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[1995-12-27-WCW-Starrcade '95] Eddy Guerrero vs Shinjiro Otani


Loss

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  • 3 months later...

Really good match, but it's hurt because there's no heat. And fans who would boo Otani's highspots are just stupid. The announcers are hilarious, especially when Bobby asks Dusty what he would be thinking if he was Eddy, and he says that he's lost a lot of weight. Hot finish, but the rest of the match felt cold, even if it was well worked.

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  • 8 months later...
  • 1 year later...

The announcers are hilarious, especially when Bobby asks Dusty what he would be thinking if he was Eddy, and he says that he's lost a lot of weight.

Great line.

Really good match with a hot finish which used the craddle reversals galore in a good exciting way as opposed to the Dean Malenko exhibition way which would become the standart of jerk-offy "technical" matches. Ohtani was so much fun.

 

It's kinda odd that Nakanishi wasn't used on the PPV as he was the only regular NJ guy in WCW at that point.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 5 months later...
  • 1 month later...
  • 5 months later...

Dull for awhile but picked up toward the end, right around the time Eddy dropped Ohtani with the crucifix power bomb. The commentary is amusing but also goes to show just how vital it was to get Mike Tenay in there when they did. He really could have added to this show. Ohtani's such a good natural heel that I'm surprised he never got more play in this country.

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  • 4 months later...

Eddie Guerrero vs Shinjiro Ohtani - WCW Starrcade 1995

 

This did not hold up to memory of watching this just a couple years ago. Eddie pre-charisma infusion is tough to watch in WCW. You just know there is all this irresistible energy inside him, but yet comes across as so bland at this point. Ohtani is just overflowing with heel charisma in this match. Tajiri and Ohtani would have been a ridiculously awesome tag team in early 2000s WWF. Ohtani comes off as a major star from both his character work and his spots. He starts off hair pulling, eye gouging and clawing at the face. We do get a slight hint of Eddie having a personality when he rubs the boot in his face like he would when he is a rudo. It is just kinda on the mat until Eddie folds Ohtani up with a massive powerbomb. I love 1995! Eddie can be so much more than a spot monkey but at this point he is just going for high impact to wake up the crowd now with a brainbuster. Ohtani retaliates with some awesome springboard moves. Someone said AJ Styles was the best springboard wrestler and while he is great, junior Ohtani gives him a run of his money. Ohtani flaunts and taunts to boos and then claws the face. At this point, Brain gets tired of being picked up and actually tries to add insight to the match so he asks what Dusty would be thinking if he was Eddie and without missing a beat, Dusty responds with "I be thinking I lost a lot of weight!" Gets me everytime! Ohtani hits a wicked German and a applies a heel hook. There really is no long term selling in this as they are just popping up and hitting spots at will. Eddie hits a crazy springboard cross body from the top rope to the floor and looks to be ready to win. Then Ohtani just hits a wicked springboard dropkick to the back of his head. They are just hitting shit willy-nilly. Ohtani ends up on top for a rollup sequence to send NJPW up 3-2. Great Ohtani heel performance and showcase, but not enough selling or psychology to make it meaningful as a contest. ***

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  • 2 years later...

This was pretty much what I expected. Nothing too deep, nothing too dramatic but, plenty of their signatures. Very psyched on the fact Otani was ok'd to bust out all his springboard moves! Very good match and a nice match for what is was...loved the finish. Nice taste of mid-90s NJ Jr. Style

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  • 7 months later...

From the WCW vs NJ Best of 7 series. They worked this differently to how they would've done in the Orient. What they did wasn't tuned into the crowd very well however. Ohtani only searched for heel heat right after executing spectacular highspots. The flow was your turn, my turn with jarring transitions. Still the technique was decent enough. Unlike other interpromotional matchups on the night they did have experience working together. Didn't go full out for a big finish or anything.

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  • GSR changed the title to [1995-12-27-WCW-Starrcade '95] Eddy Guerrero vs Shinjiro Otani
  • 9 months later...

Re -watched this match and I think I enjoyed it more this time than above. Interestingly, my take away remarks are generally the same. I can contrast this with Liger vs Misterio Jr. from Starrcade '96 however.

That is a similar match on paper and has similar qualities such as state of the art offense, counter moves etc. but, Otani and Eddie pull it off so much better here. They do have experience and that is some of it but, their execution is nearly flawless. And the stuff looks brutal. No one really remembers how hard Guerrero would snap his frankensteiners and powerbombs. And I think Otani is one of those guys who has been lost to the sands of time for a lot of people. He had a relatively small window of when he was great (mainly due to poor NJ booking in the late 90s) but, 95-96 is that time. His springboard attacks were so deadly and his character work was unique & engaging. Unfortunately, we only got to see a little bit at the start but, it was there.

Not a perfect bout but, I'm sure a lot of Junior/Cruiserweight fans saw this in 95 and were damn happy. We're past the point of recommending introductory puro matches to people anymore but, this would be a good one to check out nonetheless.

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