.:: Big Japan Wrestling on Samurai TV, February 27th 2000 ::.
Review by Jay, 2nd August

There seems to be this myth in the online wrestling fan community that you can’t be a fan of deathmatch wrestling, and more wrestling based styles such as traditional puroresu and lucharesu. I don’t know if Big Japan took note of this or not, but something changed back in 1999, which led to what has becomes legendary as the deathmatch revolution. Gone were the brawls which many traditional puroresu purists hated, due to their simplistic nature, and in came deathmatches involving – gasp – wrestling! Led by Tomoaki Honma, Ryuji/Seiji Yamakawa, Shadow WX, The Winger and Abdullah Jr. Kobayashi, Big Japan put on a great series of deathmatches which managed to incorporate traditional wrestling into some crazy matches. Whilst I’ve never really minded deathmatches with little wrestling (hell, if you’re going to sit around with a few friends and some beers and watch wrestling, the less you have to think about the match the better!), these matches in 1999 really were a revolution, upping the ante and producing deathmatches which crossed the border between garbage fandom, and puroresu fandom.

One of the most infamous shows from that time was from February 2000 at Korakuen Hall, the show which has since become known as the ‘Fire Incident’. It also featured two of the greatest deathmatch wrestlers ever, Ryuji Yamakawa and Tomoaki Honma, in action, along with Abdullah Jr. Kobayashi and FMW street fight legend, Kintaro Kanemura. It also features quite possibly the greatest Big Japan vignette ever!


Kintaro Kanemura vs. Ryuji Yamakawa (Seiji Yamakawa) for the WEW Hardcore Title

Before the match, we see a press conference with Kanemura and Yamakawa, which is interrupted by Kanemura’s phone ringing, leading to a pull apart. Simple, yet slightly amusing. The match doesn’t have a gimmick attached to it, it’s just a straight up no rules contest. This actually ends up suiting the match perfectly, as Kanemura is more akin to FMW street fights than deathmatches of the Big Japan kind these days. This match early on has a perfect example of the sort of changes that were going on during deathmatches in this period. Yamakawa, being his crazy self, almost straight away goes for some light bulb tubes, going after Kanemura. However, Kanemura steals them off him and cracks Yamakawa’s elbow into them off the ring post, cutting his arm. Kanemura then proceeds to WORK THE ARM using the light bulb, digging it into Yamakawa’s arm, before working over it further with a chair! This is what deathmatch psychology is all about! It’s not all limb-focused work however, we do get the obligatory bumps, pretty much too many to name. There’s plenty of chair bumps, Yamakawa taking a Beach Break onto them pretty much unprotected, as well as a pretty nasty Liger Bomb. Then there’s the table bumps, with both men taking moves off the stage onto unbreakable tables, and Kanemura also being press slammed off the top through one on the outside (which, I’ll note, it really looks as if he doesn’t want to take – either great selling, or great sense!). Two moments which stick out in my mind though, were one of the early bumps, and one innovative move from Yamakawa. Firstly, early on in the match, there’s a moment where Kanemura throws Yamakawa out from a fireman’s carry onto some chairs, before going and sitting up top. From here, he drops a really bizarre modified senton, landing legs apart on Yamakawa’s chest, almost like a forward Banzai Drop. It just looks incredibly painful for both men, yet bizarrely spectacular – mainly due to Kanemura’s size. The other moment is the perfect example of how wrestling can be used in such matches, as Yamakawa once again proves himself as more than a garbage wrestler with a hugely innovative swinging double arm facebuster! It’s the sort of thing you might expect someone to pull out in something like a Michinoku Pro or Toryumon sprint, not in a Big Japan match. And that pretty much sums up the match, it’s your typical street fight, but there are some moments which you don’t expect – such as that move, and Kanemura’s Beach Break style move onto the chairs. All in all a very, very fun brawl, with enough wrestling to keep puroresu enthusiasts entertained.

Afterwards we get some highlights of the Excite Series Tournament, including the Sheik getting eliminated (yes!) and Shadow WX beating his friend The Winger on the way to the final, which is the next match.


Mike Samples vs. Shadow WX in a Lights Out Light Bulb Board Deathmatch (The Fire Incident)

The concept here is that the lights are put out, and the boards turned on, so they light up the arena. It, erm, doesn’t work awfully well, mainly because they go on a stroll around the building. It really is a case of walk to the wall, get slammed into it, walk to another wall… etc. DO SOMETHING DAMN YOU SAMPLES! Shadow WX is great, but Samples just doesn’t let him show it. FINALLY, they return to the ring. Samples (I think, it’s still dark!) takes a bump into one of the boards, and the bulbs go out, and everything goes even darker. Oh. So, to lighten things up, Shadow WX slings on his football jersey, heads up top, and sets himself on fire, to execute the fire body attack he’s done so many times before. He lands it, before rolling out of the ring – and the flames just engulf him and parts of the mat! He quite honestly (no exaggeration) is on fire outside of the ring, the ring seconds going crazy to get the shirt off him! Completely unprotected, Shadow WX runs around and burns, before finally throwing the shirt down, which sets fire to the mats outside the ring! The ring seconds put this out as Shadow slowly climbs back in, SOMEHOW throwing together a competent ending as he ducks a lariat only to take a fairly soft lariat for the 3. And the lights come on, Samples refuses to accept victory, instead tending to Shadow WX… AND WX STANDS AND LEAVES! Christ, the guy had been burning for the best part of thirty seconds. I really can’t think of much to say about the match, other than the one-off play-by-play above. On one hand it was shocking - yet less so than I expected due to Shadow WX’s quick recovery at the end, getting to his feet – whilst on the other hand I felt that it was a stupid thing to do. Just so long as he’s learned his lesson…

Afterwards, we see Kojika and Shadow WX talking to the press, Shadow dressed in a red foil suit, I guess because of the burns (either that or he was off to be an extra in the Mo Money, Mo Problems video). I seem to remember reading somewhere (probably WV) that the conference was to announce Shadow’s suspension. Nice of Kojika to stand by Shadow after the accident.

Now remember in the intro I mentioned that this tape had the greatest vignette in BJPW history on it? Yes, it’s next! We see Honma walking down the street, in a bubble jacket and beanie hat (it must be cold), when all of a sudden – THERE’S ABBY JR! IN HIS WRESTLING ATTIRE! COOKING A BBQ! In the words of Dr Evil, “Riiiight”. Abby then proceeds to show exactly how he’s improved recently… by chopping into the coals on the BBQ and chopping the top off a beer bottle! Honma then tries but, despite being the deathmatch God, can’t touch the hot coals. He then talks to the camera for a bit in Japanese, and leaves. SO much about that vignette was bad that I won’t even start on it, yet resultantly, it becomes a classic. God bless you Abby!


Tomoaki Honma vs. Abdullah Jr. Kobayashi in a Barbed Wire Board and Ladder Death Match for the Big Japan Deathmatch Title

Just to clear up, this match isn’t the usual ladder match rules, pinfalls/submissions are the way to win here! Abdullah at this stage is under the wing of Abdullah The Butcher, hence the Jr. part of his name. This match is another great example of Big Japan incorporating wrestling into its matches. First of all, no-one takes the barbed wire bump early, instead it is built towards by some matwork and chain wrestling, both men teasing a bump into the spikes. So instead, they weaken each other using the main foreign object of the match, the ladder, which is used for a number of purposes such as Honma delivering a calf branding on the ladder from the top outside onto Abby. After that bump ‘dazed’ Abdullah, they then return to the ring for the first barbed wire bump – the move now making much more sense. It really does add to the match. There is also some very important psychology early on, Honma attacking Abby’s arm with a shoulder arm breaker style move repeatedly on top of the steel ladder. This would come back to haunt Abdullah later in the match. Once again though, it’s not all about psychology in this one. There’s the fair share of (very innovative bumps). One early on sees Honma ram Abby back into the corner with the ladder, the ladder jamming into Abby’s waist. Honma, seeing that he’s vulnerable, charges and runs UP the ladder, dropkicking Abdullah in the face! Later on, Honma tries for the huracanrana from the top to a barbed wire board on the outside, used in his famous second deathmatch against Ryuji Yamakawa. However, Abdullah blocks, and hits an awe-inspiring Rydeen (Albert) Bomb through the board! Perhaps best of all however, is where the ladder falls after an attack onto the middle rope. Honma heads up top, as we see (I think) MEN’s Teioh on the outside adjust the ladder slightly. Abby walks across to go after Honma, but Tomoaki just throws himself out of the ring, firing the ladder into Abdullah’s face! There’s the fair share of regular bumps too throughout, including some brutal head drops (release German, Northern Lights Bomb, Fire Thunder Driver). However, a couple of things do bug me about the match. Firstly, the ladders do not look safe, and as a result, the ladder work is very dodgy in places, few ladder bumps happening – which doesn’t necessarily hurt the match, but makes the whole ‘Ladder’ part of the deathmatch irrelevant. In one place in particular it hurts (literally), as Honma’s back flip counter off it goes wrong and he lands headfirst on the ladder. Secondly, they do lose the psychology a bit of the way through, Abby using his ‘injured’ arm a bit too much. Not overly annoying, but it could have made the match top notch if it had been consistent. Still a thoroughly enjoyable match though!

Afterwards, Abby is berated by ABDULLAH THE BUTCHER, who throws every expletive known to man at him, before throwing a crate of beer at him. What a waste! Hence, we see the end of Abdullah Jr. Kobayashi and the birth of Abdullah Kobayashi.


CONCLUSION

A pretty entertaining tape. The two title matches are both probably just above average as far as deathmatches go, although there were much better ones during this period. The ‘Fire Incident’ is pretty terrible though, being completely un-entertaining yet slightly interesting to see, even though it feels a bit sick watching a man set himself on fire. A good tape, but definitely one for the Big Japan purists. Casual deathmatch fans are best sticking to the Honma/Yamakawa match from the show before.

ENTERTAINMENT – 8 – Two fairly decent matches, and one poor one. Some people might find the ‘Fire Incident’ entertaining, so pick it up if you really want to see that. You never really get bored during the two title matches though, so it’s all fairly good.

WORKRATE – 7 – Samples/Shadow WX drags this right down, as does the inconsistent psychology in the main event. It doesn’t bug me too much, but some people will be put off by it, no doubt.

.:: FINAL RECOMMENDATION – If you’re remotely a BJW fan, then get this tape for the two title matches. If you’re not much of a deathmatch fan, it might be worth a look, but either of the two Honma/Yamakawa matches beat everything on this tape! ::.