[1990-08-04-FMW-Summer Spectacular in Shiodome] Atsushi Onita vs Tarzan Goto (No Rope Barbed Wire Electric Current Explosion Death)

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Pretty brutal match, and I'd say that even without the barbed wire explosion stuff. Goto works in pretty aggressive fashion. Doing more mat wrestling in these types of matches is something that works for me, as they're trying to stay as in the center of the ring possible to avoid getting exploded. Onita does his great facial expressions while bloody, wearing torn clothes that expose his bandages, and I realize that he is one of the most charismatic, "present" wrestlers that ever lived.

 

The figure four is the big spot here, but they do a great job of working the hold, as Goto keeps doing other stuff while the move is locked in to keep it interesting, and Onita keeps getting the crowd going by teasing comebacks like only he can.

 

The heat was weird, not in that it was lacking, but in that there seemed to be little rhyme or reason behind why certain things got a pop. I chalk that up to a Japanese fanbase that was still grasping this style more than I do Onita and Goto not connecting with them.

 

I enjoyed this way more than I expected. This feels like something I might be overrating because they're doing some things that personally work for me, so don't put too much stock in me liking this so much. Definitely proceed with caution. But as far as early death matches go, I can't see them being much better than this. I would have liked this as a regular, no-frills wrestling match all the same.

[Childs]

I dug this as well. Goto is probably my favorite FMW guy, because he always came off as a guy who could straight up kick your ass, barbed wire or no. And yes, Onita was one of the great facial performers in the history of wrestling. The explosion spots seemed a little off at times -- like they popped when Onita even rolled near the ropes. But the climactic one, with Goto taking a full-on whip into the barbed wire, worked pretty well. They also kept it nice and tight at just under 12 minutes.

[PeteF3]

This was pretty good. Onita gets fucked up early with several explosions and eats most of them throughout the match, which only exacerbates the effect when Goto gets whipped full-on and tangled into the ropes. Onita's fired-up facials as he's trying to fight out of the figure four really sell this as much as the gimmickry. The fucker still won't go down until Onita basically just DDTs and power bombs him into oblivion. What fucking kills this for me is the overdubbed commentary. I know FMW has long had an issue with its golf-style announcing but it's still not any easier to take.

[soup23]

I throw this in a pretty good pile to. The work was fine and strategy solid but it felt like a chore to me even at 12 minutes. Onita does have great charisma though.

[shoe]

I thought it was alright. Onita has a charm about him. It seemed I was watching the bout just waiting for an explosion.

[Kevin Ridge]

First two explosions go off early. Referee is wearing swimming goggles. Onita’s back is getting messed up in the barbed wire. Onita just powerbombs and DDT’s Goto to death. That will put Goto down. Onita is emotional after. Alright in my book.

[garretta]

I liked the psychology surrounding the wire here; neither guy wants to take a shock, particularly Onita, so he searches high and low for ways to get out of Goto's figure-four that don't involve going to the ropes/wire. I also enjoyed the round of headbutts that Onita gave to Goto at one point. I think I counted eighteen, and they left Goto's forehead a grisly mess for the rest of the bout and gave him a head injury which the endless DDTs and powerbombs at the end no doubt made even worse.

 

I don't think Goto ever took a full-blown, one-side-to-the-other Irish whip into the wire. It looked more like he backed into it timidly for just long enough to get one shock.

 

I liked Onita the sportsman dousing Goto after the match to neutralize any effects of the explosions. I wonder why he didn't do the same to himself, and I hope whoever took Goto out of the ring was extra careful!

 

This is another one of those bouts that I'm glad I saw once in order to satisfy my curiosity. I don't know if I could take seeing it again, though.

[drew wardlaw]

Onita was the standout here but boy I really enjoyed Goto working a grueling style. I don't fully know how his face got so bloody, but it looks like there was shrapnel or something from the explosions. I might not have liked this as much if it were longer but I really enjoyed it at the length it was. Good work in the figure four.