This picture says it all, doesn't it?
I’m loving the depth this show has. For its main event, they have two of the top stars of the independent, Hayabusa and Shinzaki against each other. The semis has the classic M-Pro mould of tags. The most heralded in their history. You have the legends trio match with Sasuke making a return to the ring after injury, Dynamite Kid facing Sayama for the first time in a decade as well as it being his last match. BattlArts get a showcase with the mainstays of promotion wrestling against each other. And one of the more influential technical wrestlers of all time, Johnny Saint going against a young, on the rise Hoshikawa
World Of Sport Rules Match: Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. Johnny Saint
This is WOS rules, so rounds are a big deal. Pins or submissions end the rounds. Three pins or submissions ends the match entirely. Johnny Saint didn’t look like he missed a step in his age. His movements were really slick and fast paced. You wouldn’t be able to tell he was in his mid 50s. Hoshikawa, to his credit, didn’t look lost. His defensive rolls were utilized really well and he had some great wristlock transitions. Saint even complimented him after R1. The match has some nicely implemented comedy spots that the crowds loved. This was really over, way more than I expected. Fun opening match. ***1/2
PWA Heavyweight Title Match: Wellington Wilkins Jr. (w/Yone Genjin) (c) vs. Lenny Lane
This was...okay. This is mostly two guys wrestling back and forth for a few minutes. Not much about the match was nail biting. But when Yone Genjin attacks Wilkins Jr with a briefcase (both had problems before the first match. There was a snake involved), the match being included on the show starts to make sense. **
Daisuke Ikeda & Satoshi Yoneyama vs. Alexander Otsuka & Yuki Ishikawa
This excited me as soon as I spotted it on the show. Otsuka is a total freak and blends amature wrestling with death defying stunts and stiff strikes. Ishikawa is so focused on ripping a limb from your body. Ikeda is eager to punch people in the face and Yoneyama is scrappy as fuck. And this plays out exactly like you’d expect. Ikeda and Otsuka have some killer moments early on. Ikeda is hitting many kicks to the body when Otsuka catches Ikeda in mid motion and launches him with a german suplex. Yoneyama had some solid submission work, locking in a deep kneebar which Otsuka responded with push kicks to the hips. But for the most part, he is on the receiving end of offence. He ate some nasty german & dragon suplexes from both Ishikawa and Otsuka, as well as a big slap to the jaw. He eventually taps to a cross arm-breaker but he puts in a good effort. We got some good Ikeda v Ishikawa moments like Ikeda nailing a head kick that almost knocks out Ishikawa but it was very brief otherwise. ***1/2
Mil Mascaras, The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask I vs. Dos Caras, Dynamite Kid & Kuniaki Kobayashi
This was very noticeably clipped but this is very exhibition-y based. Mascaras and Don Caras can’t go full throttle anymore (Mascaras rarely did in his prime but I digress). DK has his send off, doing a few signature Tiger Mask spots and a sickening snap suplex to Sasuke. And Sasuke has his comeback match. Naturally he loses because that’s the thing in Japan. Fine match for what it was. **1/2
Gran Hamada, Gran Naniwa, Masato Yakushiji, Super Delfin & Tiger Mask IV vs. Kaientai DX (Dick Togo, MEN's Teioh, Shiryu, Shoichi Funaki & TAKA Michinoku)
The classic M-Pro tag team match. I was pretty pumped to see this given its high acclaim. And what can I say about it? Similar to what would be its modern equivalent, the Dragon Gate multi-man tags, there is so much to cover because everything went by at a brisk pace with effortless flow, so much ins and outs. It’s impossible to do any play by play unless you watch it multiple times to write down every key spot. Kaientai are a well oiled machine and they wrestle as such. Their double, triple, quadruple team moves were exquisite. Individually, they are all fairly simple rudos, but together everything they do together comes across as magically. On the other side though, the individuals stood out more. Which was by design, I imagine. Gran Naniwa had some checky comedy spots that worked within the match, which is impressive given the flow of most of it. Tiger Mask had some wicked kicks and aerial dives. But I think the MVP of the match, for me, was Yakushiji. Yakushiji was the glue in some key intricate spots. He was super innovative with some of his arm drags and dives to the outside. And Super Delfin came across as the total big dog of his team. His big match ending run was really awesome. Just a long hope spot, attempting to finish off Kaientai with everything he can, leading to some real dramatic nearfalls, before the cog that was Kainetai Dulex took its toll. The match is hardly flawless, however. There is room for some trimming as the match lost steam in the 5 minutes before the closing stretch. But this is the quintessential spotfest for Lucharesu and Michinoku Pro. ****1/4
Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Hayabusa
I would think that this was a dream match at the time. The recently returned Shinzaki (from the WWF run he had at the time), co-founder of Michinoku Pro against FMW Ace, Hayabusa. There is big potential for this match so I was hoping these two would get the best out of each other. Both are big personalities and them clashing should be pretty epic. However, this was not that. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt because Hayabusa looked really hurt near the end. The knee was the clear cause of pain for him with Hayabusa favouring it and punching it in fustration multiple times. I don’t blame them for ending the match, if that was the case. But the match was pretty rough before any signs of injury showed up. Hayabusa was in control for the first half of the match with Shinzaki working from beneath and looking to make a comeback. And the work was surprisingly tepid and quite dry to watch. Hayabusa had some impressive spots but there wasn’t much glue holding them together in a compelling way. It was shockingly bad until Hayabusa injured his knee and then it got worse when Shinzaki went on offence and put him away. Unfortunate ending to what was a very good event. DUD
Best To Worst
So yeah, this was a very good show. Nothing that anyone would call great until the Kaientai vs Sekigun match. But it was a real solid undercard filled with a variety of matches that worked in their own ways. Even the weakest match in the undercard had some value with the post match fight. The main event was a colossal failure due to injury and zero quality on show before said injury. [BEST TO WORST] Kaientai vs Sekigun - Impressive 30 minutes of intrictuate spot wrestling that combined wacky personalities together [****1/4]. Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. Johnny Saint - Super underrated gem. Could’ve been an exhibition but there was enough flair, competitiveness and gritt on show [***1/2]. Daisuke Ikeda & Satoshi Yoneyama vs. Alexander Otsuka & Yuki Ishikawa - BattLart touring match. Very enjoyable. Otsuka showed off his insane range and Yoneyama was a decent underdog [***1/2]. Legends Trio Match - Clipped but that’s for the best. Some good signature spots [**1/2]. Wellington Wilkins Jr vs. Lenny Lane - Wilkins vs Genjins in the post match made this perfectly average match worth watching [**]. Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Hayabusa - Match Pre-Injury was pretty terrible. Post injury was worse - [DUD].
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