By The Sarge
Grrrrr... I really, really, really hate the idea of "redoing" a smark-style rant. Which makes the fact that I'm doing so -- just a couple weeks after my original "thing" for Super J Cup '93 -- kinda maddening. The reason for my redoing it also pisses me off: due to clippage.
At the time of the original, I detected some examples of "clipping" (a popular practice in Japan that is pretty fucking annoying) among the matches. Upon further research (i.e. discovering that Japanese TV/video usually puts a graphic with the match time following a match), I discovered that the clipping happened a lot more than originally thought. Fuck.
So, because of clipping, presenting the matches as being complete would be inaccurate. This second shot at the Super J Cup will, hopefully, be more correct.
Opening ceremonies...
The wrestlers enter the ring and stand in a circle around the trophy that will go to the
winner. Two things here: (1) the trophy looks pretty cheap, but will probably get busted
over the head of the winner by Bad News Brown anyway; and (2) Dave Finlay being in
this tournament doesn't "fit" (pun intended). His work in WCW was OK but, as one of
the top light heavyweights in the world? Is he even a light heavyweight?
The cast of wrestlers, for those keeping score at home, includes: Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero, Pegasus Kid (Chris Benoit), Lightning Kid (X-Pac, Syxx, 1-2-3 Kid, Sean Waltman), Flying Scorpio (2 Cold Scorpio, Too Cold Scorpio, Flash Funk), Dave Finlay (WCW's "The Belfast Bruiser" Fit Finlay), Jushin "Thunder" Lyger, El Samurai, Masao Orihara, Shinjiro Ohtani (some 'net smarks like to call him "The Bitchmaster"), and Norio Honaga.
Out of "respect" for the Japanese wrestling scene, this "report of the video" will feature the Japanese names for the above mentioned "wrasslers." For example, no "Chris Benoit." It's "Pegasus Kid." Fuck you, Flash Funk. Here you'll only find "Flying Scorpio."
Dean Malenko does what, in the business, they call "cutting a promo." He's "real excited" to compete and thinks he's got a shot.
Onto the "in-ring" action...
Dean Malenko vs. Jushin "Thunder" Lyger
This one's heavily edited, so I'll just focus on what we see. Dean ends up on the floor.
Lyger hits a running somersault off the apron. Dean slides back in and nails Lyger with
a dropkick to the knee. Dean works the knee and goes for a figure-four but Lyger
blocks it. Dean manages to lock it in and Lyger sells it like he's dying. Dean attempts a
suplex, but Lyger slips out and hits a handspring elbow off the ropes and a back suplex.
Some rolling around and two-counts. Lyger misses a dropkick and Dean locks in a half-
crab. Dean works the leg but Lyger hits an enziguri and follows with a powerbomb and
Lygerbomb for a two-count. Lyger misses a "Moneyshot." Dean locks in the Texas
Cloverleaf and Liger submits at 9:36 of shown time (of a match that ran 17:23). Post-
match: Lyger's helped outside and met by "the Japanese press." Luckily, none of their
flash-bulbs blow up in his face.
Shinjiro Ohtani vs. El Samurai
Again, heavily clipped -- which sucks ass, because this seemed like a good match-up.
To start the match, Ohtani bitch-slaps Samurai and dropkicks him to the floor, following
with a plancha. Back in the ring, Samurai hits a back suplex after a brief slapfight.
Ohtani catches Samurai with a German suplex for a two-count. Ohtani misses a
dropkick and Samurai hits him with a tombstone piledriver. Samurai lands a Moneyshot.
Samurai gets the win out of nowhere with a German suplex and bridge at a
ridiculous 2:48 of shown time (the match actually ran 12:05). Post-match: Ohtani talks
to the press. He seems sad.
Dean Malenko vs. Pegasus Kid
Guess what? Clipped. Lots of flippin' and cartwheelin' here. Pegasus hits an enziguri
and slows the pace down by slapping on a headlock. Pegasus gets whipped into the
ropes and Malenko takes him down with a hip-toss into an arm-bar. Pegasus flips back,
gets to his knees with Dean still holding on, lifts Dean up -- with the arm that's locked
into the armbar -- on his shoulder and slams him backwards. Awesome move.
Pegasus hits a diving headbutt from a mile away, gets a two-count, and locks in a
Quebec Crab. Pegasus German suplexes Malenko and gets a two-count. More flippin'
and floppin' and a whole bunch of two-counts. Malenko goes for one of those dang
victory rolls, but Pegasus ain't rolling. He falls forward, ends up in a "69" position and
gets the win at 6:47 (of a 9:41 match). Post-match: Pegasus cuts a "promo." He says
everyone's going down. Does this make him a "heel?"
El Samurai vs. Masao Orihara
Clipped. Samurai slaps Orihara around and both guys trade a few piledrivers, with
Samurai hitting the last of them. A Moneyshot by Samurai gets "all ruined and shit" by
Orihara's feet. Orihara gets a German suplex on Samurai, then a pancake like DDP
used to do, and attempts a Moneyshot but Samurai's feet ruin it. Orihara gets knocked
to the floor and Samurai does a somersault plancha. Back in the ring, Samurai hits the
189th German suplex of this tournament for a two-count. Orihara then executes a nice
"Oriharacanrana." He's on his way to getting laid... until he lands face first with a
Lionsault. The audience gets a good chuckle out of this. Samurai gets a powerbomb
but Orihara escapes a Razor's Edge and hits a tombstone, then gets nothing but knees
on a moonsault. El Samurai tries a powerbomb but Orihara reverses it into a
Oriharacanrana and gets the upset at 5:39 of shown time. The actual match was 11
minutes and something.
Shinjiro Ohtani vs. Jushin "Thunder" Lyger
Finally... one that's not clipped! Ohtani bitchslaps Lyger, wails on him, knocks
him to the floor, stomps him, slaps on a chinlock and gives him more slaps. Nice guy.
Ohtani dropkicks Lyger to the floor. Back in, Ohtani lays on a bunch of stiff kicks and
works over the leg with some basic holds. Lyger gets to the ropes and slammed on the
floor. Back in, Ohtani slaps on a single-leg "Walls of Jericho." Lyger gets to the ropes.
Ohtani drags Lyger to the center of the ring where he gets to his foot and (kind of) hits
an enziguri. Lyger hits a rolling heel kick, and a tombstone. Lyger goes for another
kick, but Ohtani dodges it and hits a springboard dropkick. A couple more dropkicks
from the top rope and Lyger gets knocked to the floor, Ohtani follows with a plancha.
Lyger gives Ohtani an armbreaker, slaps on an armbar, then a cross-face chicken wing.
Ohtani gets to the ropes, then whips Lyger in and misses a dropkick. This allows Lyger
to hit a Lygerbomb for the win at 11:56. If I was a Snowflake type of guy, I'd give it:
***1/2. Some would call this "Perfectly Acceptable Sportz Entertainment." Afterwards,
Lyger talks to the press at the bottom of some stairway. Ohtani is dead and gets
dumped on the floor in a hallway.
Eddie Guerrero is in much better spirits. In a pre-taped message, he says "hello" and mentions how much he loves the Japanese style.
Eddie Guerrero vs. Shinjiro Ohtani
Would you be shocked if I told you this match was clipped? You shouldn't be. Eddie
gives Ohtani the finger and Ohtani spits on him. The match goes straight to the floor,
and Eddie gets whipped into the guardrail. Ohtani nails Eddie with a dropkick as he's
getting back in the ring, then goes for the chinlock. Eddie gouges Ohtani's eyes, but
gets kicked to the floor. Ohtani hits a springboard bodypress. Eddie enters the ring with
a "swank" springboard dropkick. He then takes a run, rebounds off the second rope,
and hits Ohtani with another dropkick, followed by a powerbomb. Ohtani tries a
dropkick, but Eddie catches him and goes for a figure-four, which Ohtani turns into a
small package for two. Eddie hits a German suplex for a two-count and follows with a
tilt-a-whirl backbreaker but a second one gets turned into a messy roll-up and the win for
Ohtani at 5:37 (of a 13:28 match). Dammit!
Jushin "Thunder" Lyger vs. Norio Honaga
More insane clipping. Honaga's got a mullet, no muscle definition, and should be
wearing a skin-tight Harley shirt with a "pack of smokes" stuck under the sleeve. Lyger
gets a huge pop so Honaga dumps him to the floor and nails him with a chair. Honaga
briefly goes after Lyger's knee with a submission hold. Honaga whips Lyger into the
ropes, but Lyger avoids him and does one of those "rolling heel kicks," then two more
just for fun. A Lygerbomb by Lyger and a shoulderblock off the top both get two-counts.
Lyger attempts a 'rana, but gets powerbombed. Honaga gets a two-count with a
German suplex. Honaga goes for a tombstone, but Lyger reverses it and hits one of his
own. Lyger misses the Moneyshot, gets up and the Dirtball nails him with a vicious
dropkick to the knee and a pin at 4:25 (of a 12:51 match).
Jushin "Thunder" Lyger vs. El Samurai
HA! CLIPPED MATCH! Lyger does a surfboard that turns into a Dragon Sleeper, then
kicks the turd out of Samurai. Lyger locks in the little headlock with his little old legs.
Shortest legs ever. Those little legs do a couple of those rolling kicks that I hate. Lyger
tries a superplex but Samurai headbutts his way out and gives Lyger a reverse bulldog.
The action falls to the floor and Lyger does a running somersault off the apron. Back in
the ring, Samurai reverse suplexes and German suplexes Lyger, then hits a dropkick off
the top rope. Lyger powerbombs Samurai and gets two with a Moneyshot. Lots of
rolling around and two-counts. Lyger catches Samurai with a huracanrana -- or a
"Franken-Lyger" (HA!) -- and gets the win at 13:27. Of course, we only see 7:43 of that.
Jushin "Thunder" Lyger vs. Flying Scorpio
Thankfully, this one's not clipped. Lyger's limping from the get-go. Scorpio does the
dropkick to Lyger's knee and proceeds to kick, stomp, and twist the crap out of Lyger's
leg. The ref "rings the bell, dammit" at 3:30 after a fistdrop from the second row on
Lyger's little leg, awarding the "W" to Scorpio. If I was a Snowflake type of guy, I'd
give it: *. Not a match; just a way to "work the injury." After the match,
people look at Lyger's... ankle? Weird. Of course, with Lyger's legs, the difference
between his knee and ankle is only about three inches. It's nice that they decided to
give us the full match here. I mean, those other matches probably sucked and
seeing highlights is probably for the best.
Credits roll (???).
Following the closing credits (???), a series of highlights from matches are shown. They include the following...
Pegasus Kid vs. Masao Orihara. We get a bunch of German suplexes, a couple of missed moonsaults by Orihara and a win by Pegasus after a dragon suplex. I don't "rate" highlights. Shinjiro Ohtani vs. El Samurai. Highlights from the same match as we saw earlier in the tape. Possibly different camera angles. Dean Malenko vs. Jushin "Thunder" Lyger. Again, same match as earlier on the tape. Again, possibly different camera angles.
Norio Honaga vs. Dave Finlay
No idea whether or not this one's clipped. The fight falls to the floor where guardrails
and chairs get used. The match returns to the ring where we get treated to European
uppercuts and eye rakes. Back to the floor. Finlay hits a flying body attack from the
apron to Honaga on the floor, then drops his throat on the rail. Honaga sprays a
beverage into Finlay's eyes and crotches Finlay on the post. Finlay pulls out a lame
dropkick, a lame kneedrop, and a lame short-arm clothesline. La Mahistrol cradle by
Finlay? Barely. More European uppercuts. Some more chair use on the floor. Back in,
Finlay does the worst powerbomb ever, then gets Honaga in an airplane spin position
and flips forward, getting the pin with it 6:16. If I was a Snowflake type of guy, I'd
give it: *1/2. Bad match. Radically WWF.
Pegasus Kid vs. Dean Malenko. Same match as before. El Samurai vs. Masao Orihara. Same match, but with stuff that wasn't in "the original." One of the clips not shown before is a magnificent High-Flying Maneuver by Orihara to the floor. No idea why it was edited out. Shinjiro Ohtani vs. Jushin "Thunder" Lyger. Same match as before.
Credits roll again (???). What the fuck?
Eddie Guerrero vs. Shinjiro Ohtani. Same match as before, but with stuff not in "the original." As with the Samurai vs. Orihara match, some of the stuff removed was pretty good -- namely Guerrero nailing a beautiful springboard bodypress to Ohtani on the floor. Pegasus Kid vs. Lightning Kid. We get some pretty awesome looking clips. Pegasus wins the match with a dragon suplex. I don't "rate" highlights. Jushin "Thunder" Liger vs. Norio Honaga. Same match as before with lots of shit that was edited out of the "full-length" match. Unfortunately, the ending's still the same.
Lighthing Kid vs. Shinjiro Ohtani
This may or may not be clipped. I have no idea, so I'll treat it like it hasn't been. This
starts with old-time mat wrestling. Kid then lands a ton of kicks and those weird
legdrops. Ohtani kicks back and knocks Kid to the floor, following with a plancha.
Attempted 'rana by Ohtani gets turned into a powerbomb. They fight to the floor and
Ohtani goes over the guardrail. Ohtani gets sent into the corner and rebounds with a
bodypress. He then goes to the apron and hits a springboard dropkick and a missile
dropkick from the top rope. Ohtani gets two-counts off a victory roll and a German
suplex. Kid takes his head off with a kick, goes up top but Ohtani comes after him, only
to get a tornado DDT from Kid for the win at 7:08. If I was a Snowflake kind of guy,
I'd give it: ***1/2. It's depressing to see how good the Kid was,
compared to how mediocre he is now.
Dean Malenko vs. Norio Honaga. This one's new. But it's just a highlight of Dean winning. Take that, Dirtball. I don't "rate" fucking highlights. Jushin "Thunder" Lyger vs. El Samurai. Clips of the same match as before. El Samurai vs. Dean Malenko. Highlights of what looked like a good match that Samurai wins with a roll-up. Me no rate highlights. Pegasus Kid vs. Eddie Guerrero. Again, just highlights of a match. This match looks awesome. Pegasus gets the win with a sunset flip. Highlights... I don't rate 'em. Jushin "Thunder Lyger vs. Flying Scorpio. Clips of same match as before.
More credits roll (???).
Dean Malenko vs. Eddie Guerrero
Given the fact that they took time to show ring entrances, I'm assuming this one's not
clipped. But who knows? Some initial flipping and flopping until Dean takes control
(briefly) with some basic moves. The match falls to the floor where Eddie takes
advantage and starts whuppin' -- briefly. Some back-and-forth action leads to Eddie
slapping a figure-four on Dean. Again, briefly. Eddie gives Dean a slightly messy
fisherman's suplex and gets a two-count. Dean gets dropkicked to the floor and Eddie
does the old baseball slide, followed by a springboard "body attack." Back in the ring,
Eddie gets a two-count with a German suplex and powerbombs Dean. Dean somehow
manages to pull off a tiger driver, for the elusive one-count. A powerbomb attempt by
Dean gets turned into a huracanrana and a two-count by Eddie. Eddie then tries a
huracanrana, but Dean counters with a powerbomb and slaps on the dreaded Texas
Cloverleaf in the middle of the ring. Eddie's got nowhere to go and submits at 9:41.
If I was a Snowflake kind of guy, I'd give it: ***1/2. Another damn fine
match-up. This is the second darn good Malenko match of the tournament (his match
vs. Pegasus Kid being the first), but not the last.
El Samurai vs. Flying Scorpio
Clipped? I dunno. Before the match, Scorpio shucks a jive to great approval from the
audience. A brief "wrestling segment" to start is followed by Scorpio dropkicking
Samurai to the floor and landing a plancha, before whipping Samurai into the rail. Back
in the ring, Samurai takes to the air with a flying bodypress from the top, knocks Scorpio
to the floor and does the plancha/guardrail thing to him. Back in again, Scorpio does a
soft looking twisty splash for a two-count. Samurai gets a two-count with a German
suplex, then lands a diving headbutt from about 400 miles away. Scorpio nails Samurai
with a Morality Check (or "Sweet Chin Music," if you will), but seconds later Samurai
gets the win -- out of nowhere -- with a cute little roll-up at 5:35. If I was a Snowflake
kind of guy, I'd give it: **1/2. I don't really like El Samurai.
Dean Malenko vs. El Samurai
I don't think this one's clipped, so I'll pretend it isn't. Dean starts out with a
dropkick to El Samurai's knee and they briefly fight on the floor. Samurai misses a
baseball slide and gets yanked to the floor and bodyslammed. Back in the ring, Dean
gets dropkicked out of the ring. Back in again, Samurai manages to inflict great pain on
Malenko with a half-crab, then a camel clutch. Dean makes a neat escape by tripping
Samurai, then follows with his own camel clutch that he turns into a non-crippling
crossface. Dean starts with the leg shit, using a weird combination of an Indian
deathlock and a spinning toehold then another unidentified leglock. Dean was so
good in this tournament. As great as he was when he finally made it to the "big time" in
'95 or '96, he was amazing in this tournament. In fact, he probably turned in the best
performance of anybody here. But more on that later. Action shifts away from the
submission style and both guys manage a couple two-counts, including one by Dean
with a beautiful northern lights suplex. Samurai does some lazy crap and hits a diving
headbutt from about three feet away. A Rude Awakening by Samurai and a Tazplex by
Malenko gets a two-count. Dean gets backdropped and Samurai misses a diving
headbutt. Malenko attempts a Texas Cloverleaf but Samurai gets to the ropes.
Malenko tries it again and locks it on, but Samurai eventually fights his way out. About a
minute later a senseless El Samurai victory roll gets him the (incredibly undeserved) win
at 10:40. If I was a Snowflake kind of guy, I'd give it: ***1/2. Samurai
did almost nothing in this one, but Dean carried this to being a "good" match. This sets
up for a Pegasus Kid vs. El Samurai tournament final, which -- from where I sit -- ain't
fucking right. The implication, of course, being that Pegasus Kid and Malenko should
have been the final since they were the two best wrestlers in the tournament.
Championship Final
Pegasus Kid vs. El Samurai
I'll make the assumption that the producers of this video had the tact and human dignity
not to clip the Championship Match. I hope I'm right. A "wrestling segment" starts out
with more moves being done than I can possibly transcribe. Neither guy takes
advantage to begin with. Both men trade camel clutches and Samurai targets
Pegasus's arm and slaps on the (non-crippling) crossface, stomps on Pegasus's arm
and does the crossface again. Pegasus battles back, hits a wicked back suplex and
locks on a Sharpshooter. Samurai gets to the ropes. Pegasus gets a half-crab on this
time, followed by a backbreaker. Samurai appears to blow a move and gets a two-count
from a very messy "roll-up." The match briefly goes to the floor where Samurai
gets whipped into the wussy looking guardrail. Back in the ring, Pegasus gets two-
counts from a German suplex and a powerbomb. Pegasus follows with a legdrop from
the second rope. Samurai mounts a comeback and tombstones Pegasus, following with
a Russian legsweep into an arm submission hold that I can't name. Pegasus powers out
of it and Samurai slaps it on again. Pegasus powers out again. Samurai misses a
diving headbutt off the top rope and Pegasus matches that by missing one of his own.
Samurai gets a great belly-to-belly on Pegasus that sends him to the floor. Samurai
nails Pegasus with a baseball slide dropkick and follows him to the floor with a swank
(~!) somersault plancha. "The Pegasus" enters with a headscissors takedown and
drops Samurai on the top rope with a suplex, then clotheslines him to the floor.
Pegasus goes up top and hits a huge bodypress on Samurai (on the floor). Nice spot?
Pretty good match so far? Affirmative on both. Back in the ring, Samurai gets a two-
count with a German suplex and Pegasus gets a couple two-counts with a Dragon
suplex, then a northern lights suplex. A bunch of rolling around and two-counts by both
guys. This is a good match? Isn't it? Samurai gets a two-count with a huracanrana
from the top rope. Samurai powerbombs Pegasus, then sets him up and back suplexes
him from the top... but only gets a two-count. Samurai sets Pegasus up for a superplex
but Pegasus fights his way out and changes it to a gigantic, huge, super-duper
powerbomb off the top rope. Not one of those dick-assed Pit Bulls or Dudley Boyz
powerbombs off the top. The man wasn't sitting on the top turnbuckle. He was
standing. And he powerbombed El Samurai off the top rope. Amazing. Oh yeah, it got
a three-count and the J Cup championship for Pegasus Kid, at the time of 18:39. I
guess this makes Benoit "Top Of Super Jr. IV." Neat. If I was a Snowflake type of
guy, I'd give it: ****1/2. Tremendous match, especially the last 10 minutes.
The right guy won, even if he wasn't facing the right opponent. And Samurai didn't look
too out of place. In fact, it's easily the best El Samurai match I've ever seen (out of the
seven El Samurai matches I've seen).
Post-match, Benoit receives the trophy, a big trip to the pay window, and a great photo opportunity with the other competitors. Scorpio's wearing a Slamboree shirt. Meanwhile, Samurai gets stretchered out. The injury? A broken heart.
Credits roll. And we're out.
In conclusion...
I'm torn, in my conclusion, between bitching about the clipping and complimenting the
wrestling action we do get.
Seeing as how "clipping" is a widespread problem with Japanese tapes, I'll leave it alone. Any complaints about it are futile. Still, it's fucking annoying to pay for a tape under the guise of it being "complete" and finding out that it's merely highlights. Maybe it should be the job of the tape dealers to make it their beeswax that they let the consumer know what they're getting.
However, I should judge the tape for what it is. And that would be three hours of mostly above-average action pitting some of the top little guys in the business against each other. Factor in some great moments from Malenko and Benoit -- both of them in their prime at this point -- and you've got a good addition to your tape collection.
As long as you don't mind clipped matches, that is.