Mr JMML

Talking about escalation, the first few minutes were full of very good technical wrestling, what Fujinami usually brings to the table in his matches but there’s always the sense that this is about to get heated and heated exchanges we had, the entirety of the final stretch is full of big moves that both of them hit to put their opponent down, I felt like the match ending sequence was incredibly ironic, it’s the most fitting finish for something like that, Tatsumi Fujinami was great in this one, he has been great in every match I covered, there are many wrestlers with a high volume of great matches without being the best wrestler in those matches, Fujinami isn’t one of them, Fujinami makes every great match he has had and that’s something to consider in his Greatest Wrestler Ever case, everything I’ve covered from 1978 to 1980 proves it but let’s see how his career turned out, for now, he deserves a spot among the greatest to ever do it. The match is amazing as a technical match turned brawl, I love how comfortable Fujinami feels in both scenarios, the brawling benefited Kengo Kimura’s style otherwise he wouldn’t have a chance against the wrestling wizard that Fujinami is and he took advantage of the situation making the match as difficult as possible for Tatsumi Fujinami, it’s a star-making performance by Kengo Kimura, he felt like a real threat to his opponent throughout the match, so much so that it ended in a double knockout draw and somehow that ending was inmensely satisfying, it wasn’t a problem for me, if two people go as hard as they did I feel like a double knockout is the only possible ending, the people at ringside had to helped them to get up afterwards. I’d recommend this match to everyone who liked the previous one, I feel like this match it’s wilder than the last one although less technically sound.

February Fuerza Guerrera/Psicosis vs El Hijo del Santo/ Angel Azteca 2/13 El Hijo del Santo vs Psicosis 2/16 March Mascarita Sagrada vs Espectrito 3/12 Konnan vs Jake Roberts 3/12 Heavy Metal/Rey Mysterio Jr./Winners vs Espectro Jr./Fuerza Guerrera/Jerry Estrada 3/12 Angel Azteca/Winners/Volador vs Solar I/Super Calo/Misterioso 3/19 April Lizmark/Tiger Mask III/El Hijo Del Santo vs. Blue Panther/Eddy Guerrero/Love Machine 4/2 May El Hijo del Santo & Jushin Liger & Octagon & Tiger Mask vs Blue Panther & Eddy Guerrero & La Parka & Psicosis 5/15 Konnan & Perro Aguayo & Cien Caras vs Jake Roberts & Miguel Perez Jr & Love Machine 5/15 Mascara Sagrada vs Black Cat 5/8 Mascara Sagrada vs Black Cat 5/15 Hijo Del Santo/Perro Aguayo/Mascara Sagrada/Lizmark vs Black Cat/La Parka/Psicosis/Satánico 5/27 Konnan vs Jake Roberts 5/27 June El Hijo Del Santo/Mascara Sagrada/Heavy Metal vs La Parka/Psicosis/Jerry Estrada 6/3 July Octagon/Rey Misterio Jr./El Hijo Del Santo vs. Psicosis/Blue Panther/Fuerza Guerrera 7/15 August Konnan & Cien Caras vs El Satanico & Perro Aguayo 8/19 October Blue Panther vs El Mariachi 10/30 November El Hijo del Santo/ Octagon vs Eddie Guerrero/Love Machine 11/6 Rey Mysterio Jr vs Juventud Guerrera 11/30 December Jerry Estrada & Cien Caras & Mascara Ano 2000 vs Perro Aguayo & La Parka & Octagon 12/5

This match is just amazing, this is so brutal, it’s way more violent than I expected, they hit each other very hard, the roughness is incredibly surprising, when you hear the names Dynamite Kid and Tatsumi Fujinami you don’t associate those names with roughness, you expect a technical masterpiece from these two and we got that too, this match represents the best of both worlds, on one side you have a catch-as-catch-can contest they are known for and on the other side you can find very hard strikes that got the crowd very involved in the match, they were rooting actively for Tatsumi Fujinami, I love the energy the crowd provided to this one, in the last match (Ryuma Go vs Tatsumi Fujinami) I talked about the aura that Fujinami had and how unbeatable he looked and how Ryuma’s win reminded me why I loved wrestling, I don’t know how but this match is even better, the tone of this match is so different from the last one, there’s hatred in this match, Dynamite Kid looks filled with rage during the match and it was the main reason why he lost, he was so focused on making Fujinami suffer that he lost concentration and let Tatsumi get the win with his pin combination bridge variation, the crowd went nuts, the pop the win produced could be heard all over Japan, they really hated Dynamite Kid, it’s the greatest compliment a heel can receive in my opinion, being so hated that losing a title match as the challenger is a sign of absolute greatness, that’s why he made my Greatest Wrestler Ever list, his ability to make people hate him, I hate him because of what he did outside the ring but I loved what he did in the ring, professional wrestling how it should be. Everyone should watch this match, it doesn’t matter what you like in wrestling this match has it all.

I loved AAA in 1994.

It’s the last match of the Fujinami vs Ryuma Go trilogy and it’s by far the best, the level of intensity shown in this one is incredible, Fujinami’s fighting spirit is amazing, he always looks strong, he makes wrestling look easy, Ryuma Go had the performance of his career, his offense was as intense as it gets, he wanted to win at all costs and winning he did, Fujinami’s aura makes this match special, Ryuma’s win wouldn’t mean as much if Fujinami was another soulless jobber this match wouldn’t be remember as much as it’s remembered, Tatsumi seemed unbeatable during this run and this match is proof of that, the crowd didn’t even react to Ryuma’s win, they were in shock because they didn’t believe that Fujinami actually lost a match and that’s special. That was the logical ending to the trilogy, if Fujinami won that match the trilogy wouldn’t have been as great, Ryuma’s victory is the perfect way to end it all, Ryuma’s reaction to winning the match is pure gold, his face is the face of someone’s whose dream came true, it’s a heartwarming moment that only professional wrestling can provide, it’s beyond wrestling, Ryuma’s joyful expression is very relatable, it’s a story about someone who has achieved his goal in life, recreating that feeling is something that almost no mediums can replicate, this match reminded me of why I’m a wrestling fan, no movie or piece can do what Fujinami and Ryuma Go pulled off was an amazing example of what wrestling can do with just a ring and a good camera angle. The pace of the match is even faster than the last two matches between them were. I recommend to everyone the whole trilogy, every match is awesome and deserves a watch.

CMLL TV 07-16-2023 Arena México Before the show began Alfonso Morales and Leobardo Magadan present the show like they always do. Alfonso Morales: Estamos en la capital de la lucha libre Arena México para otro evento del Consejo Mundial, estoy acompañado por Leo Magadán como de costumbre. Preparaos para otra gran noche de lucha. Translation: We are in the capital of lucha Arena Mexico for another CMLL show, I'm accompanied by Leo Magadán as usual. Be prepared for another night of lucha. Leobardo Magadán: Claro que sí, la primera lucha del día es una lucha de tercias: Los Brazos contra Los Bucaneros. Translation: Of course, the first match of the day is a trios match: Los Brazos vs Los Bucaneros. Los Brazos enter the ring with Vivaldi's Spring The people love them, they can't get enough of them. When Los Bucaneros entered the ring to Messiaen's Quatuor pour la fin du temps (1941). They are babyfaces but they aren't as loved as Los Brazos. Los Brazos are: Super Porky, Brazo de oro and El Brazo. Los Bucaneros are: Pirata Morgan, Rey Bucanero and Último Guerrero. Once Armando Gaitán presented the wrestlers the first fall began, the first pairing was Brazo de Oro and Último Guerrero, the latter tried to hit the Pulpo Guerrero but Brazo de Oro reversed the move and hit La Bracina but he was too close to the ropes, both tag their partners, Pirata Morgan and Super Porky enter the ring. The fall ended when Porky tried to hit his signature Bronco Buster but it failed to connect so Pirata Morgan took advantage of it and pinned him for the three count, the crowd booed Pirata. 10 minutes of TV time pass. The second fall consisted of a quick back and forth between these two teams that lasted around 4 minutes, El Brazo surprised Rey Bucanero with a small package for the three count. After ten minutes, the contest was tied 1-1. The third fall was way more contested, both teams hit their signature moves but no one is able to get the advantage, 10 minutes pass and the stalemate comes to an end when Rey Bucanero hit El Castigo Bucanero ( his finishing move) on Brazo de Oro for the three count. 20:00 After the match Pirata Morgan said the following: Somos Los Bucaneros, somos limpios y respetamos a nuestros rivales ( tendiéndole la mano a Super Porky). Translation: We are Los Bucaneros, we wrestle clean and respect our rivals ( he offers Super Porky a handshake). They accept it and crowd loves it, they won the respect of the people going forward. 25:00 Alfonso Morales: Nuestro siguiente lucha enfrentará a La Fiera, Sangre Chicana y Perro Aguayo contra Los Villanos ( Ray Mendoza,Villano III and Villano V). Translation: Our next contest will be a trios match, La Fiera, Sangre Chicana and Perro Aguayo will face off against Los Villanos ( Ray Mendoza,Villano III and Villano V). La Fiera, Sangre Chicana y Perro Aguayo enter the ring to Camille Saint-Saëns While Los Villanos entered to Carlo Gesualdo's Los Villanos were booed when they entered the ring and they encouraged the boos. This was just a wild 15 minute brawl that the crowd loved, the face team won but they were too tired to speak about their victory. That was understandable considering that all of them received a lot of chairshots throughout the match but they won and that's what matters. Alfonso Morales: Es el momento que todos estáis esperando, el evento principal de la noche, Los Laguneros ( Virus, Blue Panther and Ciclón Ramírez) contra Los Infernales ( El Satánico, MS-1 y Rush). Translation: It's the moment you're all waiting for, the main event, Los Laguneros ( Virus, Blue Panther and Ciclón Ramírez) against Los Infernales ( El Satánico, MS-1 y Rush). Los Infernales entered the ring to Liszt's Faust While Los Laguneros entered the ring to Stefano Landis' This match was very different to the last one, it was a constant exchange of holds, Los Infernales and their tactics got the better of Los Laguneros, Rush distracted the referee and Virus was hit with a chair by Satánico after 25 minutes with the match tied 1-1. TV time is over but it's evident that there's a rivalry in the making.

He's very entertaining.

This promotion's programming will work like they did in their golden era. A TV taping every week with one hour of TV time Mostly trios and giving the big matches to the anniversary show The promos will be written in spanish and I'll translate them for you The biggest matches of the year will take place in this arenas Arena México Arena Coliseo Arena Puebla The reviews and ratings of the matches will be given by Superluchas, a big wrestling magazine in Mexico The roster consists of the best mexican wrestlers from every era except Terry Funk and Andre the Giant because I thought it'd be fun having them. El Satánico Sangre Chicana Perro Aguayo MS-1 Pirata Morgan La Fiera Black Terry El Dandy Atlantis Blue Panther Wotan El Hijo del Santo LA Park Rush Rey Bucanero Último Guerrero Negro Casas Fuerza Guerrera El Brazo Brazo de Oro Super Porky Ciclón Ramírez Felino Art Barr Solar I Tony Salazar Americo Rocca Octagón Villano III Villano IV Villano V Andre The Giant Ray Mendoza Fishman Terry Funk Bárbaro Cavernario Emilio Charles Jr Ángel Azteca Psicosis Juventud Guerrera Negro Navarro Mocho Cota Virus All the matches are two out of three falls If a wrestler loses his hair or his mask he can't appear in television until a month has passed Your mask and your hair is more valuable than any titles The titles: CMLL World Trios Championship CMLL World Tag Team Championship CMLL World Heavyweight Championship (there's a lot of weight classes in the original company so I simplified it). The announcers will be Alfonso Morales and Leobardo Magadan they're obnoxious at times but always passionate about what they're talking about. There will usually be 3 matches in each show with promos before and after the matches. I'm spanish so if you have any doubts about the promos or Superluchas' articles let me know. I'll use the nicknames of many wrestlers like Negro ''4 40'' Casas or Blue Panther ''El maestro lagunero''. The TV tapings happen every sunday from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm.

This match is 2/3 falls for Fujinami’s WWF Junior Heavyweight Title, Ray Mendoza, the lucha legend is the challenger for Tatsumi’s crown, he is the father of the Villanos, this match is the only complete match we have from him, there weren’t any cameras in Arena Mexico until 1983, considering he was in his twilight years in 1978 (when this match took place), this match is even more impressive because of that, if this is what he was capable of doing in 1978 imagine how good he was in 1965, Ray debuted in 1943 so this match came 35 years into his career, that’s wild if you think about it, that’s Black Terry levels of longevity, we have clips of Ray Mendoza’s best matches since 1964, we have a clip from a mexican movie from 1966 of a match he had against Mil Máscaras when he was 24 years old, his legacy is being carried on by his children and grandchildren, in AAA Triplemania XXX Villano IV lost his mask to Pentagon Jr in one of the greatest matches Mexico produced last year and Villano III Jr had a classic against Aéreo in 2019, the Villanos are here to stay for a long time. Fujinami was as good as he was in the previous two matches, what made this match better than those matches was the opponent’s quality, Ray Mendoza is way better than Ryuma Go or Mando Guerrero, Fujinami still had a tremendous performance selling, on the mat and adapting his style to fit his opponent’s, Tatsumi Fujinami is a brilliant wrestler. The first fall lasted around nine minutes and ended when Fujinami applied a pin combination for the three count in a very fast paced affair with a lot of big offense being thrown. The second fall lasted three minutes and ended when Ray Mendoza submitted Fujinami with his trademark submission to tie the contest 1-1. The third and last fall lasted six minutes and ended with a bridge pin combination by Fujinami to win the match and retain his title. I recommend this match to every lucha fan out there, if you haven’t watched it yet do it, here’s the link: https://vk.com/video375541216_456239026 .

Thanks

If you are looking for writers Battle of the Ages seems interesting I'd book CMLL if you are still doing that.

[1978-08-11-Los Angeles, CA] Mando Guerrero vs Tatsumi Fujinami We continue Fujinami’s 1978 with his match against Mando Guerrero in Los Angeles, his style is awesome, the match is for Fujinami’s WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship, his opponent is a part of the famous Guerrero family, he is the son of Gori Guerrero, one half of La Pareja Atómica, the other half being El Santo and the brother of Eddie Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero Sr all of them were great wrestlers who had successful careers of their own, Mando (short for Armando in Mexico) is the challenger for Fujinami’s crown, they had a mat classic, I just hope this is the average quality for a great Fujinami match, this is at least at same level as his previous match against Ryuma Go that I analized yesterday, I can’t believe how good 70’s Fujinami is, his 1978 has been awesome so far, I think Fujinami is the best NJPW I’ve ever seen, even better than Jushin Thunder Liger in the 90’s, he is far ahead of his competition in every match, there’s an aura around him, he looked like the wrestler in the world in 1978, let’s see if he can mantain that momentum throughout the coming years. The limbwork in this match is outstanding but I still feel like it didn’t pay off at the end, Fujinami does it pretty well but there isn’t any moment when Tatsumi takes advantage of that damage inflicted in Mando’s leg and that’s a missed opportunity. It’s smooth though, the match never feels dragged or slow because of that leg work, it’s an excellent example of what I want out of a junior style match, fast but effective limbwork and at least in that aspect it delivered big time, the match ended with another German Suplex pin combination, I assume that was his finisher. I strongly recommend everyone to watch this match, maybe it’s slightly worse than the last one but still worth your time.

Considering that Four Pillars is doing a Team Taco retrospective I think it would be a bad idea to persist in my Takeshi Ono retrospective so I’m going to do a best of Tatsumi Fujinami instead, I really enjoyed the Megumi Kudo project, doing the same thing with Fujinami sounds even better, a retrospective from his outstanding junior career to his fantastic run as a heavyweight all in NJPW with a few exceptions like his match against Vader in Bremen or against Ray Mendoza in Los Angeles. We have to start at the beginning with his first great series of matches, they were against Ryuma Go, they were short but great showings, as a Dynamite Kid fan (in the ring at least) I appreciate the early days of NJPW’s junior division, I love the match narrative of this one in particular, the limbwork is amazing, many wrestlers should watch this matches and learn from them, the match structure is solid and Fujinami came out of this match as the future of NJPW, this match is a star-making performance. This match is for Fujinami’s WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship, Ryuma Go is the challenger, the match doesn’t look like a 1978 match it looks like something out of the 90’s, from Fujinami’s masterful work on Ryuma’s left leg, his struggle feels real, then Tatsumi Fujinami hit a piledriver on Ryuma Go for the two count, the nearfalls in this one are very impressive, after that and a double heel hook, they go outside the ring and Tatsumi stayed for a bit, Ryuma Go hit a running powerslam for a two count and the crowd popped with the kickout, Tatsumi Fujinami hit a german suplex with a pin combination for the three count and the win, the leg work in this match was awesome but it didn’t pay off, the finish didn’t have anything to do with that. I’d recommend this match to everyone who likes the NJPW’s junior division from the 70’s and 80’s. Very innovative wrestling, I hope everyone of his matches are as great as this one. At least the ones I’ll review.

This is the last match of Megumi’s career so it’s the last match of the project too, it happened in the 8th anniversary show of the company like Toyoda and Onita’s retirement matches, without Combat Toyoda the women’s division suffered a lot, the only great worker in that division after Toyoda’s retirement was Megumi, her opponent that night Shark Tsuchiya didn’t come close to Kudo in terms of wrestling ability, in the No Ropes Barbed Wire Double Hell Death between Megumi Kudo and Mayumi Ozaki I talked about how unintentionally funny the names of the stipulations were, the name of this match’s stipulation is No Ropes Barbed Wire Current Explosion Barricade Double Hell Death, it means that if you touch either the barbed wire or the barricades in the outside of the ring they will explode, simple enough. Shark Tsuchiya was the only decent wrestler left in the women’s division, she was the leader of the company’s heel stable the Mad Dog Military, she also had a run in GAEA as the leader of Deadly Troops a heel stable in GAEA that lasted until 1996, the members of the Mad Dog Military took part in multi-woman matches like this one in LLPW Megumi Kudo & Shinobu Kandori & Michiko Omukai & Kaori Nakayama vs Shark Tsuchiya & Eagle Sawai & Sayori Okino & Miss Mongol or the handicap match I reviewed in 1995 Bad Nurse Nakamura, Miwa Sato & Shark Tsuchiya vs. Combat Toyoda & Megumi Kudo. The match was the best match it could have been, Megumi made Shark Tsuchiya look really good, in the other the best style to hide your lack of talent in wrestling is the deathmatch, that also helped making this match good, Megumi took a lot of damage in this match, not only from the barbed wire, from the barricade too. Shark Tsuchiya looked dominant throughout this match, the match ended with one of my favourite spots of her career, both of them touched the barbed wire at the same time, Megumi fell on top of her opponent for the three count in her retirement match. If you like the stipulation feel free to watch it if not Megumi’s performance is enough of a reason to watch it.

Shark Tsuchiya vs Megumi Kudo 04-29-1997 FMW 8th anniversary show This is the last match of Megumi’s career so it’s the last match of the project too, it happened in the 8th anniversary show of the company like Toyoda and Onita’s retirement matches, without Combat Toyoda the women’s division suffered a lot, the only great worker in that division after Toyoda’s retirement was Megumi, her opponent that night Shark Tsuchiya didn’t come close to Kudo in terms of wrestling ability, in the No Ropes Barbed Wire Double Hell Death between Megumi Kudo and Mayumi Ozaki I talked about how unintentionally funny the names of the stipulations were, the name of this match’s stipulation is No Ropes Barbed Wire Current Explosion Barricade Double Hell Death, it means that if you touch either the barbed wire or the barricades in the outside of the ring they will explode, simple enough. Shark Tsuchiya was the only decent wrestler left in the women’s division, she was the leader of the company’s heel stable the Mad Dog Military, she also had a run in GAEA as the leader of Deadly Troops a heel stable in GAEA that lasted until 1996, the members of the Mad Dog Military took part in multi-woman matches like this one in LLPW Megumi Kudo & Shinobu Kandori & Michiko Omukai & Kaori Nakayama vs Shark Tsuchiya & Eagle Sawai & Sayori Okino & Miss Mongol or the handicap match I reviewed in 1995 Bad Nurse Nakamura, Miwa Sato & Shark Tsuchiya vs. Combat Toyoda & Megumi Kudo. The match was the best match it could have been, Megumi made Shark Tsuchiya look really good, in the other the best style to hide your lack of talent in wrestling is the deathmatch, that also helped making this match good, Megumi took a lot of damage in this match, not only from the barbed wire, from the barricade too. Shark Tsuchiya looked dominant throughout this match, the match ended with one of my favourite spots of her career, both of them touched the barbed wire at the same time, Megumi fell on top of her opponent for the three count in her retirement match. If you like the stipulation feel free to watch it if not Megumi’s performance is enough of a reason to watch it.

Shinobu Kandori vs Megumi Kudo 01-05-1997 LLPW Street Fight Korakuen Hall First of all, thanks Kadaveri for telling me about this match, it was absolutely worth it, I missed this Kandori vs Kudo match completely and I regret not acknowledging this one before because seriously it’s the best of the trilogy and it should be regarded as an absolute classic, in the last review the Megumi Kudo vs Mayumi Ozaki Double Hell Deathmatch, I said that it was going to be my second to last Megumi Kudo match I’ll review but that was before Kadaveri recommended this one to me, it’s a Street Fight so no rules either pinfall, knockout or submission, those are the only ways you can this contest, apparently this was also a falls count anywhere match considering how this match ended, this match happened in between the two matches I reviewed previously involving those two so it’s the second match of trilogy. Megumi found herself in enemy territory this time going up against Shinobu Kandori in her promotion LLPW (Ladies Legends Pro Wrestling), Kandori is the undisputed ace of the company and she had the same problem that Kudo had with the lack of talent in the roster to a lesser extent, she was the most talented wrestler by far there. The match began before the bell rang, Kandori attacked her fiercefully since the very beginning, Kudo never had a chance, her opponent was always ahead of her, they went outside the ring and here’s where the wildest exchanges took place, when Megumi tried to dive Kandori responded with two chairs to the face, they went back to the ring where Kudo hit Kandori with her Tiger Driver on some chairs for a two count, they went back to ringside where Kandori got serious, they went to the stands and she choked Megumi for the win. I recommend this one to everyone who likes joshi brawls like the Dump Matsumoto vs Chigusa Nagayo hair matches, the crowd was loud cheering for Kandori, I loved it.

Mayumi Ozaki vs Megumi Kudo 04-18-1997 FMW Fighting Creation - Tag 2 We continue Megumi Kudo’s retirement tour, this time she is going against Mayumi Ozaki, she is dressed up as Street Fight Mayumi so you know what we’re going to get today, a barbed wire deathmatch that FMW named No Ropes Barbed Wire Double Hell Death, that’s literally how they named it, I love the goofy names FMW gave to their stipulation, sometimes it feels like they were making these names funny on purpose, I don’t believe that someone put that name to an stipulation and thought that everyone was going to take it seriously, it reminds of the american names in Super Mega Baseball, you know Stallion Johnson,Slapper Glutes or Immaculo Spectaculo. Let’s get back to wrestling shall we, this match is clipped, I don’t know if we have a full version of this but if that’s the case please notify me, we have only twelve minutes of wrestling in our hands but it looks like the match was twenty minutes long or close to that number, it’s one of Megumi’s last career match, in fact, it’s the second to last match of this retrospective, the last one will be of course her last match against Shark Tsuchiya April 29th 1997, the name of the stipulation is even more ridiculous than this one, it’s No Ropes Barbed Wire Current Explosion Barricade Double Hell Death I swear I’m not making that up, please trust me. The match starts as usual, with both wrestlers playing around the barbed wire putting over the possibility of making contact with the wire, the first one to suffer this fate was Mayumi Ozaki, it’s interesting considering that usually is Megumi the one that goes to the wire first but not this time. Megumi proceeded to beat her up until Mayumi threw her into the barbed wire placed on the floor, then Mayumi used what looks like a dog collar to punish Megumi. Megumi made a comeback that lasted the rest of the match, Megumi got the win with her vertebreaker, the Kudome. I’d recommend this match if you like barbed wire deathmatches like Bambi & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Arisa Nakajima & Chikayo Nagashima from 2008, unfortunately this one is worse.

I really liked the Megumi Kudo podcast, it helped me a lot.

I thought I was the only one with that problem.

Mayumi Ozaki vs Megumi Kudo 04-18-1997 FMW Fighting Creation - Tag 2 We continue Megumi Kudo’s retirement tour, this time she is going against Mayumi Ozaki, she is dressed up as Street Fight Mayumi so you know what we’re going to get today, a barbed wire deathmatch that FMW named No Ropes Barbed Wire Double Hell Death, that’s literally how they named it, I love the goofy names FMW gave to their stipulation, sometimes it feels like they were making these names funny on purpose, I don’t believe that someone put that name to an stipulation and thought that everyone was going to take it seriously, it reminds of the american names in Super Mega Baseball, you know Stallion Johnson,Slapper Glutes or Immaculo Spectaculo. Let’s get back to wrestling shall we, this match is clipped, I don’t know if we have a full version of this but if that’s the case please notify me, we have only twelve minutes of wrestling in our hands but it looks like the match was twenty minutes long or close to that number, it’s one of Megumi’s last career match, in fact, it’s the second to last match of this retrospective, the last one will be of course her last match against Shark Tsuchiya April 29th 1997, the name of the stipulation is even more ridiculous than this one, it’s No Ropes Barbed Wire Current Explosion Barricade Double Hell Death I swear I’m not making that up, please trust me. The match starts as usual, with both wrestlers playing around the barbed wire putting over the possibility of making contact with the wire, the first one to suffer this fate was Mayumi Ozaki, it’s interesting considering that usually is Megumi the one that goes to the wire first but not this time. Megumi proceeded to beat her up until Mayumi threw her into the barbed wire placed on the floor, then Mayumi used what looks like a dog collar to punish Megumi. Megumi made a comeback that lasted the rest of the match, Megumi got the win with her vertebreaker, the Kudome. I’d recommend this match if you like barbed wire deathmatches like Bambi & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Arisa Nakajima & Chikayo Nagashima from 2008, unfortunately this one is worse.

Shinobu Kandori vs Megumi Kudo 03-14-1997 FMW Winning Road 1997 We begin the last year of Megumi’s career with another Barbed Wire Deathmatch, this time against Shinobu Kandori, Kandori won in December 1996 and Megumi wanted her win back, this match was a part of Kudo’s retirement tour, she announced her retirement in 1996 after the retirement of Combat Toyoda the same year, I reviewed her retirement match two days ago if you want to know more about it. This match is better than the 1996 one, is way more compelling and interesting to watch Megumi’s performance is awesome, she looked great representing the company, she’s the best woman of the roster by far and I can confidently say that at this point in FMW history she was the best wrestler of the company regardless of gender. Shinobu Kandori is always tough she never gives up when she wrestles I have the sense that you have to knock her out to win and she will always go down swinging, she has an amazing attitude in the ring, I don’t know about anyone who doesn’t get her, as I said in my previous review she is the best ‘‘big match wrestler ever’’ along with workers like Sangre Chicana, people with the best matches without having the best careers. The match itself played out as you could expect from any FMW barbed wire match, they put over the dangerous nature of the stipulation, the first one to make contact with the barbed wire was Megumi, Kandori cut open Kudo’s forehead which resulted in her bleeding profusely, then Kandori had the displeasure of being in contact with the wire, Megumi took advantage of this by cutting her forehead the same way she did it to her. The final stretch consisted of a few near falls and tense moments before Kudo hit a lariat for the three count. I’d recommend this match to everyone who likes the promotion, it’s a match that only FMW could do.

Kandori won in December 1996 and Megumi wanted her win back, this match was a part of Kudo’s retirement tour, she announced her retirement in 1996 after the retirement of Combat Toyoda the same year, I reviewed her retirement match two days ago if you want to know more about it. This match is better than the 1996 one, is way more compelling and interesting to watch Megumi’s performance is awesome, she looked great representing the company, she’s the best woman of the roster by far and I can confidently say that at this point in FMW history she was the best wrestler of the company regardless of gender. Shinobu Kandori is always tough she never gives up when she wrestles I have the sense that you have to knock her out to win and she will always go down swinging, she has an amazing attitude in the ring, I don’t know about anyone who doesn’t get her, as I said in my previous review she is the best ‘‘big match wrestler ever’’ along with workers like Sangre Chicana, people with the best matches without having the best careers. The match itself played out as you could expect from any FMW barbed wire match, they put over the dangerous nature of the stipulation, the first one to make contact with the barbed wire was Megumi, Kandori cut open Kudo’s forehead which resulted in her bleeding profusely, then Kandori had the displeasure of being in contact with the wire, Megumi took advantage of this by cutting her forehead the same way she did it to her. The final stretch consisted of a few near falls and tense moments before Kudo hit a lariat for the three count. I’d recommend this match to everyone who likes the promotion, it’s a match that only FMW could do.

Shinobu Kandori vs Megumi Kudo FMW Year End Sensation 12-11-1996 This is the first match of the two that these wrestlers had between 1996 and 1997, this one is a regular singles match while the other one was a barbed wire deathmatch, it happened 7 months after the famous Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch that I reviewed yesterday that involved Megumi Kudo and Combat Toyoda, Toyoda’s retirement match in the 7th anniversary show, the match today is worse than that one mainly because the last one is very hard to top, in fact, FMW never did and I can’t blame them at all, they got close in the past with Funk vs Onita but it didn’t reach the heights that Toyoda vs Kudo reached. Shinobu Kandori is one of the coolest wrestler ever, once she steps in the ring you know what she is going to do, she’s just an absolute badass, even in her later years she still retained that aura, she still wrestles, she had four matches in 2023 and that number might increase considering that we are July so I think it’s fair to assume that she will have a few more over the course of the year. FMW’s environment is perfect for a wrestler like Kandori, I think she fit the role of heel perfectly in this match, she’s the shooter, the careless wrestler who only thinks about inflicting pain, the best example of this is her match against Akira Hokuto in Dreamslam 1, she’s the perfect big match wrestler, you can see an even wilder side of her in the chain match she had against Bull Nakano, where she went all out against one of the greatest women in the history of wrestling, great stuff all around. The match began with a fake handshake by Kandori, Megumi never had a chance, since the very beginning Kandori dominated her, Kudo had her moments like hitting a Tiger Driver in ringside but it felt like Kandori was always in control, Kandori won via sleeper in fourteen minutes in a dominant performance. I’d recommend this match if you love Shinobu Kandori’s work and attitude but if you aren’t into her just skip it.

This is the first match of the two that these wrestlers had between 1996 and 1997, this one is a regular singles match while the other one was a barbed wire deathmatch, it happened 7 months after the famous Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch that I reviewed yesterday that involved Megumi Kudo and Combat Toyoda, Toyoda’s retirement match in the 7th anniversary show, the match today is worse than that one mainly because the last one is very hard to top, in fact, FMW never did and I can’t blame them at all, they got close in the past with Funk vs Onita but it didn’t reach the heights that Toyoda vs Kudo reached. Shinobu Kandori is one of the coolest wrestler ever, once she steps in the ring you know what she is going to do, she’s just an absolute badass, even in her later years she still retained that aura, she still wrestles, she had four matches in 2023 and that number might increase considering that we are July so I think it’s fair to assume that she will have a few more over the course of the year. FMW’s environment is perfect for a wrestler like Kandori, I think she fit the role of heel perfectly in this match, she’s the shooter, the careless wrestler who only thinks about inflicting pain, the best example of this is her match against Akira Hokuto in Dreamslam 1, she’s the perfect big match wrestler, you can see an even wilder side of her in the chain match she had against Bull Nakano, where she went all out against one of the greatest women in the history of wrestling, great stuff all around. The match began with a fake handshake by Kandori, Megumi never had a chance, since the very beginning Kandori dominated her, Kudo had her moments like hitting a Tiger Driver in ringside but it felt like Kandori was always in control, Kandori won via sleeper in fourteen minutes in a dominant performance. I’d recommend this match if you love Shinobu Kandori’s work and attitude but if you aren’t into her just skip it.

I think this is the match we all think of when the name Megumi Kudo is brought up, the best match in the history of FMW in my opinion, the level of intensity and the use of the stipulation are sublime, everything about it is awesome, from the presentations to the post-match, without a doubt the best retirement in the history of wrestling. First, this is Combat Toyoda’s retirement match, it happened in FMW’s 7th anniversary show, it’s a No Rope Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch which means that the ring is covered in barbed wire and it explodes when touched so there will be a lot of playing around with the possibility of touching the ropes and they’ll do their best to avoid them. If you remember, a month ago I uploaded my GME ballot to this substack, this match was very high on that list and I don’t regret putting this match as high as I did because it really deserved its placement, this is one of my favourite matches in wrestling history and the main reason why I decided to make a Megumi Kudo retrospective in the first place, If you haven’t watched it yet watch it now this review can wait. The match starts with matwork, they set the stakes during the first few minutes establishing the stakes, they put over the barbed wire by avoiding it at all costs, great stuff, Megumi is the first one who had contact with the barbed wire after receiving a dropkick from Combat Toyoda that launched her into the ropes, the ropes exploded and Megumi started bleeding from her arms, Toyoda eventually had contact with the ropes as well. Then, the famous Toyoda suplex to the barbed wire happened and that marked the beginning of the finishing stretch, Megumi hit her opponent with her Tiger Driver, a powerbomb and a Kudome for the win, both had to leave the ring in a stretcher. Just watch it if you haven’t already, it won’t disappoint you.