[1999-12-12-FMW-Making of a New Legend VI] Masato Tanaka & Tetsuhiro Kuroda vs H & Mr Gannosuke

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

I am going to have to sort through all of these FMW matches for the year, because I really don't want to overrate stuff if I can help it. I honestly don't think I am - I just think their year has been that good. Kuroda's selling annoys the hell out of me in just about every match he's in, but it doesn't detract from the overall match too much. This is another match that lays a foundation with great matwork between Tanaka and Gannosuke before slowly escalating the action. H gets the win which seems like an attempt to redeem him after a rough year. I'm tired and I actually do have a lot of thoughts on this match, but they aren't coming out very well in this post. But this was as good as any FMW match that has happened all year. So no, the ARSION match wasn't the last classic of the 90s.

[El-P]

FMW's booking was insane at the time, as Fuyuki was doing his own version of Attitude era shit, but in a very Japanese way. And yet, Hayabusa and Gannosuke were at the top of their game so you had plenty of terrific matches happening. I could have done without the Kuroda push, as he was quite annoying indeed at times, but Fuyuki era FMW did deliver tons of good stuff in the ring, anal bomb matches & pornstars cameo notwithstanding.

[Tim Evans]

Technically, this was a real good match. H as the firey babyface and Tanaka throwing bombs. I'm just not a big fan of these constant kickout matches. This went on a few minutes too long. Dug the Balls Mahoney/Axl Rotten cameo.

[tim]

I guess I leave the year being relatively cold on this FMW stuff. It's all fun enough to watch but nothing that really has a strong impression on me. This was good and all, I especially liked the very opening stuff with Gannosuke and Tanaka. Ending stretch was solid work but a bit too long.

[PeteF3]

Me too. This is another 2.9-fest that wears out its welcome after a fun start. And those dueling-ducking-lariats at the very end were totally eye-rolling. Moreso than that, all those 2.9s and counters and beats just feel very choreographed in comparison to what the other Japanese companies are doing--"one, two, kickout at 2.9," like they're dance steps you can call in advance. Contrary to being an annoyance, I thought Kuroda was the most enjoyable guy in the match--he showed great personality early on and really made you want to see his face get smashed in, which it does in spades. That aside, the opening matwork was way more compelling than the closing finisher-spamming.

 

In conclusion, most of late-'90s FMW is the classic child piano prodigy--their workers can play the notes, but can't play the music.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Put me on the side that was merely very good, not a classic. 

H & Mr. Gannosuke vs Masato Tanaka & Tetsuhiro Kuroda - FMW 12/12/99

H is an unmasked Hayabusa with a bleach dye job and rocking Stevie Richards' cutoff short jorts. He is about as intimidating as a titmouse the way he looks. He kinda looks like a bird unmasked maybe thats where the gimmick came from. Anyways, the coolest part of Hayabusa was his costume. I have an open mind. I will say he was very adequate. Hayabusa never blew any spots like Sabu, but he does not feel dangerous or interesting. They ditched the brawling except for like a minute of pedestrian arena brawling, which I think detracted from the match. What made FMW stand out was the brawling and the garbage it was fun. This is very, very solid wrestling. The difference between the FMW workers and ECW wrestlers was FMW they chose to wrestle that style, ECW they had to. I dont want to take away from their wrestling but nothing really stood out. The heat segment on Gannosuke's leg was great. Gannosuke really sold it and I thought the holds looked punishing. Hayabusa was about as effective as a gnat in trying to help Gannoske so he just low blowed and eye raked his way out of trouble. Hayabusa was fine on offense. Nothing has changed without the mask. I should explain so the evil FMW commissioner, Kodo Fuyuki forced Hayabusa to retire over the summer and he came back as H. At the previous month's PPV, Hayabusa as H took on HAYABUSA!!! Which I love as a gimmick. Evil forces force the hero to retire than the evil people impersonate the masked Hayabusa. They kind of did this with Sin Cara but this angle actually feels like money. The Hayabusa impersonator was Mr. Gannosuke. Anyways it gets better because the special guest referee was Shawn Fucking Michaels! How ridiculous! Anyways, after the match, Hayabusa and Gannosuke bro it out and are now pals even though they have had the fiercest rivalry of late 90s FMW. Ok, so now we are all caught up. Hayabusa wrestles exactly like Hayabusa without the mask. Kuroda is no selling suplexes like his a Pillar of Heaven at one point. It turns into a bomb throwing fest at this point and since I dont take notes and just do this on memory they matches are the toughest to remember. I remember there being a heat segment on Hayabusa and he actually took a gnarly face first bump on the exposed part of the turnbuckle. Gannosuke looked good as always but he was not enough to make this match awesome. He had an amazing cradle reversal on a Tanaka elbow. Think of a Fujiwara armbar, but then into a cradle it was quite awesome. There were some great powerbombs and I do love a good powerbomb. Hayabusa went for the Phoenix Splash but got caught. Lots of double teaming on Hayabusa but cant get the job done. then Hayabusa come roaring back. 450 Splash...1-2-NO! Yep this match is way into overkill land. Gannosuke hits Greetings Form Asbury Park (the lamest of all piledrivers) and Hayabusa hits a lame Rock Bottom. Hayabusa wins with an Emerald Flowsion.

Holy Overkill Batman! More garbage next time please. This didnt feel special or unique. Tanaka and Kuroda have great fire. Gannosuke is a straight up great wrestler, selling and offense. Hayabusa is Hayabusa and you can use him correctly to great results. This match layout did no one favors. ***1/4