[2001-01-07-FMW] Gedo & Masato Tanaka vs Kodo Fuyuki & Tetsuhiro Kuroda

[soup23]

FMW was easily one of the more disappointing promotions in 2000 after having hot 1998 and 1999 years. This felt like a return to form. A match that has many twists and turns and still feels different within the Japanese landscape while also staying true to what makes a match work. Gedo is the underdog and gets worked over for the majority of the match. He botches a lionsault but otherwise gives a spirited performance. Tanaka really looked excellent here. When he receives top 100 votes for GWE, that felt like a bit of a stretch for me but he showed a lot of awareness, encouragement and execution with his moves here. Gedo winning and pinning Fuyuki felt like a big deal. The post match angle was well done as Kuroda turns on Fuyuki and sets up the big main event feud going forward. They even put lip stick on Fuyuki as an insult. This got me real excited as to what 2001 FMW has in store for us and this could be one of the better tag matches of the entire year that isn’t a gimmick match. **** (7.9)