I think I was motivated to watch this era of Big Japan because I've been playing Fire Pro Returns again. And I've been enjoying this era of GAEA & NJPW. I really like the energy in turn of the century puro & joshi. Production sensibilities were changing, outfit and general aesthetics were changing and the changing of the talent guard was just beginning. It's all really appealing because I think a lot from this time is worthwhile. I have been pleasantly surprised with AJPW, NOAH, joshi, and various indies during the 99-04 time period. I do think a portion of that is due to my lower expectations. Conversely, I think people undervalued somethings by using the amazing 90's as a baseline. I know that I used to. So, I feel that I am seeing much of this period with fresh eyes and an open mind.

Let's take a peek at BJW 1999!

04/29/99

Shadow WX & Tomoaki Honma vs. Abdullah Jr. Kobayashi & Benkei Daikokubo - Very good, pretty straightforward tag match. Sure there's chair shots and a ladder but ignore those! This was solid wrestling with Honma being the face in peril. 

08/10/99

Ryuji Yamakawa vs. Shadow WX (No Rope barbed wire Fire Death Match) - Damn Yamakawa makes an entrance! This show is outside due to the fire stipulation so a souped up red Mercedes comes charging in and drops Yamakawa off...And he's wearing a leather Starter jacket with his white pants and bleached blonde hair... that was cool! Yeah this was fun stuff...they used light tubes also. And they really went into the flaming barbwire! That sounds worse than it was (I think) as the knew just the right way to hit it and move past it to the outside. Still it was really dangerous! I like that in 1999 light tubes were put over so strongly. That's a gripe I have about later light tube matches. Anyhow, this is only about 12 minutes and ends without going too long. So I had fun

11/08/99

Tomoaki Honma & Ryuji Yamakawa vs. Shadow WX & The Winger (Fluorescent light bulb & Barbed Wire Board Death Match) - Whoa! This was a great death match! Excellent pro wrestling to start. Then Shadow WX gets violent and starts really employing the weapons and danger. Winger is crazy! I particularly liked the one spot where it look liked Shadow used fire to motivate Winger to do his big dive. All in all this was jammed pack with great action. Honma & Yamakawa were great baby faces and garnered sympathy from me. That's hard to do in a death match sometimes. Plus we get blood on the camera lens!  Recommended!

12/04/99

Kamikaze & Shunme Matsuzaki vs. MEN'S Teio & Jun Kasai - Clipped as the full time was 24 minutes. I'm not sure how enjoyable this would be at that run time but this was a lot of fun clipped

Great Sasuke vs. Minoru Fujita - Pretty seamless editing here as only a third was shown but it appeared to be only slightly edited. The wrestling was quick and energetic. Fujita was especially exciting. Again, I can't give a strong rating but this may be the only version you or I are going to see so I recommend it.

Shadow WX vs. Ryuji Yamakawa (4 Corner Fluorescent light bulb Board Death Match) - This is in full as the early parts of the TV episode focuses on Shadow WX.Oh yeah! It's a lights off match and the lights are plugged in and lit up! I always thought that was a nice touch the old light matches had. Anyhow this was pretty good stuff! They do some really crazy spots and there's a pretty good come back. In all honesty, this could have been laid out a little bit better. The whole first part when they go in the crowd seems pretty meaningless and just "something they do." Then they get into the spots and it gets going. But really a 17 minute match could have been shaved down to 14 by just staying around the ring and that would have kept the intensity going. So if you watch this one, fast forward the part where they are in the crowd. You'll like this a lot more!

Thanks for reading!