Into the Indies 01.25.11: Back to SMASH (Part 1)

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Into the Indies, the column of dishonor.

This week, we are returning to one of the promotions that has been most heavily featured in this column, SMASH. After devoting the entire month of October to reviewing shows from the Tajiri-booked promotion, we took a couple of months away from them to see how the company developed. In the latter part of 2010, SMASH came back with several very interesting shows, and, now that those shows have become available, we’re going to be taking a look at them, beginning this week with the first half of SMASH 10 which took place on November 22, 2010.

There were several major events on the horizon headed into SMASH 10. First of all, the company was upgrading its venue significantly. After holding all of its prior shows in the sub-700 seat arena known as Shinjuku FACE, SMASH 10 was the company’s first show held at the larger JCB Hall, which holds over three thousand fans. In order to draw a sell-out audience (which the show did), SMASH was going to need a hell of an indy wrestling lineup. They started that lineup off by building a solid undercard, which is the portion of the show that we’re going to look at this week.

One of the first major announcements for the show as that New Japan junior heavyweight legend Jushin “Thunder” Liger would be making his first appearance for SMASH. Liger was programmed against Mentallo. Mentallo, a Canadian independent wrestler who became a regular with SMASH after impressing in a tryout match on the company’s first show, got his first big break on SMASH 9, when the promotion brought in Liger’s former tag team partner El Samurai in order to do battle with him. Mentallo wound up getting a surprising upset victory in that match, building perfectly into his bout against Liger.

Liger would not be the only guest star on the card, though. Back on SMASH 5 and 6 in July, former WWF Tag Team Champion Scotty II Hotty made his professional wrestling debut in Japan and delighted the crowd with his antics, especially the W-O-R-M. SMASH 10 would see the much-anticipated return to the Orient of Scotty, this time participating in one of the truly most random tag team matches that I have ever seen. Each team consists of one American former WWE star, one male Japanese star, one legend of Japanese women’s wrestling, and one up-and-coming female wrestler. In that order, the teams were Scotty, AKIRA, KAROU, and Nagisa Nozaki against Nunzio (yes, Nunzio), TAKA Michinoku, Toshie Uematsu, and Tomoka Nakagawa. In addition to the lineups being completely out there, this match was also of some personal interest to yours truly, because it paired up TAKA and Nakagawa, noteworthy because TAKA is the boss of Kaientai Dojo, the group credited with initially training Tomoka to wrestle. Of course, Nakagawa is near and dear to my heart as one of the Japanese women who has taken SHIMMER by storm and will hopefully continue to do so this March when that group returns to action.

Of the guest appearances, it is perhaps the fourth that is the most surprising. Liger could be anticipated because he does indy shows regularly and because Tajiri has a good working relationship with New Japan. Scotty was making his return to the company, so you couldn’t really call that a surprise. Nunzio probably just got in through Scotty. The real surprise was that BUSHWHACKER LUKE would be competing for SMASH. That’s right. As a compliment to their World Tryout Series matches which highlight up-and-coming professional wrestlers, SMASH on this show decided to launch a series of bouts referred to as the “World Legend Revival,” designed to cash in on whatever nostalgia value that former greats may have. Luke Williams was apparently the first guy to get the call for this series (for god knows what reason) and he was put up against Yusuke Kodama, the young SMASH rookie who is looking to make an impression.

Of course, there were many more matches higher up on the card of SMASH 10, but we’ll have to put off looking at those until next week. For now, let’s see if the undercard can sizzle en route to the main event.

Match Numero Uno: Takao Omori vs. Ibo Ten

This is the latest in the World Tryout Match series, during which wrestlers from outside of Japan have an opportunity to come to the country and wrestle one of the best that puro has to offer. This is the first I’ve heard of Ibo Ten, who is the one getting the tryout, but it appears that he’s a member of the Fight Club Finland roster, and he’s announced as hailing from Norway. Omori, meanwhile, is an eighteen year veteran of the wrestle scene who has competed in New Japan, All Japan, NOAH, and ZERO1 – virtually every major company that has existed in puroresu since his debut.

The match starts with a generic “smaller wrestler can’t take the larger wrestler down with shoulderblocks” spot, but, after a few seconds, Omori decides he’s had enough of that ish and Yakuza kicks Ibo Ten right in the face, then hiptossing him down. Ten responds with a hiptoss and an elbowdrop before engaging in some blatant choking. A second spinebuster sets up a big senton from the Norwegian, and Omori takes a breather on the outside. Ibo tries to follow him out after a bit, but that’s a failure, as he jumps off of the ring apron right into Omori’s fist, allowing the Japanese wrestler to take control. He hits a series of European uppercuts back on the inside but gets caught with an Ibo Ten butterfly suplex. Omori gets his boot up on an avalanche attempt, but it’s all for naught as, seconds later, he runs straight into a tree slam. Ibo climbs up to the top rope, only to miss a superfly splash, which leads immediately into an Omori lariat that wins the match for him.

Match Thoughts: This wasn’t really what you would expect from a puroresu match. Ibo Ten, though he wasn’t bad at what he did, appeared to be very limited in what he could do, and the result was Omori wrestling in what felt more like a match off of WWE television than a match from the Far East. Granted, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the action was bad, just that it was simpler and more slowly paced than what you would normally see on a show like this. *1/2

Match Numero Dos: Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Mentallo

Liger asks for a handshake to start, but Mentallo uses it to armdrag and then dropkick him, and it’s not long before the legend is tossed from the ring and hit with an Asai moonsault from the Canadian upstart. Liger actually stays on the outside until the count of nineteen, one second away from being counted out. When he does get back in between the ropes, Mentallo immediately hits him with a Finlay roll and a moonsault press for two, but before long he’s run into Liger’s boot and eaten a pair of tilt-a-whirl backbreakers. Now it is Mentallo who has to head to the floor for a breather, giving the New Japan wrestler an opening to flatten him with a plancha. Liger then connects with a BRAINBUSTER ON THE FLOOR, and Mentallo should pretty well be dead. Mentallo also makes it back to the ring at the count of nineteen, at which point he is placed in a surfboard submission. Liger yelling “Ask him!” in English to the referee always makes me smile a little. Eventually the former IWGP Jr. Champ relinquishes the hold voluntarily, and that may have been a mistake because Mentallo is able to give him a series of kicks to the head en route to hitting a sit-out powerbomb. The announcers call it a Ligerbomb, and Mentallo follows it with the Alabama Jam for a nearfall. The wrestlers engage in some standing switches when they return to their feet, with Liger hitting a shotei off of the ropes and his own Ligerbomb before setting up for the brianbuster. Mentallo blocks the move and rolls Liger up for two, but the veteran wrestler soon hits another shotei to set up a brainbuster which actually connects. That move gets him the win.

Match Thoughts: It seemed as though the wrestlers had less time than they might have been anticipating, as this felt like the last five minutes of a twenty minute match as opposed to a standard five minute match. Both Mentallo and Liger were going all out with huge offense and bumps right from the opening bell, which is unusual for Liger in that I’m used to seeing him in solid fifteen to twenty minute matches which involve a lot of mat work before the big offense is busted out. I would have liked to have seen whether Mentallo was actually capable of hanging with Liger in a Liger style match, but I guess that’s just not in the cards for now. What we did get was really solid professional wrestling in terms of how the moves were executed, though the match as an overall artistic endeavor was a bit on the spotty side. **1/2

Match Numero Tres: Nunzio, TAKA Michinoku, Toshie Uematsu, & Tomoka Nakagawa vs. Scotty II Hotty, AKIRA, KAROU, & Nagisa Nozaki

Uematsu and Nozaki start for their respective teams, with Scotty teaching Nagsia how to do the old American Males clap in order to get the crowd going. Before the two women can lock up, Nunzio tags into the match and heels it up by going after her before demanding she make the tag. She does, and it’s to Scotty, who dances. Again, there’s a tag before there’s any contact, as TAKA Michinoku makes his way into the ring. The former WWF Light Heavyweight Champions lock up and trade arm ringers before fighting over a hiptoss. Scotty wins that war, but both men kip up to adulation from their fans. AKIRA and Nunzio check in, with the Italian immediately scoring a fireman’s carry takedown and a dropkick. Nunzio grabs an arm and tags out to Toshie Uematsu, who hits a double sledge on the limb and engages AKIRA in a hammerlock exchange. Toshie actually comes out on the winning end for a while until AKIRA goes through a swank series of reversals and a top wrist lock before tagging out to KAROU.

KAROU looks for a big kick, but Toshie ducks and tags out to TAKA. Undeterred, KAROU takes him down with a rana but is poked in the eye and rolled up seconds later. She’s out at two, and here comes Tomoka for the first time. KAROU cartwheels to avoid offense from the Kaientai Dojo duo and kicks Nakagawa in the face to set up a tag to Nozaki. Nagisa chops away at Tomoka and brings in AKIRA, teaming up with him for a double kick to Nakagawa’s dome. Turnabout is fair play, however, as TAKA Michinoku returns to the match and he and his trainee do a spot in which TAKA places AKIRA into a crossface and Nakagawa simultaneously gets one of her trademark submission moves, a variation on the Mutoh lock that she applies by charging off of the ropes. Nozaki runs in for the save but is dispatched by TAKA, who sets up for his own version of the Worm on AKIRA. However, before he can get too far with it, KAROU runs in with a giant board and whacks everybody over the head with no consequences from the referee. This sets up a frog splash from AKIRA and a moonsault from KAROU, at which point AKIRA tries to go for a Worm.

Scotty interrupts to point out just how silly that is, leading into a mass run-in by Team Nunzio. They all hit corner attacks on AKIRA, culminating a TAKA superkick, but the New Japan legend kicks out at two. Nunzio is next to challenge AKIRA and hits the Sicilian Slice, but it’s only good for two. AKIRA rallies and slips past both TAKA and Nunzio to finally give us the Hotty tag. (See what I did there?) Scotty levels TAKA and Nunzio before signaling for the Worm on TAKA. Nakagawa intervenes but accidentally gets superkicked by her own partner, at which point a real pier six brawl begins with everybody hitting big moves on one another. KAROU and Nozaki isolate Nunzio at one point and Irish whip him, leading into KAROU’s version of the 619 on the FBI member. From there, Nunzio eats Scotty’s bulldog, and he is finally made the victim of the Worm. Ridiculous though it may be, the move brings the match to an end.

Match Thoughts: This is one of those multi-person tag matches where everybody is in and out so quickly that it is difficult to comment on any one individual’s performance, as nobody really has an extended time to shine. The only possible exception here is Nunzio, who exuded a lot of great heel charisma in the opening seconds of the match. Maybe it’s just me, but I couldn’t remember him working half that hard to get heat when he was with the WWF. (And the impressive thing is that it worked.) Perhaps the most noteworthy thing about the match aside from his performance was just how flawlessly everybody worked together. Despite there being language barriers and despite the fact that, even absent language barriers, many people in this match had probably never worked together before, let alone been on the same continent at the same time before, the match really went off without a hitch. The action was hot and heavy and, in just about every circumstance, a wrestler was where he or she needed to be and out of everybody else’s way during major spots. Fun times with a group of wrestlers who you will probably never see interacting again. ***

Match Numero Cuatro: Yusuke Kodama vs. Bushwhacker Luke Williams

All things considered, Luke doesn’t look that much worse than the last time I saw him in the WWF. He takes Kodama back to the corner early but the youngster reverses and tries some forearms and chops. Williams barely sells them before dishing out his own versions and a short-arm clothesline. Kodama headubtts the Kiwi in the belly as he’s getting back up to his feet, which he uses to set up a dropkick to the side of the head. Luke actually bumps for it and takes another one off of a back elbow. Kodama follows up by choking his opponent on the bottom rope, and there’s a third bump for Williams, this time off of a clothesline. Yusuke misses a Stinger splash, though, and Luke follows up with the divorce court. Strikes by the veteran and a series of clotheslines follow, getting him a two count. Luke hits the ropes but gets caught with a desperation dropkick by Kodama, followed by a clothesline for another nearfall. Kodama does manage to get the Bushwhacker up for an impressive spinebuster, at which point he climbs to the top rope, only for Luke to crotch him. Kodama is pulled off of the ropes with a hanging DDT (think Randy Orton), and Bushwhacker Luke uses that move to get the pin. That may be the only time Luke Williams and Randy Orton are ever compared to one another.

Match Thoughts: This match far exceeded my expectations. Granted, given my memories of the Bushwhackers being really broken down in 1995, my expectations were that this would be one of the dirt worst wrestling matches that I’ve ever seen in Japan. So my expectations were low . . . but they were still far exceeded. He was old and he didn’t move well, but Luke still took a couple of half-decent bumps when a lot of legends in his position wouldn’t have bumped at all. Perhaps even more impressive is that, even though he won in the end, Williams gave Kodama some time to shine and allowed him to hit offense that made him look like he belonged in the ring. Again, not the greatest match in the world, but fine for what it was. *

Overall

We’re only four matches in, so I will refrain from providing true “overall” thoughts, but I will say that these opening bouts have all been incredibly fun even if they have not been technical masterpieces, which is really SMASH’s hallmark. There are some wrestlers who aren’t that great and some wrestlers who are great but holding back a bit, but the selections of matches are always interesting and the wrestlers are usually playing the crowd to the hilt even if they’re not working as hard as they might otherwise. SMASH definitely has a charm all its own, and we’ll see if that charm persists through the main matches.

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