Masao Orihara v Akitoshi Saito (WAR, 10/23/92)
WAR v New Japan delivering the goods again, is it? Never would've guessed. It wasn't that this had no business being awesome, it's that you look at those names and wonder why the fuck every single person in the building was going mental. This was absurd heat for guys so far down the pecking order. You could tell Orihara was feeding off it big time, though. He's pretty underrated anyway because he communicates hatred well and will get the shit kicked clean out of him on the regular, but I thought he was absolutely great in this. All Saito's really good for at this point in his career is crowbarring folk, but it was enough for Orihara to work with. And man did Saito crowbar him. He was trying to murder Orihara with kicks; huge punts to the chest, sloppy roundhouses, even a few punches to the ear just to spice it up some. Orihara trying to catch these shots and go for kneebars or chokes ruled, especially when he wasn't quick enough off the mark and wound up getting clobbered. A couple of his delayed crumples were awesome bits of selling and at least once I bought him going down with a collapsed lung. On a few other occasions he maybe popped up a little quick, but the crowd clearly lit a fire under him and you couldn't have asked for him to be any more aggressive. I about lost it when he just leapt on Saito and tried to punch his skull open. The way he sold those last couple knockout blows was incredible as well and I was totally behind him pulling off the upset.
Dan Severn v Tarzan Goto (IWA Japan, 8/20/95)
This was fucking wild. Tarzan Goto v Dan Severn on a King of the Deathmatch card was always going to be fun just for the novelty of it, but I never expected Severn to rule this much. Maybe it's time to break open the WWF vault and check those matches with Shamrock and Blackman again. I'm sure he worked Owen Hart as well and he probably got to chuck Al Snow around for a few minutes. Plus I always remember liking his entrance music, the slow jog to the ring, the towel, sweat-stained training gear, just a menacing sort of presence that never quite looked as badass as promised. But maybe I was full of shit and he was actually great? Either way he sure looked like a killer in this. Straight away Goto wants to take it to the floor, because he's Tarzan Goto and of course he does, but Severn isn't interested. Goto riles him a bit and has a big grin on his face as he threatens to introduce a chair less than a minute in. Severn's clearly a fish out of water because the first time he turns his back Goto jumps on him with a choke. Severn tries to keep things on the level by wrestling with Goto, but Goto just coconuts him with headbutts and lariats. Eventually Severn snaps and starts hammering him with knees, a big crossface slice, an elbow, really smothering him as he tries to lock in a choke. I couldn't tell you what did it exactly but Goto's mess of a forehead is cut open and he's not best pleased. Goto smashing a bottle over the ring post and trying to glass Severn was fucking amazing and this is where Severn decides he's had about enough. He tried to keep things clean but Goto's a man who can't be reasoned with. They have this awesome spill over the barricade into the crowd, rolling around the floor in super uncooperative fashion, wildly flinging chairs from their backs, taking potshots at each other like a couple guys embroiled in an alley fight. Goto comes out on top of this because he is Tarzan Goto and of course he does, but Severn comes up roaring and hurling chairs into the ring like a man who's been pushed beyond the limits of decorum. He has well and truly entered "fuck it" territory. The last couple minutes are totally awesome as Severn manages to crack Goto in the knee with a chair (just as he slides in the ring and narrowly avoids one of Goto's own chair swings), Goto tries to flatten him with these sit-out piledrivers, and Severn keeps shooting in for throws and chokes. This whole thing was a treasure and it's a shame they never matched up fifty two times.
Tatsumi Fujinami & Shinichi Nakano v Osamu Nishimura & Yuki Ishikawa (MUGA, 3/3/98)
This maybe doesn't quite reach the heights you'd expect from the participants, but these four get ~15 minutes to work a match primarily built around grappling so you know it's good stuff. I've watched '98 Ishikawa a few times in recent weeks and every time I do he looks best in the world calibre. His exchanges with Fujinami were a little brief, but they were snappy and rugged and in a year with more good wrestling worldwide than people tend to think, Ishikawa continually looks king. I've barely seen any 90s Nishimura. In actual fact this match might be the extent of my 90s Osamu Nishimura viewing. Of course he was slick as hell and working tight headlocks, him and Fujinami doing their awesome dance every time they pair off, really nailing that early 80s New Japan matwork perfectly. There wasn't a ton of flash here, but you watch this for the way everyone fights over simple holds, snug with their armbars and leglocks, just really solid matwork from four guys who know how to work a mat. Folks who say Fujinami was crocked after '91 are crazy.
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