Post by Shatter Machine on Jul 11, 2016 21:06:51 GMT -5
1992.03.01
Tiger Mask III
Vs
El Samurai
This is back in New Japan. The lighting effects are stupid and annoying , but Mask knocks Samurai to the floor and hits a delayed pescado. Back in, and this is a much faster pace than the plodding stuff with Misawa. Mask works the knee with a spinning toe hold, and Samurai gets a crucifix for 2. He grabs a knee bar, then turns it into a pretzel twister. He gives that up and just goes to a hammerlock. Mask hits a handspring into a crossbody for 2, then a crossbody off the second rope for 2, then back to the spinning toe hold. Samurai kicks free, and hammers him with forearms. Samurai goes to a neck crank, and I notice that Mask keeps adjusting that damn mask. Get one that fits, dude. Les Thatcher says that when he was training he always told his guys that if they had to constantly fiddle with gear, they couldn’t wear it. Samurai goes for the mask, doesn’t get it,and hits an armdrag and a flying head scissors. Mask goes to the floor, and Samurai hits a swan dive off the top to the floor. Tilt-a-whirl back breaker by El Samurai gets 2. Neckbreaker gets 2. Mask with a spin kick and TIGER SUPLEX! For 2! Samurai with a dropkick , and Mask goes to the floor, where Samurai hits a somersault Plancha. Back in, and Samurai hits the tombstone, then a top rope headbutt, then he finishes with a bridging German suplex at 8:30. Not bad at all. ***
1992.05.17
Tiger Mask III
Vs
Wild Pegasus (Chris Benoit)
(Even after all of this time, it’s still really hard for me to watch a Chris Benoit match. I still feel kind of heartbroken by what happened to Nancy and their son, and upset about Chris being so careless with his body that it affected his brain to the point that he was basically insane. ) I don’t know if this is from a major show, but it appears to be Osaka Hall. They jostle to start and feel each other out on the mat. Benoit is so Dynamite Kid right here, he looks like him, moves like him, sells like him, it’s astounding. Mask works the leg, but it's doesn’t last long, and they start trading shots. Benoit floors him with an elbow, then hits a second rope legdrop for 2. Mask grabs a hammerlock, and it slows right down. Mask moves to a chinlock to set up the next sequence, and Benoit goes to a bow and arrow. Mask does a nice flip off of Benoit in the corner, then knocks him to the floor, teasing the Plancha. He goes to the apron, and then does a suicide dive from the top rope over the rail! Holy Shit! Back in, and they go right back to the chinlock. Mask transitions to a cross arm-breaker, but Benoit escapes and hits a snap suplex and a running clothesline. Back suplex gets 2. They botch about 3 spots in a row, and Mask hits a diving something or other into Benoit for 2. Mask gets an Indian death lock, with the bridge, then a series of kicks and an inside cradle gets 2. Mask turns him over into a half-crab. Benoit escapes, and they do a bunch of floppy-floppy stuff. Mask goes for a second rope Moonsault, but Benoit gets his knees up. Benoit hits a piledriver, then the top rope diving headbutt, but it only gets 2. Bridging German gets 2. Mask floats over on a vertical suplex attempt and hits a couple of kicks, then the Tiger Suplex, but Benoit gets his feet in the ropes at 2. Mask misses a twisting dive off the second rope, and Benoit dumps him to the floor. Back in, and Benoit puts him on top again. Mask counters it and lands on him as they go down, and that gets 2. They trade reverses, but Mask goes for a Boston Crab, and Benoit rolls him up for the pin at 12:56. ** ½
1993.05.03
Tiger Mask III
Vs
Jushin Thunder Liger
This is from the Fukuoka Dome, and the show is “Wrestling Dontaku 1993” which translates to “Wrestling Holiday” and it’s during the heyday of the light heavyweight division in New Japan. They do some feeling out, and Liger winds up on the floor, and Mask badly botches a Space Flying Tiger Drop. Whoops. He doesn’t get enough air, and basically just FALLS over the top rope and tackles Liger by the neck. They recover quickly enough, and Liger hits the series of palm strikes (Shoten?), but Mask shakes it off and takes him down into a leg lock. Mask escapes and hits a dropkick to the knee. He goes to a spinning knee bar, and they transition to a head scissors. Mask escapes, grabbing a wristlock. He kicks Liger in the chest, and Liger bails. Mask teases going up, but instead waits on Liger, grabbing a chinlock. Lots of kicks, and he just kind of looks lost for a minute. Mask into a half-crab, but he leans waaaay back, so it looks like the Liontamer. Mask hits a rolling kick in the corner, then a superduperplex. Mask goes to the floor, then they come back in, and Mask hits a rana for 2. Liger goes out, and Mask hits a somersault pescado. Liger comes back in with a shoulderblock. Tombstone gets 2. Liger goes up, but Mask hits something, and both guys are down. That was a botch. Mask misses a Moonsault, and Liger hits a top rope rana for 2. Mask nails a springboard dropkick, then a bridging German for 2. Mask gets the surprise pin with a Tiger Suplex at 14:25. This strikes me as kind of an upset, as Liger was THE major light heavyweight in Japan, and basically the world at this point. Good match, could have been great, but Mask just blew too many spots. ** ¼
1993.07.14
Tiger Mask III & El Samurai
Vs
Jushin Thunder Liger & Shinjiro Ohtani
This promises to be good. Ohtani is the baddest motherfucker alive. They tease a bit, and Mask and Liger start right off, with Mask getting the advantage and working the knee. Both guys tag out after a short bit, and El Samurai gets a front face on Ohtani. Ohtani is having none of that and plants him with a dropkick. Liger and Ohtani hit Samurai with a double dropkick, and work in some dandy double teams. Ohtani looks like a villain in an 80’s martial arts movie, with his gleefully evil smile. It’s too bad absolutely nothing of note happens in this match. Lots of leg locks and tags, but nothing major going on. Samurai tries to kill Ohtani with a piledriver, then he hits another one for 2. Suplex gets 2. Mask gets a Boston Crab, but Ohtani fights out. Samurai with a dropkick. Side slam, then a. Birds nest into a rear choke. Ouch. Ohtani gets a hope spot, but Mask hits a sit out powerbomb for 2. Samurai comes in, but Ohtani holds the ropes on a dropkick, and makes the hot tag to Liger, who clotheslines Samurai out of his boots. Powerbomb gets 2. Liger goes to a headscissor choke, then they hit a a double team where Liger hits a backdropper and Ohtani hits a clothesline as they go down. Ohtani with an elbow for 2. He starts working a hammerlock, then slam. Liger comes in and hits a tilt-a-whirl back breaker on Mask. Liger goes to the floor, so Samurai helps Mask over with a Plancha, then Ohtani with a Tope, then Samurai with a somersault Plancha. Jesus! Mask goes for a missile dropkick, then he tries the Tiger suplex, but it’s blocked, so Samurai hits Liger with a tombstone and a diving headbutt for 2. Ohtani comes in and knocks Samurai to the the floor, then hits him with a somersault off the apron. Liger slams him there, and back in Ohtani gets a German for 2. Samurai gets Ohtani in an Electric Chair, and Mask gets a MOTHERFUCKING RANA FROM the TOP ROPE! HOLY FUCK. Mask finishes Ohtani with the Tiger suplex at 15:17. That was great. *** ¾
1993.08.03
Tiger Mask III
Vs
Wild Pegasus (Chris Benoit)
Benoit ambushes him right away and gives him a goddamn tombstone on the floor before the match even starts. Mask’s shoulder is all sorts of taped up, so Benoit zeroes right in on it like a shark, Mask fights back, hitting a German suplex, but he’s too hurt to follow up. Benoit goes to the floor, but Mask can’t do anything. Benoit goes right after his shoulder again, hitting a shoulder breaker, then a diving headbutt from the top to it. He suplexes him on it, then goes into an armbar, but Mask makes the ropes. The ref checks on Mask, but he wants to continue. The doctor comes in and stops it at 5:20. WTF was that doing on this set? * ½
1994.01.04
Mask Vs Mask
Tiger Mask III
Vs
Jushin Thunder Liger
Mask gets a really elaborate entrance, but you can really see how empty the joint is. He goes way up on a crane and LEAPS OFF! WHAT? Oh, there’s a giant air bag, and it’s a stunt man. This is from the Battlefield show that New Japan put on at the Tokyo Dome that drew 48,000. The Steiners were on this card, even though they worked for the WWF, and Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake were there as well, before they’d both signed with WCW. I think the Dome is such a great venue for wrestling, and there’s a comp on Rudo Reels that has all of the Dome shows from the 80’s and 90’s on it. My wife won’t let me buy it, but maybe one day. Liger takes him down and goes for some mat work early. They roll around on the mat for a bit, and I get bored. Liger gets a chinlock, then a bow and arrow. They exchange kicks, and Liger gets a Kappo kick. They dropkick each other, with Liger coming off the top, and both men are down. Mask gets a cross arm-breaker, then just starts punching Liger in the face. They trade punches, and Liger floors him and goes to a head scissors. This is like anti-Lucha. There’s nothing happening at all. Mask gets a dropkick in the corner, but lands on his feet when Liger dodges a Moonsault. Liger hits a kick, and then a baseball slide. Mask hits a dropkick inside, then a hands-free tope suicida! Sweet! Big slam, and Mask hits a Moonsault but pulls Liger up like a dumbass. He goes for the Tiger Suplex, but Liger escapes and hits a clothesline. Powerbomb, and Liger sets him on top. Top rope rana gets 2! Liger bomb gets 2! Mask lands on Liger’s chest on a powerbomb for 2. He sets Liger up on top, then dropkicks him to the ramp on the entryway. Mask runs at him and hits a handspring crossbody, but misses a dive from the buckle to the ramp. Mask with a missile dropkick and a German suplex for 2. Corkscrew dive, then a second try misses. Liger with a back breaker in the corner and he hits the shooting star press for the pin at 14:26! That’s it for Koji Kanemoto as Tiger Mask III in Japan. Quite the historical moment, but the match was middling at best. **
Tiger Mask III, Latin Lover, & Octagon
Vs
La Parka, Pirata Morgan, & Blue Panther
Oh great, the last one was anti-Lucha, this one is a fucking trios match. This is from AAA, some time in 1994. I have literally no idea what is going on, but apparently La Parka pins Tiger Mask to win the first fall. I think one of the referees has bladed. I’m honestly lost. The second fall has started, and the Rudos run everyone out of the ring, and beat on Latin Lover. Morgan power slams Mask for 2. His gimmick is a pirate, with an eyepatch. I wonder if it was all fun and games to that point? So many things happen, and Latin Lover pins La Parka with a roll up to even it up at one fall each side. From what I understand, in Lucha, you have to pin the team captain in order to win the fall. The announcers are really entertaining, even though I have no idea what they are saying. Pirata Morgan might be Rocky Romero’s father. There’s no logic or reason or flow to this it’s just guys doing moves. The technicos almost get Blue Demon’s mask of him, and I literally still can’t follow this. Octagon gets a rana with a roll up to pin Blue Demon for the win after about 15 minutes. Impossible to follow. * ½ No idea what it was doing on this set, other than filling it up.
Eddie Guerrero, Art Barr, & Blue Panther
Vs
Tiger Mask III, Lizmark, & El Hijo Del Santo
I think this is under the same goofy trios rules In AAA in 1994 or 1995, but I really have no clue. Eddy and Art were amazing as a team, and we're just unreal heat magnets. I spectacularly fail to pay any attention to this, despite the participants. El Hijo Del Santo and Blue Panther doe some nice reverse stuff. They get into the second fall when I start paying attention again, and they unmask Tiger Mask as the Rudos lay out the Technicos, and the whole second fall is a no contest when Barr steals Mask’s mask. That was an absolute waste of time. Is everything in Lucha an out of control brawl? The third fall ends when Eddy and Art turn on Panther and the Technicos take advantage to hit a back breaker by Santo, and a falling headbutt by Lizmark for the pin. That was a total clusterfuck. ¼ * because nobody died during the match.
The Bottom Line: The Benoit stuff was good, for the most part, and the Liger stuff was fun. The New Japan tag team match was excellent, but the AAA matches were just junk. Thumbs down for this disk. Too much on here that was just filler. Couldn’t we get more NJPW stuff? I’m sure there’s some out there.
Tiger Mask III
Vs
El Samurai
This is back in New Japan. The lighting effects are stupid and annoying , but Mask knocks Samurai to the floor and hits a delayed pescado. Back in, and this is a much faster pace than the plodding stuff with Misawa. Mask works the knee with a spinning toe hold, and Samurai gets a crucifix for 2. He grabs a knee bar, then turns it into a pretzel twister. He gives that up and just goes to a hammerlock. Mask hits a handspring into a crossbody for 2, then a crossbody off the second rope for 2, then back to the spinning toe hold. Samurai kicks free, and hammers him with forearms. Samurai goes to a neck crank, and I notice that Mask keeps adjusting that damn mask. Get one that fits, dude. Les Thatcher says that when he was training he always told his guys that if they had to constantly fiddle with gear, they couldn’t wear it. Samurai goes for the mask, doesn’t get it,and hits an armdrag and a flying head scissors. Mask goes to the floor, and Samurai hits a swan dive off the top to the floor. Tilt-a-whirl back breaker by El Samurai gets 2. Neckbreaker gets 2. Mask with a spin kick and TIGER SUPLEX! For 2! Samurai with a dropkick , and Mask goes to the floor, where Samurai hits a somersault Plancha. Back in, and Samurai hits the tombstone, then a top rope headbutt, then he finishes with a bridging German suplex at 8:30. Not bad at all. ***
1992.05.17
Tiger Mask III
Vs
Wild Pegasus (Chris Benoit)
(Even after all of this time, it’s still really hard for me to watch a Chris Benoit match. I still feel kind of heartbroken by what happened to Nancy and their son, and upset about Chris being so careless with his body that it affected his brain to the point that he was basically insane. ) I don’t know if this is from a major show, but it appears to be Osaka Hall. They jostle to start and feel each other out on the mat. Benoit is so Dynamite Kid right here, he looks like him, moves like him, sells like him, it’s astounding. Mask works the leg, but it's doesn’t last long, and they start trading shots. Benoit floors him with an elbow, then hits a second rope legdrop for 2. Mask grabs a hammerlock, and it slows right down. Mask moves to a chinlock to set up the next sequence, and Benoit goes to a bow and arrow. Mask does a nice flip off of Benoit in the corner, then knocks him to the floor, teasing the Plancha. He goes to the apron, and then does a suicide dive from the top rope over the rail! Holy Shit! Back in, and they go right back to the chinlock. Mask transitions to a cross arm-breaker, but Benoit escapes and hits a snap suplex and a running clothesline. Back suplex gets 2. They botch about 3 spots in a row, and Mask hits a diving something or other into Benoit for 2. Mask gets an Indian death lock, with the bridge, then a series of kicks and an inside cradle gets 2. Mask turns him over into a half-crab. Benoit escapes, and they do a bunch of floppy-floppy stuff. Mask goes for a second rope Moonsault, but Benoit gets his knees up. Benoit hits a piledriver, then the top rope diving headbutt, but it only gets 2. Bridging German gets 2. Mask floats over on a vertical suplex attempt and hits a couple of kicks, then the Tiger Suplex, but Benoit gets his feet in the ropes at 2. Mask misses a twisting dive off the second rope, and Benoit dumps him to the floor. Back in, and Benoit puts him on top again. Mask counters it and lands on him as they go down, and that gets 2. They trade reverses, but Mask goes for a Boston Crab, and Benoit rolls him up for the pin at 12:56. ** ½
1993.05.03
Tiger Mask III
Vs
Jushin Thunder Liger
This is from the Fukuoka Dome, and the show is “Wrestling Dontaku 1993” which translates to “Wrestling Holiday” and it’s during the heyday of the light heavyweight division in New Japan. They do some feeling out, and Liger winds up on the floor, and Mask badly botches a Space Flying Tiger Drop. Whoops. He doesn’t get enough air, and basically just FALLS over the top rope and tackles Liger by the neck. They recover quickly enough, and Liger hits the series of palm strikes (Shoten?), but Mask shakes it off and takes him down into a leg lock. Mask escapes and hits a dropkick to the knee. He goes to a spinning knee bar, and they transition to a head scissors. Mask escapes, grabbing a wristlock. He kicks Liger in the chest, and Liger bails. Mask teases going up, but instead waits on Liger, grabbing a chinlock. Lots of kicks, and he just kind of looks lost for a minute. Mask into a half-crab, but he leans waaaay back, so it looks like the Liontamer. Mask hits a rolling kick in the corner, then a superduperplex. Mask goes to the floor, then they come back in, and Mask hits a rana for 2. Liger goes out, and Mask hits a somersault pescado. Liger comes back in with a shoulderblock. Tombstone gets 2. Liger goes up, but Mask hits something, and both guys are down. That was a botch. Mask misses a Moonsault, and Liger hits a top rope rana for 2. Mask nails a springboard dropkick, then a bridging German for 2. Mask gets the surprise pin with a Tiger Suplex at 14:25. This strikes me as kind of an upset, as Liger was THE major light heavyweight in Japan, and basically the world at this point. Good match, could have been great, but Mask just blew too many spots. ** ¼
1993.07.14
Tiger Mask III & El Samurai
Vs
Jushin Thunder Liger & Shinjiro Ohtani
This promises to be good. Ohtani is the baddest motherfucker alive. They tease a bit, and Mask and Liger start right off, with Mask getting the advantage and working the knee. Both guys tag out after a short bit, and El Samurai gets a front face on Ohtani. Ohtani is having none of that and plants him with a dropkick. Liger and Ohtani hit Samurai with a double dropkick, and work in some dandy double teams. Ohtani looks like a villain in an 80’s martial arts movie, with his gleefully evil smile. It’s too bad absolutely nothing of note happens in this match. Lots of leg locks and tags, but nothing major going on. Samurai tries to kill Ohtani with a piledriver, then he hits another one for 2. Suplex gets 2. Mask gets a Boston Crab, but Ohtani fights out. Samurai with a dropkick. Side slam, then a. Birds nest into a rear choke. Ouch. Ohtani gets a hope spot, but Mask hits a sit out powerbomb for 2. Samurai comes in, but Ohtani holds the ropes on a dropkick, and makes the hot tag to Liger, who clotheslines Samurai out of his boots. Powerbomb gets 2. Liger goes to a headscissor choke, then they hit a a double team where Liger hits a backdropper and Ohtani hits a clothesline as they go down. Ohtani with an elbow for 2. He starts working a hammerlock, then slam. Liger comes in and hits a tilt-a-whirl back breaker on Mask. Liger goes to the floor, so Samurai helps Mask over with a Plancha, then Ohtani with a Tope, then Samurai with a somersault Plancha. Jesus! Mask goes for a missile dropkick, then he tries the Tiger suplex, but it’s blocked, so Samurai hits Liger with a tombstone and a diving headbutt for 2. Ohtani comes in and knocks Samurai to the the floor, then hits him with a somersault off the apron. Liger slams him there, and back in Ohtani gets a German for 2. Samurai gets Ohtani in an Electric Chair, and Mask gets a MOTHERFUCKING RANA FROM the TOP ROPE! HOLY FUCK. Mask finishes Ohtani with the Tiger suplex at 15:17. That was great. *** ¾
1993.08.03
Tiger Mask III
Vs
Wild Pegasus (Chris Benoit)
Benoit ambushes him right away and gives him a goddamn tombstone on the floor before the match even starts. Mask’s shoulder is all sorts of taped up, so Benoit zeroes right in on it like a shark, Mask fights back, hitting a German suplex, but he’s too hurt to follow up. Benoit goes to the floor, but Mask can’t do anything. Benoit goes right after his shoulder again, hitting a shoulder breaker, then a diving headbutt from the top to it. He suplexes him on it, then goes into an armbar, but Mask makes the ropes. The ref checks on Mask, but he wants to continue. The doctor comes in and stops it at 5:20. WTF was that doing on this set? * ½
1994.01.04
Mask Vs Mask
Tiger Mask III
Vs
Jushin Thunder Liger
Mask gets a really elaborate entrance, but you can really see how empty the joint is. He goes way up on a crane and LEAPS OFF! WHAT? Oh, there’s a giant air bag, and it’s a stunt man. This is from the Battlefield show that New Japan put on at the Tokyo Dome that drew 48,000. The Steiners were on this card, even though they worked for the WWF, and Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake were there as well, before they’d both signed with WCW. I think the Dome is such a great venue for wrestling, and there’s a comp on Rudo Reels that has all of the Dome shows from the 80’s and 90’s on it. My wife won’t let me buy it, but maybe one day. Liger takes him down and goes for some mat work early. They roll around on the mat for a bit, and I get bored. Liger gets a chinlock, then a bow and arrow. They exchange kicks, and Liger gets a Kappo kick. They dropkick each other, with Liger coming off the top, and both men are down. Mask gets a cross arm-breaker, then just starts punching Liger in the face. They trade punches, and Liger floors him and goes to a head scissors. This is like anti-Lucha. There’s nothing happening at all. Mask gets a dropkick in the corner, but lands on his feet when Liger dodges a Moonsault. Liger hits a kick, and then a baseball slide. Mask hits a dropkick inside, then a hands-free tope suicida! Sweet! Big slam, and Mask hits a Moonsault but pulls Liger up like a dumbass. He goes for the Tiger Suplex, but Liger escapes and hits a clothesline. Powerbomb, and Liger sets him on top. Top rope rana gets 2! Liger bomb gets 2! Mask lands on Liger’s chest on a powerbomb for 2. He sets Liger up on top, then dropkicks him to the ramp on the entryway. Mask runs at him and hits a handspring crossbody, but misses a dive from the buckle to the ramp. Mask with a missile dropkick and a German suplex for 2. Corkscrew dive, then a second try misses. Liger with a back breaker in the corner and he hits the shooting star press for the pin at 14:26! That’s it for Koji Kanemoto as Tiger Mask III in Japan. Quite the historical moment, but the match was middling at best. **
Tiger Mask III, Latin Lover, & Octagon
Vs
La Parka, Pirata Morgan, & Blue Panther
Oh great, the last one was anti-Lucha, this one is a fucking trios match. This is from AAA, some time in 1994. I have literally no idea what is going on, but apparently La Parka pins Tiger Mask to win the first fall. I think one of the referees has bladed. I’m honestly lost. The second fall has started, and the Rudos run everyone out of the ring, and beat on Latin Lover. Morgan power slams Mask for 2. His gimmick is a pirate, with an eyepatch. I wonder if it was all fun and games to that point? So many things happen, and Latin Lover pins La Parka with a roll up to even it up at one fall each side. From what I understand, in Lucha, you have to pin the team captain in order to win the fall. The announcers are really entertaining, even though I have no idea what they are saying. Pirata Morgan might be Rocky Romero’s father. There’s no logic or reason or flow to this it’s just guys doing moves. The technicos almost get Blue Demon’s mask of him, and I literally still can’t follow this. Octagon gets a rana with a roll up to pin Blue Demon for the win after about 15 minutes. Impossible to follow. * ½ No idea what it was doing on this set, other than filling it up.
Eddie Guerrero, Art Barr, & Blue Panther
Vs
Tiger Mask III, Lizmark, & El Hijo Del Santo
I think this is under the same goofy trios rules In AAA in 1994 or 1995, but I really have no clue. Eddy and Art were amazing as a team, and we're just unreal heat magnets. I spectacularly fail to pay any attention to this, despite the participants. El Hijo Del Santo and Blue Panther doe some nice reverse stuff. They get into the second fall when I start paying attention again, and they unmask Tiger Mask as the Rudos lay out the Technicos, and the whole second fall is a no contest when Barr steals Mask’s mask. That was an absolute waste of time. Is everything in Lucha an out of control brawl? The third fall ends when Eddy and Art turn on Panther and the Technicos take advantage to hit a back breaker by Santo, and a falling headbutt by Lizmark for the pin. That was a total clusterfuck. ¼ * because nobody died during the match.
The Bottom Line: The Benoit stuff was good, for the most part, and the Liger stuff was fun. The New Japan tag team match was excellent, but the AAA matches were just junk. Thumbs down for this disk. Too much on here that was just filler. Couldn’t we get more NJPW stuff? I’m sure there’s some out there.