[2003-08-24-Michinoku Pro-3rd Fukumen World League ] Atlantis vs Kendo Kashin

[Ma Stump Puller]

This is a pretty solid outing with a lot of pure lucha leanings as per Atlantis showing up, which meant that Kashin had to do a lot more than he at times is used to doing. Atlantis is a bit slower than what he was in the 90's but he makes this mostly work. I really liked his babyface work and how he wasn't a idiot by pretending to fall for shit like Kashin's handshake ploy or finding every opportunity to get the advantage: but also sold convincingly when on the backend and really looked like he was in pain, especially some of the holds he was stuck in. There's a good balance of valunablity and scrappy work that felt really natural and not at all put on. Kashin was such a bastard in this lol. Finding every opportunity to do heelish things, raking at the eyes, biting the fingers, wrenching in some of his submissions, it all hits super well here and then some with a presence like Atlantis making everything work. Most of this is on the mat as well, which is a bonus because these two have some good exchanges and have plenty of experience on that front, so we really get to see Kashin actually do impressive stuff on there as well. Atlantis gets to sell like anything for mat work, Kashin gets to milk it for everything it's worth, making for a really well put together dynamic. Atlantis dragging his leg around after some leg work and having to just run into hard takedowns to try to take the advantage was a excellent bit. The second half has some of the usual Kashin shortcuts, namely using a random stooge to take a impending suicide dive and taking Atlantis' mask off, forcing Atlantis to use a spare until he gets it back.

He slaps on the La Atlantida but bumps into the ref after some interference so it doesn't go anywhere. Kashin also tries the same trick he used to beat Atlantis in their first fight (namely, choking him with a figure-four neck crank before rolling him into a inverted cradle and hooking the ropes) but the ref picks up on it. The road to the finish is smartly paced around Kashin bending and pulling the arms for submissions, grabbing on numerous cross armbreakers while stomping the arm at the same time, with his opponent holding out through all of it to eventually win with a tight inverted cradle for the tight win. As stated, this is a really good lucha/technical wrestling hybrid match, with Atlantis pulling out a great babyface performance. Kashin also works his ass off here (which might shock some that just assume he just plods around for everything) resulting in a very well put together match that never tires and keeps a strongly kept pace through. Easily one of Kashin's best ever matches, would highly recommend. Post match was surprisingly heart-warming as Kashin teases breaking the League trophy but instead gives it to the rightful winner. Depending on your tolerance for the two this might be either a clear Atlantis carry-job or something to that effect, I'm a bit more generous though given these two worked a pretty stellar dynamic for the whole thing.