Michinoku Lucha TV #11 8/15/98

7/18 Iwate Ya Shi Chou Min Sogo Taiikukan: Naohiro Hoshikawa & Minoru Fujita (Big Japan) & Masaru Seno vs. Shima Nobunaga & Sumo Fuji & Judo Suwa. CRAZY MAX did a lot of double and triple teaming since they are the rudos. Nobunaga is and was by far the best on the CRAZY side, at one point doing his corkscrew pescado. Suwa & Fuji do all their spots fine, but their move sets are pretty tight at this point. This is fine because they have only been wrestling for a little over a year, but is one of the reasons they are outclassed by most of Dragon's other students. Fujita is always impressive when I see him, which isn't much since getting a Big Japan tape means I have to sit through The "Great" Kojika and all the other stiffs that are so bad their brawls almost make ECW's look good. Hoshikawa looked good when he was in, but he didn't log much ring time. I've yet to see a match where Seno looked impressive. 13:04. **1/2

Miko: This was a really fun match. I was really impressed by the rudos teamwork. Not just their double team moves like the chokeslam/back drop, but that they would string several moves together in a logical fashion. Judo Suwa is kind of a weird gimmick. He shows no judo background at all, and seems to be just a brawler. Sumo doesn't show me much. He does a few sumo mannerisms, lariats and that's about it. Nobunaga on the other hand is great for an unpolished wrestler. He works the crowd. He also adds a little extra to everything. For instance, he doesn't just break up a pin, he'll springboard into it. Nobunaga's Frog Splash reminded me of Love Machine in that it was much more exaggerated than they way Eddy does it with just the tuck. Hoshikawa showed great kicking ability as far as being very fast and smooth most of the time, but he didn't always make full contact with them.

8/2 Aomori Hachinohe To (east) Taiikukan: Shima Nobunaga vs Masaru Seno. Nobunaga did fine, but it was a one-sided match with Seno not really adding anything. 8:40 (3:50 aired). *1/2

Miko: Nobunaga's chops are not at all stiff and the Dominator powerbomb is not that great either, but those are my only real nit picks here. Nobunaga is really athletic and makes a great punk.

8/2 Aomori Hachinohe To Taiikukan: Naohiro Hoshikawa & Masato Yakushiji vs. Sumo Fuji & Judo Suwa. The rudos dominated this match with heel tactics, which included Nobunaga interfering often. The match was good in points, but sloppy in others. Hoshikawa & Yakushiji looked good as usual. Yakushiji pinned Fuji with a fisherman buster. 12:18 (11:55 aired). **1/2

Miko: Judo looked better this time, or maybe it was just that his only partner was Sumo. Sumo seems to move in slow motion. Even his stomps are slow. His only move that looks good is that facecrusher chokeslam.

7/18 Iwate Ya Shi Chou Min Sogo Taiikukan: Gran Hamada vs. The Convict. This looked it was going to be a good match, but it was ruined by a skinny Convict running in before Hamada could pin Sergio Torres. After the match, Hamada took a spike piledriver on a floor and then some chair shots, which resulted in him bleeding. 6:55 (3:35 aired). **

Miko: This match did not do alot for me. Hamada is really amazing for someone his age, and he showed some good moves as always. The Convict did a nice moonsault from the second rope, but his whole gimmick is just too lame for me. The DQ finish was just annoying.

7/18 Iwate Ya Shi Chou Min Sogo Taiikukan: The Great Sasuke & Masato Yakushiji vs. Super Delfin & Yone Genjin. The fans were into seeing Sasuke vs. Delfin, but Delfin vs. Yakushiji was the pairing that produced the best wrestling. Sasuke vs. Genjin produced some blown spots, as Genjin really reduced the match as always. The spot that really went awry though was Sasuke's unique version of the tope con hilo. This was just nuts, and he wound up messing up his shoulder by landing shoulder first on the floor. Yakushiji continued without Sasuke, but was eventually pinned by Genjin. The match was disappointing because Sasuke wasn't in top form and got hurt once again, plus there was too much Genjin. Yakushiji's offense was really nice, and he was easily the best of the four. 20:07

Miko: We had Delfin wearing an ugly ugly outfit teaming with a caveman who is a technical wrestler. You'd think Sasuke would know better than that suicide spot by now.

Michinoku Lucha TV #12 9/10/98

8/22 Miyagi New World Sendai Tennis Club: Super Delfin vs. The Great Sasuke. Obviously this wasn't going to be the best match they've ever had together. It was still quite a good match with strong execution even though Sasuke was all banged up. Not much happened early, but it turned into a hot match when they went to their high spots. Delfin just went nuts with his Osaka rinkai (marine) uppers (upper blow), eventually pinning Sasuke after one. 20:15 (12:23 aired). ***1/4

Mexico Arena Naucalpan: SAITO vs. Kanda. These two were very green, but they did alright for themselves. They didn't take too many chances, but they also didn't limit themselves to only basic spots. SAITO put Kanda out with a doushime sleeper. 9:14 (4:29 aired). *1/2

Elimination Match: Magnum Tokyo & Dragon Kid & SAITO vs. Shima Nobunaga & Judo Suwa & Sumo Fuji. This was a good match, that could eventually become a great match as Ultimo's students gain more experience. Shima was easily the best on his team. Magmum showed flashes of greatness, while SAITO showed a lot of potential. Dragon Kid was by far the most exciting performer, trying some of the most incredible moves in existence, but only pulling some of them off. He has the potential to be the best flyer in wrestling if he can get his execution down. His quebrada over the top to the floor was awesome, but the spot where Nobunaga catapulted him to the second and Dragon jumped off backwards into a huracan rana was far more unbelievable! The final fall between Shima & Magnum was the most consistently good part of the match, as they were the most solid and consistent workers in the match. Nobunaga eventually pinned Magnum with the "Magnum death drop," which is basically a gutwrench suplex. The execution certainly could have been better, but you have to be really happy with these guys progress. 26:25. ***1/4