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Greg Goodnight

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The DMac Rant of DOOM~! for New Japan Top of the Super J 1993

  • I'll do play by play as best I can, but don't expect me to keep up.. Where necessary, I'll break up the ratings into Action/Psychology, but not every time.

  • Shinjiro "God" Ohtani says stuff.. in japanese.. wearing a weird outfit.. Participants assemble, among them: Malenko, Lyger, X-Pac

  • Comments from someone who vaugely resembles Dean Malenko.. wait.. it IS Dean Malenko...

  • Match 1: Dean Malenko v. Jyushin "Thunder" Lyger

    Dean enters.. Lyger enters, but not with the greatest theme on earth. LYYYYYGAHHH-SAN! Match starts out fast, but slows down, as Lyger hurts his knee. Match appears clipped. Malenko uses his head in a new and creative way, stretching the knee across it, before stomping away. Figure 4, and Malenko is being a dickhead heel. Which is strange after all his Ice Man shit in WCW. Releases after a while, and stomps on the knee again. Atomic drop turned into press cover by Lyger, but no. I've always felt that 2 counts were like masturbating, but being interrupted before jizzing. Anyway, kneedrop to Lyger's knee, and this is resembling a Triple H match with the amount of times I've typed knee. Into a legbar by Malenko.. Lyger rolls to ropes. Picked up, Suplex, but he goes behind Malenko. A couple of NASTY palm blows, and Malenko is on the ropes. Lyger sends him off the ropes, HANDSPRING ELBOW~! I love that move. I still can't get over how nasty that one palm strike that hit right behind the ear was. That could have caused a concussion. Anyway, picking up after the handspring, our hero, Lyger, is down, in agony. He's up, and.. take note, Big Kev, HE SELLS THE INJURY. Yes, he makes it look painful to put weight on the leg. This may be amazing to the American audience, but yes, this does happen. Damnit, I keep going off. Okay, so Lyger stands, holding the knee, and generally looking to be under duress. Back Suplex gets two. Both up, Malenko goes up and over Lyger's shoulder on a suplex attempt, attempts a Japanese Leg Roll Clutch (Malenko jumps up and hooks his legs around Lyger's waist from behind to try for a roll up), but Lyger will have none of that, as Malenko hits the mat and Lyger grabs the legs and goes into a Prawn Hold, flipping and holding the legs. 2, and both slowly get up. Lyger whips Malenko to to buckle, follows in, but eats boot. Malenko goes for a Belly-to-Back Suplex, Lyger rolls through into a pinning predicament. Only two. Both climb to their feet, and Lyger gives him an elbow, another, but Malenko grabs the arm and performs a back slide. Both men catching their breath. Lyger charges Malenko in the corner, gets alley-ooped onto the apron. Malenko charges him, eats an elbow, and Lyger climbs the turnbuckle. Cross body, Malenko rolls through for two. Lyger goes for a dropkick, but gets brushed aside like a little pillow by Malenko. HE SELLS THE KNEE HITTING THE MAT! Half Crab by Malenko, and it looks kinda sloppy. Lyger crawls to the ropes, and gets picked up and Atomic-Knee-Dropped. He lets Malenko keep hold of the leg, and immediately goes into an enzugiri, complete with flipping sell by Malenko. Both men down, and looking exhausted. Lyger strikes with the Thumbed-edge of his hand in the stomach as they rise, and then to the head. Thunder Fire Powerbomb by Lyger, doesn't stay down for the pin. LYGER BOMB~! gets two. Kicking out of finishers isn't uncommon in Japan, I guess. Back up, and.. Backbreaker by Lyger, driving the side into his knee. Up top, and missing splash, landing on his knees. Malenko goes right into a Cloverleaf for the submission! And man, he LEAPS onto the middle rope, celebrating the victory. Emotion + Dean Malenko + Match with Lyger = Good.

    Action: ***1/2
    Psychology: ****1/2
    Total: ***3/4

  • Lyger is helped into the back, and out into the parking area by event staff, and he has a few (well, quite a few) words for the Japanese reporters... YOU LOST! SHUT UP! LYGER LOSES, AND STILL CUTS A FUCKING 5 MINUTE INTERVIEW! And a kid asks him for his autograph, how sweet.

  • Match 2: Shinjiro Ohtani vs. El Samurai

    Clipped. Ohtani's theme rocks. Samurai's... sounds quite similar to me. Ring announcer jizzes himself saying the names, as always. El Samurai's outfit sucks.. BITCH SLAP~! followed by Dropkicks by Ohtani send Samurai out, and Ohtani follows with a Plancha. The announcers keep laughing. WHAT THE HELL IS SO FUNNY? Pay attention, bitch. Anyway, Ohtani back in, now Samurai back in, Stomps into a snap mare, and Ohtani locks on this hold where he pulls the chin back, driving the knee into Samurai's neck. He drops him, and executes a BITCH SLAP~!, which Samurai returns. Bitch slaps turn into a headlock by Ohtani, turns into a back suplex by Samurai. Samurai over, stomps. Rights, cover, two.Suplex, Ohtani goes behind, hits German Suplex, jumps up on the shoulders, for a victory roll, two on both. Ohtani sends Samurai off the ropes, but EL SAMURAI hooks the ropes. Ohtani falls on a dropkick attempt, hitting the mat like I imagine Hulk Hogan would if we threw him off the rafters. Samurai hits the tombstone, and raises his hand in the air, evidently calling for God to save his pathetic little ass, because when he goes up top, he HITS WITH A HEADBUTT? Wow. I expected him to fall like that plane that crashed.. TWA Flight 800, I think. Samurai sets up for a Dragon Suplex, but Ohtani drops down, brings the legs up, and rolls Samurai over into a pin. Two count, and Samurai off the ropes, slides between Ohtani's legs, misses a clothesline, Ohtani grabs for a German Suplex, but Samurai goes behind and hits his own for the three count. Decent, but too clipped to accurately rate. If you pinned me down, I'd say **1/2

  • Ohtani bent over, hissing, panting.. UH.. Can they show this? Oh, he's talking.. I thought Samurai came back for his winnings.. You figure out what I mean.

  • Match 3: Chris "Wild Pegasus" Benoit vs. Dean Malenko

    See, stuff like THIS is what could be Main Eventing WCW PPVs. Instead, we get Kevin Nash v. Sid, apparently.. Anyway, that's another rant.

    The future Horsemen/Non-Horsemen/Horsemen/etc fight each other here, something we definitely need to see more of. Dean wearing plain black, and not the "spiked" tights WCW fans are used to, and Benoit's outfit looks like Brutus Beefcake's black/white zebra tights without the gay holes. Just after the bell, Malenko works in a little roll thingie for absolutely no reason, other than he thinks it makes him more elite than Benoit. Little does he know that this isn't WCW, and so Benoit might get put over! Lock up, Malenko backs Benoit up against the ropes, and.. what's this? A clean break? See, America, they DO exist! I feel kinda like Santa in that MnM's commercial.. Circling, lock up, hot counters, I can't do PBP of them all. Circling, lock up, Benoit sends Malenko off the rop-.. Screw it, I'll just watch this. You don't NEED Play by Play, and I need dinner. Benoit tries straight on beating, while Dean opts for Psychology, going for the arm. Neat spot: Malenko puts on an arm hold, wrapping his legs around the arm, and Benoit just picks him up and drops him like a piece of a dried turd. Benoit wins with a rollup.

    Action: ***3/4
    Psychology: **
    Total: ***1/2

  • Benoit talks.. IN ENGLISH~!: "Pegasus Kid, new Jr. Heavyweight Champion. Thunder Lyger, Samurai, Dean Malenko, everybody's going down. Pegasus Kid is number 1"

  • Match 4: El Samurai vs. Masao Orihara

    Orihara looks like a little midget. Masao Mini! Hey, they can hire that dwarf from the Howard Stern Show, shave his head and his facial hair, and have him wrestle drunk! I'd pay to see that.. The drool leaking out the side of his mouth... "MOONSAULT! Oh.. damn.. Folks, this is real.."

    Anyway, onto the match. Kicks by Samurai, Scoop slam, gets two. TOMBSTONE. Masao no-sells and gets a piledriver. Which Samurai sells for 3 seconds, then runs to his feet and hits a tombstone. Again this is no-sold, and Masao goes for another piledriver, hitting. Samurai back up, piledriver blocked, hits on the second attempt. Samurai up top, hits with a missile dropkick. Picks him up, Side Russian Leg Sweep, into a rest hold.. WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY RESTING FROM? Did all the no selling exhaust them? And we hold it... and hold it.. finally, the break. Inverted Suplex by Samurai, up top, splash, but his face hits Masao's feet. Masao not selling being hit with anything. German Suplex, two. PILEDRIVER#%$#.. Oh well, at least Samurai sells this one Masao up top, HIS face hits SAMURAI's boots. He rolls outside, where he is hit with a weird flipping thing. Suffice it to say Samurai hit Masao in the head with his ass. Samurai tries to suplex Masao in off the apron, but no. Masao goes behind, Samurai goes behind, German Suplex, gets two. Frankensteiner by Masao, as Samurai goes off the ropes. Both men down to recover, Masao gets up and tries an Asai Moonsault onto the standing Samurai, who side steps and gives him a little added push.. YOU WANT A PUSH, BITCH!?! HERE! Anyway, Powerbomb by Samurai, lifts him up into Razor's Edge position, Masao goes behind, roll up, two count. He does the little grab for the tombstone the Mongo McMichael used, but goes too far over, fucking THAT up. He manages to recover, and hit the tombstone, which is sold. Now up top with his back facing Samurai laying in the ring, Masao gets nothing but feet, sort of, on a moonsault, but sells as if he hit the knees. Powerbomb reversed into a Frankenstiener by Masao, holds the legs (sloppily), and gets three. And no one cares... This match was fucking strange, and sloppy. Compare this to Benoit/Malenko, or the next match, Lyger/Ohtani, and feel insulted.

    Action: **
    Psychology: -**
    Total: *1/4

  • Match 5: Shinjiro Ohtani vs. Jyushin "Thunder" Lyger

    Ohtani gets right in our hero's face before the bell. Ohtani is a fucking god in bitch heel mode. Bitch slap right before the bell, and now hammering away in the corner. Leaping Spin Kick, and he stomps away as Lyger rolls outside. Lyger back in and being STOMPED. Lyger up, and Snap Mare into a chinlock. Lyger gets the ropes, and Ohtani slaps him as he gets up. Sit down Dropkick to Lyger's side as he lay on the edge of the apron. Scoop slam, and BIG elbow gets two for Ohtani. Some sort of an arm hold, and then Ohtani goes straight for the knee. Kick gets Lyger out, and Lyger LEVELS Ohtani, and slaps him, and Ohtani comes back, and they trade blows, then Ohtani goes right back to the knee. To the floor, Ohtani slams Lyger and stomps away, before rolling back in. SUPLEX, and to some form of hold, before Ohtani goes back to the leg. Holds it.. and holds it.. but he has this incredibly dickish demeanor, which makes it okay. For a while. Lyger gets to the ropes, but Ohtani doesn't break until 4. Lyger having trouble putting weight on the knee, so Ohtani kicks it 5 or 6 times, and then gets a brutal looking half crab, before moving into some hold where he bends the knee across his arm. Then right back into the legbar he's used the whole match. Lyger to the ropes, Ohtani again doesn't break until 4, then stands and kicks the hell out of Lyger's knee. Ohtani's intense demeanor totally is saving this match, and drawing me in. He goes back to the legbar, but Lyger gets to the ropes almost immediately. Delayed break again, and Ohtani grabs the leg as they stand, but Lyger hits and enzugiri, which he seems to intentionally not do correctly, because the knee is injured, you see. It's subtle touches like that that so seperate this from anything in North America. Lyger hobbles over and palm strikes Ohtani, and shakes out the leg, as he starts to be able to put a little weight on it again. Whips Ohtani to the corner, follows in with a RUNNING KOPPO KICK~! (Does a front flip, driving the heel into the top of the head), Ohtani pulls himself up, with help from Lyger, and gets a palm strike and a kick from our hero, who then tombstones Ohtani, bitch slapping him as he stands. Both men up, and Lyger FUCKING NAILS Ohtani with a flurry of palm strikes. Ohtani on the ropes, stands, and gets sent to the corner, throwing himself over and onto the apron, and Lyger's running koppo kick hits the knee on the turnbuckle. Ohtani in with a springboard dropkick, and he goes up on the other side.. MISSILE DROPKICK! Now up on the OTHER side.. AGAIN, as Lyger clutches the knee. Ohtani covers for two, pick Lyger up, sends him off the ropes, and dropkicks him to the outside, following with a plancha. Back in, and Ohtani stomps away, scoop slam. He goes to the second buckle, and misses an elbowdrop, Lyger picks him up, and snaps the arm over his shoulder. Ohtani rolls to the ropes, where he gets STOMPED. Both men up, and Lyger grabs the arm and rolls through into a sort of armbar, but Ohtani gets the ropes. Snap mare by Lyger, into a crossface chickenwing. Released, and Lyger drags the injured Ohtani to the middle of the ring, where he attempts to snap the arm over the shoulder again, but gets two headbutts and a 180 back kick (the aforementioned leaping spinkick). Ohtani sends him off the ropes, goes for a dropkick, Lyger holds the ropes, Ohtani hits the mat.. LYGER BOMB~! gets three for our hero, Jyushin "Thunder" Lyger... Great, Great Match..

    Action: ***1/4
    Psychology: *****
    Total: ****

  • Ohtani, injured climbs to his feet after the match, and collapses, Lyger shakes his hand. Ohtani selling the arm injury like he was shot there.

  • Lyger does another interview. I still don't care. And it's still long. As he talks, we see Ohtani being helped to the back, holding his arm, and being WAYYYYY too melodramatic.

  • Eddy Guerrero talks, and kisses Japanese ass

  • I'm tired and sick, so no PBP for the next match, it isn't that great, anyway..

  • Match 6: Eddy Guerrero vs. Shinjiro Ohtani

    Ohtani wins by reversing a bodyslam into a rollup. This is decent, but not Starrcade 95 Ohtani/Eddy quality. Which reminds me that I need to track that down. If anyone has a copy of Starrcade 95, e-mail me at macleod@bayarea.net.

    Total: ***

  • Match 7: Jyushin Lyger vs. Noriyo Honaga

    Once again no PBP, because A.) I hate PBPing clipped matches and B.) If I did PBP of every match, I'd finish this in Sept...

    Honaga works on the knee, eventually winning with a dropkick to the knee, and kicking out of a Lyger Bomb on the way. No rating, it was clipped.

  • Match 8 - Lyger vs. El Samurai

    Lots of stuff into an armdraf, kicks by Samurai, scoop slam, cover, no. Lyger puts on a surfboard, drops down into sort of a dragon sleeper, with the ankles still in surfboard position. Looks pretty brutal. Samurai sent off the ropes, BIG clothesline sends him into the air, and he comes down hard. Now Lyger sends Samurai to the buckle, follows witha knee and some kicks, opposite corner, Samurai pushes himself up, Lyger stops, so Samurai spins and uses his feet to flip Lyger over, and he lands fairly hard. Sorry for the lack of humor, but then, you don't read these for my immense wit, do you? Both up, and a dropkick sends Lyger out, he climbs back in, Samurai charges, and gets leapfrogged, so he goes up on Lyger's shoulders in victory roll position, and then turns, dropping down, and rolling Lyger up, but the two count is aborted like an unwanted child. Lyger up first, snap mare, into the Figure-4 Sleeper! After it's broken, Samurai gets KICKED. Up, and another snap mare takes Samurai down, and Lyger slaps on a sort of Abdominal Stretch on the ground, then lays back with it. After the release, Samurai tries a shoulder block, but gets kicked. Lyger picks him up, and whips him off the ropes, then Samurai slides between the legs and gets Koppo Kicked. Lyger takes him to the corner and whips him to the opposite corner, and... RUNNING KOPPO KICK~! and now Lyger puts him up top, and Samurai fights off the superplex, and hits a sort of inverted Bulldog from the top. WICKED running forearm by Samurai, and he goes for another one, but gets Backdropped to the floor. Lyger to the apron, flips into Samurai. Lyger rolls into the ring, and Samurai lies there on his back like most girls in high school. He pulls himself onto the apron, Lyger tries to suplex him in, but Samurai, being the crazy guy he is, goes behind and runs off the ropes, ducking a Lyger clothesline, and setting up for what appears to be an inverted suplex. It is, and Lyger hits hard. Now being pulled to his feet, he gets the German Suplex, and that recieves a two count. Lyger gets a missle drop kick to the back of the head, and staggers to the ropes. Lyger ste up for a dragon suplex, gets out and tries to roll through, but Samurai traps for two. Lyger off the ropes, Samurai ducks too soon and gets pasted with a kick from Lyger. Lyger with a powerbomb, then up top for a splash, which appears to hit Samurai's knees, but apparently wasn't supposed to because Lyger hooks the leg and doesn't sell hitting the knees. He gets two. Now lots of reversals I can't follow, and Lyger ends up hitting a rana for three, and our hero wins!

    Rating: ***

  • Exit Light, Enter Suck, because the next match contains 2 Cold Scorpio in his worthless early Japanese stage. I never really thought he was that great, but compared to pretty much anyone else on the card, he's totally worthless here. Just an utter joke until his ECW stuff, which from what I've seen(not much), was pretty good. I haven't seen any later Japanese matches, so I'll hold off on commenting on that. Just keep it short...

  • Match 9: 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Jyushin "Thunder" Lyger

    Shot of Lyger looking pensive in the back before his entrance, as his music plays. He hobbles to the ring, SELLING THE PRIOR INJURY! Scorpio has no heat in Japan, and Lyger has a lot. Please don't let Scorpio win.. He's going to, because Lyger is still hobbling. Side headlock by Lyger right off, which Scrop breaks with punches and a whip, now a shoulderblock, both up. Scorpio sees Lyger run off the ropes, so he decides to do a sort-of drop kick where one foot almost looks like it touches the knee, and the other foot appears to be over in America somewhere. Leg drop to the knee by Scorpio, Knee drop to the knee, Half crab for a short period of time, Lyger holds the ropes. Now both men up, so Scorp, being the bad black man, kicks the knee a few times, and trips our hero. He drops an elbow on the leg and holds it as a sumbission lock, because he's a dickhead, you see. Release, and another kneedrop and a legdrop onto the knee follow. He turns the legdrop into a submission hold, but Lyger gets the ropes. Lyger pulled up from his knees as Scorp grabs a leg, but gets hit with an Enzugiri. Lyger up, pulls Scorp up, and collapses on a suplex attempt, Scorp goes to the knee, putting on an odd looking Figure 4 till Lyger gets to the ropes. Leg Drop onto the knee from the buckle by Scorp, and now a scoop slam. Fist from the top to the knee now, and the ref stops it. Good psychology, but pretty much an injection of suck.

    Action: DUD
    Psychology: ***
    Total: 3/4*

  • LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG ASS LYGER INTERVIEW... Bookerman, shut up. Why don't people get on Lyger's ass for this? This is at least as bad as the McMahons, considering NO ONE ELSE GETS MORE THAN 15sec OF MIC TIME, AND LYGER CUTS 5 MINUTE EPICS!

  • We get some credits.

  • Thus ends Part I of Top of the Super J, now we get to see some clips, which I won't do PBP on.

  • Clips of Masao Orihara v. Chris Benoit. Orihara still sucks, Benoit wins.

  • Clips of El Samurai v. Shinjiro Ohtani. See above.

  • Clips of Jushin Liger v. Dean Malenko. See above.

  • Match 10: Noriyo Honaga v. Dave "WCW calls me Fit, even though I'm Fat" Finlay

    This match is a brawl, so no PBP. It is pretty damn stiff, though. Honaga with classic heel tactics, and we get a really good brawl, which Scott Keith gives a little more detail on in his rant, which you can get to by going to my links page, going to his page, and looking under misc. Honaga loses to a rolling fireman's carry. I'd say maybe ***1/2..

  • Clips of Chris "Wild Pegasus" Benoit v. Dean Malenko. See Above.

  • Clips of Samurai v. Orihara. See Above.

  • Clips of Liger v. Ohtani. See Above.

  • Clips of Ohtani v. Guerrero. See Above.

  • Clips of Lightning Kid (X-Pac) V. Chris Benoit. Benoit wins with a dragon suplex.

  • Clips of Liger v. Honaga, with some brawling that was cut from the version detailed above.

  • Match 11: Lightning Kid vs. Shinjiro Ohtani

    They circle each other, and lock up. Waltman goes behind, but Ohtani wrings the arm. Wristlock, drops down, facelock. Kid with an armbar, takeover. Ohtani rolls through, single leg takedown, anklelock by Ohtani. Kid grabs the chin and locks it, but Ohtani gets to the ropes. Test of Strength, but KId does a little dance and trips Ohtani. Cover for two, both up, Fireman's Carry by Ohtani into some hold involving the chin, which is reversed by Waltman. Both eventually up, and in the corner. Waltman teases a clean break, but unloads kicks. Snap mare, and two running snap-leg drops. And right back to those heelish kicks, followed by a suplex, which gets two, now Waltman pulls Ohtani up in a strange way, looking like a male dog mounting a bitch. Up, Ohtani dropkick, Waltman sent out, Ohtani hits a Plancha. Waltman suplexed in for two. Waltman sent off the ropes, counters a rana with a Powerbomb variation. Waltman says fuck, and sends Ohtani through the ropes. He follows, whipping Ohtani into the guardrail, which opens on one side. Kid throws him against it again, and clothesline over. Ohtani lays in front of the first row, and Kid says fuck and flips off the crowd. Ohtani back into the ringside area, eats a baseball slide. Both back in, Waltman sends Ohtani to the corner, but Ohtani does a Superman leap up to the top buckle and jumps, turns in mid air and hits a bodypress. To the apron, Ohtani with a springboard dropkick for two. Both up top, and kid gets thrown off. He eats missile dropkick for two, an Ohtani Victory roll gets two, as does Ohtani's German Suplex. Waltman whipped off the ropes, but he reverses it, hitting a leg lariat. Waltman goes up top, and so does Ohtani, but Ohtani is nailed and falls off. He goes over again, but gets Tornado DDTed for three. Eh, a lot of it didn't work as well as it should have, but the ending was pretty good..

    Rating: **1/2

  • Clips of Norio Honaga v. Dean Malenko. Malenko wins with a rollup

  • Clips of Samurai v. Jyushin Lyger. Lyger also wins with a rollup.

  • Clips of Samurai v. Dean Malenko. Samurai WINS WITH A FUCKING ROLLUP!

  • Clips of Chris Benoit v. Eddy Guerrero. Benoit ends up...rolling him up for the pin.... Gee, what a surprise ending. I never dreamed I'd see a ROLLUP finish a match in THIS tournament!

  • Clips of Scorpio vs. Lyger. See Above, as Scorpio takes bookerman out of the tourney.

  • I'm really ready to finish this, so I'll cut out the PBP for the next three. 2/3 of them suck anyway, so.. On the plus side, there'll be PBP for the finals.

  • Match 12: Eddy Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko

    We start off with a bunch of reversals, and this turns into a hot little match. We get a lot of two counts, but then Eddy takes control. Eddy hits a neat Quebrada, and Malenko hits an almost-Lygerbomb, and on the second try Eddy rolls him up :(

    But not for the pin.. That never comes, as instead, Eddy is powerbombed off a rana, and Malenko slaps on the Cloverleaf.

    Just a note from this match: The guardrail that came open during Ohtani/Lightning Kid is still open here.

    Rating: ***1/4

  • Match 13: El Samurai v. 2 Cold Scorpio

    Scorpio dances to entertain us. The only thing missing is DJ RAN~! Because, dancing doesn't work without someone all up in my area. My first reaction to this match: Scorpio is still here?

    Some of the stereotypical "feeling out" to start, and Scorpio shows the Japanese what American bullshit offense is all about, even fucking up the timing. Scorpio treats us to an Avalanche and manages to add some twisting bullshit to a legdrop, and that gets two. And the twisting splash for two. TWISTAMANIA IS RUNNIN WILD, BROTHA! Samurai hits a german suplex, but only for two. Rana also recieves a two. Diving headbutt scores for two. The American Scorpio hits his American Superkick.. Okay, this sucks.. Samurai wins with.. guess what? A ROLLUP! What fucking fun!

    Rating: *3/4

  • Match 14: El Samurai v. Dean Malenko

    This match is shit, and it mercifully ends when Samurai wins with everyone's favorite move.. THE ROLLUP! I wish Brian Christopher were here so I could call it the "Fruit Rollup", but hey, he's not, so I won't.

    Rating: 3/4*

  • Match 15, and the Finals: Chris Benoit vs. El Samurai

    Everyone involved in the tournament surrounds the ring. Benoit drags Samurai through a test of strength/rollup series thing. Reverse chinlock applied by our friend Samurai. Now he gives his adoring fans an arm-wringer. That'll show this Canadian. Note the dripping sarcasm. Benoit is SO Much better than Samurai, it's humorous. "Not yet the Crippler" Crossface by Samurai, who works on the arm, and applies the crossface again. Samurai puts on an armbar, so Benoit simply knees him in the gut to escape. Benoit whips him in, shoulderblock. Now stomps from Chris, and Belly to Back gets two. Scoop slam into a Scorpion Deathlock by Benoit, and he holds the arm to keep Samurai from getting the ropes. Samurai does anyway, so Benoit drags him to the middle of the ring and puts on a half-crab. Now up, and Benoit hits a backbreaker, holding Samurai there, and pushing down. Stomps, and now both men up as Benoit hammers away, so Samurai bounces off the ropes with a forearm. They stand again, and Benoit with a KICK to the gut, and a snap suplex. They run into each other, and it looks awkward for a few seconds, and this drops it from *****. Both men outside, and Samurai gets sent to the rail. Back in, and we get a German SUplex from Benoit for two. Powerbomb also gets two. Scoop slam, and a legdrop off the second buckle gets two on Samurai also. Samurai gets a tombstone for two. Side russian leg sweep by Samurai, into some sort of armbreaker. Samurai figures, well, I got my ass kicked, and then I got some offense.. This must be working. I'll do the exact same two moves again. So he does. Scoop slam, and a Diving Headbutt, which misses. So Benoit tries a Diving Headbutt, getting more air, but it also misses. Irish Whip reversal sequence ends with Benoit going off and getting leapfrogged, then over-the-head belly-to-belly suplexed, and he rolls outside. Samurai hits a baseball slide and a somersault plancha. Samurai shakes his head, so Benoit comes in off the top with a flying headscissors (I think the name escaped me in an earlier match). Samurai gets dropped on the top rope off a suplex, and then clotheslined, and he fucking FLIES to the security rail. Ow. Benoit follows up with a tope, and then rolls in. Samurai goes behind on an attempt to suplex him in, and hits a German Suplex. Benoit gets a Dragon Suplex for two, and a Northern Lights Suplex gets two as well. ROLLUP :( by Samurai for two. Benoit whips him off the ropes, he slides underneath the legs and gets a ROLLUP :( for two. Samurai off the ropes, gets caught with a brutal clothesline. Scoop slam by Benoit, and he gets caught going up, sand Samurai hits a top rope rana for two. Powerbomb by Samurai, and he puts Benoit up top for a Superplex. Samurai hurt, so is Benoit. Back up top, but Benoit hits the Superbomb, and that's it.. Three. Benoit celebrates with the Gaijin, and X-Pac looks uncomfortable. Samurai is stretchered out, and Benoit gets the check and the trophy as the other competitors look on. Lyger, wearing a suit and a weird looking blue mask, hugs Benoit, and the show ends.

    Rating: ****3/4

    Bottom Line: This was pretty much my first Japanese show, and I thought it fucking ruled. I'll definitely be buying more Japanese shit, and I have to recommend buying it. I've heard J CUP 94 and 95 are better introductions, but this is pretty good.

    Recommended.

    Greg Goodnight
    Webmaster, The Rant Archives

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