[1999-01-10-Michinoku Pro] Naohiro Hoshikawa & Masato Yakushiji & Masaru Seno vs Shiima Nobunaga & Judo Suwa & Sumo Fuji

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Well, this was awesome. It's really amazing how much Crazy Max has progressed as all around workers in such a short period of time. This isn't quite at the level of the best KDX stuff, but it's a great match with lots of American style heeling and a nice pace. I feel like this match would have gotten over much better in WCW than the undercard matches did that were actually happening in WCW at the time. I dug the action, but I also dug the psychology. The string of finish teases and kickouts is very reminiscent of modern WWE matches, but faster paced and better executed. Where this excels is in finding a way to sneak in a low blow to turn the tide in the middle of a highspot war. I also like that while the aggression was there right away, they didn't bust out the big guns immediately. I only wish the crowd wasn't so low in volume with the announcers dubbed over them because it hurt the atmosphere some, but as far as how the match was worked, I have no complaints at all. Tremendous work.

[Tim Cooke]

Crazy Max got so good, so quickly that by the end of 2000, they were in desperate need of something new. The T2P guys provided a little bit of that in late 2001/2002 but by that time, Toryumon had already run through Home Team vs. Crazy Max, Crazy Max vs M2K, M2K vs. Home Team. It's no wonder Dragon Gate guys who split from Ultimo Dragon in 2004 figured the best way to get reactions was to just up the moves and work rate. Bad idea for having good matches.

 

This has some awesome crowd reactions for the nearfalls, where the Northeastern Japan MPro towns may have been the last territory crowds in US and Japanese wrestling.

[soup23]

Wow, this match impressed the hell out of me. Crazy Max looked good but raw in the 1998 match. Here, they were a polished machine maybe only a slight step behind the Kaientai glory days. They hit everything cleanly here and were mugging it up along the way. As a result, the crowd was incredibly behind the faces when they had glimmers of hope. I loved the two guys jumping in the crowd. THis was non stop action for 17 minutes and made me optimistic for the time being of the future of all of these guys. (****)

[Tim Evans]

Awesome match. It was good to see Yakushiji is as good as he was at Barley Legal. I've heard of Crazy Max but never seen a match of them. It's like Kaientai mixed with Los Vipers but better. Cima especially was great with his low blows and general heel tenadcies. Very fun match.

[ohtani's jacket]

#467. Rapid fire spotfest that wasn't really for me. I prefer the earlier MPro stuff with a cast of characters I could get into.

[PeteF3]

Oh, this was great, and the new running #1 MOTY--at first I thought I was looking at an effective heel showcase, but then the babyfaces, after not being all that interesting for the first half of this, run off an incredible series of comebacks and near-falls that have me and the crowd biting on a lot of them, even though I figured simply from the lineup that there was no way Crazy Max was doing the job. The run of near-falls lasts just long enough and again, the match ends pretty much when it should. That said, while everyone plays their part, Shiima is by far the biggest star of the bunch and is really the one holding everything together. Not only does he have the most panache and starpower and best execution of the 6, he's good at a lot of little things, like casually sneaking in a quick kick to Yakushiji's groin as he's down on the mat. And he was the best seller--he was the precise reason we were biting on all those near-falls even though the babyfaces were tremendous underdogs, because of how he sold how much danger he was in. Awesome stuff that has me pumped to see more of Crazy Max in general but CIMA specifically.

[CheapPop1999]

I loved this. Crazy Max was a wildly entertaining heel unit and each member had their own moments to shine here. The future CIMA is certainly the best performer here, for my money, though. He feels like he's moving at double everyone else's speed and he is such a cocky prick because of it, a really great formula for an M-Pro heel. I like that Crazy Max comes out guns blazing and it takes the home team guys a little bit to knock the rust off and start putting together some combos. Yakushiji is great in a conductor role, instructing Hoshikawa and Seno when to double-team with him a few times like a really fun uncle who dresses like the Elf on the Shelf. Another test to see how far an equally good formula (the M-Pro multiman) can be stretched when the actors are given some leash. Awesome, awesome match.

GREAT