Into the Indies 11.23.10: Farewell, Naniwa

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Into the Indies, the column that has crabs.

This past weekend, I was very saddened to learn of the death of Japanese professional wrestler Gran Naniwa. For those of you who are not familiar with Naniwa, he was an independent professional wrestler who had the most noteworthy years of his career in the mid-1990’s, first breaking in with the lucha libre-inspired UWA promotion of Gran Hamada and then moving on to Michinoku Pro Wrestling. It was M-Pro where he would gain the majority of his fame as a regular part of the promotion’s babyface home unit, aiding the likes of the Great Sasuke and Super Delfin in the good guys’ battles against Kaientai DX and, later on, Crazy Max. In addition to being a solid number two or number three babyface in the multi-man tag matches that put Michinoku Pro on the map during the 1990’s, Naniwa was also one of the first wrestlers to be heavily praised for his comedic spots and later his entirely comedic matches, including a 1995 match against Mexico’s Damien 666 which is considered to be one of the first and finest examples of Japanese comedy wrestlers in history. After departing M-Pro in the late 1990’s, Naniwa bounced around between many promotions, working some tours as a junior heavyweight for both All Japan and New Japan in addition to making guest appearances for the likes of Kaientai Dojo and Osaka Pro.

Though details as to why he suffered it are sparse, it appears that the wrestler passed away on October 6, 2010 from a heart attack at the young age of 33. (Which, yes, if you do the math means that he began his professional wrestling career and had some of his biggest matches as a teenager.) The delay in word about his death getting out is a result of traditions of the Buddhist sect to which Naniwa’s family belonged, which calls for no official announcement of the passing to be made until a ceremony is held several weeks after the actual death.

Naniwa, known for his crab-shaped mask, his rope-walk elbowdrop, and his affable demeanor backstage was one of the first wrestlers who I really gravitated towards when I first started getting Japanese tapes many years ago. He wasn’t necessarily an awe-inspiring worker like Jushin Liger or Chris Benoit, but all of his matches were competently worked and had an air of “fun” about them, regardless of whether they were meant to be comedic bouts or serious affairs. I was so taken with Naniwa that, when I went through my brief phase of collecting replicas of Japanese and Mexican professional wrestlers’ masks, it was Naniwa’s hood that first got added to my set. Furthermore, for a time I was also tracking down shows specifically because they featured a lot of Naniwa in action. As a bit of a tribute to Naniwa, I thought that I would dust off one of those old tapes and pop it into the VCR, providing a review that will cover not just this week but next week as well.

The shows in question are the August 20 and September 5, 1999 editions of Michinoku Pro Wrestling’s “Lucha TV” show, which documents the efforts of the promotion to hold its second round robin tournament featured exclusively masked wrestlers. The first installment of this tournament was held in 1995 and featured Mexican legend Dos Caras standing at the top of the heap when all was said and done. The 1999 version offers up a very diverse talent pool, mixing M-Pro regulars of the time such as the Great Sasuke, Gran Naniwa, and Super Delfin with British imports like the Dirtbike Kid, White Bear, and Dokko Chan. Throw in Black Warrior out of Mexico, and you’ve got quite the international affair. Sounds like the setup for something awesome, right? WELL THAT’S NOT ALL! Though not competing in the tournament, guess who else is along for the ride on this tour? Crazy Max! Yes, that’s right, we’ve got the late 90’s heel stable that was all the rage, featuring CIMA early in his development into one of the best wrestlers in the world. Not enough for you? The WWF was gracious enough to make a little talent loan, so TAKA Michinoku is in the house for these shows as well.

It’s quite the lineup of international stars, so let’s take a look at what the company is able to produce!

Now this is a bit of an infamous matchup. For those of you who haven’t heard the backstory, Sasuke is the grizzled veteran behind Michinoku Pro. DBK is a British indy wrestler who was actually getting a fair amount of buzz on the internet around the time of this tournament. However, word is that he almost immediately pissed Sasuke off in Japan, copping an attitude and generally acting like a much bigger star than he really was. Things went from bad to worse when, before this match, the Kid ripped off the mask that was designed for him to wear on the tour, which kinda defeats the purpose of the guy being in a masked man tournament.

Kid is all action from the get go with a dropkick and a back body drop before tossing Sasuke out of the ring and hitting a somersault plancha. Back on the inside, Kid comes back with a double axe handle from the top rope to set up a Falcon Arrow that gets two. Sasuke is then set up top, and a rana from Dirtbike Kid gets another nearfall. The youngster continues to dominate with a frog splash, but his second attempt at the same move misses, and that’s when things get serious. Sasuke boots the crap out of the limey, and he’s not pulling his kicks at all. A few ribs are legitimately broken, and that, combined with his general piss poor attitude keeps the Kid out of the rest of the tournament. Sasuke then slaps on a front face lock and legitimately uses it to choke out Dirt Bike.

Match Thoughts: Well, it wasn’t much of a match, but, when I write columns like Ask 411, one of the popular questions to ask is what examples there are of worked matches breaking down into legitimate fights and whether there is any video tape of them available. If you’re somebody who wants to see one of those matches, this is just about as clear of an example as you’re going to get, as poor DBK was suckered in and brutalized almost immediately. I can’t rate something like this because it was hardly a traditional wrestling bout, but I will say that it amounts for an interesting spectacle, especially if you can take Sasuke’s side and convince yourself that the Kid had this beating coming.

We’ve got more tournament action. For those of you who are only familiar with the fourth Tiger Mask from his recent work with New Japan Pro Wrestling, he actually got started off with Michinoku, sort of as an unofficial developmental deal that would eventually see him bumped up to the big leagues.

Naniwa charges to start, and he immediately tosses his opponent from the ring en route to hitting a flipping apron dive. He continues the assault with a DDT on the inside, but Tiger blocks a rebound bulldog attempt, causing Naniwa to roll to the outside. The Tiger Mask fakeout follows, and, just when Naniwa thinks he’s safe, an actual tope from Mr. Mask puts the crab man down on the floor. Back on the inside, Tiger takes over with a series of kicks and forearms before they trade snap mare/back kick combos and a few chops as well. Tiger Mask winds up on the winning end of that exchange, and he applies a chinlock before switching over to a headscissors. Naniwa reverses that into a variation on the old surfboard hold, but IV gets up to his feet and flips out of the hold while simultaneously kicking the opposition in the chest. Another kick series puts Tiger Mask solidly in control, and a half crab is applied before the former comedy character makes it to the ropes. Mask then takes him over to the corner and chokes him out before pulling up Naniwa and bringing him back down with a bunch of knees. An Irish whip is attempted, but . . .

Naniwa reverses, and he follows Tiger Mask in with a corner clothesline before hitting the boot rakes. Of off a second whip sequence, IV winds up doing a top rope back flip over Naniwa and gets a kick/suplex combo for a nearfall. A chinlock is applied, but Naniwa gets himself out with a backdrop before tossing the opposition out of the ring. IV takes the Sean Waltman crotch bump in to the ringpost, and Naniwa backs WAYYYY up before charging in with a lariat that gets nothing but post! That looked great, and Tiger wisely zeros in by slamming the arm in to the post again and wrenching it around the hardware as well. The two return to the ring, and a Fujiwara armbar is applied so that Naniwa can make the ropes again. A few kicks to the arm soften things up a bit more before Tiger just decides to sit on the thing and pull back as we get another trip to the ropes. Mask punches away, but Naniwa no sells those and lands some forearms before sending taking the wrestling furry down in to a cross arm breaker. Mask eventually fights his way out of it, and he gets a top rope cross body block for two, only to have Naniwa come back with an enzuguri and a lariat with his bad arm. Stupidly, he goes for a second one, but Tiger Mask kicks the arm away, prompting Naniwa to successfully connect with his good limb.

Mask rolls out of the ring, and he also rolls out of the way of a Gran Naniwa plancha, allowing Tiger Mask to pop back in to the ring and (barely) land one of his own. He continues to dominate on the inside, getting a belly to belly suplex for two. He attempts a moonsault and misses, only to land on his feet. The two fight over the right to German suplex each other, and Naniwa eventually wins that . . . only to have Tiger Mask land on his feet. Naniwa quickly takes him down with a leg bar, however, and the ropes are once again hit. Tiger tries to rally with some kicks, but Naniwa goes to the eyes and applies a full nelson which is rolled through for a Tiger Mask cross arm breaker. It could be a finish with the arm work earlier, but the ropes are made. Mask stays on the offensive with a tombstone, but he misses a swandive headbutt and Crabby is able to plant him with a Kobashi DDT for two. A flying splash gets two as well, and Tiger Mask is set up on the top rope, where he successfully blocks a rana. The Tiger Driver follows up, but it also can’t get the job done, so Mask goes for the Tiger suplex . . . only to have the dual chickenwing reversed in to a cradle that gets Naniwa two.

A small package and a nice powerslam also get their own respective two counts, and now Gran Naniwa looks to finish with a chokeslam, but it’s reversed in to a triangle choke. The crowd really buys in to this one, but Naniwa is still able to hit the ropes. Tiger follows with a series of kicks, including a couple of the bad arm, but Naniwa catches a leg and hits a dragon screw. As soon as Tiger Mask gets back up he’s met with a pair of lariats (unfortunately with the bad arm). Those get two, as does a spinning doctor bomb. Naniwa attempts the chokeslam again, but he doesn’t even bother to go for the cover. He does cover after a twisting side slam, though, and that is enough to finally cap off the match.

Match Thoughts: On the pro side of things, this one had a slow build to a very hot finish, which I’m typically a huge fan of. However, it wasn’t a very flawless build, as everybody was working the mat one minute and just seemed to kick it in to high gear the next. Meanwhile, the story surrounding the arm were very nice for the most part. Though the “lariat the post” spot has been done before, this was perhaps the most impressive one I’ve seen. It’s the selling of the injury I’m a bit more iffy on. I would have liked to have seen more done with it, but that’s difficult without actually having Tiger win the match, which they obviously didn’t want to do. However, the injury wasn’t TOTALLY forgotten during the closing moments, which already puts this ahead of a lot of bouts, especially eleven years later. We’ll call it ***1/4.

As often happens with Japanese TV blocksk from this era, up next we have a series of matches that are clipped up into highlight reels. This one is Sasuke up against Dokko Chan. Chan is actually UK indy wrestler Jody Fleisch, who is very early in his career at this point and was given the masked gimmick for the specific purpose of competing in this tournament. Fleisch kicks us off with a flipping plancha to the outside from the top rope, as well as a nice rana and a springboard dropkick. Clipping ahead, the two fight outside in the bowels of the school gymnasium, where Chan moonsaults off of a wall on to Sasuke. Back in the ring, Dokko gets a shooting star press . . . but we clip ahead to Sasuke hitting a backbreaker and the senton atomico for three. Fleisch is probably one of my least favorite professional wrestlers just because he’s horribly inconsistent with his flying move and uses them as a crutch instead of having solid pro wrestling fundamentals, but he’s a great guy to watch in highlight reel form, because you can eliminate all of the crap and focus on the 50% or so of his spots that he hits beautifully.

This is another one from the highlight reel. They start with a mild comedy bit where Naniwa keeps tossing Dokko Chan, but the Brit just won’t stay on the outside of the ring. Chan is shown getting his flipping plancha again, and then we cut to Naniwa blocking a rana and turning it in to a half crab before switching over to the crossface. More Dokko Chan highlights see him hitting a springboard dropkick, an Asai moonsault from the top rope, and a swinging DDT from the top. However, it’s all for naught as Naniwa reverses a running powerbomb in to a rana and gets a pair of lariats for the victory. More good looking stuff from Fleisch here, though I have to wonder what we’re NOT seeing.

White Bear, like Dokko Chan, is a British indy wrestler who was brought in for the tournament and put under a mask and a new gimmick just so that he would fit the theme of the tour. The name that he used to work under in the UK is Jason Cross, though he’s not to be confused with the American Jason Cross who got a brief push in TNA because of his “Crossfire” shooting star legdrop. From what I understand, the British Jason Cross is no longer in the wrestling business, and this tour was probably his career highlight. Anyway, we start off with Bear getting a dragon screw and a legbar, followed by a top rope rana, followed by a helicopter splash. Then we switch to Sasuke’s offense, as he lands a no hands somersault plancha as well as a cross arm breaker. The senton atomico misses and sets up more White Bear offense, but it’s not too long before he jumps off the ropes directly in to a Fujiwara armbar and taps out.

Not a whole lot to report here. Chan hits every big move that he’s hit in every other featured match thusfar, and then Tiger Mask takes over when Dakko crotches himself on the top rope and gets tossed. A powerbomb gets two for Tiger, as does a jumping piledriver that just PLANTED Fleisch. A backbreaker of all things winds up getting the three count.

For those of you not familiar with Super Boy, he’s one of my all-time favorite indy wrestlers. He’s a southern California lucha wrestler who, despite being short and VERY stocky flies around the ring like he’s Ultimo Dragon. He had numerous gimmicks in M-Pro over the years, but Super Boy was probably his most notable. As soon as we start off with the highlight reel, it’s time to FLY, FATASS, FLY as Supes gets a tope and chairs Naniwa out in the crowd. He’s whipped into a wall in retaliation, and Naniwa gets the boot rakes back in the ring. A pair of sentons get two for Supes, but he’s soon hit with the rebound bulldog and the Crab Rope Walk. Clipping ahead, Naniwa’s lariats are ineffective due to his opponent’s low center of gravity. A plancha does take tubby down, but he quickly responds with an Asai moonsault. Back on the inside, a senton atomico and a flying splash back to back get two for the rudo. However, he misses with a moonsault a few minutes later, allowing Naniwa to hit a rana and a DDT. A top rope rana finishes for the crabster. Solid looking action from two of my personal favorites.

Curry Man is, of course, Christopher Daniels. The gimmick started right here in Michinoku Pro long before it migrated into New Japan Pro Wrestling and later TNA. Daniels starts things off with an Asai moonsault and remains in control, hitting a vertical suplex and distracting the referee while Supes goes for Tiger’s mask. (Not the Osaka Pro guy.) The bad guys cheat a little more as Super Boy offers up extra leverage on a Curry Man abdominal stretch. Clipping ahead, Tiger Mask gets a powerbomb and a plancha, followed up later on by a German. Curry Man counters said German with a really nifty roll-up that gets him two. Not long after, he looks to finish with the Spicy Drop, but it’s blocked and transformed in to a match-winning Tiger Suplex.

As we join the match, Sasuke attempts to back elbow Naniwa off the apron but fails as our favorite case of crabs hooks the top rope. A lariat from behind gets two for Naniwa, and we clip ahead to him barely . . . and I mean BARELY getting a super rana. Naniwa later hits a powerbomb for the (upset) win, but apparently his arm is seriously injured and he is strechered out after the match. More on this one later.

This is a random six man tag match consisting mainly of tournament competitors. A quick rundown of the new faces: Chapinger is the masked alter ego of Masayoshi Motegi, who some of you may remember from popular junior heavyweight tournaments in the mid-1990’s. Gran Hamada is the father of TNA’s Ayako Hamada and a founding father of the lucha libre/puroresu hybrid which was the main style in M-Pro and later grew into Dragon Gate. Black Warrior is on loan from Mexico, and, if I’m not mistaken, he’s still active there.

Daniels starts it off with Hamada, and the Curry Man gimmick appears to be quite over with the fans on this particular evening. The masked man and the old man lock up, and Curry Man goes behind only to get trapped in an arm bar. That gets turned in to a cross arm breaker, and Curry quickly reaches the ropes. He comes back with a single leg takedown and a legbar, but Hamada reverses to his own hold before the ropes are made again. Curry still tries the whole technical wrestling thing despite getting owned twice now, applying a hammerlock. Hamada flips out, however, and applies a chinlock while periodically breaking to knee the whippersnapper in the back. White Bear is brought in, and he works the arm before Curry Man escapes and the two trade legsweeps. Bear gets on top of things with another armbar, and it’s temporarily reversed before the Brit reverses the reversal in to one of the five million submission holds that my feeble mind and limited shorthand abilities are unable to describe. The Fallen Spice manages to turn it in to a front facelock, however, and he backs Bear in to the heel corner before making the tag to Chapinger.

Choppy hits the ring with a back elbow on to Bear, and he plants his knee firmly in to the mammal’s back while wrenching on the arms. That becomes an arm bar over time, and ‘Pinger trades off to Black Warrior, who comes in with an elbow drop. For some reason, Warrior tosses Bear in to the face corner, which draws Hamada back in to things. Grandpa applies a headlock and is shoved off, only to recover nicely with a rana . . . but Warrior makes his comeback with a back breaker. The luchador looks for backdrop, but Hamada counters it and gets one of his own before tagging out to Dokko Chan for the first time in this match. Chapinger is brought in at the same time, and Chan (the lankiest mofo in the wrestling business, by the way) is flattened by a shoulderblock. He blocks a DC hiptoss and counters with a lariat, and a snap mare/backbreaker combo follows. Mr. Fleisch is placed into the Tree of Joey Lawrence, and the rudos produce a small circular wooden table that ‘Pinger kicks in to the youngster’s face. Warrior is brought back in, and he DDT’s his opponent on to the same table before just ramming the poor kid’s face in to it. Did they import an American referee for this match or what?

Curry Man takes over on Fleisch with an armbar. Chan tries several reversals, but Daniels pulls him down by the mask each time before Dokko finally wises up and does the same to his opponent. Chan tries to build momentum with a monkey flip out of the corner, but Daniels lands on his feet . . . only to be caught with a victory roll that gets two. The King of Spice bails, and Chan fakes a dive . . . only to follow with a no hands plancha when Curry Man becomes overconfident. Hamada and Chapinger replace them in the ring, and Choppy dominates in the corner before piledriving Hamada down onto that damned table. Black Warrior is brought in for a double lariat, and he stays in for a standing spinebuster and a Stinger splash. Hamada goes for one of his own off of a reversal, but it misses and sets up Curry Man’s return to the ring. He gets a powerslam for two before just tagging Chapinger right back in. Motegi gets a vertical suplex and rolls through on an abdominal stretch for another nearfall. Warrior returns to the ring, as does Dokko Chan. Warrior is the first to get some offense by way of a low drop kick, and the famous “pick him up and just drop him” slam follows. A HUGE lionsault gets two for the Warrior after that . . . fabulous distance on the move.

Hamada and Chapinger replace those two quickly, and Hamada gets in his headbutts as well as a corner lariat. A rana from the top follows for the oldie but goodie, and White Bear and Curry man suddenly appear in the ring by drop kicking out their respective opponents. Then, keeping up the trend, Curry Man does a dive out on to Hamada, and Bear does the same to Chapinger. This leaves the ring open for Warrior and Chan to return, but that’s perhaps the shortest pair off ever, as Black Warrior gets distracted by White Bear . . . AND CHAN TAKES OUT DANIELS WITH A SHOOTING STAR TO THE FLOOR! Fleisch tosses food product boy back in to the ring, and he goes up for firebird splash . . . which fails just about as miserably as a top rope move can fail. The poor kid landed on one knee, with that knee hitting nothing the mat about three inches away from the wrong side of Daniels’ head. See what I mean about Fleisch being woefully inconsistent? Chapinger pretends that there is some reason to make the save and does so. Curry Man then cuts off another dive from Dokko, probably saving the kid’s life in the process, and the Spicy Drop finishes the match.

Match Thoughts: Well, now we understand why Jodie Fleisch was previously limited only to highlight reels. Okay, so he just blew the one spot, but it was BAD and at a very climatic moment. The rest of the match wasn’t much to write home about either, as the repeated use of the foreign object is just something I don’t like to see in my Japanese junior heavyweight matches. I’ll pop in an old ECW show if I want to see that, thank you very much. Additionally, the build of the match just seemed to be all over the place. They went almost immediately from a mat-based beginning to the spotty finish of a six man tag match without even so much as attempting to insert a middle part (which normally would’ve been a face-in-peril deal). It was like reading a book and getting all of the exposition before immediately rushing to the climax. **1/4

Tournament? What tournament? The heels ambush the faces at the bell to kick us off, and everybody winds up on the outside of the ring. TAKA takes CIMA over to the high school gym’s stage and whips him in to it before hitting a snap mare and a low drop kick on the floor. Mr. Michinoku gets a running cross body block off of the stage, being sure to land on his feet after hitting the move. Ah, how I miss seeing this guy wrestling in his prime. Back in the ring, Fujita and TAKA hit the Kaientai camel clutch/dropkick combo on CIMA, and Minoru takes over in the ring. He gets another dropkick to CIMA’s head and follows with a slam, which sets up the chinlock. The Crazy Max member tries to counter with a jawbreaker, but Fujita just hangs on, only to have CIMA elbow his way out eventually. Sumo Fuji replaces his partner in the ring, and they get a double back elbow as CIMA runs over to nail TAKA. Fuji gets a pair of slams, but Minoru no-sells both of them and counters with a slam of his own. A headlock from the smaller man is next, and he also doesn’t sell Sumo Fuji’s attempted shoulder block counter. Fuji goes for a lariat off of the ropes, but Fujita continues his dominance by rolling under and dropkicking his opponent. A charge form Fuji hits nothing but boot, and Minoru applies his version of the Tarantula.

Not long after, CIMA and TAKA are brought in to continue their battle of the CAPS. Michinoku takes him down with an armdrag and an armbar, but Fuji breaks that up. The Sumo replaces his partner in the ring, and TAKA can’t shoulderblock Fuji down until his third try. He applies an abdominal stretch, but CIMA breaks things up and replaces Fuji as the legal man . . . apparently that whole rule about tagging in and out doesn’t apply to Crazy Max. A lariat takes the WWF’er down, and CIMA just gets downright nasty by placing his boot on TAKA’S crotch and simultaneously pulling on his legs. He misses a dropkick, however, and Michinoku returns the favor with a low blow before bringing in Fujita. He gets a few boot rakes in the corner, and TAKA runs in with a dropkick to CIMA’s face, with Fujita following in short order. CIMA manages to take control back with a kick to Fujita’s gut followed by a DDT. A springboard bulldog follows, but Fujita changes the tide once again with a rana that sends CIMA to the outside. The heel jumps over a baseball slide attempt, but Minoru is just too smart and slams CIMA’s face in to the apron regardless. Fujita jumps off of the apron to stomp CIMA before bringing him back in to the ring, where the Ultimo trainee grabs Minoru’s leg on a kick attempt and hits his opponent low.

That’s the prefect opportunity for Sumo Fuji to return, as he hotshots Fujita and chokes him out with some tape from his wrist. A slam and an elbow get two, and a drop toe hold/basement dropkick comb from the heels sets up a nasty CIMA kick directly to Minoru’s ass. For the record, Crazy Max is able to double team like this because one of them runs over and decks TAKA about every thirty seconds . . . you’d think the guy would wise up and just run in already. CIMA gets a pair of legdrops, and Fujita is the placed in the tree of woe for a double dropkick from the heels. CIMA then taunts Michinoku by offering up Fujita’s hand just out of his reach, and this causes TAKA to distract the referee while Fuji chokes out the Japanese Ricky Morton on the ropes. After that, a side slam gets two for Fuji, and Crazy Max double teams again. This time they lift Minoru up into a two man press slam before dropping him in to a facebuster that gets two. CIMA tosses Fujita up into the air and brings him down with an X-Factor for another nearfall, and the heels grab an armdrag/powerbomb combo just for fun. Big Don Sumo Dandy Fuji applies the Boston crab, and the crowd really seems to buy it as a possible finish before Fujita eventually makes the ropes.

Things finally start to turn around, however, as Fuji misses an avalanche and the accidentally nails CIMA in a classic MALFUNCTION AT THE JUNCTION! The heels spill outside and the faces get stereo dives. Fujita winds up back on the inside with Fuji, where he lands a dropkick . . . only to miscue and nail TAKA while going for CIMA. CIWEET Chin music sends Fujita to the outside, but TAKA flips out of CIMA’s German suplex attempt . . . only to have a try at a rana blocked with a powerbomb that gets two for Crazy Max. TAKA comes back with a second rope lariat, but a twisting elbow from the top misses. The two fight over dominance on the top rope, and CIMA wins out with the Iconoclasm. He looks for the mad splash, but TAKA dropkicks him off of the top before he can leap. CIMA falls to the outside and Michinoku looks for an Asai moonsault, but that is also blocked. Meanwhile, Minoru and Fuji have paired off again in the ring. Sumo no-sells a bunch of lariats, but Fujita eventually takes him down and applies a horrendous STF variant, only to have the heel make the ropes. A five-arm from Fujita follows, and he lands a Northern lights suplex for two. Fuji gets the same with a powerslam, but TAKA cuts off his attempt at a chokeslam with a springboard dropkick. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, though, as CIMA cuts off a Michinoku Driver II on Fuji.

That knocks TAKA to the outside, and CIMA comes down on him with the corkscrew pescada. Meanwhile, on the inside of the ring, Sumo Fuji finally gets in that chokeslam and steals Outback Jack’s boomerang lariat finisher to polish off Fujita. After the match, TAKA has absolutely NO LOVE for any tag team partner of his that gets pinned, as Fujita crawls over to him only to be kicked away. Damn right, TAKA, don’t you tolerate any of that jobbing bullshit on your team.

Match Thoughts: This could have been a really fun, chaotic tag team match . . . but the problem was that it just got TOO chaotic. There was a very good heat segment on Fujita, but the problem was that the rules of tag team wrestling were completely ignored by the Crazy Max team. Meanwhile, any time that TAKA tried to get in to the ring, he would immediately be cut off by the referee. Maybe I’m too picky, but that little logic gap really got to me. Plus all of the unregulated switching and double teaming by the heels made the match seem rather disorganized. However, there were several very good highspots throughout, and everybody was quite motivated. I’ll call it ***.

We are jointed in progress here and start things off with a good reversal series that ends with Fujita getting a pair of rolling Northern lights suplexes for two. He gets two again off of a cradle, but gets crotched going up. CIMA follows and the two fight over just who will get to slam whom off of the turnbuckles, with Minoru blocking an Iconoclasm and coming off with a big rana. A German gets two again for the babyface, and he looks for a dragon suplex. CIMA escapes the full nelson and goes for a lariat, but Fujita grabs him and does land the dragon for another nearfall. He goes for it a second time, but CIMA reverses into a side Russian leg sweep and applies an armbar. Fujita reaches the ropes and CIMA goes up, only to be cut off by his opponent. They jockey for position on the top again, this time with CIMA winning and hitting the Iconoclasm. He then signals for a Michinoku Driver II, but Fujita schoolboys him for two. The comeback is short-lived, though, as CIWEET chin music sets up a sit-out Northern lights bomb and the Mad Splash to finish things off.

Match Thoughts: Little was actually shown, so I’m iffy on actually assigning a rating, but I feel a little adventurous today. The great feature of this match was that they really made everything look like a struggle. The guys just didn’t go out there and hit moves, they had to FIGHT for everything, even the big stuff. That, combined with the intensity that both men displayed, made for an enjoyable albeit short affair. It was about as good as you were going to get in the allotted time. **1/2

The match is once more JIP. Fuji is working over TAKA’s leg as we join things, having ripped off part of his pants in order to expose the knee. A slam and an elbow get two for Fuji after the leg work is over, but Michinoku flips through a German suplex attempt and goes for a rana…only to have it turned in to a half Boston crab. Somebody really needs to decide whether that move primarily works the leg or the back . . . people use it for both, and it’s really annoying. TAKA makes the ropes regardless of what part of him was hurting, and Sumo Fuji holds on to the leg. That’s the perfect cue for Michinoku to try an enzuguri, but Fuji ducks, only to be hit on TAKA’s second try. A jumping knee in the corner follows from the WWF star, but he’s elbowed in the face and falls to the floor while attempting to climb to the top rope. Fuji follows him out with a pescada, but it’s Michinoku that actually controls things upon reentry to the ring. That’s only true for a brief period, though, as Fuji turns TAKA’s attempt at a slingshot sunset flip in to a sit-down splash. That looks to set up the nodowa from Sumo Fuji, but TAKA reverses it in to an armbar . . . only to get side slammed for one. Michinoku then cradles for two before landing a pair of backdrop suplexes.

A third backdrop with a bridge isn’t enough to put Fuji away, so TAKA goes to the outside and hits a springboard spinning heel kick. He then goes for the Michinoku Driver II, but THE BAD KNEE GIVES! YEAH, BABY, SELL THAT INJURY! This results in TAKA being powerbombed, and Fuji goes up only to be cut off. Michinoku looks to cut him off but is headbutted down twice. On TAKA’s third trip up, Fuji brings him down hard with a second rope nodowa . . . but Michinoku gets his feet on the ropes at two! A regular nodowa gets two as well, so Sumo Fuji decides it’s time to bust out the Outback Jack lariats. The second half of the move is ducked, though, and TAKA looks for the Driver . . . but CIMA trips him up from the outside! CIMA holds TAKA for Fuji, but there’s a bit of a malfunction at the junction, and the heels collide. The Driver II connects for real, but instead of going for the cover, TAKA chooses to hit CIMA with a Super Asai moonsault! He’s quickly back in to the ring, though, and a missile dropkick to Fuji’s head sets up a second Michinoku Driver II to finish the match. CIMA tries to go after the bad knee post-match but is run off by various M-Pro babyfaces.

Match Thoughts: This one was pretty much all TAKA, though Fuji at this point in his career was a competent enough wrestler to just stand there and have a more talented individual just do all of the right stuff around him. The crowd was definitely into it, and these men were trading convincing nearfalls like nobody’s business. The only problem I have is that TAKA had his knee give out once on the Michinoku Driver attempt but then suddenly has the ability to do the move not once . . . but twice? That makes no sense whatsoever in my book. A solid bout marred by a little bit of bad psychology and unnecessary interference. ***

Overall

On one hand, this was a stand-alone show, because it aired on television without any immediate follow-up. On the other hand, it wasn’t a stand-alone show, because it was the first of two installments of Michinoku Pro’s regular TV that told the story of the masked man tournament and the other feuds that were playing out on the same tour. If you consider it as a stand-alone show, there were some good individual matches here but nothing that stood out to the point that I would absolutely implore you to seek it out in light of the many other wrestling shows from the same era that are available. However if you consider this primarily to be a setup for the second show, this one was quite good. All of the full matches were better than average though not exactly blow-aways, and there was the build of a quality angle as TAKA attempts to help Fujita score a victory over Crazy Max. The tournament itself was relegated mainly to the domain of clips, though it was just enough to introduce everybody to the pool of talent that was going to be involved. I would say that if you’re trying to save a bit of money and can find a dealer who will separate the two shows, you could skip this half . . . but it’s not something you actively want to avoid.

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