Puroresu Show Reviews

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match - 11-man Super Junior Rumble
Participants: Masayuki Naruse, Masahito Kakihara, El Samurai, Heat, Jushin Liger, Gedo, Katsushi Takemura, Dick Togo, Jado, Tiger Mask & Koji Kanemoto
- This was a fun match up until Takemura and company started cheating. One thing that bothered me was how Jado, Gedo and Togo were allowed to enter the ring together, as well as Takenura who entered with Tiger Mask when he attacked him from behind. Also interesting to note how none of the other Juniors who were eliminated didn't bother to help Kanemoto or Liger, maybe cause they thought it would be easier to win the title off anyone EXCEPT those two later down the line.
Match Rating: **

U-30 Openweight No. 1 Contenders Match
Blue Wolf VS Yutaka Yoshie
- This was ok. Two big guys duking it out. I don't think it was anything special, but still fun to watch.
Match Rating: **

TOA VS Shinya Makabe
- Now this was fun watching the two big guys slug it out. TOA was green and it showed, but the match still worked as they made into more of a fight than a wrestling match.
Match Rating: **1/2

Tadao Yasuda VS Osamu Nishimura
- This sucked big time watching the Makai Club's cheating tactics. I can buy Nishimura's serious promos, and he even has the look of a main eventer, but this feud didn't really do much for him.
Match Rating: Dud

Like my review of the first Ultimate Crush, I won't be reviewing the shoots, including the King of Pancrase title match.

Kazunari Murakami ¥2,000,000 Bounty Match
Katsuyori Shibata VS Kazunari Murakami
- More cheating shinanigans from the Makais. This was kinda a like a replay of the Enson/Murakami match from the first Ultimate Crush, but with Murakami in the dominant role. Except he couldn't get the job done on his own.
Match Rating: *

Super Dream Match
Masahiro Chono VS Hulk Hogan
- This was suprisingly good considering this was a Hogan match. Big heat from the crowd for Hogan who cheered everything he did no matter how weak it looked. Much like Hogan's match with The Rock, the crowd heat made this match.
Match Rating: ***1/2

10-Man New Japan VS Inoki Gun Elimination Match
Seiji Sakaguchi, Yuji Nagata, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Manabu Nakanishi & Hiroshi Tanahashi VS Yoshihiro Takayama, Kazuyuki Fujita, Shinsuke Nakamura, Minoru Suzuki & Bob Sapp
- This was fun, though the over the top rule sorta made some of the eliminations a bit too easy. If not for that rule, who knows how long this match would have went?!? Great work from both sides overall.
Match Rating: ***1/2

Overall: This was an OK show overall and luckilly NJPW has decided to stop with the MMA matches already. The overall wrestling card was OK, and fortunately the two main events delivered.

Labels: NJPW