Dick Togo's Kilos Came, Gave You Bobby Brown Jaw
Dick Togo/Men's Teioh/Shiryu/Shoichi Funaki/TAKA Michinoku v. Great Sasuke/Gran Hamada/Naohiro Hoshikawa/Masato Yakushiji/Super Delfin Inoki Produce 12/1/96 - EPIC
This is one of the lesser know MPRO 10 man tags, but it was right there with all of them quality wise. The match took a bit to get rolling, as they worked more strikes then fast rope running exchanges. It gots kicking though when Togo and Yakushiji match up. They are really one of the most breathtaking pairings in wrestling history, the speed and precision with which they execute their ranas, armdrags and headscissors are without peer. Sasuke and Funaki have a couple of really fun shootstylish face offs too, which was unexpected, and Gran Hamada is Gran Hamada. The finish run was amazing, it reminded me of the last 25 minutes of Children of Men with mayhem and insanity exploding when you least expect it. Guys were hitting crazy dives with minimal set up, some thing insane would come out of the corner of your eye. Yakushiji won the death race with a tope over the ringside table, where he ended up completely vertical. You also had pretty perfectly timed pin break ups, as guys would be swooping in at the absolute last moment. Our man Dick gets the win with his unparalleled senton as he is suspended in air like a parade float only to land like boulder.
Dick Togo v. Steve Regal WWF 11/28/98 - FUN
An entertaining competitive squash which would have been perfect on a WCW Worldwide. Regal is vicious here really working over Togo's leg with a variety of nasty leg locks. He really had a Fuchish torturer vibe about him. I remember the Real Man's Man Regal as the pilled up nadir of his career, but looked pretty awesome, I have to see what else from that era is floating around the internet. Offense was suitably nasty, and bumped well for Togo's comebacks. Dick felt a little constricted here (man it is going to be tough to write these reviews without resorting to cheap jokes), he got a couple of runs, but I would have liked to see him go toe to toe with Regal a little more, they way someone like Psicosis or Villano IV would on the Pro, still he is an awesome Mario Mancini.
Dick Togo/TAKA Michinoku v. Madoka/Kota Ibushi K-Dojo 12/1/07 - GREAT
21st century juniors tag wrestling is very much not my thing, but this is about as good as this style gets. Togo and TAKA are in full on MX mode in the first part of this match. Working over the ladyboy Fantastics, cutting off the ring, poking them in the eyes, smirking and kicking ass. The really work over Madoka, and Togo is especially great at kicking the shit out of a guy in an entertaining way. Ibushi and Madoka take a beating well, and kick hard, so they were fine here. TAKA seems to have lost a little off his athletic fastball by 2007, but Togo is as fast, crisp and fluid as ever. The last ten minutes or so was the near fall fest that you would expect, it lacked the egregious kick outs which often kill a match like this for me , and they did some pretty cool shit. I especially liked the part of the match where TAKA tied up Madoka in a crossfaces and kept switching arms when he went for the ropes. Finish run could have used two minutes shaved off in the middle, and a bigger close, but it never lost me and I stayed entertained throughout.
COMPLETE AND ACCURATE DICK TOGO
Labels: Dick Togo, Gran Hamada, Great Sasuke, Kota Ibushi, Madoka, Masato Yakushiji, MEN's Teioh, Naohiro Hoshikawa, Shiryu, Shoichi Funaki, Steven Regal, Super Delfin, TAKA Michinoku
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posted by Phil @ 10:29 PM
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