Post by Agent Kev on Aug 26, 2004 22:31:12 GMT -5
This show looked good to me on paper because it is focusing on the new generation of Japanese wrestlers and also is giving a chance to see more of young guys that I haven't seen much of.
Jado & Gedo vs NOSAWA & MASADA
Pretty good opener. Nothing spectacular but perfectly acceptable starter match. I'd like to see more of MASADA.
Toru Yano vs Mitsuya Nagai
Nothing much here. This is your typical Yano match were he gets DQ'd for using foreign objects, throwing powder and beating up on the ref.
Wataru Inoue vs Hidetaka Monma
This was my first chance to see Monma and I dug him a lot. He seemed to me to be a shoot fighter trying to wrestle a pro wrestling match. But he looked very good in his offensive display and would like to see more of him in the future. Wataru was up and down as usual, I think this match exposed him a little as he was unable to carry his part of the match with an inexperienced opponent. Overall, I liked the match due to Monma's style.
Garuda vs El Samurai
This was a decent match featuring Garuda from WMF (Hayabusa's fed). This was my second chance to see him work (also saw him work the Osaka Pro Super J Cup 4th Stage). Overall the verdict is still out on him. He seems like a decent flyer but has kind of a vanilla move set for someone who relies so much on highspots and flying. Decent match.
Masahito Kakihara vs Takaku Fuke
I haven't seen much of Kakihara in the past but I was totally into him in this match. He pretty much killed Fuke in this match (Fuke is a Pancrease worker). I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more from Kakihara in the future.
Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Fujita vs American Dragon & Rocky Romero
This was damn solid. I really dug the Romero/Kanemoto opening feeling out process as both guys are really quick strikers and it was just fun to watch. AmDrag was in this match for 85% of his teams work and did a great job working with Kanemoto (I'm not a big Fujita mark). Overall, nice match with AmDrag picking up the credible pinfall over Kanemoto with a leglock suplex hold.
Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima vs Minoru Suzuki & Tiger Mask IV
I thought this was short but fun. It was my first chance to see Nakajima (who is 16) and I was very impressed for what he did at his age. He definitely looked to belong and had some nice strikes (apparently he has an extensive background in judo). I think he could be huge down the road. I also really dug MiSuzuki in this match. Suzuki didn't do anything really special but he just has this "I am a badass and I'm going to kick the sh*t out of you" attitude. Overall a good short match that did a good job in showing the contrast between the juniors and the heavys and did a good job of leaving me interested in seeing the potential singles matches between TM4 and Nakajima and MiSuzuji and Sasaki.
Big Boss MA-G-MA vs Jushin Liger
This was a real solid match between these 2 fueding warriors. Chairs were used, masked were torn, powerbombs reversed into ranas, Brainbusters no sold, dives to the floor, moonsaults were executed. Overall a real fun match that the crowd didn't respond to well enough (this would have been hella fun with a hot crowd). There was one move that stands out in my mind and that is when MA-G-MA has his maked ripped by Liger and Liger then plants MA-G-MA on the floor with a piledriver and when MA-G-MA moves you see blood where his head hit the floor. Good stuff.
IWGP JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE: Heat vs Kengo Mashimo
This was pretty decent. Heat opened up by taking down Mashimo with his patented Minoru Special (rolling arm bar taken down) for a near submission just seconds into the match. Mashimo regrouped and then almost knocked Heat the fuck out with a stiff kick to the head. After this Mashimo dominated for the next several minutes until Heat gained the advantage back and took it home for the victory. Mashimo is out of the Kaienti Dojo group (trained by TAKA Michinoku) and has only been in the sport for 2 years but I think he has a good upside. His arsenal right now is pretty limited (to mostly kicks and submissions) but I think we will see him in the big leagues someday (NOAH, NJPW or AJPW).
U-30 OPENWEIGHT TITLE: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Ryusuke Taguchi
This was definitely the best match of the night and the one that the crowd reacted the best towards. Both guys looked good and I thought Taguchi did a good job keeping up with the bigger Tanahashi and not looking out of place in the match.
Overall thoughts: I definitely enjoyed this show although I probably would not recommend it unless you buy a lot of puroresu tapes/DVDs. I think the reason that I liked it was that I got to see a lot of diverse talent and got introduced to a lot of guys that I had never seen before, plus I got to see Liger, AmDrag, Romero, Tanahashi and MA-G-MA.
Jado & Gedo vs NOSAWA & MASADA
Pretty good opener. Nothing spectacular but perfectly acceptable starter match. I'd like to see more of MASADA.
Toru Yano vs Mitsuya Nagai
Nothing much here. This is your typical Yano match were he gets DQ'd for using foreign objects, throwing powder and beating up on the ref.
Wataru Inoue vs Hidetaka Monma
This was my first chance to see Monma and I dug him a lot. He seemed to me to be a shoot fighter trying to wrestle a pro wrestling match. But he looked very good in his offensive display and would like to see more of him in the future. Wataru was up and down as usual, I think this match exposed him a little as he was unable to carry his part of the match with an inexperienced opponent. Overall, I liked the match due to Monma's style.
Garuda vs El Samurai
This was a decent match featuring Garuda from WMF (Hayabusa's fed). This was my second chance to see him work (also saw him work the Osaka Pro Super J Cup 4th Stage). Overall the verdict is still out on him. He seems like a decent flyer but has kind of a vanilla move set for someone who relies so much on highspots and flying. Decent match.
Masahito Kakihara vs Takaku Fuke
I haven't seen much of Kakihara in the past but I was totally into him in this match. He pretty much killed Fuke in this match (Fuke is a Pancrease worker). I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more from Kakihara in the future.
Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Fujita vs American Dragon & Rocky Romero
This was damn solid. I really dug the Romero/Kanemoto opening feeling out process as both guys are really quick strikers and it was just fun to watch. AmDrag was in this match for 85% of his teams work and did a great job working with Kanemoto (I'm not a big Fujita mark). Overall, nice match with AmDrag picking up the credible pinfall over Kanemoto with a leglock suplex hold.
Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima vs Minoru Suzuki & Tiger Mask IV
I thought this was short but fun. It was my first chance to see Nakajima (who is 16) and I was very impressed for what he did at his age. He definitely looked to belong and had some nice strikes (apparently he has an extensive background in judo). I think he could be huge down the road. I also really dug MiSuzuki in this match. Suzuki didn't do anything really special but he just has this "I am a badass and I'm going to kick the sh*t out of you" attitude. Overall a good short match that did a good job in showing the contrast between the juniors and the heavys and did a good job of leaving me interested in seeing the potential singles matches between TM4 and Nakajima and MiSuzuji and Sasaki.
Big Boss MA-G-MA vs Jushin Liger
This was a real solid match between these 2 fueding warriors. Chairs were used, masked were torn, powerbombs reversed into ranas, Brainbusters no sold, dives to the floor, moonsaults were executed. Overall a real fun match that the crowd didn't respond to well enough (this would have been hella fun with a hot crowd). There was one move that stands out in my mind and that is when MA-G-MA has his maked ripped by Liger and Liger then plants MA-G-MA on the floor with a piledriver and when MA-G-MA moves you see blood where his head hit the floor. Good stuff.
IWGP JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE: Heat vs Kengo Mashimo
This was pretty decent. Heat opened up by taking down Mashimo with his patented Minoru Special (rolling arm bar taken down) for a near submission just seconds into the match. Mashimo regrouped and then almost knocked Heat the fuck out with a stiff kick to the head. After this Mashimo dominated for the next several minutes until Heat gained the advantage back and took it home for the victory. Mashimo is out of the Kaienti Dojo group (trained by TAKA Michinoku) and has only been in the sport for 2 years but I think he has a good upside. His arsenal right now is pretty limited (to mostly kicks and submissions) but I think we will see him in the big leagues someday (NOAH, NJPW or AJPW).
U-30 OPENWEIGHT TITLE: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Ryusuke Taguchi
This was definitely the best match of the night and the one that the crowd reacted the best towards. Both guys looked good and I thought Taguchi did a good job keeping up with the bigger Tanahashi and not looking out of place in the match.
Overall thoughts: I definitely enjoyed this show although I probably would not recommend it unless you buy a lot of puroresu tapes/DVDs. I think the reason that I liked it was that I got to see a lot of diverse talent and got introduced to a lot of guys that I had never seen before, plus I got to see Liger, AmDrag, Romero, Tanahashi and MA-G-MA.
