August 1997

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This is an elimination match and the conclusion to the awesome series of matches these two teams had in 1997. It was a little more deliberate and not quite as crazy as the other two matches, but still delivers when it comes to dudes getting spin kicked in the throat. This time the karate guys started some 3 on 1 attacks which is pretty intense when you think of 3 off the chain karate punks launching reckless kicks at the same time at you, and there were a few bits of actual matwork that had KAMIKAZE looking shockingly decent. The weak point of the match was a longer section where Kotsubo was the focus and that dude kind of sucks, he even drew some boos and gave that secti…

This was another piece of fucking great pro wrestling. This was not quite the same chaotic, savage massacre as the previous Goto vs. WDF guys tag, but more of a great southern style tag. Some really fun back and forth wrestling early on which was damn cool to see from such a fat guy as Goto, before Motegi ends up suicide diving right into a Goto chairshot (did I mention Motegi is actually awesome?) which sets up the heat section of Goto again mercilessly fucking up Motegi with various foreign objects, including drilling his face with an umbrella. Motegi screaming for his life while Goto was stubbornly trying to crack a beer bottle over his head before he just breaks it an…

Prepare to have your dreams shattered. Wow did that suck. You see a matchup like Fujiwara vs. Aoyagi, and you think „Why have I never heard of that“ - well the reason is that it was bad. Straight up. The one cool moment comes early on when the are both throwing wild bodyshots at eachother. The rest of the match is Fujiwara just eating Aoyagi up, and not even doing a very entertaining job at it. Aoyagi rushes Fujiwara with a nice kick combo in the corner reminding you who he is, the rest of the match is Fujiwara taking him down over and over again, sitting on him and slowly prying into submissions. You keep waiting for the indy promoter to turn the tables on the legend…

I was told a few times that El Samurai had a fantastic 1997 but for me, the highlight of this match was Shinjiro Otani. Throughout the match, he displays so much emotion after every nearfall, like he's desperate to get that pinfall and capture the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. I also believe that El Samurai was J-Crown champion entering this match but I can't confirm 100%. Nonetheless, really good match with a great pace and both men showing great chemistry.

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Sublime match with a completely different dynamic from their 94-95 bouts which were more about the underdog Yamamoto trying to survive. Here, he is near/at his peak and so the exchanges are far more competitive. Han does a great job at presenting him as a serious threat with a superb display of subtle vulnerability. The mat exchanges rule as expected (though they are a noticeable step down from the Tamura/Han interactions but that's an awfully high standard to be fair). The standup game is arguably even better and more dramatic and intense. Probably the best thing about the match is the way they use the points system with interesting twists and turns, comebacks and teases…

Some gentleman on YouTube is uploading random obscure joshi shows, so we get more great Kandori/Hotta sections. This was pretty great and if you added 10 counts you'd have a high end BattlARTS match. Hotta & Maekawa were just ruthless here as they would attempt to pulverize their opponent with kicks aimed at the face and head whenever they found an opening. And they really emphasized the striker vs. grappler matchup here as the LLPW team used almost no strikes. The beginning is 100% already, Endo rushes Hotta and tries to land punches from the mount, but a few seconds later she eats a punt to the eye and gets just destroyed from there. Kandori was in the Tenryu role a…

Bam Bam Bigelow vs Spike Dudley - Hardcore Heaven 1997 This is the greatest Squash ever, right? I mean it has to be. Spike beat Bam Bam to set this up on TV. Spike come out all piss n vinegar during his entrance like a tiny Stan Hansen and wants to prove this is no fluke. He comes charging right at Bigelow. It ends up being legalized murder. The biel Spike took was insane. Bam Bam threw him across the ring and Spike landed hard. Spike did get a modicum of offense including the Acid Drop, but nothing doing. He gets caught and Bam Bam THROWS SPIKE DOWN WITH AUTHORITY WITH A POWERBOMB! How wicked was this powerbomb? It got a fucking Holy Shit Chant. He Akira Taue'd Spik…