[1996-10-10-Michinoku Pro-These Days] Jinsei Shinzaki vs Hayabusa

[Makai Club #1]

I would think that this was a dream match at the time. The recently returned Shinzaki (from the WWF run he had at the time), co-founder of Michinoku Pro against FMW Ace, Hayabusa. There is big potential for this match so I was hoping these two would get the best out of each other. Both are big personalities and them clashing should be pretty epic. However, this was not that. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt because Hayabusa looked really hurt near the end. The knee was the clear cause of pain for him with Hayabusa favouring it and punching it in fustration multiple times. I don’t blame them for ending the match, if that was the case. But the match was pretty rough before any signs of injury showed up. Hayabusa was in control for the first half of the match with Shinzaki working from beneath and looking to make a comeback. And the work was surprisingly tepid and quite dry to watch. Hayabusa had some impressive spots but there wasn’t much glue holding them together in a compelling way. It was shockingly bad until Hayabusa injured his knee and then it got worse when Shinzaki went on offence and put him away. Unfortunate ending to what was a very good event. DUD

[MikeCampbell]

Overall, this was a rather unremarkable match. 'Busa was in control for a bit and then it was Shinzaki's turn. The only thing that I really took away from it, was how good 'Busa was with his selling. Especially toward the end with those last few big spots, it almost seemed tragic that poor Hayabusa was enduring so much pain. By the time it was finally over, you almost felt relieved for him because he wasn't going to be hurt anymore.