Puroresu Show Reviews

The second tape I've watched and my first taste of Osaka Pro.
Show starts with a cool formal rundown of the card as the talent come out to the isleway as their matches are announced.

Azteca vs. Black Tigers
This match was clipped down to about a minute. Looked Ok for what was shown.

Monster King Mandora & Policewo~men VS Tortuga & Night Master
Mix-tag comedy match. Also clipped down quite a bit. Looked fun considering the weird characters involved.

Kintaro Kanemura vs. Daio Quallt - Hardcore Match
This was reminicent of the old FMW days. Some garbage spots mixed with some good power wrestling moves. Quallt looked like a dead cross between Kane and the Hurricane! **

Miracle Man, Billy Ken Kid & Tigers Mask vs. Super Demekin, Kengo Takai & Yutaka Fukuda
This was clipped down rather heavilly to the ending of the match. Looked OK.

Ebessan vs. Kuishinbo Kamen - 2/3 Falls match
THIS IS IT! The main reason I bought this tape and it lived up to every hilarious expectation! All three falls are shown in full as well as the pre and post match shenanigans. This match alone is the reason you should get this tape. Don't look down on these guys however, as when it comes down to it, they can go and pull out some great highspots of their own! Ebessan came out with a troup of priestesses and took donations and blessed the crowd in his intro (His gimmikc is based on Ebisu, the Japanese God of Prosperity). Than Kuishinbo Kamen comes out and does a complete choreographed dance number with a troup of fly girls! Another fun bit was when the Referee told them to finally go at it and they did, in SLOW MOTION! There is something seriously wrong with you if you don't laugh out loud while watching this one! Match Rating: **1/2, Entertainment Rating: PRICELESS!!!

TAKA Michinoku VS GAMMA
Battle of the Rudos as Kaientai Dojo's TAKA takes on Osaka Pro's 'Master of Rudo' GAMMA! GAMMA looks so much like a miniature Masa Chono. This match was clipped down a bit but still fun to watch. Cool spot was when GAMMA had TAKA up for a Razor's Edge, and modified it flipping TAKA forward into a facebuster! Great match, though the finished seemed a bit sudden. ***

Jushin Thunder Liger & Takehiro Murahama vs. INFINITY (Tsubasa & Black Buffalo) - Osaka Pro Tag Team Titles
I swear I heard the announcer say this was a street fight match. The main story here was the rivalry between Liger and Buffalo. Buffalo is one of those guys that looks like he can't do much, but makes up for it by striking as HARD as he can throw a punch. Tsubasa was very impressive here as he carried the wrestling end for his team. Liger was his usual self, using his palm thrust of doom alot which everyone sold like a shotgun blast. Murahama seemed to be at the back of it all. Solid effort by all involved though. ***1/2

Super Delfin vs. Big Boss Ma-G-Ma - Osaka Pro Title
Watching this match, I really feel they should have went with the tag title match as the main event. This match just seem to plod along. Ma-G-Ma is kinda like a cruiserweight Vader. He's a big man, yet can pull some awesome moves and no sells most of his opponents offense. Delfin played up the underdog part well here, but like Jeff Jarrett in TNA, ultimately puts himself over in the end with a very sports entertainment-like finish. **1/4

Overall: This show was fun from beginning to end and a great introdution to Osaka Pro for me. I highly recommend it and will be searching out more Osaka Pro shows. One thing I did notice here is that Osaka Pro has something that most other major feds doesn't, and that's true entertainment value. They have something for the whole family to watch. I don't think I've ever seen so many kids in a Puroresu show audience (They were all there for the Ebessan/Kamen match). This is something I wouldn't mind seeing other feds try to replicate since everything is getting so serious these days in the wrestling world.

Labels: Osaka Pro