[1998-01-14-Michinoku Pro] Mens Teoh vs Shoichi Funaki

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[soup23]

Probably not what you would expect if you just saw a M-Pro match listed but a match that is almost entirely consisted on the mat. Teioh takes most of the match and works over Funaki's arm. Good solid mat work with a lucha title match slant to it. The does escalate and I enjoyed that the work done on the limbs pays off later like Funaki going for a figure four but being unable to lock it in. We actually get a dueling leg lock spot that feels like a pretty big transition for dominance within the confines of this match. Teioh takes over and hits a snapmare with Funaki's leg ending up over the rope for added emphasis. A lion-tamer cloverleaf is applied by Teioh and he is really torquing on Funaki now and seems dominate in the match. Teioh heels it up a bit with a boot scrap and top rope assisted knee blast. The figure four is locked in and Funaki works to escape and reverse. After some failed attempts, he is eventually able to do so but he cant follow it up and Teioh again gets more dickish with a leg posting. He gets overconfident and sent face first to the post as a result. Funaki counteracts short cuts with short cuts as he posts Teioh in a good revenge spot and then he does the spot of 1997 and 1998, the ring post figure four. Teioh has a much greater sense of desperation now and is looking to finish but he cant but Funaki away. He gets his chokeslam for a nearfall but Funaki holds on with an armbar. Teioh again gets cokcy and his knee busts intot he turnbuckle. Funaki locks in a leg submission and this match is up for grabs now. The match ends with each going for a series of quick pinfalls and going for broke. Teioh is able to execute one and pick up the duke. This was a match I liked better and better as it went along. What some might see as boring and lifeless, I saw as focused work telling an overall story. Probably a fringe top 100 contender, but something I am glad made the set. (***1/2)

[Migs]

I found this one pretty dull - perhaps due to the way it subverted my expectations for an M-Pro match.

[Loss]

I do think it's interesting that after a decade full of American guys lifting spots from the Japanese and Mexican guys, the Japanese guys - in Michinoku Pro of all places - are lifting Bret's ringpost figure four. I thought this was a very good match - just shy of a great match because it needed a little more drama. In terms of working a basic layout that progressed nicely and was easy to enjoy, this was right up my alley and I thought they did a great job. I just wish they'd kicked into high gear a little more as they were taking it home. They tried, but that was the one area where the match fell short for me. Not every match has to feel big, but it stands out here because it would have really catapulted this into something special.

[Kevin Ridge]

Fell asleep twice watching this one. Not something to watch late at night. I did not really enjoy the submissions in match. Felt like they were just randomly putting them on. Reminded me of some of those Joshi matches where they spend the first half just cranking stuff in but there is no danger of a loss and submissions become mostly an afterthought the second half of bout. I did like some of the reversals/pinfalls attempts later in the match. But this one never got going enough for me.

[Zenjo]

One of those matches where the layout, structure and composition should technically be good. They've clearly put some thought into trying to produce a high quality encounter. In reality it just ends up being really boring. It's not like there's ever a dearth of ambition in Puroresu so that doesn't deserve much credit. I don't rate either of these guys as a singles worker. 90's M-Pro was all about the multi-mans.

[Childs]

I don't agree with the supposition that the M-Pro guys should never branch out stylistically. We've seen them do it quite successfully in other matches. But this did fall a little flat in the end. I liked a lot of the thoughts behind it, and Teioh might have been the best of the M-Pro guys at fundamental work. They just didn't find a way to move from all the limb work to a viscerally compelling stretch run.

[PeteF3]

I'm with Zenjo and Childs here--this was technically sound with some really neat counters, especially by Teioh, but it ultimately felt soulless. It was better than the Eddie/Dean ECW matches but it had that same vibe where the only real story is "these two are evenly matched." They trade counters and roll-ups and then Teioh arbitrarily uses a rollup that ends it. Unfortunately some of those final pin attempts look REALLY cooperative, especially the Billy Robinson/Johnny Saint move where Teioh literally just lets go in the middle of the pin attempt so they can run to the next spot.

 

I've always had trouble making big grandiose statements about how I evaluate wrestling, whether in the GWE project or as part of the general board discussion, because every "rule" I can come up with has about a million exceptions to it. But I think the #1 takeaway I've gotten out of the GWE is that the closest thing to an absolute criterion I have is, "Do I care whether this guy wins or loses?" This match was better than I'm making it sound, but the fundamental failure, just as it was with Eddie and Dean, is that they couldn't make me care who the winner or loser was.

[TravJ1979]

A very good match that was admittedly dull in the opening stretch with fine leg work that ultimately didn't factor into the finish. The limb work also wasn't sold very well once they got into the go-go portion. I really enjoyed it despite these objections.

 

RATING: Definitely something to revisit for January 98

[Jetlag]

Yeah - technical wrestling! BORING! Honestly, I thought this was a terrific match. They whip out a bunch of cool western style matwork and it's awesome. Teioh lost his calling as a studio TV worker - he looked up THERE, working cobra clutches and dropping the elbow on the joint. I honestly think with better/more straightened out limb selling his would have a serious shot at junior MOTY. Souhern scientific matwork, shootstyle leglocks, funky lucha submissions, it's all here, and they worked it all really tight. They did a great job drawing the crowd into what was ultimately a long match between two guys who are not the biggest stars on the roster. I thought the Shawn Capture stuff was a little overdone, but hey, that stuff was HOT in 1998. I dug all the tricked out reversals - especially Teioh spinning out of the Sharpshooter attempt. The finisher reversal stuff worked too, as they basically had the best possible US indy match - 10 years ahead. Rollups looked ultra tight and actually ended up meaning something. Yeah so what, I enjoyed this.