Back to the Super J Cup(s)

[El-P]

Sometimes, you have to go back to your past. In 1998, I bought my first batch of japanese pro-wrestling tapes. The IWA King of the Deathmatch, of course (well, thanks for nothing WWF, for putting extracts during those Mankind interviews), an interpromotionnal women's card (we didn't say "joshi" as a generic term yet back then) and of course, both Super J Cups, the "greatest cards of pro-wrestling history" (this side of Dreamslams & Super Egg). I must have bought these 20$ a piece + postage. Well, it took more time and money than to download an MP4 file from a torrent site. I have no idea what I actually thought about them back then, except I was supposed to love them. Which I probably did. When you buy a tape 20$ + 5$ postage and wait for like six weeks to get them, you better cherish whatever's on them. I was 22, never had a glass of alcohol, more or less a virgin and knew jackshit about life. I'm 40, happily semi-alcoholic (just joking, although I can tell lots of stories about alcohol abuse), not that long ago had a gorgeous woman swal… well, 'nough said that I'm 40 and still know jackshit about life. Well, I know a lot about it, but it makes even less sense than before the more I go and learn about it. So, seems like a good time to go back and rewatch those Super J Cups (and more, as you'll see) with a totally fresh mind. What the fuck was that all about anyway ?

 

Damn. Juniors drew back in 1994. And that was damn hot crowd, who made noise.

 

1rst round :

 

Gedo vs Dean Malenko

 

I wonder if Gedo, chubby in his Fuyuki-gun minion outfit with ridiculous mongolian haircut, was thinking : "One day, this company will be mine, all mine, and Dave Meltzer will worship me." Probably not. Malenko was working pretty much like he was doing at the time, smooth, quick, aesthetically pleasing and in a vacuum. Gedo was always underrated. This is a pretty good Nitro match. I'm pretty sure these two actually had a Nitro or a Saturday Night match. Nothing special either, but nice. With Malenko kicking out of the finish. Vanilla midget bitch that he is. That's Liger's doing BTW, not Kevin Nash. Gedo had more potential anyway.

 

Shinjiro Ohtani vs Super Delphin

 

Damn. Ohtani was great. Like, freaky great. Crisp as fuck, showing tons of charisma. His leg work is on point and brutal. And that Michinoku Pro dick just won't sell it one second. Like, not even shaking his leg. Ohtani is rightfully fucking his leg up, and Delphin won't sell shit. Wow. I have no idea what to say about this. If you disregard that complete lack of selling, I guess it's good, but the only thing I see is Ohtani's great work being shit on by that goofball Delphin, who wins with an awful pinning combination. Yikes.

 

Black Tiger vs TAKA Michinoku

 

TAKA was probably a virgin too. Well, he'll have his Sunny days later (old rumour references, for those living during the pre-Attitude Era). And he's wearing red tights ! Black Tiger Guerrero looks buffed. And he worked crisp and hard on poor young TAKA. Greeness aside, this is pretty damn good, as Tiger is killing TAKA until he pulls all the stops, uses his quickness and amazing flying ability to try and win this one over the monster (yeah, Guerrero looed liked a monster here). That springboard plancha still looks amazing almost 20 years after. TAKA had incredible potential and could have been WWF's Rey Jr. in 97. Instead. Oh, well. So, this is very good and told a simple but effective story. More on this later.

 

Masayoshi Motegi vs El Samurai

 

Ah, Motegi. You had to live through the late 90s to understand. SPWF representative. He must have been part of some yakuza union of something. I don't see any other reason why he was even included in all those Juniors supercards. SPWF, what the hell was that anyway ? In a time Japanese indies actually mattered. And he was crappy too. Oh boy, was he. At one point, Sammy is almost trying to have a match by himself, like this old and great Monty Python routine. Samurai, the forgotten and ugliest greatest wrestler ever. Motegi blowing spots left and right made for half-funny comedy. Worst match yet, but more to come.

 

Ricky Fuji vs Negro Casas

 

You only get to make one good first impression. Maybe I never got into lucha because the legend and great worker (from all lucha fans educated opinions) Negro Casas was first seen in this nothing match against FMW cult undercard crappy worker Ricky Fuji, coming out to classic violin-based folk/country library music (because of the com tape syndrom of covering themes they didn't had clearance to, which were basically most of them), sporting a great "Canada" leather jacket. Don't ask. Casas shows a little bits of brillance here and there, but he's basically squashed. Damn, Onita had some pull. Bad match. I would guess one of the worst of Casas' career on a major show, no ?

 

Jushin Liger vs Hayabusa

 

If I'm not mistaken, this is Ezaki's debut in the gimmick that made him a cult hero. Liger must have had crazy respect for him, and this match totally made him a star in losing. Kinda the same thing as TAKA vs Tiger, although Hayabusa gets to show more stuff and works less in a "young green guy" mode, of course. He does blows a spot or two, but still, resisting to Liger's bomb throwing and doing some crazy flying shit (that tope con hilo in the whole costume was pretty iconic) just made him look like a star. Liger is obviously still at his peak here. Very good match.

 

So. That first round was not that great at all. Two very good matches which were surprisingly worked in the same dynamic, with an established guy killing a youngin' who's trying to fly around and use quickness and spunk to win. One pretty good but generic match, one puzzling performance which ruined what should have been the best match of the first round and two, well, let's say it, bad matches. Of course, two of the best workers in the tournament were still to appear at this point. So, will this turn into that exceptionnal card or not after all ? I have no idea, tired that I was of Benoit vs Liger classic matches by 2001. I don't think I've seen a Sasuke match since the turn of the new millenium either. "Holding up" is really not the question here. The question is, what do I get from this stuff today, because only today matters.

[supremebve]

 

Black Tiger vs TAKA Michinoku

TAKA was probably a virgin too. Well, he'll have his Sunny days later (old rumour references, for those living during the pre-Attitude Era). And he's wearing red tights ! Black Tiger Guerrero looks buffed. And he worked crisp and hard on poor young TAKA. Greeness aside, this is pretty damn good, as Tiger is killing TAKA until he pulls all the stops, uses his quickness and amazing flying ability to try and win this one over the monster (yeah, Guerrero looed liked a monster here). That springboard plancha still looks amazing almost 20 years after. TAKA had incredible potential and could have been WWF's Rey Jr. in 97. Instead. Oh, well. So, this is very good and told a simple but effective story. More on this later.

Taka's no hands, springboard plancha is my favorite dive of all time. I still don't really understand how he had the ability to build up the momentum to jump that high and the balance to land on the top rope and come to a complete stop. It really doesn't make any sense.

[El-P]

Indeed. No needless twisting around, and amazing to watch.

 

Round 2

 

Gedo vs Super Delphin

 

Well maybe the fact that Ohtani match wasn't that good as less to do with crappy selling and more to do with the fact Delphin simply wasn't very good. Gedo is solid and has another solid match. Much less aesthetically pleasing than Malenko's but with more heat. Delphin has some character, does some comedy and flies around a bit, but nothing impressive. Don't make him sell too much too. Poor Gedo, Delphin kicks out of the pinfall too. So he's a dick too apparently.

 

Black Tiger vs Wild Pegasus

 

Oh. That pairing. This is before Eddie found personnality, so the mask helps. Two machines throwing bombs and trying to damage the other. These two ain't joking around. Crispness is one thing, but they put everything into each spot, Benoit especially. After a while, figue four headlock, a la Choshu. No limn work, no matwork, just throwing bombs and see what happens. It is impressive. It is also a little sterile in how everything seems only physical. Kinda lifeless (no, not saying that because those two are dead). Still, very good match.

 

El Samurai vs Great Sasuke

 

Sammy's got a baby blue mask, totally color uncoordinated with his outfit. He's the most inelegant greatest wrestler ever. Sasuke, it's been a long while. Working the mat, and making it a struggle. Damn, Sammy was great, and Sasuke is up for it. See Delphin, your boss is selling the leg, shaking it off walking at ringside. Turning into one of the best finishing stretch I've seen in a long time. I forgot. This is great. Short, but damn great. How could Sammy be at the same time so awkard looking, so ugly and yet so swift and on the point ? This guy needs reevaluation. Sasuke does look like a major star and super worker. Liger really was all about making these indy guys shine. Speaking of which...

 

Jushin Liger vs Ricky Fuji

 

I'm pretty sure Fuji must have been marking out. Liger's insane, he's making Fuji look like he's never looked before. Fuji is all chubby and full of tassles and for a moment, he hangs on with Jushin Thunder Liger. Outside powerbomb ? Liger will make him pay later, payback being a bitch. Ok, Ricky can't really sell any way compelling, look at his face, he's just having a match, but that's his best match ever. Liger's covering up for spot-blowing. Liger showing crazy respect during the post match. Oh yeah, Ricky's actually marking out. Good stuff. But why wasn't Casas able or willing to do that ?

 

Things are heating up, with one legit great match and one very good match already. Pro-wrestling relativism pretends that "carrying" is a silly notion, well think again. This card is full of carry-job. It's right there. Liger does it twice with the two FMW boys. Spots ? Yeah, Sasuke's flying is still impressive because of the way he works. Those juniors were a lot less about doing a lot of flipping around, they were about little bomb throwing and fucking up their opponents. Now, onto the final stretch. More Benoit. Well, that will have to do.

[El-P]

Semi-finals

 

Wild Pegasus vs Gedo

 

Benoit is beating Gedo into oblivion and three minutes into the match, the New Japan crowd chants for outsider/heel Gedo. This is reverse interpromotional psychology. Again, Gedo's solid work and the match dynamic with poor little red minion getting beat up mercifully makes for a more enjoyable experience than the basic bomb throwing of the Tiger match. There is intent here. But too short and a bit squashing to amount to more than "really good short match".

 

Jushin Liger vs Great Sasuke

 

Same story here, Liger brutalize Sasuke so he gets the crowd behind him. Sasuke is a terrific babyface underdog and Liger is wonderfully dickish. Tortuous matwork, punishing arm attack, Liger was about fucking up Sasuke, who's selling is perfect to make him the ultimate crowd favourite. Never know when he hangs his head if he's simply selling or just got another concussion though. Then the flying as a comeback. This is truly a classic match, nothing ages here because there's purpose in every move. And the greatest botch including Liger's perfect on the fly improvisation, which makes it legendary and maybe the symbol or Yamada's brillance. And he managed to make the finish even better than way. MOTYC and one of the best junior match ever. Believe the hype.

 

At this point, after an underwhelming first round, it becomes obvious again why this show was so revered. Already two great matches involving Sasuke, and Liger being an absolute master all night long, making Hayabusa a star, carrying crappy but sympathetic FMW undercarder Fuji and having a masterpiece with Sasuke, again making an indy guy a star on a major stage. Gedo has been solid all night long. Benoit was involved in two very good matches. This is beginning to pile up, indeed.

[El-P]

Final

 

Wild Pegasus vs Great Sasuke

 

Not easy to follow the Liger match. It shows during the early minutes. As it goes along, I think, this is very good, excellent even, but not better. Something too stern about Benoit's work, too much of a machine. Then it starts to make sense when the balance cracks up and Sasuke can't keep up. Sasuke's body language tells stories too. Crowd is fucking hot for this junior match. Sasuke's coming back and he's insane, I forgot how much he was. Some of this spots, no wonder no one does them anymore (that flying kick to the outside !). Escalation and exhaustion and it passes over the "greatness" line. But not brillant like the Liger match. Still MOTYC level probably at the end. Quite eerie to see the celebration for Benoit, him hugging Eddie just like at Mania 20, ten years later (only a month apart). Funny detail though, Malenko making fun of his missing teeth.

 

Well, yes, the second half of this show was quite awesome with three legit great matches including an all-time classic (Liger vs Sasuke). If you pile up all the goodness around, it makes for quite a card indeed. Forgot how hot the crowd was for this whole thing. The celebration at the end was big time, with Fujinami giving away trophies and other NJ execs lining up. #juniorrevolution. Sorry, sign 'o the times. Clearly a major booking and working accomplishement by Yamada, who proceeded to make two stars out of two indy guys in one night, Hayabusa and Sasuke. Benoit looked like the hardest junior in the world. Sammy reminded everyone why he should be considered a great worker ar his peak. Gedo had a nice run. Only Delphin looked like crap, really, as even Ricky Fuji had his little moment. Well, Motegi looked like Motegi, but he was Motegi after all.

 

Next step, same place, different production. WAR. Expect some randomness.

[Frankensteiner]

Are you going to do the J-Crown tourney from 1996 also?

[El-P]

Maybe another time. Because if I did, then the title of my thread would be wrong, and we can't have that, right ? Plus it's fitting to go through all J Cups now it seems. Plus I really don't have the J-Crown anywhere near me. Old tape probably. But then again, should I be using a VCR in 2016 ? But it's an idea, it was quite the iconic card too (to a lesser degree).

[El-P]

So, following year, WAR puts on a J Cup on its own. More indy feel. Less people in the Kokugikan. Those classic mid-90's graphics and library music on the com tape. Yeah, COMMERCIAL TAPE.

 

Damian vs Gran Naniwa

 

FMW/AAA representative Damian does a cosplay of popular wrestlers : Choshu, Tenryu, Megumi (Kudo), Muta. Gran Naniwa does a shitty version of a comedic wrestler. This could be Damian vs a broom, really. Some lucha looking spots. Ok, Damian is funny, and judging by his AAA work at the same time, he was also quite the worker. I remember that story about 19 year old dick Naniwa refusing to job, thus preventing Damian to work a match with his idol Liger. No idea if any of this was true. I remembered this match well. Uniqueness does that I guess.

 

Shinjiro Ohtani vs Masaaki Mochizuki

 

Ohtani does great, brutal leg work and Mochizuki isn't selling shit as soon as he's on his feet throwing kicks. Wait ? Is this a rib on Ohtani ? Same shit that the first J-Cup ? Mochizuki learned from the best. Koji Kitao. Who's backstage. How does it feel being back from where you got fired as a rikishi ? Intense exchanges, Ohtani looks awesome. But Mochizuki isn't quite there, being green as grass. The famous "good for what it was" match.

 

Ultimo Dragon vs Shoichi Funaki

 

Pre-Mpro, pre Kaientai Funaki. So it's not as good as it could have been. And people rag about Takada's leglock. Look at this too laying around holding their legs. Well, Ultimo does kick Funaki in the face to prevent him from falling alseep. Going nowhere fast. Going to a horribly blown spot actually, so Dragon kicks into highgear of spots to the quick finish. That wasn't good. Dragon had better matches against cruiser jobbers in WCW. Funaki looked bland as hell. He probably did the best decision of his life when he bought that ranch in Texas.

 

Gedo vs Masayoshi Motegi

 

Motegi is wearing a dark version of Gedo's outfit. Love fashion trolling. Motegi also beats on Gedo pretty well. And badmouths him. And badmouths the audience. He's making the in house heel a babyface, and does a solid job working the arm, flying around and being a dick. Wait, when Motegi did get good like this ? Gedo had slighty better hair that time around. Still way removed from the slick body he had from his FMW days. Don't run too fast Motegi, that's not for you, but this match is actually the best thus far. Good, solid pro-wrestling match, with heat and purpose. Color me satisfied.

 

Dos Caras vs El Samurai

 

And now I picture a guy looking like Alberto under the mask. Kinda hurts the myth. Oh, yeah, this is Dos Caras tying knots with Sammy's body. I thought this is what lucha lire was all about. Then I saw average lucha libre and… well. This is what was called "a sprint" back then. And a damn good one, with Caras' funky submission holds (although that first one where he slips Sammy's leg from behind was very, very awkward) vs Sammy's inelegant but efficient offensive strikes and spots. I can't think of two more opposite style, yet it geled. I guess because Sammy was a great worker, he does that brutal dropkick in the corner. Sammy was all about hurting. Very good.

 

Hanzo Nakajima vs Lionheart

 

Nakajima, the MPro ninja, a forgotten really good worker. Jericho is fun to watch at this stage. He's all "Come on baby ! Allright !" and shit. Makes the audience claps for his opponent on the outside. Busts out those typical Jericho flying spots that you really didn't see back then. The star potential was already there. That guy was getting himself over doing some "japanese shit", as Corny so eloquently said once. Another sprint, these Japanese indy guys weren't about killing time with matwork, NJ style. Another really good one.

 

Despite no star making match like Liger vs Hayabusa, this first round was actually more fun that the previous J Cup's. More diversity (Damian's comedy, Caras matwork, Mochizuki's kickfest), no really bad match and Motegi actually bringing it and more than redeeming himself. Typical WAR randomness in the pairing too. With Liger & Benoit (…) thrown in, I would guess the next stage won't disapoint, although from memory, there's no classic in this card (wait, Ohtani vs Dragon maybe, or am I mistaking it with the same match from another card ?)

[El-P]

Round 2

 

Jushin Liger vs Gran Naniwa

 

Liger's eternal quest to make some indy schmuck look like a King, new episode. And does he succeed again. Crab Boy jumps Liger from the start. Fuck that Crab. I'm glad Liger won't let him do his crab spot successfully. I'm even more glad that Liger makes fun of that stupid crab walk. But does Naniwa looks good here. Is it the Liger effect or had it that much potential. I remember him being nothing a few years later. Didn't he die pretty young too ? That was pretty much his most glorious night. Liger was that great, I had kinda forgotten.

 

Wild Pegasus vs Lionheart

 

Is this a Canadian version of Saint Seya now ? "Come on motherfucker !" Wow. That's no Gold Saint talk, Jericho. Mechanically not as slick and swift as that match with that non-Saint Tiger fellow, but the whole story of Jericho wanting to upstage Benoit and show off some amazing offensive move and getting frustrated in the process makes it better to me. More dynamic. And I admit I "Come on baby !" Jericho cracks me up. Benoit, well, is a machine. Very good match in a formative way. Oh, and of course, at the end, Seya wins.

 

Shinjiro Ohtani vs Ultimo Dragon

 

Finally, Ohtani gets his chance to shine. Ok, so he was already awesome by then. Crisp matwork and counters. Amazing execution and fire. And spunk. The road to "great match" was all there, until they… no-sell a tombstone piledriver. Twice. In the most casual way. Ugh. Then they get back to work, but it took some time to put me back in after this puzzling affair. Ultimo kicking young Ohtani around was good, but he wasn't as fierce as he would be a bit later in his career. And he overshots the last spot. Badly. That was classic Ultimo from that time right there, always having to blow something important. Well, still an excellent match because the before and after that no-sell nonsense. It could have been great.

 

Gedo vs Dos Caras

 

Caras is playing Twister with Gedo. This is torture. Gotta love Gedo not playing to the homecrowd and still being a sneaky bastard, trying to unmask Caras. And eventually doing it at a crucial moment, which sends Caras into a frenzy. That was cool. One-sided, but this is freaking Gedo vs legend Dos Caras, and they worked it really smart. Gedo litteraly sneaks is way into a major upset after getting his ass stretch to no tomorrow for most of the match. Very good stuff. Was Caras always that good ?

 

Ok, there's no Sammy vs Sasuke, although Dragon vs Ohtani comes close at one point before derailing, but Liger vs Naniwa >> Liger vs Fuji, Gedo vs Dos Caras >> Gedo vs Delphin and although it's a most subjective choice I prefer Benoit vs Jericho to the Tiger match. Overall, that second round was better than the 1st J Cup too. Interesting. The Gedo story is good as it leads to the return match against Pegasus and Ultimo is booked like Sasuke so the question remains for the semi-final, will the upset happen again ? Was Liger booking this again despite being hosted by WAR ?

[El-P]

Semi-finals

Wild Pegasus vs Gedo

 

Feels somewhat familiar. And Benoit does beat the shit out of Gedo again. Gedo is a terrific bumper. He can take a beating like no one's business. WAR crowd going crazy for Gedo resisting NJ outsider Pegasus makes sense this time. Nice match, as it shows the progress of Gedo both as a worker and a character. He does show more big time offense. Gedo Clutch = one of the best submission finisher. Looks so painful. Gedo's feet hits the top rope on a tope, and the fall looks brutal. Escalation to an major upset. Really good.

 

Jushin Liger vs Ultimo Dragon

 

The Sasuke all-time classic it isn't. Dragon just isn't a very good babyface underdog, and he's much respected anyway to be an underdog at this point. I'd have him go heelish on Liger. Kidna useless (because didn't lead to anything) leg work, but no big deal, didn't last too long. Then they go into the finishing stretch, which is where a junior match makes its money. And it's really fucking good. Not enough exhaustion sense from Dragon though, so you don't get the epicness Sasuke would bring. The work around la majistral is terrific though, with a great finish. Great match maybe ? Of one Ultimo's best without a doubt.

 

Intermezzo

 

Rey Mysterio Jr. vs Psychosis

 

Special attraction. The match that got them, Rey mostly, famous both in Japan and in ECW. I've seen this called a "touring match". Is that a nice way to say they were doing an exhibition ? Well, it is the Rey Jr. showcase, and it's amazing more than twenty years later. This guy was gonna be a star anywhere. Too bad he never got that nice sting in Japan somewhere. Would have been something. Psic(h?)osis plays basis rudo. Rey flies the fuck around and gets that crowd unglued. Terrific stuff. A bit too much "routine" maybe ? Well, their routine was **** minimum back then, so...

 

So yeah. No classico in the semi, but Benoit vs Gedo was better than last year. Of course Gedo can't keep upsetting everyone, so the final was a double giveaway, that Liger would win and that it wouldn't be the MOTYC the previous year was, as good as Gedo is.

[El-P]

Final

 

Jushin Liger vs Gedo

 

Well, actually, it is a great match. And Liger made my buy Gedo could get the absolute upset again. This man was brillant. And Gedo had the performance of his life, after three other matches. Nice, crisp matwork leading to one of the best nutshot I've seen. Build and timing goes a long way. Then : finishings stretch, the third amazing one for Liger in the same night, with callbacks to how Gedo won the other two big matches against Caras & Pegasus. Hence, it was believable even on Liger. Love the participants around the ring cheering for both guys, especially Fuyuki & Jericho cheering on Gedo. The finish looked brutal. Liger, yes. I had forgotten.

 

No classico, but on the whole, it was more balanced, with a better first and second round. The final did deliver because the Gedo rise was compelling and over as hell with this crowd. I'm really surprised how much I enjoyed this, although probably in a different, deeper way than I did 18 years ago. Above everything, these two cards, which were indeed awesome, were a showcase for Jushin Liger, mastermind and genius pro-wrestler, who got his hand on a bunch of guys from indy promotions, from the worst (Fuji) the great (Sasuke) and made them all look much bigger than they are and got the best of them inside the ring, without using a formula. I really ranked Liger from memory during the GWE, but if I had just watched this stuff again, I would have had him higher than I did (because I really had not watched much junior puro in the last 15 years). He was brillant. One of a kind for sure. The Man.

 

Enough of the nostalgia, done looking back now.

[El-P]

So there was another J-Cup in 2000. MPro putting it together. It was not muhc talked about. Dark days for puro ahead, it was already crumbling down. Back then, you had to buy tapes. It was slow and expensive. So, that's why star ratings mattered. So you knew what tape you'd buy. My regular tape dealer didn't rate this show very high I seem to remember. I had to make a choice, so I never watched that MPro Super J Cup. Time to see what I missed.

 

CIMA vs Ricky Marvin

 

Oh oh, Marvin's outfit screams that we have finally passed the 2000 line. CRAZY*MAX. Hey, I remember being a part of a board that was named like that ! This is pretty much spotty but quite good for what it is. Marvin and CIMA get all lucharesu, with no matwork and all flying around. I remember CIMA as the rising star from Toryumon who was working regularly in MPro at that time. Well, this is fine, although we get to see some "modified" spots (CIMA's useless ass bump on his finisher), which I don't like.

 

Ricky Fuji vs Sasuke the Great

 

Ah, the era of the Nise characters. Sasuke is Masao Orihara, who was good as a punk WAR junior in interpromotionnal matches, but quite the terrible nutshots steampunk brawler once he got into the sleaziest of japanese indies. He's got a hot masked valet, so we get upskirts shots. This is Japan. Awful match with nutshots. Bad work from the valet. They just don't know how to do this shit over there yet.

 

SUWA vs Naoki Sano

 

How wasn't Sano involved in the first two ? Oh yeah, shootstyle. THat whole CRAZY*MAX stuff with a manager interfering maybe was new and hot in Japan, but it doesn't seem quite right with the Super J Cup theme. Times change. Still, it's pretty good, with Sano fighting against the odds to punk out young punk SUWA. SUWA's work is nothing special at all, while Sano looks really, really good still.

 

MEN'S Teioh vs Katsumi Usuda

 

Men's Teioh was working in Big Japan at the time, doing a Terry Funk tribute act agin Abby. Kind of a waste considering how fucking good he looks here. Katsumi was the name of a famous french pornstar, so that's who I think about first. Usuda is a BatBat guy. This is really good shit, if you don't mind the lack of limb selling. Matwork, smooth counters, stiff kicks and shit, and Teioh going Misawa on Usuda's ass with terrific looking rolling elbows. Best match of the first round thus far. Both looked really good.

 

Curry Man vs Onryo

 

Onryo was a spot worker disguised as a ghost. So there was dust flying from him each time he would get hit. Neat. Curry Man was Christopher Daniels being goofy. Spot spot spot. Nicely done though, but Onryo will only get you that far. It certainly was better than Delphin's first two matches from Super J Cup 1.

 

Gran Hamada vs Shinya Makabe

 

Makabe ? A junior ? He looks awfully tall, even next to Granpa Hamada. New Japan = good basics and matwork, which is a nice change of pace. But after a while, it kinda goes nowhere especially since Hamada just let Makabe work on him, the goes into the spots part of the match. Whic is solid, but I do think Hamada gets a pass because he's cool and Ayako's father. He kinda did exactly teh same stuff all the time. Well, at his age, it's still impressive, but it won't give you a very compelling match. Decent.

 

The Great Sasuke vs Kaz Hayashi

 

Kaz is representing WCW. Cool. He's also in total Benoit mode. Which wasn't the worst idea, although he's kinda doing it too much. Still looks realy strong against a Sasuke who was excellent during the spot exchange, not so much selling submissions. He did it kinda like Mutoh on a bad day would, by laying around. But the sutble heeling of Hayashi, disrespecting his elder and showing too much arrogance which will cost him the match at the end, coupled with really smooth work, made the match really good. Those ex-Kaientai guy surely delivered.

 

Jushin Liger vs Tiger Mask

 

Black Liger ! Now this is it. Shit's on. Not much flying, also Tiger tries a bit. A whole lot of kicking around and shoteiing the fuck out of your opponent. Liger is all evil and grumpy and the moment he slaps Tiger who's on the floor with brutal shoteis is pretty great. MPro crowd clearly favors their own Tiger. Liger doesn't sell those shootsyle submissions like Sasuke, meaning by that, he makes everything looks dangerous (see him flap like a fish when he's in that sleeper). Tiger kicking out at one from the finishers worked because of his selling, he was clearly trying to show up Liger despite being KOed on his feet. That will cost him too, finish was terrific. Excellent match that showed how good Liger was still by that point and working a full fledge heel style (even more than the usual "interpromotional asshole" than he used to do). No wonder Liger signed Tiger to New Japan later.

 

Well, apart from a little bit of US-like bullshit in a few matches and the slight "indy" style creeping up, I thought this was a bit better than the original J Cup first round. Ricky Fuji had a terrible match but it was against a terrible worker and not Negro Casas. The Teioh & Hayashi matches were very good and Liger delivered the super main event which was better than the Hayabusa match I'd say. Not as consistent as the 95 version, but it was still quite the good show (the card was split up in two this time around).

[El-P]

Round 2, on another night, in a rather empty looking Kokugikan. 2000...

 

CIMA vs Onryo

 

Typical japanese indy junior match for the times. Better than the previous match because CIMA is a good punk heel and not a goofball gimmick, but it's still basically spot-spot-spot. Onryo was goofy himself (the sleeper which makes him fall straight down was funny though), but they kept it short and moving, with fine execution. Fine short spotfest.

 

Ricky Fuji vs Gran Hamada

 

Awww, I forgot about Ricky singing his own godawful Shawn Michael ripoff theme himself, pretty awfully too. Never got how this chubby looking bastard with late 80's pants got a cool hearthrob gimmick. He's got a good looking young woman with him. Oh yeah, that was Sena Wakana, who was an AV actress (that was Fuyuki's FMW touch). Gran has Ayako, who's so young ! Well, it's quite decent, Fuji didn't look bad at all and Gran, well, did his usual stuff. And a top rope swinging DDT to boot. Kinda funny that Fuji had a much better match with old-ass Grand Hamada than he did with Negro Casas. Quite the watchable effort.

 

Great Sasuke vs Naoki Sano

 

This really is kind of a dream match on paper. In actuality, not so much. Nice matwork although Sasuke really sold the legwork by doing a spinning kick. Sano was a bit off catching Sasuke's flying, but he was game to drop Sasuke with brutal suplexes. Actually ended on a headropping galore which led to a KO, which was a nice and surprising finish. Good match, but some execution issues and shaky transitions (that suplex on teh apron was awesome ut Sasuke came back imediately countering Sano's next move) makes it a slight disapointment of sorts.

 

Jushin Liger vs MEN'S Teioh

 

They work it toward an upset, as Teioh really is like a junior Gannosuke, with super crisp pinning combinations and some wicked elbow shots. Liger his from the darkside, so he's super agressive and does a little bit of no-selling too. I dig the slap barrage on the ground though, Liger's badass doing it. They really make the audience buy one of Teioh's pin attempt as a false finish. Simple, greaty executed and intense. Short, but very good.

 

Ok, this is clearly not the quarter finals of either two previous J Cups. Gedo vs Delphin from 94 was worse than anything here probably, but Liger vs Teioh, as good as it is, just isn't enough to compete. The undercard had a very good/excellent 10 men tag with a bunch of losers from the first round plus Tanaka, Porky, KaShin, Motegi under a hood (what would a J Cup card be without Motegi ?), well, it was all lucharesu and shooty and fun.

[El-P]

Intermezzo

 

Chapparita ASARI vs Hiromi Yagi

 

They were having a feud around the horn, in MPro, ARSION and maybe other indies, so they knew how to work together by that point. ASARI still had those spots where the opponent had to kinda wait for it, but she was way better than a few years earlier. Yagi. Oh man Yagi. I almost had forgotten. This really is the first "joshi puroresu" match I've been watching in almost 13 years. Hey, I remember why I used to love it. This is very good, usually super smooth and Yagi fucking up the arm of ASARI and trapping her in submissions seven ways to Sunday was fun.

 

Semi Finals

 

Naoki Sano vs CIMA

 

Interesting pairing. So Sano is too strong, too big and too good on the mat for CIMA, who may be a punk, but he's MPro's audience's punk. So he sells like a babyface and takes some brutal offense like a king. Strong performance by Sano here, who's always been kind of a dick anyway, stoic as he was. Headdropping again. He was made for NOAH. Leads to stumbling selling by CIMA, who's finally showing why he was choosen to advance. His offense may not always look the most devastating, but he sure sells well. Counters to CIMA's finisher. Then advanced finish. Excellent match devoid of CRAZY*MAX bullshit, as CIMA had the Gedo role here.

 

Jushin Liger vs Gran Hamada

Anoher interesting pairing actually. Hamada tries to get Liger's left arm. Ace selling. Then slaps on the floor again. Ok, so that's a thing he does. Still cool as hell. Some bomb throwing too. The old guy surely brings it, despite a weak lariat at one point. Ayako cheering for her daddy at ringside and reacting only makes everything much more fun. Hamada works harder there, he knows he's got Liger. Kick out at one to show up the black angry God, ok, I've seen that already but it does work too with Ayako cheering on. Very good match, mostly super crisp and well paced. Veteran work.

 

Well, the semi finals delivered for sure. No great match, although Sano vs CIMA came close, but simply really good stuff all around with good booking too.

[El-P]

Final

 

CIMA vs Jushin Liger

 

Good match, with a hot finishing stretch, but underwhelming compared to what could be expected. Not as compelling as the Sano match, not as exciting as Liger's other matches because of a predictability element. Plus, CIMA's ridiculous shotei setup being repeated three times here doesn't help. That's the "indiefication" of moves that I dislike, the wasted motion culture that got rampant by that time. Still, CIMA's really good at selling and with some of his offense. It lacked a true false finish. Solid matwork at the beginning and nice ending stretch, but not enough slapping around by Liger to truly rile up CIMA, although we get a one count kickout again (was this a thing then ?). Felt kinda anticlimatic in the end.

 

Clearly, the lack of great match hurt this third edition compared to the other two. The booking was nice though, with the two right guys in the final and some interesting match-ups. Sasuke jobbing early was quite unexpected and gave us the excellent Sano vs CIMA match, so that was cool. MEN'S Teioh looked like a king in his two matches. Liger still was the best worker of the night, and the heelish work was a bit different (although not a drastic change, especially in the final). Sano also came out looking strong. Overall, quite the very good card though, despite the lack of any classic or even MOTYC (then again, in 2000, maybe reaching *excellent* was enough). Glad I finally saw that one.

[El-P]

2004. I was out of the loop by that time, but I do remember hearing about the fourth J-Cup promoted by Osaka Pro, and hearing about the result too (NOAH was the hot promotion at the time, so it made sense). Never got to see it.

 

Well, first thing, the setting is impressive, more elaborate than any other J-Cup thus far. It seems like they made it a spectacle. Only huit guys so on paper it seems like a mini-J Cup more than anything.

 

First round

 

Jun Kasai vs Naomichi Marufuji

 

Kasai was that sick fuck from Big Japan, but apparently was working for ZERO-1 at that time. Monkey tale and all. Still all about using gimmicks, splashing Maru through a table at ringside. Well, I guess it's a change of pace, but not exactly what you'd expect froma J-Cup. Match was ok, but mostly Maru letting Kasai do his garbage thing until a comeback and win. Decent stuff and Kasai was quite the character.

 

Garuda vs GOA

 

Damn, Garuda ! One of the last tape I bought was that first WMF show, the post FMW Hayabusa promotion, with Garuda as an ace. Whatever happened to him ? GOA I don't know. I guess he's an Osaka Pro guy (never saw an Osaka Pro show before this one, I know, I know). Both have cool masks and outfit, although Garuda is very Hayabusa Redux. Work is ok, nothing special. Indy lucharesu from the 00's. GOA does look good.

 

Wataru Inoue vs Kazuya Yuasa

 

Inoue, damn, an 00's NJ junior. I forgot he even existed. Looks slim and trim. Yuasa is a MPro guy I never seen before, nor heard about. Hey, stiffness ! Ok, so Wataru is the worker of teh night thus far, and Yuasa has that indy shoot-style stuff that I enjoy. They do beat the hell out fo each others. Best match thus far, first really good one. I forgot Inoue was good and stiffy like this.

 

Takehiro Murahama vs Taichi Ishikari

 

So, Murahama is Osaka Pro's shootstyle ace, in a BatBat way. Ishikari is an All Japan rookie who does the underdog deal here, trying to fight against Murahama's kicks and shit. Takehiro really has that short, uncharismatic WAResque charm to him and seems to work like a mofo. Finally kicks young Taichi into oblivion. Quite good for what it is, Ishikari seemed to have potential and Takehiro has to go all the way so I get more of this shoot-style goodness.

 

Intermezzo

 

Apple Miyuki vs Ofune

 

The K-Dojo girls. A K-Dojo show was also one of the last tape I ever bought. I kinda connect the dots here. Miyuki was the serious TAKA student. Ofune was the masked Magical Girl I guess. A bit of comedy which worked well, the work was no better than ok. Yagi vs ASARI this isn't, but they were still basically rookies. Apple had some potential. Ofune, not so sure.

 

MEN's Teioh & MIKAMI & Tomohiro Ishii vs Kintaro Kanemura & Azteca & MA-G-MA

 

Indy sleaze 6-men ! Team No Respect dance ! I haven't seen this for a while. So, Teoih looks just as good as he did in the previous J-Cup, wo why wasn't he put into this ? Mikami is that guy from DDT with a ladder. The Osaka Pro heels look really good, specially MA-G-MA, in a fat rudo way. Ishii is not yet the stiffness pitbull fro New Japan, he was actually in Choshu's shortlived promotion. Already working stiff as hell though. Really fun sprint, with Kanemura doing pretty much was he was doing since the latter days of FMW, before fucking up his career by sexually assulting a girl, this stupid asshole. I really liked that guy until then. Ok, so, at one point, teh ref is jumping up and down and stomping the mat again and again, seemingly for no reason. What was that all about ?!

 

Ebessan vs Kuishinbo Kamen

 

This looks like the fucking main event, with intros that go forever, with dancers and shit ! This is great ! I have no idea what is happening here, but these guys are giving any presents (candy ?) to the audience in exchange for something. Lost in translation, but nonetheless quite the fun part. Excellent comedy and good match. These two were like the Misawa vs Kobashi of comedy wrestling I guess.

 

Well, it looks more like a big Osaka Pro event with indy super-cast than your regular J-Cup. The first round was nothing special at all, with only one really good match, but the indy sleaze in all its glory makes for a fun show thus far.

[El-P]

Semi finals

 

Naomichi Marufuji vs Garuda

 

I admit, I enjoy the trance-like Maru theme. Garuda is totally an Hayabusa Redux, but he's just not clicking with me thus far. Maybe too much an Hayabusa Redux. Good little match though. I understand why some people despise Maru's kicks, some just don't look on point, but then again, no one bumps big for them, it appears he really uses them as set-ups and accumulative damage tools, which is neat. Garuda does a beautiful quebrada. Which is kinda eerie.

 

Takehiro Murahama vs. Wataru Inoue

 

Ok, now we're fucking talking. I love Murahama already. He's so lumpy looking, he's like a junior Kitahara. And he's GOOD. Wataru fights the shoot-style with his own New Japan stiffness and quickies. Elbow exchange, one of the new tropes I never cared much for got at this point I totally accepted it, plus it's like a detail. This is excellent. I like both these guys a lot. Murahama going over was kinda predictable in a sense that Delphin is hosting the Cup, but it's well deserves and fits with the J Cup arcs since the beginning (Sasuke, Gedo, CIMA aka "the indy flavour" vs major league star)

 

Intermezzo

 

Shiryu vs TAKA Michinoku vs Billy Ken Kid & Tigers Mask

 

I aways wondered how Tigers Mask was looking like. Both these guy's outfits are winners. Man, Hayashi put on the Shiryu mask back on ? This is a Kaientai DX reunion, and it fucking rules ! Hayashi is buffed too, and he doesn't do the Benoit tribute anymore. TAKA still looks like TAKA, although a bit bigger, and is still an asshole. Amazing that WWF casted him as a babyface, although he was good at it at this young age. This is the best match of the show. The Osaka Pro babyface seem to be really good worker too, gotta love the baseball spots Tigers does. And damn, Hayashi and TAKA ? Totally ace rudos, crisp offense, TAKA is such a dickhead too. The one thing I never liked about his offense when he came back to Japan is that awkawrd looking Just Facelock. Stupid name too. You can see the WWE influence there. Well, terrific match.

 

Ok, now the good stuff is piling up, and the non-tournament matches are like an indy dream card mashup with actual results.

[gordi]

 

So, Murahama is Osaka Pro's shootstyle ace, in a BatBat way.

 

Apple had some potential.

 

these guys are giving any presents (candy ?) to the audience in exchange for something.

 

These two were like the Misawa vs Kobashi of comedy wrestling I guess.

 

 

 

And then at one point Murahama just kind of dropped off the map. It was a thing: I'd ask people "whatever happened to Murahama?" and they'd dismiss it and/or quickly change the subject. Real unsolved mystery for me.

 

Any excuse to post one of these:

 

 

She had potential all right.

 

We used to hang snacks around Kuishinbo's neck, in return for which he'd give us a chocolate. Ebessan would bless us (Ebisu is the god of good luck in business) and we'd drop coins in his wooden box.

 

 

I think "Misawa vs. Kobashi of Comedy Wrestling" is exactly right.

[gordi]

 

 

Excellent pro wrestlers. Great guys.

 

Loving these write-ups, by the way.

[El-P]

Raaah, that pic of Apple. So cute. (and yeah cute girl + fresh beer = winning combination)

 

I actually got the blessing part from Ebessan. Cool gimmick.

 

Well, so here we are, the final part of the fourth Super J Cup aka Osaka Pro Familial Indy Sleaze Supercard.

 

Jushin Liger & Jinsei Shinzaki & Super Delphin vs CIMA & Heat & KENTA

 

Holy shit, you could have put some of these guys in the J Cup !!! Come on. This is quite another fantastic dream match with the legends (well, Delphin is an Osaka legend) vs the young punks. Heat was Minoru Tanaka doing his own Kendo KaShin and it was never a good idea since the guy is good looking like crazy. Hey, he married Yumi Fukawa, don't put *that* guy under a mask. Each time I see Shinzaki, I have to admit he's still one of my all-time favourite. So feline. He does a double wrist-lock rope walk here, which is extra nice. CIMA & KENTA are all full of spunk and bile. CIMA can also make an ass out of himself and seem better than he was in 00. Liger still looks like an excellent worker, while Heat does some heatless but good shoot-style stuff. Very good match again and always fun to get such pairings.

 

Final

 

Naomichi Marufuji vs Takehiro Murahama

 

Not as good as the Inoue match, but still very good. Murahama is my new favourite fake shoot-style indy guy. After watching some Marufuji stuff from the G1, I think I like him as stiff grumpy vet better than junior superkicker. Not the biggest an of his finishing hold either, which rings echoes of Spike Dudley, which is never good. He's still an impressive worker in spots and does work some good sequences with Takehiro, creating a doubt in the issue of the match. He does win the big prize, which makes sense, as NOAH's number one junior.

 

Well, the card, as a J Cup, wasn't on par with the other one because of not enough participants and really only two or three match above *good*, but the final was certainly better than the previous one. Murahama & Inoue looked the best, with Maru just behind, so can't complain about the booking either. Considering teh whole card however, it was probably the most fun, because of variety. The presentation was also the best, with elaborate setting and just Mania-level intros for Ebessan & Kamen. So there, I guess since Osaka Pro had that reputation of crowd pleasing, fun promotion, this is straight in line. Loved that card.

[El-P]

It appears that there was pro-wrestling in Japan in 2009. And there even was another edition of the J Cup, hosted by New Japan again. I don't think I was even aware of that fact. So, that's the ultimate dive into the unknown for me. Korakuen Hall. Ok, that I recognize. Tiger Mask on announcing. So, he's not part of this one. No idea who was active at the time. And so we get a :

 

First round

 

Tigers Mask vs Taichi

 

Tigers Mask is doing a hobbling pirate entrance. I LOVE this guy already. He seems a little bit heelish too now. Taichi has elvolved from a generic AJ rookie to a very glamorous look, complete with terrific bad japanese boy-host hairstyle. Hot sprint. You can see the difference in quickness with what was done ten years before. Spot-spot-spot, but damn good as Taichi is trying to outdo dick heel Tigers. The swipe of the hand was a nifty spot. Short, but quite hot and really good.

 

Ryusuke Taguchi vs Gentaro

 

Oh, so that why Taguchi got the Funky Weapon moniker. Feel the 'fro. Japanese guys always were the afro in a stylish way. He's not a comedy guy at all, although he does the hip swivel on occasion. No butt attack either, but some really crisp looking work. Gentaro I remember from K-Dojo. At first, looks like kinda generic indy guy, but the guy surely knows how to work, including beautiful flying spots. You can see the level of athleticism has raised quite a bit. Fifiteen years before, Gentaro would have been Motegi. Started ok, ended quite good.

 

AKIRA vs Yamato

 

Akira Nogami gets in the J Cup in 2009 ? WTF ? Yamato I've never heard of, but he's a young punk. That's a dynamic that can work. Old AKIRA can still go apparently, and although his flying spots look his age, this totally works in a veteran vs youngin way. That's a third good match in a row and an impressive performance from the veteran. Nice surprise. Jury's out on Yamato.

 

Jado vs Danshoku Dino

 

Ok, so, Dino is a pervert. And he's gay and wants to kiss guys in the audience. Comedy match, with Jado playing it straight (no pun intended) while delivering heavy looking chops to poor Dino. It last waaaaaaaay longer than it should, although I guess the payoff works better that way. Not sure I want to see another Dino match though. Only in Japan that could work. Jado looks ripped and quite the chopper. Decent for a change of pace I guess.

 

Gedo vs Kota Ibushi

 

And now we're getting to the next level with Ibushi. He was in DDT at the time. Gedo is ripped, works slow pace and straight heel. Plays base for Ibushi's great flying around work. Slow build to a really hot finishing stretch, with quite the perfectly put together finish. Ibushi looks terrific already, Gedo looks efficient as hell. Very good match.

 

Prince Devitt vs Atsushi Aoki

 

Ok, so Devitt was IWGP champ at the time. So I guess he's going long here. Aoki is a NOAH guy I remember having seen at some point. Holy hell, these guys are working fast and crisp ! This is clearly a 2010's match. Brutal arm work by Aoshi, which is sold quite well by Devitt, who isn't a Devil yet but quite a devilish worker. So much female screams too. I wonder if he face-fucked some of these Korakuen Hall girls. Super fast and intense work, extremely well executed. Totally different than the previous match in that they kicked in high gear almost immediately, but you can't deny the great action.

 

Fujita Jr. Hayato vs Koji Kanemoto

 

Girls are going insane for Hayato, who's a young punk it appears. Kanemoto is an old prick. Both kick hard. How can that not go along well ? And it does. Excellent match, where the young tries to upstage the veteran. Such a classic story, especially when both are shooty and shit. Kanemoto's execution still looks both flawless and safe. They also protect themselves from kick to the face while selling beautifully. This had it all, the work, the attitude, the hot finishing stretch. Beautiful.

 

Jushin Liger vs Naomichi Marufuji

 

The Super J Cups champs going at it. Liger takes it down and slower. Marufuji looks better than five years before, although I do understand the dislike for some of his offense. He's a definite acquired taste. Damn this is an "then ace" vs "now ace" match, and it developps into greatness. How was Liger doing to be this good still ? This is the opposite of the 2010's match earlier, totally less is more, and make the most out of every shoteis. Matwork, bombs and punishment from Liger and tricky stuff from Maru. Liger puts over the new ace in the first round and all is well in the world.

 

Ok. This puts to shame every first round of past J Cups. Apart from the Dino match which was comedy, everything was at least good or better, mostly very good leaning on excellent, with one great match involving (doh !) Jushin Fucking Liger at 45 years old or something. Variety too, with straight sprint action, heelish slower pace, futuristic work, old vs young, legend vs ace, you name it. The veterans all delivered big time at their own level (obviously AKIRA is no Liger not Kanemoto). This was a fantastic first round and I didn't even know it existed. How peculiar.

[EricR]

I had never heard of GOA before, looked into him and what the hell is Okinawa Pro Wrestling!? Looks like he worked there from 2008-2012, and looks like they ran shows practically every single day. A couple of the years he worked over 300 matches for them, once working over 365! Is this a fake fed? Do they set up in random parking lots to do a quick match with no ring and count that as a show? Who is documenting these 300+ yearly OPW shows!? I need to know more.

[El-P]

I heard about Okinawa Pro before. Sounds like the epitome of indy sleaze. GOA was really good from the short bit I've seen.

 

Second round

 

Gedo vs Yamato

 

Again, Yamato gets out-heeled by his opponent. Gedo goes on working the leg and does it really well. One good thing about Japan is that you can shout "motherfucker !" like it's nothing. Solid match, but Gedo looks better than his opponent. Jury's still out on Yamato, I thought Gedo looked more solid and kept things together.

 

Danshoku Dino vs Prince Devitt

 

Damn, this is some crass comedy. Tons of dick grabbing and nipples fondling. Yet, I laughed because it's, you know, well done and seems to be in rather good spirit. Working this guy must be some experience. Has he ever faced Joey Ryan ? Dream match of sorts. Hey, Dino seems to be able tow ork too, so in five minutes they mix some pretty good stuff with comedy, but Devitt ain't having that and... HOLY SHIT FOOTSTOMP ON THE COCK !!! Sickest finish ever !!!! Seriously, how do you work that ??? Damn.

 

Koji Kanemoto vs Ryusuke Taguchi

 

Story here is Kanemoto always a step ahead of Taguchi. Kicking him unmercifully, reversing ankle locks (well, that I could do without, fuck you Kurt Angle), countering spots. So, Kanemoto fucks up Taguchi's knee until Taguchi decides he has enough and does the same : kick in the knees exchange ! Yeah, this is good. Doesn't get as hot as the previous Kanemoto match, but the story is well told and plays a role in the finish. I like how Taguchi seems to be a big Eddie Guerrero fan. Kanemoto looked really strong again.

 

Naomichi Marufuji vs Tigers Masks

 

Pretty big disappointment. On paper it looked like it could be one of the best match of the show and they barely go longer than six minutes, Maru going for finishers straight from the start. Tigers kinda kicks out of the finish too. Well, not sure what was that all about, but it looks like wasted potential.

 

After a terrific first round, this second round had nothing on the previous issues. One really good match, a solid one with not the best result (Yamato doesn't do much for me thus far), some good comedy and a rush job. Odd booking. Hopefully the semi-finals will deliver.

[El-P]

Semi finals

 

Prince Devitt vs Yamato

 

Finally, Yamato can play heel. Booking him with two other dickhead was a strange choice. He's also not that great. Not bad but kinda there. Oh, no selling galore. Not feeling this one. Turned into a decent match building up from nothing, but clearly Yamato has been mostly a bust to me. Devitt is such a typical 2010's worker, in both good and bad ways.

 

Naomichi Marufuji vs Ryusuke Taguchi

 

Battle of pants. Taguchi already won the hair fight. Ok, this is good. Really good actually and pretty much a modern, contemporary match. Maru is trolling Taguchi with the hip swivel. That's how you act on another promotion's show when you're an outsider ! Yuck, a bad fuck-up toward the end and Maru missed two kicks in a row. But it was still quite the good, all action, counters and counter-counters match. Never developped into epicness though. These matches do feel a bit rushed, but this was good.

 

Kinda like the second round, the semis just weren't on par with previous editions. Yamato hasn't done much for me in the end, and Maru, as good as he is, can also screw up stuff which are already dubious to begin with sometimes. Taguchi is a good worker but not a great one. Kanemoto and Liger are badly missed by this point it seems.

[Bierschwale]

YAMATO is a Dragon Gate guy. He'd only been active for a few years at that point but was older to debut. He's one of the best post-Toryumon originals in DG, for whatever that is worth.