Into the Indies 11.01.11: Mask Nobility Festival (Part 2)

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Into the Indies, the only column written by a fan of Savio Vega and Los Boricuas.

Those of you who joined us last week know that, in that column, we started taking a look at a show held on October 7, 2011 to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the first Japanese match of legendary luchador Mil Mascaras. The show had a fairly standard undercard which we covered seven days ago, and, today, I was ready to move into the main events.

However, before we get to that, there was one important fact about the show that I did not realize when I started viewing it last week. I noted that former FMW star Hayabusa, who many years ago became a paraplegic in one of the worst in-ring accidents in recent memory, was at the show doing commentary. What I did not realize was that Hayabusa was marking a rather somber anniversary this month. October 22, 2001 was the date upon which the man had his career-ending and life-altering fall. Shortly thereafter, Hayabusa was given a prognosis which indicated that he would be bedridden for the remainder of his life. To the contrary, since that time, he has been active in many different ventures from a wheelchair, and he still talks about and rehabs for his publically stated goal of making a one-time only return to the ring. So, October 22, 2011, marked a decade of Hayabusa struggling to make whatever progress he could, and this show, held on October 7, was his highest profile public appearance in close proximity to that anniversary.

So, that helps to explain why Hayabusa is commentating on the show, it helps to explain why he got to book a match on the show, and it just might play into the finish a bit . . . but we’ll get to that in a bit . . .

Match Numero Cuatro: Sanshiro Takagi & Yuzuki Aikawa vs. Passion Naki & Mayu Iwatani

This match is being promoted by Stardom, a women’s company which held its first show in January of this year. (Speaking of, I need to get around to reviewing one of their cards for the column.) Stardom’s roster is largely home-grown talent, with their biggest new star being former model Yuzuki Aikawa. Here, Aikawa is paired with DDT founder Sanshiro Takagi. Why is Takagi wrestling in a match that otherwise consists of three very young women? That part I can’t really figure out due to the language barrier, though a pre-match video package focuses on the fact that they have both been utilizing a sort of swinging scissor kick as a finisher.

All of the wrestlers shake hands before the bell, and Takagi starts it off with Iwatani. He takes her down with one chop as soon as the match begins and does a Rick Rude hip swivel. That got a lot of heel heat, but I don’t think that he’s supposed to be a bad guy here. Iwatani doesn’t get anywhere until Passion Naki joins her in the ring, at which point they take Takagi down with a double dropkick. Takagi recovers quickly and tosses Naki from the ring, but Iwatani catches him with a headscissors to take him down again. At this point, but Naki and Aikawa tag in, with Passion sending her opponent into the turnbuckle and hitting a series of palm strikes. Aikawa responds with some kicks and takes the masked woman down with an arm drag, then kicking her in the corner. However, there is a MALFUNCTION AT THE JUNCTION as Takagi holds Naki for a high kick, only to have Passion step aside with Sanshiro eating the move. Then, in an impressive spot, Naki grabs Aikawa’s arm and jumps up to the top rope for a lucha-esque armdrag, but, on the way down, she both armdrags Aikawa AND manages to hit a missile dropkick on Takagi. That sends Sanshiro to the floor, where Naki wipes him out with a big dive.

Back on the inside, Iwatani boots Aikawa in the corner and basically jumps up and down on her chest. When Passion Naki returns to the ring, she and Iwatani perform a series of roughly six different rolling sentons and splashes to their opponent, though Aikawa kicks out of a follow-up pin attempt at two. Now Aikawa gets double teamed in the corner, though she manages to block a Naki German suplex attempt with a stunner (one of Takagi’s big moves), next hitting a high kick to set up the hot tag. Takagi goes after Naki and lands a scissor kick before going to the top rope. Passion cuts him off by leaping to the top and pulling Takagi off with an armdrag. She tries to follow with a top rope high cross, but Sanshiro CATCHES AND DVDs HER. Ouch, that looked like it hurt. Iwatani breaks up the ensuing pin attempt. Takagi dispatches her easily and looks for a brainbuster, only to have Naki reverse it into a DDT. The action switches back to Aikawa and Iwatani, with Aikawa getting a nearfall with a fisherman suplex. Aikawa and Takagi at this point team up for corner splashes on Iwatani, but Naki prevents another pin attempt. Takagi grabs Naki while Aikawa stays on Iwatani, and the Takagi/Aikawa team looks to simultaneously hit their scissor kicks. However, the opposing team cuts that off by reversing into stereo dragon screw leg whips.

With very little in the way of transition, Aikawa suddenly goes back on the offensive and hits a shining wizard on Iwatani. She goes for the cover, but Naki saves yet again. One more time, Takagi throws Iwatani out of the ring, allowing he and Aikawa to simultaneously scissor kick Iwatani and pin her. After the bell, Aikawa tries entirely too hard at looking sexy.

Match Thoughts: Despite not really knowing why this match was put together, I have to say that it came off fairly well in execution. Takagi was quite literally twice the weight of either of his opponents, so it was no easy task for them to have a competitive yet still credible match against one another. There were a couple of points where that credibility was a bit strained, but it was never broken, and, overall, I thought that the wrestlers did a good job of picking spots that allowed Naki and Iwatani to get in some offense on Sanshiro without him appearing to be a complete goof. In addition to the psychological aspects of the match, the execution of everything in this bout was fairly solid, particularly given that none of the women are all that experienced. The last time that I saw Aikawa in the ring, she struck me as being godawful, though, this time around, she has either improved or just had a better evening. The match largely made sense and we had a couple of good looking, memorable spots (dear god, that DVD), and you can’t ask for much more than a middle-of-the-card tag team match. **3/4

Match Numero Cinco: Big Hayabusa, Jinsei Shinzaki, & The Great Sasuke vs. Kensuke Sasaki, Prince Devitt, & El Samurai

This is being billed as a “Hayabusa Produce Match,” which would mean that Hayabusa, who is still doing guest commentary, is the one who booked this bout. It’s an interesting mix as well, with current NJPW junior heavyweight star Prince Devitt teaming with former NJPW junior El Samurai and former NJPW heavyweight Sasaki. Meanwhile, on the other side of the ring, you’ve got Michinoku Pro veterans Jinsei Shinzaki and Great Sasuke paired with “Big Hayabusa,” who is legendary wrestler Genichiro Tenryu wearing a version of the mask that the original Hayabusa made famous. I don’t know how former FMW star Hayabusa decided to put these six men in the ring together, but, based on the results, I have a feeling that his methods were not dissimilar from those used in WCW’s old Lethal Lottery.

It’s Sasuke and Devitt in the ring at the opening bell, with the Irishman grabbing an armbar, leading into a fairly standard opening sequence of reversals. Eventually that turns into a small fish-out-of-water spot, initiated by a Sasuke sunset flip. Next the wrestlers do a lucha-inspired highspot off of the ropes, culminating in both of them throwing dropkicks at the same time and returning to their feet to face off. The wrestlers slap hands in a show of respect before trading off their positions to Kensuke Sasaki and Jinsei Shinzaki. The wrestlers lock up, with Sasaki pushing Shinzaki back to the ropes and offering a clean break. Off a test of strength, Jinsei manages to trap Sasaki in an armbar. The ropes are made, and, again, there’s a clean break. Kensuke grabs a headlock, after which he runs through Shinzaki with a shoulderblock, though Jinsei isn’t down and hits a MASSIVE chop that leads into his praying rope-walk. Jinsei looks to follow with an Irish whip, but Sasaki reverses and connects with a bulldog, at which point El Samurai asks for a tag. He gets it and, of course, so does Tenryu. Samurai gets the heavyweight wrestler backed into a corner and chops at him, but Big Hayabusa no-sells it all. Samurai goes to the arm only to have Tenryu reverse it. Big Hayabusa is also successful when Samurai engages him in a test of strength, leading to a tag to Sasuke that ends our “wrestlers pair off” opening.

Sasuke isn’t successful against Samurai for long, as the former NJPW star goes to the M-Pro founder’s eyes. Almost immediately, Samurai tags in Sasaki, who repeatedly hits big chops on Sasuke and bodyslams him for a nearfall. Sasuke returns to a vertical base, but it’s just so that Kensuke can alternate between clubbing him in the chest with forearms and clubbing him in the back with forearms. Sasaki makes a quick tag to Prince Devitt, who applies a submission for a bit and passes the baton to Samurai. It appears that the opposing team is targeting Great Sasuke’s arm in these fast exchanges. Kensuke is back in, and he drops Sasuke with a vertical suplex before turning him over to Devitt for a weird rolling armbar into a pin attempt and a variation on the crossface chicken wing. Sasuke doesn’t submit, so Samurai tags in and takes charge with a Rude Awakening. He misses an axe bomber, though, which allows Sasuke an opening to hit the Buff Blockbuster before tagging out to Big Hayabusa. Tenryu lights Samurai up with chops and takes him down with a short-arm clothesline for two. Samurai slips away at this point, tagging in Sasaki to give us our battle of stiff, crotchety veteran wrestlers.

They do what you would expect stiff, crotchety veteran wrestlers to do, namely chop each other for ages. Eventually Tenryu mixes it up by jabbing Sasaki right in the jaw, though that wasn’t a particularly smart move, since it prompts Kensuke to FLATTEN Tenryu with a lariat that sends him careening headfirst back into the second rope. Tenryu falls right in position to make a tag, though, and here comes Jinsei Shinzaki. Shinzaki flies into the ring with a top rope forearm and follows it with the Patriot Missile, following up with an attempt at his praying powerbomb. Sasaki blocks it. Should’ve prayed harder. Jinsei also runs into Kensuke’s knee, at which point Sasaki gives him a big judo throw and tags in Devitt. Great Sasuke hits the ring at this point in an attempt to run interference, but Devitt leaps off of a downed Shinzaki’s back and dropkicks Sasuke so that he will be a non-factor. The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion’s attention is then focused once more on Shinzaki, dropkicking him in the corner and looking for a top rope double stomp. Jinsei avoids it and superkicks Devitt, though, giving us a tag to the Great Sasuke. Sasuke slams his man and heads to the top, setting up for the Ram Jam. It misses big time, after which Devitt dropkicks him out of the ring and follows up with the NO HANDS TOPE CON HILO~! YEAH~! That sets off a trainwreck sequence, with Samurai and Shinzaki both hitting dives before Kensuke, not a high flyer by any stretch of the imagination, does a PESCADO on to the pile of humanity. At that point, Tenryu jumps off the ring apron into everybody’s arms. That spot is like your grandfather pretending rap is cool. It’s cute because he’s trying so hard to be relevant, but there’s just something a little bit off about it.

When the action returns to the inside of the ring, it’s Sasuke and Samurai who are doing battle, with Samurai giving his man a diving headbutt for two. Jinsei Shinzaki saves and chokeslams Sammy, then holding him in place for a missile dropkick from Sasuke. There’s a tag to Tenryu, who chops Samurai a couple of time and lariats him for a two count. All six wrestlers hit the ring at this point, just long enough for Sasuke to toss Devitt from the ring and wipe him out with an Asai moonsault while Shinzaki detains Sasaki. While that is going on, Tenryu applies the world’s sloooooooowest scorpion deathlock, and Samurai taps immediately.

Match Thoughts: This was a weird six man tag team match. Normally when you watch a six man tag, there are obviously six wrestlers, but there are one or two out of the six who are the focal point of the bout. That wasn’t the case here. Of the six guys, it seemed that all six got roughly equal time to shine, with frequently tags and even distribution of the actions. On paper, that doesn’t necessarily sound like a bad thing . . . and it wasn’t a particularly bad thing, because the action was still hot and everything was well-executed. However, in a way, it prevented the match from being quite as good as it could be, because the wrestlers were in and out so quickly that you didn’t really get a flavor for any of the things that make these guys awesome performers. It would be like seeing twenty of your favorite bands in concert but only having time for each one of them to play one of their b-sides. You could enjoy such a show, but it could also be a hell of a lot better. ***1/2

Match Numero Seis: Mil Mascaras, Dos Caras, & Tiger Mask I vs. Ultimo Guerrero, Tiger Mask IV, & CIMA

And here we are with the main event, the match put together to celebrate forty years of Mil Mascaras wrestling in Japan. In addition to his brother and long-time tag team partner Dos Caras, Mascaras has selected perhaps the most popular masked man in the history of puroresu, original Tiger Mask Satoru Sayama to be on his side of the ring. They’re up against the eclectic mix of Dragon Gate’s CIMA, the current incarnation of Tiger Mask, and Ultimo Guerrero, perhaps the top guy these days in Mexico’s CMLL promotion. It’s not quite as random as the last match, but still you have to wonder what the common thread is with the team of younger guys.

The first two men in the ring are Tiger Mask IV and Dos Caras, with Caras getting an advantage early thanks to some armdrags and a bow-and-arrow submission hold. Eventually Tiger reverses out of a hammerlock with an armdrag of his own, though the Mexican legend catches him in an abdominal stretch. CIMA quickly hits the ring to break the hold, but Caras won’t take that shit and goes after him, knocking the Dragon Gate star off the apron with a chop, following him out to the arena floor, and beating on him there, too. Dos Caras returns to the ring, where a few kicks from Tiger Mask IV connect, giving TMIV an opening to officially bring CIMA into the match. CIMA asks for a handshake but kicks Caras in the gut afterwards. CIMA doesn’t stay in control for long, however, as Caras takes him down with a flying cross chop and tags out to the original Tiger Mask. Sayama’s first move in is his trademark fancy drop toe hold, which he follows up by going into a leg submission. CIMA easily makes the ropes, but Sayama stays on him with kicks. Eventually the former Crazy Max leader grabs a kick and drops his elbow across TMI’s leg, pulling him down into the mat and into a kneebar. After some reversals on the mat, the two men wind up in a stalemate, which prompts them both to tag out. Ultimo Guerrero sets foot into the ring first, followed by the man of the hour, Mil Mascaras himself.

Mil immediately goes to work, taking Ultimo down three times with the old school headscissors which he applies to his standing opponent while lying on his back. Mascaras also does his cool full nelson reversal and gets his own version of the hold on. Guerrero does manage to bring Mil down to the mat briefly for a leg hold, but it’s not long before the old man has managed to fight his way back up to a vertical base, where he armdrags UG a couple of times before nonchalantly offering him a handshake and tagging out to Dos Caras. Ultimo Guerrero and Tiger Mask IV try to double team Caras, but he moves surprisingly quickly in fighting them both off, including a leaping armdrag on Guerrero and a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on TMIV. He follows that up with another flying forearm on Guerrero, who afterwards attempts a kneelift in the corner but instead misses and takes a HUGE Harley Race-style bump over the top rope and down to the floor. Caras ceases the opportunity and hits the world’s oldest tope suicida before bringing Sayama back into the match.

Sayama is met by CIMA, who he dropkicks out of the ring to set up his classic dive feint. (The one that evolved into the 619.) When CIMA returns to the ring, he is greeted by Sayama’s feet again and placed in a wacky submission until Mil decides that it’s time to tag in once more. He hits his flying cross chop on CIMA. Ultimo Guerrero runs in, so Mil and Dos Caras give him a double version of the same move. Tiger Mask IV eats the same thing, with each version of the move getting a pop louder than the last.

From there, UG and CIMA try to double-team Mil, who powers out of their two-man test of strength. Even Tiger Mask IV can’t help when he hits the ring, as Mascaras levels all three of his opponents single-handedly and tags out to Caras, presumably because he has to take a smoke break. Caras bends CIMA’s body in many different directions with many different holds including one of my personal favorites, the surfboard. He turns that into a pinning combination for two. Believe it or not, CIMA actually lands some effective offense on Caras, slowing him down long enough that he can tag out to Tiger Mask IV. TMIV tosses Dos out of the ring and fakes a dive, at which point Tiger Mask I hits the ring to kick some respect into his pupil. The first generation hits some high kicks and a snap suplex on the fourth generation, followed by an armbar, which TMIV breaks with the ropes. Eventually Sayama brings Mil back into the ring for an atomic drop and vertical suplex on Tiger Mask IV, though CIMA runs in out of nowhere and starts pounding on Mascaras. Guerrero joins the fray and gives Mil the world’s softest spinebuster before placing him in a light stretch muffler. Mascaras is in the hold for about fifteen seconds, which is probably longer than he’s sold in the last twenty years of his career combined. When the hold is broken, it’s Dos Caras that splits it up, then replacing his brother as the legal man and applying a submission hold on Ultimo that literally defies description.

Guerrero eventually gets out of it and gives his own version of the surfboard to Caras, but Sayama saves. He tries for his jumping back kick on Ultimo, but the luchadore catches his leg to block and hits a sit-out powerbomb for two. Mascaras appears at this point for another cross chop, but Ultimo recovers quickly and shoves him back into the young guys’ corner, where CIMA briefly teases unmasking to big heat. Of course, it doesn’t go anywhere, and, before long, Mil has once again laid out all three of his opponents on his own. This turns into CIMA vs. Dos Caras in mid-ring, with Caras putting on a pendulum submission. Ultimo and Tiger Mask I join them, with Tiger applying his abdominal stretch. With the stereo holds on, Mil ascends the ropes, comes off with a high cross onto CIMA, and pins him to win the match commemorating his fortieth anniversary of wrestling in Japan.

Match Thoughts: I’ll admit it . . . I was pleasantly surprised by how well this match came off. When I have watched Mil Mascaras matches from the past five years or so, I’m usually impressed by how athletic he remains despite being 69 years old but annoyed by the fact that he still takes almost the entirety of the match and never sells despite being 69 years old. This time around, though, his schtick worked. He’s still surprisingly athletic, and I didn’t mind his schtick of being a no-selling machine in this context in part because the fact that it was a six man meant that his opponents could shine when they were in against other wrestlers and in part because this was a show that was supposed to be all about him, which means that he should be getting an opportunity to shine. Sayama and Caras were also in great shape for their ages, and the relatively young team held up their end of the bargain. This won’t make the short list for best matches of the year, but it was easily a fun enough match to main event a show of this level and a good showcase for Mascaras in the twilight of his career. ***3/4

After the match wraps up, perhaps the most memorable part of the show takes place. The locker room empties and hits the ring, presumably for a closing ceremony to pay tribute to Mascaras. However, before too long, everybody has completely forgotten about Mil. Why? It’s because Hayabusa, who, as noted before, was doing commentary for the show, is brought to ringside in his wheelchair. At first it appears that the wrestlers are just going to look down at him and give him his props from the ring, but then part of the crew starts holding the ropes open. My first thought? “This is going to get pretty awkward, pretty quickly.” Instead, Hayabusa stands up from his wheelchair, which is something that I had seen him do before on rare occasions. However, things get significantly more awesome from there, as, with Jinsei Shinzaki helping to steady him, Hayabusa TAKES A STEP. He takes another. And another. Before long, he has reached the steps that are placed flush with the ring apron. In a scene that I never thought I would see play out, Hayabusa – again with a bit of help from his friends – CLIMBS THE STAIRS and manages to enter the ring. They’ve got another wheelchair there waiting for him so that he can have a seat amongst the rest of the wrestlers, but he waives it off and chooses to remain standing for the remainder of the ceremony.

The crowd is chanting “Hayabusa” pretty heavily the whole while, and I can’t say that I blame them. The emotion from all of the wrestlers gathered in the ring is palpable, and this is truly one of the most powerful moments that I have seen in a professional wrestling ring in some time. I have serious doubts about whether the man will ever be able to wrestle again as he claims that he wants to do, but the fact of the matter is that, in the few seconds it took him to walk into the ring, Hayabusa accomplished more than a lot of people – myself included – ever thought he would be able to do in terms of regaining mobility. Chances are good that it took far more effort, far more work, and far more heart than the vast majority of the in-ring action that we see. Hayabusa even manages to walk back out of the ring and to his wheelchair. This whole thing was amazing; a great surprise that I didn’t expect when I first began watching the show. People probably won’t understand if they weren’t following Hayabusa’s career at the time it was unfolding, but this was GREAT for his long-time supporters.

Overall

This was a damn fine professional wrestling show. On a six match card, three of the bouts were at *** or higher, and nothing was epically bad, even if the opener wasn’t the best. In addition to being quality from an in-ring standpoint, virtually all of the matches accomplished their purpose from a booking standpoint. But, as good as the individual matches were, the closing segment is what really put this one over the top for me and moved it from “just another good show” to a show that I’m going to watch more than once. At the very least, go out of your way to hunt the last half of this one down, and, if you’re somewhat familiar with the players, you’re really going to get a kick out of it.

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