9/28/93: Sato vs. Super Delfin
12/10/93 Iwate Mascara Contra Mascara: Sato vs. Delfin. Excellent, well built match. It lacked the atmosphere of a big match, but that may have been in part because the announcers seemed to drown the crowd out. Sato unmasks. ****1/4
1/14/94 Sapporo: Sato & The Great Sasuke & TAKA Michinoku vs. Delfin & Jinsei Shinzaki & Gran Naniwa. Highlights.
2/4/94 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Sato & Sasuke & Shiryu vs. Delfin & Shinzaki & Naniwa
3/4/94 Osaka Rinkai Sports Center Mascara Contra Cabejira: Sato vs. Delfin. Sato loses hair.
Michinoku Pro 6/7/94 taped 4/29 Tokyo Ota-ku Taiikukan
Terry Boy & TAKA Michinoku vs. The Monkey Magic & Rayo de Negro
The Great Sasuke vs. Jinsei Shinzaki. This got a decent amount of support for 1994 Observer Match of the Year. It was an excellent match with some incredible high spots, but I've yet to figure out how someone could think it was one of the top 3 matches of 1994. That said, it's definitely one of Sasuke's best performances to carry Shinzaki to a match of this level. Probably the best singles match Shinzaki has had. ****
GAEA 3/22/97 taped 2/23 Nagoya Shi Taiikukan
Mayumi Ozaki vs. Chigusa Nagayo. *Reviewed in Quebrada #21. ***1/4
11/23/95 Morioka Iwate-ken'ei Taiikukan: TAKA Michinoku vs. Tiger Mask. Excellent junior match. Exciting and stiff, with all the big spots, but also kicks and submissions like a U.W.F. match. TAKA was on top of his game here, and made the near falls really dramatic. ****1/4
12/11/95 Aichi Nagoya Shi Nakamura Sports Center: TAKA Michinoku vs. Tiger Mask. This match was not that similar to their 11/23 match. This match started with TAKA working Tiger's knee,. but later Tiger used that same strategy on TAKA. The finishing hold was goofy, but the match had excellent work and up to that point a focused storyline. It was pretty much what a junior match should be. They did a lot of nice moves, but that was hardly the match. ****1/4
12/14/95 Hakata Starlanes: Tiger Mask & Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. TAKA Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki. Hoshikawa probably gave his best performance up to that point in time, which really made the match because we knew TAKA vs. Tiger was going to be excellent, but the expected sizable dropoff when Hoshikawa tagged in wasn't there. Hoshikawa was doing all his moves really fast, and was a key to the macth being stiff. TAKA, of course, was the man though. The last 5 1/2 minutes were really what made the match. I've certainly seen better in Michinoku, but rarely in a regular four person tag match. ****
12/17/95 Osaka Takaishi Rinkai Sports Center
TAKA Michinoku vs. Tiger Mask. This wasn't that great of an effort, as the work and drama were way down. It was still a good match because they work that well together, it's just that it was disappointing coming after two matches that were so choice. ***1/4
Super Delfin & Gran Naniwa & Sakie Hasegawa vs. The Great Sasuke & Kendo & Mima Shimoda. These mixed matches don't do anything for me because I want to see serious wrestling between quality wrestlers, but instead I get a bunch of comedy between the genders. The Michinoku fans were as vocal as ever, so it worked for them. I wanted more big moves and less comedy and stalling though.
1/10/96 Hokkaido Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center
Sato & Terry Boy vs. Naohiro Hoshikawa & Masato Yakushiji. This match would be a lot better today than it was then because Hoshikawa & Yakushiji had no standing and were still developing. Some good wrestling, but there was no drama at all because it was a glorified squash. **
The Great Sasuke & Great Zebra vs. Mr. Pogo & Gran Naniwa. Pogo destroyed Sasuke like he did on Onita. The main exceptions were that Sasuke took a bumb off the balcony (which hehe barely even sold) and Sasuke didn't make the big comeback at the end for the win or even get Pogo to take one bump for him. Zebra is terrible and mainly punched and kicked. Highlight is Pogo breaking up the pin on Sasuke's thunder fire powerbomb by blowing a giant fireball on Sasuke and his own partner Naniwa. Sasuke proved he could take a lot of punishment, but I'm not sure what else he gained from letting Pogo massacre him. *
This tape also has highlights of about 13 other matches interspersed.
7/21/96 Iwate Yahaba Machi Min Sogo Taiikukan
IWGP Junior Heavykyu Senshukenjiai: The Great Sasuke vs. Shiryu. ***
7/26/96 Aizu Wakamatsu
WWA Sekai Junior Light Heavykyu Senshukenjiai: Gran Hamada vs. MEN'S Teioh. ***3/4
7/27/96 Sakata
WWA Sekai Middlekyu Senshukenjiai: Pilota Suidica vs. The Great Sasuke. 1/3 shown. Sasuke wins title
8/3/96 Koriyama Central Hall
Chubei (Central America) Middlekyu Senshukenjiai: Gran Naniwa vs. Shiryu. ***1/2
8/16/96 Mitsu Shi Min Taiikukan
Independent World Sekai Junior Heavykyu Senshukenjiai: TAKA Michinoku vs. Shiryu. ***1/2
8/18/96 Aomori-ken Min Taiikukan
WWA Super Welterkyu Senshukenjiai: Super Delfin vs. El Pantera. Delfin wins title. *
Gran Hamada & Jushin Thunder Liger & Gran Naniwa vs. Dick Togo & TAKA Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki. Read Review 13:23. ****1/4
8/25/96 New World Sendai
Tiger Mask vs. MEN'S Teioh. **
Dick Togo vs. Super Delfin. ***
*I have a very limited quantity of additional 1st Gen SP copies available for $20. I also have a very limited quantity of Xeroxes of the video's cover*
Naohiro Hoshikawa vs. Johnny Saint
PWA Heavykyu Senshukenjiai: Wellington Wilkins, Jr. vs. Lenny Lane
Yuki Ishikawa & Alexander Otsuka vs. Daisuke Ikeda & Satoshi Yoneyama
The Great Sasuke & Shodai Tiger Mask & Mil Mascaras vs. Dynamite Kid & Kuniaki Kobayashi & Dos Caras
Gran Hamada & Super Delfin & Tiger Mask & Gran Naniwa & Masato Yakushiji vs. Dick Togo & MEN'S Teio & Shiryu & TAKA Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki. *****
Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Hayabusa
9/23/96: Hamada & Delfin & Astro & Otsuka vs. Togo & Shiryu & Funaki & Collins ****1/4
11/12/96: Sasuke & Hamada & Delfin vs. Togo & Men's & Shiryu-super stretch run ****1/2
12/9/96: Sekigun vs. DX Elimination Match: Sasuke & Hamada & Delfin & Naniwa & Tiger Mask IV vs. Togo & Men's & TAKA & Shiryu & Funaki-Some of the eliminations come too quick, but other than that it's awesome. Naniwa is the man here. ****1/4
12/16/96: Sasuke & Hamada & Delfin & Naniwa & Yakushiji vs. Togo & Men's & TAKA & Shiryu & Funaki-there's about 500 people in the crowd, but these guys have an incredible match that's not as good as 10/10/96 but it's on that level and it's the best match these guys have done since 10/10. 25 minutes of one great spot after another with perfect execution. An incredible display of athleticism. *****
12/17/96: TAKA vs. Shinzaki-TAKA probably should have just packed it in since he was doing the job to the lazy stiff, but instead he caries Shinzaki to his best match in a long time.
12/20/96: TAKA vs. Delfin-TAKA's selling is phenomenal. First half is fine, but 2nd half, particularly the finishing sequence, is great. ****
More!
Yakushiji & Sugamoto vs. Hoshikawa & Wilkins Jr., Funaki vs. Naniwa, Ikeda & Ono vs. Ishikawa & Otsuka, TAKA vs. Sayama, Sasuke & Delfin & Hamada vs. Togo & Teioh & Shiryu-4 1/2, more!
TAKA & Men's & Motegi & Togo & Funaki vs. Sasuke & Delfin & Naniwa & Hamada & Yakushiji-****1/2, KAORU & Satomura vs. Hokuto & Sonoko Kato
Champ Forum GAEA 9/20/97
*First 3 matches are from the One Night Tournament and are shown in highlight form*
Sonoko Kato & Chikayo Nagashima vs. Rina Ishii & Sakura Hirota
Meiko Satomura & Makie Numao vs. Toshie Uematsu & Sugar Sato
Maiko Matsumoto & Hiromi Kato vs. Sonoko Kato & Chikayo Nagashima
One Night Tournament Final: Uematsu & Sugar vs. Sonoko Kato & Chikayo. Uematsu joined Sato in her heel tactics, which Sato had no problem using on her regular partner Chikayo. Good work and a lot of spots. Sato & Uematsu win tournament. ***1/4
WCW Women's Cruiserweight Title #1 Contenders Match: Uematsu vs. Sugar. This occurred right after the tag final. Fast paced match with big spots from the get go. Good while it lasted, but really short. **1/2
KAORU & Yamada vs. Chigusa & Hokuto. Sprint. Spotfest with no psychology, storyline, or selling. Work was real good though. ***1/4
Champ Forum Michinoku Pro 9/27/97
*reviewed in Quebrada #33*
UWA Super Welterweight Title: MEN'S Teioh vs. Tiger Mask IV. ****1/2
The Great Sasuke vs. Dick Togo. ****1/4
12/18/97 Tokyo Korakuen Hall Independent World World Junior Title: Shoichi Funaki vs. TAKA Michinoku. TAKA wins title. Excellent match ruined by the fact that only 10 minutes aired. TAKA "injured" his knee when Funaki stopped his swandive move with a forearm and he crashed his knee on the apron. TAKA sold his knee HUGE, and his selling was typically excellent in this match. Funaki launched one of the best and most focused all out knee attacks I've seen. Later on, TAKA landed on his feet to counter a German suplex like Shiryu, but his knee "gave out." Match was almost perfect until the end, which was beyond lame and cheesy. Still, TAKA's selling and facials were awesome and the execution was perfect. TAKA got almost no offense in, but that was fine because he was "hurt." Unfortunately, it ended too soon and pretty much out of nowhere. Funaki's sold way too much at the end based on what had been done to him. ****
12/18/97: Great Sasuke & Super Delfin vs. Dick Togo & MEN'S Teioh. Reviewed in Quebrada #50. ****
Shinzaki vs. Magic Man. Shortest "match" I've ever seen.
1/14/98 New World Sendai Tennis Club: Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask IV & Yakushiji vs. Super Delfin & Naniwa & Yone. Sasuke's knee gave out a few times. Yakushiji did an ultra huracan rana off the apron as part of a 6 dive sequence. Really hot action with a ton of big spots. Very good and exciting match, but not enough was shown.
1/16 Sapporo Nakajima Taiiku Center: Shinzaki vs. Yone. Not nearly as bad as you'd expect, but still not good. Genjin was slammed and facebustered in the snow. Shinzaki wins with his gokuraku hold, but off the balcony! **
1/16: Great Sasuke & Gran Hamada & Tiger Mask IV vs. Dick Togo & Funaki & Super Boy. Excellent work. Spots all the way. Tiger was a lot better than normal here. Heels debilitated Sasuke's knee, of course. ***3/4
7/17 Iwate Yahaba Chomin Sogo Taiikukan
Dainikai Fukumen (mask) World Leaguesen: The Great Sasuke vs. Dirtbike Kid. Kid injures himself, so Sasuke gets a quick win. DUD
Dainikai Fukumen (mask) World Leaguesen: Gran Naniwa vs. Tiger Mask. ****
Highlights of Naniwa vs. CHAN, Sasuke vs. White Bear, CHAN vs. Tiger, Naniwa vs. Super Boy, Tiger vs. Curry, and Sasuke vs. Naniwa where Naniwa breaks his arm from World League
7/17 Iwate Yahaba Chomin Sogo Taiikukan
Gran Hamada & White Bear & Dakko CHAN vs. Black Warrior & Curry Man & Chabinger. CHAN did a springboard shooting star attack to the floor! *3/4
TAKA Michinoku & Minoru Fujita vs. Shiima Nobunaga & Sumo Fuji. ***3/4
7/25/99 Yamagata Kogita Chomin Taiikukan
Shima Nobunaga vs. Minoru Fujita. Match was strong when it came to work, spots, sequences and counters, but there was really no doubt that Shima was going over. 4:01 shown
TAKA Michinoku vs. Sumo Fuji. TAKA sold almost the whole match, particularly doing an excellent job of putting over his left knee which Fuji was destroying. This seemed like a very good match due to another strong performance by TAKA. The only downer was the match ended almost immediately when TAKA finally did comeback, and this wasn't due to a flash pin. 7:23 shown
Highlights of Super (Boy) Curry (Man) MAX
Magnum TOKYO vs. Kazuya Yuasa. Yuasa got a few minutes of offense in then TOKYO did a couple moves and put him away. *
Chaparrita ASARI & Hiromi Yagi vs. MIMA (Shimoda) & RIMA. Best women's match I can remember being on a Michinoku show. ASARI & Yagi stole the show with their offense, although the match was totally designed for that to happen. ASARI appeared to have a legit chance of pinning Shimoda here. Yagi was the best wrestler in the match, but the focus was on ASARI pushing MIMA. ***1/2
Jinsei Shinzaki vs. Sumo "Dandy" Fuji Nichi. Most of the match was more for comedy, although it got serious toward the end. Match was adequate, but never really had any intensity and there was no doubt that Jinsei was going over. *1/2
The Great Sasuke & Gran Hamada vs. Tiger Mask & Masaaki Mochizuki. Kind of contrived, but definitely action packed. Mochizuki was on offense a lot, but his kicks weren't as impressive as they usually are. Good match, but better on paper than in actuality. ***1/4
CIMA vs. Minoru Fujita. This match was almost 50% longer than the previous pedal to the metal match, and thus they took the time to structure it a lot better. Each guy had one section that was completely focused on a body part. Unfortunately, the selling of the injuries they developed in this part didn't come natural and once they went to the spots they never came back to the injuries. They did some great sequences, particularly due to the speed, but their placement didn't always make sense. This was a better match than than their previous one because it had the same quality of work, but it was longer and more diverse. However, it was more frustrating because I thought it was going to be a great match after watching the first 11 minutes, but once they went to the spots there were too many holes mentally even though the work itself was great. ****