Found Footage Friday: MACHO PUMP~! KOMACHI (MISTICO)~! TOGO~! ORIHARA~! SABU~! TAKA~! SASUKE~!

Masao Orihara/Macho Pump vs. Sabu/MIKAMI Michinoku Pro-Wrestling 10/16/03

MD: We come in a little JIP here but you get the idea quickly. Orihara and Pump grind down on Mikami and it's ok. It's consistent and competent but it's lacking the pep of havint Togo in there. You're just sort of waiting for Sabu to get in. That's the point though, because once he does get in, it's electric. They try to double team him and he just is having none of it. Then he puts the chair in the center of the ring and hits a jumping knee into Macho Pump in the corner; Pump immediately falls throat first onto the opened chair and it's brilliant. Eventually Mikami ends up back in and this turns into an Andre tag where the partner keeps getting dragged down to build up the anticipation for a little bit of Andre. After the second Sabu showcase we get the finishing stretch which has Mikami finally getting to shine with a ton of interesting and seemingly physically impossible roll up attempts on Orihari before Sabu has his final burst and wins the day. Pretty fun stuff once it got going. 

Dick Togo/Masao Orihara/Macho Pump vs. Kesen Numajiro/Hayate/Komachi (Mistico) Michinoku Pro-Wrestling 10/19/03

MD: We've got people kicking and screaming and begging to see a sparring content in front of no crowd between Malenko and Mistico and they can instead watch baby Mistico get beaten on by Togo, Orihara, and Macho Pump. People's priorities are all messed up. This was very good. Bad guys ambushed right from the start and took the first three-fifths before things broke down for the rest. It was a near-perfect balance enabled by the lack of a shine or a feeling out process.

They started on Komachi (who was in matched gear with a matched act with Hayate), and he had one good bit of hope towards the end of this with a handspring but generally just got beat on and screamed. He was figuring it out though his natural instincts were pretty good. They spent longer beating on Numajiro though. Sharp stuff from the rudos though they didn't have a lot of tandem offense. It was more one guy setting up the next for something nasty. As always Togo stood out but everyone carried their weight.

Eventually Numajiro ducked for a heel miscommunication spot and Hayate and Komachi came in hot with big offense and dives. They cycled through a bit after that with everything feeling earned and most things having a little twist to them before Togo finally flattened Numajiro for the win. This went down smooth. Just real easy wrestling to watch and enjoy.



The Great Sasuke/Jinsei Shinzaki/Hayate vs. Dick Togo/Taka Michinoku/Macho Pump  Michinoku Pro-Wrestling 12/16/03

MD: The great thing about heel TAKA is that not only is he a total dick, but he makes everyone around him more of a dick as well. That means that you don't just get him paintbrushing Sasuke in the corner, but you also have Macho Pump playing with Sasuke's mask tassel at the same time. The match was full of stuff like that, but counterbalanced by the fact that the other side, most especially Shinzaki, weren't going to put up with it.

So you got that great mix of the bad guys being really bad and then getting justified and satisfying comeuppance, stooging and bumping and flying around the ring for the other side and taking all of their signature stuff. The video goes around twenty and is a little more back and forth than the other matches we're covering this week but doesn't feel nearly that long at all. Things would build to chaos and calm back down and build back up again until finally boiling over into a hot finishing stretch. We ended up with three different variations of the theme this week (as you might expect) but all three were very watchable. It's so easy to just drop into this stuff and visit for a bit.

Read more!

Found Footage Friday: SASUKE~! SHINZAKI~! TOGO~! ORIHARA~! BATMAN~! POTRO~! HALCON~! WILD RED BERRY~!

The Great Sasuke/Shinzaki Jinsei/Hayate vs. Dick Togo/Masao Orihara/Macho Pump Michinoku Pro-Wrestling 5/17/04

 MD: It's been a while since I've seen any M-Pro but this was the right guys in the right match at the right time, mostly. Every some early brawling that made me worried about the camera angle (it's fine for the rest), they got in and out of the opening exchanges (Pump/Sasuke, Togo/Hayate, Orihara/Shinzaki) fairly quickly. The faces got to show their flair and signature stuff that would hold up today for the most part and Pump got to preen; he always looks better than I expect in these when it comes to power moves, asserting himself, and even strikes. Mainly though, what stood out, and of course this wasn't a surprise, was just how good Togo could look in one minute of snapping stuff off and basing like a rooted tree standing in the center of the ring.

They went into a long, long heat, with the hope spots either being based on the faces getting a tag or one of them trying to interfere. There was that gang mentality of heels in M-Pro and it's often full of varied and interesting offense but it could get a little exhausting. You almost need the heat to go as long as it did because that helps to justify the fireworks of the extended finishing stretch but they would have been better served by a double heat or just meatier hope spots and comebacks, or maybe even a more defined central storyline. They tease Orihara and Sasuke having a beef but it's never really played up. That's really more of a nitpick or just expressing something that would have taken this over the top, because what we did actually get here was very good. 

Batman/Potro/Milo Caballero vs. Halcon de Oro/Diluvio Negro/Mongol Chino CMLL 1991

MD: Just a bit clipped up (we lose how the rudos take over in the primera, for instance, which is annoying) and I'd say just a little unfocused as well, but overall a fun undercard match. I don't have a great sense of who Potro is but he's got fun gear in blue and white with colts (horses) all over it, and something going on with the eyes. He's pretty smooth in there, including a fun spot where he armdragged everyone, including the ref. I haven't discussed just how racist the Mongol Chino look is, yellow gear with a yellow mask with a black fu manchu Hogan style mustache and slanted eyebrows. So that's not great. His rapid fire uppercuts are though, if that helps? Halcon de Oro is a perfectly fine undercard director of traffic in a beatdown and he had a nice whirlybird over the shoulder drop to end the primera.

The underlying story was rudo miscommunication that led to them almost coming to blows a couple of times, especially between Halcon de Oro and Mongol Chino. It sort of took the place of a central pairing but instead of it paying off towards the end, they just went into a dive train in the tercera and then some fun tandem submissions ending with Milo sneaking in and pinning the rudos after they had turned over a 5 person submission. You almost never see that actually ending a match so it was a bit shocking and probably good to condition fans to the possibility overall, but it also made everything feel anti-climactic.

 

Wild Red Berry vs. Carlos Guzman Long Beach, CA 5/22/52

MD: I know I said I wasn't going to skip around but I really wanted to see more Berry after that last tag I saw. This was interesting for some of the names of holds as much as anything else. An Irish Whip was a Kansas Cyclone. When they did cross-cross rope running it was a "Razzle Dazzle" and Berry's standing Figure Four that he won the first fall with was a Gilligan Twist. When Berry feigned arm damage after a series of Guman dropkicks that ended the second fall, a "Robin Hook" was Guzman draping Berry's arm over the rope and kicking it. Towards the end of the match when Berry started on the leg, he leaped down on it while it was dangling on the ropes and this was called a "Cannonball." We don't always see those differences in old footage so it was interesting.

I love Berry's act. He comes to the ring in his robe, signing autographs for kids and even giving them candy. Then the second he gets to the ring, everyone boos him and he's miserable. He's quick to tap his head, to complain, to make a big deal about the pre-match rule discussion with the ref. When he wins a fall, he celebrates  to the full extent. He seemed to drag Guzman down to his level to the point where both of them were sneaking in shots to each other's nose or playing dirty on breaks.  He reminds me, more than anything else, of Jonathan Harris in Lost in Space. Basic civility is impossible when he's around. It means that the matches never rise to a level of technical skill that some people might want from the era, but they're very entertaining in almost every moment.

Read more!

New Footage Friday: GORDY! HICKERSON! BLACKWELL! HANSEN! SASUKE! ATLANTIS! AMERICAN DRAGON! METAL MASTER!

Stan Hansen/Terry Gordy vs. Crusher Blackwell/Phil Hickerson AJPW 12/14/88

MD: Bizarrely giving Hansen performance. This is one of the most giving performances I've ever seen out of him, especially against someone who's not paying him. Was Blackwell bringing him in for shots in his Georgia Indy or something? Did he feel like he owed him for some favor done in 1978 Mid-Atlantic (if so you don't really see that bear out in their AWA stuff)? No idea, but this is a Hansen who's getting crushed by mass, beaten around the ring, and legitimately playing face-in-peril in a bear hug. When Hickerson is in there, he fights back a bit more, but then they just tag Blackwell back in. Remember, this is 89 Blackwell. He's huge, has great presence, and can still do an amazing elbow drop (and miss one for a transition too), but this isn't seven years earlier when he was missing top rope splashes and what not. And, of course, Gordy's on the apron playing clapping cheerleader. Eventually, he has enough, intervenes, survives charges into the corner long enough to get a foot up, and it's academic from there. I'm still filing this under "baffling."

PAS: Hansen was always very good at using his size to overwhelm, and it's cool to see him in the ring with two big motherfuckers who gives as good as they get. This was worn tread on the tires Blackwell, but he was still a quarter horse of a dude with great punches and good use of that girth. Hickerson is a mean asskicker in this to, and I love to watch two guys stand in the pocket with Hansen and not get blown out of the building. Gordy is fun in his exchanges as well, although he isn't in the match a ton. Finish was great, I love a Hansen lariat, and this was one of his nastier ones. He hooks it right under Hickerson's jaw and it looks like it's going to pop his head clean off.

ER: At minimum you knew this was going to be great just because how often do you get to see a tag match where Terry Gordy is the smallest man in the match? But how much does it rule that Blackwell and Hickerson took 90% of that match?? Stan Hansen is perhaps the most famous eater of men in pro wrestling history. Hansen can chew someone up more dominantly than anyone, and here he gets completely dominated by Crusher and Hickerson. Sure Hickerson takes some knocks to the head, gets smacked into a ringpost, but it's like Crusher and Hickerson were working the way Hansen and Gordy work every other team. Usually when Hansen takes a shot from someone, he's the one who shakes his head and then angrily walks through it. Blackwell is absolutely impenetrable here, just flattening and outfighting Hansen and Gordy. Blackwell isn't getting the same height on his jumping elbow drops, and he's not doing high dropkicks (or any dropkicks), but he's a tough fat guy with a low center of gravity who punches and headbutts Hansen in the face. 

Blackwell acts like and is treated like the toughest guy in the match, and I love it. His elbow drops look awesome, his missed elbow drops look awesome, his avalanches are delivered with glee, and he's a 5'9 man who convincingly bearhugs Stan Hansen. Two different times in the match he's working over Hansen in the corner, then stops Gordy's interference with one strike! Gordy charges in to save Hansen and Blackwell just turns around and punches him! Later, Gordy charged in and Blackwell just mule kicked Gordy away and ignored Gordy's forearm! Blackwell worked like the total star of the match, which is the most fun way the match could have been worked. Hickerson also appears to be having a blast on his only trip to Japan, a trip where he and Blackwell will be the team in the RWTL who wins no matches. Hickerson seems to really bathe in the new audience, and Blackwell holding Hansen and Gordy in the corner like he was Andre, so that Hickerson can fly across the ring with an avalanche, was a real moment of wrestling bliss. Hansen decides to shut things down the way he does. Hickerson goes back to the well on that avalanche and eats a boot, then the hardest possible Hansen running shoulderblock. Elbow pad adjusted, Hickerson whipped, lariat takes us out. Who could have guessed this would be a 10 minute Blackwell/Hickerson showcase? A great on paper match worked within an unexpected structure is a great treat. 

El Hijo de Anibal/Atlantis/Great Sasuke vs. Java Genjin/Tutankhamen VIII/Macho Pump MPRO 7/24/03

MD: Lost MPRO match that's a good use of fifteen minutes of your time. I haven't seen much Anibal, Jr., but he died of COVID earlier this year. I thought he looked pretty solid here actually, having a decent amount of size, only slight awkwardness because of it, a fearless dive or two, and a nice running elbow. It followed a pretty standard lucha structure despite being one fall. The tecnicos got to shine early, including everyone feeding for Sasuke and Atlantis getting to do some more tricked out one-vs-two spots than I usually remember him doing. When the rudos took over, it was primarily Jabagengi (Being Gran Apache, of all people, working a monkey man Neanderthal gimmick, of all things) directing traffic. It was solid but maybe lasted a little too long without enough motion. They worked for the comeback and went into bigger exchanges. Tutankhamen shined here more than in the rest of the match, including a double jump twisting senton bomb and a no hands dive over the top, but maybe he was a little too into celebrating after the fact. Macho Pump had some personality and got tossed by the head by Atlantis and I have nothing else to say about him. Finish maybe needed a little more zing, but the dives before it had plenty. Basically, the highs were high and lows were few and tolerable. Fun stuff.

PAS: I thought this was neat stuff, MPRO six mans are such a joyful formula style of match. Gran Apache in a monkey suit and Fantastik in King Tut hat do a great job of filling in the KDX rudo base role, and this is some of the better Macho Pump I have seen. They were especially great at basing and bumping for Atlantis, just flying around for all of his offense, I loved the height and distance Macho Pump got on the monkey flip, it was almost Eddieish. All of the dives looked great, we couldn't always see where they landed, but man does Sasuke fly out sight with recklessness and force, it is almost crazier when we don't see his running tope con hilo land. Fantastik hit a crazy flipping springboard senton in the ring, and a wild no hands tope con hilo on a prone Anibal, he was so good every time he showed up in Japan but never went anywhere in Mexico.

ER: 2000s MPRO is a fed ripe for discovery for me, a real blindspot outside of a few matches here and there. Before this, did I know that Gran Apache wore a Giant Gonzalez full body skin and fur suit with a Neanderthal mask? I had no idea, and the crowd had no real idea what to make of him. He has a large novelty club and looks like Bubba the Cave Duck, only with a big dark zipper up his back. He grunts and slaps chest and thighs and constantly tries to get the crowd to react to him, and they politely do, but not enthusiastically. I'm not sure I would have even known it was Apache, even though the slap punches were there and he was a strong base for the tecnicos. I adored Apache's backwards bumps to the floor, perfect backwards tumbles over the bottom rope while landing on his feet, a bump to the floor I don't really see in lucha. There's a classic luchador way of bumping rolling over the bottom rope to the floor, holding the rope and flinging your legs over, but this was like Apache tipping backwards into the water before scuba diving. I loved it. Sasuke had what appeared to be a huge Asai moonsault to the floor (tripod camera missed the landing but it got the loudest reaction of the match so it was surely typical Sasuke danger) and hit his big swan dive right at the finish. Anibal hits a great dive and a nice plancha to the floor, plus takes a wild monkey flip in ring that bounces him upside down off the ropes. But Fantastik really takes the cake, taking multiple high backdrop bumps to the floor (often at the hands of Apache by accident), hits a cool double jump springboard somersault senton, a gorgeous bullet tope, and then hits the dive of the match with a hands free senton to the floor, Super Calo style. I love this format, really need to dive more into mid 2000s MPRO. 

American Dragon vs. Metal Master Paris Japan Expo 7/6/08

PAS: Chad Collyer uploaded this, it was from a show in Paris and has a masked Bryan Danielson against a masked Collyer. What a treat, first section of this match saw Dragon working 80s heel, choking with a rope, doing a Ric Rude hip swivel, taking stooging bumps. He was as good doing John Tatum as he is doing souped up Chris Benoît stuff, as he was doing Ricky Morton shtick in WWE tags, what a talent. I thought all of the early over the top heel stuff really paid off at the end of the match, when they had more of a hot workrate finishing run. By then the crowd was fully behind Metal Master, and chagrined every time Dragon got a bit of an advantage. The execution on the finish had a bunch of cool little flourishes, including Dragon doing a super fast Saint escape of a waistlock into a back elbow. Video gets choppy at the end, but we still get almost the whole match and a great little snapshot at a small part of an all time greats career. 

MD: Absolutely tremendous. When I saw the word "expo," I half wondered what we were going to get. It hearkened back to some of those lucha performances at other "expos" that end up being as streamlined and straightforward as possible, in front of game but unfamiliar crowds. In that regard, this didn't disappoint. This is 2008 Collyer and Danielson, under hoods, wrestling their version of a high-energy 1989 American match. Danielson completely gives himself over to the role, complaining about the crowd not cheering for him at the start, bumping, stooging, feeding, clowning, and stalling throughout, taking over on an unclean break, playing hide the object with a rope from the turnbuckle, and yes, twice doing the Rick Rude hip swivel and probably having the time of his life in the process. Yet, they show that they understand what works and why it works. The crowd completely comes along with Collyer as he fights his way out of a chinlock. Danielson hits an axehandle off the second rope mid-way through to set up a bit transition as he leaps off the top into a Collyer dropkick later. They had to switch cameras towards the end and you got the sense that the person had technical difficulties and had to be selective in what was captured, but you get the broad idea of it. Towards the end, they cycle into Steamboat/Savage pin attempts, and some very believable 1989 power move near falls, before Danielson reverses a flying body press and grabbing the tights for the win. Full commitment, total patience and restraint, great understanding of what works and why. I'm sure they had a blast doing it. It's a great performance from both guys and another feather in Danielson's cap.

Read more!

Blowbama Togo They Call Him Living Legend

Dick Togo/Sho Funaki/TAKA Michinoku vs. Gran Naniwa/Gran Hamada/Jushin Liger MPRO 8/18/96 - EPIC

PAS: This match was the speedball that killed John Belushi, just a non-stop lighting bolt. Liger fits right into the MPRO house style and is awesome interacting with all of KDX. He was especially fun against Togo coming off their singles match a couple months earlier, it is a shame those two didn't have a long series of matches against each other. The level of speed and precision on the KDX triple teams is really breathtaking, they just whip that stuff off so fast, it is like watching the Spurs team that won the 2014 finals. We got a great dive train too, TAKA's spaceman quebrada is still one of the great dives in wrestling history. I also loved the big run of Naniwa offense to finish the match off, I remember us thinking Naniwa would ended being a huge start around this time, he was a guy who's career really ended too soon.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE DICK TOGO

Read more!

Dick Togo is in the Same Project as Candyman Still Doing Hand to Hands

Revolucion vs. Argos MPRO 9/16/16 - FUN

Known marxist revolutionary Dick Togo comes into the MPRO mask tournament in a Cuban flag outfit to wrestling Mistico's mediocre tag along brother. Not much of a match, Argos is pretty dull and Togo wasn't busting out all of his cool spots, possibly to attempt to conceal his identity. Togo still looked really crisp, and I would be very excited to see a Togo/Fidel Sierra tag team. Hopefully his later round matches have a bit more pop.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE DICK TOGO

Read more!

Dick Togo Get it Cross State With the Grace of Maria

Dick Togo/Men's Teioh/Shoichi Funaki/Shiryu/TAKA Michinoku vs. Gran Hamada/Masato Yakushiji/Super Delfin/Gran Naniwa/Tiger Mask 4 MPRO 10/10/96 - EPIC

This is the most legendary Michinoku Pro match, and it was interesting to watch it with new eyes. It goes almost without saying that it is a great match. All three sections of the match were just classic. The early section with everyone matching up was special, everyone looked good, but I always love watching Togo flying around with Yakushiji, they are special dance partners, the Rogers and Astaire of lucha. When we moved into the KDX beatdown section, it was great to watch timing those five had on their combo moves, and the slambam finish was the kind of fired up cocaine bender you want, TAKA'S spaceman moonsault went into the sixth row, and Togo floated on his senton like a dirigible of fat ending in a Hindenburg style explosion. However, I think the fact that it went 40 minutes I initially saw as a benefit, I think it is a bit of hindrance here, it felt a bit flabby, and I think I prefer the tighter 20 minute version of this match. Also because this was a showcase, it had a little less specific story then some of the other matches, when you focus on everyone, you kind of focus on no one. Still minor quibbles to an epic match.

Read more!

It's Only One God and It's Only One Crown and It's Only Dick Togo that Can Stand on this Mound

SATO/Shiryu vs. TAKA Michinoku/Super Delfin MPRO 9/20/94 - GREAT

Not the fluid lucharesu showcase you might expect from this lineup, instead we get a violent beatdown by the SATO and Shiryu.  They run out and blitz TAKA and Delfin, throwing them violently all around the arena SATO (our boy Dick) takes TAKA out to the lobby and chucks him into a concrete post, slams him on a ping pong table and chokes him with some guys umbrella. They take Delfin out completely with a spiked tombstone on the floor, leaving them to brutalize TAKA 2 on 1. There is a great comeback moment where TAKA dropkicks them to the floor and hits his spaceman plancha, he goes back in the ring to dive on Togo again, and Shiryu just wastes him with a larait to the back of the head. They beat the ref for the hell of it, and then Terry Boy comes in and they do some neck compressing triple teams, before leaving TAKA in a heap. Too one sided to be an EPIC match, but man was this an nasty beat down, SATO and Shiryu look like killers.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE DICK TOGO

Read more!

Hell Freeze Over Like the Watch Togo's Puts His Sleeve Over

SATO/Great Sasuke vs. Ultimo Dragon/Masao Orihara WAR 3/2/94 - FUN

This had some really strong moments and good performances, but I just don't think these kind of matches are doing a ton for me in 2010. It went too long, even with a clip in the middle, and didn't feel like it had much of a structure. Just a lot of guys doing a bunch of things, some of the things are really cool, but it didn't build much of a coherent tale. I really like Orihara as either an underdog fighting through a beating, or a dickish asshole stiffing people. He can do both in one match and make it work, but here it felt a little like he was shifting back at forth randomly. Also Sasuke brutally blew the Sasuke Special #2 which ruined what had been an awesome dive train. Otherwise Sasuke was pretty great, as he really has a awesome overall shtick, graceful and crazy, as adept at quick lucha exchanges as lunatic bumping. Man is SATO stellar too, such crazy agility for a stocky dude, he had the best dive in a match with Orihara, Ultimo and Great fucking Sasuke which is really something. Ultimo had some nice moments, I loved him dickishly breaking up a pin by kicking Sasuke in the eye Tenryu style, but he is still consistently the least guy in almost every match I see him in. I think folks will enjoy this, but I wanted it to be better.

Dick Togo vs. Super Delfin MPRO 6/22/97 - FUN

This is a pretty well known match amongst wrestling nerds of the 90s. Togo just destroys Delfin here. Completely one sided asskicking, including Togo breaking Delfin's nose on a DDT off a stage on a table. After his nose gets smashed, Togo keeps dropping him on his face and kicking him in said nose. It was a really great attack on someone wearing Delfin's mask. There was blood dripping down out of the pointy nose. The finish of the match has Delfin beaten so badly that he prostrates himself by crawling through Togo's legs to submit. It was a bizarre angle as it feels like a Vince McMahon humiliation of Jim Ross, although it is hard not to find it compelling. Not much of a match, but a heck of a spectacle.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE DICK TOGO

Read more!

Dick Togo is Up and Down With the Price, The Corner's Playing Pogo

Dick Togo vs. Gangrel WWF Sunday Night Heat 9/6/98 - FUN 

PAS: Short semi competitive squash, but a nifty one. Togo gets a couple of moves early including a nice spin kick, but Gangrel takes over and just chucks Togo around the ring with suplexes. I had no memory of the period where Gangrel worked as Taz, but he was a fun Taz, and Togo is an awesome Pablo Marquez. 

PAS: Dick Togo v. Rui Hiugaji MPRO 12/16/10 - EPIC 

PAS: Another excellent 2010 Togo singles match, and one worked dramatically different from either the Billy Ken Kid or Hikaru Sato matches. This really reminded me of a 80's Lawler v. Austin Idol match. The first part of the match is all about Hugaji trying to stall and avoid a punch and Togo finally landing it. Then Hiugaji takes him to the floor and busts him up with a chair shot, and then works a really simple effective beatdown based around opening up a cut. Hiugaji doesn't do anything flashy, but he is a nasty fucker, and his bumping when Togo punches his way to a comeback is great. They also exchange some really solid haymakers. Togo has been unleashing a great superkick lately and he obliterates Hiugaji with one here, and I loved the rolling around for the crossface finish. No Togo dive (outside of a flip off the apron) and no big senton, this was a match built on selling and timing not athleticism. It's a match Togo could work into his 60's, so Dick, if you are reading this, no need to retire. 

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE DICK TOGO

Read more!

Aero Dynamic, Roof Panoramic, My Credit Score let Dick Togo Take Full Advantage

Dick Togo vs. Masato Yakushiji MPRO 3/1/97 - FUN 

PAS: This is one of my favorite match ups in any MPRO trios match, but it doesn't deliver at that level as a singles match. Part of it was just expectations, Yakushiji hits some ranas and headscissors really fast, but not at the 4x FF level you will see in other matches. There is also one really blown spot, which is kind of strange because these two usually have their stuff down so well. Plenty to like, Togo hits a great looking Buzz Sawyer x2 powerslam, and the finishing Senton looks great, but this wasn't transcendent like I was hoping for. 

Dick Togo vs. Hikaru Sato DDT 11/28/10 - EPIC 

PAS: Just a tremendous match the best Togo singles I have seen so far and one of the best matches of 2010. Sato isn't someone I have thought much of in the past. The cat maid cosplay is everything that grosses me out about Japan, and here is rocking a nasty herp on his lip which doesn't help me get comfortable. He is however, a guy who will deliver enough violent offense to really put Togo in danger. The work on the leg was really nasty including some very nasty kicks to the kneecap and thigh. He also wasn't afraid to loosen fillings with punches and slaps. I liked a lot of the early scrambling for holds, with Togo pulling out some really Fujiwarish counters into crossfaces, and Sato putting in some nice submission attempts too. The finish of this match really brings it over the top. Sato rolls into a super nasty looking figure four ankle lock, and Togo does a great job of desperately going to the rope. Then Dick hits this amazing desperation one leg super kick, flips Sato to the floor, pedigrees him on said floor, and then lands a rolling senton which is one of the prettiest highspots you will ever see. Just breathtaking, leading into in ring pedigree and Senton. Spectacular final run, capping off a classic match. If you ever liked a Dick Togo match, you will dig the fuck out of this. 

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE DICK TOGO

Read more!

It's Been a Minute So They Ask Dick Togo Where The Fire Went, Kitchen Clean But He Still Got The Pilot Lit

Dick Togo/Men's Teioh/ Shoichi Funaki/Shiryu vs. Great Sasuke/Gran Hamada/Gran Naniwa/ Masato Yakushiji MPRO 12/20/96 - GREAT 

PAS: One of the odder structured of this killer run of matches. Funaki comes in with a wrapped knee and the technicos go after it violently, making him a non entity early, eventually he gets taken to the back by his team mates. You don't usually see the rudo team gutting out a man down advantage, and the match isn't really worked any different because of that. The structural weirdness is the only thing keeping this out of the epic camp, as the actual work was amazing. We get big gobs of Togo v. Yakushiji and Togo v. Hamada which are two of the greatest match ups in history. Hamada hits the single greatest spinning DDT I have ever seen, and Yakushiji almost trumps him with an awesome swan dive Mysterio rana, of course Dick Togo is on the receiving end of both. Men't Teiho is throwing bombs too, splattering Naniwa with a rolling elbow and a Saito suplex, and Sasuke delivers another reckless Sabuish "dead by 30" performance. Finish is the traditional wild adrenaline ride, everyone of these matches is the car chase scene from To Live and Die In LA if it was in a ring in a high school gym in Northeast Japan. 

Dick Togo/Yoji Anjo vs. Tomohiro Ishii/Koichiro Kimura WJ 6/29/03 - FUN 

PAS: Really awesome looking match on paper, as the team of Togo and Anjo is a dream I didn't know I had. It didn't really live up to it's promise as it was more of an undercard tag with some nice moments, then a legendary match. Togo was wrestling more of a heavyweight style as the match was lots of clubbering elbows and such. Yoji was the standout as he was kicking folks in the throat and ended the match with an awesome running european uppercut. I might have to seek out more World Japan Togo/Anjo, I could see them against the SAT's being perversely entertaining. 

Dick Togo vs. Billy Ken Kid 2/11/10 - EPIC 

PAS: One of the best individual performances of Togo's career. I don't get much of a sense of BKK at all, he takes a beating, has a couple of nice highspots, but I get the sense you could grab a guy out of a CZW undercard juniors scramble, slot him in this match and it would have been as good. This was Togo's show, he violently demolishes his opponent early, strutting and smirking as he beats the piss out of the kid. It really reminded of the best of 2010 LA PARK, the way he made an extended one sided beating compelling. He takes a crazy modified Slaughter ringpost bump to put Ken on offense and takes about three other lunatic bumps at other points to transfer momentum. They build the interference spots nicely, so when BKK clears Togo's gang out you really get a sense of catharsis. Normally juniors matches with this many nearfalls lose me, but they built enough goodwill and drama with the first 20 minutes, that they earned the ending they had. Excellent match, one folks should check out if they haven't seen. 

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE DICK TOGO

Read more!

Dick Togo Avalanche The Alpine Shake, The Coupe's Vanilla Bean, The Seats Poundcake

Dick Togo/Katsushi Takemura vs. Kaz Hayashi/American Dragon NJPW 8/17/04 - EPIC 

PAS: A lot of talent in this match, and it pretty much lives up to it. What fed ran the KDX break-up bloodfeud, because I need to see any time Togo and Hayashi match up. They just went after each other tooth and nail. I remember Danielson being disappointing in this New Japan run, but he looked like American Dragon here, really viciously ripping at Takemura's arm, laying into people with uppercuts, and pulling off actual intensity in a way a scrub like Davey Richards can only dream about. Togo and Takemura do a really nice job working over Dragon and building to a big hot tag and a great end run. There is a big blown spot here, as Danielson is attempting a superplex and both he and Takemura tumble nastily to the floor, it was actually the rare blown spot which makes a match better. First of all the bump looked nasty, then Danielson did a nice job coming back getting the advantage and hitting the suplex again, almost making the redo of the spot a moment of triumph. He goes from that into the Cattle Mutilation which gets broken up by a Dick Togo senton onto the bridge, which comes off as cool as it sounds. 

PAS: Dick Togo/Masao Orihara vs. Rasse/Great Sasuke MPRO 3/17/07 - FUN 

PAS: I am just not digging the 2000's Togo tags as much as the 90s stuff, although I don't think it is because either Togo or his opponents have gotten worse. Structurally this just wasn't as satisfying. The rudo team does a lot of chair shotting and power bombing, and we never really get to see Togo and Rasse work lucha segments, which is really the most on paper intriguing part of the match. We did finally get to see Sasuke and Rasse fly around a bit and Togo looked like Togo looks, but this wasn't the match I wanted this to be. 

Dick Togo/Yasu Urano vs. Extreme Tiger/Jack Evans NOAH 10/26/10 - FUN 

PAS: I think a tag match with 2006 Dick Togo v. 2006 Jack Evans would be amazing, but Evans seems to have taken a big step back since going to AAA. I think the stuff I liked the most in this match was the initial Yasu Urano v. Extreme Tiger matwork which was a nice start, but shouldn't be the highlight. Jack will still take a big beating and stretching, and I really dug Togo yanking out his neck with the crossface, also the last couple of minutes was pretty cool with a nifty Extreme Tiger dive and Jack hitting the 730 which is still spectacular. However most of the lucha exchanges between Evans and Togo were pretty disappointing, Togo is historically so good with flashy flyers, but none of this stood out, and most of Jack's offense kind of looked like crap. Match was worth checking out, but I expected better. 

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE DICK TOGO

Read more!

Dick Togo's Birds Eye View Got Him Channeling His Vision, Turns One to Two Now the Kilo Has A Sibling

Dick Togo/Men's Teioh/Shiryu vs. Gran Hamada/Super Delfin/Great Sasuke MPRO 1/14/97 - EPIC 

PAS: This is it right here. We start out with a more violent vibe then the traditional six man. Sasuke starts the fun by spin kicking Shiryu right in the sternum really fucking hard. KDX responds by taking it to the streets, and folks are getting hung off balconies and chucked into concrete walls. They get back into the ring and we get some truly breathtaking lucha. One beautiful exchange after another, I think Hamada v. Togo stood out for for me (man the arm drag Hamda pulls out was life changing), but all of the matchups were great. It ebbed and flowed, as multiple times they went to the floor and threw each other into chairs, and then went back to flying and flipping. Finish run was great as KDX did their thing, just decimating Sasuke with multiple big moves, ending of course with the portly man with goatee floating through the air 

Dick Togo/Ikuto Hidaka vs. Christopher Daniels/Donovan Morgan ROH 9/21/02 - FUN 

PAS: This is from the ROH tag tournament, in one of the earliest ROH shows. Match started out slowish, with a long heel control section with Daniels and Morgan (who should have been Team Receding Hairline). This was a little dull, although solid, but there was a reason that Morgan didn't have a long ROH run. Pretty much everything after the Togo hot tag was pretty great stuff, as they built a really hot finish. Hidaka looked especially good here, as I loved his spinning DDT into the rope choke. Togo pretty much stuck to his signature stuff, it all looked good, but watching all of this Togo I can tell when he is mixing it up, and he wasn't here. Still good stuff, and definitely got the crowd amped up. 

Dick Togo/Jado/Gedo/Katsushi Takemura vs. Jushin Thunder Liger/El Samurai/Wataru Inoue/American Dragon NJPW 11/30/03 - GREAT 

PAS: This is an elimination match worked with the same rules as all of the awesome elimination tags on the NJ 80's set. This match was cruising along at a mid range level for the first half or so. We got to see a little of Danielson v. Togo which is the most on paper intriguing match up. Danielson was pretty much doing his 3rd generation Dynamite Kid shtick, which really isn't the most interesting use of him. I did really like the Gedo v. Dragon stuff, they had really good chemistry. Still the match didn't pick up until we get some eliminations, and Jushin Liger decides he wants to be Abdullah the Butcher. The heel team removes the ringpad, but predictably it backfires and Gedo gets cut open on the ring bolt. Liger just goes nuts at this point, biting Gedo's bloody head, jabbing him with a spike, all of a sudden this pleasant little juniors match has gotten NSFW. After those two get eliminated we get to see Togo run throw his cool shit with Inoue, although the finish felt a little hackneyed. Still Liger as the Sheik is never going to get too big a complaint out of me. 

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE DICK TOGO

Read more!

Dick Togo is Clearing out the Pipes, Draino Brothers, The Whole Game Got Rollies in Rainbow Colors

SATO/Kendo/Piloto Suicida vs. Super Delfin/Super Boy/Gran Naniwa MPRO 7/94 - FUN 

PAS: This had about 10 minutes clipped, so it was hard to get a huge handle on what was going on. All six of these guys are really smooth wrestlers, and Superboy especially is an athletic marvel, as crazy agile as Dick Togo with 80 more pounds. Hadn't seen much of Piloto Suicida recently and all of his stuff looked great, as did Kendo. The stuff we saw was focused more on the comedy spots then a usual MPRO six-man. That maybe a side effect of the clipping, it may not have dominated as much in a longer match. For what I saw though, it overwhelmed the cool lucha. Finish run was sweet though especially the dive train, and Delfin murdering Pilota with his tornado DDT 

Dick Togo/Tigers Mask/Black Buffalo vs. Tsubasa/Asian Cougar/Billy Ken Kid Osaka Pro 4/29/09 - FUN

PAS: Worked like a traditional MPRO six man, although 2009 Osaka doesn't have the horses that 1996 MPRO had. Tsubasa, Cougar and Kid have nice spots, but their in between stuff didn't look great. This maybe the slimmest I have ever seen Togo, and while he doesn't have the fat boy heft anymore, he was getting freaky height and speed on everything he does. The rotation on his flips, the height on the senton just crazy looking. Asian Cougar isn't afraid to die on a senton on chairs to the floor, and Togo plants BKK with a Pepsi plunge which was pretty sweet. 

Dick Sato vs. Hip Hop Man 100% Lucha 3/9/08 - GREAT 

PAS: Totally awesome 7 minute TV match from Argentina of all places (THE MOTHERFUCKING INTERNET!!). They kick out the jams and go at a crazy pace the whole time. Hip Hop Man is a game dude, he had really pretty ranas and hits a crazy run the ropes flip dive. Togo is clearly trying to impress a new crowd, he breaks out all of his athletic stuff, and even hits a rolling senton off the apron to the floor, which I have never seen before. Pretty much a textbook debut in a new territory. I can totally see the crowd wanting to see more of this invader. This is the kind of thing which would have made an episode of Worldwide. 

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE DICK TOGO

Read more!

Invisible Set, The Rolex is Faceless, Dick Togo is Young Rich and Tasteless

Dick Togo/Men's Teioh vs. Great Sasuke/Solar MPRO 12/7/97 - GREAT 

PAS: This was the period right before Sasuke was going out for knee surgery, where every match had his opponents viciously destroying his knee, you got the sense Sasuke really wanted his moneys worth out of that surgery. Togo and Teiho are a pair of guys who can viciously rip up a knee, and they are nasty fuckers in this match. Teiho brakes out the figure four around the ringpost, which was a really hot new move in 1997, and Togo hits a couple of sentons directly on the side of the knee. Brawling Solar isn't really the Solar you want to see, but he was fun as a fired up babyface, whipping out the quebradoras and hitting a nice tope. This probably could have used one more big Sasuke comeback, but I enjoyed the hell out of Togo and Teiho as the Andersons taking out a body part. 

Dick Togo/Ikuto Hidaka/TAKA Michinoku vs. Jody Fleisch/Curry Man/Jinsei Shinzaki MPRO 3/2/03 - EPIC 

PAS: Man this was awesome. In some ways it was more impressive then the 90's MPRO six man tags, because this had a more random cast of characters. Togo and Fleish match up early and Dick was amazing working with all of Jody's flashy shit. It really made me want to see Togo do a US Indy tour of all the current indy mulatto spotfest dudes (Togo v. Flip Kendrick, Togo v. Ricochet, Togo v. AR Fox.) This is also the perfect kind of match for Chris Daniels as he can come in, hit his athletically impressive stuff and get out without having to construct a match. The WWE run clearly took a physical toll on TAKA, as he doesn't have the same kind of jaw dropping athleticism as he had in the 90's. Here he is kind of like Wizards era Jordan, using timing and guile to still score 50. His sections with Shinzaki were great. The match started at 8 and cranked to 11 by the end, the last 6 minutes were nuts, with crazy dives (Fliesh's top rope shooting star press is stupendous), saves, nearfalls. Pretty much everything current indy wrestling tries to do but fails. It ends just when it should, and all of your high difficulty stuff was hit on point. Felt like a longer crisper version of a WCWSN lucha match, which is about as high a praise as I can give something like this. 

Dick Togo/Shoichi Funaki/Men’s Teioh/Shiryu/TAKA Michinoku vs. Katsuya Kishi/KUDO/Milanito Collection AT/Shinji Nohashi/Makoto Oish Indy Summit 12/3/06 - FUN 

PAS: This was the KDX reunion match, the first time they had teamed in about 9 years. Pretty much an opportunity for Kaientai to run through their signature stuff, which they did well. The technico team was an odd group, but they all got to run through some stuff. I thought Kudo was probably the standout, as he laid in some nasty kicks. We got a cool dive train, TAKA acting like a douchebag and a great looking Togo senton to finish it off. A better more credible set of opponents would have pushed this to the next level, but this was an enjoyable showcase. 

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE DICK TOGO

Read more!

Dick Togo's Heating Up Like They Wrapped Him In Flannel, Selling Kilos From Your IPOD Nano

Sato/Great Sasuke/Shiryu vs. Super Delfin/Gran Naniwa/Jinsei Shinzaki MPRO 2/4/94 - EPIC 

PAS: Pretty much a perfectly executed MPRO formula six man. It has everything you expect, the intricate lucha armdrags and ranas, the signature comedy spots, the crazy dive train. When these guys get on this kind of roll, it really is something special. Man 1994 Sato (Togo) is one of the most athletic impressive wrestlers in history, the speed and agility he executes his stuff is incredible. He and Delfin match up to start the match, and their exchanges are at Gods Must Be Crazy speed. Sato also wins the dive train which is pretty impressive considering the company he keeps. We get Shiryu and Naniwa next, and they have a more mat based match up, with Shiryu ripping off some really quick amateur rides. It had been a long time since I have seen the Naniwa/Delfin MX arm wringer spot, but man do those guys execute it perfectly. Delfin is great as a cocky douche really getting into working over the arm, and Naniwa is also great as a guy sad and angry at always being a schlemiel. Outside of one awkward Shinzaki spot (and honestly he didn't bring a ton to this) this was textbook stuff, and exactly the kind of thing I fell in love with when I first saw it. 

Dick Togo/Great Sasuke/Nobutaka Moribe vs. Ikuto Hidaka/Minoru Fujita/Macho Pump MPRO 8/22/04 - GREAT 

PAS: Elimination cage match which was relatively uneventful except for a couple of huge moments. Your non FEC team was pretty vanilla and dull, Macho Pump especially is a guy who has never contributed positively to any wrestling match I have seen him in. Most of the action in the match was punch and kick stuff, and not done particularly well. The huge moments were pretty huge though. Fujita hits a nice looking Superfly splash off the cage, Sasuke is battling with Fujita on the top of the cage and basically takes a Shawn Micheals style HIC bump backwards off the cage, and Togo ends the match with a top of the cage senton which is a top five in wrestling history cage dive. Just amazing looking. Feels like what was memorable was memorable enough to recommend the match relatively highly. Dick Togo/Ikuto Hidaka v. Gedo/Jado Riki Pro 1/17/10-FUN 2010 Gedo and Jado both have weirdly oiled up muscled bodies and dark tans, they should find Chapparita Asari, have her grow a poof and work Jersey Shore gimmicks. Good stuff in this, both Gedo and Togo looked great. Togo did a couple of really tremendous moves, I love how he floats mid air with his in ring somersault senton. Gedo does all of the small things really well, punches, bumping and superkicks. Hidaka and Jado didn't bring much at all though, outside of a minute or so of solid Hidaka matwork. Crowd was completely dead, and parts of this fell flat, had a real undercard house show feel, like they were going through the motions. Worth watching for Togo and Gedo, but falls short of a strong recommendation. 

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE DICK TOGO

Read more!

Dick Togo Conversates a Bit About Your DNA, and His Salmon Suit From the VMAs

Dick Togo/Shoichi Funaki/Danny Collins/Shiryu vs. Gran Hamada/Super Astro/Alexander Otsuka/Super Delfin MPRO 9/23/96 - GREAT 

PAS: What an awesome weirdo lineup, it was like someone took a bag of my favorite wrestlers, shook it up, and drew eight out at random. Your MPRO regulars were as great as usual, Shiryu was just blindingly fast at this point, his flip out of the german suplex looks like it is in 8X fast forward. Hamada wasn't featured, but man is his signature stuff beautiful, that high rana he hits is just crazy, how he can get such ups off of such stumpy legs is a mystery. Your special guest stars were all awesome. Collins is a stubby little pissed off British guy, he wrestle similar to Dynamite Kid at his best, all nasty knees to the face, uppercuts, suplexes and scowls. Otsuka is a little out of his element, but we got to him rock some sweet mat wrestling with Shiryu and chuck some folks with suplexes. If anyone is tailor made to be thrown into a 96 MPRO 8 man it is Super Astro, he is such a breathtaking wrestler, and watching him and Togo match up is a portly dream match. Two tiny pot bellied men moving with a totally unexpected grace and beauty. Stunning stuff. Dick Togo/Men's Teiho v. El Hijo Del Santo/Super Delfin MPRO-11/10/96-FUN Perfectly enjoyable professional wrestling, although ultimately disappointing. Santo v. Togo is such a tremendous on paper match up, but it never really kicked into the next gear. This was worked much more like a Puro tag, rather then the awesome lucha tag it should have been. There were a couple of nifty moments where Santo and Togo do some rope running and we get to see Santo rip off a headscissors and see Togo fly for them. Still Santo felt like a bit of an afterthought, and the match was mostly Delfin being worked over by KDX. Again I want to judge the match on what it was, not what it should have been, but it is hard considering how good it should have been. 

Dick Togo/Sonjay Dutt v. Alex Shelley/Masato Tanaka Z-1 3/15/05 - FUN 

PAS: Lots to like in this match, but enough to hate to drop it below great status. This is a TLC match and those are what they are. Match starts out looking like the weird bifurcated Santo/Onita matches from LA with Togo and Tanaka doing some nasty brawling on the floor, with Togo sprinklering blood out of his head, meanwhile in the ring Dutt and Shelly are running through their horseshit. Match gets better when Tanaka and Shelly double team Dutt smashing him through tables and such. Togo makes an awesome hot tag, with a bloody white towel wrapped around his head like zombie Lawrence of Arabia. He just explodes with an awesome run of offense ending with a phenomenal tope con hilo That was the high point of the match, as the rest is a bunch of prop bumps, some of them cool, some of them awkward. Hard to avoid getting drawn in at points, also hard to be drawn out. 

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE DICK TOGO

Read more!