SEGUNDA CAIDA DECLARES WAR!!! 10/8/93

WE DECLARE WAR

Nobukazu Hirai vs. Shigekazu Tajiri

TKG: This is a match between a guy in a gi and a guy in wresting trunks (Hirai). First round was feeling out round with Tajiri getting lots of ankle locks. Second round has Tajiri really dominating with Hirai doing lots of weeble selling till he can come back with a bunch of elbow strikes to back of head and a stiff wrestling running knee.Third round again has a near knock out from Tajiri at start and then , Hirai getting a big dramatic half crab. The match goes back and forth enough that it ends up feeling pretty even. In end Tajiri gets in two super hard knock out kicks in end to score the win .Although neither knocks Hirai out, instead just dazing him enough for a pin.

PAS: This was weirdly long for this kind of match placed here on the card. I figured it would either be a short brutal squash to build up Tajiri for someone higher on the card, or Hirai getting a quick squash to build a match between him and Saito or Aoyagi. This kind of match is usually going to establish one guy or another, and this really established nobody.

Masao Orihara vs. Akitoshi Saito

TKG: These two had a really great match in NJ. This wasn't that. Another match between guy in gi (Saito) and guy in wrestling pants (Orihara) worked rounds style. First round feeling out; second round Orihara dominates with wrestling moves; third round Orihara dominates after going from a lariat into a choke. Saito spends bulk of round trying to get Orihara off his back and escape the choke. Orihara won't let go of choke at end of round untill Saitos corner comes in and brains him with chair. Orihara starts next round with a chair show, and we get big hot moment where Saito ditches gi and then two rounds of lots of trading near falls till the final bell. I was super stoked about this match and it ended up super disappointing.

PAS: I am not even sure this was better then the previous match, which is pretty surprising considering how good Saito is and how much more heat this had. Orihara really dominated this match, which is weird because at this point Orihara never dominated anyone. I really enjoyed all of the pull aparts at the end of rounds, and some of Saito's offense, but this kind of stunk.

Ricky Fuyuki vs. Black Cat

PAS: OK, this is more like it. Cat jumps Fuyuki at the bell and they brawl in the crowd chucking chairs and tables at each other. Just a great intense brawl with a pair of barrel chested pot bellied dudes pounding on each other. Black Cat is just made for WAR. He gets really cut open and blood is spraying out of his male patterned baldness. Finish is exactly the kind of reckless disregard for your opponent you would expect from an interpromotional match.

TKG: Yeah neither of these guys were going to be wearing gis. Black Cat is super roided and we spent first minute of this trying to determine if this was really Black Cat or what other roided guy from that period had similar face. These two pretty much take it to the streets from the start just tossing each other into tables and chairs, wrecking each other with audience members umbrellas, etc. They manage to make the in ring sections as violent looking as the streetfight sections. Black Cats eye patch of dark blood looked gnarly on the hand held.

Mil Mascaras/Takashi Ishikawa vs. Tatsumi Kitahara/Yuji Yasuraoka

TKG: This is pretty much straight tag formula with four awesome wrestlers. Ishikawa and Mascaras both come into match with bandaged shoulders ( perhaps jumped by the Ole/Zan Panzer team). Ishikawa and Mil control the first couple of exchanges. The Mil v. Kitahara mat section out of knuckle lock put a big smile on my face. Kitahara starts kicking at Ishikawa's bad shoulder and they work a neat Ishikawa in peril section, with Mil coming in for the hot tag. Yasuroka is great at eating Mil topes and then gets stretched by Mil for a bit. Kitahara and Yasuroka are still able to go after Ishikawa some more and they build to a real hot finish sequence.

PAS: Yeah this was really great stuff, I knew I was going to dig Kitihara, Mil and Ishikawa, but I was really impressed by Yasuraoka. He looked very comfortable working holds with Mil early, had a couple of moments of impressive athleticism and really took both Mil's topes and Ishikawa's awesome chokeslam really well. Ishikawa with a wounded shoulder was a match I hadn't seen him work before and he was great at it. Really combined violence and vulnerability really well. He is a guy who can do so much.

Genichiro Tenryu vs. Masaji Aoyagi

TKG: Tenryu is so amazing at facial selling. This is a hand held and not one of these ringside handhelds either, and you can still make out all of his facial wincing as he gets kicked in the face by Aoyagi. This is another guy in a gi vs. wrestler match but this time there is no feeling out round. Just two guys beating on each other from the first bell. Tenryu stops Aoyagi in first round by yoking him in a nasty choke. Second round ends with Tenryu eating kicks and then getting kicked some more after the bell. They do the big Aoyagi throws gi to crowd moment that always gets the drop the strap pop. And third round ends with a series of disdainful Tenryu powerbombs as Aoyagi's corner gets more and more pissed.

PAS: This was as good as it looks on paper. A pair of guys who don't pull punches not pulling their punches. I loved the spot where Aoyagi kicks Tenryu in the face with the toe of his boot, only for Tenryu to get his revenge the next round by returning the eye kick. I also loved Tenryu saying "fuck the niceties and hurling the corner stool at Aoyagi during the break. Finish was great as Tenryu's "I don't give a fuck" powerbombs were totally brutal looking.

Stan Lane/John Tenta vs. Ultimo Dragon/Super Strong Machine

TKG: I have no idea why this is in the main spot. I had seen the Tenryu/Stan Lane v Ultimo/Mil from a couple days later and enjoyed it a bunch. This isn't as good as that but has some fun stuff. Tenta's cat and mouse stuff with Ultimo is fun and Stan Lane is a guy who you always look forward to watching in Japan. Lane has a neat bit of armwork on Stong Machine , does a nasty eat of a DDT, and makes Ultimo's end run look good.

PAS: Super Stong was the real weak link in this match as he hit some offense which really didn't look good. There are only a handful of puro Stan Lane matches but they are all spun gold. I also enjoyed all of the Ultimo v. Tenta interactions, there has to be a fun WCW Pro match somewhere between the two. Kind of a uneventful, but fun match, Lane should have really been wearing a Gi.