Big Japan: 28th September 2009

The show really gets started with Yoshihito Sasaki & Shinya Ishikawa vs. Takashi Sasaki & Kankuro Hoshino. Where on Earth did this come from? It's a pretty odd combination of guys - the deathmatch guy and the perennial whipping boy against the non-deathmatch heavyweight and the rookie. But everyone is completed fired up and super motivated here. The first few exchanges were scrappy, in the good sense, as it set up the intensity of the next ten minutes. Winning seemed important here, which is an impressive achievement for such a throwaway tag. No-one was content standing on the apron, given any opportunity they'd come in, break up a submission, double team an opponent or charge the partner in the opposite corner. I liked Yoshihito giving a viscious low larait to Takashi to break up a submission, only for Hoshino to come in a do the same once the roles were reversed.

In fact, the whole match showed a different side to Hoshino, who got way more offence that he would normally be allowed against other higher ranked guys. Ishikawa survives a lot of offence, Yoshihito lariats Hoshino and takes Takashi out, allowing Ishikawa the big comeback with a flurry of nasty forearms for a really satisfying finish. Hoshino's anguish at losing completed the deeply competitive feel to the match. This would have made my Japan 2009 ballot had I watched it in time. I don't like it when people talk about a match having a lot of hatred, and I've heard that word used to describe this. That seems like something that really should only apply to actual feuds. In that case, you expect rules to be broken because the importance of a well-contested wrestling match go away when there's an emotional issue at stake. This match really got over the importance of victory but was contested, broadly speaking, within the rules of a wrestling match - not hatred, but an intense competitive feel. Really great under-the-radar match.

Have you ever wanted to see Bugs Bunny doing a Pearl Harbour Splash? Then the Street Fight Dress Up deathmatch is for you. A bunch of comedy spots revolving around the fact that Numazawa and Kasai came out in a panda suit and a Bugs costume. Also expect headlocks on giant masks, mask swapping, masks being spun around so the guy can't see and other stuff (involving masks). Not actually a wrestling match, however. The tag titles match with Sekimoto and Okabayashi against Shinobu and Madoka, set up by the really good six-man on the previous, was much more predicable than the aforementioned trios. Madoka again impressed as a kicker and Shinobu is still a good face-in-peril, but the finish wasn't as dramatic because you never really got the sense that the challengers might win.

There's two Miyamoto death matches on this disc. The first is from the same show as all the previous matches, and is against Isami Kodaka. Apparently this went sixteen minutes, but it's pretty much a sprint. During the early portion, I felt like Miyamoto was much more comfortable in the role of champion, confidently taking and maintaining control, tossing Isami around, even stealing a spot or two from his former tag partner. Isami's comeback made use of the cage, which is a smart way to use your big gimmick in a match between an underdog and the champion. From there one, it's a lot of finisher and highspots using the cage and the remaining tubes (and a ladder and some chairs). These two don't no-sell anything (apart from anything, all the spots would actually hurt) but I never got the sense of an epic struggle and fatigue that you might expect - it's more fighting spirit and a final knockout blow. Isami takes more risks - his double knee with tubes (missed) and the same move with a chair off the cage are two of the highlights - whilst Miyamoto has a much more credible moveset in between high spots. Overall, there's probably about five false finishes too many, and other niggles, but an entertaining deathmatch nonetheless. I liked this more than the terribly overblown Takeda-Miyamoto match.

The second Miyamoto match is from two days later against Abby Jr. There are, allegedely, 445 lighttubes forming a solid wall around the ring and lying across the mat. This is a total gory spectacle, much less than a match - with so much plunder, there's no build to big spots, they pretty much start bleeding immediately. You know that image of Shawn Michael's face in the first Hell in the Cell - completely covered in blood. Imagine that, but extend it to the entire body of a fat Japanese man. Thinking about it now, there's probably a decent monster vs. underdog champion match in there somewhere, but it is well and truly hidden behind both the gruesomeness and, at times, Abby's slightly dodgy execution. His somersault senton spots onto tubes do not work out well (watch out for the second one, where he land headfirst but barely breaks the glass) and he quite obviously punches through the rope tubes early on after the first bump failed to break them.