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[1997-11-02-Michinoku Pro] Great Sasuke & Super Delphin vs Mens Teoh & Shoichi Funaki


Loss

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  • 2 months later...

Fantastic tag match with Sasuke as FIP getting his knee viciously worked over. Funaki probably gives the best performance I've ever seen from him here. Cool to see Japanese guys aping the ringpost figure four from Bret. It's really cool how Sasuke teases these awesome comebacks and they cut them all off at precisely the right time. Delphin is repeatedly put in position to be the savior of his team with Teoh as the spoiler, but in the end, it's not enough. One of the best tags of the year.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Delphin changed back to his old outfit. They look to be in a regular gymnasium but I like those seats up top. Looks to be just two rows. Nice spot to watch the matches instead of sitting on floor. I don't know if I could sit on the floor for so long. Sasuke has himself a Austin knee brace. Funaki always felt like the lowest guy on Kaientai but this is a good performance by him and he gets a big submission win over Sauke.

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  • 8 months later...

This was some great juniors action that told an amazing story. The athleticism was on display early on in this match but even things like Delphin punches showed that this match was going to take a different narrative. The work on Sasuke's leg was vicious and consistent. He sold it beautifully in his comebacks and it was played off perfectly in the finish. Perfect length too. I am really looking forward to the next M-Pro tag match.

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  • 5 months later...

This was a lot of fun. I remember checking this out after the Yearbook initially dropped and being somewhat cold on it, but after going through the '96 stuff this means more than simply seeing Teoh and Funaki work in isolation. What a learning curve those bastards had been on and here they were the Gene and Ole Anderson of Japanese juniors. I don't need limbwork in my wrestling, but this was an example of it being done well. The finish I thought was fabulous. I don't know if you could book that better. Sterling, sterling effort.

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  • 1 year later...

I actually thought Sasuke was pretty selective in his knee-selling, so that's the only thing holding this back from MOTY status. The work by Kaientai was great and Delfin as the perennial saver on the outside was good, too. Funaki was the Man of the Match working on Sasuke's knee (a legit knee injury, which heightened the story and the tension of the match) but I did love Teioh stealing Delfin's swinging DDT/Delfin Clutch finishing spot--Delfin also waited until the very last second to kick out to make for a great near-fall.

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  • 11 months later...

Sasuke came in with a bad knee which was a focal point. There were several times he was being worked over and Delfin just came into the ring and replaced him without making a tag. And the referee didn't care a bit. Seriously WTF? There were minor issues with selling and execution as well. Yet this was a good match in general with flaws. It went the right length and I appreciated the submission result fitting in with the earlier work.

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  • GSR changed the title to [1997-11-02-Michinoku Pro] Great Sasuke & Super Delphin vs Mens Teoh & Shoichi Funaki
  • 4 months later...

Great Sasuke & Super Delphin vs Kaientai (Funaki & MENS Teioh) - Michinoku Pro 11/2/97

Is Super Delphin supposed to be a mosquito? Maybe he is a bird? I have always wondered. 

Apparently, the classic is the following week, but I heard that match is predicated on what happens here so I wanted to watch this first. Damn if I didnt love this in its own right. If the next match is even better, I am in for a treat. Kaientai were always also in their double teaming and how they swarm their opponents. This is no different. Delphin looks like the hero of the M-Pro All-Star team right from jump. Whipping Teioh around to the point where he needs a low blow to tag out to Funaki. Delphin shakes it off and just keeps trucking. He has a very good lariat. I didnt love the no sell of the ball shot. Sasuke is in. People need to snapmare more. Kaientai gets some double teaming on Sasuke and trap him in a Octopus Stretch. They are doing these weird Lucha Rules where Delphin can interfere then become the legal man. I saw this once in BattlArts. Delphin is a house of fire and Teioh says fuck this noise and powders. Funaki and Sasuke in and this is where the match gets good. Funaki dropkicks Sasuke's knee and it is ON! Kaientai work over Sasuke's knee for the rest of the match. There are some selling issues here and there, but overall Sasuke does a much better job than Ultimo Dragon would have done. Delphin eventually gets tired of this and replaces Sasuke. Delphin looked great on offense, but he tags Sasuke back in, dumb move, bro. Funaki & Teioh put on a clinic working on Sasuke's leg. Figure-4 around the post ala Bret and a ton of cool holds (plenty of normal figure-4s too!). They pair off with Sasuke/Funaki and Teioh/Delphin. Delphin with DDTs gets the nearfalls for his team until Funaki interferes and becomes the legal man. Sasuke gets some hope spots. I actually liked the spinning heel kick with the exposed knee brace because it should cause extra damage. I liked that he went for a middle rope knee drop with the exposed knee brace, but missed. The risk:reward ratio was high miss and destroys his knee, hit it that could have been the end. I love that every Funaki move is looking for a submission finish and Delphin just keeps interfering so Teioh is left to run interference on that. There is a great Shotei by Delphin but Teioh wisely rolls out and eats the plancha because that means Funaki is the legal man again. So he sacrifices himself for the good of the team. Genius! I loved that he couldnt do the German because his knee gives out (he does this collapse in the best possible way). The issues with selling were mostly his running but also going for a powerbomb after he just couldnt do the German. That was dumb. Teioh gets the chop block. Funaki gets a heel hook and I thought that was the finish but Delphin saves for the umpteenth time. Teioh applies a hold on Delphin to restrain as Funaki applies a straight legbar to get the immediate tap out. 

This is part of some sort of tag league and the finals are next week. You cant believe Sasuke will be 100% next week so Delphin is going to have to even further step up! I really enjoyed this a lot. Kaientai just swarming their opponents and here working a body part is always great. Sasuke's selling is not perfect, but I give it an A- not Savage or Kawada but a shade below.  ****1/2

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