Kikutaro aka Ebessan is no doubt a legendary comedy wrestler and can also put on a great non-comedy match. Thus when he is matched with a guy like Masanobu Fuchi, who has had 5, 5 star matches it is tough to tell what you are going to get. Did I mention that there are teenagers driving around now who weren’t even born when Fuchi had his last 5 star match as rated by Dave Meltzer? Perhaps for that reason alone it is good that they had a fun little bout instead of trying to impress Mr. Meltzer.
The bout starts with the two feeling each other out. Kikutaro then slaps Fuchi’s chest and gets a hilarious reaction out of him. As could be expected Fuchi is not going to take this lying down. He rams Kikutaro’s head from turnbuckle to turnbuckle for about a third of the match. It reminds me of WWF No Mercy for the N64 being glitchy so that at one point a wrestler will just keep punching another for infinity. This lasts a little less than infinity and after which Kikutaro scissor attacks Fuchi and then scissor attacks the referee.
After a series of small package attempts Fuchi emerges victorious by pinning Kikutaro. This is only after Kikutaro had attempted to pin the referee of course.
All in all this is a good comedy bout that is worth taking the time to look at.
When the history of professional wrestling is really examined it can be said that very few matches are actually special. This is one of those rarities.
During this period, Tiger Mask was red hot having listed the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship and the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship among his accomplishments. Dynamite Kid was also earning a name for himself having traveled the world. The two engaged in a series of matches across multiple years with each one coming out looking better at different points. Shortly before this match Tiger sustained and injury and needed to vacate his titles. Having a great match with a familiar, but still rising opponent would keep him looking as good as he looked pre-injury.
The match starts off with a wristlock from Dynamite Kid that Tiger Mask flips out of. Kid stays on the offense by clamping on a headlock and then a chinlock.
After escaping from Dynamite’s submissions, Tiger hits a spin kick and Dynamite exits the ring. Tiger hits him with a suicide dive. Tiger has little time to basque in the glory of this because soon Dynamite gives him a dropkick from the top rope.
Tiger goes up top shortly after and hits Dynamite in the face with a big elbow. Tiger soon back body drops Dynamite out of the ring, but the kid returns to clamp on another submission. When Tiger escapes Dynamite puts on another hold while at the same time trying to unmask his foe.
The bell rings a bit later when Dynamite gets flipped outside of the ring and Tiger runs off of the apron to crossbody him out over the guardrail. The fight continues and the two go back inside. Dynamite delivers a tombstone piledriver and tries to go up top. However, the ref won’t let the match continue.
Dynamite gets on the mic and the ref checks with both participants. The ref then announces that the match will continue. Dynamite hits another tombstone piledriver and follows it up with a diving headbutt. Dynamite tries another headlock and gets hit with a belly-to-back suplex. Tiger follows it up with a tombstone of his own.
Dynamite soon exits the ring and Tiger jumps outside, but only hits the floor. The two try to German suplex each other and keep trading counters until Dynamite dives through the ropes while Tiger is locked around him.
The fight spills onto the floor with the two messing each other up along the guardrail. Tiger goes back in and Dynamite attacks the ref. Dynamite brings in a foreign object, but tosses it before he has a chance to attack Tiger.
Dynamite tries to unmask Tiger one last time, but again the two cannot keep it in the ring. Tiger gives Dynamite a tombstone on the floor. Rather than finally allowing Tiger to win, Dynamite may as well have asked, “What do you want on your Tombstone?” Dynamite somehow gets up and hits a final tombstone resulting in a double count out.
Imagine “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Ken Shamrock, Goldust and The Legion of Doom took on Bret Hart, Owen Hart, The British Bulldog, Brian Pillman and Jim Neidhart. Wait, scratch that. That actually happened. Okay, imagine “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, Ricky Steamboat, Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle took on Bret Hart, CM Punk, Ric Flair, “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Curt Hennig all while they were at or near their prime. Now subtract one from each team and make them Japanese women and you more or less get this match.
Without hyperbole I can say that this is not only arguably the greatest women’s match in the history of professional wrestling, but arguably one of the greatest mutli-person/gimmick matches as well. This was no easy feat as it took two promotions, eight top joshi wrestlers and what could arguably be considered five matches rather than one to pull it off.
This may all be a bit confusing so let me explain. This was an interpromotional bout between Japanese Women Pro-Wrestling Project (JWP) and All Japan Women’s Pro Wrestling (AJW) called Thunder Queen Battle. Representing JWP was Hikari Fukuoka, Cutie Suzuki, Mayumi Ozaki and Dynami Kansai against AJW’s Sakie Hasegawa, Takako Inoue, Kyoko Inoue and Aja Kong. One combatant from each team was paired up in four five minute singles matches to begin the first wave of action. No matter what each singles bout had to last five minutes. If someone lost before the time ran out then the opposing team would be awarded one point. After these singles matches a 40 minute eight person tag match was held with the team earning the most points after the time expired being named the winners.
JWP gains an early advantage when Fukuoka manages to pin Hasegawa with a small package after less than three minutes of the first singles encounter. It looks like AJW is going to be the underdogs until in the last pairing Kong gets a knock out win over Kansai after some vicious striking. Brilliant! It ties things up for the main course and makes Kong look like a beast!
The tag match has plenty of action including Kyoko Inoue nearly getting embedded into the mat after the JWP team delivers a stampede of top rope stomps. Speaking of high impact moves Kong hits one of her own with a massive elbow on Suzuki for a point. Kong’s stiffness doesn’t end there because she also hits a sick looking lariat on Kansai when she is going for another splash mountain after just pinning Kyoko Inoue with that move.
As the bout winds down there is only seconds left with Ozaki and Takako Inoue as the legal wrestlers in the ring. Each promotion is tied with two points a piece. Who wins, JWP or AJW? There is only one way to find out! Watch the video if you haven’t already, you won’t regret it!
For those unfamiliar, Dream Slam was essentially heaven on earth for a joshi fan. The original Dream Slam was a wrestling summit that was hosted by AJW at its peak in 1993 and invited female wrestlers from some of the top promotions in the world to perform. Here, Kyoko Inoue and Takako Inoue take on Cutie Suzuki and Mayumi Ozaki.
Mayumi and Takako start off by trading smacks. Takako, who is the bigger wrestler gains an early advantage, but this doesn’t last long because Cutie and Kyoko get tagged in. Kyoko grabs Cutie by the feet and starts swinging her around. Kyoko doesn’t let go for about a full minute! Kyoko and Takako cut the ring in half by keeping Cutie in their corner until Cutie hits a German suplex on Takako and tags in Mayumi. Mayumi takes control over Takako and gets her in a dragon sleeper, but is unable to get the submission so she tags in Cutie. Cutie locks on a dragon sleeper of her own, but is unable to get the submission either so Mayumi tags herself in.
Takako makes it to her corner and Kyoko comes in. She has an obvious size advantage over Mayumi and manhandles her before a quick tag into Takako. Takako locks on a vicious looking Boston crab and at one point simultaneously applies the hold to one of Mayumi’s legs while pulling her hair. The hold is eventually broken and Cutie gets the tag in and the two double team Takako for a bit. Takako gets her momentum going and gets two, two counts on Cutie before tagging in Kyoko. Cutie and Takako try to double team Kyoko, but she bounces off the ropes for a double back elbow!
The action spills outside with Cutie attacking Kyoko at the guardrail. On the inside Cutie gets a two count. Cutie and Mayumi then take turns hitting double stomps from the top rope on Kyoko. By the time they are done they have hit five top rope double stomps!
Mayumi gets tagged in and hits a beautiful looking moonsault. She attempts another acrobatic maneuver and gets a powerbomb from Kyoko for her trouble. Kyoko tags in Takako and the ring fills up again! When it clears Mayumi gets a two count with a tiger suplex. Takako rolls hers up, but gets only two. Kyoko gets tagged in and scores an elbow drop off the top.
All four are back in and Mayumi manages a super close two count then another when Cutie and Takako suddenly spill outside the ring. Kyoko bounces off the ropes with a kick and hits a powerbomb variation on Mayumi, but cannot get the win!
Takako comes in as the legal person and knocks Mayumi to the ground after hitting her from the top rope while Kyoko had Mayumi in the razor’s edge position. Takako goes for the pin and earns the victory!
Throughout his roughly quarter century long career Akira Taue has been given the honor of having fourteen 5 star matches according to Dave Meltzer. Yet, only one of these matches was in a singles effort.
Aside from having an amazing pace and expert execution, this match also had a great atmosphere to it. This was the finals of the AJPW Champion’s Carnival, a tournament that had existed since 1973. On top of this along with the two performers involved, Mitsuhara Misawa and Akira Taue, the other two members of AJPW’s “Big Four,” Kenta Kobashi and Toshiaki Kawada also participated.
Taue starts things off with a powerful shoulder block that sends Misawa down. He quickly gets Misawa out of the ring then dives through the ropes onto him. Only outside for a brief bit Misawa breaks away from Taue’s control by hitting a flying shoulder block before the two trade submissions.
Taue stays in control until Misawa reverses a powerbomb and gets a two count. Soon, it is a reversal of a scene from earlier with Misawa diving through the ropes onto Taue!
Inside Misawa gets a two count then nearly knocks Taue out with a spinning punch for another two count. Taue gets revenge and hits some impressive looking moves including a dropkick and a belly-to-back suplex from the ring apron to the outside.
On the inside Misawa goes up top for a variation of the frog splash and hits a German suplex and tiger driver for two. Taue chokeslams Misawa from the apron to the floor and a sympathy chant breaks out for Misawa. Taue’s attack continues with little offense from Misawa until Misawa reverses a chokeslam attempt from the ropes and comes back with a series of punches and elbows.
Misawa hits a tiger suplex and a tiger driver, but only gets two. Misawa then hits another tiger suplex, but again comes up short. Finally, a third tiger suplex does the trick and a new Champion’s Carnival winner is crowned!
If you’ve never seen “Dr. Death” Steve Williams’ work in Japan then do yourself a favor and watch this match. Heck, even if you’ve seen it before watch it! It is just that good and there is a reason Dave Meltzer has only awarded 5 star ratings to his wrestling in Japan.
Williams and Kenta Kobashi lock up and twirl into three corners of the ring and before long the two are slapping each other. I know an odd way to start a 5 star match, right? Then Williams hits a sick spinebuster and the action truly begins!
Kenta first takes real control of the match by getting in a German suplex, clotheslining Williams to the outside and DDTing him on the floor. Williams isn’t laid out for long so Kenta goes to the top and hits him with a crossbody to the outside.
Following more punishment by Kenta, Dr. Death gets the match going in his favor when a chopfest wakes him up and he gorilla press slams Kenta to the outside like a maniac. I’m sure Kenta would’ve preferred to have this reaction from another 5 star match he had instead:
GIF By El Pollo Guerrera of the FAN Forum.
On the floor Dr. Death hits Kobashi with an elbow then slams him into the ring post before throwing him back in. Inside Dr. Death whips out a beautiful brainbuster and a double underhook suplex for a two count.
During Williams’ assault Kenta gets some shots in until eventually the two are smacking each other in the face. Kenta smacks harder and gets Williams back outside where he stands on the guardrail and DDTs Williams on the bare cement. Kenta tries to finish Williams off by running at him, but Williams catches him and slams him to the floor.
The battle continues in the ring and Williams quickly finds himself in a pickle when Kenta locks on a sleeper hold. Dr. Death gets to the ropes and soon enough the two are up top trying to throw each other off. Kenta succeeds with a superplex, but only gets a two count and a crazy looking DDT gets another two count. A series of running leg drops channeling the power of Hulkamania followed by a German suplex also gets two for Kenta.
Kobashi has had enough and slams Dr. Death then lands a picture perfect moonsault…for two. Kenta attempts another, but Dr. Death puts his knees up and tackles Kenta as soon as he gets to his feet. Williams attempts a Doctor Bomb, but hits it wrong and Kenta scores another two count followed by a lariat for two. Dr. Death hits his Oklahoma Stampede for two followed by a lariat of his own for two. Kenta attempts a schoolboy and gets…you guessed it, a two count! Dr. Death sends Kobashi down for another two count and the action finally stops when Dr. Deaths hits two belly-to-back suplexes for the three count.
Two of AJW’s top talents fight it out title for title in this breathtaking encounter. At stake are the All Pacific Women’s Championship and the IWA World Women’s Championship. The former title would eventually have a nearly thirty year history and be held by notable women such as Leilani Kai, Bull Nakano and Aja Kong. Manami Toyota held the latter title for over two years when this match took place and had no intention of losing it.
Toyota’s opponent Kyoko Inoue was a diverse talent being able to throw smaller women around like Aja Kong, but being able to nearly match the aerial maneuvers of Toyota. Plus, she gets bonus points for looking like The Ultimate Warrior if he was a Japanese woman. Shame she did not use his entrance music.
Once the match starts The Ultimate Inoue makes it a point to attack Toyota’s legs early on. In between some submission moves I’ve rarely, if ever seen before she performs a spinning toe hold before changing focus. She then locks in a camel clutch followed by a torture rack.
Upon escaping the rack Toyota attempts to build up some momentum by hitting a second rope dropkick, but is momentarily brought down with a powerbomb. Toyota comes back with some high impact moves and before Inoue knows it she is locking on her own submissions. After Toyota rolls Inoue around the ring about a hundred times she gets a super close two count. Toyota then goes up top, but is hurled off the ropes by Inoue.
In control Inoue then hits some power moves before hitting an amazing elbow drop from the top. Unfortunately for her, in short order Inoue is launched out of the ring and Toyota jumps on the middle of the top rope and tackles Inoue outside.
Back inside Manami hits a picture perfect German suplex for two and Kyoko lazily kicks out. Some action on the ropes happens next, but it is not long before they are back outside and just as quickly back in again. There, Manami scores two top rope dropkicks, but misses a moonsault. Kyoko gets a stunning top rope slam off of Toyota and gets a two count.
Inoue revisits the beginning of the bout by going back to a submission, but Toyota reaches the ropes. Following this up, Toyota then gets four two counts when she reverses a powerbomb attempt, performs another German suplex, hits a tiger suplex and completes a moonsault. Up next, Toyota nails two Japanese ocean cyclone suplexes, but only gets two after the second one. Looking desperate Inoue knocks Toyota down with a lariat.
After some down time Inoue gets off a top rope gut wrench suplex and a powerbomb variation. Toyota tries to come back by bouncing off the ropes, but slips and takes a nasty spill. The end comes when Toyota is just able to get Inoue down for the three after a lightening quick sunset flip.
In the mid 1990s wrestlers like Jushin “Thunder” Liger and The Great Sasuke were on such a hot streak that it almost seemed like Dave Meltzer would have to start giving out 6 star ratings. 1994 in particular was a year where The Great Sasuke went from being a great wrestler to being one of the all time great wrestlers.
Sasuke sets the pace from the start by flying at Liger and the two soon go outside. Just as quickly back in, Sasuke slaps on a rest hold that unlike others actually has purpose. The hold builds anticipation for the coming action and Liger is not shy about selling it.
As soon as Liger gets his arm out of Sasuke’s clutches a series of breathtaking maneuvers erupt ending with Sasuke scoring a two count after he kicks Liger in the face. Right after the two count Sasuke is back to the arm. Liger escapes again, but Sasuke stays in control hitting a tombstone piledriver and an Asai moonsault where he flies into the audience.
Liger finally gets some offense in when he cuts off Sasuke’s attack while Liger is entering the ring. There is then some good back and forth action leading to a top rope crossbody from Sasuke out to the floor, hitting Liger and sending both down to the pad-free cement.
Back inside the high flyers go back to exchanging awesome moves. Sasuke hits a crucifix bomb so Liger hits a release German suplex. Liger finally in firm control nails a tombstone piledriver, a diving headbutt, a hurricanrana and a fisherman suplex, but is unable to put Sasuke away!
The match ends when Sasuke attempts a top rope move, but Liger cuts him off with a top rope fisherman for the three!
In late 2004 Kenta Kobashi, the longest reigning Global Honored Crown Heavyweight Championship holder had a lot at stake taking on Jun Akiyama for his prized possession. Kobashi gets this point across to the audience right away as he lays in a series of stiff chops. However, he is unable to dominate Jun and they quickly find themselves in a spot where for every chop Kenta lays in, Akiyama lays in a forearm. It is like Kenta is trying to start a chopfest, but Jun just won’t respond accordingly! Kenta’s chops win this contest, but it is not long before Jun has Kenta in one submission hold then another.
At about a third of the way in both wrestlers fall to the mat when Jun hits a flying knee while Kenta simultaneously nails a tackle. The two are not down for long and before you know it Akiyama is using his knee again this time jumping off the top rope onto Kobashi’s head, which is laid across the edge of the ring.
The pace slows down a bit, but this allows for a great spot where Kenta puts Jun in a chin lock and Jun attempts to belly-to-back suplex his way out. After this and some elbows Kenta ends the hold with a suplex of his own. This leads into the second sickest series of corner chops I’ve ever seen with Kobashi looking like he loves every second of it. Kenta is not finished and launches Jun to the outside with a suplex and the match slows down again.
Jun finally turns the tide in his favor after escaping a burning hammer attempt and hitting a German suplex. The fighters soon find themselves back outside after this time Jun launches Kenta out with a northern lights suplex from off the top. Kenta almost gets counted out, but comes back in at 19.
Back inside Kenta pulls out a brainbuster and the two are soon trading power moves before Kenta ends the exchange with a lariat. After another lariat Kenta gets a super close two count. Kobashi goes for a risky move with a moonsault and gets…an even closer two count! Kenta is ready for the finish and Jun looks absolutely exhausted. Kenta positions Jun for the burning hammer…nails it…and gets the three count!
This match sticks out like a sore thumb among Dave Meltzer’s favorites, but is nonetheless deserving of it’s place. After all Japan’s Universal Pro-Wrestling Federation was incredibly short lived and most likely would have produced at least another 5 star classic or two if they had lasted longer.
Nobuhiko Takada has the superior ring psychology in this match. From the start he goes after Kazuo Yamazaki’s arms. Although this is particularly noticeable in the first two-thirds of the match it is just as true in the tail end of the bout. Even when the higher impact moves are finally brought out Takada never forgets completely about Yamazaki’s arms.
Also, while it is an obvious detail that anyone can point out I just have to say that I love the use of stances by Takada and Yamazaki. It is just such a small and fundamental thing, but is nevertheless continually overlooked by some of the all time greats. It just makes the suspension of disbelief that much easier when two guys approach each other like they want to hurt one another rather than perform some showy moves. Perhaps equally impressive is that both guys can still pull off these impressive maneuvers.
The best part of the match is of course when they do actually start to break out some showy moves and throw in an increased amount of striking. Takada in particular looks impressive with a tombstone piledriver then some striking and capping it off with a jumping tombstone piledriver.
The ending is believable as Yamazaki hits a deadly overhead belly-to-belly suplex followed by a final suplex of the German variety.
