I love the Cagematch.net website because it has all the history you could ask for on virtually every wrestler. When one is not listed you know he is greener than dirt and that is what we have here with Ueki. Everything Ueki does looks bad. I imagine Taniguchi has a hand in training him or is just a veteran showing the young boy how to work in front of a live crowd. Regardless Taniguchi finishes Ukei off with a Northern Lights Suplex and a half crab.
Haisei Yakuza Duo (Hoshino & Inaba) vs Irish Airborne
The BJW crowd loves the flashy moves from the Irish Airborne. I understand all wrestling requires good timing but the Airborne's double team offense is especially dependent on good timing. There were a couple of cases where the timing was off and the moves were less impressive. Haisei Yakuza Duo were given about an even amount of offense but this was a match was about the Airborne showing off their moves. The Crist Brothers finish the match with the double stomp spike tombstone piledriver.
The BJW crowd loves the flashy moves from the Irish Airborne. I understand all wrestling requires good timing but the Airborne's double team offense is especially dependent on good timing. There were a couple of cases where the timing was off and the moves were less impressive. Haisei Yakuza Duo were given about an even amount of offense but this was a match was about the Airborne showing off their moves. The Crist Brothers finish the match with the double stomp spike tombstone piledriver.
Brahman Kai, Brahman Shu & Shinobu vs Madoka & Speed of Sounds (Senga & Oosugi)
I love the Brahman's, they are crazy and eccentric and just pure entertaining. Shinobu I was not impressed with. He lacked any intensity whatsoever and having to see his ass d not help things. Even his partners, as funny as they can be, will get down to business and wrestle when need be. Madoka has a freshly shorn head that is the source of a few comedy spots,and I especially like the riff on the Brahman bowling ball spot. This was most of all a comedy match and the Brahmans ruled here, everyone else either sucked or was overshadowed by Brahman greatness. Did I mention I love me some Brahman?
Street Fight
MASADA & Masaya Takahashi vs Mototsugu Shimizu & Saburo
MASADA and Shimizu are the stars, their partners do nothing of interest and might as well not even be in the match at all. I question the pointless bloodshed in a throwaway 8 minute midcard match. The ending is incredibly sick with MASADA jamming wooden sticks into Shimizu's head then letting go and they spread out while sticking to his skull. While sick, it is quite the visual that leaves its mark on the viewer. MASADA then goes over the top with brainbusters to drive the sticks in further finally ending the match. Besides the shock ending there is nothing of value here.
Kazuki Hashimoto vs Koji Kanemoto [****1/4]
It is quite an amazing achievement for 47 year old Kanemoto to have a match of quality with this much brutality. These two trade blow for blow and hold for hold the entire 14 minutes. At one point Kanemoto is punching Hashimoto right into his arm before locking in an arm lock. Even if the fad is ten years old the constant reversal of holds ala Angle/Benoit is still a favorite of mine. Koji rolled Hashimoto into a cool looking ankle lock before they started the reversal sequence. The ankle lock Hashimoto tapped to looked to be quite snug. The match had great intensity, brutal moves but needed a hotter ending to really push it over the top. As is it is certainly a match worthy of your time.
It is quite an amazing achievement for 47 year old Kanemoto to have a match of quality with this much brutality. These two trade blow for blow and hold for hold the entire 14 minutes. At one point Kanemoto is punching Hashimoto right into his arm before locking in an arm lock. Even if the fad is ten years old the constant reversal of holds ala Angle/Benoit is still a favorite of mine. Koji rolled Hashimoto into a cool looking ankle lock before they started the reversal sequence. The ankle lock Hashimoto tapped to looked to be quite snug. The match had great intensity, brutal moves but needed a hotter ending to really push it over the top. As is it is certainly a match worthy of your time.
Monster Items Death Match; The Battledore
B Fautless Junkie's (Numazawa, Kasai & Takeda) vs Danny Havoc, Ryuji Ito & Yuko Miyamoto
As far as deathmatch six man tags go, this was not good. The match was sorely relying on the visual gimmick of all of the lighttubes attached to the wooden stands in the corner to break when the button was pushed. Sadly not even half the tubes broken when the claws came down. Another fault of the match is that the gimmick the match is based on did not factor into the finish. After the second claw dropped the two that took the bump continued to perform offensive moves in the match. The claw should have been the end of the man (or men) who took that second bump. Thirdly there were at times four wrestlers doing the "I am holding him back" rest hold on the floor while two men fight in the ring. While I understand the focus is supposed to be on the two in the ring, it takes some of the believability out of the match. The wrestlers holding back their opponents are obviously not struggling to do so. Deathmatches can work with drama based off of the gimmick surrounded by intense brawling. This failed on both levels.
Ryuichi Kawakami & Shinya Ishikawa vs Shuji Ishikawa & Yuji Okabayashi
This match is here to spur the Shuji Ishikawa/Ryuchi Kawakami issue which it does well in the post match. The actual match is okay but contains several rest holds that only serve as a time filler. The good in the match were the forarms of which there were plenty. I must mention that Shuji Ishikawa threw one of the weakest Shining Wizards I have ever seen. Okabayashi has great facials showing he is out on his feet. He ends up getting the pin on Shinya Ishikawa after a nice lariat.
BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Title
Tenchi wo Kurau Finals Match
Isami Kodaka© vs Takumi Tsukamoto [***1/4]
I have no idea what the Tenchi wo Kurau is but this is apparently the finals, however there was no trophy or prize that Kodaka won in his victory beside keeping his belt. These two went out and fought a hell of a fight. Kodaka dropped his Diving Double Kneedrop off the top through lighttubes. What made this especially brutal was that this isn't a kneedrop where he would bounce off his opponent, but he planted his knees in Tsukamoto. There was little wrestling save for the token grappling at the beginning of the match, but there were sick spots, ladders and a giant hammer which made the match a lot of fun. Kodaka got the pin with a superkick.
Overall Thoughts:
An enjoyable first show from Big Japan that produced a legit MOTYC in Hashimoto/Kanemoto and an enjoyable main event.
