekikawa, former New Japan dojo boy) and Tarzan Goto (former All Japan dojo boy), rose up as part of the hardcore movement. On 8/4/90, Onita and Goto had the very first No Rope Explosive Barbed Wire Death Match, where the barbed wire ropes were rigged with explosives. I've seen this match and you could tell it was an untested concept, as the wire crackled and exploded when the wrestlers weren't even near it. Onita would go on to create some more amazingly violent gimmick matches in the upcoming years. Onita and Goto had the first ever No Rope Explosive Barbed Wire Cage Bomb Death Match on 9/23/91, the cage rigged to explode on contact. Things went a little too far on 5/6/92 when Onita & Goto faced The Sheik & Sabu in a No Rope Texas Tornado Tag Fire Death Match. This saw a very nasty situation, where they used too much kerosene and the fire gets out of control, causing some major injuries (I believe The Sheik slipped into a coma). One of the more stupendous concepts took place on 6/30/92 between Onita and Tiger Jeet Singh, a No Rope Explosive Barbed Wire Death Match IN THE POURING RAIN. I needn't tell you what this could mean. Although these matches were not workrate spectacles, they had this niche, where Onita would get beaten to near-death, then make a heroic comeback. Slowly, this psychology became more and more fine tuned, with a memorable match on 5/5/93 seeing Onita face former All Japan star, Terry Funk, in a No Rope Explosive Barbed Wire Landmine Death Match. I will never forget this match as long as I live. Onita defeated Funk, but the time bomb attached to the ring was nearing the 0:00 mark. Onita desperately tried to drag Terry out of the ring, but just didn't have the strength. Onita was desperate, but ran out of time. Like a hero, he sacrificed himself and covered Terry with his own body as the ring exploded, a mushroom cloud formed by the explosion impact. Onita's next big rival was Mr. Pogo, one of the more infamous characters. Pogo is famous for carving people up with knives and sickles and is responsible for some of the goriest matches ever. I remember when he used a power drill to cut open Shinya Kojika's head. My favourite Onita vs. Pogo match happened on 8/22/93 and was a No Rope Explosive Barbed Wire Cage Bomb Death Match. This was crazy, perhaps the craziest match ever seen at that point. A part of the ring canvas was set alight when Onita dodged a fireball. There were several cage explosions. The referee (Go Ito) even got exploded. The most memorable part was when the 15 minute countdown reached it's climax. Onita vs. Funk had an awesome explosion, but this was something else. My two young cousins had me rewind around ten times. This explosion was so *perfect* and so damaging, even though the wrestlers don't really get too badly hurt from these time bomb explosions. 5/5/94 was a very historical day. This was Onita's first retirement match, after which he'd have a one year countdown. Onita, who became a huge draw in the early 1990's, drew 52,000 fans to the Kawasaki Stadium to see this match. His opponent was Genichiro Tenryu, considered one of the greatest "real" wrestlers of all time. Tenryu had made some bad business decisions and was now running WAR, a group that could be described as a large indy. Tenryu pinned Onita (23:55), prompting the retirement tour.

 

One year later, on 5/5/95, it was time to retire for Onita. He returned to the Kawasaki Baseball Stadium, shattering his own record by drawing a mammoth 58,200 fans for the show. Onita's opponent was FMW's new young star, Hayabusa (Eiji Ezaki). Although logic would dictate that Hayabusa defeats Onita, thus taking his "ace" billing legitimately, Onita won the match and retired a winner. This was disasterous for FMW. Their next shows, which are covered on the "Starting Over Again" commercial tape, saw many empty seats. Not only had Onita retired, but a large percentage of FMW's fanbase had also gone with him. Their hero was gone, so they had no reason to watch. Perhaps if Onita had put over Hayabusa, even if in a post-match interview, the fans would have bought him as a new star. Instead, FMW had to build from virtual nothingness, the only legitimate draw being female star, Megumi Kudo. Matsunaga and Pogo remained, which did help some, especially with Matsunaga leading the recently formed W*ING Alliance (a group of refugees from the W*ING promotion). FMW did it though. Hayabusa feuded with guys like Mike "The Gladiator" Awesome and quickly won over the crowds. In was later in 1995 that two young lions also began a quick ascent. Their names were Masato Tanaka and W*ING (Yukihiro) Kanemura. Both guys displayed their uncanny ability to take punishment, taking huge bumps. However, along with Hayabusa, these hardcore warriors were also showing a lot of natural ability, leading to high workrate Street Fights. FMW feuded with the W*ING Alliance (mainly Matsunaga, Kanemura, Hido, Hideki Hosaka and Super Leather) and had some memorable matches. There is one that will always stand out, because it's the most mindblowing match I've ever seen and had me staring open-mouthed at the TV. It took place at Tokyo Korakuen Hall on 2/23/96 and was a War Games Cage Match with FMW (Masato Tanaka, Ricky Fuji & Tetsuhiro Kuroda) vs. W*ING (Mitsuhiro Matsunaga, W*ING Kanemura & Hido). This isn't the greatest set of workers, but everything worked. Actually, it was the Tanaka and Kanemura show, as they starred in amazing fashion. The punishment they delivered and took was just incredible. Kanemura put Matsunaga on a famous "unbreakable Japanese table" and hit a diving body press from the top of the cage, but the table didn't break. Matsunaga was put on a broken ladder and Ricky dived off the cage with a double footstomp to him. The match had many moments like this and was also special for another reason, that being the crowd heat. Despite Onita's departure, FMW retained some of the wildest, rabid, most loyal fans ever, and there was a constant SCREECH for this match. It was like the male equivalent of the schoolgirls that used to screech endlessly through joshi matches in the 1980's. Unfortunately, this was the end of that era, as Victor Quinones arrived and became head booker. His product wasn't really bad, but W*ING was de-emphasized in favour of Terry Funk's new heel group, which paled in comparison. FMW returned to the Kawasaki Stadium on 5/5/96, drawing "only" 33,231 fans. Onita, who had sold the company by this time, but often made appearances in interviews, sat at ringside for this show. It was a good variety show, with many styles and promotions represented. The selling point was three big Death Matches. Kintaro Kanemura and Cactus Jack (who was a WWF wrestler by this point) met in a Barbed Wire Barricade Spider Net Glass Crush Death Match. Cactus unfortunately won, when Kanemura should have, since Jack had departed this "way" of wrestling now (and should have given up the "King of the Death Match" billing that he won in IWA). Combat Toyoda retired next, facing Megumi Kudo in a memorable No Rope Electrified Explosive Barbed Wire Death Match, which was very physical and violent. The main event was new generation vs. old generation with Hayabusa & Tanaka vs. Funk & Pogo in a No Rope Electrified Barbed Wire Double Hell Tornado Tag Death Match. This was just insane and had another of those famous countdown explosions. The heels eventually won and Hayabusa missed months due to the accumulated injuries he suffered. The 8/1/96 Shiodome show highlighted the dangers of the style, when Funk and Pogo met in a No Rope Electrified Barbed Wire Double Hell Glass Crush Spider Net Landmine Death Match. Pogo took a sick bump into an exploding barricade and found himself paralyzed. Funk didn't care and blew fire at Pogo from close range. Pogo's retirement show was on 12/11/96, which also marked the return of Onita. Onita gained the "Mr. Liar" name by breaching his retirement vow. He, Pogo, Tanaka (his disciple) & Tetsuhiro Kuroda faced Funk, The Headhunters & Hisakatsu Oya in a wild 20+ minute Texas Street Fight Tornado Death Match. Pogo retired, but would return barely months later in Big Japan, while Onita began making his way back into storylines.

 

1997 was a fairly quiet year, with the first big show on 4/29/97 at Yokohama Arena. This was Megumi Kudo's retirement show, a blow to FMW, but they now had enough male draws to cope with the loss. Kudo fought the diabolical Shark Tsuchiya in a No Rope 200 Volt Double Hell Double Barbed Wire Barricade Double Landmine Glass Crush Electrical Barbed Wire Death Match and almost literally DIED for Shark, taking some off the charts bumps, before getting a flash pin for the victory. The match also saw Hayabusa and childhood friend, Mr. Gannosuke, meet in a Mask vs. Hair Match. Gannosuke had recently returned to FMW, after leaving with Tarzan Goto to join IWA Japan. Hayabusa won the match, but was viciously assaulted after it, furthering their feud, which would last years. The show also had a dream Death Match, with Onita, Tanaka & Kanemura vs. Funk, Cactus Jack & Mike Awesome in a Texas Tornado Street Fight Death Match. It was somewhat of a letdown though, the teams not clicking well and Cactus mailing it in because he had a big money contract with the WWF. The other big show and one of the turning points was the 9/28/97 Kawasaki Stadium show. With Onita back, it drew 50,012, so even though his draw power wasn't what it used to be, it was still large. He and Kanemura had an exploding cage match, where it was Onita's career vs. Kanemura's W*ING Alliance. Onita won, but was discontent with FMW and left in an ambulance with Kanemura. Shortly after, Onita formed ZEN, an nWo-esque group, with members of the W*ING Alliance and dying Funk Masters of Wrestling group merged in. For the first time in FMW history, Onita was a heel! Behind FMW vs. W*ING, FMW vs. ZEN is my favourite era in the history of the promotion. Onita suddenly started actually wrestling more too, having a very good psychology-laced match with his "boy", Tanaka. During the disasterous ECW tour in late 1997, there was another memorable all-native War Games Cage Match with Hayabusa, Jinsei Shinzaki & Tanaka vs. Onita, Mr. Gannosuke & Yukihiro (no longer W*ING) Kanemura. This was awesome, although I preferred the 2/96 match, even though this had a superior set of workers. Hayabusa hit a moonsault off the cage for a big win over Onita. Post-match, Kanemura, Gannosuke and Hido turned against Onita, leading to the formation of Team No Respect. Here, things began to change more. Hiromichi "Kodo" Fuyuki became the #2 in TNR, behind Gannosuke. After Gannosuke lost to Hayabusa on FMW's very first PPV (4/30/98), where he suffered serious injuries, Fuyuki took charge of TNR. Also on that show, Fuyuki pinned Onita. Going into the match, Onita had been embarrassed in the storylines, so traditionally this would have been his big win. However, Fuyuki won a surprisingly solid match with a sloppy powerbomb. ZEN was quickly phased out, FMW vs. TNR becoming the focus. Things became more risque, lots of sexual references, including Mr. Gannosuke cutting a promo with no clothes whatsoever on. Kanemura became a semi-comedy character, a far cry from the ever-serious W*ING loyalist. In fact, the amount of garbage matches lessened, particularly after mid-1998 (which had an outstanding Hayabusa vs. Tanaka match). Fuyuki began to get a monster push, pinning Hayabusa in a singles match. Gradually, the company began to import more aspects of North American wrestling and Onita began arguing with President Shoichi Arai over matters. The 11/20/98 PPV was important for a couple of reasons. The semi final saw Onita vs. Pogo in a regular (non-barbed wire) match, a disasterous bout. This had no chance of being good, because Pogo was GONE now, totally overweight, blowing up in seconds, botching moves. Onita was himself washed up, but still had the psychology. However, he could do nothing to save this. This was his final match with FMW and he went on to form an indy promotion, which would run occasionally. He'd also enter the top wrestling company, New Japan, taking a big cash sum to be made a fool of at times. In the main event of 11/20, Fuyuki captured the top title from Hayabusa, so his push had really hit it's stride.

 

1999 had some good wrestling, but already, the product was beginning to lose it's "feeling" and crowds tended to be quieter. Also, the amount of sports-entertainment angles was increasing. After the 5/5 show, Fuyuki, now the head booker (taking over from former referee, Go Ito, who booked the glory days), launched the "entertainment wrestling" movement, which was just more Americanization. By now, FMW shows had bright colours and spruced up production. Workers began getting more cartoony gimmicks, with porn stars even being brought into storylines. Fuyuki even got rid of the Brass Knuckles titles, which so much blood and sweat had been shed over, replacing them with WEW (World Entertainment Wrestling) titles. The worst moment saw Hayabusa "forced" to unmask by Commissioner Fuyuki. Hayabusa became H, a pretty boy type character, and this bombed. Hayabusa had become more than the top babyface, he had become an inspirational icon to the fans and was the reason people watched FMW. As H, Ezaki had the infamous Anus Explosion Death Match with Mr. Gannosuke, the absolute low point of "entertainment wrestling". Wrestlers were turning heel and back all the time, with Masato Tanaka one of the guys who turned heel. After putting the mask back on to defeat Tanaka on the 5/5/00 show, Hayabusa even started to turn heel, but someone realized how incredibly stupid this idea was and canned it. The main event standard was still good, but except for the sports-entertainment direction, the product had no niche. The undercards worsened, with some bad wrestlers like Chocoball Mukai (porn star) and Shinjuku Shark ("boxer" with the worst punches ever) having some of the lamest angles I've ever seen, often revolving around women. There were so many turns that fans went apathetic to individuals except, it seemed, Hayabusa, Gannosuke and Kanemura, who had earned their respect, while Tetsuhiro Kuroda was also quite popular. Masato Tanaka, a disciple of Onita, quit the promotion with Jado, Gedo, Hideki Hosaka and Kaori Nakayama in 2001, tearing much of FMW's heart out. Hayabusa was also injured, so they had to use guys like The Great Sasuke to sell tickets. Meanwhile, Fuyuki kept putting himself over EVERYONE repeatedly, while Gannosuke never got that #1 heel spot back, as Fuyuki hogged it from 4/98 to the end of time. Attendances slipped and the money situation worsened (which was related to Tanaka and co. leaving, as Arai offer wrestlers free releases). The company lost it's remaining fragment of spirit, when an accident in late 2001 led to Hayabusa being paralyzed. Hayabusa will never wrestle again, which is horrifying news for any FMW fan. Mr. Gannosuke also got injured, so the company had almost NOTHING left. Fuyuki, IMO, was a big bomb, as he could not maintain interest himself and could not book a coherent product. Gannosuke should have had his role, but never did. Fuyuki kept preaching his vision, turning guys like Tetsuhiro Kuroda heel and back again, making what was once an intricately structured system into a mess, just a Crash TV-like situation, where wrestlers were teaming with guys they hated last week and loved the week before and what not. This week, FMW declared bankruptcy. Although Fuyuki can take much of the blame for helping kill fan interest, other factors must be taken into account, like the injuries, defections and Japanese recession. But the company is dead it appears. It's so sad, but not entirely unsurprising. FMW touched the spirits of many, myself included, but while I will miss *FMW*, I will not miss the path Fuyuki took it on. FMW may go, but it's history will never be forgotten. Even WWF and especially ECW fans should respect FMW, because it spawned ECW's hybrid direction, which in turn spawned the WWF's direction. Already, there is talked of who will go where. Kuroda and youngster, Yoshito Sasaki, worked an IWA Japan show, which Fuyuki and Kanemura also turned up at. Asano is rich, so could plausibly bring these guys in and boost his own company again. There are several options for the talent roster. Lets take a look.

 

Kodo Fuyuki: Unfortunately, this guy will have the least struggle finding work. He has connections with Tenryu, so could walk into All Japan. However, Fuyuki was to sports-entertainment in Japan as Inoki is to the Inoki-ism shoot style. No matter how bad it bombs, he WILL NEVER STOP. At least, he wouldn't in FMW. Thus, Fuyuki might be more interested in obtaining booking power in IWA than joining All Japan, so that he can sink that product too.

Mr. Gannosuke: The problem here is that Gannosuke does not have the big league "look" and appears as a garbage wrestler, even though he's actually an exceptional wrestler, with a lot of charisma. The big leagues should scout him, even if as a midcarder, because he's a hard working wrestler, who gives a lot to the sport.

Tetsuhiro Kuroda: Kuroda is talented and still reasonably young, although hasn't progressed as far as many hoped. He's really goofy, but he'd probably stop that stuff if he was signed by a big league. NOAH could sure use a guy like this, but would never push him seriously. All Japan probably would stick him at the bottom of cards too. New Japan has a good recent record with junior outsiders (Kuroda may technically be a junior, but doesn't come across as one), but never sign established heavyweight natives, unless they're from a "respectable" brand name (and even then...). Kuroda might end up in IWA, where he'd be a main eventer most likely.

Kintaro Kanemura: Big Japan seems the most logical choice, as he's immersed himself back into hardcore wrestling, but IWA is also an option, as they run garbage matches too. Once upon a time, he'd have been a great guy for All Japan or NOAH to pick up and slowly push, but his body is broken now, so they won't bother. He can still go, so will spend the remainder of his career preaching the W*ING Spirit on the indy scene.

GOEMON (Koji Nakagawa): Koji was boring me to sleep during the Mr. Double Cross days, but his GOEMON gimmick has really intrigued me. He plays the mysterious character well and is one guy who thrived in "entertainment wrestling", despite becoming a dead (really) thief. He was quite a good technical wrestler in '96, who emulated Bret Hart. He'd be fine for NOAH's midcard, certainly better than the Honda's, Izumida's and Aoyagi's, but may end up staying on the indy scene.

Ricky Fuji: Ricky must be distraught. FMW was in his heart and soul and he was the longest serving wrestler. Although he was never a great worker, he always brought energy to matches and got the fans fired up, even managing to draw some responses from the zombie-like crowds of the latter days. Without FMW, I don't know if he'll ever be happy and may consider retirement. Otherwise, he's liked enough to get a curtain jerker spot anywhere or even a more prominent role in Michinoku Pro perhaps.

Hisakatsu Oya: This is an interesting one. Oya was an awesome worker in 1995 and 1996, very no nonsense and technical. He's much slower and older now, but still has the technique. Furthermore, he was trained in New Japan. If he had stayed in New Japan, he would have had some great matches in the 1990's, probably as Tatsumi Fujinami's disciple. Right now, he'd have settled into the midcard veteran tags with Koshinaka, Hirata, Hiro and Goto. However, he's one of the guys who probably impressed the bigger promotions and could have a chance at becoming an undercard wrestler there. No more Tomomi.

Mammoth Sasaki: He's one the big leagues need to scout closely. He's big, burly and has a legitimate background (sumo). He's also about to fight at the small PRIDE show, so will get attention from that. He's young and vibrant, with a lot of nice power moves. He needs to work on the intangibles, but is still quite inexperienced. He should find work in a bigger promotion and it'll be a shame if he doesn't.

Onryo: He's a lock to stay on the indy scene. The gimmick just won't work in the mainstream promotions. Michinoku Pro and Toryumon would be nuts not to consider using him, as he's a very entertaining in-ring performer.

Biomonster DNA (Asuza Kudo): The only thing this guy has going for him is size, as he's a tall figure. However, he's never progressed much as a wrestler and is a clumsy, awkward worker. He might make the trip to IWA, but if not, he'll have problems finding work, as FMW only kept him due to his loyalty.

Flying Kid Ichihara: He may be good looking, but he's incredibly bland in the ring. Sort of the lowest grade high-flyer ever, who has some nice spots, but never does anything interesting. He might return to IWA.

Chocoball Mukai: He's with Fuyuki I think, so may have a chance in IWA. If not, back to porn.

Shinjuku Shark: Back to the tiny, tiny indies. Should never have be seen again in a promotion with TV.

Tomokazu Morita, Yoshito Sasaki, Satoru Makita & Happy Ikeda: These are the ones I feel sorry for most. The young wrestlers, who had recently started out with FMW and relied on them for entry into the business and money. Morita, now known as Garuda, seems to have value and could find an undercard junior slot somewhere. I'm not really sure about the others.

 

IWA Japan: On IWA's 2/17 Korakuen Hall show, Tetsuhiro Kuroda & Yoshito Sasaki beat Keizo Matsuda & Takashi Uwano (14:48) when Sasaki pinned Uwano. Fuyuki and Kanemura were also at this show, as I said above, and Mr. Asano may be ready to make his latest bid to get IWA back on the national wrestling map.

 

Michinoku Pro: MPro ran their big 2/17 show at Yokohama Bunka Gymnasium, but results are incredibly difficult to find (their site is never updated). MPro claimed an awesome attendance of 5,350, but I have my doubts. Ikuto Hidaka won the tournament to decide the new Independent Jr. Heavyweight Champion, using his Shawn Capture on Kazuya Yuasa (13:17). In the other big match, Jado & Gedo beat Sasuke & Orihara (13:39) when Orihara fell victim to the Gedo clutch. Jushin Thunder Liger will work MPro's 3/3 and 3/5 show. The main event of MPro's 3/10 show will be Keiji Muto & Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Satoshi Kojima & The Great Sasuke. This sounds very interesting on paper, though I'm trying to figure out how it'll work, as there are some style clashes.

 

New Japan: If New Japan is trying to set a record of how many times they can let me down, they're succeeding. They made one of the most disspiriting decisions ever the other day. Picking up from my last write-up (2/6), the "FIGHTING SPIRIT 2002" tour had it's next TV taping on 2/8 at Gifu Industrial Hall. The first of the two top matches saw Kensuke Sasaki & Dan Devine beat Manabu Nakanishi & Rick Steiner (1:31) when Sasaki used a Northern Lights Bomb on Nakanishi. At first, I thought Nakanishi was getting buried or something, but it was all a comeback angle. Jado & Gedo made their 5th defense of the IWGP Jr. Tag Title, beating Minoru Tanaka & Masayuki Naruse (19:44) when Jado used a crossface hold on Naruse. Naruse has improved a hell of a lot, so this should have been a very good match. It's good booking to keep the belts on Jado & Gedo, who need them more than anyone else. The 2/10 ISM had an unfortunate incident. Jado, Gedo & GOKU-DO beat El Samurai, Masayuki Naruse & Tiger Mask 4 (15:27) by referee stop (Gedo beat Tiger). Tiger did his high crossbody, but landed awkwardly on an arm. He did all sorts of damage to it, so bad that the referee instantly stopped the match. Tiger will miss 2-3 months and it's a shame that his first tour in NJPW came to such a sad end. The main event of that show saw Tatsumi Fujinami & Jushin Thunder Liger beat Masahiro Chono & Koji Kanemoto (17:12) when Fujinami used a figure-four leglock on Kanemoto. The 2/11 TV taping in Osaka didn't look good. Well, there were some nice undercard matches as usual, but several bad-looking matches. Giant Silva beat Tatsutoshi Goto (3:33) with a Giant press. It was short at least, but the concept of this match being booked is bad enough. Rick Steiner beat Osamu Nishimura (6:57) with a Death Valley Bomb. This was to build Steiner up some more for Nagata, but why couldn't Suzuki be giving Nishimura's role, instead of a veteran who should be above such things? Jushin Thunder Liger & Masahito Kakihara beat Jado & Gedo (14:51) when Kakihara used the Kaki Cutter on Gedo. This built Kakihara up for his big match at the PPV. Kenzo Suzuki & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Manabu Nakanishi & Yutaka Yoshie (16:49) when Suzuki used a spear on Yoshie. A very big upset win for Tanaken (sound familiar?), as they took out the former #2 tag team in the promotion. Giant Singh beat Hiroyoshi Tenzan (8:40) with a nodowa otoshi. I was so sad reading this, as I was sure Tenzan would win, since Silva was beating Goto (meaning, traditionally, the 1-1 booking was probable). Singh is uncarryable, so not even someone as good as Tenzan could make something out of this. Tenzan said there would be a rematch, so while some netizens were outraged, there should at least be some sort of satisfying conclusion. Tenzan and Singh are now 1-1, Tenzan being the only person to pin Singh in New Japan. Masahiro Chono & Koji Kanemoto beat Tatsumi Fujinami & Minoru Tanaka (15:04) when Chono used a butterfly lock on Fujinami. Yuji Nagata & Tadao Yasuda beat Kensuke Sasaki & Dan Devine (11:00) when Yasuda used a front sleeper on Devine. The positive is that Yasuda is working smaller shows. The negative is that Yasuda is working smaller shows. See if you can figure that out. . After some more routine shows, it was on to Tokyo Sumo Hall and the 2/16 PPV. The good news is that the building was totally sold out with 11,000 fans. The bad news is, well...

 

1. Giant Silva & Giant Singh beat Yutaka Yoshie, Dan Devine & Chris Candido (5:49) in a Handicap Match when Singh used a Giant bomb on Candido. The obligatory giants match. It was at least short. I question putting Devine here, as he's supposed to be a half-credible Sasaki disciple.

2. Daijiro Matsui beat Katsuyori Shibata (1:59) by referee stop. I can only hope they're building Matsui up for another job by doing this. Otherwise, it's pointless. Shibata wore an amaresu costume, which may be a bad sign, since Inoki has shown interest in turning these young guys into shooters.

3. IWGP Heavyweight Title Tournament - Semi Final: Yuji Nagata beat Rick Steiner (11:30) with a cradle. As expected. Many people thought Steiner would win, but if you assess the results pattern on the tour, it was crystal clear that Nagata would win.

4. IWGP Heavyweight Title Tournament - Semi Final: Tadao Yasuda beat Masahiro Chono (6:36) with a shoulder hold. Misery moment #1. There is more to this than just Yasuda beating Chono. Chono became the spiritual leader of "wrestling" at the beginning of the tour. This set him up to face the "elite" shoot fighter and look what happened. How DARE Inoki have Tadao Yasuda defeat Masahiro Chono in 6 1/2 minutes. That's a disgrace itself, but the worst was yet to come...

5. Jushin Thunder Liger, El Samurai, Masayuki Naruse & Wataru Inoue beat Koji Kanemoto, Jado, Gedo & GOKU-DO (19:04) when Inoue used the Triangle Lancer on GOKU-DO. This sounds like a very nice midcard match. Smart booking saw Inoue go over the departing Pat Tanaka, giving him a PPV win and building him up for the 2/17 NOAH show.

6. Kenzo Suzuki & Hiroshi Tanahashi beat Tatsumi Fujinami & Shiro Koshinaka (9:51) when Tanahashi used a Japanese leg roll clutch hold on Koshinaka. They're starting to push Tanaken big, knowing there is a major need to build up some more heavyweights. Well, how about using the already established heavyweights like Tenzan better first? This was a big upset and provoked Fujinami to announce he would retire on 5/2 (after being pressured by The Chin). Tanahashi is the big prospect that everyone seems high on (Muto tried to take him to All Japan, but Tanahashi refused), so giving him the win was smart.

7. IWGP Heavyweight Title #1 Contender Match: Hiroyoshi Tenzan beat Osamu Nishimura (21:06) with the Buffalo sleeper. This is the big bright spot of the show. These two had a 24 minute match in the G1 Climax and never lost their way, having a very smart, well built ***1/2 match. I'm sure this was also nice and as Nishimura promised, "true professional wrestling". Tenzan getting a title shot is great news, because it sets up the new generation battle of Tenzan vs. Nagata. Uh? Oh, uh...

8. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: Minoru Tanaka beat Masahito Kakihara (11:01) with an upside-down hold to become the 42nd champion (decision match). This was the second bright spot. The title is finally "home" again. Ka Shin and Naruse weren't "away" per se, but were bad champions, who didn't have good matches. In Ka Shin's case, his matches tarnished the title history, a 30-something second title win, then 3 and 5 minute defenses. I'm so glad he has gone. Tanaka's first defense will be the best Jr. Title match in ages (more below).

9. Manabu Nakanishi beat Kensuke Sasaki (11:10) with a German suplex hold. Nakanishi's first ever win over Sasaki. Kensuke appears to be in the doghouse. Meanwhile, Nakanishi is in Inoki's good books, because he's agreed to "train" with Inoki. If Choshu ever gets the book back, Nakanishi better run for the hills if all this is true. Sasaki is starting to grow his hair back and I'm wondering if he defied Inoki by refusing to conform any longer. This was risky, but not outright disasterous (see next match) booking. Sasaki is the guy they need to prioritize, but Nakanishi also needed heat back for the numerous tour losses.

10. IWGP Heavyweight Title: Tadao Yasuda beat Yuji Nagata (15:15) with a front sleeper to become the 30th champion. I saw this result and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I'd blocked the possibility of this happening out. Tadao "The Lurch" Yasuda is the IWGP Heavyweight Champion. Inoki has gone way too far this time. So much for Chono being in charge, that might be true to an extent, but Inoki still has the big say, as proven here. I may be underestimating Yasuda's value, because he's over right now, due to the 12/31 deal. However, I have serious doubts that this will convert into pro wrestling drawing success. You need only look at Kazuyuki Fujita, a much more credible fighter, who bombed big as IWGP Heavyweight Champion, even though he looks and wrestles better than Yasuda. I'm not going to bother expressing my utter disgust at this booking. Chono should have won the thing, with Nagata as second choice, but Lurch beat them both. God. The recent IWGP Heavyweight Title pattern is like a zig-zag. UP! (Sasaki), DOWN! (Norton), UP! (Fujita), DOWN! (Yasuda).

 

THE GOOD: Yasuda serves as a transition champion for Tenzan or Nagata (who has a #1 contender match coming up), dropping the belt on 3/21 (to Tenzan) or 5/2 (to Nagata).

THE BAD: Yasuda rolls through Tenzan, then Norton (who defeats Nagata to become #1 contender), then Giant Singh, bringing Hell to this very world.

 

Looking ahead, the *near* future looks fine. On 3/6, the second 30th anniversary show takes place at Tokyo Korakuen Hall and will be taped for SXW. The show revolves around a young lions tournament. The first round has Wataru Inoue vs. Blue Wolf (Inoue wins) and Katsuyori Shibata vs. Katsushi Takemura (Shibata wins). El Samurai vs. Masahito Kakihara, which should be very good. Hard to pick a winner, because Samurai has been re-pushed quite a lot in the past year, but Kakihara has gotten a strong push later. The semi finals will then take place. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Winner of Inoue/Wolf. I'd say Tanahashi over Inoue. Kenzo Suzuki vs. Winner of Shibata/Takemura. Don't rule out the possibility of Shibata upsetting Suzuki here, but I'll play it safe and pick Kenzo. Manabu Nakanishi & Osamu Nishimura vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Shiro Koshinaka should be a good match, with Sasaki & Shiro winning to build them up for the upcoming tag tournament. Tadao Yasuda & Yutaka Yoshie vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Tatsutoshi Goto won't be very good, but I'm somewhat impressed that Yasuda is working cable tapings. The young lion final will be interesting and may have Suzuki vs. Tanahashi, which would be cool to see. I'm picking Tanahashi to win the whole thing, as his superstar potential is too bright to ignore. Yuji Nagata, Tatsumi Fujinami, Jushin Thunder Liger, Minoru Tanaka & Masayuki Naruse vs. Masahiro Chono, Hiro Saito, Koji Kanemoto, Jado & Gedo will probably main event. A very cool mixed match. This should be long and a REAL way to celebrate a 30th anniversary show, not something like Yasuda vs. Mark Coleman. Next up is "HYPER BATTLE 2002", which looks like a pretty good tour for matches. It starts on 3/8 at Niigata City Gymnasium. Kensuke Sasaki, Shiro Koshinaka & Yutaka Yoshie vs. Masahiro Chono, Scott Norton & Hiroyoshi Tenzan reminds me a lot of the sort of match that was happening one year ago when Choshu was in charge. Yoshie jobs. Minoru Tanaka, Eddie Guerrero & Black Tiger vs. Koji Kanemoto, Jado & Gedo sounds AWESOME, almost too good to be true. Black Tiger II (Guerrero) and Black Tiger III (Silver King) on the same team! Two first round matches from the IWGP Tag Team Title Tournament take place. Osamu Nishimura & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Kenzo Suzuki & Hiroshi Tanahashi should be excellent. These teams met in the G1 Tag League, Tanahashi getting an upset win over Liger. Thus, it's probably payback time and Liger may pin Tanahashi. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi vs. Tadao Yasuda & Dan Devine should be okay and Devine seems the certain jobber. Nagata and Nakanishi have teased dissension in the press though and I'm still waiting for the Nakanishi heel turn, because this guy needs a big image rehabilitation (and not back to faux shooter) and turning him heel might work. I'll tentatively pick Nagata & Nakanishi. 3/10 at Korakuen Hall is so/so. Manabu Nakanishi vs. Yutaka Yoshie won't be very good, but interesting in ways, as these two are long time tag partners and Nakanishi could go nuts and kill his friend. Kenzo Suzuki & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Scott Norton & Super J may also be payback time for Tanaken, as they upset Norton & J in the G1 Tag League too. Kensuke Sasaki & Osamu Nishimura vs. Giant Silva & Giant Singh will not be good, maybe passable if Silva works it all, and Nishimura will fall. Jushin Thunder Liger, Minoru Tanaka, El Samurai, Eddie Guerrero & Black Tiger vs. Koji Kanemoto, Jado, Gedo, X & X in an Elimination Match looks like it could single-handedly make a show and sounds off the charts awesome on paper. If my predictions of Dick Togo and Ikuto Hidaka as X and X come true, this will be heaven in every way. I'd expect this to go over half an hour and be must-see TV. Tadao Yasuda & Yuji Nagata vs. Masahiro Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan is the main event. Interesting match and this could give away who wins Yasuda vs. Tenzan (duh). Tenzan pinning Nagata and god forbid, Yasuda, would mean he does the job. Yasuda choking out Tenzan would make everyone think Tenzan has no chance and could lead to an upset. Or Chono could get his heat back (did I just say that?) by pinning Yasuda.

 

3/14 TV looks pretty good. Nagata vs. Suzuki will be interesting. These two met when Suzuki was a bad rookie and wasn't very good. Suzuki is much better now, so this should be at least decent, especially with Nagata involved. Manabu Nakanishi vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi happened on the 12/23 SXW and happens again here. I heard their 12/23 match was good, which I'll find out for myself soon. Tatsumi Fujinami & Osamu Nishimura vs. Tadao Yasuda & Yutaka Yoshie is Team Muga vs. Team Sumo? Yoshie seems likely to take the fall here. The other two round one tournament matches take place also. Scott Norton & Super J vs. Giant Silva & Giant Singh is everyone's worst nightmare become a reality. J is the designated jobber and one can only hope this lasts under 3 minutes. Kensuke Sasaki & Shiro Koshinaka vs. Masahiro Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan should be good. Chono & Tenzan are the favourites, but if Tenzan wins the IWGP Heavyweight Title (and if Hell freezes over), the T2000 duo may make an early exit. The next TV taping on 3/17 has the semi finals. I'll say Chono & Tenzan over Sasaki & Koshinaka and Silva & Singh over Nagata & Nakanishi. The show also has Minoru Tanaka's first defense of the Jr. Title when he faces Gedo. There's no reason why this shouldn't rule the world. 3/21 is a big TV taping from the 12,000 seat Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. Manabu Nakanishi & Osamu Nishimura vs. Giant Silva & Giant Singh will probably build the giants up for the tournament final, with Nishimura jobbing again. Tatsumi Fujinami & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Masahiro Chono & Koji Kanemoto is a match I'm sure they did on the last tour, but should be good. Yuji Nagata faces Scott Norton in a #1 contender match. Nagata sort of owes Norton for the singles win late last year, but should win. If Norton wins, I'll be very scared and may cast of the IWGP Heavyweight Title once and for all, especially if the main event goes as expected. The main event, of course, has Yasuda vs. Tenzan. Tenzan got a career best out of Yasuda a few years ago, as he has done with several big oafs, but Yasuda works a totally different style now. I fear for the result of this match. Tenzan is a nobody to Inoki. He doesn't even wear the gloves! Who is he to challenge the elite fighters!? And so forth. If Yasuda wins, but Nagata wins, I won't be so disappointed. If Yasuda wins and Norton wins, I'll jump off a bridge. If Tenzan wins and Norton wins, I'll be pretty happy. If Tenzan wins and Nagata wins, drinks are on me! 3/24 at Amagasaki City Memorial Park Gymnasium will host the tournament final. Since Tenzan will lose to Yasuda, I expect this to be Chono & Tenzan vs. Silva & Singh. Chono and his disciple will win this as payback for Tenzan's job, at least they better win it. Can you imagine Yasuda as IWGP Heavyweight Champion and Silva & Singh as IWGP Tag Champions? BRING OUT YOUR DEAD! The next month could be good or could be disasterous. At least the juniors are guaranteed to perform, so at worst, we'll go back to the days of totally inconsistent heavyweights and great junior matches. In some interesting news, Kazuyuki Fujita has shunned PRIDE and K-1, saying he wants to return from injury for the G1 Climax. If Fujita was ever willing to commit full-time to wrestling, he could become a big wrestling draw.

 

NOAH: "NAVIGATION FOR EVOLUTION 2002" was a largely uninteresting tour, but everyone was looking forward to the finale. The lowlight of the tour was on 2/10 and saw Yoshinari "X-Pac" Ogawa pin Akiyama for the second time in a month during a six man main event, using an arm clutch cradle. This sets up Ogawa as Akiyama's next challenger, which continues Ogawa's almost unbearable monster midcard push. After some so/so tour shows, it came to 2/17. NOAH stacked Tokyo Nippon Budokan with a sell out of 16,500 fans.

 

1. KENTA & Kotaro Suzuki beat Mohammed Yone & Ray Gordy (10:23) when KENTA used a Falcon Arrow on Gordy. This sounds like a fine young lion type match. KENTA has awesome natural ability and is making Marufuji-esque progress, though is 2 years behind Marufuji experience-wise. Suzuki is said to be very promising and has a superstar look (http://www.puroresufan.com/images/kosuzuki.jpg), but is only 5'7"/183lbs, which may deem him forever a junior, unless he bulks up a lot. Or if NOAH ever separates it's junior division, actual junior draws will become reality in the company.

2. Rusher Kimura, Mitsuo Momota & Masashi Aoyagi beat Haruka Eigen, Jun Izumida & Kishin Kawabata (13:18) when Aoyagi used a high kick on Kawabata.

3. Daisuke Ikeda & Takashi Sugiura beat Michael Modest & Donovan Morgan (10:10) when Sugiura used a backdrop suplex on Morgan. This sounds pretty rocking. Modest & Morgan have become a total jobber team, although Morgan continues to take all the falls.

4. Yoshinari Ogawa & Takuma Sano beat Scorpio & Richard Slinger (9:31) when Ogawa pinned Slinger. Oh, what a surprise, Ogawa wins. Please END THIS NOW. I can't remember the last time someone's push annoyed me so much.

5. Akira Taue, Tamon Honda & Masao Inoue beat Akitoshi Saito, Kentaro Shiga & Makoto Hashi (20:14) when Inoue used an Argentine backbreaker on Hashi. This sounds too long and probably moved very slowly. Shiga left STERNNESS after the match and is expected to reunite with Kobashi, a good move, because he's forgotten about in Akiyama's group now.

6. Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru beat Jushin Thunder Liger [New Japan] & Wataru Inoue [New Japan] (17:38) when Kanemaru used a brainbuster on Inoue. This is the sort of undercard match NOAH needs to make the product more entertaining. Less Honda's, more Kanemaru's and Marufuji's. This sounds good to excellent and prompted a big New Japan vs. NOAH brawl with juniors from both sides.

7. GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title: Naomichi Marufuji © beat Juventud Guerrera (24:57) with the Shiranui (1st defense). I've heard conflicting reports on this. Some said it was awesome, but others said it was just good. It does seem kind of long for 2002 Juvy vs. still progressing Marufuji, but time and video tape will give us a definite answer. It's another big junior win for Marufuji, but watch Misawa continue to mess up on the next tour with his prejudice booking, booking guys like Izumida and Ogawa over him. Marufuji is the most popular guy in the promotion and I'm serious, although Kobashi has probably overtaken him now that he's returned. Compare heat from Misawa and Akiyama matches to heat from Marufuji matches and you'll be surprised.

8. GHC Tag Team Title: Takeshi Morishima & Takeshi Rikio beat Takao Omori & Yoshihiro Takayama © (16:01) when Rikio used a powerbomb on Omori to become the 4th champions. I was 6-0 with predictions coming into this, but my clean sweep ended here. VERY surprising result. I was positive No Fear would rule NOAH's tag division in 2002, yet we have another transitional reign. There have been 0 successful defenses of these belts so far, which does nothing for the value. Misawa is in love with Morishima and Rikio, because they're fat and Misawa is a big mark for fat guys, taking after Baba. They have the presence and aura of monsters, but talent-wise, are not ready for this yet. If these two are going to main event, it's going to be a big step down. Morishima could become awesome if Misawa sent him overseas to condition himself or something, but he's so fat that it hurts his mobility badly. Rikio's fat is more chub and less blob, but he only debuted in like 5/00, so still hasn't added intangibles to his power moves. You have to feel sorry for Omori, who never seems to get anywhere. Ideally, this would be the catapult for No Fear singles pushes, but it's also likely that Takayama will be pushed and Omori will have Asako as his new tag partner or something, with even less success than before.

9. Kenta Kobashi Return Match: Jun Akiyama & Yuji Nagata [New Japan] beat Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi (26:49) when Akiyama used a wrist-clutch Exploder on Kobashi. This sounds so awesome and anything under **** is likely to disappoint. Another new generation vs. old generation match. This is the sort of treatment Nagata deserves from New Japan, a main eventer who works good, long wrestling matches, not empty Inoki-ism matches. The result is no surprise, as I think I said in the last issue, because it's an old AJPW tradition to have the guy returning from injury to do the job with the ring rust excuse. Kobashi looked in great shape and had black hair, so dropped the dye already. This show sounds like a keeper and what a way to end it.

 

Onita Pro: Project X ran a show at Shizuoka Kira Messe on 2/11. MPro guys were on the undercard, the first involvement seeing Hideki Nishida beat Psychic (8:22). Ikuto Hidaka & Tomohiro Ishii beat Gran Hamada & Kazuya Yuasa (12:15) when Hidaka took out Yuasa. The main event was a big No Rope Barbed Wire Street Fight Tornado Tag Death Match with Mr. Pogo, Hido, Shoji Nakamaki & Ichiro Yaguchi beating Atsushi Onita, Kazumasa Nihei, Masayoshi Motegi & GENTARO (14:51) when Pogo downed Nihei.

 

Rainbow Pro: I just ordered the original Rainbow show, which I'm looking forward to (Tanaka vs. Honma!), but the second doesn't look as good. It's more of a theme show, but the concept is interesting. It'll be Fujiwara's group vs. Matsunaga's W*ING group. The first group match has Hiroshi Shimada (W*ING original) vs. Takeshi Ono (Fujiwara). I'd pick Ono here. Then, Masaru Toi (W*ING original) vs. Manabu Sato (Fujiwara, one of BattlARTS' latter trainees I think). Toi will win this. Tomoaki Honma (W*ING, and he does possess the spirit, even though he was just a kid when W*ING existed) vs. Mr. Sakai (Fujiwara). Honma will win this, as he's respected in the indies. Gran Sheik (W*ING) vs. X (Fujiwara). Who knows. Match five of the series is a Captain's Falls Elimination Bunkhouse Match with Mr. Pogo ©, Shoji Nakamaki & Hido vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara ©, Yuki Ishikawa & Katsumi Usuda. This is a crazy match, total style clashes. I have no idea how this one will work out and the question is, which Fujiwara guy will be sliced up by Pogo? And wasn't Usuda a big shoot star the other week? That didn't last long. The main event has W*ING (yes, W*ING!) Kanemura vs. Mitsuhiro Matsunaga. I talked about Kanemura vs. Hido being W*ING vs. W*ING, but this is a bigger example, as these were the two leaders of the W*ING Alliance. This will be bloody and v

[Guest Stuart]

And continuing that, because the limit cut it off...

 

Rainbow Pro: I just ordered the original Rainbow show, which I'm looking forward to (Tanaka vs. Honma!), but the second doesn't look as good. It's more of a theme show, but the concept is interesting. It'll be Fujiwara's group vs. Matsunaga's W*ING group. The first group match has Hiroshi Shimada (W*ING original) vs. Takeshi Ono (Fujiwara). I'd pick Ono here. Then, Masaru Toi (W*ING original) vs. Manabu Sato (Fujiwara, one of BattlARTS' latter trainees I think). Toi will win this. Tomoaki Honma (W*ING, and he does possess the spirit, even though he was just a kid when W*ING existed) vs. Mr. Sakai (Fujiwara). Honma will win this, as he's respected in the indies. Gran Sheik (W*ING) vs. X (Fujiwara). Who knows. Match five of the series is a Captain's Falls Elimination Bunkhouse Match with Mr. Pogo ©, Shoji Nakamaki & Hido vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara ©, Yuki Ishikawa & Katsumi Usuda. This is a crazy match, total style clashes. I have no idea how this one will work out and the question is, which Fujiwara guy will be sliced up by Pogo? And wasn't Usuda a big shoot star the other week? That didn't last long. The main event has W*ING (yes, W*ING!) Kanemura vs. Mitsuhiro Matsunaga. I talked about Kanemura vs. Hido being W*ING vs. W*ING, but this is a bigger example, as these were the two leaders of the W*ING Alliance. This will be bloody and violent. I don't know or care how it'll fare technically, it'll be a meaningful reunion of two hardcore wrestling legends and I'll get the show for this (and that freaky semi main event).

 

ZERO-ONE: ZERO-ONE announced the complete lineup for it's first year anniversary show at Tokyo Sumo Hall on 3/2.

 

1. Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs. KENTA [NOAH]. I hope there is an ambulance at the Sumo Hall, because KENTA will be leaving in it. Takaiwa will maul KENTA, but the young lion will make some comebacks before losing. This should be fun.

2. Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Kohei Sato. Next.

3. Sean McCully vs. Wataru Sakata. The McCullys are good examples of the crappy Inoki shoot style. Next.

4. Gary Steele [NWA] & Steve Corino [NWA] vs. Tom Howard [uPW] & Samoa Joe [uPW]. Steele is the question mark, because he isn't good. Other than that, there's no reason why this shouldn't be good.

5. Yoko Takahashi vs. Yuki Kubota

6. Josh Dempsey vs. The Predator [uPW] in a Lumberjack Match

7. Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. Naomichi Marufuji [NOAH]. Yes indeed, on the anniversary of their 2001 MOTYC, Hoshikawa and Marufuji meet again. Marufuji has gotten even better in the last year, so my hopes are high. Of course, as always seems to be the case with rematches these days, it probably won't be as good as their first match, but should tear the roof off again. Marufuji probably wins, just like last year. Hopefully, they'll make this into a GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title match.

8. Kazuhiko Ogasawara vs. ???

9. Shinya Hashimoto vs. Masato Tanaka. This is a huge chance for Tanaka to really make a name for himself on the national level. If he and Hashimoto can tear the house down, and there's no reason why they shouldn't, Tanaka's stock in All Japan and ZERO-ONE will rise. We know who is winning, but the match should be awesome.

10. Shinjiro Otani vs. Naoya Ogawa. This is an intriguing match, which I never thought I'd see. Back when Otani was at the bottom of Dome shows with his junior friends and Ogawa was at the top, did you ever consider the possibility of this. Otani carried Murakami to two good matches, so may be able to do the same with the Higher Cancer. This all depends on Ogawa though, because he's a jerk and won't want to sell for Otani. We all knows Ogawa wins and it may be a 4 minute slaughter, because there are rumours of Ogawa vs. a Gracie on the 5/2 Tokyo Dome show, with Ogawa winning a work. This match will have monster heat for Otani's underdog act, but realistically, the winner is in no way in doubt.