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[2000-01-04-Osaka Pro] Super Delphin vs Dick Togo


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I am really looking forward to this one. I feel like I am one of the bigger Delphin fans around still and Togo’s rep needs no explanation. Really strong and crisp opening here with everything executed well and setting the table for the rest of the match. Once things open up we get a nice headscissors on the floor from Delphin which causes Togo to regroup with his cronies and look for the comfort of a chair. With some distraction and help from his buds, Togo takes over using a chair mainly focusing on the leg of Delphin. The way the factions are interacting here is reminiscent of Dragon Gate later in the decade. I never like the oblivious referee trope but stuff here with Togo on top isn’t too egregious where it turns into a ridiculous display. Togo is really good at cranking away on the leg of Delphin and Delphin has been hobbled by the damage that has been done. He begins to make his comeback but Togo makes a crafty kick to the leg and locks on a knee bar lock. Togo misses a charge and Delphin gives him a swift kick with his good leg. He scales to the top but his hobbled by the bad wheel and someone slings a chair that hits him and drops Delphin to the floor. Togo then sets up a table on the outside area. Delphin is able to fight off the attempt of Togo and send Togo face first into the table. He then follows up with a beautiful crossbody and the playing field has leveled out. Togo takes a huge posting into the outside ring area and Delphin rehabs his leg inside the ring. Togo does his beautiful counter out of the tornado DDT attempt and hits a vicious powerbomb for a nearfall. He attempts his fat senton but is caught by Delphin with a dropkick on the way down. Delphin is able to hit the DDT when he reverses Togo. Togo hits a lowblow and running lariat as his frustration level is growing. We then get a pedigree and the big senton which crushes Delphin. That gets a 2.9999 count and an argument could be made that should have been the end to the match. Togo misses the second senton splash when Delphin moves out of the way. I have enjoyed the fatigue that Delphin has displayed. He hasn’t done hardly any running on that bad wheel and the big moments are allowed to breathe after being hit. Delphin has really used the DDT throughout the match as he hits an implant and the full tornado DDT. Togo is able to kick out of the Delphin special pin attempt. Running shotei still isn’t enough to put Togo away. Delphin hits a stunner and another Shotei and that is enough to pick up the victory. I thought the match had too many nearfalls down the stretch and the interference in the beginning portion is one of my least favorite spots in wrestling, but this also had a great sense of working for a comeback and selling the damage of a grueling match. ***1/2

 

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  • 5 months later...

I thought this was really good, and there was plenty of stuff here to love, from Togo's crisp and mean-spirited offense to Delphin's selling and the overall structure of the match. I do think it was probably much better in 2000 than it is now, just because a lot of the interference that was a bit more commonplace in all wrestling then felt like overkill when it really wasn't at the time, and the table spot didn't really add much when it wouldn't have seemed that big of an issue in 2000. Those are really my only complaints and they are minor. This was an inspired match, and I also think it's pretty cool how Osaka Pro fans continued the Michinoku Pro tradition of sitting on the building floor instead of in chairs. (MPro couldn't afford chairs for their early shows, so their fans sat on the floor, and it eventually just became tradition.) ***1/2

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  • 4 weeks later...

It looks like this took place in the sub-arena at the beautiful Osaka Kadoma Sports Center. That's a place I'd like to go to again some day. This match was to crown the first-ever Osaka Pro Wrestling Champion. Togo and Delfin are the two best possible wrestlers for such a "historic" O-Pro match.

 

In a lot of ways, this is the spiritual predecessor of the 2010 Dick Togo vs. Billyken Kid No DQ OPW Championship match, which is one of my favorite matches of all time and a real contender for the best, most exciting, and most memorable match I have ever seen live and in person.

 

This match highlights three of the things I really love about Osaka Pro:

 

1 - Osaka Pro crowds are amazing. As good as it gets in Japan outside of Korakuen Hall. When good guys do good guy things, they cheer When bad guys do bad guy things, they boo. When good guys are caught in a hold and struggling to escape, they chant their support. They are serious and attentive during ceremonial moments, and they laugh out loud during the comedy matches. Also, you can almost always find someone to go drinking with after the matches (and often before the matches and during the matches, as well).

 

2 - Speaking of ceremonial elements: Event though they are the living definition of a local indie pro wrestling promotion, Osaka Pro definitely knows how to create an aura around an important match. The announcements, the presentations, the playing of the anthem... it really adds up to create that elusive "Big Match Feel" even before the bell has rung (and even in a smallish arena).

 

3 - Osaka Pro is so very very good at creating and maintaining a good guy vs. bad guy aesthetic. It just kills me whenever some know-it-all dim-wit breaks out the old "They don't have heels and faces in Japan" trope. I was a regular attendee at Osaka Pro events from the time I arrived in Japan in 2009 until things basically fell apart for the promotion in 2014, and heel vs. face dynamics (and face vs. face and occasionally heel vs. heel dynamics) were always central to everything that happened in an Osaka Pro ring. This match is a perfect example.

 

To be fair and balanced: The finish was far too 2.99-y for my tastes... but, that's pro wrestling in the year 2000.

 

You combine a hot crowd, a big match feel, and a strong and clear "bad guy vs. good guy for the title" story and it's hard to go wrong. You add Dick Togo to that mix and... of course I loved this.

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I thought this match was very good, but it had a few pitfalls that stops it from being great. Dick Togo looked awesome here and did an excellent job of ferociously going after Delphin's leg throughout most of the match. The highlight here being a nice counter of a huracanrana into a boston crab. Unfortunately, Delphin completely ignores the legwork once he gets in control and starts hitting his moves.

 

There was some outside interference in this, but I don't think it took away from the flow of the match and it helped establish Dick Togo as being a dickish heel. There was a bit of s stretch of nearfalls at the end, but I don't think it was overdone. In fact, I would say it was better than what we see today. It wasn't so much of a back and forth nearfall fest of both guys hitting tons of moves. Rather it was a one-sided affair with Delphin throwing everything had to put Togo away.

 

I should note that I think it's always a nice touch when a country's national anthem is played before a championship match.

 

***3/4

 

I love Dick Togo and hope to see more of his matches pop up on the PWO2K project.

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Enjoyed it in parts especially the early leg work from Togo but really found Delphin dragged this down a bit. It felt too long and and started to drag rather then climax to the finish. One bit I really really hated was the chair thrown at Delphin and then he just delayed hits the floor.. Made me cringe.

 

***

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This falls quite firmly in the good but not great category. I really liked that Togo worked Delphin's leg with the chair building to an STF. Delphin hit a nice plancha in his comeback. Togo shrugging off the tornado DDT and hitting a powerbomb was cool as was his pedigree followed by a top rope senton. Delphin's finishing stretch with the tornado DDT and the palm strikes was good but lacked that little extra something.

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I liked the first half of the match. The early matwork had lots of counters, and Togo did a good job of working Delphin's leg. The match fell apart for me with Togo's poorly executed table spot. The match began to drag, and I thought Togo rolling through the ddt looked silly. They dropped the legwork and went into a kickout fest that never reached a higher gear.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

This match was simply awesome. I watched it years and years back, and it still holds up today. Back then, I remember this match created quite a buzz. Dick Togo was such a good heel, and boy, could/can he wrestle! IMO, one of the most underrated wrestlers of the '90's. Yes, I am a HUGE Togo fan, and also hope to see more of him in the PWO2K project.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Gotta love still somewhat chubby and still wearing a t-shirt era Dick Togo. This has some cool pre-match pageantry, and some guy in Fubu gear stealing the mic from the announcer to do Togo's intro. Lots of streamers, and the added bonus of the old school lucharesu crowd sitting on a bunch of tarps on the floor. Dick Togo's shirt resembles a post-ironic meme you'd see posted by Da Share Zone on Twitter or Facebook. Love all of this.

 

Good, tight matwork to start. As they roll through holds, I wonder about Delphin, the O-Pro ace in his immaculate gear and matching mask, going toe to toe with a guy in cutoff jean shorts and wrestling boots that might as well have been ordered from Highspots.com for $89.99. Delphin lights him up with a super quick headscissor and a harder-than-you'd-expect clothesline. Who is the guy in the Fubu? He looks familiar, but I can't place him. One of my favorite matches of the last ten years is Togo invading O-Pro as a heel and taking on one of their top babyfaces at the time, Billy Ken Kid. Not sure what year that would be at this point, 2011 maybe, but this is somewhat reminiscent of that. Togo dominates the first half with heel tactics, outside interference and some choice M-Pro llave holds he picked up. Weird that just a year before this he would have been wasting away jobbing to the Oddities on Sunday Night Heat. He looks damn good here, and very refined. Obviously he would continue to develop into one of the all-time greats over the next decade and a half, but you can clearly see a case for him in the DVDVR January 2000 Top 100 here.

 

Delphin takes control with a nice plancha, and then sends Togo in for a great Lawler-esque post bump. They back and forth for a bit, some really really crisp looking offense from both guys. Togo hits the pedigree (he was already doing that in 2000?) and then hits that perfect fucking senton, and Delphin kicks out like he's some kind of asshole. Does this guy even realize Togo's senton is the end-all, be-all, finest god damn aerial maneuver that has or ever will be? Seriously, Togo's flying senton is the Citizen God Damn Kane of aerial moves.

 

This goes on for a bit. Delphin hits a shotei because he's a Liger mark. Goes for another, hits a Stone Cold Stunner. I don't even know what's happening now. He gets a pin with another shotei. What the fuck even is wrestling.

 

This was good. It could've been great. Togo wanted it to be great. Delphin apparently didn't. IDK. I'm not saying Delphin is bad, he's certainly ample, and this is his promotion so you do you, killer, but man, this could have ended in another way and I would've been so much more into it. I'm gonna put it in the GOOD section. It's at the top of GOOD, bordering on VERY GOOD. But we're sticking with GOOD.

 

EDIT: Gordi mentioned that Togo vs. BKK match too. God damn, now THAT is a great match.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 2 months later...

This was good but it was brought down by Delphin's selling and outstaying its welcome. If they'd shaved 5-8 minutes off this it would have been a lot better. The early matwork was really good and then the leg work was solid too. Delphin kinda just shrugged it all off at the end though. Togo's reversal off the hurracanrana into the boston crab and rolling through the DDT both looked awesome. The pedigree/senton combo probably should have been the finish or at least not been followed by Delphin just running his comeback like he would if that hadn't happened.

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  • 2 months later...

Super Delfin has always had some of the crispiest takedowns in pro-wrestling, and Dick Togo’s no slouch himself. I liked the tempestuous back-and-forth open, with Delfin pulling out perdy little tilt-a-whirl headscissors in and out of the ring. Of course, the match can only stay untainted for so long with Togo’s crew lurking on the outside, and after some shenanigans, Togo gets a hold of a chair and injures Delfin’s leg after a diving double stomp from the apron. Togo’s legwork is grunty and somewhat effective but in the end, felt like filler as it’s quietly forgotten in the back half and no longer sold by Delfin. I really liked the rana counter by Togo into the crab hold > STF and Togo’s roll through on the tornado DDT attempt into the Liger Bomb. I agree that the finishing stretch after Togo's Pedigree>senton combo let the air out of this but there were still some cool moments throughout.

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I agree with Brennan and Chad, post-senton brings the match down but up until then I was really enjoying it. Even afterward I enjoyed it, but still. Nice work by Togo grounding the high flyer, and Delphin earned his highspots well I thought. I love when a heel will roll out of the ring after getting showed up by the babyface and tease something with a weapon, its a great character trope that always works for me.

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  • 3 weeks later...

This was good, albeit it was a bit too long. Delfin has never stricken me as a particularly great singles guy, I think of him of someone who excels more being in multi man Osaka Pro - Michinoku Pro matches where he's not solely a featured attraction. Togo however is great in any setting he's in.

 

The leg work in the first half was great. Togo viciously going after Delfin with stomps was fantastic. Unfortunately it did not lead to much in the second half of the match as Delfin pretty much blew it off. I also disliked Delfin kicking out of the senton splash. If the plan was him going over, then he should've just moved out of the way from the first one. However this is his company and he was going to book himself as Superman, so it makes sense for him to book himself in such a way.

 

***

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  • 3 months later...

I almost liked this match, hell, I almost loved this match. The middle section where Togo was dominating and his cronies are doing crony shit was fantastic, but I can't get past the beginning and the ending. I don't like the mat wrestling section that's quick and forgettable and pointless and I don't like Delphin blowing off all that legwork making the best part of the match feel meaningless.

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  • 3 months later...

This was disappointing. These were two of the best guys in Japan in 2000 and should have had a better match. I just wanted to see them wrestle but Togo slowed things down unnecessarily with the chair shot and legwork. I don't care that Delfin blew off the legwork since it was shitty work to begin. What bothered me was Delfin calling out the name of each move. Once or twice may have been bearable but he kept doing it over and over again. By that stage, I didn't really care about this bout. The only consolation I could draw from it was that both men would go on to have much better matches with other people through the course of the year and that Osaka Pro would get a hell of a lot better. 

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  • GSR changed the title to [2000-01-04-Osaka Pro] Super Delphin vs Dick Togo

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