Japanese hardcore Wrestling IX Review

Posted in In My Head by Jack at 22:22, Dec 05 2005

By Slartibardfast

Another review for your reading pleasure.



Japanese hardcore Wrestling IX Review



The latest installment of this series is once again brought to us by Buck Woodward of PWinsider.com and Eric Gargiulo of Prowrestlingradio.com. The two form a good team with Buck as the straight man, and Eric providing color, although Eric?s attempts at humor sometimes fall well short of the mark. Keeping that in mind, I?ll ignore Eric?s Bird Flu jokes and get on to the PPV.



Match 1 Kasai vs.. Numasawa - Barbed-Wire Board and Razor Cross-Board Death Match



The idea behind this match is simple. Wrap a table top in barbed wire and place in one corner of the ring. Take a plywood crucifix, attach razors to it and place it in the opposite corner. Add two wrestlers with little concern for their wellbeing, shake well and serve.



The start of this match featured the most memorable beginning to a match I have ever seen. The two combatants circled each other like caged animals and then moved towards the center of the ring. They lock eyes and initiate a stare down, they move into close quarters for the initial tie-up and then, and then?promptly open mouth kiss each other! Howls of disgust and laughter immediately come from the crowd, as no one was expecting a death match to start off with a little comedy. Unfortunately, the ?standing lip-lock? was the only memorable moment in the match. The two decide to forgo any wrestling strategy and immediately start using their props and brawling on the outside of the ring. They save the razor studded crucifix for later in the match, and eventually add some thumbtacks and chair shots to the mix as well. In the end, a dive off of the top rope onto a prone Numasawa, (who had the razor board on top of him), ended the contest. Everyone bled, everyone proved they were hard-core, no one did anything original. If you want mindless hardcore you will find plenty of it here, but not much else.



Match 2 Daisuke Sekimoto & Katsumasa Inoue Vs. Hero & Kudo ? Tag Team Match



We take our first break from the hardcore style with this traditional tag team contest. This match was worked in the typical speed team vs. power team manner. Hero and Kudo repeatedly bounce off of the ropes and take to the air at every given opportunity, (when they are not being stomped into the mat that is). I felt this was an average match. Everyone hit their spots, Kudo in particular looked very good. Still, nothing in the match really stands out, and there is nothing here you can?t see on your weekly wrestling show of preference. In the end Hero hits the 450 splash to end the match. Nothing about this one was worth paying for so lets move on.



Match 3 Mr. Pogo & Shadow WX Vs. Kanemura & Necro Butcher ? Tag Team Death Match



This match features a guy named Necro Butcher. How can you not want to see a match featuring a guy named Necro Butcher? Sadly, Mr. Butcher?s name is more captivating than he is. Strangely, the ring is free of barbed-wire, kendo sticks, and tables at the start of the match. The two teams begin by brawling in and out of the ring, letting the fans get an up close and personal view of them as they throw each other into the ring side seating. Eventually both teams make it back to the ring and Mr. Pogo opens up his bag of tricks. He starts by opening up a a nasty cut on Necro with a sickle, and immediately follows up with his trusty drill. After a few minutes of punches and kicks Mr. Pogo remembers that he brought a machete with him as well, and so he goes back to work on Necro. Now we all know you cant keep a good Butcher down, and Necro proves the point by later attempting to win the match with the use of the Asiatic Spike submission hold, (yes that would be an American guy, trying to win a death match with an Asian submission hold in Japan, the irony was not lost on me). I?m sure you know as well as I, that mysterious Asian nerve holds only work within the continental United States, and as such Necro was unable to secure a victory for his team. Mr. Pogo however was able to secure a steel chain around the neck of Necro Butcher, and then hang him by the top rope to get the win. This match just didn?t do it for me, the participants seemed to phone this one in as no one looked particularly motivated to put on a great show. I wouldn?t pay money to see this match, though I would pay money to get a t-shirt that says Necro Butcher on it.



Match 4 Mikami Vs. Dick Togo ? Singles Match



This is the first of the 3 great matches on this PPV. There is no hardcore here as this is a traditional wrestling match, (although a ladder does play a part in the action). The bout features an excellent blend of technical, and power wrestling with some very good high spots thrown in as well. Dick Togo really stands out in this and makes is seem as if there is nothing he can?t do. I?m sure this match will end up on a ?best of? DVD somewhere. I won?t go into any details of the match because I don?t want to spoil it for anyone, instead I will just say that this is a match every wrestling fan will enjoy, and is definitely worth seeing.



Match 5 Nakanishi Vs. Yoshida ? Women?s Singles Match



The women?s matches that have been featured in this series never disappoint, and this one was no exception. Again we leave the world of death matches for this contest, and instead have a standard singles match. This contest features the MMA wrestling machine Yoshida, against the high flier Nakanishi, and both women play their roles perfectly. Yoshida uses a slew of mat techniques and holds, several of which I have never seen before, and Nakanishi is a perpetual motion machine, bouncing off of the ropes and going to the air at every given opportunity. The paces of this match is very fast, and Yoshida really shines as she puts on quite the wrestling clinic. I don?t see how anyone who likes wrestling could possibly not like this match. Forget the idea of these two being better than the women in the WWE, these two are as good as the men. Again I won?t go into details, but trust me you want to see this match.



Match 6 Ito Vs. Sasaki ? 300 Florescent Light Tube Death Match



If you sold band-aids for a living, this match would have made you a millionaire. Not only have light tubes been attached to every part of the ring ropes, but in a new twist, every 6 inches of the mat has a light tube on top of it. The bought begins with the contestants walking around the ring in order to break the light tubes so they don?t slip on them. Seconds into the match, the floor is a mess of broken glass, foreshadowing the events to come. Dropkicks, slams, suplexes, DDTs, you name it they do it, and they do it in a glass covered ring. Both do an excellent job of keeping the match moving, and never let the fact that the ring is covered in glass deter them from attempting a move. You really get the feeling that these guys are going ?above and beyond? for the fans at ring side, and it shows in their work. Just watching these guys is emotionally draining, and just when your sure the match is over, they give you another 5 minutes. This one will make you standup and cheer in your living room!



So there you have it Japanese hardcore Wrestling IX. The show starts off slow, but once you hit the halfway point you won?t regret your purchase. Buy it; if not for Yoshida, Nakanishi and Togo, buy it so you can say you once saw a wrestler named Necro Butcher