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Superstar Sleeze

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  1. Superstar Sleeze
    Couldn't find the defense against Hash 9/23/92. Help a brutha out? IWGP Heavyweight Champion The Great Muta vs Scott Norton - NJPW 10/18/92 There is no reason I shouldn't love Scott Norton, big & thicc in all the right places (he aint fat, bruv. HE JUICY!). However, I have never seen a great Scott Norton match. Turns out since Keiji Mutoh won the championship as the Greta Muta is the champion and he defends the title. While Keiji Mutoh works the house shows. Muta defeated Hashimoto in September and this is his second defense. The big miss of the 90s is Vince not getting his hands on Muta. It would have limited Muta's brawling which is his best attribute, but I think would have helped the other parts. Muta works basically a slow WWF style. They accentuated the big man vs small man difference. Muta bumping off Norton and Norton slamming him all around was great shit. My problem with Muta is he is not fighting back. He just takes it. Then when it comes time for him to go on offense, he turns it on. Eyeclawing gets him the advantage and jeers. It was weird the first 3/4s Muta was the heel and Norton was positioned as the babyface. Once this goes to the outside, Muta is so much better. He beats the shit out of a young boy and nearly chokes him to death trying to take his shirt off. So he whips him into Norton and then gets the shirt and chokes Norton. Great Muta vs 97 Macho Man Randy Savage would have been classic. Muta is an asshole throughout his heat segment. Norton makes a comeback. HUGE LARIAT on the outside! Powerslam and he picks him up at TWO?!?! What the fuck kind of stupid move is that! It is for the fucking IWGP title. Ref gets bumped. Muta mist. Norton on ONE KNEE! SHINING WIZARD~! Sorry it is not 2001. Muta gets a spike and puts it in his boot. Knees him with it (hey Shining Wizard after all) and kneedrop. Moonsault win. Norton looked good. No reason he cant have a great match. Someone point me in that direction. Muta still feels like an odd choice for champion. Great special attraction like an Undertaker or an Andre, but doesn't need the title and he is not having great matches on top.
  2. Superstar Sleeze
    IWGP Heavyweight Champion Riki Choshu vs The Great Muta - NJPW 8/16/92 It is pretty telling of how New Japan in the 90s is viewed that this is not considered a seminal match. It is not a great match, but it is an incredibly important match. Muta is the first of Three Musketeers to win the IWGP Championship and he does so by beating Choshu, the rockstar of New Japan 80s. Muta is the rockstar of the New Japan 90s in a more demonic and over the top way. Inoki at this point put charisma over everything else. Yes, Chono won two G-1 Climaxs in a row and was crowned NWA World Champion four days before, but it is Keiji Mutoh in the Great Muta gimmick that is the first of the 90s stars to win IWGP Championship. Hashimoto who feels like the heir of Riki Choshu with that badass charisma and the logical pick for the first to win gets overlooked for Muta. I think that is important to understand New Japan at the time. This is a very typical Muta match. It is lumbering brawl with strange pacing. Muta stalls in a way that would make Larry Z frustrated. Choshu ripping his head off with a clothesline after all that was great. I think Muta by selling through not selling was great. You could see Choshu realize he was facing something un-human in the form of The Great Muta. The mist was so gimmicky for such a big title change that it felt weird. Muta was good in this brawling setting. The bulldog from the apron looked great and he wrough havoc at ringside. Choshu got his hope spots, but Muta clawed his eyes. Backbreaker->Moonsault->kickout, jeez it was already happening. Second moonsault gets it. Not a great match. But it is a torch passing that gets overlooked between this and Chono's victory over Rude (much more acclaimed) really ushers in the Three Musketeers era. ***
  3. Superstar Sleeze
    Goddamnit, I should have read the review. I didn't know! I DIDNT KNOW! This is awful! Muta is so hit and miss. This is a big miss. Lazy, apathetic Muta at his worst. Onita looked like a Stooge instead of a madman. Nothing happens. There is this awful Sickle that makes me long for the sledgehammer. So slooooooowwwwwwwwwwwww and plodding. Only the fireball made me mark out. One of the worst matches I have seen in a long time. Mutoh is in the middle of a long IWGP title reign with lots of defenses, weird that this happened in NJPW given that context. Terrible.
  4. Superstar Sleeze
    Naoki Sano vs Yoji Anjoh - UWFI 6/18/95 I feel that RINGS is to UWFi as AJPW is to NJPW, but just as in the AJPW-NJPW relationship, UWFi is occasionally able to come close to their more heralded competitor. This is one of those cases where Sano/Anjoh match RINGS in their ability, energy and organic feel. The opening features an amazing 5 minutes of shooting on the mat in amazing fashion that is gritty as it is intense ending with amazingly muscular Boston Crab by Sano. Where Sano and Anjoh have one up on their RINGS counterparts is their pro wrestling background and as a pro wrestling fan that means good character work and lots of great selling and of course ZEBRA PRINT~! (thanks Anjoh!). I feel like the Sano STF on Anjoh was incredibly compelling in a totally pro wrestling way that RINGS could never duplicate because of their shooty nature. I also loved the story of this match. Sano gets a big knee in the corner and then a dropkick to a head to score a knockdown putting it at 14-11. Anjoh spends the rest of the match digging out of the hole working hard to make it 10-10 through a ton of submission work dripping with struggle. Him getting out of that aforementioned STF and converting into his own submission was huge. I love just as Anjoh worked his way back into the match Sano just blows him out of the water with two huge knockdowns one being a deadlift German suplex. Both of their selling before of this war of attrition was great and Anjoh spent all his energy trying to get back into the match and Sano was able to score. Anjoh was spent and blocked the last German, which would have lost him the match, but falls prey to the deep cross armbreaker for the quick submission. Brutal, flashy, energetic match which used the points system really well to create a compelling narrative, loved it. ****1/2
  5. Superstar Sleeze
    Nobuhiko Takada & Masahito Kakihara vs Tatsumi Fujinami & Yoshiaki Fujiwara - UWFi 6/26/96 UWFi was at the tail end of their feud with NJPW, which climaxed with Takada losing the title to Hashimoto in April. Basically, it was their penultimate gasp at relevancy, Takada would draw big against Tenryu in a couple months and then they would close their doors. By feuding and losing to NJPW, it cemented UWFi as NJPW-lite, which kinda was already. This is the last vestiges of that feud as Takada takes on two rivals from the 80s fellow shoot-style pioneer: Fujiwara and the NJPW star of the 80s; Fujinami. I thought Fujinami & Fujiwara were game here. Huge pop at the beginning for Fujiwara catching the kick and turning it into a dragon leg screw. From there, great organic transition into a figure-4, but near the ropes. Kakihara, who I have never seen before, is a spunky little fuck. He just catches Fujinami with a kick to head from jump. Fujinami grabs a back heel trip and here comes Fujiwara. I loved this because it was such a pure veteran vs rookie dynamic. Just when you and Kakihara think Kakihara has him, Fujiwara grabs a DEEP toehold and Kakihara is yelping. Fujiwara/Takada is not much. Takada and Fujinami do some good New Japan grappling. Takada starts snapping off his famous kicks. Fujinami fights through gets a nice vertical suplex which gets a pop and he tags out to Fujiwara, who gets a tight butterfly suplex for a one count. Takada gets outta Dodge. Kakihara AXE KICKS Fujiwara in the face. Fujiwara fights through the onslaught of kicks and takes Kakihara down. Right now this making me want a Kakihara vs Fujiwara match. Ref makes Fujiwara stand up and Fujiwara deep single leg crab. Fujinami again good grappling taking advantage of Kakihara's mistakes. Fujiwara comes in and whacks Kakihara right on the ear and drives him right out the ring. Big suplex back in and a deep choke. Fujiwara is killing it right now. Fujinami & Fujiwara double team the shit out of Kakihara and Takada just stands on the apron like a tool. Basically, they let Kakihara tag out. Takada is really effective using his kicks to chop down both, but gets caught in a toehold by Fujiwara and tags out immediately. Then he is grabbing his ankle while Kakihara is getting his ass kicked again makes him look like such a prick. Fujiwara was consistently awesome, but Fujinami had some great moments like his response LARIAT to Kakihara and then Scorpion Deathlock. Fujinami was definitely the most over. Takada actually saved Kakihara here. Takada fires off kicks and then gets caught. DRAGON LEG SCREW! Big pop again! Takada takes Fujiwara down with a head kick and like a chump tags out to Kakihara who takes the Fujiwara armbar and then Fujinami Dragon Sleeper. I love LeBron James, but Takada is doing the wrestling equivalent of LeBron James. It is the 4th quarter of the match and he is letting Kakihara sink or swim against the legends and is just refusing to either win or lose the match on his own terms. That's kinda metaphor for Takada who was a great and influential pro wrestler, but a tier below the other puro legends. Kakihara throws as many kicks as possible some real Hail Marys ones like rainbow kicks and Fujiwara calls him over and then locks on a toehold and gets the submission. This was very Original UWF/80s NJPW and was wicked entertaining. Given the participants both of those things make sense. Fujiwara and Fujinami were awesome as crowd pleasing, hard hitting vets and Kakihara was a ball of energy. Takada's LeBron-like disappearing act is just as gobsmacking when it happens in a Cavs game and makes for just as much drama. Fujiwara is so damn good. ****1/4
  6. Superstar Sleeze
    Call me crazy but I preferred the WAR match. Onita & Co. vs Tenryu & Co. - Onita Pro 6/27/99 Barbed Wire Match This is one of those matches where you are watching this alone and questioning your own sanity who loving something so wantonly violent. Interesting set up here as only two sides have bared wire and the other two sides are open but over the edge lay boards cover in barbed wire. Tenryu is in a white collared button down shirt (white is always the appropriate color for a Deathmatch) and a tie that's just weird. Onita goes to whip Tenryu into the barbed wire, but he stops short and it is a jabroni that dropkicks him into the barbed wire. There is a great double front suplex into barbed wire. Tenryu monkey flips a chump onto some barbed wire. Onita was the star of this match as opposed to the WAR match where Tenryu shined. Onita horsecollaring muthafuckas and slamming them with broken table was awesome. I thought Tenryu was more violent in their WAR match just mowing down jabronis with a insatiable appetite. They trade finishes Onita puts Tenryu into the spike piledriver on the chair and then Tenryu powerbombs his ass. Onita powerbombs the shit out of a jabroni twice to win. Chalk me up as preferring the WAR match for more chaos and energy. Tenryu & Onita were just pure rampant violence in that match. This was slower, gorier violence didn't appeal to me quite as much. ***3/4
  7. Superstar Sleeze
    I saw that too, Pete and I marked out. Genichiro Tenryu, Nobutaka Araya, & Shoji Nakamaki vs Atsushi Onita, Sambo Askao & Okumura - WAR 6/20/99 I have never seen an Onita match before, believe it or not. He was awesome in this. Throwing people with reckless abandon into chairs and the wall. Piledriving people on the floor. Besides Araya, I didn't know the other three jay-brones, but they seemed fine with getting demolished by Tenryu and Onita. While Onita impressed, Tenryu was the star. His facial expressions and how much fun he was having just DESTROYING these jobbers was awesome. Loved the chair throws. Every chop and lariat was brutal! Also loved the hot pink tank top he was rocking! We did get some Onita/Tenryu in the middle with Onita & Co. ganging up Tenryu climaxing with a spike piledriver. I loved at one point Tenryu is getting beta up but you just hear screams of agony off camera. Tenryu was just blasting people at one point Onita is on the apron and Tenryu just smokes him with punches and chops. At the end of the match, Onita tries his bets to save his jobbers from the Wrath of Tenryu, but Tenryu powerbombs, chops and LARIATS his way to victory in WAR!!! Stark contrast to the New Japan stuff Tenryu was doing at the time or watching this close together with Takada matches, but it shows Tenryu's range. This is like the best possible ECW arena brawling. Relentless chaos. ****1/4
  8. Superstar Sleeze
    Hey Chad, whats up with the Dewey Decimal system in parentheses? You trying to out-nerd, Parv, or sumthin? Genichiro Tenryu vs Hayabusa - WAR 7/13/00 WAR & FMW had an off and on feud from 1994 through 2000 (when both promotions ceased being relevant). It definitely peaked in 1994, but throughout the late 90s Tenryu would face wrestlers from FMW. After UWFi closed, WAR & FMW remained the two major independent promotions so made sense to leverage one another for a payday Tenryu is fresh off a 2 year run with New Japan where he won the tag titles and defended the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at 1/4/00 Dome show. He was just about to return to All Japan, but in between he had some fun with Hayabusa. Besides having the coolest look since Great Muta, I have not been too fond of Hayabusa in the few matches I have seen thus far. This was a showdown of two aces and it was worked pretty segmented and straightforward. I am going to do my shit and then you do yours. For two very charismatic superstars, this leads to a good, but not great match. I loved Tenryu in this. His reaction to Hayabusa wimpy kick and chops was great and then hits a MAN-SIZED CHOP to fell Hayabusa in one blow. Hayabusa gets destroyed in a power match as Tenryu is just steamrolling him. He gets a dragon leg whip this affords him the opportunity to hit a couple dives and a big high kick. This is exactly what Hayabusa needs to do. He needs to fly around, but stay on Tenryu. Tenryu decks him and it is all Tenryu again. Tenryu is awesome playing to the crowd for his dive. It made me pop. He can still hang with the young guns. His little Dusty Rhodes flip flop fly on his punch-chop was awesome. The transition sucked as Hayabusa just suplexed Tenryu and then hit a back body driver and Falcon's Arrow, which did not feel earned. Imagine telling Tenryu in 1990 in ten years you will be hit by a 450 splash. Tenryu kicks out. Hayabusa gets some more token offense, but you know it is over for him. Tenryu powerbombs him out of rana attempt. Super Reverse Suplex! Mack truck Lariats! Powerbomb wins it for the Old Man. Entertaining exhibition of both men's talents and charisma. Just nothing next level. ***1/4
  9. Superstar Sleeze
    IWGP Tag Team Champions Genichiro Tenryu & Shiro Koshinaka vs TenCozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) - NJPW 1/4/99 To my understanding, this is the debut match of the iconic late 90s/early 00s team of TenCozy, who have never really done much for me as a team. I think Kojima was originally a babyface in a young, power team with Nakanishi known as the Bull Powers as paired against NWO Japan. Something must have happened to have Kojima join NWO Japan. Tenryu & Koshinaka ended up defeating Chono & Tenzan in July of 1998 for the tag titles (jn a match I couldn't find, I have seen the June 98 tag). Tenryu/Koshinaka defended against a bunch of iterations of NWO Japan. If they kept it to a meaty, bomb-throwing sprint I think this could have been great. Tenzan & Kojima are at their best when there is not a whole lot of thinking and they are just throwing bombs. Two heat segments on each of TenCozy was pointless neither is very good at selling and Koshinaka is totally useless. Tenryu in 1999 carried these three to a good match, but not a great match. Once it just came to hitting each other as hard you can this became a lot better. There was some weird late 90s/00s bullshit that crops up like Tenryu hitting a Super Ace Crusher, Kojima not selling it and hitting his own Ace Crusher. I love chaos spots like Kojima Ace Crushering Tenryu to the floor, Koshinaka flying from the apron with ass and then Tenzan wiping out everyone with a moonsault. That sequence will always get over with me. Kojima puts Tenryu down with an Ace Crusher (3rd one of the match and he catches Koshinaka with a German when he goes for the Ass Shot. Kojima decks him with a lariat and Tenzan polishes him off. Good Dome tag match that could have been five minutes shorter. Very typical late 90s/early 00s puro. ***
  10. Superstar Sleeze
    Shinya Hashimoto vs Genichiro Tenryu - NJPW 6/8/99 Hashimoto's first match back since the 1/4 Dome show against Ogawa, which would be his primary feud until he departs New Japan, I do believe. 1999 was the year Mutoh got another crack at running on top for New Japan as the IWGP champion winning the belt at 1/4 from Norton and having five successful defense on the year. After giving Hashimoto a massive run from 96-97 and Sasaki 97-98 and with Chono injuring himself at the start of his run, Mutoh was the logical choice for the standard bearer of New Japan 1999 even though his style did not fit the shoot-style route that Inoki was directioning his company. This is actually on the undercard of the Finals of Best of Super Juniors 1999 tournament held at the Budokan, which saw Kashin defeat Kanemoto. It is Hashimoto vs Tenryu you know it is going to be WAR~! The match is basically worked around headshots and who can KO their opponent first. They are both just headhunting from the get go. Tenryu lands that first big punch, hits an enziguiri and a powerbomb. You think it is over! Tenryu just blitzed the returning Hashimoto, but he goes out to cut a mid-match promo and BAM! Hashimoto greets him with a dropkick. God I missed Hashimoto! Great kicks and that badass aura. Tenryu rocks him again with a punch to the head. It is all punches and chops. He sits him up top never give your opponent the high ground. Hashimoto smashes his head from the top with a kick. Best spot of the match! After that it is just rifling Tenryu with kicks and overhand chops. They trade DDTs as this match is all about giving your opponent a concussion. Two things telegraph Tenryu's win: this is Hashimoto's return and Hashimoto kicks the dogshit out of him the majority of the match. The high kick/Brainbuster really should have been the finish and probably a build to Hashimoto/Mutoh would have been great. Tenryu punches him in the head and then Hashimoto just straight rights him two times and the ref is freaking out and Hash gets one more in. Again another great opportunity for a finish. They did stall out. Hashimoto beat Tenryu up so much that they didn't have a place to go. They kept just going back to strike exchanges. I think a Hashimoto fuck up would have bridged to the finish better. They didn't really sell Hashimoto as punching himself out either. Tenryu hits a Kappo Kick to the head and then hitting a big chop to the head to win. Kinda outta nowhere. They stayed with the theme of headhunting throughout the match. Everybody's big shots were to the head, all of Hashimoto's flase finishes and Tenryu's win were all attacking the head. I just thought they ran out of build and kept circling back to the same place. Also the crowd was oddly dead for a hard-hitting affair between two mega-stars. Great match as always, but pales in comparison with their classics from earlier in the decade. ****
  11. Superstar Sleeze
    nWo Japan (Masa Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan) vs Genichiro Tenryu & Shiro Koshinaka - NJPW 6/5/98 IWGP Tag Tourney Final My hot take from this match is that Tenzan is the best possible Nasty Boy. He is a total meathead goon that just hits really hard is best suited to be a heavy second banana goon. The problem is that Inoki tried to push him as a star. He was fine as a heel upper midcarder. My other takeaway (a lukewarm take at best) is that Koshinaka is a pretty mediocre wrestler. First match I have ever seen him wrestle (New Japan is my biggest blind spot). I knew his rep for using his ass as his main offensive weapon and this didn't bother me much. It is that he has no charisma or fire. His portions of the match lacked struggle and urgency. So yeah pretty lame. Pretty straightforward tag with Tenryu/Tenzan in a battle of bulls and Tenryu/Chono in who could be a bigger prick and Koshinaka dragging the match down. This match is for the tag titles after Mutoh had to forfeit the titles due to an injury (he was Chono's tag partner). Tenryu/Chono had some amazing exchanges in this. I am surprised there is not a heralded Tenryu/Chono match because they had great chemistry and they are such huge characters. Tenryu dumps Chono hard on his ass on a suplex outside the ring that looked like it hurt. Then he comes flying off the apron with an elbow out to the crowd that wipes out Chono. This leaves Tenzan to fight for his life. Great moment as Tenryu/Koshinaka beat the shit out of him with tons of power moves and strikes. Tenzan takes a lickin' but keeps on tickin'. The Japanese crowds love these underdogs and is lapping it up cheering for Tenzan. Chono's hot tag is great. Yakuza kick for Koshinaka. Then ensuing battle with Tenryu is great. I love him ballshotting Tenryu as he falls from taking a Tenryu punch. Now it is Koshinaka that is isolated and Chono is keeping Tenryu at bay. Flying headbutt, moonsault to a crouched Koshinaka (awesome spot that should have been the finish) and then another flying headbutt gives NWO Japan the tag titles. Besides Tenryu/Chono and the two finish runs (Tenzan's resistance and then his finish run to win), this match is pretty straightforward. Isolate Tenzan, Chono/Tenryu showdown and Koshinaka isolation. Quality tag, but nothing super special, the Chono ballshot and the Tenzan moonsault are worth it as are all the Tenryu/Chono interactions. ***3/4
  12. Superstar Sleeze
    Genichiro Tenryu vs Nobuhiko Takada - WAR 12/13/96 Not as great as their UWFi classic, but few matches are. This one suffers from the same problem as the previous match but instead of taking 10 minutes to really kick into gear, this one took 15 minutes. It also featured "bundle of leg" lock spot, which I abhor especially after watch a ton of RINGS. Stuff like Tenryu trying to get his receipt for Takada bullying him in the corner by punching him in the head was great, but there just was not enough of this. Takada is really good at two things: kicking and selling Tenryu's potatoes. When Takada gets Tenryu backed into corner and starts throwing those knees to the head, you think Oh No, Here We Go Again, but then Tenryu powerbombs his ass. Great callback! Another great call back was Takada getting the armbar out of the powerbomb. Takada has a great headkick coming off the ropes and the cross armbreaker that are great false finishes. Takada was just overwhelming with the kicks until Tenryu's sumo charge knocks Takada loopy when his head bounces off the ropes. Takada sells well. I wish this led somewhere cooler than a sitting double chickenwing. These two are WAY BETTER at strike exchanges than anyone in modern puroresu. Their strikes are fierce and selling is epic. Ternyu's selling in this match is off the charts great, Maybe his best selling performance of his career. The desperation lariat by Tenryu is great. Tenryu just picks him up and powerbombs his ass. I felt like the finish was a little outta nowhere, but a good callback to the UWFi match Tenryu went for the powerbomb but it was Takada getting the armbar that cost Tenryu, this time he gets the powerbomb to win. Beginning was a hit and miss, but these two settled into a groove and it got really good. Both guys don't get a lot of credit for selling capabilities but they were both great at selling here. I thought the callbacks enhanced this match a lot and the strike exchange was very dramatic. Finish felt anit-climatic, but overall the finish stretch was great. ****
  13. Superstar Sleeze
    Genichiro Tenryu vs Great Muta - WAR 10/11/96 One of my all-time favorite matches, which I watched originally over ten years ago (I cant believe that!), and it does not disappoint in rewatch (probably the first time I have watched it in 5 years). There is something about Great Muta in his full regalia that is just so captivating. There have been many imitations but they all pale in comparison to the original. Tenryu in his stately kimono stands in stark contrast to the demonic Muta. Tenryu throwing the ceremonial bouquet of flowers is a great opening salve of hostility. The action is fast & furious. When Muta is on. the chaos & violence he generates is engrossing. He is able to combine Wildman actions with Hellish overtones into a very intoxicating concoction. It is both sad that Great Muta vs Undertaker was never seriously considered because that would have been a great WrestleMania Spectacle and that there is a real dearth of great Wildman characters in pro wrestling today. Tenryu stands in direct opposition as a stoic, Japanese badass that stands for authority with his brutal hard strikes. Muta breaks a glass bottle against the ring post and drive it deep into Tenryu's head drawing blood. Muta is such a glorious heel here jabbing the wound with his fingers and any hard metal object he can find. He piledrives him into a table. He takes every heel shortcut imaginable. I loved Tenryu trying to chop Muta down, but like the Creature from the Black Lagoon he arises again and again to chop Tenryu down. Eventually, Tenryu rallies with big chops and fists. Just by the virtue of how good the heat segment was you just pumped to see Tenryu overcome and kick some ass. TENRYU SNAPS~! Throwing chairs and a table into the ring. He goes to take Muta's head off with a chair and MIST~! Great cutoff and great use of the table with the back handspring elbow and moonsault. I love Muta throwing the table on his head then beating up a WAR dude and taking his write shirt to write something in Tenryu's blood. That's awesome. Backbreaker, which is the traditional lead in to the moonsault but Tenryu powerbombs him off the top! Kickout, he goes for number two and MIST~! I FORGOT ABOUT THAT! MARK OUT CITY! Tenryu is really covered in green and really sells it. Tenryu blocks the mist by COVERING MUTA'S MOUTH! I forgot about that too! MARK OUT CITY~! Tenryu hits a combination lariat and puts Muta down with a third powerbomb. Amazing combination of Clash of Titans and violent brawl. Everything felt HUGE~! From the entrance attire to their characters to the spots in the match, everything felt enormous. My minor complaint is the first powerbomb was a bit out of nowhere (would have liked Muta to miss that moonsault) and thought a more violent climax like a powerbomb on a chair or table would have been more fitting. Thought the heat segment by Muta is one of the all-time greatest and the work around the Mist was amazing. Just a match that built and built with two amazing characters ready to have your mind blown by this rating...****3/4 Whats crazy is that five years later they have a polar opposite match and I say that's *****. Great chemistry.
  14. Superstar Sleeze
    The ref spoke perfect English throughout the match. Did anyone else find that weird? Nobuhiko Takada vs Genichiro Tenryu - UWFi vs WAR 9/11/96 The two biggest, non-NJPW, non-AJPW puroresu wrestlers of the 90s do battle drawing 30,000 to Jingu Stadium. On a card that also featured Hashimoto, Sasaki, SAYAMA!?? & KAWADA?!? against UWFi wrestlers. Tenryu blazed the path for freelance wrestling Japan in the 90s, which became a popular path in the first decade of the 21st Century. While Takada started an incredibly successful shoot-style company in the 90s, which inevitably led to the founding of PRIDE forever changing the landscape of pro wrestling & mixed martial arts. After Tenryu feuded with New Japan from late 92-early 94, Takada feuded with New Japan from late 95-early 96 there was really nowhere left for either to go but into each other arms. UWFi was breathing its last gap and this match popped a huge gate, but it was not sustainable and UWFi closed its doors in December of 1996. Huge Clash of the Titans feel for this match. Starts off slow but chippy. They established pro style vs shoot style with Tenryu missing his elbow drop from the top early and Takada kicking him out of the ring to a huge pop from the pro-UWFi crowd. Things get chippy when Tenryu does not give a clean rope break and Takada starts firing off kicks, but Tenryu grabs the leg and torques it into a dragon leg screw. The match really takes off when Takada relentlessly knees Tenryu in the face cutting him really badly from the forehead. Nasty stuff and actually set up a huge Tenryu comeback, which was weird because the crowd really loved Takada, but goddamn did I love Tenryu unleashing his classic fury (punches, chops, suplex and Cloverleaf) when he saw his own blood and just ripped into Takada. Tenryu just punching Takada really hard into the side of the head and the way Takada sold it was just magnificent by both men. The ref speaking perfect English throughout the match was odd to me. He told someone to take it easy at one point, which made me laugh. The cloverleaf was a great visual with the blood pouring down Tenryu face it was like a reverse Bret-Austin. Takada makes the ropes. Tenryu misses the Kappo Kick. The one issue with Takada is that his favorite hold is a kneebar and that is by far the most boring of all shoot-style holds and that's what he goes for here. Takada's offense (kicks and knees) has been great and his selling really, really good too. The kicks to the leg and that MASSIVE LEFT TO THE HEAD had me popping huge. Takada going for a pinfall cover was so strange to me! It looked so wrong! Cross-armbreaker that's more like it, but Tenryu clasps the hands, but Takada breaks it but Tenryu is too close to the ropes. Big lariat from Tenryu for 2! Tenryu misses second lariat and Takada gets an armbar takedown into a Fujiwara armbar. Takada kicks Tenryu in the head a bunch so Tenryu punches him in the head and Takada just melts into the mat. Takada is on fire here. Mack Truck Lariat by Tenryu only gets two and Takada kicks him in the head from the ground massive punch by Tenryu. The Chop-Kick Fighting Spirit bullshit works here because of how big of superstars they are and everything that happened before. Tenryu wins with a huge overhand chop. Tenryu Powerbomb?!? Takada gets the armbar takedown and Fujiwara armbar gets him the victory. Really amazing Clash of the Titans style pro vs shoot style match. Takada remained committed to who he was as did Tenryu yet somewhere they were able to meet somewhere in the middle without comprising their integrity or match quality. Everything just felt huge. It was a little slow in the beginning, but once Takada busted Tenryu open with those knees, the last ten minutes were amazing. ****1/2
  15. Superstar Sleeze
    Weird, this match really did nothing for me. Genichiro Tenryu vs Naoki Sano - UWFi 8/17/96 This is during that the death throes of UWFi after the NJPW vs UWFi where Takada tries to extend his stay on life support by feuding with Tenryu & WAR. Tenryu and Anjoh had a super fun match in WAR where Anjoh was the cocky shooter bastard and Tenryu taught him his lesson by being ultra-stiff. This match even though I like both guys was pretty disappointing. It is in an outdoor venue in broad daylight with barely anyone there. Tenryu was kinda whiffing early on. They couldn't decide if they wanted to do shoot-style or pro wrestling. Sano had no chance in hell of winning this. They give him a couple of head kicks to knock Tenryu down before Tenryu wins with a barrage of punches and two powerbombs. All the money is in Tenryu vs Takada. I didn't think much of this.
  16. Superstar Sleeze
    Antonio Inoki & Koji Kitao vs Genichiro Tenryu & Riki Choshu - NJPW Fukuoka Dome 5/3/95 Koji Kitao has a really interesting career. He is a former disgraced yokozuna. Dude is fucking gigantic, made Choshu look like a shrimp. Anyways, he quasi-sucked, never won a tournament and had a huge attitude problem so he got banished from sumo. Only yokozuna to ever be exiled in such a way. He turns to pro wrestling, which sees logical and trains with Inoki. He gets fired because he calls Riki Choshu a slur because he is Korean. There were some heated exchanges and nobody was selling shit for the other person. Then he links up with Tenryu but had a fucking shootfight with John Tenta and screams pro wrestling is fake. So fired again. Goes to UWFi and before he can double cross Takada, Takada shoots KOs him in a match. Crazy. Eventually he settles into WAR and has a boring career, but that is some insane stuff. I watched this match because Tenryu only had nine matches from 1995. Was he injured? What was with all the time off? This match sucked. Inoki, Kitao and Choshu were having a competition who could sell the least. At the end, when Choshu was blasting Kitao with clotheslines it dawned on me maybe it was not that Kitao was not trying intentionally to not sell it is just that he totally sucks at selling. Tenryu try as he might could not carry these three loads. This is during Inoki retirement tour. Inoki chokes Choshu for like two seconds drags him down for a two count, but the bell rings. What the fuck ever. Don't bother.
  17. Superstar Sleeze
    Genichiro Tenryu vs Tatsumi Fujinami - NJPW 4/29/96 Fujinami's face looks like a murder scene about 3 minutes into this. Tenyru caved his face in when Fujinami was going for a suicide dive and blood was pouring like a faucet from his face. Damn sure made this match compelling as hell and pretty uncomfortable to watch. Fujinami was on a roll with dragon screw leg whip and two BADASS suicide dives that make all the modern WWE guys look like nancy boys. Then Tenryu crushed his nose and it all changed. Fujinami did get a figure-4, but then basically passed out in his own figure-4 from blood loss. tenryu was the ultimate dick looking to the crowd like why is this guy being such a chump and just waiting to chop the hell out of him. It is classic Tenryu the big punches to the side of the head of the injured Fujinami drawing boos. The powerbomb, lariats and reverse elbow. Fujinami gets a Dragon Sleeper as a hope spot before Tenryu puts him with a Mack Truck Lariat! Post-match, Tenryu is like you got something on your face and Fujinami slaps the shit out of him. Way better than I expected. Thought it be two legends doing a greatest hits package instead it was a bloody, heated affair. ****
  18. Superstar Sleeze
    For the record there is no 97 match to watch between these two? Disappointing.
  19. Superstar Sleeze
    Genichiro Tenryu vs Yoji Anjoh - WAR 7/21/96 With WAR and UWFi both on their last legs, they join forces to put on some pretty spectacular bouts. My favorite gimmick in all of purorseu maybe the cocky shooter asshole. Yoji Anjoh, while not quite to Murakami levels, is an excellent cocky prick in this match. He is taunting. He runs away from Tenryu every time Tenryu gets the advantage. He stalls. He cheats like a muthafucka. He just steps on Tenryu's throat at one point. You know he doesn't have to because his kicks are deadly and his submission holds are just as lethal. What makes this even better is the receipt. Because you know that Tenryu grumpy bastard that he is doesn't have time for this bullshit and when he gets his hands on this little muthafucka he is going to annihilate him. Annihilate him he did. The punches to the side of the head were tremendous. The Fuck You Sumo Slaps were great. The chop to the throat triggered Anjoh's fight or flight and he starts wailing on Tenryu who absorbs the blows and then punches him right in the side of the head. Every lariat was more brutal than the last. They did a great job teasing the powerbomb and then letting Anjoh have two submission nearfalls followed by a HUGE lariat, enziguiri and then powerbomb. Out of the powerbomb, he gets a nasty armbar. We get the rope break and then a MACK TRUCK LARIAT~! Followed by the powerbomb for the win. Loved the efficiency establish Anjoh as a cocky shooter prick that you want to see get his ass kick. Deliver said ass kicking. Have a couple nearfalls for both and then BLAST him to hell and have the good guy go over. That's pro wrestling! ****
  20. Superstar Sleeze
    Yuki Ishikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda - BattlArts 8/4/96 These two are still feuding right now, right? The match-up that would define BattleArts forever, the brutal kicks and strikes of Daisuke Ikeda against the lethal mat wizardy of Yuki Ishikawa. I always hesitate to call BattlArts shoot-style. It is more like ultra-stiff pro wrestling. You can see that hybridization in what I believe is the first match on tape we have these two in BattlArts. Ikeda is just blasting Ishikawa with those kicks and holy shit those clotheslines. Ishikawa is not afraid to throw some serious hands as well and also bests Ikeda on the mat. Ikeda shows he knows his way around the mat as he gets a heel hook. These two are the masters of their own realm, but what makes this a great feud is their very proficient in the other's strong suit. It gets pro wrestling with Ishikawa using a rana and a Fisherman Buster to set up his choke. Great portent of the amazing things to come. ***3/4
  21. Superstar Sleeze
    Kiyoshi Tamura vs Yoshihisa Yamamoto - RINGS 12/19/96 In my estimation, this match was to determine who the baddest Japanese muthafucka on the RINGS roster. Maeda is over the hill and I feel like Kohsaka is treated a step below these two. Before Tamura arrived in the summer of 96, it looked like it was clearly going to be Yamamoto, who does have a victory over Volk Han in late 95, but Tamura has cleared out the non-Volk Han foreigners. Match has a huge fight feel. Yamamoto comes out of the gate fucking swinging. Even though he is the incumbent, he feels like he has something to prove. He is crowding Tamura in the ropes. Tamura has to go for a takedown not because he is in control just to stop his momentum. Even back on their feet, Tamura starts throwing insane knees to Yamamoto's side. RINGS has not been the place for great, electric stand up. This is the exception. They beat the ever loving shit out of each other and they were furious throwing crazy hands. Oddly, I thought the match dragged on the mat. It seemed like both were trying so hard not get put into submission that you didn't get as many eye-popping submissions. They more than made up for it by throwing hands like there was no tomorrow. Tamura was up early 2-0 on rope breaks. When Yamamoto just started bashing his face in with palm strikes. Tamura came off the mat with a bleeding cheek and busted lip, fucking hardway. That shit was intense. Yamamoto was able to get three strong submissions to put Tamura in the ropes. Tamura looked like hell. Then all of sudden he gest a flying cross armbreaker that legitimately looks like he hyperextended Yamamoto's elbow (looked how deep it was) and how fast that tap out was. Insane amount of hate and anger. Best stand up ever in RINGS. Tamura's face and that finish are amazing. Matwork drags it down, but good God watch this. ****1/4
  22. Superstar Sleeze
    Kiyoshi Tamura vs Mikhail Iloukhine - RINGS 10/25/96 You can never relax in RINGS. Much of this match, it looks like the stocky Russian has the advantage and just when he is relaxing, Tamura would pop a submission and have him scrambling for the ropes. Misha was taking him down with ease early on and catching the kicks and transitioning to takedowns. The story of this match is Tamura is a slippery fuck. Iloukhine would apply submission after submission only forced his first and only escape via rope break at 13:45 mark. That means Tamura was standing up out of them or converting them into offense. Tamura is so dangerous because of his counterwrestling: heel hooks and anklecrosses when the Russian looked in control. Tamura scores a knockdown and Iloukhine cant even take him down anymore as Tamura is just quashing every attempt. Tamura chokes him the fuck out. This is twice now that Iloukhine has failed to impress. Solid match and a good one to get to know Tamura more. ***
  23. Superstar Sleeze
    Volk Han vs Mitsuya Nagai - RINGS 6/29/96 The Russian Wizard of the Mat is the gift that keeps on giving. That first move where he catches the foot, kicks out the plant leg and turn into a single leg crab had me going crazy and calling for the bell. It should have been the finish. The ankle crosses, double wristlocks, the chokes (watch how he does not let his ankles get crossed), the most vicious figure-4s in the game. Did you see that Nagai figure-4 that had Volk Han lunging for the ropes. No one better at shoot style selling than the Soviet Maestro. He treats serious holds as serious holds. He loves to get knockdown mid-match. See how he was knocked loopy and in a later stand up just drops to his knees to get back on the match. The finish with him reaching all the way back to choke out Nagai was amazing. Excellent Volk Han showcase. ***3/4
  24. Superstar Sleeze
    I am just getting into RINGS and loving it. Willie Fucking Peeters is MY MAN after watching the 96 Tamura match. I gotta see more of this dude and Dick Vrij. That match between those two sounds bitchin'.
  25. Superstar Sleeze
    Kiyoshi Tamura vs Willie Peeters - RINGS 7/16/96 After a great Sasha/Alexa match, Finn/Bray were putting me to sleep so I threw on some Tamura. Tamura is great, but WILLIE FUCKING PEETERS stealing the show! Peeters is a Dutch kickboxer with a fuckin' attitude, kid. He looks like every kid I went to middle school with his haircut, tank top and oversized pants. Peeters is a tornado in there throwing kicks Willie-Nilly. I had to! Awesome belly-to-belly suplex by him and a great side headlock RIP! Basically Tamura looks overwhelmed at first, but then he figures Peeters out. He goes toe-to-toe with him standing up. He figures out how to quash every single takedown and turn everything on the mat to his advantage. Peeters is cocky but is a fish outta water on the mat. He is great saying Tamura's kicks aren't affect him "You cant hurt steel" routine, only to tap like a baby in a heel hook after he already got the ropes. Perfect bully psychology. Tamura is taking it to the mat at will and it is just a matter of time. Triangle choke and Peeters taps. Very entertaining. Tamura has a great asskicker vibe to him. Peeters was able to bewilder Tamura early, but once Tamura figured him out it was academic. More Willie Fuckin' Peeters, bro! ****
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