Puroresu Show Reviews
Reviews of puroresu shows in my collectionFriday, January 07, 2005
BAPE STA Pro Wrestling 5/4/2004
Michiko Ohmoukai, AKINO & Ebessan VS Momoe Nakanishi, THE APEWOMAN & Kuishinbo Kamen
A fun six-person inter-gender opener! The clowns and the 4 women even managed to get a few comedy spots out of senior AJPW referee Kyohei Wada! It was interesting to see Ebessan & Kuishinbo start a match by WRESTLING before moving on to the comedy spots, and the women did good work too. Interestingly, AKINO went from being happy babyface the first day, to hard hitting heel on this day! But she still played along well to the comedy antics of the Gods of Comedy.
Seeing the women in action during these two shows makes me hope that the joshi scene doesn’t die out in Japan despite the hard times it’s currently going through.
Match Rating: **
Kazushi Miyamoto, Taichi Ishikari, Nobukazu Hirai & Nobutaka Araya VS Big Boss MA-G-MA, Black Buffalo, Daioh QUALLT & GOA
Originally scheduled to be a tag match with MA-G-MA & QUALLT VS Miyamoto & Ishikari, till Buffalo gets on the mic and calls out AJPW and the four Kishiwada Guretai members start beating down Miyamoto & Ishikari. This brings out Hirai & Araya to make the save and we get an instant, fun eight-man tag!
This was a good match when they weren’t brawling all over the place. But it did feel a little like it was being done “by the numbers”, where two guys square off, exchange holds, the tag out to the next pair and repeat the process till everyone has entered, the we get the big eight-man brawl leading to the big “everyone hits his finisher” sequence before the match gets ended by that last pair in the ring.
I also thought this match was a bit too short, and I really would have liked to see Araya face off with MA-G-MA instead of QUALLT.
Match Rating: ***
Hardcore Match: Kintaro Kanemaru & Hideki Hosaka VS Tomoaki Honma & Jun Kasai
Two FMW veterans VS two Big Japan veterans in a hardcore match! Lots of brawling as expected with Honma getting busted open and taking the brunt of the punishment from the former Team No Respect members, including taking a sick looking splash through a LADDER! Hosaka looked good here, and decked in his BAPE gear, looked almost like ICP’s Violent J! But of course he could wrestle better. Kanemura was his usual self, busting out the pain combined with some small comedy spots here and there. I don’t think Kasai did much, but was still fun none the less, and he got along better with Honma then Miyamoto did from the previous day.
Match Rating: **1/4
Takehiro Murahama, TAKA Michinoku & Miracle Man VS Toshiaki Kawada, Ryuji Hijikata & Katsuhiko Nakajima
This was a great match, with the story of Nakajima getting the snot beat out of him. But I can’t believe they went the course of the entire match with ZERO Kawada/Murahama contact! And that was one of the things I was most looking forward to!
When Nakajima wasn’t getting stretched, TAKA was taking the heavy punishment from the team composed of three hard hitting strikers. He even took a nasty bump when Kawada kicked him off the apron and he landed right on the timekeeper’s table.
Hijikata is still a treat to watch, and I only felt that Miracle Man looked a bit out of place since he was the only one with a flashy gimmick.
Match Rating: **1/2
Super Delfin & Kensuke Sasaki VS Kazu Hayashi & Keiji Mutoh
This started out as fun, but got serious when Mutoh & Hayashi switched on total heel mode! They almost tore Delfin’s mask completely off, and at one point Mutoh attacked Akira Hokuto at ringside, whipping her into the railing, and then picking up one of Sasaki’s kids and threatening to slam them on the mat! Normally I’d expect this kind of behavior if he was under his Great Muta gimmick, but not as Mutoh. I also usually expect to see this kind of story played out in WWE.
Still, it was a good hard-hitting match, and they got the crowd into it a lot with the great ring-work, but mostly Mutoh & Hayashi’s heelish tactics, which gave the match that "big match" feel.
Match Rating:***
BAPE STA!! Tag Team Titles: Satoshi Kojima & THE APEMAN VS Arashi & E!-BAPE-Man
From the seriousness of the previous match, to the more fun main event of the night. Less than a minute into the match, and APEMAN’s identity is revealed, if you didn’t already know who it was. Kojima just shook his head and covered his face in shame when everyone found out! Even Arashi himself once again found himself in comedic situations even though he didn’t express any emotions, but was still game to play along. This was another really fun match, and of course there was some stiffness and hard shots from Kojima & Arashi to balance out the comedy from their partners. A great way to end the tour overall.
Match Rating: ***
The show ends with everyone who participated on the two shows coming out and Kojima thanking the fans for coming out and supporting them. “ICHIAOZO BAKAYARO!!!”
Overall: The second of two REALLY fun shows. Great laughs and great wrestling combined. This is definitely recommended along with the previous show, and I can’t wait to get my hands on more BAPE STA!! Pro Wrestling shows!
A fun six-person inter-gender opener! The clowns and the 4 women even managed to get a few comedy spots out of senior AJPW referee Kyohei Wada! It was interesting to see Ebessan & Kuishinbo start a match by WRESTLING before moving on to the comedy spots, and the women did good work too. Interestingly, AKINO went from being happy babyface the first day, to hard hitting heel on this day! But she still played along well to the comedy antics of the Gods of Comedy.
Seeing the women in action during these two shows makes me hope that the joshi scene doesn’t die out in Japan despite the hard times it’s currently going through.
Match Rating: **
Kazushi Miyamoto, Taichi Ishikari, Nobukazu Hirai & Nobutaka Araya VS Big Boss MA-G-MA, Black Buffalo, Daioh QUALLT & GOA
Originally scheduled to be a tag match with MA-G-MA & QUALLT VS Miyamoto & Ishikari, till Buffalo gets on the mic and calls out AJPW and the four Kishiwada Guretai members start beating down Miyamoto & Ishikari. This brings out Hirai & Araya to make the save and we get an instant, fun eight-man tag!
This was a good match when they weren’t brawling all over the place. But it did feel a little like it was being done “by the numbers”, where two guys square off, exchange holds, the tag out to the next pair and repeat the process till everyone has entered, the we get the big eight-man brawl leading to the big “everyone hits his finisher” sequence before the match gets ended by that last pair in the ring.
I also thought this match was a bit too short, and I really would have liked to see Araya face off with MA-G-MA instead of QUALLT.
Match Rating: ***
Hardcore Match: Kintaro Kanemaru & Hideki Hosaka VS Tomoaki Honma & Jun Kasai
Two FMW veterans VS two Big Japan veterans in a hardcore match! Lots of brawling as expected with Honma getting busted open and taking the brunt of the punishment from the former Team No Respect members, including taking a sick looking splash through a LADDER! Hosaka looked good here, and decked in his BAPE gear, looked almost like ICP’s Violent J! But of course he could wrestle better. Kanemura was his usual self, busting out the pain combined with some small comedy spots here and there. I don’t think Kasai did much, but was still fun none the less, and he got along better with Honma then Miyamoto did from the previous day.
Match Rating: **1/4
Takehiro Murahama, TAKA Michinoku & Miracle Man VS Toshiaki Kawada, Ryuji Hijikata & Katsuhiko Nakajima
This was a great match, with the story of Nakajima getting the snot beat out of him. But I can’t believe they went the course of the entire match with ZERO Kawada/Murahama contact! And that was one of the things I was most looking forward to!
When Nakajima wasn’t getting stretched, TAKA was taking the heavy punishment from the team composed of three hard hitting strikers. He even took a nasty bump when Kawada kicked him off the apron and he landed right on the timekeeper’s table.
Hijikata is still a treat to watch, and I only felt that Miracle Man looked a bit out of place since he was the only one with a flashy gimmick.
Match Rating: **1/2
Super Delfin & Kensuke Sasaki VS Kazu Hayashi & Keiji Mutoh
This started out as fun, but got serious when Mutoh & Hayashi switched on total heel mode! They almost tore Delfin’s mask completely off, and at one point Mutoh attacked Akira Hokuto at ringside, whipping her into the railing, and then picking up one of Sasaki’s kids and threatening to slam them on the mat! Normally I’d expect this kind of behavior if he was under his Great Muta gimmick, but not as Mutoh. I also usually expect to see this kind of story played out in WWE.
Still, it was a good hard-hitting match, and they got the crowd into it a lot with the great ring-work, but mostly Mutoh & Hayashi’s heelish tactics, which gave the match that "big match" feel.
Match Rating:***
BAPE STA!! Tag Team Titles: Satoshi Kojima & THE APEMAN VS Arashi & E!-BAPE-Man
From the seriousness of the previous match, to the more fun main event of the night. Less than a minute into the match, and APEMAN’s identity is revealed, if you didn’t already know who it was. Kojima just shook his head and covered his face in shame when everyone found out! Even Arashi himself once again found himself in comedic situations even though he didn’t express any emotions, but was still game to play along. This was another really fun match, and of course there was some stiffness and hard shots from Kojima & Arashi to balance out the comedy from their partners. A great way to end the tour overall.
Match Rating: ***
The show ends with everyone who participated on the two shows coming out and Kojima thanking the fans for coming out and supporting them. “ICHIAOZO BAKAYARO!!!”
Overall: The second of two REALLY fun shows. Great laughs and great wrestling combined. This is definitely recommended along with the previous show, and I can’t wait to get my hands on more BAPE STA!! Pro Wrestling shows!
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