Naomichi Marufuji vs Jun Kasai
This is the first of four first-round matches in the Super J cup tournament. I quite like what little I've seen of Kasai before, so this should be interesting. He looks pretty good here, and is quite dominant at first, nailing some DDT's and getting two from a top rope splash. I also loved him hitting a low blow then quickly spinning Marufuju around to disorient him before getting two off a backslide. They work at quite a fast pace, both trying for rollups to get the swift win - sensible in a tournament setting, before Marufuji gets Sliced Bread for the win.
Goa vs Garuda
I have seen one Gaurda match before and zero Goa matches, so going into this blind. Garuda has a great look and hits a nice suicide dive early, so I've taken to him already. Goa is stockier and goes to the chinlock pretty swiftly into his offensive run. Not too sure about the flow of this match: Garuda breaks out of a sharpshooter and within 30 seconds is hitting a plancha on Goa, which seems too quick a transition. Falcon Arrow gets two for Garuda. Goa hit some power offense, including a Jackhammer for two, but Garuda ducks a Shining Wizard and gets the win following a rana. Their work was decent enough, but the match needed a bit better structure.
Wataru Inoue vs Kazuya Yuasa
These two face off before the introductions, so hopefully we'll see a bit of fire here. Yuasa wins the ensuing strike exchange with a nice big clothesline. Another strike exchange, which is one of my least favourite things in wrestling, follows. Inoue takes over with a largely pointless bit of matwork, before Yuasa suckers him in outside the ring and nails him with a dropkick as he dives from the apron. I like that a lot of Yuasa's offence involves some beefy blows, with uppercuts and clotheslines hurting Inoue. Yuasa does annoy me by twice going to an anklelock, despite having used no offence on Inoue's leg before. After a deathlock doesn't work, he doesn't go back to it either. After avoiding another Yuasa clothesline, Inoue locks in an Octopus Stretch for the win. This wasn't great.
Takehiro Murahama vs Taichi Ishikari
Ishikari goes on offence quickly here, levelling Murahama with dropkicks and a big German suplex for two. Again, makes sense to go for the quick win in a tournament. Murahama seems to be a bit of a striker, so he nails some stiff blows to take over. I get the impression he's the more favoured of the two, as Ishikari seems to go to quick offensice flurries when he gets an opening, as if he doesn't want to risk Murahama recovering. When he does hesitate, Murahama kicks him in the head to take over. Murahama seems confident on offence, blitzing Ishikari with kicks and, despite a few desperation roll ups by his opponent, quickly wins with a brainbuster. Really enjoyed this, told a good story of the overmatched guy trying to sneak a win against the odds.
Ofune vs Apple Miyuki
Joshi match here to break up the tournament matches. This really isn't very good and there is something quite annoying about Ofune. They run through a bunch of basic offence, though Miyuki at least shows fire with some stomps in the corner, and I did enjoy one submission hold she did from the corner. A guilotene choke gets the win for Ofune.
Tomohiro Ishii, MEN'S Teioh & MIKAMI vs Kintaro Kanemura, Azteca & Big Boss MA-G-MA
Kanemura has some bandaging on his neck, which is pretty distracting. I remember liking the one MIKAMI match I saw previously, and he's pretty slick here too. Both teams having a big powerhouse (Ishii and Kanemura) adds a fun element as their face-off leads to everything breaking down outside the ring. Back in, MIKAMI gets picked out, including taking a stepladder to the nuts from Kanemura. MA-G-MA gets great air hurling him across the ring with a butterfly suplex. The heat section on MIKAMI sees him getting pummelled by his three bigger opponents before the leads to Ishii clearing house like a beast. Huge superplex on Kanamura is impressive. We head into a hot finishing sequence, with MIKAMI taking top rope splashes from Azteca and MA-G-MA, which his partners break up on the pin, and Ishii kills Azteca with a snap powerbomb, also for two. The end sees Azteca hit in quick succession by a Miracle Ecstasy Bomb by Teioh, a swanton from a ladder by MIKAMI and finally a brainbuster by Ishii to finish him off. Great fun match here. Of note, the ref kept curiously jumping in the ring, like he was stomping ants. Very odd.
Ebessan vs Kuishinbo Kamen
Man, it takes these two forever to get to the ring. This is, as you'll know if you've heard of these two, a comedy match. This appears to be some kind of title defence by Ebessan. They run few a few of the usual comedy routines, wrestling in slo-mo, wrestling that turns into a dance routine etc. However, some wrestling does sneak through and it does end up being something resembling a match. I thought Ebessan hit a lovely Sky Twister Press, as did Kamen, who picked up the win with his.
Garuda vs Naomichi Marufuji
I liked Garuda, after a little bit of token matwork, just going "fuck it" and hitting a huge tope about a minute into the match. Garuda goes back to the matwork to ground Marufuji, but Marufuji is slightly quicker on the mat and takes over there. They end up outside, where Garuda seems more comfortable, hitting a decent Asai moonsault. Things really heat up from there, and the final few minutes, though maybe a bit too back-and-forth, were a lot of fun. Garuda hit a swank Dragon suplex for a very close two. He misses a 450 splash, but in turn avoids Sliced Bread from Marufuji, who instead quickly locks in a Majistral cradle for the win. Fun semi-final.
Takehiro Murahama vs Wataru Inoue
This was a fun match. Murahama spent a good proportion of this bout kicking Inoue to fuck, with some lightning fast kicks too much for the New Japan man. I especially liked Murahama teasing one type of kick, then nailing a different one when Inoue tried to block. Inoue's offence didn't seem convincing, despite him being given an even share of the bout, though a cross legged brainbuster looked pretty good. There was a great spot, where Inoue tried to block a top rope superplex by repeatedly hitting Murahama, who would just about hold on to the top rope, before eventually hitting the suplerplex. Murahama gets two from a brutal looking kick flurry, and shortly after wins with a brainbuster.
TAKA Michinoku & Shiryu vs Billy Ken Kid & Tigers Mask
This is a pretty fun tag match, largely due to the heeling of TAKA and Shiryu. They work over Billy Ken Kid to start, and do little annoying things like gouging at his face and trying to undo his mask. Just little dick moves. Shiryu in particular levels some stiff blows on Kid. We see a little friction in the heel team after some "face ducks and move hits partner instead" , but they manage to stay on the same page to work Kid over. TAKA keeps going to a crossface on BKK, which he'll repeat throughout the match. The hot tag to Tigers Mask sees some nice stereo dives by the faces. Tigers Mask gets a two count from a Tiger suplex, but Kid misses a 450 splash, before more stereo dives, this time from the heel team. The heel friction shows up again as Shiryu hits TAKA by accident with a leg lariat. TAKA tries to lock in another crossface on BKK, but it's not locked on properly and Kid rolls him up in a crucifix for the victory.
HEAT, KENTA & CIMA vs Jushin Liger, Jinsei Shinzeki & Super Delfin
Interesting battle of the three younger stars against the more established veterans. The youth clear the ring to start, and start working over Delfin, clearly seeing him as the weak link of the team. I loved HEAT just nailing Delfin with repeated dropkicks in the corner. Liger gets tagged in, and gets a surfboard on CIMA, and I just love Shinzeki coming in to stand guard, preventing CIMA's partners saving him with a magnificent grumpy look on his face. Liger is also magnificently surly in the match, seeing an attempt to break a pin coming, and immediately standing up and giving a non-too-subtle "up yours" gesture. Things start to break down, and the young guns hit a series of dives each. Shinzeki hitting the ropewalk on CIMA and KENTA at the same time is pretty swank. The end sequence is an exciting series of moves, but Delfin gets isolated trying the Delfin Clutch on CIMA and, after getting kicked to fuck, he gets hit with Schwein by CIMA for the win. This was a lot of fun.
Naomichi Marufuji vs Takehiro Murahama
The tournament final, and it's not the two most exciting guys in there (but then my personal choice of Garuda vs Kasai wouldn't have gone down too well). Unfortunately, whilst this is ok, these two seem to have a few communication issues, which makes this look a little sloppy. Curiously, given that I've found Marufuji the weaker half of his two earlier matches and have generally enjoyed Murahama in this tournament, it was Marufuji who impressed more here. I liked his gameplan of focusing on the legs of Murahama to remove his striking game, even if Murahama seemed unwilling to sell the damage as soon as it was his turn on offence. Marufuji even busted out the old Bret Hart ringpost figure four. They tease a superplex to the floor, but instead Murahama takes a nice bump to the floor before kicking the leaping Marufuji in mid air, which looked good. In the ring, Murahama gets two off a brainbuster, before Marufuji also gets two from Sliced Bread #2. The end sees Marufuji hit Sliced Bread again, this time from the top rope, to pick up the victory. This had a few good moments, but didn't really come together well.
Showing posts with label Super Delfin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Super Delfin. Show all posts
Sunday, 8 February 2015
Wednesday, 17 August 2011
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.
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.
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