[1991-09-23-FMW-2nd Anniversary Show] Atsushi Onita vs Tarzan Goto (Barbed Wire Cage Bomb)

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

The staredown before the match begins is incredible. Onita at this point may have had the best facial expressions and body language in wrestling. Onita hits the cage and starts bleeding off of the first lock-up and the fans, many of whom are probably seeing something like this for the first time, are in awe. In some ways, Goto's leg work in the middle of the ring is both good offense and good defense. It benefits them both to keep the match stationary. Onita has one arm taped up. His "good arm" is completely mangled and covered in blood. So he starts building his offense around headbutts. Lots of good slow drama to get to the finish also. I always like this matchup.

[PeteF3]

Whether they were for shoot purposes or not, the ref wearing protective goggles and bumping for each explosion are great visuals. Each explosion is a jolt to the viewer's system and are sold great by everyone, if you want to call it selling. It's the standard Onita story of getting mutilated and making a big comeback around headbutts, then power bombing his opponent into oblivion, but it's executed as well as any of the others and is another great FMW spectacle.

[Kevin Ridge]

Onita plays up drama great in these matches. The referee might have been doing the biggest bumping of the three inside the cage. Onita had a pretty sick powerbomb.

[soup23]

This was one of my favorite matches by Onita just based on the gravity everything was played up. The staredown was epic and the first count felt as dramatic as the last and I don't mean that as a knock. This was an emotional fifteen minute ride with Onita receiving a ton of punishment and firing back like only he can. Really super stuff.

[garretta]

I'm not really into matches like this because I can't get past how crazy people like these are. You couldn't get me to step into a ring full of barbed wire fenced in by an exploding cage for all the money in the universe, work or no work. I agree that the ref is probably the best worker and bumper out of the three of them. As for the bell-to-bell match, I don't see how anyone can break it down and talk about it in terms used by wrestling reviewers. It's a simulated human cockfight, plain and simple, just like all the other matches done this way. Blood, gore, and explosions; you might as well talk about the structure and aritistic merit of a battle in World War II. There were a few token holds, mostly done to avoid the cage, which I guess was smart.

 

Sorry, guys, but give me good old Memphis bullshit any day.

[dawho5]

I'm not a fan of deathmatches. I do, however appreciate the way they really play to the gimmick of the match from the bell and don't stop. I also appreciate how everyone in the ring sells the explosions. Onita is really good at getting people behind him when he's selling. Very good for the genre.

[G. Badger]

Electric barb wire cage match. Its getting crazy now! Fierce stare down, dueling headbutts, and Onita takes the first fall into the cage. Oh its a Texas death match in the cage...nice! Oh shoot, double impact- KAPOW! They're cut in all kinds of places. Goto's hitting Onita hard but, the big O turns the tide. Goto hitting the cage again and again but, won't stay down for the count.

 

This was much better than their 1990 electric barb wire match. Onita-san's transition to control stunk to be frank. He just "took over" and ran through his stuff. It was fun and still something I'd recommend but, not the absolute war the stare down teased.

[cactus]

The visuals in this thing are stunning. Onita lookes a million bucks when he's bloodied and his gear torn by the explosions. This was a hell of a spectacle, but I'd struggle to call this a good match.The Texas Deathmatch-style ten counts after the pins hurt the flow of the match and they needed to build up to the explosions better and treat them like a big deal and not just throw each other into the cage for the sake of it. I'm not a snob to deathmatches, but you need vanilla pro-wrestling storytelling and psychology to make them work.

★★¼