Into the Indies 02.02.10: HUSTLE’s Grand Sendoff

Banner Courtesy of John Meehan

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Into the Indies, the column that comes to you this week with the heaviest heart imaginable.

A little over two months ago, I wrote a column in which I mentioned the demise of HUSTLE, the Japanese promotion which billed itself as “Fighting Opera” and was home to more insane, over the top characters than WWE and Warner Brothers’ Looney Tunes combined. In that column, I mentioned that, at a later date, I would have a more fitting sendoff for the promotion, which, after roughly seven years of continuous operation, was no longer turning a profit and had run out of reserve cash, necessitating a shutdown. Holidays and my desire to provide somewhat timely reviews of certain shows that took place during December 2009 and January 2010 intervened, however, delaying our final look at HUSTLE until today.

This isn’t the place to go if you’re looking for a detailed history of HUSTLE. I provided a bit of that when I took my first look at the promotion. This is a column for taking a look at some great moments from HUSTLations past, capped off with a look at a few matches from the dying days of of the promotion, including three of the key bouts from the company’s final show, which took place on October 10, 2009.

As most if not all you know, HUSTLE didn’t initially set out to be the cartoon-ish company that it ultimately evolved into. The original idea was for it to be a serious wrestling promotion, including guys like Bill Goldberg, Cactus Jack, and Kevin Nash in the main events. Of course, they made a change, and they made that change rather quickly. The promotion became very charming almost overnight, and the charm is perhaps highlighted no better than by this video package which recaps the first few years of HUSTLE:

Those early years gave us some wackiness, but it seemed that, the longer the promotion continued on, the wackier that it got. Case in pont? How about a wrestler whose entire gimmick was that he constantly said the letter “C” during his matches to the delight of the crowd . . . and how about a second wrestler adopting the exact same gimmick when the first one leaves? Monster C was the original, and, in the early days, he was on hand to give some lessons to his replacement, Punch the C:

And almost everybody who has heard of HUSTLE have heard about Razor Ramon Hard Gay (or HG for short), the professional comedian turned professional wrestler whose homoerotic, pelvis thrusting antics made him a crowd favorite and, for a brief time, the ace of the promotion. There are several promotions that could come up with a character not unlike Razor Ramon HG, but only HUSTLE would have the idea to eventually turn him in to a big, gay heel monster. Behold, the sheer brutality that was Monster HG:

Razor Ramon HG to Monster HG was not the only transformation in HUSTLE history, though. Who could forget sumo grand master Akebono being repackaged as a giant baby born of the Great Muta’s mist being sprayed into a woman’s crotch? (Also know as Chris Lansdell’s favorite angle of all time.)

And, finally on the transformation front, we’ve got one left that was probably among the most amazing transformations of them all. In the early and mid 1990’s, Toshiaki Kawada was the badass to end all badasses. He wrestled a convincing, realistic style in which he near-literally pounded opponent’s heads in and was willing to take stiff shots as well has he gave them. Though he eventually left the Japanese big leagues and landed in HUSTLE, initially he retained that intimidating, ruthless edge that initially made him a star. Nobody really thought that he would go down the road of other members of the roster and add a comedic twist to his character. And then, one day, Kawada went from the brutal practitioner of King’s Road to . . . well . . . to a glitzy lounge singer. He even put his missing front teeth back into his mouth, which some All Japan loyalists consider to be the greatest heresy in the history of mankind.

Yet, despite all of the zany antics contained in the videos above, at the end of the day, HUSTLE was still a professional wrestling promotion, and there were still many interesting matches which took place under the company’s banner. Now we move on to take a look at some of the final in-ring confrontations of HUSTLE, the first one featuring the aforementioned lounge singer, Toshiaki Kawada.

Match Numero Uno: Toshiaki Kawada vs. The Great Sasuke

This match comes to us from HUSTLE’s May 4, 2009 show, and it’s a bit of an oddity in that Sasuke had really not been a regular part of the promotion’s roster in the weeks and months leading up to the card. He had made guest appearances before, but he certainly could not be considered a loyal HUSTLEr. However, just a few weeks prior to the show, he was involved in an incident which gave him significant tabloid publicity that the promotion decided to cash in on. Sasuke, who in addition to being a pro wrestler also holds a political position similar to that of a state legislator in the U.S., was on a train wearing his trademark mask, which he has on at virtually all times he could be recognized in public. Another passenger on the train began taking pictures of him with a cell phone camera, and, for whatever reason, this angered the grappler. Sasuke attacked the man, hitting him several times and resulting in an arrest. The pre-match video package hyping up the instant battle with Kawada even features a hilarious cartoon reenactment of the incident, just in case there was any question in your mind as to whether Sasuke’s being booked had anything to do with his legal issue.

Sasuke goes after Kawada with dropkicks to the knees as soon as the bell rings as well as a handspring back elbow. Kawada rolls out to the apron as a result of these moves, after which Sasuke takes an insane bump, climbing to the top rope and basically doing a cartwheel off of it, catching Kawada with an elbow on the way down as he continues to lay on the apron. The Michinoku Pro founder follows that up with an Asai moonsault, but he quickly runs into Monster K’s boot when he charges him up against the guardrail. Both men head back towards the ring, where Sasuke climbs to the rope. Kawada, standing on the apron, reaches up and lariats him off. The Japanese assemblyman is then forced to eat some big chops from the AJPW legend, though Sasuke does manage to reel off a couple in response. Kawada plants his boot into Sasuke’s chest a few times, which he follows up with a big running Yakuza kick in the corner. A vertical suplex and a pair of kicks to the back are next from the former Triple Crown holder, and Sasuke goes down hard. Kawada drops his knee across the back of his masked opponent’s head and hits him with two more big boots, though Sasuke manages to kick out of the subsequent pin attempt at two. Kawada stays on his man with knee thrusts, but Sasuke catches him with a kick that apparently knocks the wind out of the larger man. Sasuke attempts to follow up with a springboard back elbow, but it completely misses. Kawada attempts another suplex at this point, but Sasuke actually manages to reverse it and hit one of his own before heading to the top rope. His patented senton atomico misses, as Kawada rolls out of the way at the last second. There’s a Kawada lariat, but, surprisingly, it only gets two. A powerbomb from Kawada hits seconds later and gets the three count for the legend.

Match Thoughts: I was attracted to this match because of the odd pairing of competitors, even though I knew that it probably wouldn’t be an all-time classic. After all, Sasuke was not a regular member of the HUSTLE roster at the time while Kawada was, Kawada was a star in a significantly larger promotion than Sasuke had ever been, and Kawada is a heavyweight while Sasuke is usually considered a junior heavyweight. All of those factors lead me to believe that we weren’t going to get all THAT competitive of a bout, but, still, the unique combination of wrestlers that probably wouldn’t even have been possible fifteen years ago when they were in their primes is what drew me to the bout. Given those limitations which I knew the match would have, this still managed to be an entertaining little midcard bout. Sasuke did a fine job of making it look like he might be able to score an upset victory over Kawada in the first two to three minutes of the contest and, perhaps even more importantly, fired back throughout the match in a way that did not steal Kawada’s thunder but also left fans wondering if the masked man had one more comeback left in him before Monster K ultimately put the little guy away. A fun match to watch more because of the names involved than the work that they actually did. **

Shiro Koshinaka, Jushin Liger, & Yuji Nagata vs. Tajiri, Toshiaki Kawada, & Genichiro Tenryu

This is an interesting match in that it’s almost out of HUSTLE’s regular continuity. During the summer and fall of 2009, the company was in the middle of a massive overhaul of its most prominent storyline, which we will discuss in more detail later on. However, the entire promotion took a break from that new angle on August 27, 2009, when a show was hosted to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of Shiro Koshinaka becoming a professional wrestler. Koshinaka, who spent the majority of his career as a junior heavyweight wrestler in the glory days of New Japan’s junior division, joined the HUSTLE roster in 2008 and almost immediately became a key player in the promotion due to his wacky charisma and his trademark hip smash attack. For his thirtieth anniversary match, HUSTLE was able to obtain the services of two members of the NJPW roster, namely Jushin “Thunder” Liger and Yuji Nagata, thereby allowing Koshi’ to work alongside two men from the promotion that gave him his most exposure in the business.

Tenryu decides to start the match for his team, and the crowd won’t accept anybody but Koshinaka starting for his trio. He unloads two big hip attacks on the WAR founder and tags out to Liger, who reels off two huge Shotei. Tenryu obviously can’t continue after that, so he brings in Kawada. Nagata tags in as well, and a frenzy of chops and leg kicks are exchanged between the two men before Nagata hits the ropes. He runs into a big boot and gets a roundhouse kick to the head before Tajiri makes his presence felt. He tries to mist Nagata immediately, but Yuji dodges. He doesn’t dodge Tajiri’s back elbow and kick to the back, though, which the Buzzsaw uses to set up an armbar. Tajiri slams Nagata’s elbow down over his shoulder several times, but eventually the former amateur wrestler turns the tables and does the exact same thing. Eventually Kawada runs into the ring to break up Yuji’s armbar, though he doesn’t get physically involved. Koshinaka gets involved again and uses his hip on Tajiri before applying a chinlock for a bit. Liger returns to the ring, and he and Koshinaka engage in a fun sequence in which Shiro tries to show him just how to hit a hip attack. Nagata thinks it’s fun, so Koshinaka attempts to educate him as well.

Liger remains in the ring with Tajiri, and he’s caught with a drop toe hold and spinning heel kick by the ECW alumnus. Tajiri does his own, heelish version of the hip attack after that before tagging Kawada and knocking Liger out of the ring. Monster K takes Liger to the floor and sends him into the guardrail before tossing him out amidst the fans. The former Triple Crown holder brings the masked man back into the ring for a two count and some boots, after which Thunder fires back with some chops. Kawada quashes that fairly quickly and tags out to Tenryu, who gives Thunder his own version of the shotei and drops a knee and a rolling senton for a nearfall. Tajiri returns to the match and hits the legendary junior heavyweight with a moonsault press for two, followed by a standing moonsault to the same result. The Buzzsaw goes to a chinlock for a few seconds before handing things off to Tenryu.

A double chicken wing is applied by the veteran, but Nagata breaks it up before Liger can tap out. He may have been better served by tapping, though, because Kawada tags in at this point and drops a huge knee on Jushin before running over to the babyface corner for no good reason and kicking Koshinaka straight in the face. Liger gets isolated in the bad guys’ corner for a bit of triple teaming after that, and here comes Tajiri. Yoshihiro runs into Liger’s boot in the corner and eats a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, which he does a great job selling. That gives us a hot tag to Nagata, who boots and forearms the hell out of all three of his opponents before giving Tajiri an overhead belly-to-belly for two. He goes for his killer armbar, but Kawada saves. Tenryu runs in to do battle with Yuji at this point, and it’s all kicky kicky, choppy choppy for a bit. Nagata breaks the monotony with a sambo-style throw and goes back to his armbar one more time, but Kawada saves again with another big kick. Nagata and Kawada spill out to the floor at this point, and Tenryu decides that he’s going to get a bit crazy with an OLD MAN OUTTA CONTROL PLANCHA off of the ring apron and down on to both men. Liger and Tajiri follow with more athletic dives of their own, which, of course, leaves Koshinaka all alone in the ring. There’s only one place that this can go, and it goes there rather quickly, as Shiro flings himself off of the apron with reckless abandon and hits a flying hip attack on Tajiri.

Tenryu is then forced to square off with all three members of Team NJPW in the ring, with Liger giving him a shotei in the corner, Nagata giving him a running Yakuza kick, and then the two men teaming up to whip Tenryu into a hip attack by Koshinaka. Tenryu then no-sells two flying hip attacks from the top rope by Shiro, but number three knocks him down for a nearfall. Kawada is in to take care of Koshinaka after that, hitting many, many kicks and a brainbuster before looking for the stretch plum. He cannot get it locked on, though, as everybody else in the match runs in. They dispatch one another, leaving Kawada and Koshinaka in the ring together again. Kawada hits many short-arm chops, after which Tenryu does the same. Tenryu and Kawada team up for a double leaping kick, which Koshi’ no sells. He also kicks out of a Kawada lariat and shrugs off a Tajiri handspring elbow. Then things break down into a six-man brawl, with Nagata applying his armbar on Tenryu. For those not aware, he has a tendency to slip into a catatonic state while applying the hold, and he does that here, with his eyes rolling back into his head and the whole nine yards. Tajiri decides that this would be the perfect chance to mist him, but Nagata is so deep into his trance that THE MIST HAS NO EFFECT. Nagata does let go of the hold, but it’s only to bash Tajiri in the face, allowing Koshinaka to hit a sweet delayed powerbomb to get the three-count and win his big anniversary match.

Match Thoughts: Though not a bout that I (or probably anybody else) would give a full five stars, it was still awesome to watch just because it was so ridiculously fun. The wrestlers knew that the fans were in the building to give Koshinaka the best reaction of his career, and they did everything possible to help him get to that point. There were certainly some older wrestlers in the match who are well past their primes, but the six man tag team format and the inclusion of guys like Tajiri, Nagata, and Liger, all of whom can still go, made this into one of the most fast-paced matches that you’ll ever see featuring four different professional wrestlers who are over the age of forty. The pace was fun, everybody was hitting all of their biggest moves, and watching Koshinaka getting treated like a major star before getting a massive win was a legitimate feel-good moment. This is the perfect match to watch if you’re ever feeling cynical about professional wrestling. ***1/2

Match Numero Tres: KG & Ultimo Dragon vs. Super Crazy & Hajime Ohara

This is the first televised match coming off of what wound up being HUSTLE’s last show, which was entitled HUSLTE Jihad and took place on October 10, 2009. It’s an interesting match to watch because Ohara is a product of Ulitmo Dragon’s gym in Mexico, and this bout was also taking place during a several month period in which Crazy and Ultimo were constantly meeting up on various indy wrestling cards and almost universally stealing the show. I have yet to figure out how KG, a young lady with a legitimate karate background who gained her most pro wrestling exposure in HUSTLE, is supposed to fit in here.

KG starts the match off with Ohara, and the male wrestler attempts to throw several kicks in the early going of the match but connects with none of them. The Karate Girl is a bit more successful, as she throws kicks and makes contact, even if they are largely blocked. Eventually Ohara sees an opening and takes his opponent down with a double leg. He tries some strikes from a semi-mount, but KG catches him and applies a triangle choke. Hajime makes the ropes, but he’s weakened and left open for several kicks from the woman. He gives her a back elbow when she attempts to run the ropes, though, and that gets some American-style heel heat from the crowd. A few more strikes lead to a tag to Super Crazy, who stomps a mud hole in the young lady in the corner and attempts to pick her up for a slam. KG rolls through and gives her man an armdrag followed by a headscissors before tagging in Ultimo. The Dragon gets a pretty good pop for entering the ring, and he immediately takes Crazy down with a rana and then again with a monkey flip. Monkey flip number two connects as well, at which point the former ECW wrestler decides that he needs to tag in Ohara. Ultimo offers a handshake but kicks Ohara in the gut before running into him with several shoulderblocks, the third of which takes the younger wrestler down. Ohara counters with a back elbow, but Dragon catches him in a twisting headscissors and then takes him down again with a back heel kick. That sets up a tag to KG, who lands four rapid kicks to her opponents head before hitting the ropes and running straight into a backbreaker. She should really stop coming off the ropes. The man who used to be REY kicks the young lady hard across the back and then stands on her head before bringing Crazy back into the match. The Insane Luchadore repeatedly taunts Dragon, drawing him into the ring so that he and Ohara can double team KG behind the referee’s back. Crazy then gives KG a backbreaker of his own but rolls off of a pin attempt at one.

KG next finds herself placed into a fireman’s carry and given a version of the snake eyes, which is a prelude to Ohara reentering the ring and bouncing KG’s head off of the mat several times. Ohara gives her a double palm thrust to the chest, and he manages to get a two count off of the move. A brutal kick to the back gets the same result. Now Ohara places KG in the corner and attempts to run in, but she dropkicks him and gets a floatover DDT . . . shades of the Rock. That sets up the hot tag to the Drag, and he plants Ohara with another dropkick. Crazy runs in at this point and tries to hold Ultimo for some Ohara offense, but UD slips free and weakens both of his opponents with some flying kicks. He then directs KG back into the ring and sets the bad guys up for a battering ram. Ohara and Crazy shove their opponents off, but KG and Ultimo do-se-do at center ring to avoid colliding and then knock their adversaries out of the ring. With the heels on the floor, the faces do-se-do again, this time leading to Ultimo giving Crazy a SWEET suicide dive and KG hitting Ohara with a diving hip attack off of the ring apron.

Once the heels return to the ring, Ohara manages to get a bit of an advantage against Dragon, climbing to the top rope for a diving god-knows-what. It’s a god-knows-what because Ultimo manages to dropkick Hajime as he is in mid-air, thwarting the move. Crazy saves on the subsequent pin attempt, but KG dispatches him. That allows Dragon to kick Ohara in the gut and land the Asai DDT for the victory.

Match Thoughts: This bout was a pleasant surprise. I’ve looked at KG matches in the past, and she has been fighting men in virtually all of them. Those matches were almost universally treated as novelties just because of the intergender factor. This match, however, broke the mold. KG was still being portrayed as the weak link of her team because of her gender, but she was no longer being cast as the overmatched competitor who could occasionally sneak in some fluke offense and maybe score a win off of a sneak rollup. She was portrayed as somebody who was legitimately competing with the men even though they could manage to cut her off by overcoming her strikes and her speed with their strength. She was no longer playing the happy-go-lucky girly girl who just happened to have a marital arts background. Instead, she was doing many more spots and selling things a lot more like she was a traditional joshi wrestler. It was a vast improvement in her performance, and I am now more interested in seeing her wrestle when earlier I could have taken her or left her. And, oh yeah, Ultimo Dragon and Super Crazy were in the match as well. I’ve already established that they can have great matches with one another in the twenty-first century, and this was no exception. A very fun way to kick off the final HUSTLE show of all time. ***

Match Numero Dos: RG & The C vs. Yoji Anjo & Golden Cup 1

This match is also from HUSTLE Jihad, and it features two of the biggest comedy characters from the final days of the promotion going up against a team that seems designed to be as unspectacular as possible so as not to overshadow their wacky opponents. RG, short for “Real Gay,” is a comedian turned wrestler and a real-life friend of the man who plays Razor Ramon Hard Gay. The C, as seen in the video in the opening section of this column, is some sort of nightmarish Sesame Street character. The original Monster C was Steve Corino and has replacement Punch the C was Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Kentaro Shiga. I have no clue who is under the hood for this match, though it does not appear to be either Corino or Shiga. On the other side of the ring is Yoji Anjo, a wrestler from the old shoot-style UWF who has also done time in NJPW and WAR. His partner is “Golden Cup 1,” a guy wearing a mask that looks like it was ripped off of one of the Machines. Again, I don’t know who is under the hood, but I am aware that the Golden Cup name comes from a stable that Anjo, Yoshihiro Takayama, and Kenichi Yamamoto.

The C and Golden Cup start the match, which begins with C doing his traditional poses for the crowd. Before any actual offense can take place, C tags RG, who threatens to walk out of the match when the crowd starts a “Hard Gay” chant. Eventually they switch over to “RG” and he comes back . . . only for the process to then repeat itself once more. RG tries to pose at this point but is met with boos, so he walks out once more. This time, Anjo and the Cup start to double team C, but that is short-lived, as RG reenters the ring and hits them both with flying body attacks. He goes to the well too many times, however, as Goldie sidesteps his last attempt, allowing Anjo to take over on the comedian with some chops. Yoji, in a sick spot, grabs RG by his legs, stands him up on his head and drags him across the mat, which as sold as though it gave him canvas burn on his noggin. Cup tags back in at this point, chopping away at RG and applying an abdominal stretch. With the referee inadvertently distracted by the C, Anjo sneaks in and gives his opponent a noogie while Cup continues with the stretch. Eventually C runs in and breaks up the hold, allowing RG to grab the Cup’s hand and do a ropewalk a la Jinsei Shinzaki. Eventually, RG “slips” and crotches himself. The bad guys go back to work, trading off on hitting atomic drops that RG takes ridiculous bumps for. After that, Cup goes for a scoop slam, but RG lands one punch and gets the hot tag.

The C lands numerous leg kicks on the Cup, the crowd yelling “C” as each one connects. Cup is sent into the corner by his opponent for a series of punches which set up a chinlock variant in which C is bending his opponent into the shape of his favorite letter. The C transitions into a dragon sleeper (dragon c-per?) but RG is begging for the tag. He gets it and snap mares Cup, then asking the C to climb the ropes. However, by the time that C gets to the top, RG is already being beaten senseless by Cup. The good guys try again, but the result is the same. Could C not just hit something like a missile dropkick from the top? On the third attempt at the same spot, Cup manages to hit an atomic drop on RG before grabbing the C and bealing him off of the top. Golden Cup then climbs the ropes himself for a frog splash. With the C down, both Cup and Anjo go after RG, with Yoji pantsing him and literally kicking his ass. RG avoids a corner attack by Cup and dispatches Anjo with a body attack, however, then landing a spinning heel kick and a huricanrana on Cup. That ‘rana is enough to give the good guys the victory . . . and enough to give the Golden Cup a lengthy view of RG’s exposed backside.

Match Thoughts: Eh. I’ve got no problem with comedy matches. I generally haven’t had much of a problem with RG or the C when I’ve seen the characters in the past. However, in the past, they’ve done a better job of combining schtick with some actual wrestling, while this match was pretty much all schtick all the time. I wouldn’t mind that nearly as much if not for the fact that there were several spots which were just repeated again and again and again. This could have been improved significantly by either replacing some of the repetition with unique spots or cutting the match time in half, but, as it was, I’m going to have to give this one a DUD.

King RIKI, Riki Choshu, Genichiro Tenryu, Yoshihiro Takayama, & Wataru Sakata vs. Magnum TOKYO, Toshiaki Kawada, Shiro Koshinaka, Rene Dupree, & Akira Shoji in a elimination match

This is YOUR HUSTLE Jihad main event . . . the final main event that HUSTLE will ever see.

For the majority of the company’s history, the main angle involved Generalissimo Nobuhiko Takada leading his bizarre Monster Army in a quest to destroy HUSTLE and all of professional wrestling. After a several year war, HUSTLE finally won in July of 2009 when their new ace, Magnum TOKYO defeated the Esperanza, the cyborg-wrestler alter ego of Takada. After that match, the Generalissimo conceded defeat and stated that he was going to unify his Army with the rest of the company and work together to put on the best professional wrestling product possible. However, immediately after Takada made this announcement, he was confronted by King RIKI, a new character who immediately made an impact by murdering the Generalissimo with a laser. (Seriously.) The HUSLTE and Monster Armies were largely unified into one new home unit and getting set to do battle with a new heel unit comprised of men who were brought in by RIKI and a few defectors each from the HUSTLE and Monster units. The first big confrontation between the two sides was meant to take place in this five-on-five elimination match, though, ironically, it would also wind up being the last time that the two factions would do battle with one another.

Teryu and Shoji begin the match, with Shoji getting an early advantage and stomping a mudhole in the old man in the corner. After that, there’s an extended chop trading sequence, which Genichiro turns into some jabs and an axe bomber. Tenryu’s punches here are BRILLIANT, perhaps some of the best I’ve seen in wrestling. Shoji responds with some quick fists of his own and a kneelift to the gut, after which he goes back to putting the boots to the former WAR boss. Anjo gets a two count off of some of his stomps and unloads with a big kick to Tenryu’s back when he has the nerve to sit up. Eventually Tenryu returns to a vertical base, but he’s taken down quickly with a high velocity hiptoss and covered for another nearfall. Anjo hits the same move for another two count and follows it up with a series of knees to the gut and a slam before going to the top rope. A swandive headbutt connects for a close two count, but Anjo begins having difficulties with his back after his third go at the high impact hiptoss. That gives Genichiro an opening to hit him with a kappo kick in the corner and a pair of ezuguiri, followed by a lariat. Shoji is out of the ensuing pin attempt at two, but Tenryu puts him right back down again with a brainbuster. A leaping kick to the face connects for the old man as well, as does a second brainbuster. That’s enough to send Shoji to the showers and give Team RIKI the first elimination of the evening.

Out next to face Tenryu is Rene Dupree, no longer going by his gimmick name of Renee Bonaparte in the new HUSTLE. Tenryu attacks him as he tries to come in between the ring ropes and gives him the Randy Orton hangman’s DDT before introducing him to the turnbuckle pads and some of those great punches. Genichiro Irish whips his man off the ropes and looks for a bodyslam, but Dupree is able to turn it into a small package. Then, in a sentence that I never thought I would type, RENE DUPREE PINS GENICHIRO TENRYU. Amazing.

Team RIKI sends Wataru Sakata to the ring at this point, playing the role of the one regular HUSTLEr to jump ship and join the RIKI Army. Sakata and Dupree chop each other and Renee hits a flying shoulderblock and a discus punch before taking Wataru to the corner for some right hands. The former La Resistance member climbs to the top rope after a slam, but Sakata cuts him off with a leaping kick that knocks Rene down face-first into the turnbuckle. Sataka, seeing a big opening, charges at Dupree as he stands on the apron and blasts him with a Yakuza kick that knocks him down to the arena floor and into the guardrail. The collision with the rail opened up a vein in Dupree’s forehead, and he writhes on the floor for a bit while losing blood. He attempts to reenter the ring, and Sakata is briefly successful in keeping him on the apron with some punches, but Dupree eventually lands a right of his own and gets into the squared circle. The French Canadian doesn’t stay on top for long, though, as Sakata catches him with a back body drop and stuffs him into the mat with a piledriver. Natto Man stays on his opponent by applying a chinlock, though he eventually releases the hold voluntarily and switches to a series of kicks. Sakata continues with relatively nondescript offense for a bit before removing the turnbuckle pad from one of the bolts. Why he would do that when he is in control of the match I do not know.

He tosses Dupree into the exposed bolt right in front of the referee, not drawing a disqualification. Sakata follows that up with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex and climbs the ropes, though he gives up on that when he sees that Dupree has begun to regain a vertical base. Sakata knocks his man back down and goes up to the top, only to have Rene cut him off with a dropkick. Rene gets up to the second rope, where the two men trade punches until Sakata uses the exposed turnbuckle to his advantage, slamming the second generation star’s head into it several times. This causes Dupree to do a wacky, corckscrew-esque bump off of the ropes and down to the mat. Sakata follows him off with a double stomp the Quebecer’s gut, but, instead of selling it like death, Dupree immediately school boys Wataru and gets a flash two count. The same result comes when he goes for an inside cradle. Dupree gets in some high-impact offense as well, connecting with a sit-out spinebuster and attempting a German suplex. Sakata lands on his feet out of that move, then going to the abdominal stretch and then to a rear naked choke. Dupree is quickly out cold, and Sakata gets the fall.

However, before he can even catch his breath, Sakata is ambushed by SHIRO KOSHINAKA~! Koshi’ throws the young punk out of the ring and hits him with a flying hip attack off of the apron. A second version of the same move also connects, and Wataru comes dangerously close to being counted out. When he gets back into the ring, Koshinaka stays on him with some hip attacks and slaps on a chinlock for good measure. Sakata tries to reach up and goe for the eyes while he is in the hold, so Koshinaka headbutts him a couple of times. This leads into a chop exchange sequence, but Koshi’ brings that to a quick end with more headbutting. Sakata answers with leg kicks and applies a half Boston crab, but Koshinaka quickly makes it to the ropes. Shiro no-sells some more kicks from his younger opponent, and he’s even out at one when Sakata hits a backdrop suplex. A leg lariat also only gets one for Wataru, as Koshinaka appears to be OLD MANNING UP. He goes for another hip attack, but Sakata blocks it and schoolboys him, resulting in a count of two. Sakata throws some kicks to the chest, but, on the third in the series, Koshinaka turns the other way, causing Sakata to kick his legendary hip. Sakata is the one that winds up selling that. The two wrestlers exchange one brainbuster each after that spot and then fight over who will land the third in the series, with Koshinaka winning. There’s another hip attack, there’s a cradle, and there’s a victory for Shiro.

Yoshihiro Takayama is out next as we are down to three men on each team. Koshinaka gets in a hip attack on Takayama as he attempts to enter the ring, and the two men brawl on the entrance ramp for a bit before taking it into the ring. Once there, Takayama immediately hits a big boot and a kick to the chest. A chop battle ensues, culminating with a headbutt and a running Yakuza kick from Takayama. He misses a legdrop, however, allowing Koshinaka to go up top for a double stomp to the gut. The hip attacks are unleashed after that, and Shio goes to the top for a flying hip attack. He tries the same thing from another turnbuckle, and it connects as well. Attempt number three is also successful, and so his number four . . . though none of them keep Takayama off of his feet for too long. Eventually number five does fell the heavyweight giant, getting Koshi a two count. The wrestlers do battle over who will hit a German suplex, and Takayama is your winner. That gets him the fall and eliminates Koshinaka.

TOSHIAKI KAWADA is out. He looks for a takedown but fails, though ultimately he succeeds in maneuvering his man down to the canvas with a headscissors. The two wrestlers decide almost immediately that they’re tired of this mat wrestling and go to a kick exchange, with Kawada prevailing when he’s the first to go to his opponent’s head. Takayama gets a brutal one to the back as well, but Kawada is no worse for wear and chops away. Takayama answers with the running Yakuza kick, which causes Monster K to roll out of the ring and on to the entrance ramp. It is there that Takayama charges at Kawada, though he winds up running into a big boot and eating a trifecta of knees. Kawada charges Takayama at this piont, but he runs into a knee that knocks him off of the entrance ramp and down to the arena floor. Like Sakata before him, Kawada comes dangerously close to being counted out. When he gets back into the ring, he exchanges forearms with Takayama before getting kneed in the corner. Takayama has the advantage and connects with a jumping knee strike in the corner and a butterfly suplex, earning a nearfall. A backdrop suplex gets another nearfall for Takayama, but Kawada avoids the German thanks to a leaping kick. He then lands his own running Yakzua kick in the corner and a snap suplex without much snap. The stretch plum is applied, but Takayama’s freakishly long legs allow him to force a rope break. Kawada sets up for a tiger driver at this point, but Takayama turns it into a back body drop, only to be kicked in the head again for his troubles. Yoshihiro responds with a big running knee, and Kawada is once again forced out to the floor. Takayama kicks him off of the apron when he tries to reenter the ring, and then Yoshihiro goes to the floor himself. He whips Kawada into a guardrail, after which the two men wind up brawling among the audience members . . . until both are counted out of the ring.

Magnum TOKYO is the last man out for the HUSTLE Union crew, and this means that he’ll have to go through both Riki Choshu and King RIKI if he wants to bring home the victory for his team. It’s the King who comes out first, but, instead of wrestling, he cuts a brief promo and sends Choshu out to the ring. Choshu immediately takes TOKYO down with a huge lariat and puts the boots to him as King RIKI looks on. Magnum is able to fire back with a series of kicks culminating in an enzuguiri, after which he heads to the top. Choshu responds by superplexing him off and hitting another lariat, which gets him a two count. Lariat number three connects, and then Choshu goes into the Scorpion deathlock. TOKYO fights it for all he is worth, but it is locked in for too long, and, eventually, the ace of HUSTLE has no option but to tap.

Match Thoughts: This is the second time that I’ve reviewed this style of HUSTLE elimination match, and they’ve always had their fun moments. However, they’re a bit odd to do a conventional review of, as you can’t really look at them as one big match but you also can’t really look at them as a series of five to six individual singles matches. What you almost have to do is throw out any preconceptions that you might have about what a professional wrestling match is supposed to be a whole and just enjoy the isolated sequences of awesome grappling goodness when they pop up. Those moments were plentiful here, including the clash of the stiff, stuff titans between Takayama and Kawada, Tenryu reeling off his awesome worked punches, and Rene Dupree showing more promise in eight minutes than he showed in five years on WWE television. This was interesting to watch as a curiosity given that it’s a relatively rare type of match and given that it was the last about that HUSTLE will ever produce, but it’s not a must-see if you’re attempting to view the best of puroresu.

Overall

Well, that’s it. HUSTLE is gone, and it’s leaving a void in the Japanese professional wrestling scene that will never exactly be filled. Some people will argue that, if you want wacky comedy integrated into your puro, you can still hunt down some DDT or even a few key Big Japan shows. However, HUSTLE had one key element that made a lot of its insane comedy different and in some ways better than similar that similar gags that are seen in smaller companies. What is that key element? The ability and willingness to spend obscene amounts of money. It’s one thing to see an over the top gimmick in which a wrestler is portrayed as, for example, a giant carnivorous plant when that gimmick is being done by a DDT trainee who has about two years worth of experience. It adds a whole different layer of humor, though, when the same gimmick is given to a veteran wrestler who has an established personality elsewhere and is getting an opportunity to do something different. Unfortunately, this willingness to unload large amounts of money on guys like Kawada, Tenryu, Choshu, Goldberg, Ogawa, and many more over the years is probably a large part of what killed HUSTLE dead. It was an entertaining run while it lasted, though, and hopefully HUSTLE footage will continue to surface through the usual avenues even though new product is no longer being produced.

In a bit of an epilogue, it has been announced that several of the people involved with HUSTLE, including Tajiri and KG, will be forming a new promotion named SMASH which will run separate professional wrestling shows, MMA shows, and even K-1-esque kickboxing shows. The first card of the new promotion is scheduled to run on March 26 of this year, and perhaps we will be able to take a look at it right here on Into the Indies.

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