[2000-03-03-ECW-Asbury Park, NJ] Yoshihiro Taijiri vs Kid Kash

[soup23]

The way this is filmed provides a weird haze over the top of the camera angle. These are two of the bright spots in ECW at the time so I was looking forward to this one. Tajiri is so great at interacting with the fans in each arena and getting heat right away. Opening sequence was quick and things were moving along nicely when Kash botches a dive and I’m not sure quite what he was going for. You Fucked Up rains down on him for a few moments before he throws out another dive. Tajiri gains control inside and has some vicious looking offense and crowd interaction including spitting on a fan at ringside. Those chops he delivers in the corner also look brutal. There is a lot of empty seats for ECW tonight in this arena. The finish of this was effective in giving Kash just enough hope spots in a roll up but Tajiri was pretty dominant throughout and wins with the brainbuster. The botch was rough but the rest was good stuff here. ***

[Loss]

Tajiri was just incredible here for so many reasons. I haven't seen him carry himself with this much confidence before. The guy had really learned to project himself as a major star by this point. Also, my favorite awesome moment was when the crowd started chanting "Boring!" after a standing switch exchange at the beginning and Tajiri responded by ... grabbing a headlock. They quickly complained and got it out of their systems and got back into the match. So he's also working like a veteran. And then he's in with Kid Kash, who I have liked in the matches we've seen lately, but who is having an off night here, but who Tajiri still manages to carry to something solid. This was pretty much a one-man show, but it was a hell of a show all the same. This is a three-star match I'd go to bat for way more than a lot of ****+ matches. ***

[Migs]

I believe this is from the Convention Center in Asbury Park. That haze is really quite odd looking.

 

They get a boring chant a minute in for working holds, as the ECW crowds just devolve further and further. Kash also gets a you fucked up chant on a really badly blown dive (which was admittedly groan worthy).

 

Tapir is a wonderful dick in this, really using his kicks and chops effectively to get his character across. Kash was less good - seems like he might still be working out the character at this point.

 

I'm not sure this reached ***, but Tajiri was definitely great.

[GSR]

Kash with the go behind into a full nelson which Tajiri escapes from and reverses into a hammerlock. These jerks then start a ‘boring, boring’ chant! Tajiri does something which elicits a reaction, but we don’t see what as RF is zoomed in on Kash who has a look of disbelief on his face to their response to the wrestling. A vicious looking and sounding kick to Kash’s head, and when they chant ‘one more time’ he slaps on a side headlock! That’ll teach ‘em! Kash with a couple of armdrags, a hiptoss and a dropkick which sends Tajiri to the outside. He badly botches a dive to the floor (he looked caught in two minds about what to do) and quickly quashes the ‘you fucked up!’ chants with a springboard reverse crossbody. A pair of knife edge chops, Irish whip and Tajiri with the handspring elbow. Overhead German, Kash lands on his feet, he goes for one of his own but Tajiri puts a stop to that with a back kick low blow. A kick to the head floors Kash and a series of stinging slaps to the chest in the corner. Superkick, Kash then counters the powerbomb with a huracanrana. Tornado DDT off the middle for two. He goes for a second but Tajiri reverses it, crotches him on the top rope and gives him another kick around the head. He ties him in the ‘tree of woe’ and a baseball slide dropkick to the face. Kash counters a tornado DDT with a backslide for a great near fall. The closeness of that is enough for Tajiri to stop playing around and a kick to the back of the head followed by a brainbuster gives him the win.

 

This reminded me of Little Guido’s match against Kid Kash, in what was primarily a showcase for Guido, with this one being a showcase for Tajiri. The Japanese Buzzsaw was so good here and had the crowd eating out of his hands. Loved the way that he slapped on the side headlock when they chanted ‘one more time’, a matter of seconds after chanting ‘boring’ at the wrestlers. Masterful stuff! I don’t know if the ‘boring’ chant got to Kash as he seemed more off than you would expect from him. His dropkick that sent Tajiri to the floor barely connected, then it looked like he got caught in two minds over the dive to the floor, even trying to save it by skinning the cat. Tajiri’s strikes were all on point tonight both looking and sounding great, and a quality Kash near fall right at the end with the backslide.

[cramerjason87]

Felt like the match could never fully click. Tajiri did a tremendous job dealing with this terrible crowd, which was bad even ECW. It continues to amaze me how much of a superstar Tajiri comes off as. He is giant deal at this point.

[klhare]

Tajiri's presence is just off the charts. As soon as he steps through the curtain, it is on. He just brings a realness, intensity, and a sense of danger to every single match he's in, even a standard house show match. His ability to really control the crowd is on full display here, too. He's kind of the defacto babyface, doing cool moves and getting the crowd to pop big for the mist. But, he's still Tajiri, and he works in low blows, slows the pace, and then spits on the crowd and kicks Kid Kash right in the face, and the crowd completely goes apeshit and turns on him. Also, I never really thought of him as an INFLUENTIAL worker, but as I watch him more and more, it is easy to see his style in the popular ROH style ahead.