Lance Russell & Dave Brown call Lucha matches whilst Schumacher sleeps through the Jersey J Cup - It's RIM # 4

American Dragon Vs Supreme Lee Great
Nice little opener in which Dragon sold his ass off and made Supreme look sorta good by giving him the bulk of the offence, before taking the eventual win with a sweet cradle suplex. Supreme's punches could be better but everything else looked fine. Short and sweet.

Dave Greco Vs Dixie
Back and forth match, but it was too short to really judge either man's wrestling ability or the match quality. Both men's ring attire sucked hard. Greco wins!

Mark Briscoe Vs Shawn Sheridan
Fun little match, with Sheridan working over Briscoe's neck by using some neckbreaker variations and a nice neck crank. Match was long enough for the younger Briscoe to show of some nice chain wrestling and a cool running double stomp before taking the match with a swank arm trap burning hammer.

Scoot Andrews Vs Jason Rumble
Dud - 10 minutes of my life that I will never get back again. Thanks guys.

Colt Cabana Vs Damian Dragon
Cabana IMO definitely has the look and potential to make a big name for himself. He has that laid-back character and he is a natural baby face.
Another short match where both guys got to look good, especially Cabana who showed his professionalism by covering up a blown leapfrog spot. Cabana wins with some kind of back breaker.

AJ Styles Vs Qeenan Creed
I can't believe that AJ Styles would do this to me after I backed him up over at the Real in Memphis forum. This was awful, god-awful and it was all AJ's fault. He seemed to be on a mission to prove that he had more moves in his arsenal than all the wrestlers on this card put together, completely disregarding psychology and any kind of an in ring story. If you like a spot fest, then you will probably love this, but I hated it. AJ wins with the Styles Clash.

CM Punk Vs Billy "Highlight" Reil
Best match so far for me, as Punk is all types of good, breaking out all sorts of neato stuff and taking Reil along for the ride. Punk heels it up more than anyone else does on the card, giving us the fake injury spot, the false handshake and just generally being an angry little cunt. It's why we love him.
Some cool spots with Punk getting rammed into the Perspex ice rink walls and bumping like a freak. But it's all for nothing as Punk eventually hits a shining wizard on Billy, then applies the Texas Cloverleaf for the win.

Insane Dragon Vs Reckless Youth
The last of the first round matches and we hit instant start mode as Dragon shows his intentions with a dive onto Youth before he even gets into the ring. This breaks the mould as so far each mach has started with a collar and elbow or knuckle lock tie up and I'm all about mould breaking.
Story of the match is fairly simple as Dragon tries to combat Youth with his aerial offence, whilst Youth tries to take him to the mat and stretch him. Good stuff, even though Dragon's rather green. Youth with a Northern Lights Bomb for the duke.

American Dragon Vs Dave Greco
Sublime stuff by Dragon once again, as he sells his leg through out this like a champ making Greco look like a million bucks in the process. This match set up the psychology for the final as Greco made mince meat of Dragon's leg leaving him limping and wincing in agony. Dragon's selling really is above and beyond what most wrestlers would be at his experience level and it is strange why he hasn't yet been used by the likes of NWA-TNA, when he is clearly the best independent wrestler in America today. Dragon worked like Ric Flair in his prime here, but instead of the figure four we get an evil looking cobra clutch for the victory.

Scoot Andrews Vs Marc Briscoe
Argh - Never ever repeat a blown spot, it looks awful and it ruins a match especially when you can't even get it right second time around. Another duffer here with a shitty finish to boot.

AJ Styles Vs Colt Cabana
This bored me to tears and I was half-asleep through out, nuff said.

CM Punk Vs Reckless Youth
Ah ha - I am once again showing the vital signs of life as Punk Vs Youth is on hand and apparently this is the match where Punk fractured his skull and instantly he shows me why by taking some hellacious bumps from the apron to apron to the floor. It's hard to point out when he cracks his head, as he doesn't seem overly thwarted by any moves and everything just seems like normal selling. (Although it may have been that awesome Eddie Guerrero style slingshot senton to the floor)
Anyway despite all this, he finished the match and actually has a one hell of a match proving not only is he an awesome wrestler but he also has a huge set of balls. Youth wins with a Northern Lights Bomb and post match Punk with the aid of a chair helps himself to the back

American Dragon Vs Scoot Andrews
Scoot redeems himself here by keeping things simple and working around Dragon's injured leg and even applying a figure four which is the only time I have ever seen him do it, strange for someone who calls himself Nature Boy.
Once again Dragon sells his ass off and makes his opponent look like a true ass stomper before applying the cobra clutch hold in desperation. Simple, yet effective stuff that furthered the psychology for the final and also made for an entertaining watch.

Reckless Youth Vs AJ Styles
A good match as Reckless broke out the wacky lucha style submissions that kept AJ from going loco and AJ also broke out that cool 'rana he hits from a ground position. Reckless is such an awesome wrestler, he really knows how to work a crowd and get people behind the match and his experience definitely showed in this match. This was all types of fun as Reckless advances to the final with a pinning counter out of a hurricanrana.

Inferno Vs Jay Briscoe
This was a non-tournament match for the JCW Heavyweight title and having never seen Inferno who is a WWF developmental guy it had my interest. They start with some neat amateur chain wrestling, which from what I have seen both the Briscoe Brothers really excel at and IMO they should go down that route, amateur headgear and all.
Jay dominates most of the offence in this match and even though he is clearly working as a heel, the crowd are firmly behind him right through out. As for Inferno, he plays his part well; selling really well for the smaller man and making him look like a legit threat to the title. Inferno eventually takes the win but uses some face plant thing that screamed of Nova and made me hate him forever.

American Dragon Vs Reckless Youth
This match had a quite a bit to live up to as all of Dragon's matches in the tournament had been used as a vehicle toward this one and despite my high expectations I certainly wasn't disappointed. A very cool match that was in the style and calibre of the Ring of Honour main events so if you liked those then this will be right up your street. Obviously the focus of the match was Dragon's leg and yes Youth went straight to work on it, (including a nice DDT on the injured leg) but they also used a lot of high impact moves without the match becoming a spot fest, by using some nice transitions and psychology. The finish was great as Youth hit a top rope tornado DDT on Dragon, but as Dragon kicked out at 2, Youth applied a knee-bar on the injured leg for the tap out. A very good match IMO that is certainly worth seeing if you love the likes of Ring of Honour.

It's been a long card and I'm feeling kind of wrestled out, perhaps I should have broke this up in to a couple of viewing sessions but anyway, a couple of good matches and if you are big on US Indies then you probably want to see this. (If not don't bother)
However if Pickstar puts the final (Dragon Vs Youth) on his Independent Invasion tape then you would be better advised to get that instead as it's the best match on the show and the only match that's essential viewing.

Additonal note - They need to stop having guys get all lovey dovey hugging each other and thanking each other for a good match, why don't they just pull their pants down and blow each other off already. I want my wrestlers to be ugly, ass stompin' motherfuckers, not a bunch of girl guides sharing the same sleeping bag at camp.

KENSUKE SASAKI v TADAO YASOOOOOOODA
This was short and not very sweet. Yasuda to his credit seemed more fired up and pro active than normal. That's as nice as I'm going to be about him. Sasaki..........yeesh - he was getting so good and then he trained in all this shoot crap which made him SUCK. At least he brainbusters the fuck out of Yasuda and jobs him out in 5 minutes or so. Ooooooooooh, somebody pissed in Inoki's noodles didn't he?

KOJI KANEMOTO v MR FUKAWA
As BOSJ finals go this was not a very good one. I mean you can blame the crowd (coming off the 1 hour match) but the
responsibilty has to lie ultimately with the wrestlers. This was technically fine but just came accross as flat and soulless. I actually feel that quite a lot with Tanaka - that he gets locked into this black hole of the technicality and in turn neglects the other psychological aspects of what makes a wrestler great. Kanemoto showed a little more fire in this one but seemed to be nowhere near the Kanemoto of old. Don't get me wrong this was fine, acceptable wrestling but it should have been more than it was. Maybe next year.

EMLL PPV 17/3/02 by Lee Flattery

Pequeno Olimpico/Bracito De Oro v Guerrercito Del Futuro/Fire
This was an odd EMLL card on paper and this is a weird one to kick us off, especially when we could have Tzuki, Ultimo Dragoncitoand Pierotthcito instead. This match was just 'there' really. It was fun enough, with a few nice spots and a coupled of always awesome mini dives. We are out of the blocks with no complaints.

Dr X/Zumbido/Violencia v Olimpico/Safari/Fiera
Now we are REALLY talking. Dr Ekky wins the 'FIRST ANNUAL LEE FLATTERY AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVMENT IN THE FIELD OF IMPROVEMENT' by totally kicking ass in this match. Dr X from the outset to the finish was walking a line between those two other noble fellow proffesionals Dr Cerebro and Dr Wagner. That is a) bringing the crazy matwork and b) stomping around like a deranged doctor in a mask. I love lucha libre like I love making bawdy comments in front of blushing young ladies. BUT SEND NO MONEY NOW!!! because while Dr X is bringing the coolness we are also treated to a contest to see who can DIE the hardest between Zumbido, Violencia, Olimpico and Safari. Not to mention some cool brawling from Fiera. Something for everyone. Primero caida sees Zumbido take the motherfuck of all back body drops over the top rope to the floor and from that moment onwards
Zumbido was just a house of fire, bringing not only the dives but ultra high speed exchanges with Safari and Olimpico. The man is class there can be no doubt, Of course Violencia isn't far behind Zumbido in terms of talent and is possibly an even more effective rudo and a great foil for the technicos. Even Fiera busts out a dive to Dr X on the floor towards the end just before Olimpico and Violencia go into a slick finishing sequence culminating in Olimpico taking the third fall with a very pretty cradle reversal. This was the show stealer of what would prove to be a heck of show in my dumbass opinion and the rudo team just rule it big time. All. Of. Get. This. Now.

Satanico/Mephisto/Averno v Super Parka/Negro Casas/Felino
Imagine a Memphis 2/3 falls six man. Okay? Now imagine that Jerry Lawler is Negro Casas and Satanico is Bill Dundee. There, doesn't that feel good. Needless to say this match rocks like......let's say Husker Du. The heels beat on Casas throughout the first fall while keeping the Neon Parka and Felino at bay on the outside. This is especially cool as Satanico is throwing his loadblowingtastic punches at Negro's face. After taking the first fall they continue the same strategy in the second until the technicos make it into the ring to finally rescue Casas' behind and make that killer technico comeback, eventually leading to the Casas brothers making a double pin to tie it up. By which point the lucky bastards in Arena Mexico are going bananas for the deciding fall. That's what booking the pro-wrestling is about - you build a match in such a way that the audience cares what's going to happen.........ah, tell that to those pricks in America! Anyway, Satanico is ruling here, bumping hard and generally being badass while Averno plays his not QUITE as good as Ultimo Guerrero role very well indeed. Naturally, the name Felino is synominous with fluent wrestling and Casas has become this rock solid veteran that does everything right to get others over with meant the whole thing ran smoothly and was a lot of fun to watch. The best part is that even after the struggle the Infernales take the third fall. No one said life was fair now did they (insert evil Satanico-esque laughter.)

Shocker/Vampiro/Rayo De Jalepeno v Ultimo Guerrero/Tarzan Boy/Universo Dos Mil
Not only does Vamp come to the ring to what sounds suspiciously like Rancid, but friggin' Shocker comes out to 'Jailhouse Rock' in a red PVC jump suit and three nimble Ciudad Mexico dancers. Man, lucha libre! I'm telling all you New Japan fascists that EMLL is where the good stuff is. Coming off the truly awesome Emilio Charles fued last year (that girl in the front row was HOT!!!) Shocker treads into an even better fued with Tarzan Boy and this match is another great chapter of said fued. Tarzan is a COMPLETE PRICK and Arena Mexico loathes the little pretty boy bastard. Classic heel.....and yes not wholly dissimilar to Shawn Michaels (shout out to Fadda here please!). Shocker contrarily is the classic technico. The charisma of Magnum T.A (and then some), the flair of Flair and this great lucha-puro hybrid style. It was extremely intelligent of EMLL to book Rayo in this match if he absolutely HAD to be on the show because they pretty much kept him out of the way mostly brawling with UDM (who did a good job) on the outside. Vamp was pretty quiet too which left the meat and spunk of the match to the other three and boy did they deliver. In additon to Tarzan and Shocker's shenanigans we were also treated to some georgious exchanges between Shocker-Ultimo including one part where Shocker does the swank Kawada head boot which sends both himself and the recipient flying over the top. Factor in Tarzan Boy and his sly low blow tactics and you are left with a veritable feast of a wrestling match. Desire this and the whole Shocker-Tarzan
boy fued.

LA FUSION LAGUNERA MOTHERFUCKERS!!! v Antifaz/Mr Niebla/BLACK FREAKMESIDEWAYS WARRIOR!!!!!

Holy moly this rules. This was for the trios titles held by the incumbent Fusion Lagunera and coveted by the their ex-partner Black Warrior and his buddies (which is a great angle in it's own right and is why you need to watch ALL of EMLL). I was so chuffed to see this one begin with a FRICKIN' LUCHA LIBRE MAT CLINIC. We were treated to Fuerza-Antifaz, Warrior-Wagner and most fantastic of all Panther-Niebla. Blue Panther is such a jaw droppingly beautiful wrestler, it's just so natural to him. All this great matwork was obviously too overwhelming for poor Leobarbo Magadan who exclaims 'WE ARE GOING TO THE BEACH!' It get's better as on route to the techinicos taking caida numer uno we get the Black Warrior tope of death, although SLIGHTY dissapointingly it was only a 7.5 by his own standards. Segunda caida saw El Maestro Lagunero really kick it into gear and proof why he is the best wrestler in the world. Everything little thing he did was perfect - the holds, the reactions, the movement, the selling. It's all there in a complete wrestling package. What's more he took the second fall with a too-lovely-for-words double underhook suplex from the second rope. The story into the final fall is the heat between Warrior and Uncle Blue. We see more SLICK work from all six guys, including another dive for the Mr Niebla suicide archives. All coming together in a big lucha orgasm when Blue Panther counters Black Warrior
and makes him tap to the good old trusty armbar, which actually became a double armbar when Wagner joined in. This was a brilliantly executed match with everyone working well but Panther was on another planet and definate MVP of this PPV. You want - trust me.

El Averno v El Gran Markus (Mascara contra Caballera)
In case you don't know both of these two wrestlers are rubbish and have no business headlining a major show on pay per view. However this is EMLL and this is a GREAT angle and the match turned out to be fun. So with that I'll hand you over to Lance Russell and Dave Brown:

Lance: Well, look at Pierroth. He really has no business out here........and aren't those cigars illegal?

Dave: Not in Mexico I believe.

Lance: Ha ha! Anyway Veneno REALLY appears to be getting the upper hand on the big man Markus. Of course this match is
mask versus hair Dave.

Dave: That's right Markus' hair versus Veneno's mask. Mmmm.

Lance: And Pierroth getting involved again..

Dave: What's this..........who's c..........

Lance: Why that's.......that's Bill Dundee.

Dave: That can't be............

Lance: No wait, it's Satanico and he's kicking Pierroth's behind out of here.

Dave: Yes. Yes he is.

Lance: But look at that........

Dave: The Boricuas have jumped Markus from behind.

Lance: Now come on amigos...........this really isn't neccesary.

Dave: But look again.

Lance: Wow. Gran Markus fires back on Veneno with a fat boy splash.

Dave: Mmmm.

Lance: And 1-2.....and three. Markus wins.

Dave: Veneno is going to have to unmask.

Lance: As we watch Veneno unmask........

Dave: Would you look at that - he's crying.

Lance: And now he's declaring war on Mexico...............

Curry Man Vs Black Tiger
I'm such a mark for goofy gimmicks and comedy matches and the Curryman gimmick is no exception, when I see Chris Daniels dance about to Rage against the Machine with a plate of Curry on his head I enjoy the fuck out of it, no matter what.
And what a treat here as he is fighting "100% rudo badass" Black Tiger and as you can imagine this is a whole bunch of fun. And although it may not the most psychologically sound match you will see, (fuck that bullshit anyway) it sure beats watching Neighbours on a rainy day. A million billion stars

Tiger Mask IV Vs Gedo
If I was a girlie my panties would be wet with anticipation for this one, as Gedo is a motherfuckin' prick. He is ultimate heel, old school baby and his opponent Tiger Mask IV is wearing a tiger print jacket with fur trimming, so he surely wants to kick his teeth in.
And yes he does, as soon as Tiger enters the ring, Gedo superkicks him right in the mush and drags him through the crowd, smashing his head into tables and just being a general cunt. Mask rippin' fun ahoy, as Tiger is Gedo's bitch and the crowd are going crazy while Gedo ties Tiger to a ring post with his wrist tape and then smacks him about with the bell hammer. Gedo tries all the tricks in his book, but that damn Tiger is full of spunky goodness and will never ever quit, he knows the honour of wearing that mask and he takes everything Gedo can throw at him. Eventually frustration gets to Gedo and he lets his guard down and Tiger takes him for the 3 count with the Tiger suplex, but there will be another day, there better be another fuckin' day. Fantastic match.

Osamu Nishimura & Yutaka Yoshie Vs Scott Norton & Tatsutoshi Goto
Three words - Fast Forward Button.

Minoru Tanaka Vs Masayuki Naruse
Some nice shoot style kicks and matwork to start of here, very reminiscent of BatBat and that's where Minoru Tanaka is at his best. Stiff kick exchanges and suplexes through out the match and a ton of near submissions at the end made this slow builder rather exciting and not one of those "wanky" affairs that Mr Tanaka isn't afraid to have. Nice finish as Tanaka win's with a back slide and neither man loses face.

Jushin Lyger Vs Katsuyori Shibata
Is there a cooler sight in wrestling than thousands of Japanese fans clapping along to the beat of Jushin Lyger's entrance music, I don't think so.
Anyway Shibata jumps Lyger at the bell and hits him with a superplex and a springboard drop kick but only receives a 2 count. Shibata then endears himself to me by grabbing the ref and shoving him to the mat, take that you little prick. He then proves that his recent foray to Mexico was not wasted as he hits Lyger with a neat Shocker style bulldog on the floor. 1000% Guapo is that man Shibata!
Now he is tearing up the protective mats on the floor and oh fuck, he hits Lyger with an S.T.O. on the floor. Holy Shit chants in America for that one.
Oh man, awesome spot as Shibata tries to Irish whip Lyger, only for Lyger to collapse on to the mat, that's selling baby! This is an awesome match the crowd's hot as hell and Lyger is king sized, Shibata is king sized, NJPW Junior division is king sized and we are all fucking king sized. You need every second of this.

Tadao Yasuda & Kenzo Suzuki Vs Kensuke Sasaki & Hiroshi Tanahashi
Eh…. It wasn't awful but it wasn't good either, it was just kind of there, although I did notice that the referee's are wearing cool football style shirts with their names on the back.

Minoru Fujita appears before the start of the next match challenging Chono. From shitty North American Indies to NJPW in the space of a year. Who is he blowing?

Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi & Masahito Kakihara Vs Masahiro Chono, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Koji Kanemoto
This was a rather fine 6-man tag; Kakihara got to look really good here, getting the pinfall on Kanemoto and even hitting an S.T.O. on Chono. Manabu Nakanishi was his usual Mongol self, but at least it was kept to a minimum in what was one of the better New Japan heavyweight matches of late. Afterwards Fujita appears again and lays out Chono only to be chased of by Team 2000.

Definitely a tape worth seeing, the NJ juniors are really on fire now and this tape does nothing to extinguish the flames.

CHIGUSA NAGAYO v MANAMI TOYOTA (AJW 29/11/98) by Lee Flattery

I have so many unwatched proffesional wrestling tapes that it's ridiculous. Therefore file this one under 'matches I forgot i had'. The added bonus is that my copy of this match has no sound! Chigusa does Tommy Dreamer sooooooooo much better than Tommy Dreamer ever did Tommy Dreamer, in this case represtenting the GAEA against the scumbag Zenjo scum. GAEA F'N JAPAN MOTHERFUCKERS! First move of the match sees Toyota, fuckhead that she is german suplex Chigusa. Now that's what I call subtley building up to the highspots. Following up Toyota climbs to the top rope for a missle dropkick.................or not. Chigusa backs away out of dropkicking range and the fuckhead Toyota perches on the top rope looking all perplexy. Of course Momma GAEA ain't afraid of no cissy girl dropkick so she walks towards the corner where Toyota perches and does the old Jesus Christ pose before beating her chest and saying 'Do your worst ya' punk-ass little bitch' (Disclaimer: May not have used exact words). Toyota, Zenjo coward that she is, backs off and decides to try a different path. Toyota gets all spotty and crazy and stuff like she always does, busting out all the tricks in her arsenal. Fortunately, Chigusa brings the subtanse ala Aja Kong so it's all fun to watch, especially when Toyota does the tricked out mega hands-free springboard plancha onto a tabled Chigusa. The table doesn't break and Manami's pleasently chubby behind just sort of bounces off. It's no secret that Toyota couldn't sell bibles to a convent or child-porn to a Radio One DJ (until her 2001 renaissance at least), just popping up out of Chigusa's suplexes without registering a blip with the audience and moving on to the next spot. Chigusa has such a great array of emotions and expressions that it pretty much compensated for Toyota's lack of thought. I truly believe that Chigusa Nagayo is a pyscho crusader for Memphisified joshi
puroresu craziness and love her for it. Toyota does a some more flying spots and whatnot, allowing her oppenent the minority share of the offence. Chigusa stretches the Zenjo scum though and makes her squeal like a pig, meaning we can chalk up another one for the GAEA-J revolution. You should probably go and watch this match because you should watch every Chigusa Nagayo match from the last 20 years that you can get your grubby little hands on.

Super Dragon Vs Bobby Quance - APW 24/5/02 by Martin Wickham
Super Dragon gets around a bit. He was a part of APW's own King of the Indies last October, and was also responsible for the best technical match of the CZW Best of the Best 2 tournament last June. I know little, bordering on absolutely nothing, about Bobby Quance. I think he was an APW trainee, but that's about it. This match, which I got from the APW website, was for the APW Internet Title (?), of which Super Dragon was the holder.

The match starts, and is apparent that the muted fan support (a seemingly desperate attempt to create a faux-Japanese atmosphere, either that or low attendance) is in favour of Quance. The opening exchanges consist of mostly mat-based exchanges, reversals, with good use of submissions, and not one attempt at rushing towards that tiresome stand-off situation that you seem to get with most of these type of matches. For about 5 minutes this goes on, before Quance decides to go for a dive to the outside onto Dragon. Back in the ring however, Dragon soon regains superiority, and starts to go to work on Quance's leg, using a leglock, figure 4 and finally an STF after ducking a Quance enziguiri. Super Dragon remains in control, before Quance eventually starts making a comeback, getting close, but not very dramatic near falls in the process. The comeback is cut off when Dragon blocks and rolls through a German suplex attempt, and goes back to work on Quance's leg, which is still being sold from earlier on in the match. The two go back and forth for a brief period, but then Quance misses a Shooting Star Press, landing on his feet, but jarring the injured knee in the process. From this, Dragon dominates. A Dragon suplex is followed up by a move that can only be described as a sit-out version of the Burning Hammer. This gives Dragon the easy 3, and he retains his title. The two shake hands post match.

This match was pretty good, and a diversion from the majority of indie matches, which seem to consist of token matwork followed by non-stop dives, somersaults and head-drops to the finish. Dragon controlled most of the match, and Quance looked all right as well. My only real gripe was with the lack of overall drama in the match. The atmosphere was heatless, and it did feel like an exhibition match at times. That said, what was seen in the ring was good, and it made for an entertaining change. Just don't expect to be too impressed if you thought Jody Fleisch Vs Jonny Storm at Best of the Best 2 was an Indy MOTYC.

NOAH on Samurai TV 19/7/02

Before I start, I really should plug paltaper for providing me with this tape. If you've dealt with him before, you know what I'm talking about, if you haven't, he is the one stop place for original Japanese TV, and is a great bloke to boot.

Anyways, the tape. Up until this point, I have really been ambivalent about NOAH. Despite having all the workers from All Japan's prime days barring Toshiaki Kawada, it really feels like there is something missing from the promotion. If I work out what it is I'll let you all know in good time. In any case, I really picked up this show for one reason and one reason only. That reason showed up in the first match on this show.

Tsuyoshi Kikuchi and Kenta Kobashi Vs Richard Slinger and Scorpio

Making his second return of the year, Kenta F'N Kobashi is back! And more to the point, he is back on the tour schedule, rather than the one-off appearance that turned out to be his February return. He's glad to be back (though his doctors may think otherwise), and the fans are glad to see him back, as is evidenced by the reaction to his entrance. This match is all about Kobashi. Kikuchi starts it out for the Japanese team, and when Scorpio points at Kobashi to have him tag in, the place starts buzzing. When he is tagged in the place explodes for a few seconds. After coming in for a bit and tagging out, the foreigners start to dominate Kikuchi. Eventually, Kikuchi makes a tag, and Kobashi steams in.
>From this part of the match, we learn that Kobashi still chops like a motherfucker, still has the spark that can make a match interesting by his mere prescence, and, unfortunately, that a good deal of his knee trouble is self-inflicted. For instance, Kobashi holds Scorpio in a vertical suplex for a good 7 seconds. For all of this time his knees are wavering from side to side, and I am waiting for an eventual collapse under the pressure, which, thankfully, doesn't happen.
As well as this, the fact that the match is all about Kobashi harms the periods where Kikuchi is in the ring, and when Slinger and Scorpio are on offence. This takes up a good portion of the match, and the fan response is a bit tepid. However, things pick up in the final stages. Slinger is isolated, and he and Kikuchi trade some killer near-falls. Kobashi comes in as Kikuchi holds back Scorpio, who is trying to save his tag partner. Kobashi soon leathers Slinger with an amnesia inducing lariat for a three count, and a huge pop. I think this was his first victory since his return. Slinger appeared to be knocked goofy for a while, as he did not move, and there appeared to be some concern for him.
Not a bad match then, but until Kobashi wrestles the likes of Misawa, Akiyama and company on a regular basis, we won't know how much he has lost due to his injuries. Unfortunately, if that did happen, it could kill his already battered knees once and for all.

Bison Smith Vs Vader

Drink-driving charges aside, Vader is still going strong. Here he wrestles a young gaijin in Bison Smith. Not really much to this match. Bison gets some offence in, but Vader dominates. This match is over in just under 5 minutes after a Vader bomb. Not quite sure what the point of the relative squashing was, although the fact that Vader had to use a third Vader bomb to finish after Bison kicked out of two of them may mean something. Afterwards, Vader calls out Kobashi, and threatens to put him back in the hospital. It might have got reaction from Japanese fans if someone had translated. Kobashi got the message though, as he tried to rush the ring, and was held back.

Mohammed Yone and Daisuke Ikeda Vs Takashi Sugiura and Yoshihiro Takayama

With Takao Omori having being posted out to America, Takayama is without a regular tag partner. No matter though, as the first thing that struck me was that he is OVER, getting the second loudest pop of the show so far, behind Kobashi (who else?). As for the match? Well, it wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination, but at the same it was little more than throwaway. This is a shame, because performance wise, Yone was alright, as was Takayama, Sugiura was pretty damn good, and Ikeda was fucking brilliant, laying offence in on Sugiura for what was the best part of the match. Sugiura was in the face in peril role for much of the match, as Yone and Ikeda were in charge. Takayama came in occasionally, but for the most part, the match was Sugiura Vs Ikeda, and it was great. Eventually, Yone managed to contain Takayama, and Ikeda got the three count on Sugiura with the Dai-Chan Bomber, which is a wind-up lariat. A good match, but nothing memorable.

Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Jun Akiyama Vs KENTA and Akira Taue

For all the reports that 2002 Akira Taue was bad, and was on the way towards teaming with Rusher Kimura and their ilk if something didn't change, he's still up there, and teams with junior heavyweight KENTA here, against the heavy/junior heavy team from STERNNESS. This match was mostly about the juniors, as Kanemaru and KENTA were in for a lot of the match. However, both Taue and Akiyama were good as well, and Taue was responsible for perhaps the funniest moment of the show as a whole, teasing a tope, and stopping at the ropes to salute Akiyama. Made me smile anyway. The other notable part of the match was the junior Vs heavyweight exchanges. Kanemaru using biting and bollock shots to stop Taue, KENTA outsmarting Akiyama with quickness after forearms and kicks were useless, and then finally, KENTA trying to cheap-shot Akiyama on the ring apron, and getting the fuck beat out of him at ringside for his troubles. This fnal act saw KENTA get dominated by Kanemaru and Akiyama, including one painful looking moment with a Boston crab/knee drop double team, with KENTA hung off the ring apron. Eventually, Taue was able to come in, and he got revenge on Kanemaru with a nad shot of his own, but then saw a nodowa attempt on Akiyama blocked with a dragon screw. A Baba chop by Taue on Kanemaru saw the youngster drop to his knees, and sneak in gonad attack #2 in the process. KENTA is tagged in, and gets his revenge on Akiyama by first knocking him off the apron, diving onto him from apron to floor, and then reversing a reversal, so to speak, into the barrier. KENTA is gaining revenge for his earlier punishment, before a hurricanrana attempt is cut off with a powerbomb by Kanemaru. A jumping knee by Akiyama was followed by a moonsault for a close two by Kanemaru, as Akiyama kept Taue from getting to his partners aid by blasting him off the ring apron and keeping him at bay after that. While KENTA shows impressive courage, a vertical drop brainbuster by Kanemaru keeps the junior Burning member down for the decisive three count. This match was made by the junior heavyweights, as both entered great performances. Akiyama also deserves some credit, especially for the way he worked with KENTA, first dealing him an ass-kicking, but then allowing him to be the fiery youngster against him in his comeback. Taue was mostly out of the ring, attempting to save his junior partner, but not being successful. All in all, a showcase, and a great one at that, for Yoshinobu Kanemaru and KENTA.

Takuma Sano, Mitsuharu Misawa and Yoshinari Ogawa Vs Makato Hashi, Takeshi Morishima and Takeshi Rikio

The two Takeshis are the GHC Tag champs; Yoshinari Ogawa is GHC Heavyweight champ. Misawa and Ogawa are gunning for the doubles gold, whilst Rikio has an upcoming GHC Title shot against Ogawa. In other words, don't accuse this match of having no reason to occur. Ogawa has the cocky bastard look down to a tee. Maybe it's his sunglasses. He is confronted on the rampway by Rikio, which is a perfect opportunity for NOAH to advertise their upcoming title match (it happened on 26th July, for anyone keeping score). Rikio makes it clear he wants Ogawa, and the two start the match. Ogawa attempts to match power with Rikio, fails (Rikio is built like a tank after all), and goes for an eye-rake to even things up a little. Just in case you forget Ogawa's title status, he has it written on his trunks. Not that I was deliberately looking at his arse or anything....
There is very little I can say of interest about this match. The two Takeshis, especially Morishima, looked good. Sano and Ogawa did nothing I can remember, other than a few submissions from the former. Hashi used headbutts and Mongolian chops. A LOT of headbutts and Mongolian chops. I will never complain about Kenichiro Arai again after this. Misawa seemed like he was mentally preparing for the next shareholders meeting or something, as he was on the apron for much of the match. For much of this match Hashi just kept pissing me off. Headbutt, headbutt, headbutt, ad nauseum. At some stage, Misawa levelled Hashi flush with an evil spin kick that just screamed "ENOUGH WITH THE FUCKING HEADBUTTS ALREADY!!!"
The build in this match was as boring as hell. The finish wasn't exactly dramatic either. Sano got the pinfall victory after a Northern Lights Bomb on Hashi. Afterwards, Misawa, Ogawa and Sano stared down Wild II from the other end of the ramp, building up to the title match I mentioned at the start. This match was about 28 minutes long. Had about 10-12 minutes been cut from the match time, it might have been a bit more exciting. As it was, this could easily be a cure for insomnia, and was the least interesting match of what was otherwise a pretty solid TV show. A real disappointment.

PRO WRESTLING NOAH - April 8th 2002 TV by Lee Flattery
Mitsuharu Misawa v Kodo Fuyuki

In this age of lame highflying spots that are all flippyflabby and cartwheely you can leave it to good old Misawa to show you how it's supposed to be done. The man hits the fucking sweetest of elbow suicida's in this match, flying through the air with the grace of Santo and smashing Fuyuki square in the gob. Mitsuharu Misawa - you handsome devil! Guess what else? This match is pretty good too. It starts off deliberately enough with Misawa utilising some nice grindy Dory Jr style matwork and essentially making Fuyuki look to be at least some degree of a threat. However Fuyuki soon FMW's the whole thing up - which would not make Giant Baba very happy I'd imagine - Misawa getting table splashed by Fuyuki's second (I think it was Kanemura though I may be wrong and refuse to rewind the tape and check. Professionalism!). But you know the garbage is excusable enough as Misawa keeps the whole thing centred, carrying his opponent and beating him with the old tigerdriverrollingelbowdeal. You can say Misawa is washed up but I can tell that he has at least one GREAT match left in him, and what do you know he did a pretty great job in this one.

Rusher Kimura/Mitsuo Momota/Masaji Aoyagi vs. Haruka Eigen/Jun Izumida/Kishin Kawabata

This is the same match these guys have on every NOAH show, only this time it's faster because I'm
watching in Fast Forward.

Richard Slinger/Michael Modest/Donovan Morgan/Superstar Steve vs. Tamon Honda/Masao Inoue/Kenta/Kotaro Suzuki

Check out my new scientific individual rating system:

TAMON HONDA - Wrestles like a girl but not in a good Mariko Yoshida way.

Fatness: 7
Girliness: 9.5
Red Tights: 2

MASAO INOUE - Not bad. Not bad at all. Not really that good but not bad.

Starfucker tights: 10
Fatness: 6
Staying out of the way: 5

KENTA - Is actually a decent little worker, although his springboard dropkick isn't as good as Wataru Inoue's.......or Superstar Steve's. Oh my!

Springy dropkick: 6.5
Orange tights: 8
Being upstaged by Superstar Steve: 9

KOTARO SUZUKI - Has impressed me a time or two. Seems to have a natural aptitude for this wrestling lark and his contorted spinny Vader bomb splash thing was pretty cool.

Bendy suplex ability: 8
Splashy thing: 7.5
Lack of a third thing to be judged on: 10

RICHARD SLINGER - Has been around AJ for years so he's become a damn good worker on the quiet and has a nice tag team with Scorpio in NOAH. He was easily the star of this match and kind of the Johnny Smith of NOAH.

Carrying a bunch of guys: 9
Looking a bit like the Dynamite Kid only fatter: 7
Having a cool name: 10

MIKE MODEST - Doing comedy and nothing much else here. The money must be good.

Thumbs up: 5
Thumbs down: 8
Skinhead: 2

DONOVAN MORGAN - Seemed to get in better work than Modest, but this wasn't anything special
from him either.

Having more hair than Modest: 6
Being called Donovan: 1
Not working for APW: 10

SUPERSTAR STEVE - Did okay I suppose. Wow, I'm a great analyst!!!

Having the balls to call himself Superstar: 1
Not calling himself Superfly: 6
Being er.......ok: 5

Jushin Liger/Minoru Tanaka v Tsuyoshi Kikuchi/Yoshinobu Kanemaru

This match is a return from February when the NOAH boys defeated Wataru Inoue and Liger in a fucking awesome match where the NJ team made themselves into detestable heels during the match. Following said match Tanaka and Liger get into a brawl with the NOAH juniors, so we find ourselves with Tanaka supplanting Inoue who was the man pinned in the last match. Once again the NJ representatives establish themselves as heels - there was something infinitely surreal about seeing the normally straight laced babyface Tanaka comedically making booing gestures towards the crowd as he walked to the ring. Tanaka and Liger jump Kanemaru before the bell as Kikuchi comes to the ring. Liger goes to meet Kikcuchi with a palm strike but soon finds himself on the recieving end of a snap suplex on the ramp for which the crowd pop like crazy. The heat at the outset of this match was incredible, I don't think I've seen bigger in NOAH even for fucking Kobashi. The core of this match is principally a southern brawl only with the slick state of the art wrestling you'd expect from these guys. Liger is once again a complete prick of an antagonist here but to me the revelation was the work of Minoru Tanaka, who I usually find a little souless as a wrestler. However here Tanaka has a larger than life heel persona to accompany the undeniably breathtaking post-BatBat kicking and stretching. There is a great moment in this match where Tanaka unleashes a round of nasty, nasty kicks at a crouching Kikuchi which Kikuchi does the fucking classic Kawada gradual sell for - you know what I mean, where it initially looks like he's no selling but then drops to the mat grimacing in pain. Kikuchi played his part as surly babyface superbly and in fact his overall performance was certainly reminiscent of the great man Tosh himself. Because the match was booked so well it didn't matter that Kanemaru was slightly out of his element workwise because he was reeled in by the other four. Great finish too with Tanaka going ballistic with the hyper submission holdery and Kikuchi fighting off a number of attempts before tapping to a crossarmbreaker. There is a huge pull apart after the match between the NOAH crew and the New Japan crew (Samurai and Kakihara joining in). Liger and Tanaka walk to the back flipping off the crowd as they go and Liger gets extremely pissy with a backstage reporter before going into the locker room and kicking Kanemaru's ass a little more, smashing up the dressing room in the process. Fucking great match, not QUITE as good as the Inoue match but they are both ESSENTIAL viewing.

Makoto Hashi v Naomichi Marufuji (GHC Junya Title)

I think that this is the most impressed that I have been with Marufuji. Whereas most of his matches tend to rely on him feeding of the propensity for selling silly highspots of his opponent (Takaiwa and Hoshikawa being most successful at this) this was worked at a more deliberate pace and was for the most part ground based with a smaller degree of daft manoeuvres. To Marufuji's credit he did a good job of performing in a 20 minute plus match that held my attention, though I have to give even more merit to Hashi who seemed locked into his wrestling as an old All Japan style junior. This was an intriguing contest with a lot of matwork and the occasional highspot from Marufuji and some well placed near falls. PLUS Hashi has moi wandering into marksville by hitting the loveliest Harley Race headbutt - FROM THE FUGGIN APRON TO THE FUGGIN FLOOR. Sadly Marufuji legit (I think) fucks up his leg and the match is stopped after about 22-23 minutes, which is really a shame because both men put on a good show. Thumbs up from me here and I'm a bit of a Marufujiphobe.

Get this for Misawa, Slinger and the last two matches - pretty essential TV for 2002. Now excuse me while I NAVIGATE FOR CHAMPIONS OF WINNING SUPERB!!!

And thats all for this month - Thank you, you've been a wonderful audience!!!

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