Mutoh v kawada 2/24/02

[Guest]

Get the Rainbow Pro show from January. So much fun, plenty of high workrate, some hardcore, variety, Sasuke taking his craziest bump ever (ladder on his head, ala Terry Funk ---> release German suplex by Motegi) and just great indy spirit all around. The Toryumon match on the show is excellent. While CIMA, TOKYO and SUWA have burnt out and become boring, guys like Susumu, Darkness Dragon, Dragon Kid, Genki and Shiisa (SAITO) are all looking better than ever. Also, the T2P show from January is something else. These guys are amazing. Haven't watched the ZERO-ONE PPV yet, but it looks quite nice on paper.

What is Rainbow Pro? I never heard of them. When did they start up?

 

Mutoh: Yeah, I've pissed on the TC by defending it against guys like Hall...so howsabout I piss on it some more by half-assedly selling 2/3's of the new champ's stuff and completely blowing off the other third as weak and useless, not to mention standing up after taking the Ganso Bomb and trying to act tough.  Yeah, the crowd'll buy that, they're stupid, what do they know about pro-wrestling love??

Scott Hall? And the TC is AJPW right? Muto jumped from New Japan correct? How long did it take for him to win the TC there and whod he beat?

 

Okumura & Honma vs. Varsity Club: *1/4

Barton, Steele & Hines vs. Anjo, Arashi & Araya: *1/4

The Varsity Club? Rotunda and Steiner? Or Sullivan? And who are Jim Steele and George Hines? I know there Americans but what success did they have in the states? And I have never seen them...are they any good at all?

 

 

Also I just have to ask why all the hate for Muto? I havent seen much recent puro in awhile and everyone was talking about how he had a great year in 2001 now I see stuff on how horrible he is. What happened?

[Guest Stuart]

What is Rainbow Pro? I never heard of them. When did they start up?

 

They're just some rich company. Their promotion is like an indy novelty thing, with each show having different concepts. The first was a variety feel, the second was a W*ING vs. Fujiwara group concept (results of this are shockingly hard to find; all I know is that Matsunaga repeated his famous Korakuen Hall balcony dive on Kanemura).

 

Scott Hall? And the TC is AJPW right? Muto jumped from New Japan correct? How long did it take for him to win the TC there and whod he beat?

 

Muto defended the belt in NJPW and generally disgraced it. Here's his title history from my site and my comments/ratings for what they're worth.

 

(6/8/01) Keiji Muto beat Genichiro Tenryu (23:24) with a moonsault press to win the title. (I loved this match, it lends credibility to the Muto comeback theory, which I think did exist, but only for a couple of months. Tenryu was even better than Muto in this, but both performed beyond their physical capabilities. ****1/4)

 

7/14/01: Keiji Muto © beat Steve Williams (18:52) with the Shining Wizard (1st defense). (This was another pretty amazing match. Both companies showed it in JIP form and in that it was ***1/4. However, they chopped out the early stages, which could have been critical, because these guys aren't exactly interesting for the first 10 minutes of their matches)

 

9/23/01: Keiji Muto © beat Scott Hall (15:14) with the Shining Wizard (2nd defense). (The worst Triple Crown match in history. I rated it *3/4, but it's barely that, if at all. Hall is a disgrace and mockery to the sport, who was doing his goof arounds even during the formalities. I can't really blame Muto for this, because he did get more out of Hall than others, Austin included, did)

 

10/27/01: Keiji Muto © beat Masahiro Chono (22:52) with a Frankensteiner (3rd defense). (This match made it clear to me that Muto's comeback was over. He was awful in this and totally outworked by Chono. This was a bunch of nothing for ages, then they did some good then, then it was a bunch of something, but wasn't good, as they killed the finisher even more. Muto was sloppy and just not good. I gave it **1/4 I think, which is poor for a TC match)

 

12/11/01: Keiji Muto © beat Tatsumi Fujinami (15:32) with the Shining Wizard (4th defense). (This wasn't as bad as Muto vs. Hall, but given that Fujinami still outworks Hall in his late 40's, it may have been the most disappointing. Again, Muto looked bad and while he wasn't worse than Fujinami, he was no better, as both guys bored for the first part, then just went for the cheap finisher killing heat in the second part. One of the worst matches of the PPV. **)

 

(2/24/02) Toshiaki Kawada (4) beat Keiji Muto (27:37) with a powerbomb to win the title. (Muto's worst performance since his non-title match with Kawada the year before. Kawada was outstanding in their 4/01 match, while Muto was diabolical. He managed to drag Kawada down to his newly found level in this, Kawada doing no-selling, finisher killing and so on. May end up the most overrated match of the year, as people are calling it a classic, but I didn't see that. It had it's moments, but another disappointment. ***1/4)

 

I think right now, Muto is worse than he was before he left Japan in 2000, before returning with the new look and everything. His knees are in worse condition, his execution is worse than ever and he's relying on that broken finisher for cheap heat.

 

The Varsity Club?

 

The Varsity Scrubs are Williams and Rotundo now. Very boring team.

 

who are Jim Steele and George Hines? I know there Americans but what success did they have in the states?

 

"Jungle" Jim Steele worked WCW for a while. Hines was Jackie Fulton in the Fantastics. He's pretty good for an AJPW gaijin, but mainly it's fire and charisma more than workrate. Steele has improved a hell of a lot and has some good moves, but still isn't very interesting unless carried. He came off looking great on the 12/11/01 PPV vs. Tenzan & Kojima, because the match was based around him hitting his cool moves, while Tenkoji played the valiant native underdogs.

 

Also I just have to ask why all the hate for Muto?

 

See above. I was loving Muto's 6-8/01 work, especially the Tenryu and Nagata matches, but it dropped off greatly after that and now he's really bad.

[Guest MRFTW]

"the second was a W*ING vs. Fujiwara group concept (results of this are shockingly hard to find; all I know is that Matsunaga repeated his famous Korakuen Hall balcony dive on Kanemura)."

 

I was wondering if this damn show ever even took place. Does anyone know if there's a tape of it out and what the specific date of it was?

 

"12/11/01: Keiji Muto © beat Tatsumi Fujinami"

 

I really don't see what was so bad about this match. Sure it wasn't a 4* classic or anything but it was solid enough and i'd give it atleast 3*. Don't get what the big deal is people are making about using multiple Shining Wizards in one match either, it's like complaing because it took Mike Tyson more then one punch to win a boxing match or something.

[Guest Robert S]

"Hines was Jackie Fulton in the Fantastics."

 

Jackie Fulton wasn't a part of the Fantastics. You are thinking of his brother Bobby Fulton. But the Fulton Brothers wrestled as the "New Fantastics", I think.

[Guest Stuart]

"Hines was Jackie Fulton in the Fantastics."

 

Jackie Fulton wasn't a part of the Fantastics. You are thinking of his brother Bobby Fulton. But the Fulton Brothers wrestled as the "New Fantastics", I think.

I stand corrected.

 

Shows how much I know about 80's American wrestling.