HUSTLE 07/03/04

Kaz Hayashi & Spanky vs Low Ki & Homicide

This is a fun deal, though sadly clipped, which means that it doesn’t get the chance to reach it’s full potential. There was a fun mat exchange between Low Ki and Hayashi, before we clip to Spanky as face-in-peril. This was a good idea, Ki and Homicide looked good as two stiff surly dudes beating up the pretty-boy face. Even when Spanky tags Hayashi in, he’s not safe, as during a melee he gets caught on a flip dive by both guys and powerbombed onto the apron. Hayashi takes both opponents out right after with a dive. Hayashi then gets a nearfall by no-selling the Ki Krusher and hitting Emerald Frosion for 2. Ki has been a bit of a dick in this match, and it ultimately costs his team. Homicide has Spanky in the STF, and Ki stands on the apron to kick at Spanky’s hands as he reaches for the ropes. This lures in Kaz, who takes out Ki then hits an enzuigiri from the apron on Homicide. This not only leaves Homicide prone for a frogsplash, but also means Ki is in no position to make the save, resulting in victory for Kaz and Spanky. Good opener 

Steve Corino vs CW Anderson

This was pretty goofy in places, but was still enjoyable. We get some brawling to start, followed by a comedy bit as Corino tries, and fails, to set up a chair on the ring apron to send Anderson into. Anderson decides to focus on the arm of Corino, ramming it into the ringpost then whacking it with the chair. We clip, and when we return, Corino is still selling the arm. Good lad. Anderson hits him with a lovely looking punch, which the ref reacts to with a standing ten count for Corino. He gets up on 9. Anderson yells for an STO, which ends up being hit on him by Corino. Corino then warms up the band for Sweet Chin Music, which Anderson then amusingly hits on him. Anderson gets a really close two count by reversing a lariat to a spinebuster on a chair, but Corino picks up the win with a suplex. Pretty good fun, Corino in particular was really good at playing up to the crowd, which helped create a fun atmosphere. 

Shinjiro Otani & Satoshi Kojima vs Dusty Rhodes & Dustin Rhodes

As Dusty isn’t exactly in his prime here, Dustin works the majority of this match, which is never a bad thing. He spends a lot of the early stages here getting beaten down, as Kojima and Otani lock him into a double Boston crab. I did enjoy Dustin outsmarting Kojima on a strike exchange, letting Kojima rear up for a blow, then droptoeholding him into the ropes. Dustin slingshots Kojima into a Bionic Elbow, before the Rhodes’ lock in stereo figure-fours. Neither Dustin nor Dusty seem that over here, which kinda hurts some spots as Dusty has to really work to get a reaction. Dustin nails a bulldog on Kojima for two, but gets hit with a Koji Cutter which allows the tag to Otani. Otani gets the bootscrapes on Dustin, but gets hit with the Curtain Call for two. Kojima and Dusty brawl outside, and Kojima is able to recover quickest to get back in and level Dustin in the back of the head with a lariat. Otani rolls him up for the win.  

Riki Choshu & Tomohiro Ishii vs Zebra Man & Naohiro Hoshikawa

On the first Hustle show, Zebra Man got a bit of a decent push, beating Ikuto Hidaka in a pretty swift fashion, so it’s surprising that this is a bit of a squash. Not in his favour. Choshu lariats Hoshikawa right at the start, who never really recovers. Ishii hits a big back suplex and Choshu locks in the sharpshooter. Zebra Man is tagged in to a sizable pop, but his offence is pretty milky. Not an accusation you could level at Ishii, who decks him with a lariat and a brain buster. Shrugging off some more questionable offence, Ishii hits another brainbuster and Choshu hits the lariat on Zebra Man for an easy three. 

Sabu, Justin Credible & Mike Awesome vs Kintaro Kanemura, Masato Tanaka & Tetsuhiro Kuroda

You’d be hard pressed to call this a good match, but it’s pretty fun while it lasts. Awesome looks great early doors throwing big old Kanemura about. There is no tag format in place at the start of the match, with pairings of guys taking it in turn to compete in the ring, whilst the others brawl outside the ring. An Awesome Bomb from the ring apron through a table puts Kanemura out for a while, whilst Sabu puts Tanaka through a table with a big legdrop. This leaves Kuroda alone, and they suddenly go into a proper tag format, purely to build some heat on Kuroda. Awesome breaks a chair over Kuroda’s head. Of course, as soon as Kuroda makes the hot tag to Tanaka, all structure vanishes again and we got back to some big spots. The end sees Credible and Tanaka battle over a tombstone, before Kanemura hits Justin with a kendo stick and Tanaka nails the roaring elbow for the win. Goofy structure aside, this was enjoyable nonsense.

The Predator vs Dan Bobish

I’ve always had a soft spot for the Predator, and he looks in good shape here. Bobish is a big guy, like former WCW jobber Al Greene inflated with helium. Not a particularly good wrestler though, and this match is pretty dull. Bobish chokes Predator on the ropes, then plays up to the crowd, so I’ve no idea if he’s supposed to be face or heel. I did like the big delayed back suplex Predator hit on Bobish, and he gets good height on a leg drop, but there is too much sluggish brawling on display here. Predator gets the win with a top rope kneedrop. 

Mark Coleman & Kevin Randleman vs Shinya Hashimoto & Toshiaki Kawada

Two MMA fighters vs two of the elite guys in Japan. I really want to like Randleman, who has great movement and energy, but a little too much of his offence feels flat, and his opening section with Hashimoto is a little awkward. Coleman doesn’t even have the energy going for him, though his section with Kawada is a little less laboured. Hashimoto has his shoulder heavily taped, and Randleman starts to focus on it, hitting some nasty headbutts to the taped area. Kawada doesn’t have an obviously weak area, so he’s able to look more dominant in the ring, and his Yakuza kick in the corner on Coleman looks great. The match never feels like it’s building to anything though, and the end comes as Randleman hits repeated knees to Hashimoto’s shoulder, forcing the ref to call it off. Not Hashimoto or Kawada’s best day. 

Naoya Ogawa vs Matt Ghaffari, Kevin Randleman, Mark Coleman, Dustin Rhodes, Giant Silva & Dan Bobish

This is a handicap match, and there is a crooked ref to further stack the decks against Ogawa. He fares well at first, hitting STO’s on everyone. Bobish is able to put up a little more resisitance before falling to an STO. The heel ref gets “distracted” by events outside the ring, so everyone bar Ghaffari comes in and clobbers away on Ogawa. Silva hits a chokeslam and Ghaffari finally steps in to hit a big splash for the win. Not the best main event I’ve ever seen.

IWA Japan 14/09/2004

Really curious line up for this show, which is what inspired me to buy it. There is a one-night tournament for the IWA Japan heavyweight title, with lopsided brackets and an interesting list of participants (The Barbarian, Jim Duggan, Big Bossman, George Hines, Freddy Kreuger and Bruiser Kong), as well as a few non-tournament matches.

The Barbarian vs George Hines
Despite his advanced years, Barbarian is still a big guy here, and Hines' attempts to knock him down are pretty ineffective. Hines then decides a chop exchange with Barbarian might work for him - it doesn't. Hines eventually knocks him over with a sloppy looking crossbody, which gets two. Hines gets two following a nice pump kick , then starts getting a bit overconfident when a Shining Wizard gets another two. This confidence is his downfall, as Barbarian nails a chokeslam for two, then a powerbomb for the win. Fun enough opener.

"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan vs Bruiser Kong
Imagine James Storm in 10 years time cosplaying Bruiser Brody, and you've got Kong. This is really not very good, with Kong controlling almost the whole match, with Duggan only getting a few big blows in now and again. Kong's offence is generic heel stuff, all rope chokes and face gouging, but nothing looks particularly good. He gives Duggan a really weak lovetap with the 2x4, which is just embarrassing. Kong misses a big boot and Duggan nails the Three-Point Stance to win. Needed more Duggan offence, believe it or not.

Big Bossman vs Freddy Krueger
I love the fact I live in a world where this match can happen. Unlike the cinematic Freddy, this one looks a bit clumsy and can easily be hurt, as Bossman dominates the whole match. It's not a great match, but it's hard not to love the concept of the Bossman choking out Freddy fucking Krueger with his boot. The Bossman Slam gains the win pretty swiftly.

Great Takeru, Katsuya Kishi, Etsuko Mita, Omawari~san & Ultra Seven vs Dorobo, YUJI KITO, Hidehiro Nishiyama, Crusher Takahashi & Kaori Yoneyama
I don't know who is who in the match, but I managed to work a few out. Some sites have Omawari~san labelled as "Officer", so I guess he was the guy who looked and acted like a camp policeman. "Dorobo" is likewise listed as "The Thief", so that explains why, during a fun joshi bit between Mita and Yoneyama, Omawari~san is chasing Dorobo through the crowd. It's a bit of a mixed bag this match, with a ridiculous 11 person suplex spot including the ref. You get the impression some people here are just waiting around to dish out/receive spots. In the end, Ultra Seven makes Dorobo tap out to an octopus stretch. Forgettable.

Jaguar Yokota & Nozomi Takesago vs Command Bolshoi & Kyoko Kimura
JIP with Bolshoi hitting a ropewalk on Yokota, before diving outside onto all three ladies. Yokota is a bit older than the others, and comes across as suitably surly - Kimura is soon bleeding from the mouth. Bolshoi has some nice offence, getting close falls on Yokota with a swank looking rana and a Tiger suplex. Things break down, with both Bolshoi and Takesago hitting their own partners by accident, before Yokota nails Kimura with a fisherman's buster for the win. Decent enough.

Kensuke Sasaki vs Leatherface
This is a pretty brief affair. Leatherface gets a few moves in, but Sasaki clearly isn't down with getting hung on a butcher's hook, so chops and clotheslines the shit out of Leatherface in the corner. A brainbuster gets three.

"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan vs the Barbarian
Let's be honest, expectations have to be lowered for this match. Two guys arguably 10-15 years after their prime, with one booked to wrestle three times in a night, aren't going to be putting on a classic here. That said, this was fun enough for the four minutes it was on. Barbarian took a nice bump as Duggan clotheslined him over the top rope, and I loved the comedy spot of Duggan knocking himself out whilst trying to headbutt his way out of a bearhug. Obviously forgot Barbarian's infamously hard head. The end sees Barb miss a top rope headbutt and Duggan pick up the win with the three point stance.

Satoshi Kojima vs Chocoball Mukai
The opening really sets the tone here, with Mukai trying power moves and failing, only for Kojima to try similar moves with more joy. Kojima seems happy to take his time and looks like he's enjoying beating away on Mukai, nailing a nasty senton before mocking Mukai's hip-wiggling taunt. Mukai does gets some offence in after catching the nonchalent Kojima in a standing Guillotine choke, but his offence doesn't look very painful and, after Kojima pretty much rolls through a low-elevation German suplex, Mukai resorts to roll-ups and cradles to try for a quick win. It doesn't work and Kojima nails a Koji Cutter for two, before a lariat gives him the win. An extended squash, but a fun one.

The Big Bossman vs "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan
Sadly, this is likely Bossman's last match, as he passed away three weeks later. This is the tournament final for the IWA title. This match is less than four minutes, with maybe a third spent in a chinlock, so it's no classic, but it's not awful either. There is plenty of fun "old men clubbing each other" offence and I love the ref leapfrogging over Bossman as he heads out of the ring for his sliding punch. The end sees a ref bump and Bossman's eyes lighting up as he realises he can grab Duggan's 2x4 to steal the win. However, Duggan's wife stops him using it, and he turns round into a flying clothesline from the 3 point stance for the Duggan win. As an aside, gotta love how proud Duggan looks to win the title belt.

Toshiaki Kawada vs Keizo Matsuda
This match is all about Matsuda trying his best to conquer a seemingly unbeatable foe. His gameplan fails right at the start, as Kawada boots him in the face as he tries to run the ropes. The new plan involves slapping Kawada in the face on a strike exchange, which goes badly as Kawada starts beating the piss out of him, inside and outside the ring. Indeed, twice Kawada boots him in the face from the apron onto a ringside table. In the ring, he's still not able to get an advantage, and I love the way Matsuda shows his building frustration at not being able to get any real offence on Kawada. Eventually, he manages to reverse a suplex to a big reaction from the crowd, and twice downing Kawada with clotheslines gets a similar reaction. However, you get the feeling he's put everything into this spell of offence and a Kawada boot to the head is the begining of the end. A clothesline may only get two, but Kawada nails him with a powerbomb for the win. Really nicely worked match.

NJPW 09/10/2000

Shinya Hashimoto vs Tatsumi Fujinami
I’ve never seen Fujinami wrestle before, but a little research shows he was about 46 here, in which case he was in fantastic shape. It also means I’ve got no point of reference for how good he is, but this match is pretty uninspiring. There’s fleeting moments of excitement, but a bit too much going through the motions. Both guys jockey for position to start, with both hesitant to attack and expose themselves, until Hash decides to unload with some strikes, which lasts until Fujinami catches his leg on a kick and takes him to the mat. Back up, and Fujinami tries some strikes of his own, but gets taken down by a Hashimoto legsweep. Hash follows with a big senton. Hash then hits an Indian Deathlock. This heat up again with another strike exchange, this time with Fujinami taking some kicks flush to the face. It takes four of them to put him down. Fujinami is dead weight and Hash struggles to get him to his feet. However, Fujinami blocks a Hash brainbuster, but falls prey to a DDT, before Hash locks in a keylock for the tapout. Really anticlimactic.

Jushin Liger vs Super Delfin
JIP, which is a shame as it’s a match I’d like to see in full. We join as Delfin hits a tornado DDT on Liger, and locks in a Delfin Clutch for two. Delfin hits Liger with a palmstrike and the Osaka Cutter, before locking in a camel clutch. Liger breaks free and hits a palmstrike for a one count. A second gets a two count. A third is followed by a Fisherman Buster for the Liger win. Really want more of this.

Takashi Iizuka vs Don Frye
JIP again, though we get a bit more of this match. We join with Frye holding a leglock on Iizuka, who makes the ropes. Frye then holds a keylock on, before Iizuka makes the ropes again. Frye tries a judo throw, but is caught in a rear naked choke in a nice little sequence. Frye makes the ropes, but Iizuka hits two exploders before locking in another rear naked choke. Frye manages to break it again and nails a big belly-to-back suplex. Frye breaks from a front facelock and locks in a rear naked choke of his own for the win.

Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs Koji Kanemoto
JIP, with Koji getting knees on a moonsault attempt, but it seems that Kanemoto has been working over Takaiwa’s legs, as it’s him selling the impact the most. KK goes after the injured legs, locking in a figure-four before hitting a Frankensteiner and transitioning straight into a anklelock. Takaiwa inflicts damage of his own, getting two after turning a top rope rana into a powerbomb, but Kanemoto goes back to the leg again. However, it’s all for naught, as Takaiwa powerbombs him (barely) into the corner and hits a DVD for the win. Seemed pretty good.

Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima vs Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi
Our final JIP match sees the TenKoji team dominating Nakanishi. A Tenzan Driver is followed by a top rope headbutt for two. Kojima hits a Koji Cutter from second rope, but poses too long and gets nailed by 3 spears from Nakanishi. Nakanishi goes for the Argentine backbreaker, but Tenzan breaks and TenKoji hit a doubleteam powerbomb. Nakanishi goes for a claw on Kojima, who breaks free and instead nails a lariat for the win.

Steve Williams vs Scott Norton
This is a battle of the gaijins, AJPW vs NJPW. Both guys are positioned as evenly matched, as a battle of shoulderblocks and clotheslines yields no winner. However, Doc hits a dropkick to Norton’s arm and begins to focus his assault on the limb. I love the fact that Williams, just before he wraps Norton’s arm around the ringpost, finds time to dish out a pair of headbutts to Norton. In a nice sequence, Williams fights to lock a cross-armbreaker on Norton, who keeps trying to power out to a good reaction, before he manages to re-link his fingers. Norton hits a shoulderblock with his bad shoulder, which means that Doc can recover and hit a sort-of suicide dive. Williams continues to work the arm, but decides to go to the top rope and is caught by a top tope powerslam. Doc rallies back and tries a backdrop driver, but Norton falls on top for a two count. What I really like is the way both guys really have to struggle on their powermoves. It may result in the move not looking totally clean, but it adds to the realism and makes it feel like a proper fight: Doc shouldn’t be able to easily lift a guy as big as Scott Norton for a gutwrench powerbomb. When he does, it clearly takes a massive effort to get Norton up. Williams hits a backdrop driver on Norton, the effort of which keeps both men down. Doc hits a second, but Norton gets straight back to his feet. However, a third (where Norton lands on top of Doc, clearly winding him) gets the win. Fun heavyweight collision.

Masanobu Fuchi & Shiro Koshinaka vs Masa Chono & Mr T
Mr T is Tatsutoshi Goto under a mask. This is a battle of the veterans, and another AJPW vs NJPW clash. In line with this, Fuchi is more than happy to fight dirty, attacking the NJPW duo from the bell and standing on the face of Chono. Mr T comes in an offers some blows to Fuchi’s stomach, but Fuchi takes it to the mat and works over his legs, locking in an STF followed by an Indian Deathlock. However, as good as Fuchi is on the mat, he falls prey to the team of Chono and T, who hit him with a neato spike piledriver. Whilst Chono continues to beat up Fuchi, however, Koshinaka piledrives Goto on the ramp to the ring, which allows the heel team to make the most of their man advantage. Koshinaka hits a top rope butt-butt and a powerbomb for two. Mr T comes back and holds Koshinaka in place for Chono, but Chono is still on the mat and, when he does get up, his Yakuza kick attempt is ducked, hitting T in the face. This doesn’t hinder the face team for long, as they throw Fuchi from the ring and Goto nails Koshinaka with a lariat for the win. Watchable, but not amazing.

Toshiaki Kawada vs Kensuke Sasaki
This, on the other hand, is absolutely awesome. It’s our final AJPW vs NJPW encounter, with two company aces going head to head. Ergo, we’ve got a real big-match atmosphere. An opening strike exchange is pretty even, but ends with Kawada outside the ring regaining his bearings. Back in, Kawada tries taking control on the mat, but Sasaki breaks free and nails a big lariat. This prompts a chop exchange that ends with Sasaki on one knee, allowing Kawada to down him with an enzuigiri. Kawada takes this as a cue to just kick the shit out of Sasaki, constantly wearing him down. After taking a belly-to-back suplex, Sasaki starts to come back, blocking a powerbomb attempt and hitting two big lariats for a two count. Sasaki locks in a sharpshooter, which gets broken by Kawada making the ropes. Sasaki tries to lariat him down again, but his lariats have no effect on Kawada. This leads to both men exchanging lariats, which Sasaki eventually wins, only for Kawada to get straight back up and level him with a Yakuza kick! This is terrific. A double lariat puts both men down. Sasaki gets up, but tries another lariat and runs into an enzuigiri from Kawada, which hits him on the lariat arm! Kawada hits another three enzuigiri’s, but a fourth is blocked. Sasaki tries another lariat, but runs directly into another Kawada enzuigiri, which is enough to get the win in a colossal war. Just an fantastic match, with both guys getting to look near invincible as they trade bombs in an attempt to finally put the other away. Strongly recommended.

MLW Reload 2002

Back when I was first getting into the indies, this was the first non-WWE/WCW/ECW tape I ever bought. I think the lure was getting to see so many different styles on one show. MLW flew in guys from Mexico and Japan for the show, and not just any old guys, but proper stars like La Parka, Shocker, the Far East Connection and Satoshi Kojima. Unfortunately the business model wasn't sound and they swiftly went out of business. However, the production values were top notch for an indy, plus we get the benefits of Joey Styles commentating.

Fuego Guerrero vs Super Crazy
Guerrero is Amazing Red under a hood, a fact outed by both Joey Styles and the crowd who chant “Red” at him. The opening moments see Guerrero staying one step ahead of Crazy, including a beautiful flying headscissors. Crazy uses his smarts to take control, using two different sunset flip reversals to out-do Guerrero, but again falls prey to the speed of Guerrero, who sends him out and hits a beautiful plancha. Back inside, Crazy is able to regain control and really starts to dominate. Crazy nails a springboard moonsault and a corkscrew elbow, before getting two on a cocky cover following a powerbomb. Guerrero manages to reverse a second try into a tornado DDT. They manage to blow the Code Red, but Red hits a swank looking enzuigiri. A spin kick sends Crazy outside, and Red follows with a spectacular corkscrew moonsault. Back in, a Red Star Press gets two, but Crazy avoids a senton and hits a powerbomb for the win. Excellent opener, Crazy gave Red a fair bit here and everything Red did looked really crisp.

La Parka vs Shocker
La Parka slaps Shocker across the face on a handshake, and they launch into a really nice sequence of counters and reversals, ending in the applause stance. Shocker sends Parka outside and feints a dive, but his cockiness backfires as Parka suckers him outside and kicks him as he re-enters the ring. Shocker then takes a 360 bump from a La Parka shoulderblock, but Parka soon outbumps him, first landing on his head on a backdrop, then flying over the top rope to the floor on a monkey flip. La Parka rallies back and nails a corkscrew moonsault, before hitting a senton for two. Shocker briefly fires back, avoiding a Parka chairshot by dropkicking it into Parka’s face, but his subsequent suicide dive sends him headfirst into a chairshot. Somehow, Shocker regroups and nails Parka with 3 sentons for 2. La Majistral gets 2. Shocker then tries a Bronco Buster, but gets greeted with a boot to the groin, and a Parka corkscrew bodypress gets the win.

Christopher Daniels, Ikuto Hidaka & Dick Togo vs The SAT & Quiet Storm
I will go on record now as stating this is the best SAT match I’ve ever seen. I’d also add this isn’t Daniels, Togo and Hidaka carrying them, more a case of the SAT and Storm bringing themselves up to their opponents level. The SAT work really tightly here, not blowing anything and, thanks to the match structure, not just turning this into a spotfest. All 6 guys take it in turns to work a sequence in the early stages, before the heels (ostensibly Hidaka, Togo and Daniels, though the fans love some Dick) throw their opponents out of the ring, where it all starts to break down. I’d forgotten that Quiet Storm is actually pretty good at working the gusty little tough guy role, levelling Daniels with a big clothesline. Togo comes in and lands face first on an SAT drop toehold. Daniels comes in, which leads to a somewhat convoluted submission hold involving the SAT, Daniels and Togo. Togo nails Joel with an awesome looking DDT to take over, and Joel is the face-in-peril. The heels work over Joel so effectively that the same fans who were chanting “Dick” earlier start up an SAT chant. Hidaka works over the knee of Joel, before Dick nails him with a big swanton. Dick then hits a big brainbuster for two. The heels work in a fun spot where they lure the faces in, distracting the ref, so they can take turns posing on the prone body of Joel Maximo. Joel eventually makes the hot tag and all the guys bust in, leading to a series of dives, culminating with a springboard corkscrew moonsault by Hidaka. Back in, Hell has still broken lose as Storm hits Hidaka with a Widow’s Peak for 2, Daniels gets two following a BME on Jose and the SAT hit the Spanish Fly on Togo (possibly injuring Togo’s ankle) for a broken up two count. We end up with just Storm and Daniels in the ring, with Daniels picking up the win following a Roll The Dice neckbreaker. Fantastic match.

Terry Funk vs Chris Candido
This very much is not a good match. Candido is wearing the Funk-esque trunks he wore at the end of his brief WCW run. Funk starts out stalling and frustrating Candido, but his movements look like he’s in slow motion. Tammy Sytch manages to give Candido an advantage by grabbing Funk’s leg on a break and they head outside for some unspeakably dull brawling. Candido tries to enliven things with some big bumps, first taking a suplex from the ring to the floor, then taking a nasty looking spill over the safety rails. He then tries to top this by taking a piledriver on the floor, which is concrete protected by some carpet. Funk doesn’t help him much, hitting something that looked halfway between a suplex and a brainbuster (called as a DDT by Styles) on the metal ramp. Candido brings a ladder into the ring, and Funk awkwardly falls over trying to pick it up. I know that the Funker was pretty old at the time, but this is not one of his better performances. They botch….something ladder related in the corner, earning some boos. Candido gets two from a diving headbutt, but misses one from the ladder, then takes an odd looking bump over the top from an Irish whip. Tammy gives Funk a low blow while the ref is distracted (though he seemed pretty cool about all the ladders in the ring), but Funk no-sells it and gives her a DDT, before treating her to a bloody bite on the backside. With Candido back in, Funk hits an awkward looking neckbreaker through some chairs. Candido tries a small package on a spinning toehold attempt, but Funk reverses to a small package of his own for the win. My notes end with the phrase “bag of wank”, which sums this match up perfectly.

Steve Corino vs Vampiro vs the Sandman
This is scheduled for a 1-on-1 match between the Canadians, before “Enter Sandman” summons the arrival of the Sandman. Vamp and Corino double-team Sandman from the start, with Vampiro hitting the Nail In The Coffin early doors, before getting attacked by Corino. We get a rather average brawl out of the ring, though Sandman and Corino take some nasty-looking bumps on the steel ramp from Vampiro. Vamp looks to be in the best shape of the three men, and hits both with some firm looking kicks. Sandman’s role seems to be pretty much just putting weapons in the ring as he contributes nothing else, leaving Vamp and Corino to have some decent exchanges. Vamp and Sandman fight outside, which allows Corino to set up a piece of the safety rails in the ring, balanced on four chairs. This kinda backfires as Sandman superplexes Corino onto the railing, but Vamp comes along and pins Sandman, who has managed to hurt himself in the process. However, to my shock, it turns out this is an elimination match, so we continue with Vamp and Corino. They look really good in the ring together, though Vamp has the advantage due to Corino still feeling the effects of the superplex. Corino hits the Old School Expulsion out of nowhere for two and hits a second rope cutter for the win. Bit of a mess and would really have been better without Sandman.

Sabu vs Taiyo Kea
Magnificently, Styles claims that Sabu is in the best shape of his career, then points out the bandages on Sabu’s shoulder in the same sentence. That said, Sabu looks really “on” here: his strikes look good and there’s not of his usual sloppiness on his highspots. Sabu misses a baseball slide and gets tossed into the safety rails, before Kea hits a pescado. Back inside, Kea locks in a sharpshooter, and I really dig the way he kicks Sabu in the back while flipping him over. Sabu manages to bail outside and avoids a second pescado, before throwing Kea into the crowd and hitting an insane chair-assisted dive. Sabu tries to set up a table, but takes too long and Kea throws him back in the ring. Kea goes to the top rope, but Sabu gets up to nail a sick looking top rope DDT. Sabu tries for the triple jump moonsault, but Kea droptoeholds him face-first onto the chair. Kea goes up top again, but gets caught by Sabu, who hits a perfect top rope rana, followed by a springboard legdrop for two. Sabu goes back to the table from earlier and puts Kea through it with a legdrop. Back in, the triple jump moonsault only gets two. Sabu runs the ropes, but gets caught with a Frankensteiner by Kea. An enzuigiri sends Sabu face first onto a chair. Kea gives Sabu two Hawaiian Crushes (TKO) then hits the Hawaii 5-0 for the win. Pretty good match, both guys seemed on, though it was a little spotty in places. I really liked the way that, rather than hit a finisher and risk Sabu kicking out, Kea decided to hit 3 in a row to ensure Sabu wasn’t going to escape.

Satoshi Kojima vs Jerry Lynn
This is for the vacant MLW title. I’d like to highlight that Kojima’s entrance attire is fucking awesome. This match is mainly Kojima dominating Lynn, but Lynn using his veteran wiles to escape from moves and hit counters. Kojima takes Lynn down early and locks in a STF, forcing Lynn to the ropes. Kojima starts to subtly heel it up, not breaking cleanly and pretending not to understand English. Kojima hits a flurry of strikes in the corner,, but misses an 2nd rope elbow. Lynn send Kojima to the corner and hits a flurry of his own. Kojima no-sells 3 Lynn clotheslines, but Lynn manages to reverse a slam into an inverted DDT for two, Lynn avoids a lariat and hits a German suplex, which he really has to fight for, for 2. Lynn then hits a tornado DDT for two. Kojima avoids a Lynn clothesline and hits him with a Sky High for two. Lynn comes back with a TKO for two, but Kojima blocks a cradle piledriver attempt and nits a Michinoku Driver for two. A huge Lariat gets the win, and the MLW title, for Kojima. I really like the way they’d put over the Lariat as a death finisher- Styles had talked earlier about Kojima being mentored by Stan Hansen, and the ref recoiled when Kojima hit it. Really fun match, and a more than adequate main event.

HUSTLE 04/01/2004

This was the very first HUSTLE show, an attempt to launch a Sports Entertainment style company in Japan. The line-up of this show, including Dusty Rhodes, Goldberg and Mil Mascaras, sounded so wonderfully random I couldn't resist

Low Ki vs MIKAMI vs Jun Kasai vs King Adamo
Interesting choice of opener, with three junior heavyweights and one large savage. Within 20 seconds of the match starting, MIKAMI hits a dive on Adamo, which is totally missed by the cameras. The match soon settles into a vague structure of generally only having two guys in the ring at any one time, working a nice series of high-flying spots. Despite primarily being involved in comedy elements here, Adamo shows he can go, with a nice Stinger splash in the corner and a general willingness to let the smaller men look good. MIKAMI was the only guy I'd not seen before and he was impressive, hitting a nice looking Swanton from a ladder and taking a huge bump to the floor from the top rope following a Low Ki kick to the head. It ends following a Ki Krusher on Kasai to give Low Ki the win in a fun opener.

Zebra Man vs Ikuto Hidaka
Zebra Man seems to be a spin off from a movie, though I don't know who is under the mask. This is essentially a competitive squash to let the larger Zebra Man look good, with Hidaka getting in flashes of swanky offence and trying to weaken the bigger guy with kicks to the head. Zebra Man looks decent and hit some nice offence, with a wheelbarrow facebuster looking particularly devastating. The end result is never in any doubt, Zebra Man winning following a torture rack into a powerbomb for the three.

Satoshi Kojima & Kaz Hayashi vs El Solar & Dos Caras Jr
Jr is the wrestler now known as Alberto Del Rio, but you, you already know that (I'm so sorry, couldn't resist). Neither team really works heel in this match, which makes it feel a little disjointed, but the in-ring action is still pretty solid. Solar works an early mat exchange with Hayashi, before Caras Jr tags in. Jr lands on his feet on a missed moonsault attempt, but walks right into a sharp looking Hayashi superkick. It feels odd at first to equate Jr to Del Rio, until he hits that familiar step-up enzuigiri on Kojima, and suddenly it falls into place. A series of dives ends with a tope from Kaz. Back in the ring, Solar goes back to the mat with Hayashi, locking in a Mexican surfboard, which he rolls around the ring for added effect, before tying Kaz up in another submission hold. Dos Jr hits a nice press slam into a German suplex for 2 on Hayashi, but Kojima getting tagged in changes the complection of the match, as he can't be pushed around as easily, forcing the Mexican team to wear him down with a series of well-executed double team moves. Hayashi interjects to help his partner, allowing Kojima to hit the Koji Cutter and the lariat on El Solar for the win.

Shinjiro Otani & Mastato Tanaka vs The Predator & Kevin Randleman
With two American's with MMA experience (Randleman being a former UFC champion) in the ring with the hard-hitting Emblem team, it'll comes as no surprise to learn this is a pretty stiff encounter, as neither team is afraid to lay in the moves. The overall effect of this is that it feels like the two teams are trying to just wear the opposition out. Randleman is pretty surprising here: not only has he great presence and in-ring charisma, he also is quite impressive in the ring, albeit lacking a bit of polish. During the match he hits a nice springboard moonsault and a decent rana. Tanaka and Otani are predictably good working together, whilst the real difference maker in the match is the Predator, who dominates proceedings so much that you wonder why the WWE made him into the infinitely less interesting Sylvester Terkay. His size and power mean that Otani and Tanaka can take control when they use their speed, but when the Predator catches them, they're in trouble. This is their downfall: after not tagging out, Tanaka gets levelled by the Predator and a monster top rope kneedrop looks like it caves his face in. One huge musclebuster later and the Predator picks up the win. Good, hard-hitting action.

Giant Silva vs Kohei Sato & Katsuhisa Fujii
Handicap squash match. Not much to report here, Silva isn't very good and Sato is far too good to be wasted in this manner. Silva wins after chokeslams to both men.

Shinya Hashimoto vs Vader
Vader pretends to be about to throw his mask into the crowd, but drops it to the mat instead for some easy heat. Things are pretty even to start, until Vader starts badmouthing Hash before levelling him and nailing a splash for two. Hashimoto has one shoulder heavily taped, which Vader works on to remove his striking threat, though this just means that Hash starts to kick the crap out of him instead. Hashimoto gets a cross-armbreaker before both guys head to the outside. Vader misses a chairshot which allows Hash to hit a DDT on the floor for a (heavily booed) countout win. Too short to be any good, but I quite enjoyed the strike exchanges while they lasted. I suspect, not being a puro expert, that these two will have had many better matches when both (especially Vader) were younger and fitter.

Steve Corino, Tom Howard & Dusty Rhodes vs Mil Mascaras, Dos Caras & Sicodelico Jr
Mascaras has a reputation for working his own style of match and not being overly willing to take bumps. This match will do nothing to damage that reputation, as Corino finds himself working for two during their exchanges, stooging like a madman for the older masked man. In fact Corino is a heat machine throughout, tagging himself in to steal the spotlight when the audience anticipate some Rhodes/Mascaras action and yelling the names of other wrestlers on the show before stealing their signature moves, with both Hashimoto's DDT and Ogawa's STO getting used. On the luchador team, both Caras and Sicodelico equip themselves well, Sicodelico looking especially good with an attempted spinning elbow, while Caras also looks good against Howard (who, in fairness, does everything in his power to make Caras look good). Mascaras, meanwhile, seems content to hit Corino with flying forearms, before hitting Corino with a top rope crossbody for three. It's not unfair to say the best parts of this match were the bits without Mascaras. His partners both looked good and, while Big Dust was used sparingly, Corino and Howard worked hard to give the match some heat. The only real complaint is teasing Dusty vs Mascaras and not delivering, but it was perfectly watchable nonetheless

Mark Coleman vs Toshiaki Kawada
Sadly, this is one of those wrestling/MMA hybrid matches that are mainly worked on the mat, without being terribly interestlng. There are some good bits, including Coleman powering Kawada up from the mat to counter a choke attempt, but this is a whole lot of nothing. It's also very short, Kawada getting an anklelock about 5 minutes in, which prompts the referee to call for the bell, without Coleman winning in an ending that benefits noone.

Bill Goldberg vs Naoya Ogawa
I recall not liking Ogawa in the Zero-One match I reviewed back in September, so my hopes weren't high for this. However, I really quite enjoyed this, largely due to the performance of Goldberg. For a guy who wasn't required to sell much in his WCW days, he made Ogawa look immense here. Ogawa at one point locks in a leglock for several minutes, and what keeps it interesting is the selljob from Goldberg, punching the mat to try and block out the pain and slapping Ogawa to get him to break the hold. It's a shame then that the ending is so disappointing. The ref gets bumped during an Ogawa sleeper, meaning no-one counts following a Goldberg spear. Ogawa hits an STO, then another, which gives me flashbacks to that wretched Tom Howard match where Ogawa hit seven STO's in a row. Thankfully, Giant Silva intervenes, hitting Ogawa, allowing Goldberg to nail another spear and the Jackhammer for the win. Screwiness aside, this was a fine main event.