[2002-06-15-MLW-Genesis] Vampiro vs Taiyo Kea

[TonyPulis'Cap]

This is the second semi-final in the MLW World Title Tournament. Vamp beat Christopher Daniels in the QF, while Kea defeated The Wall. Like his earlier match against Daniels, Vampiro is slow and methodical in his approach, but without someone in there with speed to move around him, it means this comes off as lethargic and devoid of energy.

Kea again looks good with his kicks and some brutal sounding chops, keeping to the basics, but neither of the guys brings anything compelling to the table and there is no real story to the match for you to get invested in. Because of this, even when they do try to throw in some big moves like a blue thunder bomb and snap hurricanrana, the crowd is pretty dead.

Whether it’s legitimate or not, Vampiro looks to be carrying a head or neck injury as he is clutching it after everything he does, but it’s not something that Kea is really focussing on. The two look like they are just going through the motions and killing time, which is backed up by the timekeeper ringing the bell out of nowhere to a confused crowd. I guess this is a 15 min time limit – although the match is only about 12 mins at that point – but that’s never really explained, only that the ref signals for a 5 minute extra time period, until Shane Douglas – who won the first semi-final and who is due to meet the winner comes out to turn the final into a three way match. A not very good match, with a really crappy ending – didn’t enjoy this. (* ¼)