Masao Orihara

[Grimmas]

Discuss here.

Jetlag said:

" the more I watch him, the more great matches of his I find. His 1994 singles against Otani is an absolute superclassic that I had never heard of until I started going through random WAR handhelds. Really good at getting great stuff out of mediocre indy juniors like The Great Takeru. Excellent base with a knack for cool athletic spots that you won't see anyone else do. Long career where he shows up in great matches from 1992 to ca. 2011. He has some great scrappy matches in the WAR/NJ feud. Finally, one of the coolest wrestlers ever with his unique singlets, mohawks and face paint. He worked so many different offshoot feds I'm sure there's a still a few hidden gems to find."

[elliott]

I watched a trio of matches from 2001 Michinoku Pro that was Masao Orihara & Great Sasuke vs Gedo & Dick Togo and they were all really good and worked differently. One is more of an all over the place brawl with plunder, another was a storyline match where Orihara abandons Sasuke mid match only to come back and the 3rd was a classic old school southern tag where Orihara gets isolated, bloodied and worked over building to the Sasuke hot tag. Orihara looked really good in all 3 matches but was the absolute star of the 11/2/01 southern tag style match. Just a great job selling & taking an ass kicking from these two dickish heels. I've really been impressed with all of the Orihara I've seen (No joke, that 1994 match with Ohtani is a Juniors MOTDC) and if he keeps turning up in random matches & feuds like this one w/ Sasuke vs Togo & Gedo he's gonna wind up on my top 100. 

[Reel]

The last few weeks, I've been jumping around watching random shows from an old hard drive, and Orihara is maybe the wrestler that stood out the most. I think he might be the best loser in Shoot Style history. In Kingdom, he makes everybody look like a killer. He's good in trios matches on the Mobius, his promotion I think, against all sorts of people, and he's good in this duster 6-man I'm watching right now from a RJPW show. 

[Dav'oh]

Conversation overheard in Tokyo, 16 January, 1994. 
Translations coutesy of Dav'oh.
(My Japanese may be a bit rusty - Dav'oh)
 

Spoiler

Masao Orihara : Nice haircut, salaryman. Ooooh, you've used conditioner too! How lah-dee-dah
Shinjiro Otani :  I'm gonna kick you for that
MO : Well I'm gonna throw my shirt down and get all up in your Japanese grill
SO : Think I'm scared of you, sleaze merchant? Your mother's washoku skills are piss-poor!
MO : Let's lock up, then, you skin and bones wanker
SO : OK, but I must warn you - I WILL put you in a headlock - and wrench it
MO : I was born in a headlock. I'll just shoot you into the ropes beyotch
SO : Big whoop. I'll shoulderblock you down and start running the ropes
MO : Even bigger whoop. I'll leapfrog and dropkick you as you're trying to do whatever it is you're trying - oooh, a spin kick
SO : Fuck you then. I'll just whip you into the ropes and huracanrana you into a pin
Some Bloke I Call Stripey (Even Though He's Not Wearing Stripes): ONE!
MO : Eat piss. I'm a gonna slap you
SO : No, you eat piss. I'm a gonna slap you right back
MO : Well I'll bodyslam your schoolboy arse. And drop an elbow
SO : I'll just move. And drop one of my own
MO : I'll move too, and then land one, slut
SO : So what? I'll dropkick you out of the ring, and when you get back in, I'll kick and snapmare you, kick you in the back, do some Tokyo Folk Dancing on your face and clobberin'-time you. Then snapmare you.
MO : Yawn. I like being punted - I think it's my true calling. I'll just reverse into a hammerlock and put you in a pinning predicament
SBICS (ETHNWS): ONE!
MO : In fact, I lke hammerlocking you so much I'll do it again. Fuck it, I'll armbar you
SO : Dumb fuck, the ropes are right there. I'll just stick my leg out, genius. Now let's see how you like headbutts 
MO : I like them by the dozen, gimp. How do you like my Superman headbutts?
SO : Yeah, ok, that hurt. I'm down
MO : Good. Your throat is good for stepping on this time of year
SO : Yeah? Well let's stand on your throat and see if it's in season. And stomp it. And this overhand slap to your face is for your mother's poor organisational skills!
MO : You've really crossed a line there you fuckpig. This suspiciously-low knee will render your testicles obsolete. Eat a high German with a bridge...
SBICS (ETHNWS):  TWO AND A HALF!
MO : ...and now a quasi Camel Clutch for you. I'm gonna break your pencil fucking neck. Have a sweet-as-fuck jumping piledriver to help you sleep
SO : SLEEP IS FOR KOREANS! I'll kick you as we're both down
MO : Fucking ouch, man
SO : Fucking right, dude. Have an almost inverted Ganso Bomb from a jumping tombstone, if ya wanna play The Neck Game. Taste my boots at pace...Hey! You're not piledriving me again, amigo. I'll sandbag you
MO : I eat sandbags for breakfast
SO : What?
MO : Never mind. Here's a snap jumping piledriver
SO : I, like everyone else, have only seven neck verterbrae, man. You're not leaving me with many
MO : No shit. I fucking hate you. I think you broke one of mine, and my fontanelle hurts
SO : Fontanelle?
MO : You know...this bit
SO : The bit I'm about to dropkick you on while you're down?
MO : Yep. Cunt. I've still got a rolling kick to your jaw, though
SO : Fuck you. That smarts
MO : Eat some cement and harden up. Here's a bodyslam and a moonsault
SO : You shouldn't telegraph these things, pal. I'll roll out of the way to the apron
MO : I'm not your pal, mate
SO : We call our pals "dickhead" and dickheads "pal". PAL.
MO : Fuck my head hurts. Might see a doctor tomorrow
SO : No, you're seeing the mortician tonight. I'm gonna take your head off with the nastiest spinning heel kick since Jesus rode a motorbike. Then German Supleé, yes, supleé you and because I know you love Shawn Michaels here's a Teardrop Suplex...Oh shit, I collapsed too
MO : Don't you mean backdrop driver, like....this you window-licker?
SO : That deserves a slap, even though I'm down
MO : Right, that's it. Now you eat my bootlaces at pace and have some of these vicious Kawada kicks, too, before I attempt a double koppo kick rather stupidly
SO : What the fuck was that? You deserve these fucking brutal stomps
MO : Have an overhand thumping 
SO : No, thank-you. But here's an awesome lariat...
SBICS (ETHNWS): TWO POINT LIKE, SEVEN?
...And seeing how breaking your skull and C 1 through 7 doesn't work, I'll start working your knee. Ha!
MO : Tiny black boots, tiny black trunks (Stan Hansen would never be seen dead in those, pal) and a single-leg Boston crab? You sure you're in the right place?
SO : Yeah yeah, have a leglock then. Any more smartarse comments?
MO : OK, I'm in a spot of bother now. Do you mind terribly if I kick you really hard in the head with my free leg?
SO : Have at it, but I'm not letting go
MO : Where are those fucking ropes?

I finished it there so as not to give too much away, but if you only eavesdrop on one heated discussion this year, make it this one. I don't normally give star ratings to overheard conversations but this was all the stars.