I’ll only review the tournament matches otherwise we’ll never get through this thing. Highlight from the undercard: Chris Jericho cuts a promo on a turtle and calls Tetsuya Naito a FUCKFACE.
Chris Sabin vs. SHO – Best of the Super Juniors (Block B)
Considering SHO’s relative green-ness and how little I care about Chris Sabin, this match was nothing less than a minor miracle. Everything that I thought SHO lacked in the match with Dragon Lee, he brought it in spades in this one. He projected total confidence and came off as a tough little bastard with tremendous golden hair. You could tell he’s been watching his Best of Minoru Tanaka VHS tape because his arm work was a lot more focused and he pulled off all sorts of intricate Fujiwara armbar and cross armbreaker reversals at key moments of the match.
Sabin’s selling wasn’t really there, but SHO still had the crowd losing their minds by going back to the injury late in the match. Sabin being a TNA/indie-type guy that works super light, I was shocked at how effective the strike exchanges were in this match. Both guys fucking rammed into each other with stiff lariats and SHO looked like a god damn BEAST. Again, the Powerbomb/backbreaker combo (that thing needs a name stat) looked BRUTAL and SHO finally got to hit the SHOCK ARROW. The bow and arrow pose to set up the move is absolute fucking genius and I could see it gain Rainmaker Pose-level traction as SHO keeps growing into a total superstar. SHO bowing to Sabin and shaking his hand after the match was some classy shit. IT’S SHO TIME, BABY! ***3/4
Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Dragon Lee – Best of the Super Juniors (Block B)
Half of this was Taguchi and Lee working a full-on Kuishinbo Kamen/Ebessan tribute match, with Red Shoes in the role of Osaka Pro ref extraordinaire Daijiro Matsui, while the other half was closer to the usual high-level Dragon Lee match. Both halves were PURE FUN. The opening spot with Red Shoes comparing both guys’ abs and Taguchi looking like a complete shlob is what wrestling is all about. The actual wrestling was good too: out-of-shape perv Taguchi keeping up with Dragon Lee was hugely entertaining. Another thing I loved: how Dragon Lee can get a crowd to completely lose their minds just by stomping his feet to set up a big dive. The match didn’t overstay its welcome: some cool ankle lock reversals, rollup counters and then the Desnucadora did it. That all worked for me. ***1/4
KUSHIDA vs. Marty Scurll – Best of the Super Juniors (Block B)
I’ve never been a huge fan of Marty’s new age Lancashire brit-wres stuff, but it worked pretty well with KUSHI. They spent a huge portion of the match on the mat and kept the crowd entertained with chain wrestling reversals, headstands and wristlocks. Marty’s comedic heel shtick was put to good use and the opening spot where he tried to go steal back the dogtag that KUSHIDA threw in the crowd was honestly brilliant. All of the Romero Special/Liger fan service was also well done. Still can’t stand the bullshit ‘’Superkick/Just kidding’’ spots though. KUSHIDA’s commitment to selling Marty’s finger break spot was truly admirable – unable to apply the Hoverboard lock due to his freaking finger being fake-broken. His own arm-targetting offense was the usual fun time and I will never not mark out for the hiptoss into cross armbreaker spot. Pretty solid stuff all around. ***1/2
Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado – Best of the Super Juniors (Block B)
Nothing less than a god damn war between two guys that have been hating each other’s guts since their early days as young lion dojo-mates. I feel like getting my hyperbole on, so here we go: the first 10 minutes of this match are some of the most riveting wrestling you’ll see anywhere this year. Hiromu completely dropping his goofball antics and trying to straight-up murder Despy with a John Woo in the crowd, Despy responding in kind by trashing him with ALL THE CHAIR SHOTS. The pure hatred between these guys was palpable and Korakuen was truly aghast at the SAVAGERY they were witnessing. When Hiromu started ripping Desperado’s mask apart, I started wondering if they were going for a full-on Jushin Thunder Liger/El Samurai 1992 homage minus the blood.
Once the action settled in the ring, I don’t think they were quite able to maintain the tension of the opening (possibly because of Desperado’s limited charisma) but they still worked towards a rock-solid conclusion. Desperado using a Spinebuster/Boston crab combo instead of his usual Numero Dos (Stretch Muffler) just so he could make Hiromu his young lion bitch like in the old days was tremendously inspired, as was Despy ripping holes in his own mask to properly scream at Hiromu while forearming him right in the face. I wasn’t fully on board with the ref bump shenanigans but it did lead to a few creative CHEAT 2 WIN moments from Despy and a MASSIVE near-fall off the Guitarra De Angel. I would watch a rematch between these two yesterday. Bring on the blood next time! ****
