Inoki Genome Federation 6/29/07

This blog has been fallow for a while for obvious reason, we figured that the best way to get the engine restarted is with a ludicrous Antonio Inoki ego wankfest.

Yuki Ishikawa v. Munenori Sawa

PAS: This was listed as a dark match, so it was a pleasant surprise that it showed up on the internet. Ishikawa is a guy who only shows up in available matches three or four times a year, so you are always amped to see him. This match is worked with Ishikawa as a veteran, and Sawa as the young flashy guy, Sawa has a lot of fun flashy guy spin kicks, and no one is better then Ishikawa at abusing someone. The soccer kick to the face is a super nasty finish, and it really does a nice job getting over the upset.

TKG: Ishikawa is a huge huge Inoki mark but understands that he's in the opener dark match and doesn't use an octopus hold. Guy putting on Octopus for a pop on Inoki Genome gets saved for later in the show. He does do his great Inoki style enziguri and its really nasty looking here. He also sells really well as veteran who can be hurt, including doing almost a Red Bastien style head bump onto bottom rope for a spin kick. Sawa works guy stepping up his game for opponent above him really well. Not a ton of crowd heat but nice level of polite applause for an opening dark match.

Rocky Romero v El Blazer

TKG: So I just got finished complimenting Ishikawa, a guy who uses a octopus as a signature spot, for not doing it in an dark match opener. And here comes Rocky Romero rolling out an octopus to no pop in the second dark match. Fucking idiot. This is six minutes of Romero doing arm work followed by a minute of Blazer doing cool rope assisted dives. Blazer has some really awesome spots but most of them are built around him using his arms to hold the ropes to support his weight. Really not a guy you should do a "work the arm" match with. I imagine Blazer has a touring opponent that knows what to do with him. Or Inoki could have thrown a penny and hit a dozen US or Japanese indy juniors who are better at working as base for a guy with cool spots. Christopher Daniels working the ribs would have been a good choice. They do the superplex countered into roll up near fall but Rocky Romero really poorly feeds Blazer the roll up so that it looks like Romero is initiating the roll up. Why is he rolling himself up? and we go to armbreaker finish. Outside of the roll up Romero didn't blow anything.

PAS: El Blazer has a bunch of really cool spots, this kind of needed to be a Rey v. Psicosis WAR style match with Blazer hitting 6 minutes of cool shit, with Psicosis catching. Instead the lions share of the match was taken up with Romero's deadly dull arm work, Blazer may not have 7 minutes of cool spots, if not then this match should have been 5 minutes. Both Romero v. Marvin and Romero v. Mushking Terry were godawful, this was on the fine side of mediocre. While both Terry and Marvin are much better then Blazer, I get the sense the more time you give Romero the worse it is going to get. If this was on Thunder it would have made the What Worked side of a Workrate report, but wouldn't be as good as the Mortis match or Sick Boy v. DDP.

Alexander Otsuka v. Kevin Randleman

PAS: Man was this a blast, I loved all the early amateur matwork, Otuska isn't a guy who did a ton of matwork in Battlarts, but he looked great doing mat stuff in U-Style and totally ruled it here. His escape of the Hughes lift into a ankle pick was completely awesome. Randleman was really fun too, and I am excited to see more pro-wrestling Hammerhouse. I was amused at Randleman using the slam as a finsher, but you really don't buy it ending a match after watching Fedor completely no-sell it.

TKG: That escape of lift was awesome. Both guys do really nice deadlift suplexes, including a amazing looking side suplex by Otsuka. I'm used to his German's, not sure if I've ever seen that before. Phil mentions the matwork but I also really dug the Greco pummeling in the clinch. They do a really nice job moving in and out of that. Really nicely paced competitive five minute match.

Michiyoshi Ohara v. Taka Kunou

TKG: Who the fuck is this Kunou guy? He stinks. I dug this when Ohara was on offense. But then Kunou goes on offense and yikes. Not sure if he can't execute takedowns or Ohara was having hard time eating them but they looked awful. Nothing Kunou did looked good. After what feels like an endless mat section with Kunou controlling, Ohara runs across the ring and blasts Kunou with a nasty leaping headbutt which throws Kunou to the ground. Kunou has a real French Angel/20 year old Rusher giant head and so you need to hit it really hard to make me believe you hurt his thick skull. Ohara successfully does that. Still this stank.

PAS: I liked Ohara's running headbutts, but his grounded headbutts stunk. Fujiwara is at ringside for this, and this match would have been better if you replaced either guy with Fujiwara. Ohara seemed to be doing a poor man's Fujiwara gimmick, the rich man's Fujiwara is right there, use him.

Kiyoshi Tamura & Ryuki Ueyama v. Hidehisa Matsuda & Yuki Kotake

TKG: I miss U-Style. This starts with Tamura and I think Kotake having some really dull weak looking standing exchanges. They tag in Ueyama and Matsuda and its on. As those two work from stand up to just really quick mat exchanges, including Matsuda doing a shoot style cartwheel out of a shootstyle armbar. Koteke goes for elaborate leg locks on Tamura, and Ueyama and Kotake also have a nice section where Ueyama gets to show off his hand speed. Tamura actually sells for one of Kotakes leg kicks. All the exchange were great but this has the Tamura match in U-Style problem where you never really buy his opponents as being able to beat him.

PAS: I think Matsuda is Crafter M, and the stuff he does with Ueyama was just beautiful, a million miles an hour, counter after counter. Ueyama was really the star here, as he looked great on the mat, and just threw blinding fast strikes. Still Ueyama and Tamura are kind of a U-Style dream team, and there wasn't any point where this felt competitive. Tamura really doesn't work well from the top, he never gives off any sense of vulnerability, even after he sold for the leg kick, he got right back up and downed Kotake. The other team really could have used Ito, who is a master of working as an underdog who has a punchers chance.

Josh Barnett v. Tadao Yasuda

TKG: This wasn't very good but I was super amused by Yasuda doing Zbzysco stalls in a "shoot style" match. Yasuda also goes to grab the ropes every time he's taken down, goes for the rope break to get space to get up after take downs long before Barnett gets to go for submission. Its an amusing chickenshit heel move, as both chickenshit move and a face frustrating move. Still not good.

PAS: Yasuda has really great mugging facials. Really nothing else. I have really liked some Josh Barnett pro-wrestling matches before, but he really doesn't have the personality to do much in this kind of comedy match/

Naoya Ogawa v Mark Coleman

TKG: Coleman has developed a neck and kind of looks like Jack Lalane as Circus weight lifter. Ogawa is really good at working heavyweights collide type matches. As this starts out with Coleman bulling Ogawa into corner, refusing to break and throwing ref around. Ogawa gets out escapes a charge and then does the face revenge spot of refusing to break in corner and throwing ref around. Ogawa is a bump machine. Amazing at bumping as he really throws himself for a mediocre spear and makes Coleman's suplexes look incredible. Coolest part of match is when Ogawa reverses Coleman's front choke into an STO to super pop. This is heavyweight wrestling. Heel spots, face revenge/heel comeuppense spots, big moves/big bumps, and neat finshes. Post match pull apart isn't very good but why is Anjoh in a pull apart and not in a match? This fed has Anjoh and Fujiwara but instead is making me watch Lesnar v. Angle? Fools.

PAS: Ogawa is really great at working dramatic main events. He has been doing dipshit comedy for years now, but he had an amazing run of big main events in Zero-One. Coleman isn't Goldberg or Kawada, or even Heidenreich, but he has some personality, and bullies around Ogawa well. Ogawa is really over, and bumps and sells really well, building to the STO. Ogawa is really Cenaesque as a babyface. I really want to see Ro-Z v. Ogawa in a street fight.

Kurt Angle v. Brock Lesnar

PAS: Man was this terrible, it really felt like the most mailed in touring version of a 2002 Smackdown taping dark match. Your dozen or so throw away suplexes, Lesnar putting Angle in the anklelock, finishers for 2.9's, more throw away suplexes. This match would have been dated in 2005, and especially now this kind of third rate thrift shop Benoit shit is uncomfortable to watch. There has really been a paradigm shift in a post 6/25 world. This is still pre- 6/25 thinking.

TKG: Fuck you! Don't make me defend a child killer. But even at the height of Smackdown six shittyness, where he was at his worst, Benoit tried to avoid doing this type of shit. This is Angle's shit, not Benoit's. Benoit already has enough crimes to answer for in the afterworld. This isn't one of them. The crowd gives the Whitney Houston spots, Whitney Houston hits her big notes pops. And I imagine Meltzer will say good things about this but I've seen it enough times that I can call the spots before they happen and it just makes me yawn. Lesnar has some really nice shoulder blocks into the corner and I imagine Ogawa v Lesnar could be really good. Ogawa could lay out a smart match around Lesnar. Unfortunately I think Angle v Ogawa will stink as Angle will insist on working his match. For guy who brings "real sports" credibility, at least Lawrence Taylor didn't insist on calling his own matches.