Into the Indies 09.28.10: Most Unusual Matches II

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Into the Indies, the column that is attempting a minimum eight-peat.

Back in March of this year, I introduced a concept that I referred to as Into the Indies’ Most Unusual Matches, a collection of the most outright bizarre bouts that I had recently run across. Some of them were unique because of their stipulations, some of them were unique because of the pairings of wrestlers that are going up against one another, and some of them were unique not because of billed participants or because of announced stipulations but rather just how they unfolded.

It’s now been six months since that original “Most Unusual Matches” column, and I’ve come to learn that, when you’re covering pro wrestling from around the world, you’re bound to uncover some wacky, wacky stuff that a normal column just can’t contain. As a result, I now present to you I2I’s Most Unusual Matches II, featuring five of the most unique bouts that have come across my desk in the past half-year.

Enjoy!

Chris Masters vs. Ryushi Yanagisawa (Inoki Genome Federation, 12/20/2007)

This match took place in between Masters’ original stint in WWE and his current run there, and it is being promoted by Antonio Inoki’s wacky Inoki Genome Federation, a company that focuses heavily on shoot-style pro wrestling but also for some reason brings in people like the Necro Butcher and Rikishi. This is one of the more oddball matches that the promotion has put on, with Yanagisawa being a kickboxer with little to no pro wrestling experience and Masters being the same old Chris Masters that all US based fans know and love. Oh, technically Masters is using the name “Chris Moore” here for legal reasons, but I’m going to keep on using his more popular moniker.

The two men lockup early, with each shoving the other back into the ropes. After those breaks, Masters fires off a series of punches and clotheslines his man down. The combatants exchange strikes and Masters grabs Yanagisawa’s arm off a punch attempt and tries to apply the Masterlock. The kickboxer avoids it and takes the American down before burying his boot right in between his shoulderblades. Masters recovers and tosses his man out to the floor, where another series of big kicks by Yanagisawa staggers the Masterpiece. Either Masters magically sells a lot better in Japan than he does in the United States or Yanagisawa is really tagging him and causing him some discomfort. When we go back to the inside the Japanese wrestler places his opponent in a leglock, but Masters is able to hold on and grab the ropes to force a break. Masters slips out under the bottom rope for a breather, and, in doing so, suckers Yanagisawa into a position in which he can snap the man’s arm over the top rope. That doesn’t go too far for Masters right away, though, as he’s chopped down to size with more kicks when he reenters the ring and covered for a two count. However, as Yanagisawa attempts an axe bomber, Masters shoots out of the corner and takes him down with a snug clothesline before hitting a short-armed version of the same move. The Masterlock is now applied, and it’s not long before Masters has earned himself a submission victory.

Match Thoughts: Well, this was just about what you would have expected going in. Given Yanagisawa’s background, you figured that all he could bring to the table were some kicks, and, given Chris Masters’ background, you figured that all he could bring to the table was his low level WWE-style offense. I will say that Masters did a better job than I expected with his facial expressions and did seem to adapt well to making things a bit more snug, but, otherwise, you’re not missing anything watching this one aside from a little bit of novelty value. *

Sabu vs. Osamu Nishimura (Ohio Independents, 08/07/1994)

Now this is a rare little match. Most everybody reading this is probably familiar with Sabu. A few of you may not know about Nishimura, however. Nish is a wrestler who broke in with New Japan during the early 1990’s and has worked on and off with both New Japan and All Japan ever since. In Japanese wrestling companies, there is a tradition of sending younger wrestlers to foreign countries in order to gain seasoning before they are pushed to a higher level in Japan. Modern day fans in the States have seen examples of this in the tag team of NO LIMIT and Kiyoshi being shipped over to TNA on a temporary basis. Nishimura’s learning excursion saw him competing in many NWA territories, including in this bout against Sabu from a small indy promotion out of Lima, Ohio, the name of which has been lost to the ages. On paper it would seem to be a bit of a styles clash, as Sabu is obviously known for his hybrid of hardcore and high flying, while Nishimura is a practitioner of a more old school, mat based style which he has in the past referred to as MUGA.

Sabu shoots in for a single-leg as soon as the bell rings, but Nishimura avoids it. The ECW star does score a takedown with his second single-leg, and the action quickly spills to the arena floor after that. The two exchange strikes there, with Sabu ultimately being clotheslined down on to the mat. A lockup back in the ring leads to some quick exchanges on the mat, all building up to a Sabu slam and a slingshot legdrop. That move misses and the Nish slaps on a chinlock, followed by a headscissors. The Bombay, Michigan native is able to pop out and looks for a scoop slam, but Osamu falls on top of him for two. The Japanese wrestler follows up with a legdrop for another nearfall, and Sabu is able to grab a headlock once he recovers. Nishimura escpaes and hits a dropkick, followed by one more the more brutal-looking bulldogs that I’ve seen in a while. Nishimura goes to the top and comes off with a missile dropkick, which causes Sabu to roll to the floor to regroup. Unfortunately for him, Nishimura doesn’t think that this is a time to rest, and he follows his man to a floor with a pescado. Feeling frustrated, Sabu comes back into the ring with a chair and repeatedly wacks Nishimura over the head with it. The referee lets it go, and, before long, Air Sabu connects in the corner. It gets a two count. Sabu locks in the camel clutch and looks for a submission as the crowd chants his name, but, after a while, he voluntarily relinquishes the hold and hits an enzuguiri. A Sabu dropkick follows and puts Nishimura on the floor one more time, where a tope con hilo from the Human Highlight Reel hits.

When we return to the ring, Osamu ducks a clothesline and hits a flying shoulderblock before heading to the second rope. Sabu cuts him off with forearms and tries to bring him down with a rana, but Nish holds on to the ropes. A high cross from the Japanese wrestler hits for two and another chinlock is applied as a woman yells, “Watch the choke, referee!” That is the kind of indy fan that you just don’t see anymore. A slingshot senton from Sabu connects for two, as does the slingshot legdrop. There’s another fan who keeps yelling “FMW!” That would be a decidedly different type of indy fan, one which is still around these days. Nishimura is able to retake the advantage after a bit, working Sabu’s leg with elbowdrops and then applying a toehold. The hold leaves Nish’s back exposed to Sabu, so the Arabian madman forearms him in the back to escape and hits a piledriver. He brings his chair back into the ring after that one and goes for Air Sabu again, but this time it misses. Now Nishimura gets a bit of revenge by hitting Sabu with the weapon a couple of times to set up a German suplex. It only gets two. Sabu also kicks out of a brutal looking short powerbomb rom Nishimura, who afterwards looks for a DDT. Sabu blocks it by grabbing the ropes and gets yet another chair, wacking Nish over the head some more before giving him the Arabian facebuster for a three count.

Match Thoughts: This wasn’t quite as odd as I thought it might be. Nishimura hadn’t quite gone as full-bore with his ground game at this point as he did in the later stages of his career, and he busted out some fairly basic high-flying maneuvers that are common of younger Japanese wrestlers. This allowed him to blend more with Sabu’s style than I might otherwise have expected. With the two wrestlers being on the same page, they managed to have a fairly entertaining back and forth bout which was much more solid than a lot of the bouts that you would see in 2010 featuring wrestlers with comparable levels of experience. ***

Francesco Togo & Sasaki and Gabana vs. Louie Takanashi & Jacques de Atsushinu in a Football Rules Match (DDT, 04/03/2009)

There is a large red ball in the middle of the ring, and it appears that this will be less a traditional pro wrestling match than it will be a game of soccer, with each of the two teams trying to kick the ball into or through a set of ring ropes to be defended by the other team. The players are, on one side, Dick Togo and Daisuke Sasaki, who at the times were referring to themselves as the names listed above so that they could be members of a stable referred to as The Italian Four Horsemen. They were essentially doing the Jersey Shore gimmick before the Jersey Shore hit it big. They’re up against two wrestlers who adopted the gimmicks of Frenchmen in order to counter the European-inspired antics. One is DDT wrestler Masa Takanashi, and, for once, I’m at a complete loss as to who the other guy is.

It’s a free-for-all for the ball in the opening seconds of the match, but, before even the five second mark, Togo accidentally kicks the ball off of one of his opponents in a manner that it ricochets back into his own goal to put France up 1-0. Sasaki scores another goal shortly thereafter to tie it up, and there is literally zero wrestling going on here, just kicking a tthe ball. Sasaki gets a second goal relatively quickly. The ball is accidentally kicked out of the ring at this point, so it’s reset at the middle for another faceoff. An extended battle for control resumes, and now Togo redeems himself by hitting a bit of a baseball slide kick on the ball to send it into the other teams goal, now putting Italy up 3-1. There appears to be a bit of a problem when things are reset for the faceoff. The ball has taken some damage and has started to deflate, making it much more difficult to kick. This results in the referee attempting to blow it back up, which gives the sphere enough momentum for Team France to score their second goal. This is just getting awkward. After about ten more seconds, Sasaki and Togo have both fallen on their backs, allowing Takanashi to get another goal and tie up the match 3-3. The ball is still rapidly deflating, so the referee places tape on it to try to prevent it from using any more air. Then, in the spot of the match, Togo grabs the deflated ball in between his feet and jumps up into the air, doing a front flip and landing on his back. In the process, he also managed to kick his opponents and knock them out of the way before release the ball and shooting it through the goal. If real soccer were more like that, I might actually watch it. Shortly afterwards, a whistle is blown signaling the end of the period. Almost immediately at the beginning of the second period, Team France ties it up at 4-4, but the bell rings and we soon have an official 4-4 tie to end the match.

Match Thoughts: Well, I don’t know that I can say much here. There was virtually no wrestling and just a lot of kicking at a ball. What I was expecting was more pro wrestling highspots integrated into something that vaguely resembled a soccer game, but that’s not quite where things went. The highlight was probably the facial reactions of one Dick Togo, who was either legitimately excited every time that he scored in this game of “soccer” or is one of the greatest actors to ever set foot into a professional wrestling ring. Aside from that, I wasn’t too into it, but I will say that there’s a part of me who thinks that we’re only a few weeks away from seeing something like this on Monday Night Raw.

Takeshi Morishima vs. Mesias (AAA, 02/01/2010)

Normally I wouldn’t review a match from AAA, because I focus on independent wrestling here, and AAA is significantly larger than what I would call an indy. (In fact, they’re bigger in Mexico than TNA is in the United States, and I’m sure that I would start getting some pretty big questions thrown at me if I started covering TNA in this column.) However, when I saw this pairing of wrestlers in a singles match, it was so odd that I knew I had to watch it and provide my comments. On one side of the ring is former ROH World Heavyweight Champion and current NOAH wrestler Takeshi Morishima. On the other side of the ring is Ricky “El Mesias” Banderas, who has spent the majority of his career wrestling in Puerto Rico and Mexico but has also gotten some exposure in the United States as part of Wrestling Society X and under the name Judas Mesias for a run in TNA.

Mesias tries shoulderblocks and clotheslines early, but they have no effect because Morishima is significantly larger. Mori takes his man down with a shoulderblock with relative ease, followed by slamming him down to the mat when Mesias tries to apply a headlock. When we return from an instant replay of that move, Mori is ramming his ample backside into Mesias’ face as he lays in the corner. When we return from a commercial break, Morishima is on the top rope and comes off with a missile dropkick that sends Mesias flying halfway across the ring. Now the NOAH wrestler tries to squish his opponent in the corner once more, but, this time around, he runs into Mesias’ boot and gets speared. Mesias is then able to get a back body drop of all things on the three hundred pounder, but he runs into a lariat to cut off his momentum. Morhishima hits the ropes to inflict more damage, but Mesias is able to catch him with a powerslam that gets a two count. A sunset flip is attempted by the AAA wrestler, and, if you’ve watched wrestling for more than six months, you should know how that ends. That’s right . . . Morishima drops down with a seated splash and gets another nearfall. Takeshi grabs his man by the hair and looks to finish with a big lariat, but Mesias catches him offguard with a variation on the flatliner. That sets up a frog splash from Mesias, but, before he can get the three count, there’s a run in by members of the Foreign Legion, the top heel stable in AAA. They’re run off by a group of babyfaces, who then attack Morhishima. Mori is able to swat them away like flies, but the distraction does give Mesias an opportunity to hit a TKO to get the three count and win this international encounter.

Match Thoughts: This must have been like a night off for Morishima. The style was significantly easier than the one that he has worked in NOAH and ROH, as it was more reminiscent of a 1980’s big man/little man match from the United States than it was of anything else. Morishima just had to ladle out a bunch of fairly basic offense in the early going, followed by taking a very limited number of bumps when Banderas made his comeback. It was a simple match. Simple isn’t always bad if it’s done in front of the right audience, but if you’ve seen a lot of professional wrestling throughout your life, this bout isn’t going to give you anything that you haven’t seen several times before. **

Shadow WX vs. Mitsuhiro Matsunaga (c) in a Three-Way Board Alligator Deathmatch for the BJW Heavyweight Championship (Big Japan Wrestling, 09/23/1998)

This is a top-level bout from the Big Japan Pro Wrestling of twelve years ago, with Mitsuhiro “Mr. Danger” Matsunaga and Shadow WX being two of the earliest stars that the promotion made. The “three-way” in the name of this match appears to refer to the fact that we’ve got three types of plywood board in the ring: some of which are covered in barbed wire, some of which are covered in light tubes, and some of which are covered in nails. Unfortunately, there are no literal alligators to be seen, though that probably has something to do with the animal rights movement.

There are some kicks traded between the men next to one of the light tube boards early, but nobody actually goes through it. Instead we go to the outside, where Shadow WX takes a head-over-heels bump through a row of ringside chairs. The wrestlers brawl out of the crowd and into the backstage area, where he’s sent into a wall to draw blood. There’s a lot of walking around with no real offense, and the wrestlers reemerge in a different section of fans. While there, Matsunaga eats a piledriver on the floor, and, out of nowhere, one of the light tube boards is produced and propped up across an entranceway. It’s at just the right height for WX to set up a suplex through the board and tubes, but Matsunaga reverses the move and hits his own version. After that, the two men brawl back to ringside and head into the squared circle, where WX hits a hiptoss. I always have to laugh when there’s such a basic wrestling move in the middle of a crazy deathmatch like this one. He follows with a lariat and then hits a piledriver on to another light tube board, which looks like it would’ve done more damage to Shadow’s ass than Matsunaga’s head. Now the challenger and his cornermen set about gathering chairs, and they place one of the barbed wire boards across a set of chairs, forming a bridge. Making things crazier still, two chairs are placed on top of the barbed wire board in an upright position, and a light tube board is bridged across THOSE chairs. This is all done underneath a slightly elevated section of fans.

After being grabbed by Shadow WX, Matsunaga is POWERBOMBED through that entire vile structure, and he may have taken the fall in one of the worst ways possible, as he rotated while falling and went shoulder-first through the mess, connecting primarily with one of the chairs as the rest of the structure gave way under his weight. With Matsunaga rolling around in pain, WX and his corner creates another “bridge,” this time in the ring and this time using the board of nails. While he’s waiting for Matsunaga to be fed back into the ring, WX breaks a light tube over his own head and uses the jagged edge to carve the champ up once he returns. Believe it or not, Matsunaga fires back a little bit by hitting a leg sweep on to a light tube, and then he grabs his trademark weapon, the barbed wire baseball bat. Matsuanaga briefly chokes his man with the weapon, but WX grabs another light tube off of the mat and shatters over his opponent’s head in order to force a break of the hold. Then, in an absolutely terrifying spot, Shadow WX hercs Matsunaga up and gives him a powerslam ON TO THE NAIL BOARD BRIDGE in order to win the bout and take home the BJW Championship. That was really scary, because Matsunaga was not gently placed flat on the board as you would expect him to be but instead hit it at an angle, causing the “bridge” to collapse with his entire body being raked across the nails as he fell. It’s a miracle that the unequal distribution of his weight didn’t cause the nails to be driven far up into his body.

Match Thoughts: Having watched a lot of recent Big Japan Wrestling for this column, it was interesting to go back and watch a match from over a decade ago which laid the foundation for the current state of the genre. Even though there were two incredibly crazy spots during which I feared for Matusnaga’s safety, I was surprised to see how safe the match was on a whole. The wrestlers weren’t going crazy and performing incredibly dangerous spots from bell to bell as you might see from some backyard wrestlers who claim to have been inspired by this style. Instead, they did virtually nothing for ten minutes, hit the two big spots at the end, put the match to bed, and went on with their lives. It appeared to be a philosophy in which if they were going to engage in risky behavior they were going to try to keep things very safe for the majority of their performance. That’s something that I can respect a lot more than style consisting of non-stop stupid spots. An entertaining match on the whole if not one that had its scary moments. **1/2

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!