Post by keith on Feb 9, 2007 3:36:22 GMT -5
My review & thoughts on the show.
It's not really a play by play, mostly just the big spots and my thoughts/comments.
Apache Army 12/25/06
"Jun Kasai's KOTDM"
Tokyo Shin-Kiba 1st Ring
350 Fans (Sold Out)
First thoughts, really small venue, crowd is very quiet. Would have been nice if the could have got Kouroken
Hall... or an outdoor show... oh well.
1. Death Match Tournament First Round Bracket A Match: Jun Kasai vs. Mad Man Pondo
This looks to be just a hardcore match. The ref is Ryuji Ito's wife, aka the female BJW ref.
Pondo goes Mr. Pogo on Kasai and carves him up with knives, etc... Slow match, not much crowd heat. Pondo superplexes Kasai onto a flamming chair. Kasai slams Pondo through some chairs from the top rope. Kasai wins with a german suplex.
Jun Kasai d. Mad Man Pondo (14:12)
Rating = *1/2 - They've had MUCH better matches. This was ploding and slow, and very uninspired.
2. Death Match Tournament First Round Bracket A Match: GENTARO vs. Yuko Miyamoto
Looks like a ladder match.
Miyamoto takes a WICKED backdrop into the ladder. Nice ladder drop kick to the face. Ouch. GENTARO with a nice headbutt all the way across the ring.SICK belly to belly by Miyamoto onto the ladder,
while it's proped in the corner. Top of the ladder moonsault by Miyamoto. Perfect form. GENTARO with a dragon sleeper on top of the ladder. HUGE top of the ladder neckbreaker by GENTARO. GENTARO with an elbow from the top of the ladder for the win.
GENTARO d. Yuko Miyamoto (8:31)
Rating = ** Better than the opener, but it had no drama or heat.
3. Death Match Tournament First Round Bracket B Match: The Winger vs. Tomoaki Honma
FUCK YES HONMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FUCK YEAH WINGER!!!!!
Honma rocks the yellow trunks like it's 1999. Yes. These two had a GREAT match on 10/3/99. GREAT. Okay onto this match... I see no deathmatch gimmick... hmmm... guess this is just another "hardcore" match... Mat wrestling to start. Winger dropkicks Honma out of the ring. Winger with a pescado. WInger trys to hit Honam with a SLEDGE HAMMER... ugh... okay... Honma better blade. He's the king of squirting blade jobs. Back in the ring, punches by both. No blood by Honma yet...
Honma works a boston crab. This is not what I hoped for Honma's heart ain't in this. Guess he thinks he's better than deathmatches now... sigh... well maybe soon he'l come back to his senses. Honma locks on a choke. WInger fights it. Honma with a stiff piledriver. SHining wizard by Honma. Honma with a running sunset flip to the outside, counterd by Winger to a rana. They didn't hit it perfect, but it looked good enough. Back in, kawada style powerbomb by Honma. Winger sprays red mist in Honma's face and cradles him for the pin.
The Winger d. Tomoaki Honma (10:52)
Rating = ** Not what I hoped for... a decent match, but not what it could have been. PLEASE Honma do another proper deathmatch, come home to BJW. Bleed for your art once more... okay, back to reality. Winger looked lazy.
Next up:
4. Death Match Tournament First Round Bracket B Match: Takashi Sasaki vs. Hi69
I see a barbwire bat. Ok then... a barbwire bat deathmatch it is. How very IWA 1995 of them. Brawling in the crowd to start. Hi69 puts Sasaki on a table. Hi69 heads to the top and Goes for a legdrop and Sasaki MOVES. OUCH. That looked painful. Damn. More crowd brawling. Hi69 throws some chairs in the ring. Sasaki kicks the crap out of Hi69 for awhile. Sasaki grabs the barbwire bat. Batter Up. He beats Hi69 with it. Some sick unprotected shots to the chest. Ouch. We get an "Onita" chant from the crowd. Stiff forearms
back & forth. Crowd likes Sasaki. As they should. Sasaki signals for a homerun. Hi69 kicks him in the face. NICE tope by Hi69 while holding a chair. Cool move. Sasaki powerbombs Hi69 onto some chairs for a 2 count. Sasaki takes a face buster RIGHT ON THE BARBWIRE BAT. That looked painful. Hi69 moonsaults the bat into
Sasaki for 2. SICK ASS DEATHVALLEYDRIVER onto the BAT by Hi69. Sasaki looks like that HURT. A lot. Damn. Sasaki comes back with a kick to the face for 2. Hi69 grabs some handcuffs and puts them on Sasaki. He cradles him for a close 2. See now THIS match has DRAMA. Sasaki gets the keys and unlocks himself. Lariat by Sasaki. Sasaki has the bat and KICKS it into Hi69's face for the win.
Takashi Sasaki d. Hi69 (13:15)
Rating = *** - Best match so far by a wide margin. This match actaully had some drama on the nearfalls = painful ass bumps by Sasaki who did NOT mail it in even though he's BJW DM Champ and probably could. Sasaki rules.
5. Death Match Tournament Semi-Finals Bracket A Match: Jun Kasai vs. GENTARO
This looks like a thumbtack deathmatch, thumbtacks are laid out on board in the center of the ring. Punching to start. Kasai with an enziguri. Kasai hits Yamakawa's old finisher for 2. Kasai grabs the thumbtack board and throws the tacks all OVER THE RING. He then gets backdropped into them. GENTARO grabs a single tack and
sticks it into Kasai's stomach. Kasai puts some tacks in GENTARO's mouth. Then clotheslines him on the top rope. Kasai pours a SHIT LOAD more tacks into GENTARO's mouth, and does it again. Damn. GENTARO tomnstone's Kasai right on his head. Then drops some elbows for 2. GENTARO puts tacks in Kasai's goggles, then puts them on Kasai and grinds them in. Ouch. GENTARO sweeps some tacks into a pile. And MISSES a a senton right into the tacks. Fuck. That had to hurt. GENTARO has tacks all over his back. Kasai hits a sliced bread #2 for a close 2. Kasai goes for a rolling cradle and gets the win.
Jun Kasai d. GENTARO (8:09)
Rating = **1/2 - Fun match. The sick spots kept it entertaining throughout.
6. Death Match Tournament Semi-Finals Bracket B Match: The Winger vs. Takashi Sasaki
This should be good. Sasaki is amazing right now. This is a barbwire board deathmatch. Okay, let's hope this is 1999 Winger and not lazy 2002 winger. Here we go. Winger offers a handshake, then punts Sasaki in the nuts. They do the old BJW whip into the barbwire board spot, Saski drops down. Winger goes backfirst into a barbwire board hard. Winger rolls out, Sasaki follows. Sasaki throws winger into some chairs. Brings him in the ring and slams Winger onto some more chairs. Sasaki slams WInger onto one of the barbwire boards. Sasaki dominates WInger for awhile. Until WInger shouldblocks him into the other barbwire board. Winger backdrop suplexes Sasaki onto some chairs. WInger hits a blude thuder bomb on a barbwire board. Winger goes up for the senton, but Sasaki crotches him and hits a superplex onto the barbwire board. Sasaki busts a chair over WInger's head for 2. Sitout powerbomb gets 2. Sasaki hits his the right trail onto a barbwire board for a close 2. Sasaki misses a kick and WInger rolls him up for a 3.
The Winger d. Takashi Sasaki (8:50)
Rating = **1/2 ANother good match from Sasaki. WInger seemed to try harder here than the Honma match and actaully bumped, and both guys put together a fun match.
And onto the finals we go:
7. Death Match Tournament Finals Match: The Winger vs. Jun Kasai in a Barbed wire Spider Net & Plates of Glass DeathMatch.
"Barbed wire Spider Net & Plates of Glass" = Now we're talking. hell yeah. This should be good. Kasai will die for his art, and Winger has been getting better throughout the night. I hope WInger hits a senton off something high up.
Okay, onto the match:
Crowd seems pumped for the finals. Good. Wake up guys. Ito's wife is back as the ref. They tease a whip into the glass. They back off and lock up. Good, this match may have some build. Kasai tries to suplex winger to the outside, but winger blocks it. Both guys head up top and winger tries to suplex Kasai into the spidernet. Winger backdrops Kasai to the apron. Then shoulder blocks him into the spidernet. SICK. Kasi struggles to get up. WInger goes out after Kasai. WInger throws Kasai into some chairs. WInger props one of the spidernets up agianst the ring, and whips Kasai into it. Goddamn. Kasai is hurt. Winger throws a piece of the Spidernet at
Kasai. WInger throws Kasai back into the ring. Kasai hits a DDT and a couple of germans for 2. Kasai sets up some chairs in the ring and sets a plate of glass on it. Kasai hits Yamakawa's finisher for 2. Kasai goes to powerbomb winger through the plate of glass, and gets backdropped though it. His back bleeds. Winger slams Kasai in the glass. Kasai's back is really a bloody mess. Outside Kasai puts winger on some tables an heads to the balcony. He's a good 20-25 feet up there. Kasai walks on the ledge. KASAI JUMPS AND PUTS WINGER THROUGH THE TABLES!!!!!!!!!! He Landed HARD. And that was a HUGE fall. Kasai looks hurt. The crowd chants for Kasai. Back in the ring Kasai nails another Yamakawa special for 2. Winger school boys Kasai for 2. Kasai nails an implant DDT for 2. Kasi nails the "shiiii" headbutt for 2. Kasai heads to the back and comes back with another pane of glass. Kasai sets up some chairs, and sets the glass across it. He puts WInger under the glass and heads to to he top, they reverse a few times before WInger powerbombs Kasai through the glass for 2. Winger goes up hits the senton, then nails another vicious senton for the win. Winger is your 2006 KOTDM.
After the match Kasai and winger talk on the mic. Honma comes in the ring and Kasai gets real fired up
yelling at him, hopefully trying to get him to return to BJW and deathmatches. But probably not...
The Winger d. Jun Kasai (17:03)
Rating = ***1/4 - Fun deathmatch here, with crazy bumps by Kasai, but Winger didn't really take much punishment. The balcony dive by Kasai was NUTS, even by his standards. The glass bumps and the spidernet bumps were crazy as well. This was the best match of the night, but that was all due to Kasai just dying. Winger was lazy again, and barley bumped. Some good nearfalls added some drama, but I wish Winger had been more game.
Overall thoughts - Maybe worth watching once, but a dissapoitment overall. There are many, MANY better KOTDM tournements from Japan and the US.
It's not really a play by play, mostly just the big spots and my thoughts/comments.
Apache Army 12/25/06
"Jun Kasai's KOTDM"
Tokyo Shin-Kiba 1st Ring
350 Fans (Sold Out)
First thoughts, really small venue, crowd is very quiet. Would have been nice if the could have got Kouroken
Hall... or an outdoor show... oh well.
1. Death Match Tournament First Round Bracket A Match: Jun Kasai vs. Mad Man Pondo
This looks to be just a hardcore match. The ref is Ryuji Ito's wife, aka the female BJW ref.
Pondo goes Mr. Pogo on Kasai and carves him up with knives, etc... Slow match, not much crowd heat. Pondo superplexes Kasai onto a flamming chair. Kasai slams Pondo through some chairs from the top rope. Kasai wins with a german suplex.
Jun Kasai d. Mad Man Pondo (14:12)
Rating = *1/2 - They've had MUCH better matches. This was ploding and slow, and very uninspired.
2. Death Match Tournament First Round Bracket A Match: GENTARO vs. Yuko Miyamoto
Looks like a ladder match.
Miyamoto takes a WICKED backdrop into the ladder. Nice ladder drop kick to the face. Ouch. GENTARO with a nice headbutt all the way across the ring.SICK belly to belly by Miyamoto onto the ladder,
while it's proped in the corner. Top of the ladder moonsault by Miyamoto. Perfect form. GENTARO with a dragon sleeper on top of the ladder. HUGE top of the ladder neckbreaker by GENTARO. GENTARO with an elbow from the top of the ladder for the win.
GENTARO d. Yuko Miyamoto (8:31)
Rating = ** Better than the opener, but it had no drama or heat.
3. Death Match Tournament First Round Bracket B Match: The Winger vs. Tomoaki Honma
FUCK YES HONMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FUCK YEAH WINGER!!!!!
Honma rocks the yellow trunks like it's 1999. Yes. These two had a GREAT match on 10/3/99. GREAT. Okay onto this match... I see no deathmatch gimmick... hmmm... guess this is just another "hardcore" match... Mat wrestling to start. Winger dropkicks Honma out of the ring. Winger with a pescado. WInger trys to hit Honam with a SLEDGE HAMMER... ugh... okay... Honma better blade. He's the king of squirting blade jobs. Back in the ring, punches by both. No blood by Honma yet...
Honma works a boston crab. This is not what I hoped for Honma's heart ain't in this. Guess he thinks he's better than deathmatches now... sigh... well maybe soon he'l come back to his senses. Honma locks on a choke. WInger fights it. Honma with a stiff piledriver. SHining wizard by Honma. Honma with a running sunset flip to the outside, counterd by Winger to a rana. They didn't hit it perfect, but it looked good enough. Back in, kawada style powerbomb by Honma. Winger sprays red mist in Honma's face and cradles him for the pin.The Winger d. Tomoaki Honma (10:52)
Rating = ** Not what I hoped for... a decent match, but not what it could have been. PLEASE Honma do another proper deathmatch, come home to BJW. Bleed for your art once more... okay, back to reality. Winger looked lazy.
Next up:
4. Death Match Tournament First Round Bracket B Match: Takashi Sasaki vs. Hi69
I see a barbwire bat. Ok then... a barbwire bat deathmatch it is. How very IWA 1995 of them. Brawling in the crowd to start. Hi69 puts Sasaki on a table. Hi69 heads to the top and Goes for a legdrop and Sasaki MOVES. OUCH. That looked painful. Damn. More crowd brawling. Hi69 throws some chairs in the ring. Sasaki kicks the crap out of Hi69 for awhile. Sasaki grabs the barbwire bat. Batter Up. He beats Hi69 with it. Some sick unprotected shots to the chest. Ouch. We get an "Onita" chant from the crowd. Stiff forearms
back & forth. Crowd likes Sasaki. As they should. Sasaki signals for a homerun. Hi69 kicks him in the face. NICE tope by Hi69 while holding a chair. Cool move. Sasaki powerbombs Hi69 onto some chairs for a 2 count. Sasaki takes a face buster RIGHT ON THE BARBWIRE BAT. That looked painful. Hi69 moonsaults the bat into
Sasaki for 2. SICK ASS DEATHVALLEYDRIVER onto the BAT by Hi69. Sasaki looks like that HURT. A lot. Damn. Sasaki comes back with a kick to the face for 2. Hi69 grabs some handcuffs and puts them on Sasaki. He cradles him for a close 2. See now THIS match has DRAMA. Sasaki gets the keys and unlocks himself. Lariat by Sasaki. Sasaki has the bat and KICKS it into Hi69's face for the win.
Takashi Sasaki d. Hi69 (13:15)
Rating = *** - Best match so far by a wide margin. This match actaully had some drama on the nearfalls = painful ass bumps by Sasaki who did NOT mail it in even though he's BJW DM Champ and probably could. Sasaki rules.
5. Death Match Tournament Semi-Finals Bracket A Match: Jun Kasai vs. GENTARO
This looks like a thumbtack deathmatch, thumbtacks are laid out on board in the center of the ring. Punching to start. Kasai with an enziguri. Kasai hits Yamakawa's old finisher for 2. Kasai grabs the thumbtack board and throws the tacks all OVER THE RING. He then gets backdropped into them. GENTARO grabs a single tack and
sticks it into Kasai's stomach. Kasai puts some tacks in GENTARO's mouth. Then clotheslines him on the top rope. Kasai pours a SHIT LOAD more tacks into GENTARO's mouth, and does it again. Damn. GENTARO tomnstone's Kasai right on his head. Then drops some elbows for 2. GENTARO puts tacks in Kasai's goggles, then puts them on Kasai and grinds them in. Ouch. GENTARO sweeps some tacks into a pile. And MISSES a a senton right into the tacks. Fuck. That had to hurt. GENTARO has tacks all over his back. Kasai hits a sliced bread #2 for a close 2. Kasai goes for a rolling cradle and gets the win.
Jun Kasai d. GENTARO (8:09)
Rating = **1/2 - Fun match. The sick spots kept it entertaining throughout.
6. Death Match Tournament Semi-Finals Bracket B Match: The Winger vs. Takashi Sasaki
This should be good. Sasaki is amazing right now. This is a barbwire board deathmatch. Okay, let's hope this is 1999 Winger and not lazy 2002 winger. Here we go. Winger offers a handshake, then punts Sasaki in the nuts. They do the old BJW whip into the barbwire board spot, Saski drops down. Winger goes backfirst into a barbwire board hard. Winger rolls out, Sasaki follows. Sasaki throws winger into some chairs. Brings him in the ring and slams Winger onto some more chairs. Sasaki slams WInger onto one of the barbwire boards. Sasaki dominates WInger for awhile. Until WInger shouldblocks him into the other barbwire board. Winger backdrop suplexes Sasaki onto some chairs. WInger hits a blude thuder bomb on a barbwire board. Winger goes up for the senton, but Sasaki crotches him and hits a superplex onto the barbwire board. Sasaki busts a chair over WInger's head for 2. Sitout powerbomb gets 2. Sasaki hits his the right trail onto a barbwire board for a close 2. Sasaki misses a kick and WInger rolls him up for a 3.
The Winger d. Takashi Sasaki (8:50)
Rating = **1/2 ANother good match from Sasaki. WInger seemed to try harder here than the Honma match and actaully bumped, and both guys put together a fun match.
And onto the finals we go:
7. Death Match Tournament Finals Match: The Winger vs. Jun Kasai in a Barbed wire Spider Net & Plates of Glass DeathMatch.
"Barbed wire Spider Net & Plates of Glass" = Now we're talking. hell yeah. This should be good. Kasai will die for his art, and Winger has been getting better throughout the night. I hope WInger hits a senton off something high up.
Okay, onto the match:
Crowd seems pumped for the finals. Good. Wake up guys. Ito's wife is back as the ref. They tease a whip into the glass. They back off and lock up. Good, this match may have some build. Kasai tries to suplex winger to the outside, but winger blocks it. Both guys head up top and winger tries to suplex Kasai into the spidernet. Winger backdrops Kasai to the apron. Then shoulder blocks him into the spidernet. SICK. Kasi struggles to get up. WInger goes out after Kasai. WInger throws Kasai into some chairs. WInger props one of the spidernets up agianst the ring, and whips Kasai into it. Goddamn. Kasai is hurt. Winger throws a piece of the Spidernet at
Kasai. WInger throws Kasai back into the ring. Kasai hits a DDT and a couple of germans for 2. Kasai sets up some chairs in the ring and sets a plate of glass on it. Kasai hits Yamakawa's finisher for 2. Kasai goes to powerbomb winger through the plate of glass, and gets backdropped though it. His back bleeds. Winger slams Kasai in the glass. Kasai's back is really a bloody mess. Outside Kasai puts winger on some tables an heads to the balcony. He's a good 20-25 feet up there. Kasai walks on the ledge. KASAI JUMPS AND PUTS WINGER THROUGH THE TABLES!!!!!!!!!! He Landed HARD. And that was a HUGE fall. Kasai looks hurt. The crowd chants for Kasai. Back in the ring Kasai nails another Yamakawa special for 2. Winger school boys Kasai for 2. Kasai nails an implant DDT for 2. Kasi nails the "shiiii" headbutt for 2. Kasai heads to the back and comes back with another pane of glass. Kasai sets up some chairs, and sets the glass across it. He puts WInger under the glass and heads to to he top, they reverse a few times before WInger powerbombs Kasai through the glass for 2. Winger goes up hits the senton, then nails another vicious senton for the win. Winger is your 2006 KOTDM.
After the match Kasai and winger talk on the mic. Honma comes in the ring and Kasai gets real fired up
yelling at him, hopefully trying to get him to return to BJW and deathmatches. But probably not...
The Winger d. Jun Kasai (17:03)
Rating = ***1/4 - Fun deathmatch here, with crazy bumps by Kasai, but Winger didn't really take much punishment. The balcony dive by Kasai was NUTS, even by his standards. The glass bumps and the spidernet bumps were crazy as well. This was the best match of the night, but that was all due to Kasai just dying. Winger was lazy again, and barley bumped. Some good nearfalls added some drama, but I wish Winger had been more game.
Overall thoughts - Maybe worth watching once, but a dissapoitment overall. There are many, MANY better KOTDM tournements from Japan and the US.
