.:: Michinoku Pro, November 7th 1999 ::.
Review by Jay, 2nd August 2002

Needing no real introduction, we continue the venture into M-Pro’s golden period during the ‘WINTER WARS’ tour with the November 7th Samurai TV show, featuring The Great Sasuke vs. his student, Tiger Mask 4. The show has heavy Toryumon involvement as well, and a good dose of Curry Man! :)


Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Kaz Yuasa

At this point, Kaz is still a real rookie, and is going through the period of either getting squashed by Wellington Wilkins Jr, or having matches such as this one against Mochizuki. Basically a very short ‘discipline’ match, with Masaaki throwing a load of kicks at Kaz, Kaz trying to fight back but missing a dropkick, and then Masaaki scoring the pin after two pretty hard high kicks. For a match under 3 minutes, surprisingly entertaining, if not just to see Mochizuki throwing his awesome kicks.


Gran Hamada and MEN’s Teioh vs. SUWA and Curry Man

From the moment that SUWA assaults the ring boys as he enters (including pouring a bottle of water over the announcer!), and Curry Man starts dancing, you know this will rule. This really is what we’ve come to expect from Michinoku Pro, starting out with some nice exchanges, Teioh slotting right back in as if he’d never left. What really brightens up the opening however is Super Curry Max’s antics. As usual, SUWA and Daniels’ chemistry is spot on, from them hinting at Curry Man messing up a dive (Teioh dodges at the last second so Curry Man slams on the brakes and apologises to SUWA), to the spot actually happening, with Curry Man taking out SUWA with a slingshot attack by mistake, leading to a plancha from Hamada. It’s all so comical. Their teamwork is exemplary as usual too, pulling out a really sweet Hart Foundation-esque spinebuster lift/lariat combo, and nice sequence with Daniels’ rope flip moonsault being followed by SUWA’s always awesome slingshot elbow drop. Hamada and Teioh also work really well in this match, the old man Hamada bringing out some of his top-drawer moves (pescado, top rope huracanrana, Hamada-Chan Cutter), and Teioh also busting out the trademarks, even going garbage on SUWA with a sweet bump late on, sending SUWA head first into the chairs. Overall a very fun match, with everyone stepping it up. A stark contrast to the last M-Pro show run jointly with BattlARTS!


CIMA vs. Minoru Fujita

On paper, this looks fantastic. TAKA’s primary student, Minoru Fujita, against the man who, at the time, was being hailed as one of the greatest new juniors in the world, Shiima Nobunaga. So how does it translate to on tape? Absolutely fantastic! CIMA and Fujita are TOTALLY on the same page throughout this match, something that would be carried over to the future CIMA/Curry Man/Super Boy vs. Minoru Fujita/Jody Fleisch/Shiryu 2 match. Fujita shows his all-roundness, early on going at it on the mat but also taking to the air with a beautiful tope suicida. Not to be out done, CIMA takes to the air too, hitting his headscissors takedown into the turnbuckle and his tornado plancha, which as always looks great. The thing which surprised me about this match however was beyond them using a lot of the aforementioned trademark spots early on, they still packed the match with so much action and some of their rarer manoeuvres. Minoru absolutely kills CIMA with a tombstone later on, as well as bringing out his dragon suplex, rolling northern lights suplexes and an absolutely beautiful springboard double foot-stomp. CIMA meanwhile fails in his attempt to finish things off with the Iconoclasm and Mad Splash, so alternatively brings out his Cross Armed Iconoclasm – proceeded by the fantastic closed fisted Venus Punch! Whilst it may sound like the match just goes from spot to spot, things are glued together with the usual drama that CIMA brings, his facial expressions and over-selling working tremendously here. Not to mention an awesome strike exchange which ends with CIMA and Fujita showing their resilience by screaming at each other! Awesome stuff. Basically, this could well be CIMA’s greatest singles contest, as he pulls out all the stops to make this a great match!


Jinsei Shinzaki and Magnum TOKYO vs. Sumo Dandy Fuji (Big Fuji/Don Fuji) and TARU

This is perhaps on paper the weakest out of the contests (bar the opening match), featuring the notoriously lazy Jinsei Shinzaki, and arguably the weakest of the Crazy Max guys (at this time), TARU and SDF. However, the match is surprisingly very, very entertaining. We’re treated to the same spot from the Shinzaki/SDF match from a few weeks before (which will be reviewed soon!), where SDF convinces Ted Tanabe (the ref) to strip his shirt off and try his Sumo ‘dance’. This draws big applause from the crowd, then laughter as SDF slaps his head for doing it wrong, and the faces walk out because of the stupidity of it all, Shinzaki with a TARU-quality serious look on his face! Shinzaki actually really steps it up for this match, hitting some of his awe inspiring spots, such as the praying shoulderblock (complete with forward roll), a really nice turning backflip kick, and a pretty sweet armdrag counter to SDF’s nodowa otashi (chokeslam). Magnum TOKYO is his usual awesome self, although he didn’t get much chance to show off, only really hitting his quebrada. The Crazy Max duo were pretty much their usual selves, TARU showing off some flashes of his unique heavyweight ability with his moonsault press and legdrop, and SDF being his usual, dominating self with his shoulderblocks and nodowa attempts. Overall a lot more entertaining than I expected, especially with three heavyweights in there with such a great junior!


Tiger Mask 4 vs. The Great Sasuke

The story of this match is Tiger Mask 4 trying to get the first singles win over his mentor, The Great Sasuke. Now we’ve come to expect nothing less than top notch action from these two, and sure enough, top notch action is what we get. The build is a lot more like the old NJPW junior style, with moments such as TM4 ‘learning’ how to counter Sasuke’s Specials after seeing Sasuke counter his attempt at the very similar Space Flying Tiger Drop. Very reminiscent of Naoki Sano learning how to counter Lyger’s shotei back in the early 90’s. Once they start to hit full speed, the match really starts to impress however. Tiger Mask 4 does a great job of pulling out all the stops, hitting some big moves which he wouldn’t normally bring out, such as a twisting quebrada and one of the sickest looking tombstones ever – Sasuke selling it by staying vertical on his head in between TM4’s knees for a few seconds. Sasuke is also inspired in the match, as usual losing it with his tremendous senton atomico style tope con hilo, and the basic senton atomico, landing right on TM4’s chest. The great thing about this is despite the flurry of spots late on, the selling of the earlier matwork and the focus (TM4 attacking Sasuke’s knees, and the devastation of Sasuke’s kicks) is never lost throughout, some parts of the match almost seeming BattlARTS-esque as they start throwing the strikes. Ultimately, the ending is probably what you’ll remember this match for, as Tiger Mask 4 debuts an early version (the sicker one would come later, during the ‘suicida’ match in Toryumon) of the Millennium Suplex – a chickenwing face/armlock suplex. Even after using that the psychology is still brilliant, Tiger Mask 4 lifting up a limp Sasuke and hitting his Tiger Suplex to ensure victory, just in case the legend somehow could bring out a comeback. The perfect introduction to Sasuke and TM4 for any puroresu beginners, and a spectacle for any existing fans of the pair.


Tiger Mask 4 and Magnum TOKYO vs. The Great Sasuke and Masaaki Mochizuki

After some highlights of the opening ceremony of M-Pro’s Kendo tag league, we join this match from the said league in progress, featuring Tiger Mask 4 and Toryumon ace Magnum TOKYO against The Great Sasuke and ex-WAR kicker supreme Masaaki Mochizuki, who at this stage is yet to become a Toryumon regular. Pretty much as with every Michinoku Pro match, the early footage has everyone hitting or attempting their trademark stuff, culminating in TOKYO hitting the Viagra Driver but having a AV Star Press attempt stopped by Masaaki. Once again we go through the motions, and it’s your standard (but still totally awesome) M-Pro fare. Do I really need to run through everyone’s spots again? The ending meanwhile is certainly worthy of note, as, with the time limit drawing near, Sasuke and Mochizuki take control, hitting a really beautiful high kick > triangle enzugiri > German suplex sequence, TOKYO saving before the time limit expires. And once again, Michinoku Pro do the goods with a superb sprint. Great stuff.


CONCLUSION

Compared to the previous show, this was absolutely off the charts. As far as M-Pro goes, it was still a fantastic show, with not one bad match and three superb ones. CIMA/Fujita was an especially top match, and it’s certainly advisable as a tape for anyone looking to get into the Michinoku Pro style.

ENTERTAINMENT – 10 – A really entertaining show, standing out amongst all the other totally awesome M-Pro blocks that followed it. Even if you’re like me and have the TV blocks around it, it’ll probably demand multiple viewings.

WORKRATE – 9 – Michinoku Pro has never been anything below top notch when it comes to workrate, and this was no exception. The usual awesome spots, but with perhaps even crisper than usual transition and build. Really fantastic. 

.:: FINAL RECOMMENDATION – If you’re a lucharesu fan, or looking to get into the style, this is a must have TV block. Absolutely breathtaking stuff! ::.