Quebrada #50

by Mike Lorefice (M.L.Liger@juno.com)

11/17/98

http://ohmygod.simplenet.com/quebrada

Meiko Satomura vs. Kyoko Inoue (free)

9/20/97 Kawasaki Shi Taiikukan

From GAEA G-Panic #1 10/4/97

This was one of those special matches in a young wrestlers career where a veteran goes way out of their way to get them over before they beat them. The timing was perfect because this was the biggest show in the history of GAEA. This match stole the show, and by design the promising youngster is the one who comes out of the match looking really good even though the veteran always wins. Of course, the match wouldn't even work if the youngster didn't put forth an excellent performance, so it wasn't like this was all Kyoko by any means.

They joined this match in progress, which was a really silly move, especially since this is a match that was supposed to be a bit better in unedited form. Satomura avoided Kyoko's lariat and began an all out attack on Kyoko's lariat arm, which made perfect sense because she was going to try to win with udehishigigyakujujigatames anyway, that included jumping off the apron into a wakigatame. One of the reasons this match worked so well is that Satomura is so fiery. She didn't conduct herself like the big underdog that she was, and Kyoko really went out of her way to sell the important spots like when Satomura slapped her across the face for not selling her previous strikes. (920g01) Most veterans wouldn't take that from a young punk, especially one with a singles resume as barren as Satomura's. Even though Kyoko did a slight bit of no selling, Satomura's offense always seemed more than credible.

"I think you really have to give credit to Kyoko for doing a very good job of selling for Satomura, but at the same time not making herself come off too weak. When compared to Yagi vs. Manami (1/14/97), the tag final (12/28/96) and tag title match (2/9/97) with Ozaki & Amano, and Toyota vs. Tamada (1/3/97), I think that this match did by far the best job of getting the younger wrestler over. The difference was that Satomura was given more offense than Amano and Tamada were, and Kyoko sold her offense better then Manami sold for Yagi," wrote Michael.

Satomura was unable to put Kyoko away with udehishigigyakujujigatames, so Kyoko came back with a killer lariat that Satomura took a great bump on.(920g02) Satomura cut off Kyoko's climb-up elbow, and udehishigigyakujujigatame'd her off the 2nd. This was a really good chance for Satomura to win, so she was quite disappointed when Kyoko made it to the ropes.

Kyoko tried to come back, but Satomura wasn't going to let her do anything without a fight. Kyoko was able to do her missile kick, but she had to suplex Satomura off the ropes to stop her from climbing up once again to try to cut her off.(920g08) Satomura slipped out of Kyoko's Niagara driver, but she couldn't get Kyoko up for her Death Valley bomb and Kyoko regained the advantage, getting a near fall with her lariat.

Kyoko tried another lariat, but Satomura scooped her up into her Death Valley bomb for a near fall.(920g04) Satomura, half psyched that she could be about to win and half heartbroken that her finisher wasn't enough to get the job done already, fired up (920g09) and delivered another Death Valley bomb. It still wasn't enough, but this time Satomura didn't look like a "crying" young babyface when she got up, instead she was very intense and pissed.(920g11) She raised her finger in the air, signaling to the crowd one more Death Valley bomb, but Kyoko stopped it and delivered an incredible released German suplex. Kyoko then Niagara drivered Satomura for the first time, and that was all she wrote. It was a little quick for Satomura to be pinned since Kyoko's comeback was only two spots, but her Niagara driver is a big enough move that you can't really have rookies and the like kicking out of it in their first challenge. 16:28 (9:03 aired). ****

"The danger in selling so much during a match you are going over in is that your comeback is might look weak. Even worse than that, it might look like Hogan's I'll take all your moves then come back and win with one move. I made the mistake of mainly selling then coming back and winning with one lucky move so much last year. It's better to string hope spots in there because if you are selling all the time you look weak, at least to US fans eyes. Also, putting them away with one or two moves can make your opponent look more beatable," wrote Sam.

Mayumi Ozaki & Sugar Sato vs. KAORU & Toshiyo Yamada

11/30/97 Nagoya Shi Taiikukan

From GAEA G-Panic #3 12/13/97

This was an excellent storyline match. The story was dissention in the ranks of the KAORU & Yamada team due to Yamada being suckered in by the heel tactics of Ozaki. Ozaki was in Yamada's head to the point where Yamada was so obsessed with beating Oz up that she lost track of the point of the match, to win. The initial reason Yamada was so pissed at Ozaki was that The Minky One's constant interference in a prior tag match between KAORU & Yamada and Ozaki's understudies, Sato & Chikayo Nagashima, caused Yamada to be pinned by Sugar.

Ozaki & Yamada had a stare down before the match, and Yamada wanted Ozaki to start, but, of course, Sugar started to piss Yamada off. The distraction of Ozaki allowed Sugar to gain the advantage, and Ozaki was sure to get under Yamada's skin by double teaming her. At one point, Sugar had Yamada in a facelock and Ozaki came in and bit Yamada's leg to annoy her. As soon as referee Tommy Ran escorted Ozaki to her corner, Sugar turned the facelock into a bite.(1130g02)

Ozaki & Yamada first officially wrestled at 2:30, which was too early for them to first meet, but this match was too condensed to begin with. Ozaki was pretty much paired off with Yamada for the sake of the angle, so I guess that was the logic to it. This made Sugar seem inferior because Yamada disregarded her and didn't want to wrestle her. However, this was fine because the end result of the match was another good push for Sugar. Actually, it was pretty obvious here that Sugar was inferior because she just isn't a polished worker yet, and she was screwing up some spots. There was a huge difference when KAORU was wrestling Sugar and when Ozaki was in, which wasn't Sugar's fault. You can't expect someone who had just turned 19 the day before to really know how to wrestle, just supplying quality work, which Sugar did, is more than enough for them to do in a tag match with the veterans. The problem is that KAORU wrestles with the mentality of a 19-year-old even though she was 28 at this point. For all intents and purposes she's an incredibly poor woman's Koji Kanemoto, minus the cockiness. Luckily, KAORU's liabilities weren't exposed too much here because Ozaki pretty much eliminates them when she is carrying the match. The match was set up so that Yamada was the one who was beat on, thus KAORU didn't have the chance to make many of her trademark quick comebacks. Sometimes the situation made it ok for KAORU to roll out her spots, but generally when she was in with Sugar it was vintage KAORU, in other words, she did all kinds of "cool" things with little rhyme or reason to them.

At 7:40, Yamada did some sort of suplex off the top to Sato that was kind of a cross between a belly to belly and a hip toss, but Ozaki made the save. Instead of trying to finish Sugar off, Yamada chased Ozaki and they brawled on the floor until KAORU restrained her partner. KAORU was like "what the hell are you doing?" as she pointed to Sugar, who was still down in the ring.(1130g04) When Yamada reentered the ring, she didn't even try to pin Sugar, instead she kicked her once and slapped KAORU's hand hard on the tag in a very bitchy manner. KAORU came in and tried her moonsault, but by this time Sugar had recovered so she avoided it. The Oz Academy then double teamed KAORU, including a double diving footstomp, which was a favorite double team spot of Ozaki's back when she used to team with the soon to be retired Cuty Suzuki. Of course, when KAORU came back she didn't sell the previous damage at all, and she immediately went to all her big spots.

KAORU & Yamada got into an argument because Yamada threw Sato into her corner and challenged Ozaki to come in. KAORU's point was that Sugar had just taken some of KAORU's best stuff while Ozaki was relatively fresh. KAORU tried to restrain Yamada, but her sights were set on attacking Ozaki.(1130g) As Yamada gave KAORU a little nudge to leave the ring, Ozaki ran out of the corner and shoved KAORU in the back, making KAORU think it was her partner that gave her an added boost. Ozaki & Yamada were tearing it up together, and don't think it was a coincidence that Yamada was showing shades of her old greatness in this match. When Ozaki finally Tequila Sunrised Yamada, KAORU still made the save because first and foremost she wanted to win the match.

Yamada came back with her spinning leg lariat at 11:00 and crawled over to tag KAORU, who came in and did her swandive moonsault finisher. Sugar made the save because Yamada was still down, but KAORU got pissed at Yamada for not recovering in time to cut Sugar off. Yamada just made a grouchy face at KAORU. KAORU used her Excalibur (Michinoku driver II) finisher on Ozaki, but again Sugar made the save because Yamada was sitting on the ring apron. Suddenly Yamada recovered and wanted to tag in, seemingly because she realized Ozaki was "ripe for the pickens." Ozaki came back with an uraken to KAORU though and tagged Sugar. With Sugar in, Yamada had no interest in tagging in, so she walked across her side of the apron where KAORU couldn't tag her even if she could make it to her corner. Ozaki & Sato double teamed KAORU then Ozaki held Yamada off while Sugar tried to finish KAORU. Sugar had KAORU set up for her Liger bomb, but Yamada got free and tried to break it up with a kick. Sugar saw this coming so she moved KAORU into the line of fire then Dragon screwed KAORU for a near fall.

KAORU tried to come back with a Misterio rana, but Sugar turned it into her Liger bomb for a great near fall. Ozaki took Yamada out on the floor then reentered the ring and caught KAORU with an uraken just after KAORU had avoided Sugar's. Sugar then tried to Liger bomb KAORU for the win, but it was blown and KAORU fell on top of her, so they simply redid the finish. This made no sense because KAORU landing on top would be a counter that turned the tide or at least a spot where both sold because KAORU was "too damaged" to come back. Of course, when you have KAORU and an inexperienced wrestler you shouldn't expect logic.

Yamada went nuts, attacking Ozaki after the match, but she was restrained by several women. The Oz Academy did their typical post match taunting and bragging while Yamada was being restrained. KAORU & Yamada then got into an argument and they had to be held apart, while the cause of all the problems, Ozaki, sat on the top turnbuckle and pointed to her opponents as if to say "look at these fools fighting amongst themselves."(1130g26) Yamada kicked KAORU in the back when she was walking back to the dressing room, so they had another pull apart that Chigusa had to break up. Yamada & KAORU sat in the locker room facing opposite directions and refused to look at each other, while Ozaki had a good laugh about all the dissention she had caused in her post match interview.

An excellent short match, especially Ozaki and Yamada's performances. A great angle because there were so many dimensions to it, building on an old fued, possibly creating a new fued, strengthening the heels and the effectiveness of their tactic, and giving the young star another big pin. The problems were that it was too short, Sugar wasn't on the level, and KAORU will always be KAORU. 13:47. ****

Tag League Final: The Great Sasuke & Super Delfin vs. MEN'S Teioh & Shoichi Funaki

taped 11/9/97 Sendai

From Michinoku Lucha TV 11/15/97

This was everything you could ask of these guys, if not more. Some of the other great Michinoku Pro tags have had better workers, but it was still the typical Michinoku tag with great work and high spots, mainly supplied by Sasuke, building to a mind-blowing sequence of great near finish after great near finish. What was lacking in work, which really didn't turn out to be anything due to Funaki being in top form and Delfin looking great because he was spotted, was more than made up for because the storyline, psychology, and playing to the crowd, was much better than normal.

"Obviously Sasuke's knee was the focus here. When he's on, Sasuke is one of the better workers in the world, and he was on here. This was before MEN'S and Sho became complete shit in a wasteland, so their performance was strong with Teioh really stepping up. Delfin never could break out of an individual shell, but he is good in this environment as he does his job well. Overall, a very solid match," wrote Hadi.

Everyone knew Sasuke needed knee surgery, so the match was build around the heels debilitating his bad knee. This worked because Funaki has a strong submission background from his days in Battlarts. What really made this storyline work was unlike AJ booker(s), Sasuke actually thinks in advance. Thus, when these teams met in the league portion, Sasuke submitted to Funaki's hiza jujigatame. If Funaki could make Sasuke submit a week earlier, you better believe he could do it again, and the fans did.

The crowd was hot from the outset, clapping their hands and chanting Delfin before he even locked up with Funaki to start the match. One of the things that really made this match work was that Teioh & Funaki were really good at getting heat. Delfin's charisma has always been one of his best assets, and Sasuke was in the sympathetic role, so the crowd was really buying into this, booing the heels and cheering the faces.

Teioh began working on Sasuke's leg at 2:30 with his tribute to Terry Funk spinning toe hold. Delfin & Teioh did some Lucha, and Delfin almost caught Teioh off the ropes with his upper blow, but Teioh saw it coming and escaped to the floor.

At 5:50, the knee work really kicked in with Funaki catching Sasuke with a kneecap dropkick, which drew boos because he wasn't being a good sport. Funaki exposed Sasuke's knee brace and tied him in the corner, taunting Delfin before he kneecap dropkicked the defenseless Sasuke. Teioh did a Super kneebreaker. He also did his Bret Hart imitation, wrapping Sasuke's leg around the post and putting him in a figure 4. Sasuke did as good a job as you can while wearing a mask of grimacing in pain.(119mp01) Not surprisingly, throughout the match Sasuke did a very good job of putting over his knee, as well as the danger of moves like Funaki's figure 4. His ability to convey emotions is definitely underrated. He finally made a hot tag at 11:45, and the match really kicked in and got great from here.

Sasuke's theory of selling is that you don't let the bad knee hamper the execution of any of your spots, but you sell it big in between moves. Obviously there are positives and negatives to that line of thinking.

"I like selling, but, umm, if you can still do the space flying tiger drop, you aren't in pain in my book. I'd mark out if he intentionally blew a move because of his knee. One of my favorite knee spots is to get the opponent in the corner and then run in to do a lariat, but realize how bad the leg is and just collapse, holding it in pain and getting the ref to check it. The match continues when my opponent comes over and attacks me, with the crowd maybe thinking that I legitimately hurt my leg," wrote Sam.

Sasuke knocked Funaki to the floor with his space rolling elbow(119mp02) then took Funaki out with his quebrada. Delfin gave Teioh his swinging DDT to Delfin clutch,(119mp04) but Funaki recovered just in time to save with a dropkick. Sasuke got near falls on Funaki with his quebrada(119mp05) then tried his German suplex, but Funaki kicked his knee. Sasuke tried a roundhouse kick, but Funaki turned it into a Dragon screw.(119mp06) Funaki played to the crowd in [insert your favorite first name] Fuyuki like fashion before trying to apply the figure 4 on Sasuke for the win. However, Sasuke turned it into a small package for a great near fall. Sasuke tried his thunder fire powerbomb on Funaki, but Teioh saved with a dropkick to the back of the knee.(119mp08)

Funaki repeatedly tried to beat Sasuke with his hiza jujigatame, but still couldn't get the job done. Meanwhile, Teioh was using his signature spots on Delfin. Instead of going for the cover after his miracle ecstasy, Teioh used Delfin's own Delfin clutch on him, but Sasuke made the save. With Delfin out of the picture, Funaki continued using knee submissions on Sasuke, but Sasuke would eventually make it to the ropes.

Sasuke took Funaki out with his suicidal rider kick,(119mp09) and Delfin used his signature spots on Teioh. Teioh's did a very good job of selling here, especially stumbling around in between Delfin's backdrops.

With Delfin recovering, Sasuke took both opponents out with his thunder fire powerbomb then collapsed onto Funaki. Delfin recovered enough to stand up straight and set up his upper blow. When Teioh finally recovered enough to stand, he was easy pickens for the upper blow KO by Delfin to take the tag tournament.(119mp13)

The fans, who had been going crazy for a while, all hopped the security railings and surrounded the ring. All the fans in front were reaching their hands out in hopes that Sasuke or Delfin would touch/slap it.(119mp14) Sasuke was, of course, putting his knee over big during all of this. 18:55. ****1/2

The Great Sasuke & Super Delfin vs. Dick Togo & MEN'S Teioh

12/18/97 Tokyo Korakuen Hall

From Michinoku Lucha TV #4 1/29/98

This was about what you would expect from these four. These guys go all out in front of 300 people, so you know they are going to deliver the goods when they are in a main event match in Tokyo, where they rarely run shows. The work was excellent, great spots and perfect execution. Togo & Teioh make great heels because their mannerisms are excellent, and they are very smart in that they know what to do to get the fans to "dislike" them. Once again, the focus was on the heels debilitating Sasuke's bad knee (actually both are bad, but they attacked the worse of the two that he was going to have surgery on). This knee attack couldn't match the excellence of Funaki's in the semifinal of this Korakuen show, and Sasuke can't sell like TAKA though he did do a very good job here, but it still gave the match a focused storyline.

"This match had the same focus as most of Sasuke's matches during this period, his knee. Once again, Sasuke proved that even when he's working through a serious injury he can still do his 'stuff' and have it be quite effective. Togo was truly great before Wally absolutely destroyed him in the WWF. It's truly a shame what has happened to Kaientai, but a lot of blame needs to be placed on them because it was their business decision that ultimately cost them," wrote Hadi.

Sasuke jumped Teioh before the bell, knocking him to the floor and doing a tope con hilo. Sasuke was hobbling around even before they worked on his knee. Some of this may have been selling to set the knee attack up, but you could tell his knee was in really bad shape. Sasuke & Delfin controlled much of the first six minutes, but the tide turned when Togo stopped Sasuke's German suplex by low blowing him.

Togo began attacking Sasuke's knee before tagging out, which MEN'S continued as soon as he came in. The highlights of this knee attack were Togo doing his rolling senton with Sasuke's leg draped over the bottom rope (1218mp01)and Teioh doing a nadare shiki no knee crusher.(1218mp02) Sasuke finally came back just before the 13:00 mark, avoiding Togo's chair shot so Funaki got hit. He got a near fall with his quebrada before tagging out.

The hot finishing sequence started as soon as Delfin tagged in. Delfin pescado'd Togo & Sasuke quebrada'd Teioh. Delfin did his swinging DDT to Delfin clutch to Togo, but Teioh made the save. Delfin held onto the ropes to avoid Teioh's miracle ecstacy. Sasuke then tried his space flying Tiger drop to Togo, but Teioh clipped his knee as Sasuke was passing by.(1218mp04) Delfin plancha'd Togo, while Teioh did more damage to Sasuke's knee. Sasuke tried to come back from this with his space rolling elbow, but his knee gave out.(1218mp05)

At 16:45, Sasuke thunder fire powerbombed Teioh and Delfin set up his upper blow. However, when Delfin tried to bounce off the ropes for momentum, Funaki grabbed him to break it up then decked him with a punch. Sasuke tried a jumping knee, but Teioh avoided it so his knee crashed into the turnbuckle. Delfin saved Sasuke from Teioh's Indian death lock, but Togo sentoned Sasuke's bad knee (1218mp06)then took Delfin out with a tope suidida. Teioh immediately used a knee submission for the win, and of course he wasn't in any hurry to break the hold just because the match was over.(1218mp07) Sasuke, of course, put his knee over big time during the post match. 17:56. ****

Super Delfin vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa

6/28/98 Fukushima Sunshine Namie

from Michinoku Lucha TV #10

Delfin was always a guy that needed to be carried to have a very good or better match. He finally assumed the role of the veteran and carried Hoshikawa to the best singles match I've ever seen him in. Hoshikawa has improved a lot, and he's been having good matches of late. However, Delfin brought to the table the ring smarts that the much better working Masato Yakushiji (who had a ***1/4 match with Hoshikawa on the same tv show) doesn't possess at this point. This started slowly, and in that regard was somewhat disappointing because with a strong opening this could have been a match of the year candidate, but turned into a great match with practically 10 minutes of near falls back and forth. The vast majority of the offense was convincing, but Hoshikawa still falls prey to weak execution from time to time.

They did some nice Lucha early, but the first big spot was terrible, as Delfin was knocked down from a Hoshikawa kick that didn't really connect. Hoshikawa used kicks as his primary weapon as always, and the others were much better than the aforementioned.

Delfin made a comeback and controlled Hoshikawa with submissions and suplexes. While there was nothing wrong with the first 14 minutes, they weren't particularly eventful and they didn't really establish a storyline.

"I have a hard time agreeing with **** for this match. The last nine or so minutes of near falls were great, but neither guy did anything to the other in the first 14 minutes that would warrant enough damage to put the other away. Thus, most of the near falls weren't believable (which you alluded to by saying that they really didn't establish a storyline). Based on the early portion, if they went home before the 19-minute-mark it would not have been believable unless it was a flash pin," wrote Michael.

From the 14-minute mark, the match was great with near falls back and forth at a rapid pace.(628mp01, this image doesn't really fit anywhere but I thought it looked cool.:) The work during this portion was great, as were the spots. Hoshikawa got a 2 count after his enzuigiri, and was so disgusted that he didn't score the big upset there that he pushed referee Ted Tanabe. Hoshikawa came just as close to winning with his Northern Light suplex. Delfin came back and tried his swinging DDT, but Hoshikawa Northern Light suplexed him for an even nearer fall. Delfin continued kicking out really late, which made the match dramatic. Finally, after Hoshikawa hit his diving brainkick, Delfin didn't kick out. What Hoshikawa didn't immediately realize though, was that Delfin's foot was on the rope. Hoshikawa stopped Delfin's diving move by dropkicking him in midair(628mp02) then got another near fall with his diving brainkick.(628mp07) He delivered a stiff lariat, but again Delfin kicked out at 2 9/10.

Delfin made a comeback with his upper blow, and used various DDT's for near falls. Finally, Delfin put Hoshikawa away his Delfin stunner (fisherman DDT?).(628mp08) Hoshikawa came incredibly close to scoring the big upset, and looked really good in the process. A large part of the reason he looked so good was that Delfin held the match together. Obviously Delfin going the extra mile to make Hoshikawa look good by taking his best moves and nearly getting pinned by them helped a lot too. 23:34 (23:10 aired). ****

WOWOW Special Match Hiromi Yagi Retirement Match, JWP Junior Title: Tomoko Kuzumi vs. Yagi

3/9/97 Tokyo Korakuen Hall

From JWP TV 3/15/97 THE BEGINNINGS

One sign that someone is really behind on their reviews is that the wrestler has come out of retirement before they write the review of their retirement match. I'm really glad Yagi is back, although I wish she was back full time instead of as a part time freelancer. I wouldn't be doing justice to the situation if I didn't at least briefly mention what a loss Yagi's retirement was to JWP and wrestling as a whole. When you have a league of a dozen people, losing your best prospect, who in just three years time had already become the second best wrestler in your league and one of the ten best women in the world is more than a crushing blow. That sad thing is, JWP Yagi was just one in a long list of setbacks JWP has suffered in the past two years. Her potential was basically unlimited because she could not only match just about anyone as a worker, but had, for her experience level, an incredible understanding of how to work to her opponent's strengths and hide their weaknesses. What separates the wrestlers you would call the best from the rest of the pack is their ability to make their opposition look a lot better than they really are on the way to having a match with them that is better than it has a right to be. Yagi certainly hadn't reached Jaguar level in this regard, but given how far she had come in such a short time, it was attainable. Her biggest roadblock was that she didn't start wrestling until she was 22. In any case, she decided to get married and retire, so even though she is back to some extent, we'll never know how good she could have been.

This match was a great example of just how good Yagi was. It isn't the best example of Yagi's style, or really Yagi's style at all because she barely used a submission after the first few minutes of the match. There also wasn't much in the way or build or psychology here. It was basically one great move after another with great work. The pacing was much faster than their January match and the selling wasn't as good, but certainly not to the point they were killing the moves.

"It was a lot different from their previous match which I also gave ****, and that's a credit to them that they could do two different style matches at this level," wrote Michael.

One of the main reasons I am so high on this match is that the work is so incredibly graceful. Kuzumi is one hell of a worker in her own right, but Yagi wrestled her style here and once again made her look great like no other can. Kuzumi has a lot of great looking difficult to execute spots that you can't do against every wrestler because they don't have the athleticism to take the bumps right, and even with the wrestlers who do have the athleticism these aren't going to work 100% of the time. Yagi was the best at taking these and making them look great because she took perfect bumps, and also had an uncanny nack of saving partially blown spots, not that there were many in this match.

Yagi did a great, perfectly executed, ipponzeoi (39jpw02) into a udehishigigyakujujigatame early on. Kuzumi hit her springboard plancha and double arm suplexed Yagi to the floor. When Yagi reentered, she avoided Kuzumi's dropkick, so Kuzumi went sailing to the floor and Yagi followed with her ultra cool looking plancha.(39jwo06)

Kuzumi came back with a missile kick that Yagi took a great bump on and softened Yagi's back up with a series of backdrops. Kuzumi continued attacking the back, including a near fall with a diving body press to the back. Kuzumi tried to go to the top, but Yagi German suplexed her off the 2nd and both sold.

Yagi regained control, getting a near fall with a beautiful lancet-arch (backdrop that starts off with Yagi locking her opponents arm in a hammerlock type position).(39jwp10) Yagi was slow between spots because she was selling her back. This gave Kuzumi the opportunity to come back, but Yagi quickly cut her off. However, when Yagi tried a nadare shiki move, Kuzumi did her beautiful Victory Star drop, (39jwp11) the finish of their January match, but this time Yagi kicked out. Soon after Kuzumi did a variation of the Victory Star drop where she did a slingshot into it instead of starting it with both opponents on the ropes.(39jwp12) This was equally tremendous, which is also to Yagi's credit because without perfection from both parties it looks badly screwed up.

Yagi came back with a nadare shiki no ipponzeoi for a near fall. Kuzumi cut Yagi off on the top, and did her nadare shiki no doublearm suplex finisher, but didn't go for the cover. Instead, she did a perfect swandive missile kick to Yagi's weakened back, but Yagi still kicked out. Kuzumi did an ultra corbata (spinning headscissors from the corner), but it still wasn't enough. Finally, she cut Yagi off on the top rope and did a rano suplex (looks like a superplex/nadare shiki no brainbuster, but the way the opponent is thrown off the top is kind of like a gutwrench suplex).(39jwp15) Yagi bounced off the mat and Kuzumi covered her to retain the title.

Great performance by both. Due to Yagi, Kuzumi was able to do every great spot she knew without the match coming off as a spotfest or any execution problems. The match could have been better if it was longer and more of a combination of both women's styles, but in a way it was smart to do all Kuzumi's style because that would be the style that would dominate this junior division in Yagi's absence. 13:39. ****1/4

"The lack of heat or anything else from the crowd for this match was a disgrace and the fact that nobody popped for any of the near falls was sad. This wasn't as bad as Megumi's ceremony, but she already had her last match. Kudo's ceremony came weeks later in front of several thousand less people, so it couldn't have had the emotion it would have if it was on the same night she carried Shark to a watchable match one last time," wrote Michael.

Yagi's retirement ceremony followed, (939jwp17) climaxing with an emotional scene as the Hiichans posed together for the final time with Yagi, in tears, taking the center slot which previously had only been occupied by leader Hikari Fukuoka. INSERT HIICHAN POSE!

"The shot with Hiichans doing their pose for the last time has always been, and will always be, one of those things that sticks in my memory forever," wrote Michael.

JWP TV 4/12/97 taped 4/8 Tokyo Korakuen Hall

JWP KORAKUEN SPECIAL THE DRESS UP WILD FIGHT TAG MATCH: Mayumi Ozaki & Rieko Amano vs. Megumi Kudo & RIE (FMW team). That RIE could be in a match this good was a minor miracle. I mean, she had never been in a very good match in her entire life. Ozaki & Kudo were great here. Kudo has long had the ability, but almost always lacked the opposition. With all her experience in garbage matches, it was obvious that she was going to deliver the goods now that she had some real opposition. Kudo & Ozaki both incorporated great wrestling into this brawl. What really stood out about Kudo was that her timing was excellent. Amano knew what she wanted to do, but she was really green in this style so she didn't always get the job done. She made a good showing, but she's definitely been better. However, I suppose everyone could say they've had better days after they finished a match with RIE.

Ozaki is just the complete package. Other wrestlers might be better workers and certainly there are a lot who have better high spots, but to try to compare her based on one facet of wrestling, whether it's one she is about the best in or not, is almost missing the point. It's hard to put a value on someone whose every move is so right on and adds something to the match.

RIE obviously took the match down because for her level of experience she is just about as bad as they come.

"RIE was really pathetic here and her offense was beyond terrible. She still didn't kill the match too much, but even though I actually like her there is nothing positive that can be said about her performance," wrote Michael.

Ozaki was able to carry her here, but there is only so much one person can do. RIE's offense was still going to be awful, and as usual she looked like she didn't have a clue. I don't think there's a woman in Japan that isn't a rookie that has more indecision and hesitation than RIE.

"There are some wrestlers who just look comfortable, like everything comes naturally and instinctively. Ozaki IS an example of a natural wrestler. She looks perfectly at home in the ring, always relaxed and comfortable with what she is doing. It's not just her wrestling, but her emotions and facials. Everything she does looks spontaneous. RIE is exactly the opposite. Though she's not a beginner, she still looks like she has to think everything through instead of just doing it. I remember watching one sequence Rie had with Ozaki where RIE hesitated for no apparent reason before doing a move and I could just imagine Ozaki wondering what she was waiting on," wrote Miko.

The problem with this match was that it was just too long. When a match is predominantly brawling, going longer than 20 minutes is probably going to lead to overkill. No matter how good you are, you can only do so much with a chair, a chain, a table, or any other gimmick before it gets repetitive. These gimmicks also increase the likelihood of sloppiness and blown spots. More people and/or objects involved in the spot=more things that have to be right for the spot to work properly=decreased odds of perfectly executed spot. RIE is lucky to have a minutes worth of "good" material, so imagine how good the others must have been to wrestle twenty seven and a half very good minutes when you couldn't even have her spend the majority of the time on the apron because this was "Texas Tornado" rules.

"For me the down parts of this match, aside from Rie, were the length and some of the spots. You were right about this match being a little long. At times the brawling looked to be of the 'waste time to set up a gimmick' variety. Some of the gimmick spots didn't do anything for me either, especially the 'tape the bat to part of my body' spots. The taping just took too long and it always seemed like the bat would be better used if they just held it themselves and hit their opponent with it. In particular, Rie's bat assisted Destiny Hammer looked like a 'seemed like a good idea before the match' spot," wrote Miko.

Oz, of course, was in bitchy street fighting mode today.(48jwp01) She extended her hand to Kudo for a handshake. Kudo knew better than to bite at Oz's ploy, but Oz still caught her by urakening her with the chain then beating her down with precise chain shots. Amano tried a sky high bat, but it was too early so Kudo slipped out and Ozaki got hit with the bat. This allowed RIE to get her offense in on Ozaki. RIE had problems just climbing up to the top rope, and her diving facebuster looked terrible because her legs hit the mat before she did the facebuster.

Oz was finally going to get some offense in on RIE, but Kudo recovered from Amano's beating and cut her off with a chair shot. Kudo dominated Ozaki, brawling all over the arena, until Ozaki was out of the picture. Ozaki, or course, was making all kinds of cool faces to sell the moves.(48jwp03)

"I like her range of emotions when losing, not just her selling when she is hit with a big move, but even the disgusted 'I can't believe I got caught with that move' look. Of course, I also like Ozaki's facials when she's winning. She looks like she's having a lot of fun, and it's generally fun to watch someone who looks like they are enjoying themselves. On a deeper level though, her having fun adds to her persona because it seems genuine and believable. She's being the nasty Oz when she's having fun by punishing an opponent. A good actor plays a role and makes it credible. A great actor plays a role and you swear it's not acting, but real. The same goes for wrestlers, and Oz falls into the makes it seem real category. Of course, there is a lot more to playing your role on offense than looking like you are having fun. Misawa and Kawada are not exactly lighthearted in their matches, but they are very effective at getting across emotions. The key to the 'realness' is not to underdo or overdo the emotions. If you take emotions too far, they become bad comedy like the stupid overreactions Hogan calls acting, but obviously the lines between good and the greats like Ozaki are more narrowly defined than the lines between bad and the greats like Kawada," wrote Miko.

While Ozaki was selling, they double teamed Amano, who bladed from a series of chair and chain shots by Kudo. Kudo was really punking Amano, pretty much showing that she wasn't on her level.

Oz turned the tide by catching Kudo with her uraken. Ozaki dominated RIE, including Liger bombing her on a table, while Amano took care of Kudo. RIE, who was now bloody, was just no match for Ozaki, but she wouldn't stay down.

Kudo finally came back and saved RIE. She choke sleepered Ozaki with the bat(48jwp04) while RIE gathered chairs and piled them in the ring. Kudo tried to nadare shiki no Frankensteiner Ozaki onto the pile of chairs, but Oz pushed her off the top into the chairs. Oz then tried her rolling bodyblock off the top, but Kudo avoided it, so Oz also landed on the chairs.

Amano stopped Kudo's reverse Gory special bomb with her jumping lariat. Ozaki nodowa otoshi'd Kudo on the chairs and powerbombed her on a bat. Kudo countered a double backdrop onto a table and chain by landing on her feet, but Ozaki & Amano immediately cut off her comeback by wrapping a chain around her neck and played tug of war.(48jwp05) They tied Kudo in the corner and Ozaki beat on her until RIE made the save with a Destiny Hammer. RIE tried her rolling cradle, but the ring was way too full of objects. Oz tried to come back with her uraken, but RIE avoided it and, after a little hesitation, facebustered Ozaki.

Oz had seen enough of RIE's bad offense, so she cut her off with an uraken and began powerbombing RIE on chairs.(48jwp08) Kudo, who was still tied in the corner, undid the chain enough that she was able to facebuster Ozaki onto the chairs.(48jwp09) This bought RIE enough time to completely untie Kudo, who then Tigerdrivered Oz on the chairs then hung her with a chain.(48jwp11) Amano tried to make the save, but she couldn't do anything to Kudo, who backdropped her on her head for her trouble. Amano finally made a comeback, including Oz throwing Amano the bat when she was on the top rope so she could diving lariat Kudo with it. This was a far better spot than when Amano taped the bat to her arm a bit later because it was essentially the same thing, but we didn't have to wait for the tape to be applied.

Amano used the bat on RIE until Kudo came up from behind and hit her with a chair (48jwp14) then nadare shiki no Frankensteinered her for a near fall. Amano taped the bat around her arm then used it to sky high lariat Kudo onto a pile of chairs. Ozaki finally Tequila Sunrised Kudo for a near fall. She tried another, but Kudo turned it into her Tiger suplex for a near fall. Everyone had about had it by this point. Oz tried to uraken Kudo with a chain, but Kudo blocked it with a chair. Kudo laid Ozaki out with a spinning fisherman buster then ordered RIE to make the cover, but Ozaki kicked out at 2 ½. RIE taped the bat to her foot and used it to Destiny Hammer Oz, but Amano made a diving save. Kudo took Amano to the back so she couldn't make a save, but it was almost like Oz was playing possum. Ozaki immediately turned RIE's Irish whip into an uraken then wrapped the chain around her hand and pointed at Kudo, taunting her because she was way too far away to make the save.(48jwp18) Oz then urakened RIE with the chain for the win. Oz challenged Kudo to the great death match that took place on 4/18/97.

This would have been a great match if Kudo had a competent partner, but then again, you could say that almost every Kudo match would have been a lot better if she had anyone to work with and against. Even with RIE, it could have been great if it was shorter and more focused. Everyone knew their role, although some did a better job of playing it than others. This wasn't the best example of an Ozaki brawl because there were a lot of gratuitous gimmick spots. Still, it was definitely one of the best brawls of 1997. 27:26. ****

WOWOW Special Match JWP Open Weight Singles Title: Dynamite Kansai vs. Hikari Fukuoka. This was basically Aja Kong vs. Manami Toyota. Kansai did a great job of holding this together, and her performance was all the more impressive given the health problems she was going through. Hikari added a lot of excitement and generally did really well, although the match was hurt by some of her spots not working right.

There was some weakness early and a few lame spots along the way. However, it definitely was a very focused and dramatic match, which can be attributed to Kansai, that excelled in every aspect. Above everything else, what really made this a great match was that the spots were so well ordered. It was clear what big spot they were building to because they would tease that spot, often more than once. When the big spot was finally executed, you would think this could be it because they had made it such a focal point. Of course, it wouldn't be the end so they would move on to trying to win with a different finisher. However, that doesn't mean they couldn't go back to a finisher that was already broken. Especially when it came to Kansai's Splash Mountain, since it's her main finisher and it's rarely ever broken, it made sense to try to win with it even after it failed because it is usually such a sure thing. This match is the reason it's important to have a lot of finishers. If you only have one finisher, even if it's way over, that really limits what you can do. Every match has to be built around the same damn move, so it gets repetitive really fast, and almost no one can break or kick out of your finisher because you have to protect your one move over. The difference between this match and the match of a one move wrestler is the difference between driving on a windy road and driving on a highway.

Each woman teased a big spot early, but overall the early portion was uneventful because they didn't do much to bridge to the high spots. Kansai's kicks were great as always though.(49jwp30)

"This was definitely a slow building match. The early portion was largely Kansai working submissions that never give her a submission win.;^) The teases were effective because they planted the seeds without forcing them to give away the big spots before they could logically be hit," wrote Miko.

The match picked up around 6:00. Kansai tried her backdrop driver again, but Hikari countered it. Hikari tried her space rolling elbow, but Kansai dumped her over the top to the floor. Kansai tried to backdrop Hikari on the floor, but Hikari landed on her feet. Hikari's flying finally kicked in around 8:00, but she spent too much time playing to the crowd, so Kansai was able to cut her moonsault off with a Razor's, no Outsider's, no Drunken Bumb's edge.(48jwp32)

Kansai threw a series of incredibly stiff kicks for a knockdown, but Hikari staggered up in fighting pose at the eight count only to have Kansai finally backdrop driver her.(48jwp34) Kansai then went for her Splash Mountain, but Hikari turned it into a Toyota roll for a great near fall. Kansai tried to maintain control with a jumping knee, but Hikari took her down with a spinning leg sweep.

Hikari got a series of near falls, including finally hitting her moonsault. Kansai avoided Hikari's rider kick. (48jwp35) Hikari was once again able to avoid Kansai's backdrop driver and she thought she was going to come back, but when she ran off the ropes Kansai lariated her out of her boots. Hikari took a great flip bump on this to make the spot all the more impressive.(48jwp38) Kansai even did a missile kick off the 2nd, but it still wasn't enough to allow her to execute her Splash Mountain. Kansai's backdrop driver did enough damage for her to finally execute the Splash Mountain. Kansai held three fingers out to the ref saying she won, but the ref only held 2 up and Kansai was just in disbelief.

Kansai knew it was time to raise the steaks. She has one move that is more deadly than her Splash Mountain, the Die Hard, which is a Splash Mountain off the 2nd rope. The match fell apart here for a moment with a bad sequence where Hikari fought off the Die Hard, caught Kansai's kick, and feebly pushed Kansai to the floor. They got it back though, as Hikari hit a great Orihara moonsault and both sold huge.

Hikari hit her rider kick, and again both sold before Hikari covered for a near fall. Hikari finally went to her moonsault footstomp finisher, but Kansai avoided it and blasted her with a series of stiff kicks. Both women were really doing a good job of putting over the toll of the match during this segment. Fukuoka finally couldn't get up, so the referee began a 10 count. Hikari staggered up in fighting pose all glazy eyed(48jwp56) in time to beat the count, but only to be punted once again by Kansai, this time for a near fall. Even though the move had already been teased and successfully executed, the last Splash Mountain tease was the most effective in the match. When they had teased it early on, it would have been a surprise if Kansai could have got the pin even if she had hit it. This time it was so deep in the match that it would have been curtains for Hiichan. It looked like Hikari was past the point that she could counter it, but she "saved herself" by pulling out her typical huracan rana counter at the last second.

Hikari came back with a fisherman buster that was weak because she had a problem lifting Kansai. This spot probably would have looked fine with "Heyman editing," but they either chose the wrong camera to cut to or didn't have a better angle. Hikari finally hit her moonsault footstomp and the crowd counted 1-2, but Kansai kicked out at 2 1/2. Hikari was having trouble even standing, basically going on desire and adrenaline, but she found it in her to hit her moonsault footstomp to finally capture the title (4th overall champion). Both women, especially Kansai, were selling huge after the match. Kansai somehow managed to hobble across the ring to give Hikari the trophy (48jwp61)and hug her.(48jwp63) Hikari, in tears, (48jwp64) held up the belt then had to be helped to the locker room.

Since this wasn't a major show that JWP had been building to for months, you could guarantee that if Michaels was Kansai he wouldn't have worked. Kansai certainly had good reason not to be in the ring. However, she was not only willing to drop the title, but was also very gracious about handing the company over to her younger rival. I have to ask, what does it say for wrestling when someone can still (wrongly) be considered a strong candidate for wrestler of the decade even though they desecrate titles by almost never dropping them in the ring and constantly put themselves in front of their company by acting unprofessional in and out of the ring? 20:26. ****1/2

J Crown: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. El Samurai

7/6/97 Sapporo Makomania Ice Arena

From World Pro Wrestling 8/2/97 Summer Struggle '97

Samurai got this shot due to beating Koji Kanemoto in the great, but severely flawed and vastly overrated, Best of the Super Jr. IV final. This match was undoubtedly butchered in the editing room, but seems to be very underrated nonetheless. These two pulled out all the stops, with Liger doing far more big spots than normal. They worked a very solid and exciting match, with Liger, of course, carrying things. Aside from Samurai blowing a suichoku rakka reverse DDT, which was the planned finish but they pressed on so it didn't turn out to be a real killer, they couldn't have done much better in the portion that aired on tv. Granted, this wasn't coming close to matching 4/30/92 Super Junior Final, but if only half that match made it to tv, it wouldn't have seemed like arguably the best junior match ever either. The fans weren't really into this match and I can't offer any explanation as to why. They popped for the spots, but Samurai wasn't really over. The fans rooted for Liger, but they really didn't seem to care who won. Unless things really went awry early on to the point they lost the crowd, there was no reason the match shouldn't have worked. The juniors weren't the draw on this show, or just about any other NJ show from 1997. Thus, I don't feel you should start chopping stars off in the absence of any logical reason for the lack of heat, other than that the fans were there to see Riki's retirement road.

"This was a very good match, as I expected it to be. Samurai is great when he's in with the best Jr. in the world, but he seems to have a tough time getting motivated for guys he may have to carry. Samurai's move set was its usual great self in this one, and Liger did his usual consistent, solid, carrying to make the match. My favorite thing about Liger is that every single match he has (except when he's working with someone he's never faced before), the timing and pacing are at worst extremely good and at best flawless," wrote Hadi

Liger was hitting Samurai really hard, but Samurai came back and soon hit a nice tope suicida, which had meaning because it was properly sold long by Liger. Samurai continued using his big spots until Liger avoided his diving headbutt and La Magistralled Samurai for a near fall.(76nj04) One of the things that separates Liger from almost all the other juniors is that instead of coming right back and matching Samurai's big spots, he let Samurai, who was in better shape based on what had recently transpired, stay on offense and get a near fall with a huracan rana. Sometimes Liger would choose to come back there, but he would do it right and put over the previous damage, not just start flying around the ring like a Mexican jumping bean.

"YEAH! Otani's no selling and no-sell comeback annoy the heck out of me. Spot wise, he's good and has entertaining moves, but the quickie comebacks just piss me off. At least he's not trying to be a heavy like Takaiwa, who had a monster 1997 and now has done his same spots over and over," wrote Sam.

They got up slowly, and Samurai ran off the ropes, but Liger caught him with a kneecap dropkick. Samurai showed why he is a great bump taker here, flipping forward to make the move seem killer then grabbing onto his knee. Samurai was now "injured," so Liger took the offensive, using a series of moves that focused on Samurai's "bad knee."

Liger struggled to suplex Samurai to the floor, but Samurai stopped it and wound up trying to pescado Liger. Liger was in good shape, so he avoided the pescado, (76nj05)and guess what body part Samurai came crashing down on? Liger got his dive in, and since it was a big match he pulled out the tope atomico (somersault headbutt, in this case off the top to the floor).(76nj06) Liger delivered an explosive suichoku rakka shiki brainbuster, but Samurai avoided his diving headbutt. I didn't like Samurai's selling, or total lack thereof, but Liger cut him off with his shouda, which Samurai took another wicked bump on, (76nj07) for a nice near fall.

Liger was throwing bombs until Samurai held onto the top rope to avoid the finisher of their 4/30/92 classic, the nadare shiki no Frankensteiner.(76nj08) Samurai came back with a swinging DDT. He tried to overpush the pace now, using his nadare shiki no reverse DDT and trying to go right to another spot like his last move was something pedestrian, so Liger just wouldn't get up for him until the move had been sold long enough. Samurai then did one suichoku rakka shiki reverse DDT (76nj09) for a near fall, but the second, which was to be the finish, was blown. Liger just sold it like the reason it was blown was that he was too limp for Samurai to do the move to him. Samurai threw in a Samurai bomb before redoing the finish to take the J Crown for the 1st time (4th overall champion). This was Samurai's second run with the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title (the best belt in the J Crown), coming a little more than five years to the day he had won it for the first time, also by defeating Liger.

As always, the reason Samurai's singles matches with Liger are so much better than the rest of his singles matches (ok, the Super Junior final vs. Koji was better, but I don't think I need to explain why you could safely say it was intended to be so) is that Liger carries him, instilling the proper pacing, timing, selling, and so on. Some would say that the Samurai vs. Takaiwa match that aired three weeks later was better. I'd say it was more heated, but you are kidding yourself if you think their match, since neither can carry and all they can do together is roll out meaningless spots back and forth, would be better in unedited form. 19:40 (9:29 aired). ****1/4

J Crown: El Samurai vs. Shinjiro Otani

8/10/97 Nagoya Dome

From World Pro Wrestling 9/13/97 THE FOUR HEAVEN IN NAGOYA DOME

This was a very good, albeit somewhat bizarre match. Really, just about every match in Otani's run with the J Crown was pretty weird though. Early on, Otani played heel and they put the Liger & Samurai vs. Kanemoto & Otani rivalry over big. Later on, the titles became the most important thing to Otani, who had never captured the IWGP Junior Title before, and he switched to his old role as the young babyface.(810nj07) You can be one or the other or even a tweener, but just can't go from one to the other in the same freaking match without turning. Otani didn't turn here, nor was there any logical reason for him to. It was just plain goofy.

"Samurai did very well here, but he isn't near the level Liger is at when it comes to carrying and Otani, who tried to call/carry this, didn't do the job all that well. I think the match had a little problem with pacing, but that was mainly due to it somewhat lacking direction for certain portions. Otani is truly the most exciting junior to watch when he's on. His move set is so perfectly diverse that he could make any match exciting. Otani is the better of the two here, and the match itself was very good, although not on the level of either workers best," wrote Hadi.

Otani did his usual heel stuff early and Samurai worked stiffer than normal so it was working as far as putting the hatred over went. Otani popped up from two reverse neckbreakers in a row before selling the third, which was beyond stupid. Samurai gave Otani a taste of his own medicine with the face scrapes,(810nj01) but Otani shook his finger "no" and came back with some of his own. Samurai avoided the swandive missile kick and came back with La Magistral, ala Liger.

Samurai's tope suidida hit Otani so high he couldn't catch Samurai, and Samurai hit his head on the security rail. After powerbombing Samurai on the floor, Otani made the sign of the belt around his waist, but got no pop. Otani tried to Dragon suplex Samurai off the apron, but settled for a released German on the apron that didn't work well.(810nj04)

This wasn't getting a hell of a lot of heat, but then Otani fired up(810nj05) and switched to the young babyface role and got a hot near fall that he cried about not getting the three count on.(810nj06) The switch didn't make any sense given the early portion, and was just as puzzling given that Samurai was coming back after one near fall and throwing bombs.(810nj08) Who were we supposed to root for while Samurai was using this big spots?

Otani came back and got a near fall with his swandive wheel kick. Samurai slapped Otani off the top twice, but Otani kept coming back for more and was able to execute the nadare shiki no Frankensteiner. Otani pulled out his swandive DDT,(810nj10) which was the move he won the legendary WCW Cruiserweight title with, but he waved his hand no about going for the pin and did his Dragon suplex finisher to become the 5th J Crown champion. Otani went nuts, falling over the top rope to the floor in joy and he got a big babyface pop for finally capturing the titles. The wrestling was very good and Otani's facials were excellent, but the dual personality was goofy even though it worked this time. My guess is the reason it worked was that Otani said something to the effect that he would never challenge for the titles again if he lost this match, which wasn't something the fans would want regardless of whether he was a face or a heel. It was probably a bad thing that it worked here because Otani started changing from heel to face during every single title defense. 18:15 (11:25 aired). ***3/4

Special Thanks to Michael Smith, Miko Kubota, Sam Panico, & Hadi Motiee