Paid Members JLM Posted July 11, 2004 Paid Members Share Posted July 11, 2004 Thanks to a mammoth order from JFFC at X2Videos, I'm finally beginning the task of catching up with Toryumon shows from this year. In this thread, I'll be giving thoughts on the shows after I watch them, with the aim being to highlight the best and worst of the promotion's output from December 2003 to whenever I decide to stop doing it. Obviously I'd like to see input from the usual suspects (Spatular, Adam Young, etc.) on the shows they've seen as well, and it'd also be good to see opinions from anyone else who has an interest in the promotion. Oh, and just to be safe NO WORLD SPOILERS IN THIS THREADThanks.So, to kick off, Vamonos Amigos #64, Toryumon X Mexico SpecialThis show is the last X show of 2003, from December, and focuses on the finals of the 2003 Young Dragons Cup. The YDC is the rookie equivalent of El numero Uno, and the idea is that the winner goes onto bigger things after taking thiis title. The previous recent winners are:2000: Milano Collection AT. The ace of T2P, and a man who was pushed as a star from day 1. He received an unprecedented monster push as soon as he hit Japan, winning the T2P Strongest league in 2001, and earning squash submission victories over established main roster members such as Ryo Saito. Now firmly established as a main event calibre performer on the main Toryumon Japan roster, he is the most successful graduate of T2P and one of the most recognised performers in the promotion.2001: Touru Owashi. The "Power fighter" of T2P. He went from looking rather out of his element on the T2P shows, to finding his niche as a monster heel as part of the Ginaz/Aagan Isou faction. He's certainly grown on me as the muscle for this faction, and the fact that he is part of the most dominant heel groups in the promotion in recent times shows the sort of level YDC winners can reach. 2002: Taiji Ishimori. The ace of Toryumon X, Ishimori has been pushed as the promotion's golden boy since his debut. I personally find him to be highly overrated, and his faction is my least favourite in X. He holds wins over both X roster members, and outside performers such as Super Crazy. Given the recent split within the promotion, its likely that Dragon Gate (which is essentially Toryumon Japan) won't see much of Ishimori, as he's likely to stick with Ultimo Dragon in Mexico. This brings us to 2003...The show opens with a Dragon scramble battle royal. In this case, the final four left in the ring will make up the semi-final brackets for the YDC finals. Mini-CrazyMAX, Los Carros Exoticos and Los Salserios Japonaises are all represented, as well as some un-alligned wrestlers like Manabu Murakami and Naoki Tanisaki. The match is nothing too special, though it has some nice moments.The self-elimination of Small Dandy Fuji (Mini Don Fuji) is pretty funy, as everyone in the ring stops and cheers him on, encouraging him to hit a suicide dive over the top onto the eliminated Murcielago. After some encouragement, he hits a spectacular dive over the top, and gets up looking very pleased with himself. He then tries to get back in the ring and wonders why the referees won't let him. His reaction to realising what he's done is funny stuff.There is no in-fighting amongst the factions, because an entire faction could feasibly advance to the semi-finals, making fighting amongst themselves in the battle royal pointless. As a loner, Naoki Tanisaki does a good job of playing the factions off against each other, and his scheming leads to the elimination of one of his more difficult opponents, SUWA-Cito. We end up with a final four of Naoki Tanisaki, Mango Fukuda (Los Salserios), Manabu Murakami and Takeshi Minnamino (Also of Los Salserios). The random draw conveniently keeps the the Salserios from facing each other in the semis, which gives us Tanisaki vs Fukuda, and Minnamino vs Murakami.Mini CIMA & SUWAcito & Small Dandy Fuji vs Koichiro Arai & Murcielago & Lambo Miura (Los Carros Exoticos) This is a decent enough six-man effort, though nothing amazing. Koichiro Arai has rather limited input.. Saying that, this match should really have been on the first Japan X show rather than that odd handicap match with SUWA in it. I like Los Carros Exoticos, Mini-Araken (Koichiro Arai) is insanely enthusiastic about everything all the time, I suspect drugs. SUWA-Cito is an X stand out, Mini CIMA is an effortless aerialist, and Small Dandy Fuji is a sort of comedic flier.Los Carros have nifty trademark submissions that fit in with their car-based gimmicks. Lambo Miura does an arm lock, Murcielago's is a leg lock, and both involve tying the opponent up on the mat in a way that allows pushing with one foot to put the pressure on, with the idea being that the motion is similar to pressing down on a car's accelerator. To hammer this point home, they actually have little steering wheels handed to them by ring side aids to pose with as they have these holds applied. Mini-CIMA has a slick variation on one of CIMA's finishers, running up the ropes and turning into a springboard mad splash. He has incredible balance and jumps amazing distances. SUWA-Cito does all of SUWA's offence perfectly, including the John Woo~! seated dropkick, and his finisher (which wins this match) the FFF. Naoki Tanisaki vs Mango FukudaTanisaki is completely overmatched power-wise in this match, and quickly wins over the fans with his plucky attempts to take Fukuda down with low dropkicks. The match is very short, clocking in at just over five minutes, with Tanisaki picking up an upset win with a surprise backslide pin. Takeshi Minnamino vs Manabu MurakamiMinnamino at 17 years old (!!) has to be seen as the underdog in his match against the thong-clad Shootstyle wrestler Murakami. The man in the thong dominates with arm bar variants and his rather unsettling arse-based offence, though thankfully he doesn't bust out the shining 'hip attack' in this one. Despite this, Minnamino gets some offence in, including his trademark second rope high angle senton atomico, and eventually gets the win following a death valley driver, which he seems to have taken on as his finisher, though it is as yet nameless. Sadly, Minnamino doesn't do any of his salsa dancing reversals here . UWA & NWA Welterweight title unification Match Taiji Ishimori (NWA welterweight champ) vs Yossino (UWA welterweight champ)Bleh, didn't like this much. I don't like Ishimori, and Yossino doesn't seem particularly interested. Yossino does the arm work, building towards his Sol Naciente finisher, and Ishimori does a ton of needless flips as usual. Yossino hits the torbellino (headscissor into a sort of arm bar take down), then goes for the Sol Naciente (which you need to see as its a difficult to describe T2P submission, suffice to say it hurts the arms a lot). Ishimori reverses this into an inside cradle, they trade a couple of near falls, then go to the finish, which ends in a double pin fall, ending the match in a draw. The crowd absolutely shits on this finish, and no amount of handshaking and sportsman-like gesturing can help. Young Dragons Cup Final: Takeshi Minnamino (w/ Pineapple Hanai) vs Naoki TanisakiNow this I liked. Tanisaki is on fine form, and he does the babyface fire thing well, the way he has the crowd so firmly behind him provides good justification for his move from toryumon X to the Toryumon Japan main roster, and I hope he stays on with Dragon Gate following the split despite being an X graduate. They go back and forth for a while, before some filthy cheating from Minnamino and his fellow Salserios member at ring side gives the young heel an advantage. He dominates Tanisaki for a while, but is unable to keep him down. His mistake comes when, after hitting his 2nd rope Senton atomico, (Which needs a name as he does it every match!) he gets too cocky and climbs up to hit another, this time from the top. He stalls for waaaay too long, allowing Tanisaki to knock him down and take control.For the next couple of minutes, Tanisaki throws everything at Minnamino to try and put him away, only managing two counts. Tanisaki even tries Genki Horiguchi's "Beach break" finisher, but Minnamino escapes it. They do a 2-count sequence, but it works in the context of the match because they both seem desperate to win, and they don't get up and pose after doing it, which is refreshing. Tanisaki gets a long two with an Elix Skipper style "Overdrive", and then signals to the crowd that its time to finally end it. He removes knee pad and signals for a running knee attack. Unfortunately for him, Minnamino catches him mid-leap and hits a quick DVD, picking up the three to the disappointment of the crowd.A fine match given the inexperience of both competitors, and I'm not too unhappy about Tanisaki losing, as he got the better deal in the end by going to the main roster. :)Ishimori shows up to hand over the torphy as previous champion, and Minnamino snatches it away aggressively before celebrating, he also receives a giant cardboard toyota car key, which I presume means he's won a car as part of his prize. Backstage, Tanisaki cuts a promo which seems to be targetting Genki Horiguchi, with the gist being that he has inherited the surfing gimmick, and also some cheap digs about him having lots of hair, as opposed to Genki, who is Hage (bald). I have no idea what Minnamino's promo is about, but its hilarious all the same. Strange lad. Oh, and I also like his Road Warrior Animal style hair-do. Main Event-oh!Kei Sato, Shu Sato, Henry III Sugawara and Jorge Rivera vs Milano Colection AT and Los GDI~! (Rey Bucanero and Ultimo Guerrero)The Sato brothers are identical twins, and they seem to be counted as one wrestler, their matches tend to be handicap multimans, they were also the two principle Syachihoko Machines. Rivera acts as one of the trainers in the Toryumon Mexico gym, and is credited with teaching Milano some of his 44 "Italian stretches". Henry III Sugawara is a T2P member who was in X limbo at the time of this show, mainly due to the complete failure of his "Royal brothers" faction. I've always rated him, and I'm glad that he's back on the main roster currently. Milano is the aforementioned T2P Ace and bona fide main eventer. GDI shouldn't need much of an introduction. They're from CMLL, and are regarded as one of, if not the absolute best, tag teams in the world. The first fall lasts only 4 minutes. Rivera I don't like, everything he does looks so very very choreographed, and if something doesn't go right he no-sells whoever else may be attacking him and tries the exact spot again. Bucanero/Ultimo Guerrero and Sugawara seem to work OK together, and Bucanero manages to fit one of his arena floor bumps into the opening fall. The Sato twins do some double teaming, and Milano stretches them good, applying a figure four to both at the same time. The first fall comes when the Sato twins catch Ultimo Guerrero in the old Syachihoko clutch (which they used to do under their old masked gimmick), which is a Gedo clutch combined with a Jacknife hold.......They pay dearly for this, as the rudos destroy their opponents in the second fall with some very cool double and triple team moves. Milano takes out Henry on the outside, leaving the GDI to put the Satos away, Ultimo with his top rope reverse suplex, and Bucanero with a Gory special submission. This all happens in about 3 minutes.The third fall is pretty much one on one between Milano and *sato twin* (if you can tell me which one is which during a match you're very talented). Milano puts on the Italian stretch 8, gets a near fall off an Emporio Armani shoe (best..lionsault...ever), before finally putting the little scamp away with an AT lock. After the match, the GDI parade Milano on their shoulders, and Milano has a go at doing their trademark taunt. Then they're presented with a cup of some kind, and oddly enough, it appears that they have also won a TV and DVD player. I'm not making this up! The match was alright, though it was far too short. Rivera wasn't great, the Sato twins are never brilliant, everyone else was good. After this, we see some footgae of Milano and Rivera training, with Milano learning some new stretches in preparation for his UDG title match with Magnum TOKYO. SummaryThe show is far from essential, and it would be easier to recommend it if the X'ers were still likely to make it to the main roster. As it stands, most of them probably won't due to the split. Still, the YDC final is good, and the other matches are watchable. The main event has a certain novelty appeal due to the mixture of participants, but its not brilliant. Probably one for completists (like me), or those who are intrigued as to how the latest batch of UDG trainees are developing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spatular Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 I don't remember an awful lot about this show, but I remember having the same overall impression you did - if you didn't get the show in, you wouldn't have missed much.I think Ishimori takes a bit too much stick at times. He's always been fairly solid when I've seen him, and he has a great look and some very cool signature offence. I find it difficult to object to his 'ace' push in Toryumon X, because there's no-one else on the roster who I could have seen in that role. Although I like Tanisaki an awful lot, everything he does screams 'competent midcarder'. Genki was right in one of his promos earlier in the year - he does need some better offence. The mini C-Max guys are great, but you can't have a mini as the number one guy. Minnaminno's gimmick moves are very cool but if you take them away he often looks a little scrappy, I think. And as for Murakami - no. Just no.(Minnaminno is 17!? Blimey.)The only thing I remember about the main event is that I was disappointed that Los GDI didn't have more to do with it. Oh well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members JLM Posted July 15, 2004 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 15, 2004 Hello again. Next up on the epic journey through my Toryumon backlog is the promotion's final Pay per view of 2003, meaning I can start watching shows from this year soon! I R Mr current affairs.  December 2003 - Yoyogi PPV - La Ultima Caida  This show is headlined by Magnum TOKYO's V3 defence of the Ultimo Dragon Gym championship (after successful defences against Don Fuji and Kenichiro Arai) against Milano Collection AT. The two had teamed together in the Rey de Parejas tag tournament in Autumn 2003, but they had a volatile break up when Milano got the impression that Magnum was using their alliance to duck his UDG title challenge.  Following several brawls and altertactions between the two, their match was made official and scheduled for the big end of year pay per view. Milano was shown preparing for the match on episodes of Toryumon TV (Vamonos Amigos on Gaora), learning some new holds at the Toryumon Mexico gym to use on the champion, and his assaults on Magnum in the month leading up to the event usually ended with him forcing the champ to tap to his patented AT Lock submission hold. Essentially, Milano was built up as the biggest threat to Magu's title to date.  The other main happening in Toryumon at this time was the rise of a new faction, at that time known as "Gianz". Founded by former Italian Connection members Brother Yassini and Dotti Shuji, the group had also recruited T2P member Touru Owashi, and the former "Berlinetta Boxer" Shogo Takagi. The Gianz group had been involved in a bitter feud with CrazyMAX going into this PPV, and their rivalry gives us the semi-main event, CrazyMAX leader CIMA taking on Touru Owashi. The two groups had traded victories in six-man tags leading up to the show, and CIMA held a squash (sub 60 seconds) victory over Shogo Takagi. However, he was yet to pick up a win over Owashi.  Just below this is a tag match featuring the unique pairing of M2K member 2nd Doi and CrazyMAX member JUN. The two had agreed to team for one night only to take on Gianz members Brother Yassini (or Yasshi as he became known) and Dotti Shuji. This came about when the two Gianz members intruded on a British commonwealth title match between JUN and 2nd Doi, assaulting both of them. Also in this match is the team of Italian Connection member Yossino and formally un-alligned wrestler Antony W Mori. Yossino had been betrayed by the two Gianz members when they left ItaConne, and Mori was still considering where his allegiance lay at the time, and had been taken on as an honorary ItaConne member for the time being.  On with the show...  SUWA, TARU and Don Fuji (CrazyMAX) vs Susumu Yokosuka, Genki Horiguchi and Ryo Saito (Do-Fixer)  This match is pretty much filler, as there was no major issue between these two groups at the time of the pay per view, and the match reflects this, fought in a competitive yet lighthearted manner with some comedy mixed in.  Despite this, it does feature one spot that I had never ever seen before, and is worthy of mention. Early in the match, SUWA picks up one end of a giant length of elastic (as in flattened ring-rope size) and holds it in front of Genki Horiguchi's mouth. TARU grabs the other end and begins to stretch it out, walking right up to the end of the entrance aisle. After a brief pause, TARU lets go, twanging the elastic at high speed over a good 100 metres into Genki's face. You can't make this stuff up, and it needs to be seen. Shockingly, this only gets a 2 count.  The closing stretch involves both teams temporarily isolating one member of the opposing team and trying to put them away. Firstly, SUWA is left at the mercy of Do-Fixer, and Saito and Yokosuka almost finish him off with a variety of suplexes that ends with a double fisherman suplex. SWA survives this, and the tables turn as CrazyMAX isolate Genki, and a flurry of offence ending in a TARU T-Crush puts Genki down for 2. Eventually, it comes down to a one on one in the ring between Genki and the permanently angry SUWA, who polishes Genki off following a John Woo and finally a FFF (his elevated pedigree variation.)  A passable back and forth six man. Toryumon churns out better matches than this on a regular basis, and its entirely missable, though the elastic twanging spot is worth a watch.  The Florida Brothers (Daniel Mishima and Michael Iwasa) vs Dragon Kid and Super Shisa  This marks the Florida Brothers' first appearance on pay per view under this gimmick. FloBro are T2P graduates Raimu Mishima and Takamichi Iwasa. After being refused premission to start his own faction and going on a long losing streak, Iwasa and his coach Mishima decided to head to America to 'learn some new techniques'. After being absent for some time, the two returned in late 2003 as Daniel and Michael. They dress in Stars and stripes singlets and bandanas, sport bleached blond hair and deliver pre-written promos in awful, awful American accents. Their act mimics American tag teams of the 80s, and they incorporate old school heel mannerisms, and win their matches with screwy DQ finishes. The two have (for now at least) replaced Stalker Ishikawa as the promotion's comedy attraction on big events.  Dragon Kid was doing very little at the time, and has spent much of his career drifting and filling up cards. He is fairly popular with the Toryumon fans, but he has been stuck in the role of generic un-alligned babyface for years. At the time he was a member of Shin-M2K, but his act didn't change in the slightest, and his persona and matches are the same as when he debuted, with only his feud with Darkness Dragon inspiring him to add anything to himself as a performer. Since said feud ended, he has gone back to his usual repetitive self.  Shisa was stuck in a similar situation. He hasn't alligned with any of the Toryumon factions since his debut, and as such has no logical lasting feuds. He is a gifted technical wrestler, and his Shisa/Saito Specials (signature moves involving headstands) always go down well, but he has always lacked any kind of direction from the bookers, and because of this the majority of his matches are meaningless fillers, albeit very entertaining ones.  However, for the purposes of this match, the slightly bland and clean cut nature of the Florida Brothers' opponents makes them ideal for their dastardly heelish antics. The Florida brothers cut a promo implying that Shisa is SAITO, which is a long running thing which I won't go into here. They also run along the front row clapping hands with all the fans as "living in america" blares out.  The match isn't too long, about 8 or 9 minutes in length, but its long enough for FloBro to do their thing, and for Dragon Kid and Shisa to establish control. Michael and Daniel do some double axe handles and a double elbow drop, Shisa nearly wins it with one of his Shisa specials (the double arm suplex into headstand pin... I forget which number it is).. then comes the screwjob~!. Michael brings a chair in as the ref (who is always Bakery Yagi for FloBro matches) is distracted, and swings at Shisa. He misses, and throws the chair to Shisa, who catches it. Michael then sells a fictional chair shot, prompting to Yagi turn round, jump to conclusions and disqualify Shisa.  Shisa and Dragon Kid try to explain what has happened but Yagi won't listen, and they leave looking pretty miffed. The Florida Bros pose and celebrate as the US national anthem plays, then they do another promo, ending with Iwasa's catchphrase, "OK, see you next time, bye byyyyye".  Liking or disliking this match is dependant on whether or not you're into the FloBro comedy schtick or not. Personally I find them entertaining, but then I like Stalker, Ebessan, Kinya Oyanegi etc. too. Its worth seeing them once just to see if you're into it or not.  Kenichiro Arai vs Masaaki Mochizuki  M2K leader Masaaki Mochizuki takes on fellow member Kenichiro Arai, with the stipulation being that if Arai won, M2K would disband. Mochizuki had been on a losing streak earlier in the year, and Arai thought that it reflected badly on the members of the group for their leader to be doing so badly. So, quite a bit at stake here.  The match is hard fought but surprisingly short. Arai works the legs, attempting to neutralise Mochi's signature kicks. Mochizuki counters Arai's Hanshin Tiger suplex finisher, hitting a tiger suplex of his own for two. The two are pretty evenly matched, and they both get close two counts with two moves they often finish with, Arai with the Hanshin Tiger suplex and Mochi with a Dragon suplex hold. Arai, realising that his standard offence isn't enough to put the M2K leader away, decides to go up top and bring back his old 450 splash finisher to put Mochizuki away.  A decent enough match, but far too short and a bit anticlimactic considering its implications. After the match Mochi and his former stable-mates have a group hug and go their separate ways amicably. Aww.  JUN and 2nd Doi vs Yasshi and Dotti Shuji vs Yossino and Antony W Mori  This is a lot of fun, and the best match on the show thus far. Two of the teams have a common enemy in Gianz, but in the opening exchanges the alliances keep shifting as none of the teams quite trust the others. Yasshi is top 'annoying prick' form here, managing to get the crowd hating him pretty quickly. 2nd Doi and JUN also put in good performances. At one point in the match, Yasshi tags in for the sole purpose of taunting and mocking a downed Mori. He struts and jumps around, yelling and looking pleased with himself, and gets in the faces of his opponents. Doi proceeds to let out a lout yell, reach into the ring, grab a handful Yasshi's hair and slam him onto his back in a "SHUT UP AND DIE YOU COCKY BASTARD!" manner. Great stuff.  Yasshi's antics put the two other teams firmly on the same page in their aim to hurt him, and at one point he receives a quadruple dropkick. Dotti is impressive in this one, and his exchanges with Mori really showcase his strengths as a power wrestle. The team of JUN and Doi eventually get the better of him, and in possibly the coolest move of the match, JUN hits his Tsumujin spinning kick in perfect synch with Doi hitting his trademark sliding dropkick. It looks devastating, and Dotti would surely have been out if not for the save from Yasshi.  Despite this, a miscommunication between JUN and Doi leaves the CrazyMAX member vulnerable to Dotti Shuji's devastating King Kong Lariat finisher, which puts him down for the 3 and eliminates his team. Mori and Yossino get on top of the Gianz members straight away, and some double team work on Yasshi's arm sets him for Yossino's Sol Naciente. However, just as Yossino is ready to apply it, Dotti hits his Lanzarse spear, giving him a pinfall victory over Yossino.  A really fun match with six wrestlers I like to watch. JUN's performance in this one makes his retirement all the more saddening. Yasshi has developed into a fine heel, and Dotti always looks very very impressive. As I said, this is the best match on the card up to this point.  CIMA (CrazyMAX) vs Touru Owashi (Gianz/Hagure Gundam)  CrazyMAX are in full military combat gear for this one, as is their style when they're at "war" with another faction. CIMA wastes little time, attacking Owashi before he can get to the ring. A chaotic brawl errupts between the two factions, and after a couple of minits referee Bakery Yagi throws the match out. After some exchanges between CIMA, Owashi and Toryumon President Okamura, the match is restarted on condition that the various faction members don't enter the ring. This doesn't stop Brother Yasshi and co. getting involved throughout however, which angers the crowd greatly.  The match is a heated brawl, focusing on CIMA's attempts to pull off certain mvoes on the much heavier Owashi, and Owashi's attempts to squash him. For example, CIMA takes control in the early going, but a scoop slam attempt leads to Owashi flattening him and taking advantage. Its an enjoyable match, and the crowd heat aids it a lot, as does a knowledge of previous encounters between these two warring factions. However, even if you don't know the back story, the standard big man/little man concept is easy to follow. Late on in the match, Owashi has CIMA down after a flurry offense, including his signature running chokeslam.  CIMA fires up on Adrenaline, screaming at Owashi to get up and putting all of his strength into one last flurry against his larger foe. He hits a superkick and attempts his Schwein finisher, but this is reversed. CIMA fires up again, sending Owashi into the corner and hitting a double knee smash, before hoisting Owashi onto the middle turnbuckle for the Iconoclasm. The final turning point comes from this, as he fails to flip Owashi over, allowing the big man to fall forwards, squashing CIMA and flattening him into the mat. A great looking spot, and you can just tell that CIMA is totally finished following it. Owashi drags him into the middle of the ring, goes to the top and hits his diving body splash finisher, then drills him with a powerbomb just to put an exclamation point on it.  A high profile and a very impressive victory for Touru Owashi, who I actually enjoyed watching in this one. He's grownon me a lot since becoming a full time member of the Japan roster, and is a fine dominating heel. He also has the awesome scary movie villain promo voice. This is the second match on the show that I'd say is worth checking out, as opposed to filler.  UDG Title match: Milano Collection AT (Italian Connection) vs Magnum TOKYO (Do-Fixer)  Magnum brings the new Dance~! for this one, no Do-Fixer members accompanying him, just two dancers and some sticks, not as spectacular as the usual routine but a nice change.  The match goes 20+ minutes and is pretty good. Magnum works Milano's legs in the early going, and busts out a sharpshooter which I've never seen from him before. Milano goes for the arm in a variety of inventive ways, ultimately looking for the AT Lock. During their exchanges you get the impression that they've "scouted" each other, as some of their key moves are reversed, and Magnum actually applies Italian Stretch #8.  Mid-way through, when Magnum appears to be in trouble, the Do-Fixer members come out to ring side to offer support which is a nice touch and puts over Milano's threat well. After milano escapes various arm locks including the AT lock itself, Milano tries a few pin falls, scoring a two count off an Emporio Armani shoe. The crowd is absolutely electric for the closing minutes, with the highly vocal crowd slightly in favour of Milano.  Eventually, after failing to hit the Egoist driver on numerous occasions and realising that a variety of other offence including spinning kicks and lariats can't put the challenger down, he goes up to the top and uses the Adult Video star press, which is is his strongest finishing move. The AVSP (and a rather sloppy one too in this case) finally puts Milano down as the fans count along, erupting as Magnum scores the 3. Its odd, because the crowd were very cold towards Magnum's initial title victory, but his defences have each received a very positive reaction.  Post-match Magnum, his two chief dancers, two extra dancers and Do-fixer minus K-ness perform the full Do-Fixer dance. At the end, Magnum punches the two extra dancers and celebrates his win with a group hug with his closer knit group. Prior to this, he and Milano respectfully shook hands and hugged, and Milano left to a good reaction from the crowd.  Overrall, a fine match, with some good limb work and some superb near falls going into the finish. My opinion on Magnum has changed a bit after watching a couple of his defences. Whilst I thought the match with CIMA in which he won the title was poor, and it is still obvious that his physical conditioning was never quite up to carrying a singles title reign, his defences have actually been of a fairly high standard. His defence against Don Fuji was very good and somewhat underrated, his V2 against Araken was passable and this match with Milano was a good bout too. His performances in his defences appeared to have won over the Toryumon fans by this point too. I'm glad he dropped the title in his next match following this one, but his reign on tape hasn't turned out to be quite the disaster it appeared to be in text.  Summary  I can recommend this show to an extent, but I will say that its more enjoyable if you have seen some of the TV leading up to it. Doi finally snapping at Yasshi is infinitely better to watch if you've seen how much of a prick Yasshi had been in the months leading up to it. The show features nothing dreadful, but as mentioned the opener is largely forgettable and the Florida Brothers can be seen on many other shows. Kenichiro Arai vs Masaaki Mochizuki is decent enough, but is rather short and seems to be more about the on-going demoralised Mochizuki angle than anything else. The top three matches are all good, with the 2v2v2 match providing a sprint with plenty of action, CIMA/Owashi delivering a good brawl mixed with your traditional big man vs little man match, and the main event bringing the drama and near falls. Oh, and the top two matches also provide a bit of evidence that Toryumon can do more than just multiman sprints and 'pretty moves'.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members JLM Posted July 15, 2004 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 15, 2004 It continues!  Vamonos Amigos #65 - January (Taped in December 03/January 04)  This show features highlights of the year-end 'fan appreciation' matches. These are dream matches chosen by the fans that take place on two different cards, one for singles bouts and one for tags. Due to the huge number of matches, most are cut down to the bare minimum, some of them to the point of being shown in "finish only" form. However, there are also some matches from mid-January TV tapings that are shown at greater length.  TARU, SUWA, Don Fuji and CIMA (CrazyMAX) vs Ryo Saito, Genki Horiguchi, Susumu Yokosuka and Magnum TOKYO  This is clipped to 9 minutes out of 13:13, and is taken from mid-January. This is up to the usual standard of matches between these guys, and its your typical multiman sprint with some comedy mixed in. CIMA has THE BUBONIC PLAGUE, either that or his back taping has left marks.  They use the elastic twanging spot on Genki as they did at Yoyogi, though this time he gets it twice. This spot has already caught on big time, and the wrestlers all seem to find it hilarious too. Rather than help Genki, Magnum comedically limbos under the elastic as the evil CrazyMAX members prepare to twang Genki's face off. They also do the comedy bit where Don Fuji starts jumping up and down, causing shockwaves that make everyone else jump up and down too. I laughed, sue me. Once the comedy is done, along with the obligatory "Genki gets caught in a submission so Ryo can get a "H-A-G-E" chant going, the pace picks up and some good near falls are exchanged. Genki fails to hit the Beach Break as usual. Lots more fun stuff happens, and eventually CIMA picks up the win with the LA Mart (Onryo Clutch). Very entertaining match to start VamoAmi.  The Florida Brothers vs Masaaki Mochizuki and Karaoke Machine #2  "Hey, Toryumon faaans...listen to meee!" Hasn't got old yet, and it never will. It...Never..Will! Michael Iwasa does the usual promo about their opponent, and he once again names a masked man by their unmasked name.. "He is Bata-yan!". Anyway, one clip later and Mochi and KM2 have arrived.  This has some nice comedy action, with one good spot involving KM2's deliverately contrived and absurd signature moves. Normally, he sets up an opponent as if for a moonsault near the turnbuckles, then goes over to the opposite corner and climbs up. He then does a back flip, lands on his feet, goes into a backwards roll, then a handstand, then hits a really weak splash on his opponent. Mid-way through this match, Mochi sets up Daniel for a moonsault and tells KM2 to go up to the top. He climbs the turnbuckles near Daniel, climbs up and does his backflip landing on his feet, then just stands there at a loss as to what he should do next. To remedy this, Mochi hits a missile dropkick to the back of his own partner, knocking him onto Daniel for the cover.  Mochi dominates as expected and looks set to pick up the win. However, this is a Florida Brothers match, and Michael has a trick up his sleeve. With referee Yagi distracted, Michael pulls a spanner (wrench) out of his boot and tries to hit Mochi with it. Mochi avoids this and drops him with a couple of kicks. Michael, now on the floor at Mochi's feet, manages to sneak the spanner in between Mochi's kick pad and his boots. As Yagi turns round, Michael leaps onto his back and clutches his chest, pointing at Mochi's boots and yelling at the ref. Yagi checks Mochi's boots, finds the foreign object and disqualifies him immediately. The anthem blares, Mochi is outraged and the streak continues!  We then cut to the fan appreciation night, where lucky fans win some very cool items, such as ring-worn attire/entrance attire and other assorted Toryumon merchandise.  Following this we are shown highlights of a large number of fan dream matches...  Yossino and Dragon Kid vs 2nd Doi and Antony W Mori  Unusual teams like this are the theme for the dream matches, the fans have chosen well. We're only shown 3 or 4 clips of this one, the outstanding one being DK and Yossino applying their Christo and 'From Jungle' holds in perfect synch  TARU and Stalker Ishikawa vs The Florida Brothers  TARU is the master of comedy matches, and the other 3 are comedy performers. They do a spot where referee Yagi is tied up in the ropes as if for Goldust's old "Shattered dreams". They then do this bizarre chain of Kanchou butt pokes (Stalker's speciality) which ends in Danny Mishima being poked headfirst into Yagi's nuts. Then comes the screwjob. TARU is thrown a chair, Michael sells a fictional chairshot. DQ, FloBro win again!.  SUWA and Genki Horiguchi vs Super Shisa and Kenichiro Arai  The elastic twang spot returns, Arai holding Genki and TARU at ringside doing the stretching. Arai catches Genki in an abdominal stretch, prompting TARU to bust out the CrazyMAX megaphone to get the "H-A-G-E" chant going in Ryo's absence. Genki tries a backslide from heaven, he gets reversed and an Arai Hanshin Tiger Suplex gets the 3.  The Bicycle brothers (Don Fuji and Ryo Saito) vs Masaaki Mochizuki and Susumu Yokosuka  Saito and Fuji enter on a tandem bicycle, and Ryo is in his old-school singlet. Mochi and Susumu are wearing classic M2K t-shirts and attire, and the referee is conveniently Yasushi Kanda. The three pose together as Fuji raises questions over Kanda's impartiality. I wish they showed more of this one, the M2K reunion is cool as hell. Kanda gets sucked into the nostalgia of it all and busts out an elbow drop mid-match. Ryo and Fuji attempt to put on a Cycling Yahoo, but Fuji doesn't quite know how to do it and the opponents escape. A Mochi running kick is countered into Saito's Messenger cradle for the 3.  Touru Owashi, Brother Yasshi and Dotti Shuji vs CIMA, Magnum TOKYO and Milano Collection AT  What a choice! All three faces enter Milano style with the fashion poses and snappy jackets. They do some nifty spots that incorporate the trademark moves of all 3. CIMA's Venus fist followed by a Magnum TOKYO springboard 'rana followed by a Milano Paradise Lock for example. A Yasshi low blow and a rope-assisted roll up secures Hagure Gundam the unlikely win over the Toryumon Ace dream team. The ever-cocky Yasshi talks some trash on the mic, and pays for it with a kick to the head and a Schwein. CIMA covers and Magu and Milano count the 3 for fun. All three do the Crazy-F**king taunt, then they dance with Magnum. They really delivered everything a fan could want from these three teaming, and again its just a shame these matches are shown in short clip form.  Super Shisa vs SAITO  Heheh, those pesky fans and their attempts to unravel Toryumon kayfabe. SAITO's first match in years (if he's..ahem..not Shisa). They do some synchronised headstand spots, and bust out the Shisa/SAITO specials. Shisa eventually gets the win with a swanky cradle. Whoever was filling the role of Shisa (assuming they're the same guy) does a good SAITO impersonation from the clips shown.  TARU Chon Mon vs Stalker Ishikawa  Classic comedy match that the fans are still very fond of. TARU Driller followed by the mighty one finger pin fall is enough to end it.  Daniel Mishima vs Michael Iwasa  Danny tries a camel clutch as a nod back to Iwasa's losing streak but Yagi doesn't throw in the towel. A chair is brought in and the two keep throwing it to each other. Yagi tries to get it off them, and as he lifts it they both get hit in the face. They refuse to continue and its a draw... I guess technically Yagi was DQ'ed.  Dotti Shuji vs Touru Owashi  In true heelish fashion, the two monsters of Toryumon deny the fans this one. Attacking Yagi and causing the contest to be thrown out in less than two minutes.  Milano Collection AT vs Yossino  These two trade some of their patended holds, and the clips suggest that it was a pretty good match. Yossino gets to the ropes to escape the AT lock, and has Milano trapped in the Sol Naciente as the time runs out. Time limit draw.  Dragon Scramble rumble match  This looks like it was tonnes of fun, we're shown a lot of clips, the official time is 20 minutes. there's some funny moments in the clips shown, one is Antony W Mori eliminating himself with his Ikimasyou! dive with the opponent's arm held. Another is at the midway point once everyone has arrived. Everyone in the match stops momentarily in order to line up and take turns hitting running attacks on a cornered Yasshi. They whip him into another corner to do it again and he flips himself out of the ring to avoid another beating. Following this, Genki catches Magnum with the backslide from heaven, and the ten or so other guys in the match pile on top to make sure Magu doesn't kick out.  The dreaded red elastic is introduced. Ryo Saito is set up as the victim, but Kenichiro Arai makes the mistake of sitting on the top turnbuckle to stretch it. Ryo lets it go at his end, sending it snapping into Araken's chest and eliminating him from the match. Arai sells it hilariously, scampering to the back at high speed patting at his stinging chest. The final five are CIMA, Ryo, Don Fuji, Susumu Yokosuka and Masaaki Mochizuki. Fuji chooses the bicycle brothers alliance over his CrazyMAX partner CIMA and pays for it, being eliminated first after a miscommunication. An angry Fuji causes Saito's elimination, then CIMA is eliminated by Susumu. The mighty BLUE BOX is used for the finish, Susumu catches a box shot to the head, and Mochi pins him following a hurricanrana.  After the match almost the entire Toryumon Japan roster celebrate and throw Mochi up in the air...then drop him. Mochi then gives a promo and the wrestlers all cheer. A good way to end the regular touring schedule for 2003.  We then cut to the special New Year's dinner show..  Second Doi, Kenichiro Arai and Dragon Kid vs dotti Shuji, Yasshi and Shogo Takagi  This is heavily clipped, and ends with an extremely hard blue box shot to Takagi followed by a Hanshin Tiger suplex.  Stalker Ishikawa vs TARU  Again heavily clipped. Butt poke into accidental low blow on Yagi is used again, and TARU picks up the win following a TARU Driller and the one finger pin.  The Florida Brothers vs Masaaki Mochizuki  Mochi's attempt at revenge on FloBro ends in failure. This time Danny slaps Yagi on the back of the head and runs away, as Michael frantically claims that Mochi hit him. DQ, Mochi outrage, Florida Brothers~!  Ryo Saito and Susumu Yokosuka vs Super Shisa and Antony W Mori  Clipped to the minimum again, Susumu beats Mori with the Yokosuka cutter.  CIMA, TARU, SUWA, Don Fuji vs Yossino, Milano Collection AT, Magnum TOKYO and Genki Horiguchi  This one is clipped down. The elastic hits Genki again, this time stretched from the end of the aisle. Genki takes the John Woo like a man, but eventually falls to Don Fuji's 'Nice German'.  Masaaki Mochizuki vs Shogo Takagi  Ugh, Takagi sucks badly, easily my least favourite Toryumon/Dragon Gate performer ever. Mochi was continuing his depressing losing streak following the disbanding of Shin M2K. He dominates this match, but interference from Dotti Shuji, Yasshi and Owashi at ring side hinder him. Takagi works the leg with his typically lame offence, then applies a half boston crab. Mochi gets control back by reversing a shin-breaker into a stiff knee to the jaw. He then kicks the crap out of Takagi for a while. Mochi plants Takagi in the centre of the ring with a flying Fuji armbar/facebuster from the top rope, then applies a grounded arm wrench. Takagi, in just about the only cool thing he's ever done, reverses an enzugiri into an ankle hold.  Mochi establishes control again with mant more kicks, then he flips Takagi over into a cross arm breaker for what would surely have been the win. However, Takagi's cohorts run into the ring and put the boots to Mochizuki, forcing the ref to throw this one out.  The longest Takagi singles match I've ever seen, and I don't want to see many more. He was slightly better than usual here working the leg, but his strikes are still completely awful, especially for a guy who's gimmick is that he punches.  Next up is Masaaki Mochizuki's birthday party with some fans...  Yossino vs Brother Yasshi (NWA Welterweight title match)  This is clipped to 9 mins from 11, but it doesn't take too much away from it being a good match. Their experience together allows them to do some of the more tricky T2P-style llave moves that Yasshi doesn't use so often any more. Pre-match, Yasshi attempts to buy the title from Yossino, slapping him in the face with a wad of cash. Yossino doesn't take kindly to this and the match is on...  This one is wrestled in fast forward, with the submissions and reversals happening at lightning speed. they trade the advantage on numerous occasions, with Yasshi's spells in control largely due to interference from his stablemates. Their exchanges show that they know each other well, with Yasshi feeding his arms for the Sol naciente only to hit a low blow, and his ability to stop Yossino taking him down with the Torbellino. Eventually, after both have scored near falls and applied various holds, Yossino has to resort to a quick reversal into a cradle to get it done. A good ten minute match and one I'd like to see again.  Yasshi, Dotti Shuji and Touru Owashi vs Antony W Mori, Yossino and Milano Collection AT  This is the only match on the tape to be shown in its entirety (15:27) and is a great 'main event' of sorts. Early on the ItaConne team isolates Yasshi, and they maintain control in the earlygoing. However, the main flow of the match involves the Hagure Gundam team isolating Mori repeatedly as his partners attempt to keep their team in the match. Mori fights valiantly, and the crowd are solidly behind him. He takes a heck of a lot of punishment and keeps kicking out, and there are points where Yossino and Milano intervene and take down Owashi. Eventually its too much for Mori, he is saved from Shuji's Gorilla clutch, but after Milano and Yossino are dragged out by Shuji, Yasshi and extra man Takagi, Mori falls prey to Owashi's flying body press and is unable to kick out.  A good fifteen minute match that really makes Mori look strong whilst continuing the Hagure gundam dominance.  Summary  This show is one for long-term Toryumon fans really. The nostalgia of an M2K reunion and other old gimmicks won't appeal to someone who just orders the odd show, and as a standalone show the huge amount of clipping does make it quite weak. However, if you follow the promotion, the dream match highlights are a lot of fun. Mochi/Takagi is missable, Yasshi/Yossino is well worth watching and the main event is pretty good too. If the latter two matches really appeal then pick this up, otherwise its one for long-term fans or completists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PWalsh Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 sorry for an uneductaed question but since the name change and all has the set or the look changed of the events?i followed Toryumon from its opening up untill 2001 i saw one or 2 tapes of 2002 & 2003 but none from 2004 but i want to get back into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spatular Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 The name change was only announced the other week. I'm not completely sure, but I don't think they've run a show since. They never really used much of a set anyway, apart from on major PPVs, where the sets weren't really branded, and during the studio segments on VamoAmi, which they stopped doing a while ago. The TV shows are much better without them - they now use voiceovers and Banzai!-style subtitles and music clips instead, giving the shows a much more lively feel. Â I think Toryumark's been a bit harsh on the year-end special show. "This show is one for long-term Toryumon fans really" doesn't really do it justice. I'd change that up and say "if you saw more more than three Toryumon shows last year then you NEED this tape because it's the single greatest two-hour markathon extravaganza, ever". It's down to taste, I suppose, but if your tastes in wrestling are like mine, you'll be sitting there watching those clips whilst wearing the biggest, sloppiest grin you've ever had. And the two full(-ish) matches at the end of the show are crackers, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members JLM Posted July 16, 2004 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 16, 2004 Oh definitely, I probably didn't emphasise that enough. I was just trying to get accross the point that if you're just going to order one show out of the blue then this isn't the one. However, if you have an interest in Toryumon and have seen a few shows then it is indeed a two hour markathon.  And once again, it continues!  January PPV - 31/1/04  At last, a a fully fledged 2004 show! This PPV is headlined by a UWA Trios title match between a temporarily re-united Shin M2K (Masaaki Mochizuki, Kenichiro Arai and Dragon Kid) vs Hagure Gundam (Yasshi, Dotti Shuji and Touru Owashi). The card is also notable for featuring the return of HJenry II Sugawara to the full time Japan roster. I'm quite a fan of Sugawara's, so its a most welcome return. the semi-main event of SUWA/TARU vs Magnum TOKYO/Susumu Yokosuka provides an oppurtunity for Magu/SUWA to face each other in the run up to SUWA's challenge for the UDG title.  The Royal Brothers (Antony W Mori and Henry III Sugawara vs Don Fuji and CIMA (CrazyMAX)  Henry enters in his crown to Rule brittania, and the Royal Brothers do the synchronised bowing thing.. ah memories.. I think I might be the only person who misses Junya "Philip J." Fukumasa. This match is a good one, with the main gist of it being an isolated Antony trying to get the tag. There is some miscommunication between the Royal Brothers (who haven't teamed for a long time), and Henry shows the short temper that was becoming evident on the Mexico shows. A miscued missile dropkick leads to Antony hitting Henry, and Henry is pissed.  Despite their best efforts (including Henry busting out the Buckingham backbreaker~!), Henry is eventually stranded on the outside again and CIMA is able to pick up the win over Antony with the Schwein. Oddly, CIMA decides to follow up by applying the Delfin clutch and doing a Delfin-esque taunt following the 3 count. I presume this was a nod to his involvement in Osaka pro's J Cup in February. Antony rolls back into the ring when CrazyMAX have left and Henry stands over him, still looking angry. Sensing this, those oppurtunistig Hagure Gundam scoundrels turn up and confront Henry. He is offered a place in their group and some free shots at Antony, courtesy of Dotti Shuji who is holding him up. Henry thinks about it clenches his fist and lunges forward only to SWERVE and kick Yasshi in the gut instead. Henry and Antony leave together, as Dotti says something that's probably similar to "This isn't over."  A good 10 minute opener and a pretty cool post-match bit. Sugawara looked good in his return to higher profile matches, and the other 3 were as good as usual, with CIMA in particular looking really up for it.  The Florida Brothers vs Genki Horiguchi and Ryo Saito  A surprisingly competitive match for the Florida brothers, who actually have the advantage on a couple of occasions. Genki fails to hit the beach break again in this match, and his signalling for it gets weirder every time. I have to believe that the next time he successfully hits the move it will receive a huge crowd reaction. When Ryo is on offence, he keeps yelling at Yagi to note the lack of cheating and to keep his eyes open for potential screwiness. After ten minutes or so of solid action with some comedy mixed in the screwjob takes place. Yagi is distracted in a new way. Daniel at ringside trips Michael as he runs the ropes and scurries away, blaming Susumu Yokosuka for the trip. Susumu is the picture of innocence at ringside. FloBro introduce their special stars and stripes chair, throwing it at Genki in order to frame him. Genki has done is research however, and throws it right back. Michael raises it up to hit Genki but is unable to when Ryo grabs the top of his chair.  The ever crafty Iwasa punches the seat part of the chair up and pulls the frame of the chair down over to his head before dropping to his knees in pain. Yagi turns round to see Ryo clutching a chair that he has seemingly wrapped round Michael's head and calls for the bell. The look on Ryo's face is comedy gold, as are his and Genki's protests to Yagi. FloBro celebrate as the anthem blares, but Genki cuts it off and delivers an angry promo of angriness, ending in the Florida brothers' own catchphrase "bye byyyye."  This might just be my favourite Florida Brothers match so far. The cheating is inventive and Ryo's expressions are brilliant. This PPV makes use of an instant replay for the finishes which is new, so you get to see the reactions to the dirty screwjob in super slo-mo. Good stuff.  Milano Collection AT and Yossino vs Super Shisa and Second Doi  The disbanding of shin M2K allows for some more vaired Toryumon Sekigun teams, hence the Doi/Shisa team for this match. Shisa is very very keen to start this one against Yossino, and these two have some superb high speed exchanges based around arm locks and take downs. Second Doi has improved so much since his debut, and in 2003 he was consistently great. Milano is as good as usual too, but the best exchanges definitely come from the Shisa/Yossino interactions. Eventually 2nd Doi falls victim to the AT lock and taps out. Another good match, this PPV is on quite a roll so far. Shisa cuts a promo post match and makes a challenge for Yossino's NWA Welterweight title. Thankfully Yossino agrees to this, which the crowd responds very well to. I personally am really looking forward to getting to their singles match as they can clearly work very well together.  During the interval some clips of Magu and SUWA's previous encounters are shown. SUWA attacking Magu's dancers, their subsequent match, a 2002 El numeru Uno match. Certainly beats looking at people milling around the arena and listening to the commentators (though I imagine the latter is more interesting if you speak Japanese).  SUWA and TARU vs Magnum TOKYO and Susumu Yokosuka  Not a bad match, but nothing spectacular either. SUWA and Susumu have the best exchanges in this one, and the crowd are really really into it by the end. SUWA comes out of it looking very strong, repeated use of the JUMBO NO KACHI! isn't enough to put him away. He nails the John Woo on Susumu and eventually puts him away with the FFF. This is perfectly watchable and achieves its purpose, but its certainly not a reason to pick up the tape in itself. Saying that, SUWA owning everyone is always good to watch. Post match there are verbal exchanges between Magu and SUWA, which I presume relate to their UDG title match.  UWA Trios Titles: Dotti Shuji, Brother Yasshi and Touru Owashi ( C ) vs Masaaki Mochizuki, Kenichiro Arai and Dragon Kid  A solid and entertanining main event that goes for about 20 minutes. All 6 are on decent form, though Yasshi is probably the stand out. Dotti is impressive as usual with the power moves, I like the way people attempt to get their feet back on the ground from his vertical suplex and he just hoists them up again. At about 20 minutes in, Dragon Kid hits a swan dive DragonRana on Dotti Shuji and scores what seems to be a three. The crowd are so caught up in this that they don't notice that Takagi has the ref distracted, and some of them throw streamers in to celebrate what they believe to be a title change. Then comes the turn, Mochi comes in as Hagure Gundam have Arai immobilised and delivers a kick to the face of his former partner. Arai takes quite a beating, ending with Owashi's diving body press from the top.  Mochi gets on the mic as the crowd tries to take in what's happening, and Shogo Takagi brings in a banner with the name of the faction that has just officially formed. Yasshi in typical crowd-baiting fashion tries to get an "Aagan Iisou!" chant going. The group pose with the banner and the successfully defended trios titles as the show ends.  Summary  I liked this show. all 5 matches were watchable, with the opener, the third match and the main being good (opener) and very good (the other two). The turn is done well, and is a fitting conclusion to the Mochi depression angle, as he does something about it in true rudo style. Recommended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members JLM Posted July 16, 2004 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 16, 2004 Oh yes, there's more. Sorry about the multiple posting but I'm on a roll at the moment. Also, as each post is 2,000 words or more I don't think it can come under post-whoring.  Vamonos Amigos #67 - Toryumon X in Japan  Toryumon X returns to Japan on a card that seems slightly better chosen than the first Japan landing show. Genki Horiguchi vs Naoki Tanisaki is the result of a challenge made at the previous show, and the main event six man features the two main X factions facing each other in six man action for what I believe to be the first time on Japanese soil.  SUWA-cito, Mini CIMA & SUWA vs. Henry Sugawara, Manabu Murakami & Anthony W Mori (15:09)  CrazyMAX are out in numbers for this one, with the three members of the team accompanied by both TARU and TARU-Cito II. SUWA attempts to start this one out, and mini-CIMA receives a slap round the head for trying to push him out of the ring. Just a quick note in case people haven't seen Mini-CrazyMAX regarding their size. The Toryumon X minis aren't minis on the scale of someone like Max Mini/Tzuki/Que Monito etc. Rather, they seem to just be guys of below average size as opposed to genuine 'midgets'. The Mini-CMAX guys do really good impersonations of their bigger equivalents, particularly SUWA-Cito, who's flying clothesline is damn near identical to SUWA's.  The match is a pretty entertaining 15 minute spotfest, but sadly one that's rather forgettable. No one is horrible, but nothing stands out to a huge extent. The finish comes from a SUWA FFF followed by CIMA's ever-impressive Mad Splash variation where he runs up the ropes and turns into a Mad Splash in one fluid moment, which he hits on Mori for 3. A decent enough pacey opener, but nothing special.  The Florida Brothers vs Los Carros Exoticos (Murcielago and Lambo Miura)  I quite like Los Carros Exoticos, particularly Murcielago. Miura is solid in this one and doesn't do anything wrong, but Murcielago is always the more impressive of the two, just generally looking more slick in his offence and attempting to get the crowd behind him. The Florida Brothers do their thing in this one, and it features some good wrestling in amongst the FloBro comedy schtick. They certainly give a better match than Stalker does as a comedy attraction. Los Carros use the steering wheel accessories to apply submissions, and Lambo Miura's hold is different from last time I saw him, closer to a butterfly lock. The obligatory DQ victory comes at the 8 minute mark when Iwasa convinces Yagi that Murcielago hit him with a steering wheel. An entertaning comedy bout with some decent action thrown in. I'd rather see Los Carros take on the Royal Brothers or a couple of Mini-CrazyMAX members on a card like this as it's meant to showcase X members, but the match is good fun regardless.  Genki Horiguchi vs Naoki Tanisaki  I remember seeing this match being listed as a Match of the week by Spatular at the UKFF, so I had fairly high expectations for this one. Additionally, Tanisaki is easily the standout member of X in my opinion, and Genki rarely fails to deliver. Pre-match they show Tanisaki bragging about being in the Young Dragons Cup final, and Genki countering by saying that he won it in his entry year. The basic story behind this is that Tanisaki uses the surfer gimmick that Genki used early in his career. The match is wrestled to reflect this, with Genki playing the role of the stern veteran who is intent on testing the the young upstart and putting him in his place. Both men play their roles brilliantly and its safe to say that this is the best match on the card up to this point.  Tanisaki gets some offence in at the beginning, and you can see him grow in confidence and actually start to get a bit cocky. This all changes when he attempts the surfing arm drag, as Genki let's Tanisaki throw himself off the top rope but doesn't let himself be taken over with the arm drag, instead shrugging the move off and glaring at Tanisaki with look of disdain. The tone for the rest of the match is set when Genki takes Tanisaki onto the entrance ramp and smashes his knee with a chair shot. From this point on Genki is unrelenting in his assault on Tanisaki's knee, and the youngster throws everything he has left at the veteran who barely gives an inch. Tanisaki gets the odd flurry but is always cut off fairly quickly. Tanisaki does an amazing job of selling the knee for someone of limited experience, and little things like limping or having the knee buckle from under him when he's whipped into the ropes put accross how much he's struggling.  Mid-way through there's a sequence that highlights how great Genki is in this match too. Tanisaki has fired up and is opening up on Genki with some chops, and it goes something like this..  Tanisaki: Chop! Genki: Yeah? Tanisaki: Chop! Genki: Yeah? Tanisaki: Fore Arm! Genki: Yeah? Tanisaki: Kick! Genki: Nope, dragon screw, I'm Genki Horiguchi, bitch.  Genki keeps doing stuff like this for the whole match, cutting his momentum off the ropes with a low drop kick and blocking the surfing clutch by hitting him in the knee. The truly evil Genki performance and Tanisaki's excellent plucky young babyface antics have the Japanese crowd, who love Genki, really rooting for a Tanisaki win. When Tanisaki kicks out of the backslide from heaven at 1(!), then gets a near fall on a backslide of his own, the crowd erupts Tanisaki finally puts everything he has left into hitting Genki's own finisher, the beach break. For a brief moment it looks like he's about to pick up a huge win, when Genki puts his foot on the rope. Tanisaki's sheer desperation as he drags Genki into the middle of the ring and covers him again is great to watch, and the frustration and disbelief when Genki kicks out seems absolutely genuine. After Tanisaki has given all he can give in this match he eventually succumbs to Genki's beach break.  Although I'll admit to being a mark for both of these guys, even attempting to look at it objectively I can fully recommend it to anyone who's a fan of good wrestling. A top quality sub-15 minute match between one of Toryumon's finest performers and one of its most promising youngsters.  Kenichiro Arai and Koichiro Arai vs Don Fuji and Small Dandy Fuji  The Arais are accompanied by Mrs Yukiko Arai, who the ever-classy Don Fuji makes sure he is introduced to before the match starts. Its really hard not to like Koichiro Arai, as he is clearly loving every second of his time in the ring, and Kenichiro's enthusiasm for teaming with his mini is infectious. The Fujis are again accompanied by TARU and TARU-Cito II, though they aren't a big factor in this match.  This goes for 15 minutes and is entertaining stuff. They take full advantage of the Full size and mini teams, with the Fujis hitting Nice Germans in synch, and the Arais hitting double diving headbutts. The singles exchanges tend to be mini vs mini and full size vs full size, with Small Dandy Fuji and Koichiro developing a dislike for one another as the match goes on. Towards the end it degenerates into all four men in at once however, and Koichiro actuallly manages to pick up an upset win over Don Fuji with schoolboy roll up following Kenichiro spitting in Fuji's eyes. Don Fuji gives his mini a slap for not being there when he was being pinned, then the two minis start brawling. Don Fuji and Kenichiro attempt to separate them to no avail, and it eventually takes intervention from Yukiko to bring them apart after she tells Koichiro the behave himself. Harsh words are exchanged between the minis, and it seems that a match is booked between them for the next X show.  Los Salserios Japonaises (Mango Fukuda, Pineapple Hanai and Takeshi Minnamino vs The Sailor Boys (Taiji Ishimori, Kei Satu and Shu Sato)  An immediate observation is that two of the Salserios have changed their looks considerably since the last X show. Mangu Fukuda has swapped his bleached blond locks for a big dark brown afro, which is a very good call in my opinion. Pineapple Hanai's change is even more drastic. He has gone from blond highlighted bunches to a do that makes his head actually resemble a pineapple. He has diamond zig-zags shaved into the back and sides to look like the texture of a pineapple, then on top he has his hair dyed green and tied up to look like the leaves on top of the fruit. Best..hair..ever, and talk about living the gimmick.  Ishimori arrives complete with super-camp sailor hats for lucky audience members. As much as I complain about his ring work, he undeniably has a good look and is a charismatic young man. The same can't really be said for the Satos, though the identical twin thing is cool I guess. One more observation..HOW MANY STREAMERS!?!? Seriously, I don't think I've seen this many since Kanda's retirement. Each one of the Salserios members get an absolute flood of multicoloured streamers that totally fill the ring. Ishimori gets a few, and the Sato twins get some red ones too. The teams opt to brawl around ring side so that the ref and ringside people can attempt to make some space in the ring.  I liked this match in parts, though there are some points that drag it down. Its good to know that some of the X performers are over with the fans, though oddly enough its Los Salserios that are getting cheered for the most part. Minnamino's second rope swanton gets a huge reaction as he climbs up on the turnbuckle, and it seems that he can't resist playing up on this and teasing the move for a while before hitting it. The Sato's are their usual average selves, and Ishimori does everything at hyper-speed, though this isn't always to his benefit. He botches his backwards 619 variation which quiets the crowd, but other than that his performance is ok. Pineapple Hanai has limited input and is very much the third man in his faction, assisting in double teams and holding people so that the others can get free hits. He does bust out the awesome spinebuster though.  Afro Mango Fukuda is pretty good. I like watching him and its good for a heel faction to have a power guy. I think Minnamino has a lot of potential, considering he's still very young I think he could be very good in a few years given experience and the right training. I look forward to seeing how Los Salserios do when they work their Michinoku Pro dates. In a result that surprised me, Fukuda actually gets the pin on one of the Sato twins, though the live crowd doesn't seem too upset.  Post-match the Salserios celebrate with some dancing as their catchy theme song plays. In a bizarre piece of booking, an angry Ishimori heads back into the ring with the Satos and they beat up the winners. Ishimori finishes this assault with the superstar elbow. The crowd are booing furiously throughout this, and probably rightly so. I could understand this if the Salserios had cheated to win (and they probably should have), as the Sailor boys getting them back would send the crowd home happy. However, as Fukuda's win was clean, the faces just come out of it looking like really sore losers. Very odd. Anyway, one of the Sato twins says something funny that gets the crowd back on their side, and they perform their song "Keep on Journey" to close the show.  Summary  This is the first X show I'd recommend getting hold of. The multimans and tags are all perfectly watchable, but the obvious selling point is Genki/Tanisaki. I'm not calling it a MOTYC, but you should definitely consider picking it up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbins Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 JLM getting major props at DVDVR for this stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spatular Posted July 21, 2004 Share Posted July 21, 2004 Tanisaki: Chop!Genki: Yeah?Tanisaki: Chop! Genki: Yeah?Tanisaki: Fore Arm!Genki: Yeah?Tanisaki: Kick!Genki: Nope, dragon screw, I'm Genki Horiguchi, bitch. :DSorry for bumping this (although I shouldn't be, because it's a great read), but I saw that match again at the weekend, and had this thought last night:Genki Horiguchi, 5'5", 165lb, one of the most over babyfaces in the company, a guy whose gimmick is that he gets beaten up a lot, faces a taller, broader and less over opponent and successfully turns himself into a monster heel for one night only.Kind of puts WWE's efforts with Mordecai into perspective, don't it? :/Moral: Big men shouldn't sell for Scotty 2 Frickin' Hotty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members JLM Posted July 21, 2004 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 21, 2004 Sorry for bumping this Your cheque's in the post. Have to agree with your point though, anyone can do the dominating heel act, and its more about the performance than the size or look of the person doing it. I'm not saying Spike Dudley could do a dominating heel thing against The Big Show, but Mordecai could easily have pulled it off if he hadn't have given so much offence away in his matches. And, now that it's been bumped, I bless/bore you with more!Vamonos Amigos #68 - February 04The Florida Brothers vs. XA re-cap is shown of Genki's promo from the January show, and it becomes clear that what he was actually saying was that he had a mystery opponent lined up to get revenge on them. They actually play a bit of the X-Files theme as he talks about this "X" mystery opponent. We then cut to the match itself, with Daniel and Michael in the ring doing their pre-match schtick. Of course this is without the usual mockery of their opponent. After a pause and silence.. "TAKE THE...DREAM" blares out over the arena speakers, and the crowd realises who Genki has found to deal with the Florida Brothers. Sure enough, 30 seconds later Kensuke Sasakiemerges through the curtain to a big reaction from the crowd. Michael and Daniel look suitably terrified. They do some decent comedy in this one, with Michael and Daniel trying everything they can think of to take him on, even a two-man collar and elbow tie up failing to move him. The "match" basically involves Saski hitting numerous lariats and generally destroying his opponents. However, even Sasaki isn't safe from the FloBro screwjob. Just as all hope appears to be lost for Danny and Michael, Daniel runs the ropes and trips himself and attempts to blame Genki Horiguchi, who is sat a genuine 15 feet away from the ring at the commentary desk. This comes after he actually asks Genki to come and trip him but is refused. The ever-gullible Yagi argues with Genki anyway, allowing FloBro to bring the stars and stripes chair into the match.Ultimately Sasaki falls victim to the exact same scheme that they used to beat Ryo Saito and the January PPV. The FloBro streak continues as they pick up their highest profile victory yet. They celebrate with their hands on their hearts as the American national anthem blares. In a funny moment, Sasaki actually joins them in this for a moment or so before Michael orders the music to be stopped and tells Sasaki that he can't sing with them as he's Japanese and they're American. Kensuke exchanges some words with them before drilling both of them with a double lariat. He leaves to a good response. This match is fun if only for the novelty value of seeing Sasaki in the Toryumon ring and the fun post-match stuff.Super Shisa, Dragon Kid and Kenichiro Arai vs Antony W Mori, Yossino and Milano Collection ATThis one allows Yossino and Shisa to continue what they started at the January PPV. Mori continues his informal association with the Italian Connection here as he remains undecided about his future. Clips are shown from the Jan PPV of the Shisa/Yossino and Shisa/Milano exchanges before this. Yossino and Shisa start this off and are as evenly matched as they were at the January show. This is clipped to some extent, and the first couple minutes completely skip out anything involving Kid or Arai in favour of Shisa's exchanges with ItaConne members. Shisa gets the upper hand over Yossino and the opponents are forced to double and triple team him to get an advantage. Later we see Kid hit his usual spots and Arai hitting a dive to the outside and a couple of other moves. The main point of the highlights appears to be to put accross how difficult it is for the ItaConne team to keep Shisa down, as he kicks out of their triple teams, gets near falls with two of his Shisa Specials and reverses their submissions. He even escapes Yossino's Sol Naciente mid-application to the surprise of the crowd and Yossino himself. It is eventually Shisa who gets the win over Mori after a series of cradles ends up with Shisa on top with a bridged cradle. Passable stuff that does the job of putting Shisa over as a threat to Yossino's title and makes him look very strong. Following this we see clips of what appears to be JUN's birthday celebrations. Highlights are JUN dancing with a clearly drunk CIMA, and both of the CrazyMAX members attempting to eat food which appears to be alive...TARU & Don Fujii & CIMA vs. YASSHI & Dotti Shuji & Touru OwashiThe all out war between CrazyMAX and the newly re-named Aagan Iisou continunes with this frantic six man tag match. There is some clipping here but a good amount of the 17 minute match is shown. The star of this one is Don Fuji, who is isolated by Aagan at various points and sells the beating masterfully. The crowd is red hot for it, Aagan are seriously hated as a heel group and the crowd are particularly annoyed by the brilliantly cocky Brother YASSHI. Yasshi is on fine form in this one too as an absolute prick, and he takes every oppurtunity to mock Fuji, slapping him in the face as he drags him out of the corner and attempting to pin him with one foot. The crowd are also keen to see CIMA take on Aagan's largest member Owashi. When both are tagged in and have a stand off the response is huge, and the crowd gets even louder when CIMA manages to hit a vertical suplex on his much bigger opponent after numerous attempts. TARU has fairly limited input, with his main offence coming in the very early stages when CrazyMAX have YASSHI isolated and nearer the end when he has a brief exchange with Kondo. Everyone performs well, and YASSHI and Kondo's chemistry as a team is remarkable. They seem to get into position for their double teams without saying a word and always hit them faultlessly. For example, there is a point where Kondo has Fuji down and is about to pick him up. Without even looking back he lifts him up into the powerbomb position and backs up towards the corner for YASSHI to hit his Bad Boy (blockbuster) from this position. Its a shame that this match was clipped at all, as what is shown is really good stuff. Fuji's attempts to get the tag are worked well, and they do the false hot tag where the ref doesn't see it to get the crowd even more desperate for Fuji to get CIMA tagged in. There is a fantastic near fall towards the end which comes after interference from Shogo Takagi goes awry. Takagi ends up hitting Yasshi with a chain wrapped round his fist by mistake, allowing Fuji to hit his 'Nice German'. The Aagan members hold the ref's leg to try and stop him counting, but he leaps free and manages to count a 2.99999. I thought it was over, as did the crowd. Great stuff. Eventually the Aagan beatings prove to be too much for Fuji. CIMA saves him Kondo's Gorilla Clutch submission, but Fuji is unable to get up and is hit by Owasi's diving body press. Just to anger the crowd that little bit more, Owashi neglects to cover Fuji and tells YASSHI to go up and hit his flying headbutt from the top. YASSHI does this and covers Fuji in a very nonchalant manner, just resting his knee accross Fuji's chest and posing as the ref counts 3. As an aside, matches like this highlight just how good the Gorilla clutch is as a submission hold. The move involves Kondo crossing the opponent's legs, sort of like the texas clover leaf. He then lifts them up and turns them over so that they're in a wheelbarrow position with their legs crossed over. He keeps them elevated and puts pressure on, stretching their knees and bending their back the wrong way. During this stage of the move the oppnent can struggle for the ropes, crawling on his hands but could tap at any time.However, if they get near the ropes and don't manage to get a grip on them, Shuji drags them back to the middle of the ring and drops onto his back, using his legs to scissor the opponents whilst continuing to put pressure on the opponent's back and knees. Once they're in this stage there is nowhere for them to go, and they either tap or have to be saved. As yet nobody has managed to escape the hold when its locked in like this. The frantic struggle for the ropes before he applies the move's second stage creates a great visual, as they could tap at any time but equally have a short period of time in which they can escape. I'm digressing slightly, but I just thought that the move deserved comment. The Gorilla Clutch is one of numerous ways in which Shuji can win a match. This repetoire, combined with a good powerful heel presence and a demeanour that switches between cocky and aggressive as needs be makes Condotti Shuji a really well rounded performer considering he's relatively inexperienced. He's definitely one to watch, and I'm glad he was elevated to UDG title contention more recently this year. With my Condotti Shuji pimping out of the way, I'll note that post-match we're shown a clip of Fuji and YASSHI agreeing to a rematch at the February Revolucion pay per view , this time for the UWA Trios titles currently held by Aagan Isou.Susumu Yokosuka, Genki Horiguchi vs Masaaki Mochizuki, Condotti Shuji and Brother YASSHIMochi and Susumu have quite a history here. From the original M2K to its split, to their feud over the Mochizuki name (which Susumu lost), they have been involved with one another in some way for most of their careers. Before this match we're shown Masaaki making Susumu the offer of a place in Aagan. He doesn't give a response and it is left up in the air going into this six man. The six man is fairly disposable stuff. A short sprint with solid performances from all six, not a reason to pick up the tape in itself though. Main notable for me was a point in the match where Shuji has beaten Genki down, and YASSHI tags in, taunts him and shouts abuse at him and his partners, dances around a bit, then tags back out. Best cocky heelism ever. Ko Shuji commits the most unthinkable act, knocking Ryo off the apron in the middle of the "H-A-G-E" Genki encouragement chant. The finish does a good job of cementing Mochi's heel turn, as he holds Ryo by the hair so that Shuji can hit the King Kong Lariat. Post-match Mochi has some more words for Susumu, presumably telling him to consider joining.After this we see a re-cap of the events leading to the next match. We're shown CIMA becoming the first UDG champ, then losing it to Magnum. Then brief highlights of his 2 defences against Don Fuji and Kenichiro Arai. Lastly, a recap of Okamura, SUWA and Magu setting up the match is shown before cutting to the match itself.UDG Championship match. Magnum TOKYO vs SUWAThis is SUWA's first high profile singles bout in a long time, and probably the biggest singles match of his entire career. He enters to his own music rather than the CrazyMAX theme, and doesn't appear through the curtain until it has played for over a minute. He is flanked by TARU, CIMA and Don Fuji, and he looks focused and typically grumpy. Magnum enters to the 'big match' remix of his theme song. He is accompanied by Genki, Susumu, Ryo and two dancers. He debuts another new dance routine, with atmospheric blue lighting and snow-like confetti dropping on the ring. Him and his dancers use sticks to perform a well choreographed pseudo-fight scene. Very cool entrance, he always puts on a good show. Anticipation is high for this one, and the crowd seems split between the two and are very vocal during the opening stand off.They do some basic exchanges to start it off, and it is SUWA's attitude in these that sets the tone for the match. Coming out of a ground reversal he gives Magu a cocky slap in the face, then after taking him down again he spits on the champion. This gets Magnum very, very angry, and as such he gives one of his most motivated performances in months. He gets up and dares SUWA to slap him again, which of course he does, because he's SUWA, and then the fight is on. Following some heated brawling round ring side, including SUWA being launched into the 8 or 9th row, they eventually make it back to the ring. Magnum remains in control with some vicious kicks, that he seems to hit with a greater intent to hurt than normal. The rest of the match involves SUWA coming back into it, and ultimately taking control and looking to put Magu away. It should be noted that this match was taped at Hakata star lanes for the promotion's Uno Dos Tres! TV show. As such, it was almost seen as a given by many fans that Magu would retain, as despite the nice production values and quality matches, a UDG title change would not bex expected on what is essentially a B show. Despite this the crowd are extremely hot for this and at about 3/4 of the way through they begin to realise that SUWA has a chance of winning this, and the "SUUUWA, SUUUWA" chant begins. SUWA eventually manages to get the win after the second John Woo of the match is followed up by the FFF, which he hits twice to make sure Magu stays down. The result gets a great response, and I see SUWA looking all emotional for the first time. CrazyMAX congratulate him and Magu tries to make a swift exit. SUWA gets on the mic and calls Magu back in. They trade words and bow to one another, Magu raises SUWA's hand before leaving. SUWA celebrates with the title as we cut away to the next match. This was a really really good match, with impressivelt intense performances from both men. It caps off Magnum's title reign which, having reviewed his win and defences, wasn't actually too bad. His title win over CIMA wasn't great, his V1 defence against Don Fuji was excellent, his match with Araken was good and the ultimate loss to SUWA was superb, and provides a strong reason to buy this show.Magnum TOKYO vs Antony W MoriOk...This is like 10 seconds from a match that went 4:39. Magu won with a cradle. I presume this was included to keep Magu looking strong. Also, after the match he says something on the mic that I think was Magnum announcing his departure from the promotion for a few months' break. SummaryI consider this show to be well worth picking up. Another really good CrazyMAX/Aagan six-man, and an excellent match between SUWA and Magnum. The Sasaki/FloBro opener is also fun for its novelty value. Oh, and I should have the World Show within a week if all goes well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest John Posted March 13, 2005 Share Posted March 13, 2005 Killa Invasion!!! Â For some reason, yesterday I decided to watch some toryumon... jlm's indoctrination must be taking effect. The label on the tape just said 'toryumon t.v. 2003', but I scrabbled around on a few sites earlier, and I'm pretty sure it was vamonos amigos #54. Quick thoughts (bear with me on names, moves, etc.!)... Â The opener - Jun & Taru vs Anthony Mori & ??? - was sub-one minute, but I liked the bad guys' evil, comic-book-heroes-on-drugs look, and Jun's finisher is sick. Â Dragon Kid match - blurgh. The little scamp, he belongs in a Dickens novel, shining shoes or sweeping chimbleys for a living. His partner, Second Doi, seems bland and unengaging. Throw in the unknown (to me, at least) heel-team, as well as a boring screwjob finish, and this match gets the proverbial thumbs down. Â I really liked Darkness Dragon, Ryo Saito & Susumu Yokosuki vs the Italian Connection: Dragon and Susumu are great as nasty dick rudos; Saito is decent enough, and the Italian Connection are a load of fun - they're likeable, and their funky lucha submissions are the shit. How crazy-over are Milano and Yossino? I actually prefer Yassini, though, and I hear he's great after leaving the group. Â From what I've seen of them (i.e. the 5th Anni show match/feud highlights), I like neither CIMA nor Magnum TOKYO, so it was a good job Genki Horiguchi & Magnum vs Don Fuji & CIMA had the irrepresible Genki to hold my interest. He's like the mate that always gets you into a fight when you go out. Or maybe that's just my fucked-up imagination (or friends). Fuji, like Second Doi, isn't very appealing or attention-catching; perhaps they'd grow on me. This match had a weird, double-dq/double-pin finish or something... it was all very confusing. Â Next up was a three-way for some title, pitting the holder, SUWA against Condotti Shuji and Masaki Mochizuki. SUWA is this cool li'l lone ranger, battling to keep his title; Shuji is great as this powerful motherfucker taking out all who come into his range, and Mochizuki (from hereon referred to as Mochi, because am I fuck typing that one more time) is suitably nasty throughout. Great match. Â The main event - Genki Horiguchi & Darkness Dragon vs Yassini & Yagi - was going really well up until the abrupt dq finish, which itself was pretty cool. Dragon is really intense, esp. for a masked guy - the tension goes up a level everytime the attention shifts to focus on him. Â So there we have it, I've now watched more toryumon than any other fed in 2005! #55 is on the second half of the tape, so I'll endeavour to watch that at some point; I also have #68 and the 'Revolucion' ppv that follows it - I'll try and watch them over Easter or something. Any thoughts on those three shows (and #54)? I have the 5th Anni show, too, but I couldn't stand it when I first watched it ages ago, so I'll probably give it a miss. Â To be continued.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spatular Posted March 14, 2005 Share Posted March 14, 2005 Fuck, I just typed a response to this and lost it by hitting the back button by mistake. Here goes again:You do get the odd non-finish on Toryumon / Dragon Gate TV, especially if they're trying to get heels over. The roster's not deep enough (even more so now than then) for someone to be jobbing clean in every match. I don't think it detracts from the product much.The three way for the midcard belt is the only match on this show I can remember, and yeah, it was pretty good. SUWA and Shuji had a much better singles match for the belt a few months before this.Listings for #55:1. Dragon Kid, Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Ryo Saito, Susumu Yokosuka2. Venezia vs. Stalker Masahiro3. TARU, JUN vs. Araken, Second Doi4. Magnum TOKYO, Genki Horiguchi vs. YOSSINO, Bakery Yagi5. CIMA, SUWA, Don Fujii vs. Milano Collection AT, YASSINI, Condotti Shuji6. Genki Horiguchi vs. X7. Magnum TOKYO, K-ness, Susumu Yokosuka vs. Milano Collection AT, YOSSINO, YASSINII think the two tags in the second hour are pretty good. Stalker (in Chono mode!) vs the monkey is cool, if you like comedy. But Genki's match against the mystery opponent is a riot. Highlight to read if you want the surprise spoiled: Genichiro MOTHERFUCKING Tenryu!Listings for #68:1. Florida Brothers vs. X2. Super Shisa, Dragon Kid, Araken vs. Anthony W. Mori, YOSSINO, Milano Collection AT3. CIMA, TARU, Don Fujii vs. Dotti Shuji, Touru Owashi, brother YASSHI4. brother YASSHI, Dotti Shuji, Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Susumu Yokosuka, Genki Horiguchi, Ryo Saito5. UDG Belt - SUWA vs. Magnum TOKYO6. Magnum TOKYO vs. Anthony W. MoriThis will be your first look at the FloBros phenomenon, I suppose. Considering what came afterwards, it's not spoiling much to say that their mystery opponent was Kensuke Sasaki. The match rules.The big news over the new year was Mochi turning heel and aligning with Kondo, YASSHI, and resident fat bastard Touru Owashi to form Aagan Iisou. They're all over this show like a rash, and with good reason.The title match is very good. I think you'll like it - lots of lucha-style brawling and hate. The last match is a clipped squash.The Februrary PPV isn't up to much, truth be told. The main event blew, in particular.A quick Where Are They Now: Mochi's a face again, and he's the champ. TARU (comic book bad guy), Shuji Kondo (Condotti Shuji) and Brother YASSHI (Yassini) are now in All Japan, and still ruling hard. Thanks to Doi, who's improved immeasurably and is now the hottest guy in the promotion (seriously), JUN has retired with a bad neck. Genki's still insanely over but has been depushed a little.And please do give the UWA Trios championship match from the 5th Anniversary show another look. It was one of my favourite matches in 2003. It's on before the main event. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members JLM Posted March 14, 2005 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 14, 2005 About that Feb PPV main event match, I couldn't remember it when asked and assumed it was great because it was an Aagan/CMAX six man, but I think I'm fondly remembering their stuff from the TV blocks rather than this one. Is it the Feb PPV that has the 'ropey' finish? Â Regarding SUWA/Magu, it is indeed a nice intense brawl . Thinking about it, it's struck me that Magnum's title reign was actually rather good. He had a fun match with Don Fuji which is one of the best matches I've seen Fuji have, a decent defence against Araken and OK matches with Milano and CIMA that suffered from going a bit too long given Magu's fitness issues. I think his problem was that due to the way he was usually gassed and dying by the 10th-15th minute of a match, it was more the thought of a lengthy Magu singles match that was off-putting rather than the matches themselves. So yeah, thumbs up to Magu's reign in retrospect. Â Also, this thread rules because people are talking about stuff that I've seen even if I can't remember it all too well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted March 14, 2005 Paid Members Share Posted March 14, 2005 Thanks to this thread, I've just placed an order with JFFC for VamoAmi #55, and the newest DG (Blood Generation), so I can get started with my DragonGate viewing. I just figured it would be good to see the promotion in both its old form and its newest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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