RANDOM MATCHES THAT BANG VOL. 1
Darkness Dragon vs. Dragon Kid (Toryumon 9/8/2002)
Virus vs El Oriental (CMLL 3/12/1999)
UWA World Trios Champions Los Brazos vs. Gran Hamada, Black Man & Kendo (Universal Lucha Libre 11/17/1990)
Ebessan/Kikutaro vs. Kushinobu Kamen (PWG 3/7/2004)
Black Buffalo, Daio QUALLT & Dick Togo vs Masato Yakushiji, Naohiro Hoshikawa & Super Demekin (Osaka Pro 5/7/2000)
Tarzan Boy, Ricky Marvin and Mister Cacao (unmasked) vs. Arkangel de la Muerte, Virus and Kimba (Gran Apache) (CMLL 8/4/2000)
Cynthia Moreno, Mascarita Sagrada, Oscar Sevilla & Pimpinela Escarlata VS Faby Apache, Gran Apache, Mini Abismo Negro & Polvo de Estrellas (HUSTLE 5/8/04)
Azteca & Cosmo Soldier vs. Onryo & Super Crazy (Wrestle Yume Factory 7/30/95)
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Masaaki Mochizuki (WAR 2000)
Virus vs El Oriental (CMLL March 12th, 1999)
I f******* love Virus. He's such a badass. The promo leading into this match has El Oriental sitting cross-legged on the top rope meditating with incense and Virus walks up and cracks a kendo stick over El Oriental's head. I actually thought that was awesome in itself. The match starts off with tons of Lucharesu mat-based stuff (my fave) super slick counters, and overall just great technical wrestling. The action picked up and both guys did way more high-flying than I would have expected. Everything was gold IMO and the only weird stuff was 1 fall (maybe it was clipped?) and afterwards they hugged and held each other's arms up even though this seemed like it should have been a feud based match. Rating: [ABSOLUTE GEM]
UWA World Trios Champions Los Brazos vs. Gran Hamada, Black Man & Kendo (Universal Lucha Libre 11/17/1990)
This is such an obscure and amazing find so I had to share it. Universal Lucha Libre was Gran Hamada's promotion in the early 90's that brought a ton of Lucha Libre to Japan. This is most likely the first time these audiences were seeing a lot of these moves and it's insane. Also, these shows totally influenced EVERYTHING later on from Michinoku Pro, Osaka Pro, Ring of Honor, PWG, CZW, IWA-MS, CHIKARA, AEW, etc I mean the list goes on.
Okay now that's out of the way, let me talk about how ridiculous this match is. Gran Hamada is amazing, Kendo is a total legend and slick af, totally mesmerizing the crowd like a true pro. I don't know how to talk about the Black Man character (without a huge yikes) but if we can ignore the fact that this was a pretty racist gimmick and just accept that it happened 30 years ago in Japan, whoever is under the mask tears it up. Then you have Los Brazos and this was my first introduction to them but they we're F****** FANTASTIC. The crowd is electric, Los Brazos play their part perfectly as comedy heels that can actually wrestle, and everyone is slick af throughout the entire match. This is what fast-paced flippy indy wrestlers should aim to be now IMO. There's so many fun multi-man spots, triple team stuff, comedy, high-flying, unique offense, and a cast of talented characters that make this a truly amazing match. Also, the crowd is so into it just watch this fucking match please if you like M-Pro/CHIKARA you will fucking adore this and the fact that it paved the way for so much down the line is just super cool.
Match Rating [MUST WATCH]
Tarzan Boy, Ricky Marvin and Mister Cacao (unmasked) vs. Arkangel de la Muerte, Virus and Kimba (Gran Apache)
This is from an older CMLL tour of Japan. It's always fun seeing "classic" Lucha in front of Japanese crowds because they absolutely pop, and this was the no exception as the crowd is absolutely electric. This match features two of my favorite luchadores: Virus and Gran Apache as Kimba. Gran Apache is awesome and I highly reccommend everyone watch more of his stuff. Virus, if you're not familiar, is an absolute badass Rudo. He's got the mullet, the attitude, and the skills to back things up. He's a phenomenal technical wrestler and he'll bust stuff out in the 90's that I still don't even see today. I need to find a Skayde vs. Virus match if it's ever happened. Ricky Marvin is so young here but clearly talented. I sometimes forget just how long Ricky has been tearing it up. Things start off somewhat slow paced but albeit with some nice chaining between Mister Cacao & Kimba before completely breaking down into wild action. Kimba looks a lot of Shiryu and I'm fine with that. There's some slight miscommunication, mainly from Tarzan Boy who seems a bit green. He's atheletic af though and in phenomenal shape so I'll let it slide. At one point the Technicos go for triple tope suicidas and Tarzan Boy completely overshoots his target and just basically dives into chairs ALA Tyler Black circa IWA-MS 2005/2006. Ricky Marvin hits the most ridiculous double bounce springboard hurricanrana (that's what I'm going with) that would make Rey Fenix proud to this day. Virus hits a beautiful bronco buster and the Rudos start doing some fun triple team offense that's very reminiscent of 90's Michinoku Pro bWo. At one point Virus hit's a crazy guillotine leg drop on Tarzan Boy that could have decapitated him, but it's Virus so he nails it like a pro. This is the kind of stuff I love: older/obscure Korakuen Hall matches that just BANG. I don't like sharing spoilers so final notes: Ricky Marvin is amazing, Virus was like 2 decades ahead of his time, and Virus in CHIKARA at some point during the mid 2000's would have been the fucking shit. Gran Apache needs more love, his work stands the test of time and he was a phenomenal wrestler that I will always appreciate. Match Rating [MUST WATCH]
Black Buffalo, Daio QUALLT & Dick Togo vs Masato Yakushiji, Naohiro Hoshikawa & Super Demekin (Osaka Pro 5/7/2000)
This match BANGS. (sorry) Things start off hot from the get go with classic M-Pro/Osaka Pro speed that we all know and love. Everyone praises Togo & Black Buffalo (rightfully so,) but Masato Yakushiji never gets any love and I feel like he's the unsung hero of these types of matches. Seriously, he's been in tons of amazing, fast-paced classics including the M-Pro 3rd Anniversary 10-man tag, the ECW Barely Legal 6-man, and countless others. Yakshiji brings a super-fast paced style and energy to everything he does and I actually really like his Bruce Lee style gear (it's such an upgrade from his medieval Powder Ranger get-up that he used to wear in the 90s) Anyways, this match is what you'd expect - fast-paced, exciting, never a dull moment. Everyone plays their part perfectly, everything is executed smoothly, and the crowd is suoer into it.
Match Rating [MUST WATCH]
Cynthia Moreno, Mascarita Sagrada, Oscar Sevilla & Pimpinela Escarlata VS Faby Apache, Gran Apache, Mini Abismo Negro & Polvo de Estrellas (HUSTLE 5/8/04)
This match is everything I love about wrestling - Great action, fast-paced moves, amazing sequences, colorful characters, a bit of comedy, and pure craziness - all wrapped up into one bite-sized match that will have you on the edge of your seat. There's too much to cover here so I'll just say watch it right now and you won't be disappointed. Oh and you'll be treated to another Gran Apache match in Japan which is just like X-Mas all over. Match Rating [MUST WATCH]
Azteca & Cosmo Soldier vs. Onryo & Super Crazy (Wrestle Yume Factory 7/30/95)
This is one of those strange mid 90's Japanese indie matches that just comes off as interesting. Super Crazy before his ECW fame is here wearing a yellow mask and yellow gear, and everything about this reminds me why I love the 90s. Onryo gets a MEGA pop from the audience. The crowd is actually extremely vocal and lively - way more than I've ever seen a Japanese audience be from the start (they're yelling stuff and laughing during the opening chaining) The match takes a while to truly take off, but when it does it gets really fun. This is one of those matches that if you swapped the wrestlers for more bland looking guys and took away the lively crowd, it would kind of suck but because everything is vibrant, colorful, and the crowd is wild it makes it a fun match. Match Rating [FUN]
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Masaaki Mochizuki (WAR 2000)
This is 13+ minutes of Ishii & Mochizuki beating the shit out of each other. Enjoy.
