Quebrada #24
by Mike Lorefice (M.L.Liger@juno.com)
5/28/97
New Japan Best of the Super Junior Tournament
Jushin Thunder Liger has once again proved he’s the least egotistical booker in the world. On May 25 in Tottori, Liger put over Ian Doc Dean, a guy who gets beat up by a silly coned stiff in WCW. Liger’s knee was injured in this match, but luckily it’s not serious enough to force him to forfeit any matches. Liger wasn’t the only one who was upset on 5/25 though, his tag team partner El Samurai was pinned in 15:12 by Chris Jericho following a Frankensteiner off the top. Samurai & Jericho were tied for the lead in block B with 3 points, so the win puts the underdog Jericho in the block B lead. The other major upsets of the tournament occured on 5/20 at Tokyo Korakuen Hall. Yoshihiro Tajiri avenged his loss to Shinjiro Otani on 1/4/97 by pinning him at 11:44. Tatsuhito Takaiwa scored possibly the biggest singles win of his young career pinning 2-time former IWGP Jr. champion Koji Kanemoto at 18:19.
Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Koji Kanemoto lead Block A with 4 points. Takaiwa won the match against Kanemoto, so he would be the actual leader. Both have 1 match left. Jushin "Thunder" Liger is just behind them with 3 points. Liger has 2 matches left, one of them being a sure win over Wagner Jr, so he is in just as good of shape as they are. Gran Naniwa is making me look very bad as he only has 2 points with 2 matches remaining.
5/30 has Liger vs. Wagner Jr. and Naniwa vs. Chavo Jr. Liger & Naniwa should win those, so that would put Liger in a 3 way tie with Takaiwa & Kanemoto and Naniwa would still be in 4th. This brings us to 6/1. Liger meets Kanemoto and Naniwa meets Takaiwa. If Liger wins, then he wins the block as he would have 5 points and the tie breaker over Takaiwa since he beat him. If Kanemoto wins then he only wins the block if Naniwa beats Takaiwa because Takaiwa beat him. Naniwa has a chance to be the spoiler as he could eliminate the young Takaiwa and finish with a very respectable 4-2 record. I think Kanemoto winning the block by defeating Liger and Naniwa defeating Takaiwa is the most probable situation.
Jericho is undefeated in Block B. He has 2 matches left and one is theoretically a gimme over Brookside. El Samurai trails Jericho by one point with 2 matches left. Shinjiro Otani only has 2 points, but he has 3 matches left so he’s still in the hunt. Yoshihiro Tajiri also has 2 points, but he only has 2 matches remaining so he’s out of contention.
5/29 has Otani vs. Scorpio Jr. and Jericho vs. Brookside. Otani will beat Scorpio Jr., so that will give him 3 points. Brookside has been blanked so far. I don’t think he will do a Takao Omori in the 1995 Carny, so he has to get a win somewhere. Maybe I’m crazy, but I think he may upset Jericho here. If not, El Samurai’s chance of winning the block would be out the window before his big match with Otani. 5/31 has Tajiri vs. Brookside, Samurai vs. Nakajima, & Otani vs. Jericho. If Brookside loses to Jericho, then Tajiri gets stuck putting him over. If not, Tajiri wins this match. Samurai beats Hanzo for sure. Otani almost certainly defeats Jericho. It would be stupid booking to decide the block then have Otani vs. Samurai be for 2nd place. 6/3 has Otani vs. Samurai. If Jericho loses his last two and everything else goes as planned than this match will decide who wins Block B. I think Samurai wins this match and takes the block. If Jericho beats Brookside, then Otani wins the match and the block. I am still picking Samurai to win the whole thing, so I think Jericho loses two in a row and Otani’s putting El over again.
Super Junior results
May 16
Tajiri [1 point] beat Scorpio Jr [0 points]
Liger [1 point] beat Guerrero Jr [0 points]
May 17
Takaiwa [1 point] beat Wagner Jr [0 points]
Otani [1 point] beat Nakajima [0 points]
Samurai [1 point] beat Tajiri [1 point]
May 18
Jericho [1 point] beat Scorpio Jr [0 points]
Samurai [2 points] beat Brookside [0 points]
May 19
Gran Naniwa [1 point] beat Dean [0 points]
Jericho [2 points] beat Nakajima [0 points]
May 20
Wagner Jr [1 point] beat Guerrero Jr [0 points]
Takaiwa [2 points] beat Kanemoto [0 points]
Tajiri [2 points] beat Otani [1 point]
May 21
Dean [1 point] beat Guerrero Jr [0 points]
Naniwa [2 points] beat Wagner Jr [1 point]
Samurai [3 points] beat Scorpio Jr [0 points]
May 23
Kanemoto [1 point] beat Wagner Jr [1 point]
Otani [2 points] beat Brookside [0 points]
Nakajima [1 point] beat Scorpio Jr [0 points]
May 24
Takaiwa [3 points] beat Guerrero Jr [0 point]
Liger [2 points] beat Naniwa [2 points]
Jericho [3 points] beat Tajiri [2 points]
May 25
Kanemoto [2 points] beat Naniwa [2 points]
Dean [2 points] beat Liger [2 points]
Jericho [4 points] beat Samurai [3 points]
May 26
Kanemoto [3 points] beat Dean [2 points]
Liger [3 points] beat Takaiwa [3 points]
Nakajima [2 points] beat Brookside [0 point]
May 27
Kanemoto [4 points] beat Guerrero Jr [0 point]
Takaiwa [4 points] beat Dean [2 points]
Scorpio Jr [1 point] beat Brookside [0 points]
Block A Standings
Wins Losses Points Matches Remaining
Tatushito Takaiwa 4 1 4 1
Koji Kanemoto 4 1 4 1
Jushin "Thunder" Liger 3 1 3 2
Gran Naniwa 2 2 2 2
Ian "Doc" Dean 2 3 2 1
Dr. Wagner Jr. 1 3 1 2
Chavo Guerrero Jr. 0 5 0 1
Block B Standings
Wins Losses Points Matches Remaining
Chris Jericho 4 0 4 2
El Samurai 3 1 3 2
Shinjiro Otani 2 1 2 3
Yoshihiro Tajiri 2 2 2 2
Hanzo Nakajima 2 2 2 2
Scorpio Jr. 1 4 1 1
Rob Brookside 0 4 0 2
Remaining Junior Tournament Matches
5/29
Otani vs Scorpio Jr.
Jericho vs Brookside
5/30
Liger vs Wagner Jr.
Naniwa vs Guerrero Jr.
5/31
Tajiri vs Brookside
El Samurai vs Nakajima
Jericho vs Otani
6/1
Tajiri vs Nakajima
Liger vs Kanemoto
Naniwa vs Takaiwa
6/3
Wagner Jr. vs Dean
Otani vs El Samurai
All Japan
The reformed team of Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace captured the double tag titles from Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue on 5/27 at Sapporo Nakajima Sports Center. Kobashi used his lariat to score the pin on Taue at 28:40. The win is kind of surprising since Kobashi & Ace had just reformed their tag team. Usually you have to work your way up the ladder in the traditional promotion. Having Kobashi & Ace win the titles so quick clearly establishes the duo as a major force. Kobashi & Ace had two runs with the All-Asian tag title, one in 1990 and the other in 1991, before their team was originally split up. Kawada & Taue had won the titles from Williams & Ace on 1/17/97 in Matsumoto. There are no weak links when it comes to ring work among in the top three teams (Misawa & Akiyama and Kawada & Taue being the other two) in the promotion, which are arguably the 3 best tag teams in the world. Any matchup between the three teams should be great. Steve Williams was reducing the quality of the major tag matches he was involved in, so I’m glad he’s been given a lesser partner in LaCrosse. That team is at best a second level team when it comes to workrate, but Doc still has name value and credibility from his great matches of years past. They are trying to get Williams & LaCrosse over as they gave them a sub 5:00 win over Misawa & Akiyama on 5/18. Hopefully this team’s push will be very limited in the future with LaCrosse just being there to keep Williams from having to do jobs.
Mitsuharu Misawa pinned Jun Akiyama on the same card. This result shouldn’t surprise anyone, especially since Akiyama’s singles push has been limited at best in the recent months. Obviously this was most likely a great match.
AJW
AJW did a rare screw job in the third fall of the Tomoko Watanabe & Kumiko Maekawa vs. Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda WWWA tag title match. The tag title match, which took place on 5/26 in Chiba, was a 2 out of 3 fall match. Mita and Shimoda won the first fall when Mita used her Death Valley bomb to pin Maekawa. Watanabe evened the score, using her screw driver to pin Mita. Shimoda was then disqualified in the third fall for bringing a steel guard rail into the ring. AJW has basically let anything go when it comes to the use of weapons in the past. Aja never gets disqualified for using her oil can, Bull never got DQ’d for using her nunchucks, Hokuto never got disqualified for using her rod, etc. A DQ in a title match in AJW is really rare and I think you would have to go back to the 1980's to find one, but I don’t have all the results so don’t quote me on this. Hopefully this is a step toward turning Shimoda heel, but it’s most likely just an angle so they can have another match. The rematch has already been booked for 6/18 in Sapporo, which is the second night of the Sapporo double shot. I hope there is a title change there because Maekawa isn’t championship material. If Shimoda is going to be used as a tag team wrestler, by far her best role, she should have the ½ the tag titles. She’s clearly the best worker in the promotion that’s not a superstar in singles.
Kyoko Inoue and Kaoru Ito, who went to a 60:00 draw on 5/11, will have their rematch for the title on 6/17 in Sapporo. The match won’t be for the Triple Crown though. Instead, it’s only for the WWWA title. Takako Inoue will have a match for the vacant All-Pacific title on 6/18. Takako’s opponent hasn’t been announced yet. I don’t understand why AJW has already given up on the Triple Crown. I realize that the 3 Triple Crown matches haven’t drawn 15,000 fans combined, but would AJW have drawn any more if the All-Pacific or IWA Title was defended on the undercard? I highly doubt it unless it was an interpromotional match, which it most likely wouldn’t have been. The Triple Crown has much more credibility than the titles do seperately. I think it’s too early to tell how much of an attraction the belt could have been. Everyone saw that attendance was going to drop for the same old reasons, which include stale lineups and no one coming up the pipe to challenge the veterans. All Japan’s Triple Crown has an aura that it’s the most prestigous championship in wrestling. The feeling that any Triple Crown match is going to be a must see is something that I don’t think occurred overnight. It’s a feeling that partially came from ring work, partially from having credible champions, partially a mystique created through promotion, and I’m sure there are other factors I’m not even thinking of. It just seems like it’s too early to give up on it. Another reason that going back to the separate titles makes no sense is that AJW doesn’t have many stars. Unless they are going back to interpromotional matches, it’s almost ridiculous to have 3 singles titles right now. Kyoko should regain the WWWA title as Ito isn’t getting over as a top star. The magazines aren’t high on Ito as she’s seen as someone who doesn’t have the workrate, looks, or charisma to be a champion in AJW. Toyota, Aja, & Hotta would be reduced if they challenged for anything other than the WWWA title. The way they have been pushing Ito, she may also be reduced if she didn’t challenge for the WWWA title also. Takako will probably regain the All-Pacific title, which is the #2 singles title in the promotion. That belt has some credibility. Her challengers would most likely be Toshiyo Yamada & Mariko Yoshida unless they want to give Mita, Shimoda, Watanabe, or (I shudder to even think it) Maekawa, a singles push. I don’t know who will challenge for the IWA title. It doesn’t have much meaning and it will most likely be used as a stepping stone, so maybe they would give it to Rie Tamada or something. Plus there’s Mariko Yoshida’s CMLL title to consider. Then there are the junior titles and AJ titles. Basically, they are back to being a promotion that seemingly has as many belts as stars.
FMW
FMW gave Megumi Kudo a formal retirement ceremony on 5/13 at Tokyo Korakuen Hall. It’s kind of sad that the 16,000 fans who attended her retirement match saw her carried off to the hospital, while only the 2,100 fans at Korakuen saw the actual ceremony. Kudo is doing some acting now. She is in a movie called "The World" that will be airing on Tokyo Broadcasting Systems. The pictures in the Puroresu magazines of Kudo in a wedding dress are from that movie, not a real life wedding.
JWP
JWP has a major show at Yokohama Bunka Gym centered around the beginning of the 20th year of the legendary Devil Masami. Masami, who debuted in AJW on 8/21/78 has had the longest career of any Japanese women’s wrestler. Masami will team with former AJW rival Chigusa Nagayo (Gaea), Tomoko Miyaguchi, & Meiko Satomura (Gaea) in the main event against the Oz Academy team of Mayumi Ozaki, Reiko Amano, Sugar Sato (Gaea), & Chikayo Nagashima (Gaea). This will be an elimination match. It should be a good to very good match. Ozaki is great and the youngsters are among the best and most promising women in the sport. Satomura is better than Amano and on the level with Sato & Nagashima. She’s probably better than Nagashima now. If not, she will clearly be better than Nagashima since she’s only 17 while Chikayo is 21. Chigusa and Devil are slipping, but given that they are veterans in a major match they should be able to come up with a good performance. The Oz Academy is almost certain to lose as only Oz has a chance of getting a pin on Devil or Chigusa. I can’t see Oz pinning both legends in one match. I especially can’t see Devil jobbing on a card that’s in honoring her.
Hikari Fukuoka will face Tomoko Kuzumi in a non-title match. There is a good chance that this match will be the best on the show. Both fight basically the same style which is patterned after Manami Toyota. It will be really fast-paced with good work and lots of high spots back and forth.
Dynamite Kansai will take on the soon to be retired Candy Okutsu. This is a mismatch as Candy is a junior. Kansai is great at working with small women, so it could be pretty good. It depends on where Kansai is physically, which is something that I really don’t know. Candy will take a beating from Kansai’s stiff kicks. Okutsu will probably do a lot of counters for near falls before Kansai puts her away.
Cuty Suzuki, Kanako Motoya, & Yumi Fukawa (AJW) face Plum Mariko, Command Bolshoi, & the pale one Emi Motokawa (IWA). With the Cuty, Motoya, & Fukawa beauty idol team, I wonder how many people will actually notice there is a match going on. Plum and to a lesser extent Cuty may have their work cut out directing traffic in this match. This will probably be fast-paced with a lot of high spots, but also some sloppiness. I expect Cuty’s team to win.
Pancrase
Minoru Suzuki, one of the promotions founding members and long time major star, successfully came back from injury on the 5/24 card in Kobe. Suzuki defeated UFC veteran Joel Sutton in the main event of the card with an arm lock in just 48 seconds. Sutton is a highly overrated fighter. His "big win" in UFC was over Jack McGlaughlin, who showed us just how good he is by losing in Pancrase in about the same amount of time. Even though Sutton wasn’t a top notch opponent, it’s just good that Suzuki is back in the ring and getting a quick win. Suzuki was getting banged up pretty bad during his matches in 1996, so just getting him in and out of the ring in good health is a positive first step in his comeback.
King of Pancrase Yuki Kondo defeated Gary Myers with a neck lock at 5:35. Myers lasted a lot longer than he was expected to and put up what was said to be a good fight against Kondo.
Yoshiki Takahashi continued his post-UFC skid losing to Jason Delucia at 5:13 via arm bar. Delucia is far from a pushover and this result really isn’t too surprising. I think Takahashi’s popularity is going to take a nose dive unless he beats someone else credible soon.
Other results saw Semmy Schilt defeat Takaku Fuke, who’s basically fallen by the wayside. Schilt has improved a lot in the recent months as he’s developed a passable ground game. No suprise with that result. Coming off his domination of TAKA Michinoku, Keiichiro Yamamiya went to a 10:00 draw with Kiuma Kunioku. Kunioku has had more success than Yamamiya, so even though Yamamiya didn’t win it’s good enough to draw Kunioku since the time limit was so short. Takafumi Ito beat the 1 minute man Kim Jong Wan. Jong Wan may very well be the biggest stiff in the history of the promotion. He’s so bad that lasting :55 with a minor star probably isn’t even a disappointment. Ok, so I exaggerate, but this guy loses in seemingly record time on every show.
Pancrase has 2 shows in June. The first, on June 18 at Tokyo Korakuen Hall, has Satoshi Hasegawa vs. Paul Lazenby, Osami Shibuya vs. David Moore (Australia), Takafumi Ito vs. Jason Godsey, Ryushi Yanagisawa vs. Chris Chalmers (Australia), Kiuma Kunioku vs. Jason Delucia, and
Minoru Suzuki vs. Jagjit Singh (India). The second, on June 30 in Fukuoka, has Yuki Kondo vs. Semmy Schlit, Bas Rutten vs. Takaku Fuke, and Guy Mezger vs. Keiichiro Yamamiya. I’ll discuss these in the next column.
Women’s Junior All-Star Show
The two main matches for the junior all-star show on 7/19 have been announced. Toshie Uematsu of Gaea will defend the WCW women’s cruiserweight title against Yoshiko Tamura of AJW. The other main match has Meiko Satomura & Sonoko Kato defending their AAAW junior tag title against Tomoko Miyaguchi of JWP and Saya Endo of AJW. I am really surprised and disappointed that Sugar Sato, Chikayo Nagashima, & Tomoko Kuzumi aren’t in either main event. They are the three best workers that are appearing. Moreover, Sato & Nagashima hold AJW’s All Japan tag titles, so it would have made sense for AJW to have their tag titles defended on top rather than Gaea’s AAAW tag titles. Uematsu’s a pretty good worker and there’s a pretty good chance she could have a good match with the carryable Tamura. Both are good athletes and this should be a fast paced match with Uematsu flashing some nice Lucha Libre style high spots. It won’t be anything great though. Meiko Satomura and Sonoko Kato are a good team, although not as good as Sato & Nagashima, and they are worthy of the main event status. Miyaguchi is ok, but she was outworked by Emi Motokawa the last time I saw her. Unless she’s improved a lot in the past 6 months, she’s really questionable as a headliner on any show. She’s clearly not as good as JWP’s Tomoko Kuzumi. If you don’t know my low opinion of Saya by now then you must be a first time reader. The one thing that may save Saya is that she can work a "realistic" style. Satomura is a good kicker and submission wrestler, who generally works a realistic style building her matches around the juji gatame (cross armbreaker), so she may be able to carry Saya to something decent.
Champ Forum Michinoku Pro 4/12/97 taped 3/16 Yahabe
After watching this tape, I think the statement of get every Michinoku Pro tape that you can get a hold of is appropriate. This show had a worse undercard than normal because all the great workers came together in the main event, which was yet another chapter in the DX vs. Sekigun fued. Pencil that fued in as fued of the year, as every tag match they have seems to be topping ****.
Vampiro Canadiense & Pantera vs. Perro Ruso & Stsukura. Pantera is the only one of these four that you want to see. The other three work hard, but don’t seem to be that good. This match had some nice highspots. Stsukura did a handspring bicycle kick. Pantera gave Stsukura a springboard somersault tope. Ruso hit a blizzard suplex for a near fall. Vampiro missed a rolling senton. Vampiro thrust kicked Ruso to the floor then hit a pescado. Pantera did a headstand Frankensteiner off the top. Stsukura quebrada’d Pantera. Stsukura missed a moonsault. Pantera then applied the Romero special (la tapatia) for the win. The high spots were good, but the work wasn’t fluid. The transition between holds was way too slow. The work just wasn’t very good. Pantera put on a show though. 16:01. *3/4
Shiryu vs. Jinsei Shinzaki. Another instance where Shiryu deserves a lot of credit. He didn’t have a good match with Shinzaki (who does though), but he carried him to something decent. He didn’t give Shinzaki the opportunity to get into 1 hold per minute mode, which is a feat in itself. Shiryu knocked Shinzaki to the floor with a Frankensteiner then toped him. Shiryu got near falls with a fisheman buster, La Magistral, and a splash off the top. Shinzaki made his comeback when he countered a move off the top by chopping Shiryu in midair. Shinzaki did his diving shoulderblock off the top followed by his powerbomb for a near fall. Shinzaki powerbombed Shiryu for the win. Work was fine as Shinzaki was selling most of the way, so didn’t get a chance to screw things up too much. 9:18. **
TAKA Michinoku, Dick Togo, Men’s Teoh, Shoichi Funaki, & Masayoshi Motegi vs. Great Sasuke, Super Delfin, Gran Hamada, Gran Naniwa, & Masato Yakushiji. This was almost as good as usual, even though the very mediocre Motegi was replacing the perfect counterpart Shiryu. Motegi didn’t have anyone that he’s used to working with and he’s not going to make anyone look good like Shiryu does. He didn’t do too bad here, but he brings nothing to the table. They didn’t do the athletic counters in the beginning, which made me enjoy the early portion less than normal. Naniwa whipped Togo into the corner, but Togo countered with a reverse headbutt off the 2nd. TAKA leap frogged Delfin. Rather than run off the ropes like normal, Delfin dove under the leapfrog, got up, and lariated TAKA. Delfin then did his tilt-a-whirl headscissors. Sasuke gave Teoh a handspring high kick, which was something different. Hamada landed on his feet for a Motegi backdrop then dropkicked him. Sasuke back body dropped TAKA over the top rope. The action spilled to the floor with Sasuke ramming TAKA into a door and Togo and Teoh spike piledriving Hamada. Funaki worked over Sasuke’s bad knee with heel tactics and a knee bar. Naniwa tried his crab walk elbow, but Funaki avoided it. Motegi gave Yakushiji a rolling tapatia. Hamada tilt-a-whirled TAKA. Hamada gave TAKA his back suplex. Teoh gave Naniwa a nice spinning DDT. Togo sentoned Yakushiji. Togo gave Yakushiji a released German suplex for a near fall. Funaki fisherman bustered Yakushiji for a near fall. Yakushiji tried a moonsault off the 2nd, but TAKA got his knees up. Teoh powerbombed Naniwa for a near fall. Teoh and the DX tried a spike powerbomb, but Sasuke huracanrana’d Teoh. Sasuke quebrada’d Togo & Motegi at the same time for near falls on both. Sasuke did a quebrada out of the ring. Yakushiji toped Motegi. Delfin DDT’d Funaki for a near fall. Hamada & Delfin gave Motegi & Funaki simultaneous swinging DDT’s off the 2nd. Naniwa huracanrana’d Funaki. Delfin got a near fall with his Deflin Clutch. TAKA gave Sasuke a released Northern Lights suplex. TAKA tried a springboard move, but Sasuke dropkicked him in midair. Sasuke quebrada’d TAKA for a near fall. Sasuke tried his Thunder Fire powerbomb, but TAKA escaped. TAKA high kneed Sasuke and landed on the ring apron. TAKA immediately gave Sasuke a swandive enzui dropkick. TAKA did his awesome reverse position Super quebrada. Togo powerslammed Naniwa for a near fall. Teoh & Togo gave Naniwa the sky high lariat. Naniwa Doctor bombed Togo, but Motegi made the save. Yakushiji caught Togo with a flying Frankensteiner. Motegi caught Yakushiji with a weak lariat. Motegi then Liger bombed Yakushiji for the win. Typical great match. Fluid work, great timing, and lots of near falls. Off the charts high spots as usual. Very good execution. The early portion was weaker than normal and the build wasn’t as good as usual. Finish came to early as Yakushiji wasn’t in trouble. 22:27. ****1/4
IWA Restart 1/24/97 Tokyo Korakuen Hall on Samurai! Tv
This was the first show of the reformed IWA promotion. Even coming off the layoff, they couldn’t sell out Korakuen Hall for this show.
Takashi Sato vs. Tudor the Turtle. This was a juniors match. Let’s just say that IWA junior matches were much better when Yoshihiro Tajiri and Takashi Okano were their native juniors and they were fighting the likes of Silver King, El Texano, Miguel Perez Jr, & Super Astro. Tudor wears a turtle shell on his back. A really sad spot was Sato doing a drop down and Tudor trying to run over him, but tripping over Sato’s back. Tudor looked like he was going to do la tapatia, but instead did a full nelson version of the inverted surfboard, which was a cool move that I have never seen before. Sato did a swandive spinkick. Sato tried a suplex, but Tudor turned it into a wakigatame. Tudor did a rope walk where he stood up on the rope forever. He was up there so long that he eventually lost his balance and crotched himself on the top rope. Tudor used the Dean Malenko Texas Cloverleaf, but Sato was able to make it to the ropes. Tudor tried a German suplex, but Sato elbowed out and caught him with a spin kick. Sato did the Dragon screw and tried to go into the figure 4, but Tudor small packaged him for the win. Decent match. The pacing was too slow, especially for a sub 10:00 junior match. The work was fair. They did enough that it was entertaining, but not something you would want to watch a second time. Neither looked good, but neither looked bad either. About what you would expect from an independent opening card junior match. 8:33. **
The Goddess Chikako Shiratori & Yuko Kosugi vs. Miyuki Sagabe & The Bloody Phoenix. This was a Jd’ match. In comparison to what Jd’ airs on tv, this was a better match with more direction. Kosugi was better here than she was in the JWP show that you’ll see reviewed later in the column, which is good because it’s most likely that she’s improved a bit due to being more experienced. Sogabe is 17-years-old and she works like her age, or in other words she’s real green. The Bloody Phoenix doesn’t have much potential in my opinion, but she’s more experienced than Kosugi & Sogabe, so she’s better right now. The Goddess Shiratori was the best worker in the match. She looked pretty good here once again as it was her job to carry the match. This was the second consecutive Shiratori match where she looked decent as a worker, so maybe I’ll be able to call her an average worker pretty soon. Shiratori & Kosugi sandwiched Sagabe with a double dropkick. Shiratori countered Phoenix’s back body drop with a DDT. Phoenix did a rolling cradle. Shiratori countered Phoenix’s press slam with a dropkick. Shiratori did a Jaguar Japanese Ocean Suplex (cross-arm German suplex not to be confused with the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex) to Phoenix. Phoenix ducked a lariat and gave Shiratori a rolling German suplex. Sogabe slammed Shiratori and covered her, but Shiratori did the Jaguar bridge-out into a standing position and DDT’s Sogabe. Shiratori got both opponents with a jumping neckbreaker drop. Shiratori gave Sogabe a missile dropkick. Sogabe tried a high cross body, but Shiratori ducked it and La Magistralled her for the win. Shiratori did most of the high spots and the match was clearly better when she was in the ring. The match was nothing special, but not bad either. Only Shiratori attempted any spots that one could deem difficult. The young girls are green and it shows in their transition between moves. Still, the execution was better here than usual. 14:58. **
Akinori Tsukioka vs. Onryo. After seeing Onryo, it’s no wonder that Motegi is the top dog in SPWF. Motegi, who we all know I’m no fan of, could wrestle circles around this bum. Onryo dropkicked Tsukioka to the floor. Onryo then tried a running somersault plancha, but he slipped off the top rope onto the apron. Onryo tried to save the spot by giving Tsukioka a somersault block off the apron. Onryo Frankensteinered Tsukioka off the apron. Tsukioka did a sloppy tilt-a-whirl headscissors. Tsukioka did a quebrada out of the ring. Tsukioka got a near fall with a Liger bomb. Tsukioka tried another Liger bomb, but Onryo Frankensteinered him. Tsukioka did a swinging DDT off the top. Tsukioka did a sky twister elbow, which was really cool even though it didn’t hit where it was supposed to. Tsukioka did the Michinoku Driver II. If Tsukioka was 1/16th as good as the guys who’s moves he was doing (Liger, TAKA, Ultimo) he would be a real comer. Tsukioka tried a moonsault, but Onryo moved. Onryo did a kneecap dropkick. Onryo did a sloppy Onryo clutch (crucifix like pinning move) for the win. These guys did a lot of high spots, but the execution was terrible. It was sloppy green crap. Give them credit for their effort and guts, but not for their ability. 8:46. 3/4*
Emi Motokawa vs. Yumi Fukawa. I didn’t expect this match to be too good, but it turned out to be the savior of the show. It was far from great, but it was a godsend lumped in this load of garbage. Fukawa was good here and Emi is apparently better than I thought. The beginning of the match looked like a glorified rookies match, but the last 6 minutes consisted of one near fall after another. Emi missile dropkicked Fukawa for a near fall. Emi enzui missile dropkicked Fukawa again for near fall. Emi splashed Fukawa off the top for a near fall. Emi went up for a moonsault, but Fukawa pushed her to the floor. Fukawa plancha’s Emi. Back in the ring, Emi leg tripped Fukawa and La Magistralled her for a near fall. This got a big pop. Emi ducked a clothesline and tried a German suplex, but Fukawa gave her a bodyscissor victory roll. Emi went to the top for a flying move, but Fukawa climbed to the 2nd rope and superplexed her for a near fall. Fukawa tried her Fisherman suplex, but Emi small packaged her for a near fall. Fukawa used her missile dropkick off the 2nd. Fukawa went to the 2nd for another missile dropkick, but Emi elbowed her. Fukawa delivered a swinging DDT off the 2nd. Fukawa then performed her Fisherman suplex for the win. The crowd really got into the match when they went to the near falls. The reaction they got for the near falls was better than you see in AJW, which doesn’t say much. Surprisingly, this match got the best reaction of anything of the show, which is impressive because the crowd was there for blood and gimmicks, not for women’s wrestling. This was the best match I’ve seen Emi in. Fukawa showed star potential, although her size liability was really apparent since even Emi looked large in comparison to her. Fukawa’s problem here was that she took too long executing some of her spots. The set up also took too long in some instances. 12:02. ***
Katsumi Hirano vs. Ryuma Go. Go, 41, is one of the worst workers in Japan. His claim to fame is that he set up the Pioneer promotion in 1989, which was one of the first independent leagues in Japan. He’s so bad that he’s become a cult hero with people cheering him as a way of laughing at him. Go is really out of shape now. Go held Hirano’s legs and went to elbow him, but Hirano fell before Go’s elbow hit him, causing the elbow to miss completely. Go won with a juji gatame. The offense and selling was awful. The spots were missed. Thankfully it was short. 3:31. -*
Leatherface & Great Kabuki vs. Kishin Kawabata & Daikokobo Benkei. Benkei, 40, is terrible. He’s fat, slow, and can’t work a lick. Kawabata isn’t a whole lot better. Kabuki, 48, should have retired ages ago. He’s really out of shape now and is totally awful. Leatherface is the best worker of the four, so that should tell you how good this was. Leatherface took a flip bump for Benkei’s lariat. Kabuki used his thrust kick on Kawabata. Kabuki bled. Kabuki spewed on Benkei. Leatherface won with his lame version of the moonsault. Terrible match with old, unathletic stiffs that can don’t even deserve to be called workers. 12:51. -1/2*
Kabuki, Keisuke Yamada, & Keizo Matsuda vs. Kawabata, Shigeo Okumura, & Takashi Ishikawa in a broken glass window death match. The gimmick was that there were boxes with panes of glass set up in 2 corners. Yamada, 22, is the president of the league. Yamada bled early. Okumura & Yamada brawled to the back. They wound up on the balcony of Korakuen Hall, where they teased that Yamada was going to be thrown off. Kawabata held Yamada’s back and head over the box with the glass and Okumura tried a double boot stomp off the top. Yamada avoided the double boot stomp, so Okumura’s feet broke the pane of glass. They started cutting each other with pieces of broken glass. Ishikawa used his scorpion on Kabuki until Yamada made the save by Destiny Hammering Ishikawa. Okumura dropkicked Yamada into the glass. Kawabata then stomped Yamada’s hand into the glass. The result of all this was Yamada’s hand going right through the glass. Yamada’s hand was cut really deep. Blood was immediately splurting out. His arm was also cut to hell. This was the injury he suffered that kept him out of action for a while. Kawabata Fisherman suplexed Yamada for a near fall. Kawabata tried to lariat Kabuki, but Kabuki avoided it and Ishikawa got hit. Kabuki suplexed Ishikawa for the win. After the match, Hiromuchi Fuyuki attacked Kabuki to start an interpromotional fued. Fuyuki stuffed a pie in Yamada’s face. This match was literally garbage. These guys either can’t work now or never could. There was blood and gimmick spots and not much wrestling, of course. In comparison to the old IWA stuff this was not nearly as good. The only real "highlight" for crazy bumps was the spot where Yamada was injured. I certainly wouldn’t consider that a highlight either. 14:41. **
JWP Ryogaku Big Project Live TV Special 10/13/96 Tokyo Sumo Hall
This was JWP’s major show of 1996. There were a couple bad matches with the green undercarders, but after that this was a very good show. The match quality only serves to further puzzle me as to why no one seems to care about this promotion or get their tapes.
Fusayo Nouchi vs. Yuko Kosugi. Nouchi, 21, is a quality worker. She carried the match here. Kosugi, 16, is really green although she’s a pretty good athlete who certainly has potential to be a good worker. Kosugi had been wrestling for less than 3 months when this match took place, so her inexperience was certain to show up. These women are both really small. They are listed at weighing 128 pounds in their bios, but they are certainly a lot closer to 100 than 130. Nouchi got a near fall with a missile dropkick. Nouchi did a back suplex followed by a flying splash. Nouchi then covered Kosugi and could have pinned her, but chose to pull her up. It’s kind of funny to see a 21-year-old play the arrogant veteran role, but she has 5 years in age and 3 ½ years in ring experience on Kosugi. Nouchi then German suplexed Kosugi for the win. Kosugi didn’t look good here. The match was pretty sloppy. The execution and transition between moves wasn’t good. 5:09. *
Kanako Motoya vs. Yumi Fukawa. These youngsters are extremely attractive. Both will be the beauty idols of their respective promotions when Cuty Suzuki & Takako Inoue retire. Motoya is even better looking than Fukawa and she was only 17-years-old when this aired. Oh yeah, there was actually a wrestling match here. Motoya immediately back body dropped Fukawa over the top. Motoya followed with a dropkick off the ring apron. Fukawa got a near fall with her superplex. Fukawa got another near fall after two consecutive jumping neckbreaker drops. Fukawa tried her missile dropkick off the 2nd, but Motoya moved out of the way. Motoya did two missile dropkicks, getting a near fall after the 2nd one. Motoya missile dropkicked Fukawa in the back. Motoya did a diving headbutt off the top for a near fall. Motoya then performed her somersault senton off the top for the win. Finish didn’t look good as Motoya landed a bit short of Fukawa. They did some decent high spots. The match built pretty well. Unfortunately they had some problems working together. Several spots were missed. Fukawa was worse than normal here. Both have good potential. 8:15. *1/2
Tomoko Miyaguchi vs. Emi Motokawa for Miyaguchi’s AJ Junior Title. The pale one Emi was the better of the two in this match. Emi plancha’d Miyaguchi before she even got in the ring. They did a creative spot where Emi tried to go over the top for a whip into the corner, but Miyaguchi caught her on her shoulders. Miyaguchi wanted to suplex Emi off her shoulders, but Emi turned it into a reverse Frankensteiner. I’ve never seen a reverse Frankensteiner before. The problem is that taking a good bump on this move is practically impossible because your back doesn’t bend backwards the same way it bends forwards. It seems you would have to backflip to get the bump to look decent. Anyway, Miyaguchi made this look pretty bad, but Emi covered her for a near fall anyway. Emi hit 2 missile dropkicks. Emi went for a splash off the top, but Miyaguchi got her legs up. Miyaguchi hit a Toshiyo Yamada-esque reverse enzuiguri off the top. Miyaguchi went for a superplex, but Emi pushed her off the top rope. This time Emi was able to hit the splash off the top. Emi applied a sleeper, but Miyaguchi rammed her into the corner. Miyaguchi walked out of the corner with her back to Emi, allowing Emi to jump on her back with a sleeper. Miyaguchi escaped the sleeper once again. Miyaguchi hit an enzuiguri. Miyaguchi performed an airplane spin then dropped it into a bridging blockbuster suplex (Samoan drop) for the win. Watchable, but very missable. 8:25. *1/4
Mayumi Ozaki, Sugar Sato, & Reiko Amano vs. Cuty Suzuki, Kanako Motoya, & Plum Mariko. As usual, the Oz Academy had the best match on the show. There was tons of double and triple teaming from both sides. Plum Mariko was coming off her broken hip, so she was a bit rusty but it didn’t seem like the major injury caused her to decline as a worker. Plum did a nice roll into a kneebar on Amano. Ozaki powebombed Plum for a near fall with the young punks assisting by spiking it. Sato missed a cross body off the top, so Motoya gave her 3 consecutive somersault sentons for a near fall. Cuty tried a double boot stomp off the top, but Sato moved out of the way. Sato facecrushered Cuty. Sato followed with her Dragon screw to kneebar combination, but Cuty was too close to the ropes. Sato & Amano gave Cuty a sky high facecrusher. The Oz Academy went back to the spike powerbomb spot, but this time Motoya & Plum dropkicked the young punks and Cuty turned Oz’s powerbomb into a Toyota roll for a near fall. Motoya splashed Oz off the top. Plum & Cuty followed by double boot stomping Oz off the top for a near fall. Cuty gave Oz a released version of her Dragon suplex. Plum followed with a released German suplex on Oz. Cuty tried her Dragon suplex on Oz, but the young punks dropkicked her. Oz tried to powerbomb Cuty again, but Cuty avoided it once again by rolling through and landing on her feet. Ozaki powerbombed Cuty for a near fall. Cuty tried to turn Oz’s attempted German suplex into a bodyscissor victory roll, but Oz sat down with a cradle for a near fall. Plum landed on her feet for Oz’s back suplex, so Oz huracaned her. Oz & Amano handed Motoya to Sato, who was on the top rope. Motoya avoided the deadly move by knocking Sato off the top then she missile dropkicked Sato. Motoya tried to kick Sato, but Sato caught her leg and did her Dragon screw to figure four combination. Amano held Plum off for a while, but eventually she was able to save Motoya. Meanwhile, Cuty plancha’d Oz. Sato got a near fall on Motoya with her reverse elbow off the 2nd. Sato was going to do another move to Motoya, but Cuty came off the top and caught Sato with her Destiny Hammer. Motoya gave Sato her somersault senton off the top and covered her, but Amano made the save. Sato Dragon screwed Cuty then Amano missile dropkicked Cuty. Cuty ducked Oz’s huracan and tried to punch her, but Oz ducked it and caught her with a backhand punch. Ozaki Liger bombed Cuty, both Cuty’s partners saved. Oz tried the Die Hard (Splash Mountain/Niagara driver/BT bomb off 2nd rope), but Cuty slipped out and sleepered her. Cuty then performed a victory roll off the top rope. Oz tried her Tequila Sunrise, but Cuty powered out. Cuty tried a lariat, but Oz ducked it and went right into her Tequila Sunrise for a near fall. Oz tried a spinning Frankensteiner off the top, but Cuty turned it into a powerbomb in midair for a 2 3/4 count. Cuty Destiny Hammered Oz for a near fall. Plum tried a Frankensteiner off the top, but Oz turned it into a powerbomb for a near fall. Plum tried to Frankensteiner Amano off the top, but Amano couldn’t hold her and both fell to the arena floor. This wasn’t a planned spot and both could have been seriously injured from this. Luckily the landed "alright" and were able to continue the match ok. Plum tried a flying move, but Amano avoided it and tried to go right into a wakigatame. Plum rolled through the wakigatame and rolled Amano into her knee bar. Cuty & Motoya held Oz and Sato respectively outside the ring, but Amano finally made it to the rope. Amano jumped over Plum’s body and turned it into her cross arm breaker in midair for the win. The finishing move was applied in a really cool and creative manner. Great extremely fast-paced match with tons of high spots and near falls. The veterans, especially Oz, were great here directing traffic. Cuty definitely looked better as a worker in this match than she normally does. Amano looked good and showed a lot of potential. Sato is the best of the under-20 women and this match just further proved it. The set up was nice and the transition between holds was good. The downside was that there was some sloppiness. There was surprisingly little heat considering the Oz Academy are the best heel group in women’s wrestling (probably all wrestling for that matter) and this was a damn good match. 15:23. ****
Tomoko Kuzumi vs. Manami Toyota. Kuzumi is an aspiring Toyota. If you are going to imitate someone than you should always imitate the best person you can immitate, especially when you can do the style of the best in the history of your field, right? But you should always be yourself instead of being a mindless programmed follower. Anyway, the idea of the match was for Kuzumi to get a lot of near falls on Toyota, challenging her "mentor" before eventually doing the job. With Kuzumi near the ropes, Toyota missed a dropkick and went through the ropes to the floor. Kuzumi gave Toyota a swandive plancha. Kuzumi is a great athlete, but she can’t jump directly onto the top rope like Toyota can. No other woman can do that either, so I guess that’s no surprise (Toyota's height helps though). Toyota whipped Kuzumi into the corner, so Kuzumi gave Toyota a reverse flying press. Kuzumi did a Sakie Hasegawa-esque rolling underhook suplex. Kuzumi did the Suzuka Minami underhook into backbreaker. Toyota placed Kuzumi backwards in the corner and did a running dropkick to Kuzumi’s back. Toyota hit two missile dropkicks of the 2nd for a near fall. Toyota then tried her moonsault, but Kuzumi moved out of the way. Toyota whipped Kuzumi into the corner, so Kuzumi jumped over the top rope and caught Manami with a swandive dropkick. Kuzumi tried a German suplex, but Toyota elbowed out. Toyota then tried a German suplex, but Kuzumi countered with a bodyscissor victory roll. Kuzumi slammed Toyota and attempted a rounding body press, but Toyota got her legs up. Toyota whipped Kuzumi into the ropes, but rather than bouncing off, Kuzumi slowed up and walked right through to the ring apron. Kuzumi then did a swandive sunset flip. At the two count, Toyota turned it into a pinning predicament of her own. Toyota went to the top, but Kuzumi climbed up and gave her a top rope underhook superplex. Kuzumi tried a lariat, but Toyota ducked and went right into her rolling cradle. Toyota hit a missile dropkick to the back. Toyota German suplexed Kuzumi for a near fall. Toyota tried her Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex, but Kuzumi countered with the Japanese leg roll crotch hold with a back bridge. Toyota whipped Kuzumi into the corner. Kuzumi tried to catch Manami with an aerial move again, but this time Manami kicked Tomoko to the floor. Toyota flipped off the crowd as she was the heel since she was from the visiting promotion, but I think it was mainly due the lack of crowd reaction the near falls and high spots were getting. Toyota hit her springboard plancha. Back in the ring, Toyota slammed Kuzumi then hit her moonsault for a 2 3/4 count. Toyota hit her Japanese Ocean suplex (cross-arm German suplex). Toyota then delivered her Japanese Ocean Cyclone suplex finisher for the win. Very good match. Typical great work from Toyota although this match was slightly toned down. The main problem was that no one in the audience gave Kuzumi a snowballs chance in hell of winning the match. This resulted in little heat for Kuzumi’s near falls. Kuzumi was more competitive than she had the right to be, but still didn’t seem to get over all that much. Kuzumi is someone that you’ll be wanting footage of. 15:17. ***3/4
Hikari Fukuoka, Hiromi Yagi, Great Sasuke, & Tiger Mask #4 vs. Candy Okutsu, Bolshoi Kid, Super Delfin, & Gran Naniwa. This was a mixed gender tag match. It was partially a serious match and partially a comedy match. Delfin & Naniwa reverted back to joker mode while Bolshoi is always good for a few laughs. This was much better than the mixed match Michinoku ran earlier in 1996 using Mima Shimoda & Sakie Hasegawa even though those two are better than any of the women in this match (Fukuoka is clearly better than the injured up Sakie we saw in 1996 though). It’s pretty sad that 2 of the 4 women will be retired by the time this match is 10 months old. The really sad thing is that Yagi, the older of the two who are/will be retired was only 25, and her age is deceptive because she's only been wrestling since early '94. Yagi was someone that I never really saw much, but since she retired to get married I’ve been seeing of her older matches and I’ve definitely become a Yagi fan. Fukuoka whipped Okutsu into the corner, so Okutsu missile dropkicked her. The Michinoku workers worked the typical nice beginning of the match hold and athletic counter hold sequences. Bolshoi gave Yagi three consecutive springboard reverse cross bodies. Yagi looked like she was going to do a flying crucifix, but turned it into a sunset flip. Yagi then went right into a kneebar. Okutsu pulled Bolshoi by the pom pom on her mask over to the rope. Okutsu then placed the pom pom over the bottom rope and told the ref that he should force Yagi to break the kneebar because Bolshoi had made it to the ropes. The ref didn’t buy it though. I guess you had to see it, but it was a quite funny comedy spot. Fukuoka did her handspring elbow. Bolshoi did the rope walk across 2 sides of the ring. Yagi was shaking the rope of the third side, so Bolshoi walked backwards then arm dragged Fukuoka. Tiger did his Sayama immitation sequence which consists of landing on his feet for a back body drop, hitting a rolling savate, running up to the top rope then backflipping off, back body dropping your opponent, and doing a combat kick with your opponent holding your legs. Yagi whipped Okutsu into the corner, so Candy gave her a reverse cross body. Yagi whipped Okutsu into the corner, this time Candy gave Yagi a missile dropkick. Okutsu went to the top, but Yagi gave Candy her ipponzei off the 2nd. Yagi ipponzei’d Naniwa off the 2nd. Sasuke slammed Naniwa then Fukuoka gave him her moonsault double boot stomp. Fukuoka used Delfin’s tilt-a-whirl headscissors on him. Sasuke whipped Bolshoi into the corner, so Bolshoi gave him a reverse crossbody. Bolshoi did a rana into a huracanrana to Sasuke. Candy missile dropkicked Sasuke. Naniwa slammed Tiger and did his crab walk, but Tiger got up before he was finished. Naniwa knocked Tiger down and restarted his crab walk from the beginning. Naniwa tried the crab elbow, but Tiger got his legs up. Delfin did the classic armbreaker comedy spot where he faces the audience and his teammate, in this case Candy, hands him the arms of the opposing team members for him to work over. As usual, he would up with his teammate Candy’s arm, so he "unknowingly" gave Candy repeated armbreakers. Candy slapped Delfin in the face for this act. Bolshoi acted like she was joining Sasuke’s team, but quickly double crossed them by attacking Tiger. They did the rowboat spot climaxing with Fukuoka giving Naniwa a huracanrana in the middle of the pile for a near fall. Sasuke knocked Delfin to the floor with a handspring elbow. Sasuke quebrada’d Delfin. Bolshoi quebrada’d Sasuke. Yagi plancha’d Bolshoi. Candy running plancha’d Yagi. Fukuoka Orihara moonsaulted Candy. Very nice 5-dive sequence. Tiger slammed Naniwa off the top and gave him a cross body off the top. Tiger set up Naniwa with a tombstone piledriver. Tiger then dove 3/4 of the way across the ring with a headbutt for a near fall. Naniwa lariated Tiger for a near fall. Naniwa Frankensteinered Tiger off the top and covered, but Tiger is saved. Yagi arm dragged Candy then went right into a cross arm breaker. Candy gave Yagi a released German suplex then tagged Bolshoi. Yagi did a sunset flip into a kneebar on Bolshoi. Delfin slammed Fukuoka and Delfin clutched her, but Sasuke saved. Sasuke did a nice tope con hilo to Delfin. Naniwa gave Sasuke a somersault block off the ring apron. Tiger plancha’d Naniwa. Bolshoi did her flying huracanrana to Fukuoka for a near fall. Bolshoi tried a huracanrana, but Fukuoka powerbombed her. Fukuoka was on the top ready to do a flying move to Bolshoi, but Yagi gave Bolshoi a released German suplex. Bolshoi got up and was very close to the corner when Fukuoka tried her somersault missile dropkick, causing Fukuoka to pretty much blow the spot. Fukuoka Tiger Drivered Bolshoi for the win. Tons of high spots and dives. Mostly Michinoku Pro style. Most of the spots and sequences were taken out of the Michinoku main events of the 1994 era. The men and women worked really well together to the point where gender wasn’t an issue at all. The credibility problem comes from people’s preconceived sexist notion that men should be more powerful and beat the women. I mean, it’s less credible for Kansai or Aja to sell for the small women then it is for these 170-pound guys but no one complains when it’s the large woman selling for Cuty or the like. There was no heat for the match, which means the fans saw it as more of a comedy exhibition match than anything to take seriously. Lots of very good sequences. State of the art high spots. No one showed anyone else up. Fukuoka was the best of the women here, which is no surprise as she’s the best worker and has the best high spots of the women involved. Exciting match. 22:34. ***1/2
Devil Masami & Kyoko Inoue vs. Dynamite Kansai & Aja Kong. Kansai & Kong are certainly a dream team as they have been the two best working large women in the sport for quite some time (I’m not used to having to think of Kyoko in the large women category as she is a better worker than either Kansai or Kong). Devil caught one of Kansai’s kicks and Dragon screwed her. Aja worked over Kyoko’s leg with a half crab. Aja used kicks to Kyoko’s leg then applied a Boston crab. Kansai & Aja both punted Kyoko’s leg. Aja whipped Kyoko into the ropes, but Kyoko gave her a springboard reverse elbow. Aja piledrove Kyoko and covered, but Devil saved. Kyoko ducked Aja’s lariat then did an arm drag with her leg. Aja high cross bodied both opponents. Aja gave Kyoko a reverse flying elbow. Kyoko gave Aja a missile dropkick for a near fall. Aja ducked a lariat, so Kyoko tried again and connected. Kyoko went to the top for her reverse flying elbow, but Kansai knocked her to the floor. Aja toped Kyoko. Aja went to the top, but Kyoko arm dragged her off. Aja suplexed both opponents, which is no small feat. Aja backdropped Devil for a near fall. Devil ducked a double lariat. On the rebound, Devil ducked Kansai’s lariat, but Aja urakened her. Aja splashed Devil off the 2nd. Kansai tried her splash mountain, but Devil got out of it. Kyoko lariated Kansai then assisted Devil by spike powerbombing Kansai. Kyoko DDT’d Kansai off the 2nd for a near fall. Kyoko tried her springboard reverse elbow off the 2nd, but Kansai kicked her in the back. Devil tried a backdrop, but Kansai shifted her weight and landed on top. Kyoko hit her reverse flying elbow on Kansai for a near fall. Kyoko tried to powerbomb Kansai, but Kansai wouldn’t go up. Kyoko tried a lariat, but Kansai backdropped her. Kansai slammed Kyoko so Aja could come off the top with a double boot stomp. Kansai followed with a double boot stomp off the 2nd. Aja and Dynamite tried a double team double boot stomp off the top, but Kyoko got up and hit a released German suplex on Aja. Aja gave Kyoko a released German suplex off the 2nd for a near fall. Aja tried her back body drop off the top, but Kyoko turned it into a sunset flip powerbomb. Dynamite Splash Mountained Kyoko, but Devil made the save. Aja tried to tope Devil, but Devil avoided it. Kansai tried her Die Hard, but Devil broke it up and Kyoko DDT’d Kansai off the top for a near fall. Kyoko tried to powerbomb Kansai. Seeing this, Aja tried to lariat Kyoko, but Kyoko lifted Kansai’s head up so Aja hit Kansai instead. Kyoko Liger bombed Kansai for a near fall. Kyoko powerbombed Kansai then Devil delivered her guillotine leg drop off the top. Kyoko covered, but Aja made the save. Devil held Aja at bay while Kyoko Liger bombed Kansai for the win. Stiff match. Well worked. Started off slow, but built well and had a very good finishing segment. Very solid match. 25:32. ***3/4
WAR Osaka Crush Night Commercial Tape 10/11/96 Osaka Furitsu Gym
WAR is a promotion with little depth that can only be good when the load up on interpromotional matches. On this particular show, even the interpromotional matches weren’t very good, making it pretty much a bust as far as match quality is concerned.
Jun Kikuchi vs. Takashi Okumura. Okumura threw a ton of kicks, which were sold poorly by Kikuchi. Okumura won with a high kick. This match had a real indy look to it. The execution and transition was poor. 8:19. 3/4*.
Osamu Tachihikari vs. Fukuda. The highlight of the match was that Fukuda’s cronie, who I have never seen before and couldn’t identify, did a Space Flying Tiger Drop and a moonsault. Tachihikari won with a nodowa. The work wasn’t good. It was too short for any build or psychology. 3:46. DUD
Masaaki Mochizuki & New Arashi vs. Yuji Yasuraoka & Koki Kitahara. Unfortunately this was shown in highlight form. Yasuraoka is one of the best workers in WAR. He’s not great, but he’s pretty good and he’ll put on a good show given the right opponent. Mochizuki was the right opponent as they worked some nice sequences together. Mochizuki seems to be one of the little known good workers around. He’s really only known for the surprising very good match he had with Otani at the Super J Cup 2nd stage because we don’t see him often. I’m not sure how good he is, but I don’t think the Otani match was a fluke. He definitely someone I want to see more of. Kitahara has been one of the top stars and workers in the promotion since it’s inception. New Arashi sucks. He’s someone you need to be protected from or at least Dean Rasmussen thinks so. Mochizuki did a swandive spinkick. Mochizuki & Kitahara worked really stiff together. Yuji missile dropkicked New Arashi for a near fall. Arashi caught Yuji in the air and powerslammed him for a near fall. Yuji performed his running plancha on Mochizuki. Yuji did his move where he whips you into the corner, jumps to the 2nd rope, then jumps off kicking you with a rolling savate. Yuji whipped Mochizuki into the ropes, so Mochizuki climbed the ropes and did a reverse enzuiguri off the top. Arashi leg lariated Yuji for a near fall. Arashi tried to powerbomb Yuji, but Yuji turned it into a Toyota roll. Arashi ducked a lariat and nodowa’d Yuji. Arashi then frog splashed Yuji for the pin. Lots of nice spots. I’m not sure if it was just a collection of highspots or not because of the editing. It was good when New Arashi wasn’t in as Mochizuki was working well with both. 15:24. **3/4
Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Psicosis for Rey’s WWA Welterweight title. These two usually have great matches. Unfortunately, this match was an exception. It was much sloppier than you would expect. It was a good match, but it was pretty disappointing considering who was involved. Rey arm dragged Psicosis to the floor then faked a suicida. Rey gave Psicosis a kneecap dropkick. Rey then did a springboard frankensteiner. Rey followed with a somersault plancha. Rey did a slingshot moonsault. Rey tried the Lionsault, but Psicosis got his knees up. Psicosis draped Rey on the 2nd then gave him a leg drop off the top rope. Psicosis hit a flying leg lariat. Psicosis did an Arabian moonsault block out of the ring. Rey held Psicosis’ arm and jumped off the top-bouncing on the top rope-then Frankensteinered Psicosis off the apron. The spot, which I don’t think I explained very well, is new to me. It wasn’t executed very well and didn’t hold any water, but would be really cool if they did it right. Psicosis got a near fall with a Frankensteiner off the top. Psicosis tried another Frankensteiner off the top, but blocked it by staying on the top rope, so Psicosis landed on his head. Rey rolled up Psicosis’ body and Frankensteinered him off the top to the floor. Rey set up the Super quebrada, but Psicosis ran out of the way, so Rey forward flipped into the ring. Rey then gave Psicosis a somersault tope con hilo. Rey did his springboard huracanrana. Psicosis tried a reverse suplex, but Rey landed on his feet. Rey won with a modified jackknife cradle. Lame finish. Out of this world high spots, but sloppy execution. 13:21. ***1/4
Jado & Gedo vs. Nobukazu Hirai & Nobutaku Araya. All these guys could work at one time, but they have all declined over the past couple of years. None of them are old either. Araya has put on a ton of weight since his W*ING days. Jado gave Hirai a top rope superplex. Araya missed his moonsault. Jado ducked a lariat and hit a released Dragon suplex. Jado & Gedo tried a powerbomb off the 2nd/reverse neckbreaker spot, but Hirai got out sloppily Frankensteinering Jado off the top. Araya & Gedo went at it outside the ring leaving Jado & Hirai isolated. Hirai then brainbustered Jado. Hirai followed by landing his elbow off the top for the win. Bad match considering who was involved as these guys would have had a good match 2-3 years ago. It had the indy look to it. After the match, Hirai jumped off Araya’s shoulders to the floor taking out both Jado and Gedo. 8:48. *3/4
Ultimo Dragon vs. Great Sasuke for Sasuke’s J Crown. Sasuke was coming back from his cracked skull, so you couldn’t expect this to be at the level of some of their previous encounters. Ultimo did the Kendo headstand in the corner spot. There were lots of nice counters early on. Ultimo suplexed Sasuke for a near fall. Sasuke seemed to be injured (or most likely reinjured) on this spot. Ultimo knocked Sasuke to the floor with a handspring elbow. Ultimo faked a tope then dropkicked Sasuke through the ropes. Ultimo skinned the cat back into the ring then missed a pescado. Ultimo quebradora’d Sasuke out of the ring. Sasuke did the awesome, psychotic Rider kick. Sasuke used his quebrada on Ultimo for a near fall and a big pop. Ultimo tried a powerbomb, but Sasuke huracanrana’d Ultimo for a near fall and big pop. Sasuke tried a cross body off the top, but Ultimo dropkicked him. The crowd was going wild. Ultimo did a rana into a huracanrana. Ultimo then performed his running Liger bomb for the win. That move plants you on your head and back, so it was the perfect move to finish a guy with a cracked skull off with. Sasuke either sold it extremely well or he reinjured his skull. They tended to Sasuke after the match and he seemed to be only partially conscious. Toned down match. Opening and closing was good, but the middle was nothing special. Not nearly as good as it could have been if both were 100%. 13:43. ***1/4
Nobuhiko Takada, Naoki Sano, & Masahito Kakihara vs. Hiromuchi Fuyuki, Bam Bam Bigelow, & Yoji Anjoh for the former team’s WAR 6-man titles. Big time style clash here as Fuyuki and Bigelow aren’t meant to work a "realistic" style. Sano’s shoulder was all bandaged up. Instead of working the shoulder, his opposition worked on his right knee. Takada and Bigelow didn’t work well together, which says a lot about how good Bam Bam is these days. Takada used a dragon screw into a heel hook. Bigelow tried to suplex Kakihara, but Takada came in and swept Bigelow’s leg. Kakihara then put Bigelow in the knee bar. Fuyuki rocket launchered Bigelow with a headbutt onto Kakihara. Everyone brawled to the floor, but Anjoh & Kakihara. Anjoh used the knee bar on Kakihara for the win. Anjoh, Bigelow, & Fuyuki won the WAR 6-man titles. Anjoh was fine working with this fellow shooters, but the rest of the styles didn’t mesh. 11:32. **
Genichiru Tenryu vs. Great Muta. Keiji Muto can be a great worker when he wants to be, but he never works close to his ability when he dons the Muta gimmick. This was a slow uninspired match. If anyone has a question as to who is the better worker between Takada and Muto, watch Takada’s very good match vs. Tenryu from the 9/11/96 UWF-I show then watch this thing. Muta spewed mist before the match. Muta stalled forever. Muta broke a bottle on the ring post. Muta used the bottle to juice Tenryu’s forehead. Muta used a foreign objects on Tenryu. Muta spewed mist in Tenryu’s face, then used a chair on him. Muta stood a table up in the corner. With Tenryu against the table, Muta tried hit his handspring elbow. Muta put Tenryu on the table and moonsaulted him. The table didn’t break. Muta used Tenryu’s blood to make a drawing on a towel. Muta used his sidebreaker set up move. Muta then went for the moonsault, but before he could jump, Tenryu grabbed him and hit his powerbomb. Tenryu used his enzuiguri. Tenryu powerbombed Muta again, but Muta broke the pin attempt by spewing mist in Tenryu’s face. Tenryu used an enzui lariat then his lariat for a near fall. Muta then small packaged Tenryu for a near fall. Tenryu then powerbombed Muta for the win. As far as I’m concerned this was a piece of crap. A lame combination of garbage wrestling and comedy. There was so much dead time. The exectution was fine, but there were no good combinations of spots. No good sequences. 17:19. *3/4
JWP TV 7/20/96 taped 7/7 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Sugar Sato & Reiko Amano vs. Command Bolshoi & Yuki Miyazaki. Mayumi Ozaki was out of action with a broken leg, but she was at ringside to watch her young Oz Academy members. This was a pretty fast-paced match. It was kind of a collection of spots though. Miyazaki slammed Amano and Bolshoi tried to moonsault her, but Amano avoided it. Amano did 2 single underhook snap suplexes then a bridging single underhook snap suplex for a near fall. Bolshoi gave Sato 3 consecutive uranages for a near fall. Amano tried a sky high lariat, but missed and Bolshoi huracanrana’d Sato for a near fall. Bolshoi held Sato so Miyazaki could missile dropkick, but Sato moved and Bolshoi got hit. Bolshoi uranaged Sato off the 2nd. Amano applied her cross arm breaker then Sato did her reverse elbow off the top. Bolshoi got a near fall with a German suplex. Bolshoi hit her moonsault on Sato, but Amano made the save. The match was pretty crazy by this point with tons of suplexes and near falls. Sato used her dragon screw to kneebar combination for the win. The first half of the match was average, but it got good in the 2nd half. There were lots of high spots and near falls. Not much in psychology, but built fairly well. Kind of sloppy. Everyone looked pretty good. Sato & Bolshoi looked the best in this particular match. 20:59. ***
Next was the Tomoko Kuzumi segment. They showed highlights of Kuzumi vs. Yoshiko Tamura. Kuzumi gave Tamura a springboard plancha before Tamura even made it to the ring in this one. They also showed clips from a 6-woman where Kuzumi & Miyaguchi fought near a pool. Both tried to throw each other in and they would up both taking the bump together. Next was a fast-paced Kuzumi vs. Devil match. The transition between holds was nice and Kuzumi flashed some nice high spots. Devil quickly won, whipping the mat with Kuzumi’s body after powerbombing her.
Candy Okutsu vs. Tomoko Miyaguchi. Okutsu is quality and I will miss her when she retires. Miyaguchi did a nice enzuiguri. Candy did a missile dropkick then a flying elbow for a near fall. Miyaguchi did her airplance spin into blockbuster suplex for a near fall. Miyaguchi did a blockbuster off the 2nd and splash of the top for more near falls. Candy did a rolling German suplex for a near fall. Candy did won with her released Northern Lights superplex. Good high spots. Only about half the match aired. 12:15. **3/4
Candy Okutsu vs. Fusayo Nouchi. Nouchi got in the ring and challenged Okutsu to a 10- minute match, so Candy would up wrestling 2 matches in a row. Nouchi went on the offensive hitting released German suplexes and German suplexes. Nouchi got a near fall with a senton off the top. Nouchi plancha’d Candy. Nouchi suplexed Candy on the floor. Okutsu made her comeback when she countered a whip into the corner by jumping to the top and hitting a missile dropkick. Candy german suplexed Nouchi for a near fall. Candy ducked a lariat and delivered another German suplex. Candy threw two released German suplexes. Candy got a near fall with an elbow off the top. Candy did two missile dropkicks then went back to her German suplex for another near fall. Candy gave Nouchi her released Northern Lights superplex and covered, but Nouchi bridged out. Candy tried a slam, but Nouchi small packaged her. The time limit expired. Nice match. The work was good. There were lots of high spots and near falls. Built well. 10:00. ***1/2
Hiromi Yagi vs. Takako Inoue. This was the second match of Hiromi Yagi big challenge three, which was a three match series where she challenged big stars (Aja & Devil being the other two then an extra match against Jaguar). Takako was playing the arrogant vixen role, which is normally a good one for her since this attitude helps mask her limitations that crop up in singles. She was on offense a long time in the early portion, but really didn’t do anything. Yagi was clearly the better worker of the two to the point where she schooled Takako. Yagi’s transition between holds was really quick and sharp. She totally made the match. Yagi finally made her comeback when she hit her ipponzei. Yagi did another ipponzei, this time going right into the jujigatame. Yagi appeared to be doing a flying crucifix, but she turned it into a sunset flip then went right into her kneebar. Yagi plancha’d Takako. Yagi went for her ipponzei off the 2nd, but Takako performed her nodowa off the 2nd. Takako tried her bridging back suplex, but Yagi bodyscissor victory rolled her. Yagi ducked a lariat and went right into a German suplex for a near fall. Yagi hit two missile dropkicks for a near fall. Yagi missed a flying splash. Takako then did her tombstone piledriver where she knees you in the head a couple times for good measure before planting your head into the canvas. Takako, who was on the top rope, had Yagi in a choke sleeper until Yagi did her ipponzei off the 2nd into another jujigatame. Yagi hit a diving headbutt. Takako tried her nodowa off the top, but Yagi turned it into a wakigatame in midair. That was an awesome new spot. Takako got a near fall with her bridging back suplex. Takako did another bridging suplex for a near fall. Takako Destiny Hammered Yagi for the win. Yagi looked great on offense with nice execution to go along with the slick transtion between holds. Takako didn’t have one of her better matches although she picked it up toward the end. Good psychology. If the beginning was better it would have easily been a very good match. 14:48. ***1/4.
Cuty Suzuki & Dynamite Kansai vs. Hikari Fukuoka & KAORU for Cuty & Dynamite’s JWP tag titles. They aired clips from a match these 4 had on 12/9/95 before showing the current match. The highlights included Cuty & Dynamite doing double boot stomps off the top consecutively then simultaneously. KAORU & Fukuoka gave Kansai consecutive moonsaults. Fukuoka got a near fall on Kansai with a moonsault double boot stomp. Fukuoka countered Kansai’s splash mountain with a huracanrana for a near fall. KAORU toped Kansai while Fukuoka did a reverse sunset flip off the top to Cuty for the win. Only a couple minutes aired, but it looked like a great match. The rematch began with Kansai giving Fukuoka stiff kicks right off the bat. KAORU & Fukuoka ducked a lariat and gave Dynamite a double DDT. Cuty came in and nothing happened. She was pretty outclassed by the other 3 workers. Kansai came back in and gave Fukuoka some wicked kicks. Cuty DDT’d Fukuoka then applied the Dragon sleeper. Cuty tied Fukuoka in the ropes and Kansai gave her a kick to the throat that was so stiff it caused Fukuoka to cough. Kansai whipped Fukuoka into the corner, but Fukuoka backflipped out. Fukuoka ducked a lariat and missile dropkicked Kansai off the 2nd. KAORU then missile dropkicked Kansai off the top. Kansai backdropped Fukuoka for a near fall. Fukuoka tried a huracanrana, but Cuty powerbombed her. KAORU hit Cuty with a baseball slide then Fukuoka plancha’d Cuty. KAORU Liger bombed Cuty with Fukuoka spiking it for a near fall. Fukuoka used her moonsault on Cuty twice in a row. Kansai backdropped KAORU then did some KAORU punting. Kansai tried her Splash Mountain on KAORU, but KAORU slipped out and went right into a sleeper hold. KAORU got a near fall with a swandive missile dropkick. Fukuoka got a near fall with a somersault double boot stomp. KAORU did a double boot stomp off the top to Kansai. Fukuoka then went for her moonsault double boot stomp, but Kansai avoided it. Cuty then gave Fukuoka a released German suplex. Kansai gave Fukuoka another wicked kick. Kansai tried for her Splash Mountain, but Fukuoka turned it into a huracanrana. Cuty tried a flying Frankensteiner, but Fukuoka turned it into a powerbomb off the 2nd for a near fall. Cuty got near falls with her Dragon suplex and double boot stomp off the top. Fukuoka Tiger drivered Cuty for a near fall. Kansai tried to kick KAORU, but KAORU moved out of the way and Cuty got kicked. KAORU used her La Magistral on Cuty for a near fall. KAORU fisherman bustered Cuty. KAORU & Fukuoka tried similtaneous missile dropkicks on Cuty, but the timing was off as KAORU’s arrived first causing Fukuoka’s to miss. Fukuoka tried a sky high moonsault block on Cuty, but Cuty victory rolled KAORU just before Fukuoka hit her. Kansai blasted away on KAORU with kicks then piledrove her. Kansai backdropped KAORU for a near fall. Cuty double boot stomped KAORU off Kansai’s shoulders and covered, but Fukuoka saved. Kansai tried her Splash Mountain yet again, but KAORU turned it into a sunset flip for a near fall. Cuty Destiny Hammered KAORU. Kansai then went back to her Splash Mountain, this time finally getting it off and pinning KAORU. Kansai was excellent in this match. Fukuoka was very good. Cuty was and is easily the worst here. Match was solidly built around Kansai’s Splash Mountain finisher. Very good match with tons of counters and near falls. 20:41. ****
Mayumi Ozaki Pure Wild Commercial Tape
This was a really cool profile tape that featured a good amount of wrestling along with various extra curricular activities such as Ozaki learning how to ride a horse, Ozaki learning how to scuba dive, Ozaki picking her five best matches, interviews with Ozaki and her mother, some old pictures of Ozaki, and a bit of modeling.
Mayumi Ozaki vs. Hikari Fukuoka from 8/17/95. The downside of the wrestling on this tape was that the matches were not shown in complete form. The editing was pretty decent in that it was done in a way where it didn’t kill the flow of the match. Roughly 7 minutes of this one aired and it looked like what you would expect from these two, or in other words, a great match. Ozaki turned her back on Fukuoka at the bell, so Fukuoka ran over and gave her a released German suplex. Fukuoka tried her moonsault block, but Ozaki avoided it. Ozaki tried her rounding body press, but Fukuoka got her knees up. Fukuoka plancha’d Oz. Oz got a near fall with a DDT. Oz did her somersault block off the top for a near fall. Fukuoka missed her moonsault, but landed on her feet. Fukuoka did her somersault missile dropkick. Fukuoka hit her moonsault for a near fall. Fukuoka then went for another moonsault, but Oz avoided it. Ozaki did her rolling senton block off the 2nd out of the ring. Fukuoka tried to Frankensteiner Oz off the top, but Oz powerbombed her off the 2nd for a near fall. Oz got near fall with a Liger bomb and a German suplex. Oz tried her somersault block off the top again, but this time Fukuoka caught her and powerbombed her for a near fall. Oz used her Tequila Sunrise for a near fall. Oz then did another Tequila Sunrise for the win. Very exciting match. One great spot after another with tons of near falls. Only negative was that it was a bit sloppy. 18:47 ****1/4 range.
The Queen of the Street Fights Mayumi Ozaki vs. Dynamite Kansai in a streetfight from 3/17/95. What I said about Kudo as far as being one of the only women who can work a compelling street fight and not being afraid to risk her great looks by blading or participating in gimmick matches also applies to Oz, but not to anyone else. The main difference between Oz and Kudo in gimmick matches, aside from the obvious difference in roles due to Kudo being a face & Oz a heel, is that Oz works them with women who can work while Kudo doesn’t. One of the coolest things about Oz (there are so many who can choose) is that she never backs down to anyone. Kansai, the requisite ass kicker in JWP who is much larger than Oz, would normally be the ass kicker in any match, but Oz played the role very credibly here. This was a brawl of course. Kansai pulled Ozaki in by a chain and backdropped her. Kansai tried her Splash Mountain, but Oz turned it into an arm drag. Oz then ducked a clothesline and Tequila Sunrised (a feat in itself just to be able perform this move on Kansai) Kansai for a near fall. Oz tied Kansai in the corner with the chain and used a chair on her. Oz wrapped the chain around a chair and used it as a weapon. Oz facecrushered Kansai off the guard rail. Kansai bladed. Oz put the collar on Kansai and dragged Kansai around the ring by the chain. Kansai was dripping blood. Oz did 3 DDT’s for a near fall. Kansai wrapped the chain around her boot and high kicked Oz. Oz bladed. Kansai threw some really stiff forearms. Kansai missed a short clothesline and Oz went right into the Tequila Sunrise. Oz powerbombed Kansai on a table for a near fall. Kansai used her backdrop for a near fall. Kansai piledrove Oz through the table for a near fall. Kansai tried to finish Oz off with her Splash Mountain, but Oz once again countered it with an arm drag and shockingly pinned Kansai. The finish, which got a good reaction from the crowd, was a surprise (and a good one at that) because it was a flash finish. It seemed to be a trademark Chigusa Nagayo over Dump Matsumoto-smaller girl wins but not in convincing fashion type of finish. Good work. The match had heat. The execution was good. Oz could have been a bit stiffer. I guess the best part about the match is that it didn’t take the typical direction of a women’s street fight. *Match gains tremendously when not chopped up, and in real form is one of the great brawls* 22:30. ***3/4 range.
Ozaki vs. Cuty Suzuki from 10/15/95. Cuty has a nicer face, but that’s about it. I think one of the reasons Oz never got her due respect for her wrestling ability is that she teamed with Cuty. They seemed to always be lumped together in the great to look at, but not great to watch wrestle category, which might be true of Cuty but certainly isn’t true of Oz. Oz basically took it easy on Cuty in this match. Oz missed her rolling senton block off the 2nd. Oz facecrushered Cuty out of the ring. Oz did her rolling senton block off the 2nd out of the ring. Oz Tequila Sunrised Cuty for a near fall. Oz tried to jump off the top and turn it into a flying Frankensteiner in midair, but Cuty powerbombed her. Cuty used her Destiny Hammer. Cuty tried the Destiny Hammer again, but Oz lariated her. Cuty won with a Super Victory Roll. The work wasn’t too good. Cuty was really sloppy and took too long to set up her spots. A lot of the blows didn’t have much impact. 17:28. **1/2 range.
Ozaki & Cuty vs. Fukuoka & Kansai from 11/4/95. This match was quite good. Cuty was effective here as she was mainly used for nice double teams with Oz and to make saves. Oz and Cuty did consecutive double boot stomps off the top to Kansai. Oz and Cuty followed with simultaneous double boot stomps off the top to Kansai. Oz tried her Tequila Sunrise, but Kansai blocked it. Kansai got near fall with her backdrop. Fukuoka did her moonsault twice in a row, getting a near fall on Oz after the second. Oz rolled up Kansai’s body and turned it into an arm drag. Fukuoka gave Oz her somersault missile dropkick. Fukuoka got a near fall with the Tiger driver. Fukuoka tried to Tiger driver Oz again, but Cuty Destiny Hammered her. Oz Liger bombed Fukuoka for a near fall. Oz ducked Kansai’s high kick, so the kick hit Fukuoka. Oz then Tequila Sunrised Fukuoka for the win. Oz, Kansai, & Fukuoka were very good in this match. 17:47. ***1/2 range.
The only bad thing about this tape is this Japanese version of Rupaul shows up, probably to remind you that America is inescapable. Otherwise the rest of the tape was pretty cool, but obviously would have been better if I could understand what they were saying. The funniest part was Oz trying to learn to ride a horse. Oz had problems mounting it. This horse was really large and it didn’t want to move. The instructor had to pull it by the headgear to get the thing to walk. I was thinking that Damian or Lucifer could have beaten this horse in a race. Maybe that’s the trick to learning to ride a horse though, get a horse that moves 1 mile an hour, so you won’t get thrown off. The modeling was, of course, a big highlight although it only lasted a couple minutes. Oz looked unbelievable in this red bikini. If you want to see more of the sexiest body in wrestling (and you know you do) you need to get Oz’s Fascination tape. It’s nearly 30 minutes of Oz modeling and she looks better than you can imagine. Oz Rules! Glenn rules too as he was kind enough to give me this footage of the minkiest wrestler on the earth!