[1998-07-26-BJW] Shadow WX vs Tomoaki Honma (Barbed Wire Baseball Bat & Board)

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Honma sure is awesome. I didn't expect to like this nearly as much as I did, and putting it in words is tough when they're doing a style that I loathe. I don't know if it's Honma's athleticism or selling or just the blood-soaked visual, but he really turned what I expected to be crap into something awfully compelling. This is quite the violent spectacle, with Shadow tying the barbed wire around Honma's head and punching the shit out of him, making him look like some type of war-scarred Messiah. I can't believe I'm watching some of this stuff, and Honma doing a diving headbutt with barbed wire wrapped around his forehead is ridiculous. I'm conflicted - how can I love a match that has a lot of what I hate in wrestling in it? I don't know, but I do.

[FLIK]

Haha, welcome to the death match revolution.

 

Enjoy it while it last, you've got about a good year & 1/2 or so of awesome matches like this before the company nose dives to hell with the CZW invasion.

[soup23]

I really liked this and think it is the gratuitous visual of Honma that puts it over the top. This has some lets walk around the arena aspects that I loathe and I don't know if the Korakuen balcony tease was common or rare around this time as the crowd popped big for it. The barbed wire crown of thrones was incredibly tough not to make religious parallels too. WX looked better here than in most stuff I have seen of him being able to show some intensity for his damage instead of just doing hardcore spots. I probably like death match garbage wrestling more than most but I appreciated the story here to carry this match over the top. (****)

[Childs]

I agree with the praise of the match, but the walking around shit really took me out of it for awhile. If I had been booking one of these feds, I would've insisted that my guys find more creative ways to move around. The idea that you'd let the same guy who grated your skin with barb wire lead you gently down a hallway is just so fucking stupid.

[Zenjo]

I went in expecting this to suck, as on the surface I look upon this style like greasy food from a burger van. I was taken aback by a strong performance and an unusual dynamic. From his image to his abilities Shadow WX was a quintessential garbage wrestler all the way. Honma was a proper pro wrestler who had taken a couple of wrong turns along the road to end up in this predicament. So you had hardcore vs Pro-Wres in a hardcore match. WX had a big advantage which led to a face/heel dynamic. Honma bled and played the underdog role capably. A most impressive showing, it was nearly all his doing that this was a good 'un.

[Migs]

This had some weak points to it, but the violence level combined with the energy of the combatants was captivating.

[PeteF3]

Too much walking around for my taste too, but Honma carries this to something pretty darn good with his selling, bumping, and overall flair for the dramatic. Shadow WX is basically a slightly more athletic Pogo who takes and takes and takes without giving much, but to his credit he's the first one to bump into the barbed wire board. Honma is a total masochist but he manages to make the stuff with the barbed wire look like it's "big" and important, instead of just a way to get off on bleeding. If this took place in the ECW Arena people would be hyping it up as a Match of the Year.

[drew wardlaw]

Just watched this as part of the death match heavyweight title tournament. Watching it along with the rest of the matches it’s easy to see that Honma was the future & you can see how he’s incorporating different styles, especially more traditional moves, into the BJW style. The standout match of the tournament so far.