[2000-08-13-Osaka Pro] Dick Togo & Black Buffalo & Daioh QUALLT vs Super Delphin & Tsubasa & Yoshito Sugamoto

[soup23]

Some good stuff with Buffalo and Sugamoto to start off but then Delphin and Togo enter and the match as expected takes a bump up on pace and intensity. Delphin has some legit swank dolphin gear on tonight. He actually puts Togo down on his ass and beats on him with stomps. Togo goes low to end the onslaught. After that, the match breaks down with the heels in control and brawling on the outside. Back inside, Delphin is our FIP which is not what I expected but it is fun to see as it is different from the norm. Legion of Violence in a heel beatdown role is just smothering as they do frequent tags and a bevy of bruising offense. Once Delphin tags out, we go into our ending run. Sugamoto has good potential from what we see here and I feel like an idiot when I look him up and realize it is Gamma. Buffalo and Delphin is our main pairing down the stretch until Togo breaks up a pin and takes up that role. Sugamoto gets isolated and pounced on by LOV and Togo picks up the win with his senton. ***3/4 (7.3)

[AstroBoy]

Good action. I really like Tsubasa in this, he's a fun burst of energy and his early match acrobatics were pretty enjoyable. Togo and Delphin pair off well and I really like the increase in aggression leading to the control segment. Fun triple team work and Togo looks really sharp throughout. Agree that Sugamoto looks pretty good here, his twisting springboard was a nice spot and the run to the finish is good stuff. Solid outing from everyone.

 

***3/4

[ohtani's jacket]

This was really nice. Togo is a bad ass motherfucker and one of the best workers in Japan and Delfin is by far the best lightweight face in Japan in 2000. You put them together and you have great chemistry. But it was also a really well laid out juniors match with strong contributions from the other workers, particularly Black Buffalo who I think is an underrated talent. In this match alone he showed he could hit the mat, work power spots, work double teams, lucha exchanges, counters, reversals, you name it. The commentators referred to his all-round game which made me focus a bit more on him than usual. He really is quite a talented worker. I love his buffalo poses as well. If you're going to call yourself Black Buffalo why not do buffalo poses? Osaka Pro is in such a sweet little groove and this was another smoothly executed juniors bout.

 

Never in my wildest dreams would I have expected Osaka Pro to be the leading juniors company in 2000 though I'm sure many would argue that Toryumon holds that distinction. Personally, I have enjoyed the Osaka Pro matches work more but we'll see if Toryumon can do anything to change that. .