gordi

Brody and Butcher to JWA on March 24th, please.

There is so much good stuff going on here, but I feel like Benoit vs Scorpio would have been my favourite thing on these cards... I keep getting confused by the Youngbloods team name, because of Jay and Chris and Mark Youngblood.

I found "Ottmhan Singh" almost as funny as the Garvin/Embry/Dr. D stuff. Very entertaining TV, and that Barroom Brawl card looks epic.

That's a good point! If I'd agreed to this on Jan 1st this year, I'd never have seen MS-1 vs Sangre Chicana. Still... I'm not changing my mind. I'd probably give the same answer for books, movies, TV, Music... I, too, am old. I'd take option 1 on sports like football and hockey, though.

I actually watched this match with Asian Cooger (Kuuga) in Osaka tonight. My friend Sara and Tani-yan (not pictured) were delighted by it. Kuuga totally no-sold the fact that I had dug up an old ZIPANG match and put it on my iPad. That made me feel equal parts let down, and pleased. I can't imagine anything much more fun than watching this match in those circumstances.

Kuuga and Billyken Kid were the Dotonbori Pro representatives at the party: I had this match on my iPad: Adachi, Asian Cougar & Masked Falcon vs Heaven, Extraterrestrial Life & Yoshida (Zipang 07/19/00). We watched it. My friends Sara and Tani-yan were both delighted to see some old Asian Cooger before he had his scar, and the wrestling alien cracked them up. Kuuga didn't even blink when I showed him the video. Totally no-sold it. Also, we celebrated two birthdays at the event:

"The Alternative" Ashley Sixx is a guy I'd never met before tonight. He was active on the Toronto indy scene for several years and (though he said nothing about it) I'm pretty sure he's the guy I've heard about who survived a bout with cancer and returned to wrestling. My first impression of him was definitely good, but I spent more time talking with Joe and Salty and Kasaki. There was also a tall and handsome young wrestler named Nathan Kabe who got a LOT of attention from some of the ladies... but somehow I didn't get a good pic of him. Anyway, they all seemed like great guys and it was so much fun for me to see them enjoying a party and a feast with my Japanese wrestling friends. Also, the food was awesome: And there was SO MUCH food. They just kept bringing out dish after dish after dish for three hours.

Thanks, G. I always feel like it's a really great atmosphere whenever I get together with Coogar and our mutual friends. It's very much a case of "If you are his friend, then you are also my friend" at those parties, and I feel like that's something kind of special. Today I got a real treat: A chance to share that with some of my old friends (and a couple of new friends) from Vancouver All Star Wrestling. 5 of the boys were in Osaka today to work a show, and we had a welcome party for them at the all-you-can-eat-and-drink Chinese restaurant where we had our Bonenkai in December: Tomorrow, they are going on a tour of the local Kansai area, including my home town of Nara City. After that, they will work shows in Nagoya and Tokyo. They had all been given semi-traditional orange hanten or haori-type jackets, which we all wrote messages on in black marker. Bruiser Joe/Breaker Joe/Breaker Bruiser is in a tag team (The Breakers) with one of my good friends from my wrestling days, (I-Ton/Breaker Iton). What a blast it was to drink with him and my pro wrestling friends in Osaka! Next best thing to having Iton here. Joe was hilarious, getting everyone at the party to chop his chest (particularly the ladies), and cracking jokes all night long. He did not give a damn about the language barrier, he was just having fun talking to everyone. Salty the Seaman, Bruiser Joe, and I share a common pro wrestling Senpai: SLAM Wrestling hall-of-famer, legendary Canadian indie referee, and all-around great guy "Vicious" Verne Seibert. Like with Coogar, any friend of Verne's is a friend of mine. Salty was pounding drinks all night, he had no trouble keeping up with Coogar, and he was obviously having a great time. Great Kasaki, on the other hand, was in a kind of rough shape by the end of the night. Coogar is a guy that it's hard to say "no" to sometimes, and he always has all kinds of drinking games going on at parties like this. I myself have been three sheets to the wind a few times after drinking with Kuuga (and Ebessan). Apparently, the boys were drinking up a storm last night and Kasaki bowed out early and started drinking Pocari Sweat (a popular Japanese "ion supply" sports drink). However, someone (it was Kuuga) slipped some sake into the Pocari Sweat bottle when Kasaki wasn't looking. Like I said... a little worse for the wear but he kept going and interacted with the folks at the party all night long. Somewhat Ironically, though he is half-Japanese, I ended up translating for Kasaki (as for most of the boys) (to the best of my ability) a few times.

These write-ups always capture the feel of an 80s wrestling show. The interplay between the announcers is first rate and you do a great job of making each interview different from the others.

Mascaras vs Flair... shaddup and take mah money

JWA drops George Takano so he can go work for MACW as The Cobra, JWA adds Takashi "Onoumi" Ishikawa to replace Takano as Machine #2.

As far as I know, it never was an issue when French Canadian wrestlers worked Toronto events (or anywhere else in Canada for that matter). Vince McMahon is probably the only one who was "willing" to explore that avenue whenever he booked the Forum. There's kind of a reason why Vince never booked Hogan vs Dino Bravo for the WWF championship in Montreal. I think that at that time, the Soviet commies gimmick got so much heat everywhere in the world (or evil Orientals as well) that there wasn't really any need to go the Separatists route. I have a clear and distinct memory of Al Tomko, when he was the promoter of Vancouver All Star Wrestling, complaining to me that, "Nobody cares about countries any more." What he meant was that our crowds would no longer boo somebody just based off of their being a foreigner. It was absolutely true at that time, in 1988. Booing someone *just* because they were Russian just felt kind of goofy then. I know that, even now, we as fans might still be expected to boo a guy just because he's from Bulgaria and he loves his wife (or other hilariously ignorant reasons) but... in Vancouver, in the late 80s, it was obvious that xenophobic booking had already had its day and the crowd needed some other reason to get behind hating a bad guy wrestler. I'm kind of curious how it was in other areas around Canada and the US at that time, and I'd assume that in certain places you could still count on the crowd to boo a guy because of the colour of his skin or his accent or whatever... but certainly less so than in the 50s, 60s, and 70s...

What a treat to read two Runmble-style matches within a single week. It seems like a real challenge but also a lot of fun to write one of those up... I might run the idea by Giant Baba, see what he thinks. That cage tag match was pure Texas-style mayhem. Much better than the usual WWF escape rules cage match.

I like the finish to the main event. The young guy looks strong, the cagey veteran uses his wits and awareness to earn the victory.

Card for Day 2 of the Trios Tournament, January 24th in Tokyo: JWA Trios Tournament 2nd Round Matches: The Machines vs Fujiwara, Takada, and Funaki Baba, Jumbo, and Misawa vs Tenryu, Hara, and Kawada Non-Tournament matches: Kensuke vs Masa Chono Hiroshi Hase vs Masa Fuchi Choshu, Terry Gordy, Rusher Kimura, and Siva Afi vs Fujinami, Kengo Kimura, Keiiji Mutoh and Shinya Hashimoto JWA Middleweight Champion Tiger Mask vs Gran Hamada JWA Trios Tournament Final Match: TBD

I'm just gonna come right out and say it: I'm inviting Patera, Blackwell, and Khan to come to Japan in February or March (4th, 14th and/ or 24th, with the 24th being the biggest show and biggest payday). The Machines, and Baba, Tsuruta, and Misawa are waiting! What a superb Monster Gaijin Heel trio that is! Adams Taylor and Jones get an open invitation, too. Imagine them vs Fujiwara, Takada, and Funaki, or Fujinami, Kengo Kimura, and Hashimoto... (If that doesn't fit your plans, no worries. I just couldn't help but notice how you've put together two excellent heel trios and that got my imagination going).

Now I'm looking forward to finding out who CIMA's partner will be. That's some nice booking.

You did an excellent job writing up the rumble match. It was very easy to keep track of who was in and what was going on. Nice job.

I agree that booking the Funks vs Fantastics as the Main with the Von Erich Six-Man defense as the Semi-Main Event was the right call. Well-booked shows all around.

Giving the heel team a bye into the finals is good, classic, tournament booking. Ole vs Morales is a veteran vs veteran match I would have enjoyed seeing.

Look at Raymond, putting over the luchadores! Good for him, being unselfish and doing what is best for the territory.

I always find it challenging to fantasy-book shot style guys into a straight pro wrestling promotion. I don't know why, though. There have been a ton of shoot stylist vs pro wrestling stylist matches and several of them have been really very good. Matches like Vader & Tenta vs Yamazaki & Albright are among my absolute all time favourites... but for whatever reason I kinda struggle trying to write up a match like that when I am armchair booking. Which is to say: I look forward to reading how you handle it.

You really gave the fans at the Scope their money's worth: Two very good title matches and two tournament matches including a nice upset victory, plus a solid under-card.

I wouldn't bet against them, either. Hope you enjoy Tiger Mask vs Black Tiger And I also hope you enjoy how that one turns out! You don't have to wait any longer JWA TRIOS TOURNAMENT DAY 1 - January 14th, Osaka Japan Kuniaki Kobayashi vs Hiroshi Hase There are two things we want to accomplish with this match: We want to let the gifted dojo graduate, Hase, show off some of what he can do; and we want to allow Kobayashi to get some of his heat back after losing cleanly to Tiger Mask. So, we give the rookie a long shine segment to start things off, and let the crowd get behind Hase before Kobayashi starts heeling it up, cheating his way into the heat segment. Then, eventually, a couple of nice hope spots for Hase before Kobayashi finally finishes him off with a Fisherman Suplex. Mighty Animals vs Mutoh and Yamada This is a fairly similar situation (the veterans need to look good coming off of a loss, but we are always keeping an eye on building up or young boys) so it’s a fairly similar structure. It’s a cliché for a reason, and that reason is that it works. This match feels different from the opener, though, because Mighty Inoue and Animal Hamaguchi use teamwork and quick tags to get the advantage, rather than cheating to win. Mutoh and Yamada’s more flashy and modern style of wrestling makes for a nice contrast with Mighty Animal’s classic 70s style junior work. In the end, the veterans take the match when Hamaguchi catches Mutoh with an Airplane Spin into a Samoan Drop. Yoshiaki Yatsu, “Carpenter” Teranishi, and Shiro Koshinaka vs Terry Gordy, Umanosuke Ueda, and Tatsutoshi Goto This match is the Trios Tournament Alternates match. If any of the winning teams in the tournament are unable to continue, then the winner of this match will take their place. That’s probably not gonna happen, it’s just a way to add a little drama to this match. The match itself is a short and intense brawl. Yatsu, still angry about being pinned by Gordy after a Hansen-assisted Spike Piledriver in the Tokyo Dome, goes after Gordy with a vengeance. Yatsu’s temper gets the better of him, though, and he finds himself isolated in the Choshu’s Army corner. He fights savagely to escape and his partners do their best to make the save… but this time it’s Ueda assisting on the Spike Piledriver that puts Yatsu away. JWA Middleweight Champion Tiger Mask vs Black Tiger The first several minutes of this match are clean, scientific, back-and-forth mat work. That eventually escalates into some nasty strike exchanges. With Sayama having the advantage both on the mat and on the feet, Black Tiger resorts to cheating, and once again Sayama finds himself on the receiving end of a mask-ripping attack. Turn-about is fair play, though, and after Tiger Mask Catches Black Tiger with a Jumping Spin Kick, he goes after Rocco’s mask and almost succeeds in ripping it off. With both men bloody and both masks torn, they face off toe to toe in the middle of the ring. After a withering exchange of strikes, Tiger Mask hits a High Roundhouse Kick to Black Tiger’s temple to end the match and defend his title. JWA Trios Tournament Round 1 Matches: Fujiwara, Takada, and Funaki vs Dos Caras, El Canek, and Gran Hamada What distinguishes this match is the contrast between the realistic UWF-style mat-work of Fujiwara, Takada, and Hamada; and the flashier and more complex Lucha-style mat-work of Dos Caras, Gran Hamada, and El Canek. It isn’t quite so cut and dried as that, however: At one point, Fujiwara gets a huge pop out of the crowd by locking a Gory Special on Hamada. The bulk of the match is applying, escaping, and countering submission holds of all types, with a touch of striking and high-flying thrown in. In the end, Fujiwara catches Hamada with a Hell Hook and taps him out to advance his team into the next round. There is a nice show of respect after the match, with both teams bowing in the ring. Choshu, Rusher Kimura, and Kensuke vs The Machines This is the “good vs evil” match of the first round, with Choshu’s Army relentlessly attacking, distracting the ref, and bending the rules; and The Machines relying on ring strategy and team-work to keep coming back. KImura gets a close 2.9 count on Machine #2, and Choshu nearly forces Machine #3 to submit to a Scorpion Hold… but in the end it is Super Strong Machine earning a bit of an upset victory with a Machine Suplex on the muscular rookie, Kensuke. Tenryu, Hara, and Kawada vs Atisanoe, Afi, and Hickerson This (obviously) is the stiff, nasty, hard-hitting hoss match of the first round. All six men dish it out and take it, giving us 25 minutes of sweat-flying action. About 22 minutes in, Siva Afi and Toshiaki Kawada earn a loud response from the crowd by going toe to toe in the ring. Kawada takes the worst of the strike exchange, but manages to roll out of the way of Afi’s Flying Splash attempt and tag in Hara. Hara almost takes Afi’s head off with a vicious Lariat, and then Tenryu is tagged in. He finishes Afi, and the match, with a Powerbomb. Baba, Jumbo, and Misawa vs Fujinami, Kengo Kimura, and Hashimoto We figured that the big moment of this match was going to be Jumbo and Fujinami facing off, so we decided to delay that as long as possible. The crowd, however, starts out hot even though it is the two young boys, Misawa and Hashimoto, who begin the match in the ring. The in-ring action is hard, but clean. There are a lot of changes in momentum, and both teams earn good pops with hot tags. Kimura almost pins Misawa after a Leg Lariat. Fujinami catches Baba in the Dragon Sleeper, but Jumbo makes the save. Baba gets a 2.9 on Hashimoto after a Big Boot. In the end, it is Jumbo that takes the win, with a Back Suplex Hold on Kengo Kimura. All six men shake hands after the match and pose together for the crowd, and the magazine photographers.

A kind of remarkable thing happened toward the end of the party. Three guys (presumably regular customers) came into the bar and they seemed nonplussed to find it busy... but then one of them noticed that the guys on the video screen wrestling (they were playing what looked like fan cams of VKF matches all night) was also the guy sitting at the next table, and within minutes they were kanpai-ing and laughing and drinking with us. Also, everybody got a nice memento: