Into the Indies 10.12.10: SMASHtober! (Part 2)

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Into the Indies, the column that should talk more about Wade Barrett.

Those of you who read the column last week are aware that, for the month of October, I2I has a bit of a theme. We’re dedicating every column in the month to SMASH, which has not been around for too horribly long but has been a rather interesting independent promotion for me to follow given its unique matchmaking and eclectic roster of wrestlers.

Last week, we took a look at SMASH.4, and this week we move on to SMASH.5. The promotion’s fourth show featured a main event pitting Shuri against Kana, with Shuri being a female wrestler who is one of the cornerstones of SMASH, while Kana is an outside joshi wrestler who got into a brawl with Shuri during the course of SMASH.3. The two had a very solid encounter which held its own with some of the men’s main events that SMASH has produced, and the show went off the air with Shuri’s hand being raised. For SMASH.5, Kana demanded a rematch, which Tajiri, the matchmaker for the company, was more than happy to grant her. One of the big draws of SMASH.5 is seeing whether Kana will be able to avenge her loss or whether Shuri will make herself 2-0 against the outsider and finally establish some credibility in the greater world of Japanese women’s wrestling.

Another focal point of SMASH’s first four shows has been a contingent of wrestlers from European wrestling company Fight Club Finland. The troupe, consisting of transvestite wrestler Jessica Love, former FCF Champion Valentine, and crazy Viking/caveman hybrids Stark Adder and Haijy-Heimo Ukonselka. FCF is headed up by a Canadian-born wrestler of Finnish descent who goes by the name of Starbuck, and, on prior SMASH shows, we only saw Starbuck in pretaped video packages in which he introduced the various members of his roster of the Japanese wrestling world. However, now that SMASH.5 has come around, Starbuck is set to make his own Japanese debut, vowing to reclaim his company’s championship, which Tajiri took off of Valentine on SMASH.3. Before he gets to Tajiri, though, Starbuck will have to go through Hajime Ohara, another one of SMASH’s mainstays.

Perhaps one of SMASH’s biggest drawing cards in its short history has been Tajiri’s ability to bring in recently released WWE talent to do big matches in front of Japanese indy fans who may not have seen them live before, at least not in as intimate of an environment as SMASH provides. This was a big factor on the first SMASH show, where Tajiri took on Tommy Dreamer in a match that was an homage to ECW and also on the second show, where none other than Eugene appeared to wrestle a featured match, also against Tajiri. SMASH.5 sees the return of former WWE performers to the company, and this time around two of Tajiri’s proteges were set to join him in the ring. The match as originally booked featured Tajiri teaming up with KUSHIDA, who has been portrayed as the ace of SMASH, and Lin Bairon, another woman who has decided to make the promotion her home. Their opponents were to be the returning Eugene, Scotty II Hotty, who would be making the first Japanese appearance of his over fifteen year wrestling career, and Mickie James, who at the time of the show was just off the expiration of her WWE ninety day non-compete clause. Unfortunately, before Mickie could get on her plane to Japan, there was an emergency in her family which caused her to cancel the booking. A mystery wrestler, who was billed as a different former WWE superstar, was promised to the SMASH crowd, and, ultimately, that man was revealed to be TAKA Michinoku.

Join us now, as we delve back into the nutty soap opera that is SMASH.

Match Numero Uno: Kyosuke Mikami vs. Yusuke Kodama

This is a battle of the young lions, with Kodama being another protege of Tajiri’s who debuted earlier this year and with Mikami being a relative rookie and trainee of New Japan Pro Wrestling who is on loan for this bout. It’s a lockup to start, with Mikami forcing his man back into the ropes. He does not break cleanly, instead unloading with chops. Kodama responds in kind and also hits a dropkick and a monkey flip, though he was out of position on the latter move and threw Mikami into the ropes. Another dropkick gets two for the SMASH rookie, and now we trade forearms. Mikami gets the upper hand there and connects with a full body slam and a standing spinebuster for a nearfall. Now we’ve got a Boston crab from the NJPW representative, but Kodama fights for and eventually makes the ropes. Mikami stays on him with a sidewalk slam and goes back to the crab hold. This time it’s too much and Kodama taps out.

Match Thoughts: This match ran approximately three minutes, so there’s not a heck of a lot to delve into. Generally young Japanese wrestlers from major promotions are only allowed to do so much offense so that they focus on the basic skills necessary to being a good professional wrestler, and, from what I could tell, these two both had those basics down. The only thing that looked really ugly was the monkey flip, and that was probably also the one thing that they attempted which would have been out of the norm for them. There’s some potential here on both ends, and it will be interesting to see how they develop. *

Match Numero Dos: Gurvinder Sihra vs. AKIRA

This is the latest in SMASH’s series of “World Tryout Matches,” where newcomers to Japanese wrestling from across the globe are given a shot. Sihra, a wrestler of South Asian descent, actually comes to us from Canada, where he trained for a time under Bruce Hart before beginning a five year wrestling career that has primarily seen him compete for west coast indy ECCW. The wrestlers shake hands before the bell, and, not much longer thereafter, we’re off to the races with a Greco-Roman knuckle lock. That hold becomes an AKIRA armbar, which Sihra reverses into a headlock takedown. AKIRA shoves him off but gets taken down with the shoulderblock. The NJPW vet responds with a dropkick, though Sihra fires back with deep arm drags and applies the armbar. More running of the ropes takes us into a sleeper hold by AKIRA, which Sihra counters by going into a seated position and meditating. I’m not making that up. The focusing of his astral energy allows Sihra to hit some elbows to the gut to escape, but he’s quickly clotheslined back down and hit with an AKIRA missile dropkick for a nearfall. Gurvinder responds with a vertical suplex and a Savage elbowdrop from the top, but it only gets two. The Indian wrestler tries for a German suplex, but AKIRA does a standing switch to avoid it. Sihra manages to block AKIRA’s German attempt and turn it into a victory roll-esque pinning combination for two. Now we’ve got some quick counter wrestling between the two men, with each getting a series of flash two counts on the other. The sequence culminates with Sihra in a kneeling position in front of the standing AKIRA. That’s the prelude to an enzuguiri, which sets up a frog splash from AKIRA. It’s that move which earns him the three count.

Match Thoughts: This was another relatively brief match, but it was a good showing for Sihra, who managed to keep up move-for-move with the very decorated AKIRA and didn’t look out of place for a split second. Granted, it’s only one match and it’s against a very talented opponent, but, for the most part, Sihra looked significantly better than any of the Finnish wrestlers who have been such a focal point of the promotion thusfar. On one viewing, I’d be perfectly fine with the youngster from ECCW making more trips over to SMASH so that we can see what he’s capable of in longer matches. *3/4

Match Numero Tres: Kana vs. Shuri

Before the match, highlights of the duo’s bout from the prior show are aired. I missed it the first time around, but Tajiri was hanging around ringside during the bout, and his amazed/thrilled reactions when Shuri scores the victory are a true hidden highlight. Kana ambushes Shuri as soon as she steps through the ropes and kicks the hell out of her as the folks at ringside try to yank all of the fans’ streamers out of the ring. Shuri manages to grab a front facelock and fires back with some knees, but Kana escapes and kicks away. She misses a diving knee strike but does rally and hit a German suplex to set up a diving boot to the gut. It gets two. Kana doesn’t do a great job of staying on her opponent, so Shuri is able to catch her with a couple of high kicks to the chest. However, Kana breaks the momentum with a spinning backfist and applies a version of the Fujiwara armbar. Shuri makes many attempts at escaping, but Kana keeps moving her back into center ring and eventually extends the arm so far that Shuri has no choice but to tap out. The screams of pain that the woman was emitting made it sound like she was a big in the process of being slaughtered.

Match Thoughts: This was an interesting match. Presumably, because Kana absolutely decimated Shuri from the opening bell to the finish, the idea was not just that Kana would get her win back but that this would also set up a third match in the series between the two where Shuri could wind up looking a little bit better. Beyond that, I suppose I should reserve judgment until I see how that potential match three wraps up or extends the feud, but my initial impression is that the company did the matches backwards and this bout should have come first in order to set up the second match where Shuri was allowed to look more like a threat and ultimately get the victory. As far as the action is concerned, athletically everything came off well and Kana showed great fire, significantly more than she did in match one. **

Match Numero Cuatro: Akira Shoji vs. Valentine

This should be an interesting one. Valentine showed me absolutely nothing in his first SMASH match against Tajiri, and now he’s in against the potentially stiff Akira Shoji, so I’m expecting this one to just be a quick slaughter. Valentine slaps Shoji in the face. That was a poor idea. The Finnish fellow is forearmed and clotheslined into oblivion, with a particularly big strike sending him out over the top rope. Valentine does manage to snap his opponent’s neck over the top as he reenters the ring, but Akira barely sells it and goes back on the offensive. A lariat connects, as does a powerslam that sends Valentine gut-first into the turnbuckles. He hangs there in an inverted tree of woe, so Shoji takes advantage of it and dropkicks him in the back. Seconds later, a big boot leads into an attempt at a delayed brainbuster. Valentine slips out of it and rakes Shoji’s eyes, setting up a Tomikaze. This gives him the three count over Akira Shoji. I know this is how I’m supposed to feel when a heel wins, but THAT was a miscarriage of justice.

Match Thoughts: Valentine didn’t do much to change my impression of him here. He had a bit of heel charisma that other wrestlers with a similar level of experience lack, but otherwise he came off as very unimpressive and green, basically a guy who is going out there and copying whatever he sees done on WWE television as opposed to a guy who’s attempting to develop anything unique. I can see why SMASH would bring him over to drop his championship to Tajiri and set up a Tajiri/Starbuck match, but I can’t imagine why the promotion thought that they had any use for Valentine afterwards. 1/2*

Match Numero Cinco: Starbuck vs. Hajime Ohara

Starbuck has “Eye of the Tiger” as his entrance music. Eat that, Hulk Hogan. I will say that, just walking to the ring, the guy is already light years ahead of any of the other Finnish wrestlers in terms of his physique and his presence. We’ve got a couple of intense lockups to start, with Starbuck offering a clean break on the first an hitting a snap mare coming off of the second. He looks to throw a closed fist into Ohara’s face after the takedown, but the SMASH wrestler slips away. Hajime avoids a second punch after being taken down again, and now he’s riled up. He throws a few forearms to the chest, but Starbuck acts as though they barely had any effect and begins throwing closed fists before taking Ohara down to the corner and stomping a mudhole in him. A Mr. Perfect-esque flying neck snap and a backbreaker land for the Fin, and they set up the Jerry Lawler fistdrop. Ohara gets a boot up when Starbuck tries a charge in the corner, but the momentum is short-lived as the youngster gets nailed with a superkick. Starbuck takes an almost comically long period of time signaling that he’s going to go for a piledriver. Eventually, he connects with the move, and it’s enough to put Ohara down for not just a three count but a three count obtained by Starbuck placing only one finger on Ohara’s chest.

Match Thoughts: No, I didn’t really skip over anything in the play-by-play. This was just a complete and utter squash match. I’m not a huge fan of sacrificing Ohara in a bout like this, because at least the third most talented male wrestler in the company behind Tajiri and KUSHIDA and more likely the second most talented wrestler behind only KUSHIDA. However, if you move past that and just accept the fact that the point of this match was to get Starbuck over as an absolute monster, it worked, with both men playing their roles well. Ohara didn’t let himself come off like a complete job guy, as he showed great fire but was ultimately overwhelmed by the power of the big Fin. Starbuck, meanwhile, did everything necessary to look like an unstoppable force in pro wrestling, not just no-selling a lot of offense but also looking great and giving off the aura of a real badass. I’d still like to see him in a competitive match to know whether he’s got chops beyond that, but, for the most part, Starbuck did very well in the role he was given for this bout. *1/2

Match Numero Seis: Tajiri, KUSHIDA, & Lin Bairon vs. Scotty II Hotty, Eugene, & TAKA Michinoku

And here we go with the big main event. There is an AWESOME introductory video package to the match which not just establishes that Mickie James is out of the match but also features footage of Scotty II Hotty backstage in a dressing room the size of a walk-in closet demonstrating to Japanese fans how to do the Worm, complete with on-screen graphics spelling out the name of the move. Also awesome, though not quite as great, is Eugene playing in the streamers that the Japanese fans throw at him after his entry into the ring. KUSHIDA kicks it off for his team against Scotty II Hotty. Scotty asks for a test of strength early, but KUSHIDA kicks him in the gut and grabs an armbar, which Mr. II Hotty eventually rolls out of. The American grabs a headlock and raises the roof, and, try as he might, KUSHIDA can’t get out of the hold for a good long time. Eventually the youngster is able to elbow out, but Scotty shoulderblocks him down and cuts off any further offense by simply holding his hands out and saying “Stop!” Hammertime? KUSHIDA does in fact stop, giving Scotty an opportunity to show him a variation on the Macarena which ends in an obscene gesture.

That move sets up tags to Lin Bairon and Eugene, and Eugene wants a kiss. Instead, he gets a thrust chop to the throat and a huricanrana before Lin grabs a headlock. Eugene, seemingly having no qualms with fighting a woman, grabs an armbar, but Lin is quick to escape and gives him a Muta-esque handspring elbow in the corner. She tries to follow up with her 619, but Eugene avoids it and rolls her up, eventually getting his kiss. Bairon has to get out of there after that one, and she begins crying as KUSHIDA washes her mouth out with some bottled water. Now it’s TAKA and Tajiri’s turn to mix it up. They start with a handshake and eventually grab a Greco-Roman knuckle lock, which the Buzzsaw turns into an armbar. TAKA rolls through and scores with a headlock takedown, and that kicks off a series of reversals leading to the double pop-up spot. Handshake number two sees Michinoku poke his man in the eyes, but Tajiri quickly recovers, responds with a kick, and tags in Lin Bairon.

Bairon chops away and deflects TAKA’s eye poke, causing him to gouge his own peepers and then hitting him with the throat thrust. KUSHIDA tags in and misses a corner attack, which TAKA tries to use as an opportunity to get his man into the crossface. KUSHIDA somersaults through to avoid it, then connecting with a dropkick. A standing moonsault press from the SMASH ace also connects, and here comes Big Boss Tajiri. He gets kicked low by TAKA, who then trades off to Scotty II Hotty. The former Too Cool member does some dancing punches and lands a series of blows in the corner. There’s the bulldog variation that normally sets up the Worm, but KUSHIDA runs in from behind to cut it off. The youngster puts Scotty into a cravate and hits some knee strikes before taking the American down and scraping the soles of his boots across his face. Things eventually break down into a kick vs. chop battle between the wrestlers, which KUSHIDA wins en route to applying a chinlock. Scotty does the stereotypical babyface comeback and gets the tag to Eugene, who takes KUSHIDA out with tomahawk chops and an airplane spin. Bairon runs in but gets used as a battering ram by Eugene. Tajiri runs in, but he’s dispatched by an FU and a five knuckle shuffle from the special people’s champion. TAKA runs in to aid Eugene at this point, but, in a bit of a miscommunication, Eugene grabs his own partner and plants him with the Michinoku Driver II, even doing the jumping up and down bit TAKA would do to telegraph the move in the WWF.

Now KUSHIDA is back for Team SMASH, though his punches are deflected as Eugene starts to Hulk Up. There’s the big boot and the leg drop, which get two. Eugene grabs Bairon and pulls her into the ring for no apparent reason, setting up for a Pedigree. However, before it can hit, KUSHIDA cuts off the momentum with a missile dropkick. He tries to come off the top with some follow-up offense but lands in position for a Rock Bottom. Eugene uses that move to set up a tag to Scotty II Hotty, who immediately hits the face crusher. The other members of Team Future Endeavors take out Bairon and Tajiri, which give us all the time in the world for the Worm. The SMASH crowd goes crazy for it, and KUSHIDA is easily pinned. Well, that’s certainly not the result that I expected.

After the match, everybody gets an opportunity to work the mic, and Scotty in particular does a heartfelt speech about how he was happy to make the trip for the show, getting to wrestle in Japan for the first time in his long professional wrestling career. The post-match stuff was one of those moments where you could tell that the wrestlers were legitimately having a great time going back and forth with one another, which is always one of my favorite things to see on a card.

Match Thoughts: This one had the potential to be a huge trainwreck. Though Tajiri obviously had experience going up against WWE wrestlers, Bairon and KUSHIDA very much wrestle like traditional Japanese independent stars, and I was curious to see whether they would actually be able to mesh with Eugene and Scotty, a potential problem which was only compounded with Bairon given that she’s a woman. As it turns out, there was no clash of styles whatsoever, which probably has a lot to do with the fact that, though people tend not to realize it because the majority of their time in WWE was spent as midcard comedy wrestlers, both Eugene and Scotty are highly seasoned veterans with awesome fundamentals. Eugene and Bairon in particular had surprisingly good chemistry, to the point that I would be interested in seeing a seven to ten minute singles match between the two of them.

Also, though I could have done without him dropping the fall, I like how this match played into the work that SMASH has been doing with KUSHIDA throughout their first five shows. They’ve really been positioning him as the guy who will be carrying the company going forward, and, in order to do that, they’ve been consistently featuring him in the best and longest matches on the company’s shows. Normally that would be enough to help him along as a big name, but they’ve also done a great job in featuring him in different types of matches, which will give him more depth as a performer. His bouts against Hajime Ohara and Prince Devitt were traditional Japanese junior heavyweight matches. His match against Isami Kodaka was a deathmatch. Now, he’s essentially worked a somewhat higher end version of a WWE television main event. KUSHIDA isn’t just being given the chance to show that he can go. He’s being given the chance to show that he can go in a variety of different settings, and I’m enjoying the hell out of it. ***1/4

Overall

Though the star ratings for the undercard may not necessarily reflect it, this was another pretty damn fun little show from SMASH. Though their matches are limited in terms of time, it’s interesting to watch the development of relatively fresh faces like Kodama and Sihra. There are also some storylines moving forward, with Kana and Shuri continuing their rivalry towards what will presumably be a big blowoff and with Starbuck being introduced as a new monster heel that appears to be a force to be reckoned with. Top that off with a really fun main event involving some unique parings of professional wrestlers, and you’ve got a card that I felt was more than worth my time. All-in-all, this was probably my favorite SMASH show since the company’s debut.

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