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Found 19 results

  1. Here we go with the final entry in my FMW 1999 project. Let's see what we've got! Darkside Hayabusa & Tetsuhiro Kuroda & Hisakatsu Oya vs Koji Nakagawa & Yukihiro Kanemura & Hido (08/20/99): jip. This looked to be like a graveyard match or something as there were big banners up, a coffin and wooden grave markers (which were used as weapons). This was fun! Hayabusa is sporting a different mask here which shows some of his face plus his hair is bleached orange. Both were ways to get fans accustomed to his new look down the road (I don't like the H look). Mr. Gannosuke vs. Masato Tanaka (08/20/99): Awesome gimmick match with Fuyuki as the guest referee. So basically a heel referee match which makes Tanaka chances slim to none. If you know Dangan then you know that's not going to stop him from trying. Gannosuke has got to use his technical skills along with his rough housing (what a skill set!) to chip away at Tanaka. Then Fuyuki can bend the rules a little to get him closer to victory. I thought I would not like this as this era of FMW with the more American entertainment style isn't my taste. This doesn't go over the line though and kinda reminds me of TNA in a good way. There's a gimmick of a heel ref but it doesn't kill the excitement of the actual wrestling. It's a great match...maybe a near classic. And if I was watching this in real time, I could see going higher. But in 2023, "great match...maybe a near classic" sounds about right. Hayabusa vs Yukihiro Kanemura (08/23/99): Saw this in highlights but looked pretty sweet! Kanemura dove off the wall and over the stairs in Korakuen onto Hayabusa & drove him through a table. Not to be out done, Hayabusa did a springboard leg drop to Kanemura who was laying across a table on the floor at ring side. Hayabusa vs Mr. Gannosuke (08/25/99): Very good match but I wish it would have built up more logically. They went from mat work into big moves with little build.. but it works in this setting as they add surprises and variation along the way. There's a lot AFTER the match so I think that's why this wasn't as developed as it should have been. Remember though this is very much the Fuyuki Entertainment style FMW at the time. They're a bit closer to ECW than AJPW now. That's a bunch of criticism from me yet I did like the match. I saw this probably 15 years ago and read my review from then and I gave it the same rating. It's a very good match but having seen WAY more FMW, I know they're capable of much more. Btw this is Hayabusa's last match as Hayabusa (for a time). He becomes the unmasked H and Gannosuke becomes "Hayabusa" with a mask for awhile but sheds it, leaves Team No Respect... I'm getting ahead of myself. ----- The Gladiator (Mike Awesome) vs. Kenta Kobashi (AJPW 09/04/99): Finally got to see this and it was really good stuff. I think these two had really good chemistry and unfortunately could have done a nice little program or feud. I think they left a lot on the table. I saw their match in NOAH and I think that they went bigger despite being older and more busted up. But this match was all Awesome/Gladiator and Kobashi was very gracious to let Mike drop so many bombs. If you're a a fan of both wrestlers, you need to see this. Heck if you just want a point of reference for how big Awesome was this is worth a gander. Dude is bigger than Kobashi. I really wish he would have stayed in Japan. Mike Awesome vs Taz vs Masato Tanaka (ECW Anarchy Rules '99): 3 way dance for the ECW title. Taz is taken care of rather quickly but he does get in some high impact offense at the start. He doesn't stand a chance with both Awesome and Tanaka attacking him though. Then the rest of the fight is Tanaka and Awesome reintroducing themselves to the ECW fans. They do their standard stuff but have a couple new moves they've picked up, most notably Dangan's Diamond Dust. It pretty good stuff overall. I think all together with Taz being on his way out, having in impromptu 3 way dance with Paul Heyman intervening & dropping F bombs, big time moves like Taz's suplexes, Awesome's power bomb variations and dives, and Tanaka's toughness & innovative offense, this was very sweet at the time. None of this stuff was being done by the big two in 1999. Always loved the ECW PPV canvases ----- Mike Awesome vs Masato Tanaka (ECW November to Remember '99): At the end Joey Styles says "this might have been the greatest ECW World Heavyweight title match we've ever seen. " Announcers are prone to hyperbole and hyping, Joey Styles especially, but he makes a good point. This was a great match. Yes, it was a collection of brutal spots but it no one was even coming close to these anywhere else. Sure earlier ECW had matches with crazier spots but the matches themselves stunk like crap in many (not all) cases. Few if any were able to put on a match like these two. I think this may be the definitive Awesome vs Tanaka ECW match. I don't know if it's their greatest but it hits everything you want in their encounters and it provides twists/surprises/teases. They were doing what people loved about the Jerry Lynn/RVD or Tajiri/Super Crazy feuds but at an extreme level, no pun intended. This felt like a heavyweight title match in ECW should. I'm very lucky that I got to see this live on PPV (and taped it) as it lived up to the hype which could not be said for many PPV big matches. In fact his PPV was probably the best later ECW PPVs with a Tajiri/Super Crazy/Jerry Lynn 3 way dance, Sabu vs Chris Candido, RVD vs Taz in his final ECW match, and Impact Players + Rhino vs Dreamer, Sandman & Raven as the main event. Kodo Fuyuki vs. Masato Tanaka (11/23/99): Great match, great throw back to the Onita days with this electric cage match too. They do the cage spots but don't make the whole thing about them. In fact the actual wrestling is quite good with Fuyuki showing us his AJPW/SWS/WAR self is still in there. He and Tanaka really lay in their shots. So we get the best kind of death match, one that focuses on the wrestling and uses the gimmick to enhance what they are doing. I'm not a big fan of Fuyuki in FMW but as a fan of Fuyuki's prior I'd recommend this. Tanaka is fantastic and is having an amazing 1999. H & Mr. Gannosuke vs. Masato Tanaka & Tetsuhiro Kuroda (12/12/99): This is another one I saw from 15 years ago. Based on my old review, I wasn't sure if I wanted to watch it again. I'm glad that I did as my opinion has improved. I thought this was a great match. I appreciate the early work Kuroda and Tanaka did on Gannosuke's leg. It neutralized him and forced H (Hayabusa) to make the save. I think if they would have gone with a 2 on 1 story, this would have been a classic. As it was we got a traditional tag match with some great action with very believable near falls. We get a pretty awesome finish too. Not a fan of the H outfit (Hayabusa has platinum blonde hair, leggings and daisy duke shorts) but Ezaki kicks butt whatever the gimmick. 1999 was a big transition year for FMW. Fuyuki took charge behind the scenes and is having the company be more like the very popular American style. I've skipped past some of worst stuff that I remember like the Fireworks in the butt wager match (which I guess Gannosuke & Hayabusa had done to them as young boys in the FMW dojo) as well as the Shawn Michaels guest ref match. What I did watch really dodged most of that crap and allowed me to watch some really great wrestling. 1998 was a fantastic in ring year for FMW but to my surprise, so was 1999. '99 was an amazing year for tag team wrestling. I was happy to include the ECW and AJPW matches as well. I think there's a Awesome vs Tanaka match that people really like from 12/23/99 but I might cover that down the road or as a bonus to this post. Anyhow, very fun project and perhaps as far into FMW that I want to dig. I think I'd much rather go back to 95-97. But I've got some other stuff lined up for March. Hope you enjoyed this or got a couple things to check out. There's got be be something here that you will dig. Thanks for reading!
  2. I'm very excited to be watching more FMW after a long time away (Kudo stuff excluded!). I'm not limiting myself to just FMW but am including interesting stuff from ECW and AJPW as well. I'm going off my DVDs so there's a bunch of pics. They're grainy but you get that old school VHS video quality vibe like you're watching these in '98. Hope you dig 'em. Let's jump on in! Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki vs Yukihiro Kanemura & Hido (01/06/98): Oh yeah, this was just a blast! You kinda get everything you want here in one 14 minute match. It's like a Dean Malenko Nitro match from like '96 It is just 4 pros having a very good wrestling match. It tells a little story (or continues one), has some drama with the heels hitting nut shots, using chairs and making blind tags, you've got your baby faces shining with their cool moves, its a good start! ----- Hayabusa, Masato Tanaka & Hisakatsu Oya vs. Mr. Gannosuke & Yukihiro Kanemura & Hido (01/16/98) highlights only but this looked like a lot of fun. Two guys going to a Bruce Springsteen concert in 1986 and a guy in his pajamas ----- Hayabusa & Masato Tanaka vs. Tetsuhiro Kuroda & Koji Nakagawa (02/06/98) highlights but looked cool. I'm not sure Nakagawa had a snowball's chance at this point. I know later when he betrayed FMW, he got a pin over 'busa. Hayabusa vs. Jado (03/16/98) : Good match, we got Hayabusa doing his big moves, Jado and his pals doing some heeling, and a really sick power bomb from the apron through a table. I mean no one sold anything but was Hayabusa's 2nd match of the night so it's all good. Hayabusa vs. The Gladiator (Mike Awesome) (03/17/98): I wouldn't have laid it out this way but this was a very good battle between the two most flashy wrestlers. It did not disappoint one bit. There were some really great moments here and nice surprises. Really high impact stuff throughout. I thought the selling was pretty good as well. Nothing fantastic but both guys really sold the pain and struggle they were going through in this big stakes match. I think if you want to see a Gladiator vs Hayabusa match this is an excellent one to go with. Taste the Radness ----- Hayabusa, Giant Baba & Kentaro Shiga vs Jinsei Shinzaki, Jun Izumida & Giant Kimala (AJPW 05/01/98): Tokyo Dome match, in the ring with Giant Baba, that ain't too shabby! We get a couple clips here in my version (probably a TV edition) but I think a good portion of the match is shown. This thing is FUN. Baba vs Jinsei is great, Hayabusa is on point, Izumida is channeling Shinzaki and Kimala, and Kimala is a blast. So much fun, the wrestling is really good, the fans are loving Hayabusa & Jinsei... yeah this is one of those random 6 mans that you want to see ----- Mike Awesome & Justin Credible vs Masato Tanaka & Jerry Lynn (ECW Hardcore TV 07/18/98): This is a weird pairing that I don't know if there's any kayfabe reason. I guess it makes Awesome a heel for willing to team with the slimy Credible. And anybody who wanted to think Japanese=Bad guy would be discouraged by Tanaka being with the New F'n Show. All that said, this is a really good all action tag match. Of course Tanaka vs Awesome is the big attraction (this was their first appearance at the ECW Arena) but Credible did a nice job chicken-shitting with Tanaka that they told a really fun story. Jerry Lynn and Awesome worked well together but there was not much there beyond doing their athletic stuff...no little story or anything. Awesome and Tanaka had a match at the Hammerstein before this I believe but, I think this was a truer introduction to ECW fans than that singles match. This definitely could have taken place in an FMW ring. Bonus: They take this match on tour for a few nights in a row and I might like the Ft. Lauderdale fan cam 07/24/98 better. It felt like the ironed out some kinks, incorporated Jason & Chastity at ring side and gelled. Justin and the ref argue over how many brain cells he has left. ----- Mike Awesome vs Masato Tanaka (ECW Heatwave '98 08/02/98): They were a little nervous at the very beginning but once they got in the groove, they did not let up! The early portion saw a back and forth match but eventually Mike got the upper hand and starting dropping bombs and crushing Tanaka's skull with chair shots. Dangan does not stay down though! There's a great twist here and an excellent finish. It's a great match. From what I can tell, they don't face each other in singles competition on TV or PPV in the States until the next summer. Wow! What a tease! When they return in '99 is when everyone remembers them in ECW but this stuff in '98 is excellent. Tanaka in '98 is fantastic and Awesome is on a bit of a tear too. This is worlds better than the Hayabusa/Shinzaki vs RVD/Sabu match from Heatwave '98 (that's a fun but disjointed type of match). ----- Hayabusa v Rey Bucanero, Jr. (Battlarts 11/23/98): This is kind of a fun squash match. I think Rey does like 1 or 2 cool moves. It's all Hayabusa doing signature moves. Hayabusa v Hisakatsu Oya (FMW 12/13/98): I think there was a period where they were friendly and not rivals. Well that time is over! We get a clipped match but it's not a hyper clip/only big moves type deal. We actually get a good portion of the match and from what is shown this looks pretty good. I have this on two different compilations and I actually watched it twice in a row to double check that they were the same. And it was super fun both times ----- This has been a blast to watch! I'm going to keep going with stuff from 1999. Also very glad to be chipping away at my mountain of un-watched DVDs. I'm sure some of these are online so go check a few out! Thanks for reading everyone!
  3. One day I will get around to seeing all of the great FMW matches, I swear! The following entry is my attempt to cover FMW 1996 as best I can by searching for vids on the 'tube. From my experience, FMW videos tend to get taken down with some regularity or let's say there aren't a plethora of videos available like old AJPW or even W*ING. So what I found and what I wanted to watch from '96 focuses on the later part of the year, August to December. The first collection of stuff is from the Commercial tape Funk Masters of Wrestling which is August & September. This is a really good tape. I just want to say that from the start. This video captures that late 90's harcore wrestling style that FMW and ECW championed. BAHU is the master of FMW and I'm going to put his top 100 FMW rankings next to the applicable matches for reference. Our opinions differ on a couple matches but, I think that's good. You're getting 2 opinions on a match then with that you can decide for yourself if you want to see the bout. Sound good? I'll just review that bouts that I found worthwhile. (I'm also going to abbreviate names where I can) W*ing Kanemura, Bad Boy Hido & Hideki Hosaka vs Masato Tanaka, Nanjyo Hayato & Tetsuhiro Kuroda (Barbwire Street fight): JIP & clipped. This is edited but, this is a sweet way to start off the tape. Double & triple team moves, ladder stuff, and of course guys are tasting the wire. I can't say this is a great match but, its a blast to watch! Tanaka, Kuroda & Koji Nakagawa vs Kanemura, Hido & Hosaka (Exploding Barbwire match 09/01)(BAHU RATING: #42): Fourteen plus minutes of brutal, dramatic deathmatch wrestling. The fighting was top notch and the barbwire and bomb spots were extremely meaningful in terms of the drama. Seriously, this was one of the best FMW matches and best deathmatches that I've seen. Classic match and a must-see for Masato Tanaka fans. Terry Funk, Gladiator & Horace Boulder vs Tanaka, Kuroda & Nakagawa: JIP. This was a very good 6 man tornado tag match that had some nice double teams, saves, and all of that other good stuff you want in an FMW bout. Tanaka takes some real sickening bumps...one is probably the most dangerous Awesome bombs I've seen. This match, although partial, really encapsulates everything weird and exciting about the garbage wrestling scene of the late 90s. (Also see: Super Leather, Headhunters, & Oya vs Hayabusa, Tanaka, Kuroda, & Nakagawa's Barbwire bat & Money on a Pole elimination tornado tag match from this tape as well. FMW had successfully perfected the W*ING/IWA Japan style at this point.) Terry Funk & Gladiator vs Hayabusa & Tanaka (BAHU RATING: #48): The story of Funk in FMW at this point (from what I can gather) is he's reformed the J-Tex Corp with Victor Quinones. Gladiator and other gaijin wrestlers (along with Oya) have joined the Funkster to take over and control Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling. Hayabusa and Tanaka aren't going to go along with that and have to fight for their promotion. This was the 2nd best match of the tape and was shown in full. There were lots of saves and exciting comebacks. It was scratching a greatness but, I only felt it was a very good match. It just seemed to lack enough of Tanaka's explosive offense for my taste...that's not to say he doesn't explode here! Still, we get all kinds of excitement post-match so, you really should check this out. This was a very good tape especially with the classic 6 man deathmatch that all FMW/ECW fans need to see. I'll pick up with the Nov & Dec commercial tape next time. Thanks for reading!
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