[2002-06-15-MLW-Genesis] Taiyo Kea vs The Wall

[TonyPulis'Cap]

This was meant to be Kea vs Bam Bam Bigelow, who apparently no showed and is replaced by The Wall. Because of this Bam Bam gets a mild dose of the Mike Awesome treatment from Styles with a bit of a burial on commentary. With his WCW background and the fact that big muscle guys weren’t very en vogue at the time - with the implication they couldn’t work and were ‘too WWE’ - The Wall gets crapped on by the crowd with plenty of “we want Bam Bam” chants. To be fair he doesn’t do much – or doesn’t get the chance to do much – to win anyone over.

Kea is from All Japan and is the protégé of The Great Muta. MLW’s strap line at this time was ‘hybrid wrestling’ with the idea that it would be a melting pot of different styles and guys from different parts of the world, and they would build a relationship with All Japan which would be seen by the run that Satoshi Kojima gets as their champion eventually.

There is little to no chemistry between these guys with little in the way of energy. Kea has a clear game plan in trying to work over The Wall’s legs, which makes sense, with some drop kicks to the knee and a dragon screw leg whip. He’s got some nice strikes and chops but doesn’t seem to mesh with The Wall’s standard big man offence of punches and stomps. The Wall hits a couple of decent, if rather basic power spots but after just four or five mins, Kea hits a quick flurry of kicks and finishes with a northern lights suplex. Nothing to see here. (*)