Posted February 13, 200916 yr comment_5437206 DVD #13 ---------------------------------------------------- August 26th: Korakuen Hall Saito vs Gasper - Nothing match. Yamada, Fujiwara vs Kobayashi, Choshu - I'm not sure these four could have a bad match, but this one didn't feature any inspired performances. Koshinaka, Fujinami vs Black Tiger, Vader - Fun Vader beatdown on Koshinaka, and Fujinami got to show his versatility by keeping up with junior and slugging it out with the giant. I was entertained but it didn't stand out enough to move forward. September 12th: The Fukuoka international center Vader vs Bam Bam Bigelow - Who doesn't love a good battle of the behemoths? Bigelow took a pretty stiff beating from Vader and had the agility to sell it like a smaller man. I had never seen Leon use a claw, but he did it here in a key sequence. Bigelow could've tossed in a bit more offense and they didn't nail the out-of-control-elephants vibe to a Hansen/Andre degree. I could see it falling off in the end, but it struck me as enough of a crowd pleaser that it should go on the block for now. Fujinami Army vs. Choshu Army 5 on 5 Keichi Yamada, Shiro Koshinaka, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Kengo Kimura, Tatsumi Fujinami vs Hiro Saito, Kuniaki Kobayashi, SS Machine, Masa Saito, Riki Choshu - Yet another awesome elimination match. They clipped a little bit out of the middle but it didn't seem like a big loss. Only Hiro Saito's elimination failed to make tape. The best NJ 5x5s used the "toss the guy out of the ring" option to great effect and that was certainly the case here. Fujiwara had some great moments including a nifty counter sequence with SS Machine and a smart elimination. I won't spoil the ending for those who haven't seen it, but it could've come straight off the Memphis set. This could do quite well on my final ballot.
