Puroresu Show Reviews

New Japan’s version of WrestleMania and the show that kicks off the new year, and new beginnings as well. But unlike WrestleMania, Wrestling World actually takes place at the beginning of the year instead of in March!

My buddy, TenzanTeam2K, reckons Wrestling World 2004 to be the best Puroresu show he’s ever seen. To that end, I’ve had a chance to watch the show myself, and I’ve decided to compare my match thoughts with that of TT2K. And if you’ve read my article on how I feel about New Japan, you could probably guess my views will not be as kind as his. Let’s get to it!

Masayuki Naruse VS Tadao Yasuda
If Yasuda is wondering whatever happened to his push, he should just take a look at this match.
TenzanTeam2K’s Rating:*
My Rating: DUD

Ryusuke Taguchi VS Akiya Anzawa
I’m gonna be fair and not even rate this match since I took a snack break and it was over when I got back.
TT2K’s Rating: **1/2
My Rating: -

Heat & Tiger Mask VS Jado & Gedo – IWGP Jr Tag Titles
This was pretty good, but not really excellent. And I don’t fully put the blame on the rudo team’s cheating tactics. Had some good spots to it though.
TT2K’s Rating: ***
My Rating: ***

Jushin Thunder Liger VS Takashi Sugiura – GHC Jr Heavyweight Title
Was it just me or did Sugiura seem to out-wrestle Liger at every turn? Sugiura is definitely being primed for greatness down the road. I’m hoping it was NJPW that paid NOAH to put the belt around Liger’s waist as Sugiura just looked way better than him here. At this point I’d also like to see Sugiura as the man that gets the belt back from him.
TT2K’s Rating: ***1/2
My Rating: ***1/2

Yutaka Yoshie VS Hiroshi Tanahashi – U30 Openweight Title
I had a MAJOR problem watching this match. Sure it was good, but was I the only one that noticed Tanahashi not selling much of Yoshie’s offence? Yoshie dropped his huge frame on him dozens of times throughout the match, but it didn’t seem to bother him as he could still effortlessly lift up Yoshie and drop him without any kind of rib or chest pain whatsoever. The only thing that effected him were straight shots to the head. Not a good idea unless your looking for brain-damage down the line. Props to Yoshie for making Tanahashi look like a million bucks, and a slap to the back of the head for Tanahashi for making Yoshie look so much below his level.
TT2K’s Rating: ****1/2
My Rating: ***1/2

Katsuyori Shibata & Kazunari Murakami VS Josh Barnett & Takashi Iizuka
I felt this match went longer than it should have. Murakami is not one of those guys to have 10+ minute matches with as he has very limited offense. And geez, did Barnett and Iizuka looked like someone already beat them up in the back or what?
TT2K’s Rating: ***1/2
My Rating: **1/2

Minoru Suzuki VS Osamu Nishimura
This was pretty good, though for the record I’m not a real big fan of extended mat work. But this is what Nishimura excels at. Suzuki still need some work translating to puroresu from the shoot style.
TT2K’s Rating: ****1/2
My Rating: ***

I’ll skip the dark matches that were clipped since TT2K didn’t rate them as well. They didn’t look all good either.

Gen’ichiro Tenryu VS Manabu Nakanishi
Due to his age, Tenryu is suffering a severe case of ‘man-boobs’. That aside, this was a good match. I’ve noticed Tenryu is slowing down and isn’t as tough as he used to be. Which is good I guess if it means he’ll put more younger guys over. Nakanishi was his good old enjoyable to watch self. The fisherman’s suplex seem to come out of nowhere at the end though.
TT2K’s Rating: ***
My Rating: ***

Kensuke Sasaki VS Yuji Nagata
To call this match a BLOODBATH is an understatement! I’ve seen my fair share of death matches, but I have NEVER seen a match where to the two opponents literally beat each other to a bloody-pulp like they did here! Both guys were literally covered from head to toe in blood and the crowd was eating it all up! Great effort and truly a sight to behold!
TT2K’s Rating: *****
My Rating: ****

Keiji Mutoh & Bob Sapp VS Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Masahiro Chono
This was a good match. Mutoh wasn’t lazy and Sapp was just himself, an unstoppable monster. I can’t really tell if Sapp has improved his ring work, but he did quite well, though I’m sure in the US they’d call him green or just a bad worker altogether. Tenzan and Chono also carried their parts well here, and I still really wanna see a Sapp VS Tenzan singles match.
TT2K’s Rating: ****
My Rating: ***3/4

Yoshihiro Takayama VS Shinsuke Nakamura – IWGP & NWF Unification Title Match
Nakamura came out looking like an underdog, and even wrestled like one. Takayama really went to work on Nakamura’s face here, and though he didn’t bleed, you could tell some serious damage was done internally. But give Takayama credit for actually tapping out and putting over Nakamura’s submission skills. But in his post match interview, did Nakamura sound a bit heelish or just plain drunk?!?
TT2K’s Rating: ****
My Rating: ***1/4

Overall: Obviously this was a great show, though I wouldn’t rank it as the best ever (But that’s just MY opinion). I do highly recommend watching this show however. Go to the Puroresu Thoughts section of TenzanTeam2K's blog for his more detailed review of the show.

Now the bad news, due to technical difficulties and unforeseen circumstances, I have to order a new copy of the tape. Only then will I have it in stock for sale. I’ll be ordering it after I get back from KL in about 2 weeks, so I expect to have in stock by mid-May. So check back often for updates.

Labels: NJPW