Into the Indies 05.04.10: Here Comes the Story of the Hurricane

Banner Courtesy of John Meehan

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Into the Indies, the column that is jammin’ out to Dylan.

This column has now been a regular project of mine for the last six months, and, when I was going through my archives recently, I was amazed . . . . no, I was SHOCKED to see that we had not yet covered any shows from Osaka Pro Wrestling. Sure, we’ve taken a look at a couple of cards form its spinoff, Okinawa Pro, but they’re distinct enough entities that not covering Osaka can still not be considered anything other than a major omission on my part.

Fortunately, around the same time that I made this realization, O-Pro had one of its biggest annual shows: Hurricane. We’ll be looking at Hurricane 2010 a little bit later on in the column, but, first, a bit of a history lesson regarding all things Osaka Pro.

When we first reviewed Okinawa Pro, we gave a fair amount of background on Super Delfin, who founded both Osaka Pro and Okinawa Pro. I won’t rehash all of it here, but the short version is this: He was a junior heavyweight wrestler who competed in Mexico and the first lucha libre-style promotions in Japan, ultimately landing in and gaining most of his notoriety as one of the top babyfaces in Michinoku Pro Wrestling in the mid-1990’s. In 1998, though, he decided that his time in Michinoku had come to an end and what he really wanted to do was try his hand as a promoter in his hometown of Osaka.

The result was one of the most unique promotions in wrestling history. As is the case with the promotions in which Delfin did the majority of his wrestling, Osaka’s focus is on what we fans call “lucharesu,” a hybrid of traditional puroresu style and Mexico’s lucha libre. Peppered throughout the Osaka cards are a wide array of colorful characters with outfits that are just as brilliant as their personas and several comedy wrestlers who are typically considered the best in the world in that genre. (If you’ve seen the original Ebessan, a.k.a. Kikutaro, during his guest appearances in promotions like TNA, PWG, and ROH, Osaka Pro is the company that got him started with the character that turned him into an international indy star.)

Osaka Pro is a truly “local” promotion in that it quite literally never leaves its home city. The company has its own home base from which shows are run, known as the Osaka Minami Move On Arena. Most weeks, small cards are presented at the Move On Arena on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, with each card consisting of roughly three matches put on primarily between the ten to twelve wrestlers who form the core of the promotion’s roster. Attendance at this weekday shows can range from anywhere between thirty and ninety fans, though the Arena has room for roughly three hundred. The weekday shows all build towards two weekend shows, one held on Saturday and one held on Sunday with average attendances at each coming in at just under two hundred fans. The weekend shows feature more matches than the abbreviated weekday cards, and there is more likelihood that a wrestler from outside of Osaka Pro will pop up for a guest appearance.

In addition to these regular shows, O-Pro also has four to five “major” shows a year at larger venues, which consist of either the conclusion of major storylines or other significant events such as their annual Tag Festival tournament or their annual singles tournament, known as Tenno-Zen. Hurricane is one of those major shows, held annually in February. It is the 2010 version of Hurricane that we are taking a look at here, held on February 11 and featuring guest stars from all over the professional wrestling landscape, including Dragon Gate, ZERO1, and, in one case, even the United States. Based on the lineup, it sounds as though it’s as good of an introduction as any to Osaka Pro at their best, so let’s take a look at what the show was able to produce . . .

Match Numero Uno: Shigehiro Irie & Kazuaki Mihara vs. Perro & Takoyakida

This is an interesting mix of wrestlers for the opener. Kazuaki Mihara and Takoyakida are both current Osaka Pro regulars, with Tako being an undercard comedy wrestler for about five years now with no real progression while Mihara was trained by O-Pro and made his wrestling debut in 2008, with perhaps the most notable point of his career being a brief run under the nutty gimmick of “Johnel Sanders,” dressing like Kentucky Fried Chicken mascot Colonel Sanders in a reference to a local sports legend about the Hanshin Tigers baseball team being unable to win their league championship after throwing a statue of the Colonel in a river as part of a celebration.

Mihara’s partner here is Shigehiro Irie, a young heavyweight who also debuted in 2008 after being trained by the likes of DDT head man Sanshiro Takagi. We’ve seen him before doing battle with NOAH’s Makota Hashi in my review of NOSAWA Bom-Ba-Ye 5. Takoyokida, meanwhile, is teaming up with Perro. Perro is a wrestler by the name of Kengo Takai, who spent several years as a regular in O-Pro doing the Perro comedy gimmick, which featured him dressing and acting like a cartoon dog. He left the promotion some time ago to do more “serious” wrestling under his real name, but he started making guest appearances in Osaka again as Perro last year.

Mihara and Takoyakida start, with some mat wrestling leading to a stalemate. The men’s respective tag team partners enter the match after that, with neither wrestler going down off of a series of shoulderblocks and chops. Eventually a shoulderblock from Irie DOES take Perro down, setting up a tag to Mihara. He is immediately caught with a kneelift from the dog, though, and Takoyokida takes over with a corner clothesline a la Mike the Miz, which gets him the first nearfall of the match. Perro returns to the ring so that the masked men can take Mihara down with a double clothesline, which Perro follows with a Vader attack before wedging Mihara in between the top and middle turnbuckles and giving him a big diving headbutt to the abdomen. Irie runs in to save on the subsequent pin attempt, but he is double teamed and hit with a wacky spinning slam by Perro. Mihara avoids some corner attacks by his opponents, though, and then he teams up with Irie to sandwich Perro and take him out of the ring. That sets up a WICKED Mihara lariat on Takoyokida for a two count. A Superfly splash from Mr. Mihara picks up the win for his team seconds later.

Match Thoughts: This was too short to be remarkably good or remarkably bad, though it was nice to see Irie, who I think could develop in to a solid heavyweight if given time, having an opportunity to work with smaller men who do a lucha style, as it’s most likely something different than what he will be encountering in his day-to-day indy work. The only thing that really bothered me here was the fact that Perro felt a bit out of place. He was a man walking around in a full-body cartoon dog costume, but he was wrestling like a completely straight, serious competitor and not working the gimmick at all. If that’s what he’s going to do and if he’s just doing it in the opening match, why even bother bringing him in? *

Match Numero Dos: Shiro Koshinaka, Kikutaro, & Kyusei Ninja Ranmaru vs. Kuishinbo Kamen, Ebessan III, & Kanjuro Matsuyama

This is essentially a team of three Osaka Pro regulars taking on three Osaka Pro guest stars. Koshinaka, Kikutaro, and Ranmaru are the guest stars, with Koshi being NJPW junior heavyweight veteran who has more recently been heavily involved in HUSTLE, Kiku being the original Ebessan who was referenced in the opening of this column, and Ranmaru being a female wrestler formerly of the JD Star promotion who pops up on several of O-Pro’s major shows wrestling men. Their opponents are all regular competitors in the promotion’s comedy matches, with Ebessan being the second replacement of Kikutaro in the gimmick, Kamen being one of the longest-running wrestlers in the promotion and the original Ebessan’s opponent in a classic series of comedy matches, and Matsuyama being a wrestler who came out of Ultimo Dragon’s Toryumon system and became beloved in this promotion due in large part to his work on the good ole’ microphone.

Old rivals Kikutaro and Kamen kick it off, with Kiku doing the old “I’m going to walk out on the match unless you chant my name instead of my opponent’s name” spot. Their sequence goes nowhere, leading to Ranmaru and Kanjuro hitting the ring. She catches her opponent with an armdrag but falls victim to a butt-butt, which Koshinaka looks at disapprovingly. Gimmick infringement, you see. Kanjuro busts out a rope walk with a fan at this point, which Ebessan compliments by waving a butterfly on a stick behind him. I don’t get it either. Ebessan tags in once the top rope antics are over with, and he wants Koshinaka. Shiro obliges, and Ebessan tries comically light chops on him to no effect. The NJPW junior legend takes his man down with a shoulderblock, though EBIII’s version of the move is chronically ineffective. Ebessan is taken down and hit with a series of Koshinaka’s patented hip attacks before getting tossed out of the ring. That brings Kikutaro and Kamen back, with Kiku dropping down in a rope running sequence and getting hit with a diving headbutt as a result. Kamen follows up with a hiptoss, and then the two guys do that weird yet common Japanese comedy spot in which they do some counters followed by everybody in the match jumping up into the air . . . except for Koshinaka, who just doesn’t get it. The other wrestlers try to convince him to play along, and he finally does so and jumps on attempt number three, eliciting a big pop from the crowd. Ranmaru and Kanjuro run in at this point, and they initiate a headscissors chain, again with Koshinaka being the odd man out. Instead of joining in, he puts Kanjuro in a Boston crab, which everybody in the headscissors chain sells.

Team Shiro gets involved in a three-way battering ram spot, and then Kikutaro takes over on Kamen by catching him in a front facelock and delivering a monologue to the crowd. Every few seconds he has to stop and knee his opponent in the gut so that he can continue to deliver his lines, though ultimately he takes too long and Kamen is able to reverse the hold into a brainbuster. Ranmaru runs in to defend her team’s honor and kicks Kamen out of the ring, after which she looks for a dive. Kanjuro pulls her out under the bottom rope, but she takes over on him and holds him in place for a Kikutaro dive attempt . . . but he’s cut off and held by Kamen. Ebesssan is the next one to try a dive, but Ranmaru cuts him off and holds him in place, presumably for Koshinaka. He’s ambushed by Kanjuro and caught in a web of streamers, allowing Kanjuro to hit a tope on Kikutaro. Ebessan meets Koshinaka in the ring at this point, and Shiro no-sells his opponent’s attempts at hip attacks. The HUSTLE army general’s top rope hip attack takes Ebessan III off of his feet, and then a powerbomb puts him down for a three count.

Match Thoughts: Eh. I’m obviously not one of those guys who can’t stand comedy matches. In fact, I quite like many of them. However, this one just didn’t stand out, even among other comedy matches. It felt like it was really just a “best of” compilation of comedy spots from other matches, with the occasional added bonus of getting the usually super-serious Koshinaka’s reactions to those spots. Between the dives, the rope walking, and the power bombing, there was some good athletic stuff in between the comedy as well, but it was still nothing that separated the match from hundreds of others that I’ve seen over the years. *1/2

Match Numero Tres: Black Buffalo & Tigers Mask vs. Gamma & Super Shisa

We’ve got a bit of interpromotional warfare here between Osaka Pro and Dragon Gate. Gamma, who is currently a big part of DG’s WARRIORS stable, actually got his start in professional wrestling in O-Pro many years ago before being part of Dragon Gate. Recently, Gamma’s stablemate CIMA made some negative comments about Osaka in a blog posted, which resulted in the promotion’s two top heels – Black Buffalo and Tigers Mask – running in on a Dragon Gate show and attacking CIMA and Gamma. Gamma responded by running in and laying out some Osaka Pro wrestlers. Presumably this was all building towards a Dragon Gate versus Osaka Pro match in Osaka, and Gamma claimed that he would be bringing CIMA with him – though he later backtracked and claimed that, instead of saying “CIMA” he said the similar name “Shisa,” as in Super Shisa, another Dragon Gate wrestler. Of course, Buffalo and Tigers weren’t too happy as a result of this swerve, in part because they wouldn’t be able to get revenge on the man whose comments started this feud and in part because being promised CIMA and getting Super Shisa instead is a bit like being promised Hulk Hogan and getting Brian Knobs instead.

Tigers Mask and Super Shisa kick it off, with Tigers immediately hitting a dropkick and throwing Shisa out of the ring before challenging Gamma to get in and mix it up with him. Gamma responds by spitting in Tigers’ face and hitting Buffalo over the head with a Singaporean cane, allowing the DG duo to take Tigers Mask down with a double shoulderblock. Gamma then puts on a Super Delfin mask of all things and steals the Delfin Clutch, though it can only get two on Tigers Mask as his partner saves. Shisa is again tossed out of the ring so that Tigers and Buffalo can double team Gamma, attempting to hit him with a clothesline. Gamma ducks under and low blows Buffalo. Tigers fairs slightly better, leapfrogging Gamma but getting kicked right in the junk as he hangs in midair. Black Buffalo returns to the ring and lands a backdrop driver on his opponent, setting up a tag to Tigers Mask. The baseball-themed wrestler takes out both members of the opposing team with dropkicks, snap German suplexes, and even a Buzzsaw Kick on Shisa for a nearfall. Tigers attempts to stay on Shisa by heading to the top rope, but Shisa counters with the Stratus-phere and then a Vader bomb. Those two men head to the outside, leaving the battle to Buffalo and Gamma. Gamma again spits in Buff’s face but this time eats a lariat in response for a two count. Black Buffalo’s attempt at another backdrop driver is reversed, and Gamma superkicks him. Buffalo no-sells it and lands another lariat, but Shisa runs in and catches him offguard with a butterfly suplex. That gives us another superkick by Gamma and then a version of the Air Raid Crash. Tigers makes the save before that can end the match.

Tigers and Shisa wind up brawling on the floor, leaving Gamma alone with Buffalo so that Buff can give him lariat number three off of a cheapshot from Tigers. Shisa breaks up the ensuing pinfall, so Tigers Mask goes after him again, setting up a big guillotine legdrop from Buffalo and a dropkick right to the face. Tigers comes off of the top rope with a missile dropkick to the mush, and then the Osaka team sets up yet another lariat, this time on Shisa. A brianbuster from Tigers Mask also connects, earning him a two count. Buzzsaw Kick number two also can’t put Super Shisa away, and Tigers Mask’s attempt to run the ropes results in him being walloped in the back by a Gamma chairshot. That sets up a Code Green by Shisa, after which he attempts to rip off Tigers’ mask. With the referee inadvertently bumped, Black Buffalo is laid out by several more chairshots from Gamma. This allows the rudos to actually unmask Tigers, causing them to be disqualified. Gamma celebrates in his Delfin hood, and Tigers ambushes him . . . though a few friendly faces from the O-Pro roster quickly break up their brawl.

Once the ringside area has cleared out, we cut to the back for an interview with the Dragon Gate wrestlers, and it turns into a fairly dramatic brawl as Tigers Mask and Black Buffalo assault them. The two teams are pulled apart on more than one occasion but always keeping going right back at one another for several passes.

Match Thoughts: There were some good back and forth sequences here, both in terms of athletics and in terms of the wrestlers’ characters, though I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for what are essentially heel versus heel matches in which one group of bad guys attempts to out-cheat and out-swindle another team of bad guys. That might leave me with a little bit of a bias towards this match. However, I think that, even if I look at it objectively, at least three of the four wrestlers (Shisa was big shaky at times) were doing a good job of getting across the fact that they hated each others guts. My only complain would be that, at least from my vantage point, it felt like Shisa and Gamma were a bit too dominant, especially if you consider the facts that a) they were going to be left standing at the end of the match, b) Shisa is presumably a bit player in the storyline until CIMA can show up in Osaka, and c) Buffalo and Tigers were on their home turf in front of one of the promotion’s biggest audiences of the year. I would have preferred to have seen a match in which the Osaka rudos took the majority of the offense only to be laid out with Tigers getting unmasked at the end of the bout, as I think it would have made for a better story overall. **

Match Numero Cuatro: Abdullah the Butcher, Asian Cooger, Miracle Man, & Takaku Fuke vs. FUJITA, Orochi, Tadasuke, & The Bodyguard

Well, you can’t get a much more random lineup than this one. Each team in this match is a group of Osaka Pro regulars being captained by an outsider. The outsider on one side of the ring is Minoru Fujita, being billed as FUJITA and further being billed as representing ZERO1. On the other side of the ring is Abdullah the Butcher, who I don’t think needs any further introduction on this website.

There’s an eight-man brawl right at the opening bell, primarily due to everybody on team FUJITA attempting to dogpile Abby. That doesn’t work too well, as the veteran fights them off and takes his spot on the ring apron. FUJITA and Cooger start the match proper, with Minoru eating palm strike before Orochi runs in to take him down with a lariat. Miracle Man is in to act as Orochi’s foil, giving him an armdrag and a clothesline. Tadasuke runs in at this point and gets yanked out of the ring by the technico team, leading to about half the wrestlers in the match spilling out on to the floor. Numerous chairs are pulled out from under the ring and piled on top of Tadasuke and Orochi, giving Cooger the opportunity to hit a SWEET slingshot senton from the ring down the floor and down on to the chair pile. Tadasuke is rolled back into the ring to deal with Fuke, who kicks away and hits a backdrop suplex before locking on a cross arm breaker. The Bodyguard saves for his partner, and he also takes out both Miracle and Cooger with a double clothesline. Fuke is press slammed over the Guard’s head, and an old fashioned ARROGANT COVER~! earns him a two count. Fuke is tossed from the ring, setting up BG going after Abby as the other six guys in the match brawl around ringside. Butcher’s entire involvement in his “fight” with the Bodyguard is standing on the ring apron and no-selling punches until he decides th throw one shot of his own, which sends the Guard flying across the ring. Orochi and Miracle Man wind up in the squared circle together, with the former raking the eyes but missing a clothesline.

This all leads into FUJITA and Orochi hitting a sidewalk slam/second rope elbowdrop combo and FUJITA taking over on Miracle Man with a version of the Panic Attack and an a superfly splash. It gets two as Miracle’s partners save and another multi-man brawl breaks out. Orochi and Miracle are alone in the ring, where Orochi has a gordbuster reversed and Double M takes him down with an enzuguiri. That gives us the hot (?) tag to Abdullah, who paces around the ring and throws right hands at people while his more athletic partners do highspots around him. Multiple men are whipped into Abby’s general vicinity so that he can punch them, and eventually things come down to another Butcher-Bodyguard showdown. Abby proves to be JUST TOO FAT for BG to bodyslam, and the Butcher’s brutal punch eventually sends the muscle man flying. Somewhere in there, Miracle Man sets up for and hits a tope con hilo on to five or six wrestlers. Orochi is the next to try his hand with Abby, but the Butcher somehow gets ahold of a fork behind the referee’s back, hits Orochi in the head with it two times, and drops a big elbow on him to get the victory for his team.

After the bell, Abby gets on the mic and says that he will never die or retire before wishing the crowd a Happy Valentine’s Day and leading them in a “Butcher” chant. The heels try to assault him in mid-promo, so he takes them all out with microphone shots.

Match Thoughts: From an athletic standpoint, this was pretty lousy with the exception of a couple of spots. From a “psychology” standpoint, this was pretty lousy with no real exception. However, sometimes a wrestling match isn’t about athletics and isn’t about psychology. Sometimes it’s about having a good time while watching a guy like Abby, who has given more to the professional wrestling industry than most of us can imagine, with a big shit-eating grin on his face because he’s having the time of his life doing what he loves to do. DUD, but a very enjoyable DUD.

Match Numero Cinco: Hideyoshi & Masamune (c) vs. Daisuke Harada & Atsushi Kotoge for the Osaka Pro Tag Team Titles

Here we’ve got the long-running heel tag team champions Sengoku, consisting of Hideyoshi and Masamune going up against the technico challengers Daisuke Harada and Atsushi Kotoge, collectively known as Momo No Seishu Tag. Harada and Masamune are the first men in the ring, with Masamune applying an innovative variation on a headscissors before they do some quick counter wrestling and the double pop-up/applause spot. Hideyoshi and Kotoge check in once that is done, and ‘Yoshi controls his man early with a shoulderblock . . . but an attempt at the snake eyes is countered, giving Kotoge a chance to shoot for a leg lariat. It misses, as does a follow-up leg drop, leading to a four man brawl. Harada and Kotoge dominate and land a Hardy Boys-esque poetry in motion and a series of kicks that send both of their opponents out to the floor.

Kotoge and Masamune are left alone in the ring when things clam down, though that just lasts as long as an Atsushi kick. He tags out to Harada, who comes off of the top rope with a double stomp on to the back of a doubled over Masamune before applying a chinlock. There’s a quick exchange to Kotoge, who busts out a knee drop for a nearfall. Masamune takes over out of nowhere, though, catching his opponent in a Boston crab that is a setup for Hideyoshi dropkicking Atsushi square in the crotch. The champs further team up for a sidewalk slam/legdrop combo in the tradition of the Smoking Gunns, and they even manage to toss Harada out of the squared circle when he tries to make the save. Hideyoshi tags in to punish Kotoge with some more kicks, going to an armbar before Atsushi gets his foot across the bottom rope. Kotoge attempts a comeback with a butt-butt in the corner, but Hideyoshi blocks it and looks for a German. Atsushi slips out of that, though, and he lands an enzuguiri after several more insane counters.

That gives us a hot tag to Harada, but Masamune runs in to greet him. The champions miss a double team attempt on Daisuke, which gives Harada an opening for an CRAZY move in which he gives Masamune an overhead belly-to-belly on to Hideyoshi, who was slumped in the corner. Harada follows with a second rope double stomp and then an exploder on Hideyoshi before giving him a pescado on to the floor. Back on the inside, Masamune and Kotoge have paired off, with the challenger hitting a leg lariat and a moonsault press for two. Kotoge’s next trick is a satellite DDT, but Hideyoshi breaks up the ensuing pin attempt. Harada dispatches him, giving the challengers an opportunity to double team Masamune. That fails, though, as he slides out of the ring and the good guys are blindsided by a double lariat from Hideyoshi. They respond with another poetry in motion on him, and then Masamune is subjected to a jumping knee attack from Kotoge. The heels break up an attempt at an extended double team sequence, hitting Harada with all manner of knees before Masamune gives Kotoge a lungblower.

Harada is down on the floor at this point, so Masamune gives him a corkscrew pescado while Hideoyoshi stays on Kotoge in the ring with an Alabama Slam and a double stomp before applying a grounded version of the Cobra Clutch. Kotoge struggles for the ropes for quite some time and ultimately makes them. When he does, Masamune returns to the ring, and the champions hit a CRAZY maneuver in which Masamune holds Kotoge like he’s going to give him an Air Raid Crash and then Hideyoshi German suplexes Masamune, dropping Atsushi from quite a high elevation right on to his neck. Hideyoshi follows that up with another unique spot, military pressing Kotoge and dropping him down into a facebuster. That, surprisingly enough, only gets two.

Kotoge fires back when the champs try to set him up for some sort of Doomsday Device variation, though, hitting one of his opponents with a dropkick before Harada runs in for a pop-up belly-to-belly superplex. That allows Kotoge to give Hideoyoshi a high impact Diamond Cutter for two before landing a second version of the same move. Masamune runs in before Atsushi can pin Hideyoshi and kills the challenger’s momentum with a head and shoulders suplex. Then comes Harada, who is hit with Masamune’s version of a Rydeen bomb. Daisuke responds by countering a rana attempt into a powerbomb and going upstairs for a Randy Savage elbow. It gets two. Kotoge and Harada then team up for a springboard version of the Doomsday Device on Masamune, though they replace the clothesline with a dropkick. It gets two as Hideyoshi saves. He is tossed from the ring and given a tope con hilo by Kotoge while Harada and Masamune remain in the ring for a palm strike battle. Masamune wins and looks for a move off of the ropes, but Harada catches him and hits a knee reminiscent of the Go to Sleep as well as a German suplex for . . . TWO! Daisuke looks for a second German, but Masamune grabs the ropes to block it. Cue Kotoge, who comes into the camera shot out of nowhere with a knee to Masamune’s face that loosens his grip on the ropes and allows Daisuke to complete the German to win the match and the Osaka Tag Team Titles.

Match Thoughts: Well, this match certainly had one thing going for it. The four wrestlers appeared to be very familiar with one another and all further appeared to be in their athletic primes, as they were doing some very intricate spots with one another, doing them at a breakneck pace, and doing them without screwing anything up too badly. We also had some incredible MOVEZ~! the likes of which I have never seen before, including that Air Raid Crash/German suplex combination which will be burned into my mind for years though which I hope I never see any professional wrestling tag team attempt again. Unfortunately, despite the fact that there was some sick coordination and some sick spots between the four wrestlers in the ring, it seemed like they were largely doing the spots at random instead of working them in to any kind of consistent pace or framework for the match. Don’t get me wrong, it was still quite the entertaining little battle, but it could have been significantly better if there was a bit more of an internal storyline backup up the highspots. **3/4

Match Numero Seis: Dick Togo (c) vs. Billy Ken Kid for the Osaka Pro Singles Title in a No Disqualification Match

This is the culmination of a storyline that has been going on for quite some time. Billy Ken Kid has been among the most popular babyfaces in all of Osaka Pro for many years now, and, in 2009, he won the Osaka Pro Singles Title for the third time in his career. However, a black cloud immediately fell over Billy’s reign, and that black cloud was none other than Dick Togo. Togo, an indy wrestling mega-heel well known for his involvement in the glory days of Michinoku Pro Wrestling and the early days of Osaka, resurfacing the company and put BKK squarely in his crosshairs. Togo racked up numerous victories over Bill Ken Kid throughout the course of 2009, ultimately pinning him in July to win the championship. BKK regrouped and came back to win the Tenno-Zen tournament in December of ’09, which was enough to propel him to a championship rematch on this card.

Dick Togo lives up to his name, attacking Billy Ken Kid during the introductions while the fans are still throwing streamers into the ring in honor of their hero. He tosses Billy down to the arena floor and immediately takes him into the ringpost and a series of chairs. Togo places his opponent on the elevated entrance ramp which connects to the ring and knocks him off of it with a series of strikes. Dick follows up with a rolling senton off of the ramp and down on to the challenger before placing BKK back into the ring and trapping him in a camel clutch. Billy makes the ropes, so Togo gives him a slingshot senton to the lower back and plants him with a chokeslam-style backbreaker. A body scissors is applied by the former Kaientai DX member, but Billy makes the ropes for a second time. Togo at this point goes to work on his opponent’s mask, which would result in him being disqualified were the mask to come off all the way in a normal match. We’ve got NO DISQUALIFICATIONS here, though.

BKK’s first signs of life come when Togo climbs to the top rope after the mask pulling, at which point the challenger cuts off the champ and gives him the Flair beal down to the mat. Mr. Kid goes to the ring apron and tries to slingshot in with a high flying move, but his ankle is grabbed by one of the members of the Osaka rudo army who have accompanied Togo to the ring, which leads to a brief rudo/technico brawl at ringside. Togo goes back to work on the mask and pulls BKK out to the ring apron, teasing giving him a Pedigree out there. Billy blocks it and Togo charges, though BKK has the presence of mind to elevate his man up off the apron and down on to the arena floor with a version of the slingshot. BKK follows his man down with a tope con hilo that connects with the majority of the rudo army and then asks one of his cornermen to re-tie his mask, though it has already practically been ripped in half.

Togo is placed back into the ring by BKK and hit with a top rope missile dropkick, after which it has become clear that the champion is busted open. Togo misses a blind charge and gets hit with a kick to the back of his head and a dropkick in the corner. Dick is then placed in a seated position on the top turnbuckle, with BKK dragging him off courtesy of a rana. That only gets a two count. BKK looks for his Vertigo finisher, but Togo counters and turns it into a crossface, which the entire crowd seems to be buying as a potential finish. Billy gets his foot over the bottom rope, however, and then it’s a huge kick to the side of the head by Dick.

It looks like BKK is going to catch his man with a German suplex, so Togo gives him a low blow behind the referee’s back and goes to work untying one of the top turnbuckle pads while the official checks on the weakened BKK. Billy’s head is repeatedly driven into the exposed buckle for a two count, which Togo gets with his feet on the middle rope. Dick is handed a chair by one of his comrades, though his wild swing with BKK’s neck draped over the ring apron misses. Then, in a spot that I have seen numerous times that never gets any less sick, BKK attempts a tope suicida on to Togo, but he GETS THE CHAIR UP to slam it into his opponent’s head in midair. With BKK completely incapacitated by that move, Togo is finally able to completely unmask the challenger before throwing him back into the ring. BKK had covered his head with a towel at the last second, and he manages to catch Togo with a small package while still covering his face. That only gets a two count, and BKK goes right back to hiding his identity as opposed to fighting.

Togo misses a running knee in the corner at this point, sending him over the top rope and down to the floor in a bump reminiscent of Harley Race. This gives somebody from BKK’s corner an opportunity to slide him a new mask, which he puts on before heading to the floor to take the fight to the champion. Togo is Irish whipped through several rows of chairs that fans have been kind enough to vacate and then brought back to the ring. The two men start to fight over a brainbuster, which BKK ultimately lifts Togo up for, only to have Dick slip off of his shoulders and hit a Diamond Cutter. That leads in to a double KO spot, but both men are up to their knees and exchanging punches by eight, getting the referee to break his count. Billy ends the sequence with a dropkick to his kneeling opponent’s face, after which he catches Togo with a drop toe hold and attempts la magistral. Togo blocks it and reverses into his own version of the vaunted cradle, which only gets two but leads immediately into another crossface as the entire crowd erupts into chants of “Billy.”

For the second time in the match, BKK gets out of the crossface by placing his foot on the bottom rope. Togo looks to finish with a Pedigree, but BKK blocks and turns it into a jackknife hold for two. He runs the ropes and is caught with Togo’s lariat, also for two. The Pedigree does connect after that, and Dick goes up top for his patented senton. He HITS IT, but Billy Ken Kid KICKS OUT AT TWO. Nobody believes it, so Togo goes for another cover after hitting only a right hand. It also only musters a two count. Another Pedigree is attempted, but this time the Kid dead-weights Togo and prevents the move from hitting. Dick tries to soften him up by stomping away a few times and goes for the move again . . . only to have BKK stand up while the hold is on, turning it in to an AIR. RAID. CRASH. Togo is down and Billy picks him up for a powerbomb, though Togo avoids it. Some quick back and forth counters as the men jockey for position see BKK get a backslide for two, which he immediately follows up with a powerbomb, also for TWO. At this point there is another battle between the rudos and technicos at ringside as the bad guys try to slip Togo a chair. However, the heels’ efforts fail, as when Black Buffalo winds up standing on the apron with the furniture, it is TOGO who has his head smacked into it.

Believe it or not, that only gets two for Billy Ken Kid. However, seconds later, he goes up to the top rope for a 450 splash that ends the match and makes him the Osaka Pro Singles Champion four the fourth time.

Match Thoughts: I quite liked this one. It was an interesting hybrid of puroresu, lucha libre, and American style professional wrestling. The Japanese style professional wrestling was provided by the basics of the training the men were given and the slow build to a series of rapid-fire nearfalls at the end of the match. The lucha libre style was provided by the storyline focusing heavily on Billy Ken Kid’s mask, which is the sort of thing seen in numerous singles matches south of the border. The American style wrestling was provided by the brawling around the ring at the outset of the bout, which in an odd way was reminiscent of the style of match that Steve Austin had during his title matches in the late 1990’s. All of these varied styles fused together in a way that made them feel fresh despite the fact that we’ve all seen them separately in numerous different matches over the years. There have been better independent wrestling matches thusfar in 2010, but this one had a variety of entertaining elements that make it well worth a watch, regardless of whether you’re a regular Osaka viewer. ***1/2

Overall

Honestly, this wasn’t a great top-to-bottom card. Aside from a move or two in each match, everything until we got to the two title matches was fairly forgettable. Even the tag team title match wasn’t something that I would consider a must-see unless you’re an established O-Pro fan and feel the need to see every title change that occurs in the promotion. The main event, however, is worth going out of yor way to see regardless of whether you regularly follow this promotion, just so long as you’re an individual who has a penchant for unique professional wrestling matches.

Looking forward to the next instalment of Into the Indies? Keep an eye on 411’s Twitter accounts, and you just might see it pop up!

http://www.twitter.com/411mania
http://www.twitter.com/411wrestling
http://www.twitter.com/411moviestv
http://www.twitter.com/411music
http://www.twitter.com/411games
http://www.twitter.com/411mma

See you all next week!