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Post by mrjmml on Jul 9, 2023 12:37:37 GMT -5
Shinobu Kandori vs Megumi Kudo FMW Year End Sensation 12-11-1996 This is the first match of the two that these wrestlers had between 1996 and 1997, this one is a regular singles match while the other one was a barbed wire deathmatch, it happened 7 months after the famous Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch that I reviewed yesterday that involved Megumi Kudo and Combat Toyoda, Toyoda’s retirement match in the 7th anniversary show, the match today is worse than that one mainly because the last one is very hard to top, in fact, FMW never did and I can’t blame them at all, they got close in the past with Funk vs Onita but it didn’t reach the heights that Toyoda vs Kudo reached. Shinobu Kandori is one of the coolest wrestler ever, once she steps in the ring you know what she is going to do, she’s just an absolute badass, even in her later years she still retained that aura, she still wrestles, she had four matches in 2023 and that number might increase considering that we are July so I think it’s fair to assume that she will have a few more over the course of the year.
FMW’s environment is perfect for a wrestler like Kandori, I think she fit the role of heel perfectly in this match, she’s the shooter, the careless wrestler who only thinks about inflicting pain, the best example of this is her match against Akira Hokuto in Dreamslam 1, she’s the perfect big match wrestler, you can see an even wilder side of her in the chain match she had against Bull Nakano, where she went all out against one of the greatest women in the history of wrestling, great stuff all around.
The match began with a fake handshake by Kandori, Megumi never had a chance, since the very beginning Kandori dominated her, Kudo had her moments like hitting a Tiger Driver in ringside but it felt like Kandori was always in control, Kandori won via sleeper in fourteen minutes in a dominant performance.
I’d recommend this match if you love Shinobu Kandori’s work and attitude but if you aren’t into her just skip it.
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Post by mrjmml on Jul 9, 2023 12:38:07 GMT -5
Shinobu Kandori vs Megumi Kudo 03-14-1997 FMW Winning Road 1997 We begin the last year of Megumi’s career with another Barbed Wire Deathmatch, this time against Shinobu Kandori, Kandori won in December 1996 and Megumi wanted her win back, this match was a part of Kudo’s retirement tour, she announced her retirement in 1996 after the retirement of Combat Toyoda the same year, I reviewed her retirement match two days ago if you want to know more about it. This match is better than the 1996 one, is way more compelling and interesting to watch Megumi’s performance is awesome, she looked great representing the company, she’s the best woman of the roster by far and I can confidently say that at this point in FMW history she was the best wrestler of the company regardless of gender. Shinobu Kandori is always tough she never gives up when she wrestles I have the sense that you have to knock her out to win and she will always go down swinging, she has an amazing attitude in the ring, I don’t know about anyone who doesn’t get her, as I said in my previous review she is the best ‘‘big match wrestler ever’’ along with workers like Sangre Chicana, people with the best matches without having the best careers.
The match itself played out as you could expect from any FMW barbed wire match, they put over the dangerous nature of the stipulation, the first one to make contact with the barbed wire was Megumi, Kandori cut open Kudo’s forehead which resulted in her bleeding profusely, then Kandori had the displeasure of being in contact with the wire, Megumi took advantage of this by cutting her forehead the same way she did it to her. The final stretch consisted of a few near falls and tense moments before Kudo hit a lariat for the three count.
I’d recommend this match to everyone who likes the promotion, it’s a match that only FMW could do.
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Post by Kadaveri on Jul 9, 2023 17:54:02 GMT -5
Shinobu Kandori vs Megumi Kudo FMW Year End Sensation 12-11-1996 This is the first match of the two that these wrestlers had between 1996 and 1997, this one is a regular singles match while the other one was a barbed wire deathmatch, They had another match in LLPW on 1/5/97 which I definitely recommend you watch as well.
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Post by mrjmml on Jul 10, 2023 12:04:45 GMT -5
Thanks, I'll do it.
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Post by mrjmml on Jul 10, 2023 12:10:43 GMT -5
Mayumi Ozaki vs Megumi Kudo 04-18-1997 FMW Fighting Creation - Tag 2 We continue Megumi Kudo’s retirement tour, this time she is going against Mayumi Ozaki, she is dressed up as Street Fight Mayumi so you know what we’re going to get today, a barbed wire deathmatch that FMW named No Ropes Barbed Wire Double Hell Death, that’s literally how they named it, I love the goofy names FMW gave to their stipulation, sometimes it feels like they were making these names funny on purpose, I don’t believe that someone put that name to an stipulation and thought that everyone was going to take it seriously, it reminds of the american names in Super Mega Baseball, you know Stallion Johnson,Slapper Glutes or Immaculo Spectaculo. Let’s get back to wrestling shall we, this match is clipped, I don’t know if we have a full version of this but if that’s the case please notify me, we have only twelve minutes of wrestling in our hands but it looks like the match was twenty minutes long or close to that number, it’s one of Megumi’s last career match, in fact, it’s the second to last match of this retrospective, the last one will be of course her last match against Shark Tsuchiya April 29th 1997, the name of the stipulation is even more ridiculous than this one, it’s No Ropes Barbed Wire Current Explosion Barricade Double Hell Death I swear I’m not making that up, please trust me.
The match starts as usual, with both wrestlers playing around the barbed wire putting over the possibility of making contact with the wire, the first one to suffer this fate was Mayumi Ozaki, it’s interesting considering that usually is Megumi the one that goes to the wire first but not this time. Megumi proceeded to beat her up until Mayumi threw her into the barbed wire placed on the floor, then Mayumi used what looks like a dog collar to punish Megumi. Megumi made a comeback that lasted the rest of the match, Megumi got the win with her vertebreaker, the Kudome.
I’d recommend this match if you like barbed wire deathmatches like Bambi & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Arisa Nakajima & Chikayo Nagashima from 2008, unfortunately this one is worse.
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Post by KB8 on Jul 10, 2023 12:23:52 GMT -5
The Kudo/RIE v Ozaki/Amano DRESS UP WILD FIGHT from 4/8/97 has some great Kudo v Ozaki interactions. A bit long overall, maybe, but plenty wild and everyone does some gnarly shit.
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Post by mrjmml on Jul 10, 2023 12:26:12 GMT -5
The Kudo/RIE v Ozaki/Amano DRESS UP WILD FIGHT from 4/8/97 has some great Kudo v Ozaki interactions. A bit long overall, maybe, but plenty wild and everyone does some gnarly shit. I've seen it but I didn't know how to approach it, there's a lot stuff happening and it isn't good enough to be unskippable.
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Post by KB8 on Jul 10, 2023 12:52:23 GMT -5
I liked it without loving it, but I also went into it remembering the last Mayumi Ozaki dress up wild fight that I saw, which I thought was deplorable, so my expectations were fairly low. I thought Kudo was really fun in it either way.
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Post by mrjmml on Jul 10, 2023 13:43:35 GMT -5
I liked it without loving it, but I also went into it remembering the last Mayumi Ozaki dress up wild fight that I saw, which I thought was deplorable, so my expectations were fairly low. I thought Kudo was really fun in it either way. She was very fun in it but I prefer to review either singles or tag team matches.
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Post by mrjmml on Jul 11, 2023 12:55:11 GMT -5
Shinobu Kandori vs Megumi Kudo 01-05-1997 LLPW Street Fight Korakuen Hall First of all, thanks Kadaveri for telling me about this match, it was absolutely worth it, I missed this Kandori vs Kudo match completely and I regret not acknowledging this one before because seriously it’s the best of the trilogy and it should be regarded as an absolute classic, in the last review the Megumi Kudo vs Mayumi Ozaki Double Hell Deathmatch, I said that it was going to be my second to last Megumi Kudo match I’ll review but that was before Kadaveri recommended this one to me, it’s a Street Fight so no rules either pinfall, knockout or submission, those are the only ways you can this contest, apparently this was also a falls count anywhere match considering how this match ended, this match happened in between the two matches I reviewed previously involving those two so it’s the second match of trilogy. Megumi found herself in enemy territory this time going up against Shinobu Kandori in her promotion LLPW (Ladies Legends Pro Wrestling), Kandori is the undisputed ace of the company and she had the same problem that Kudo had with the lack of talent in the roster to a lesser extent, she was the most talented wrestler by far there.
The match began before the bell rang, Kandori attacked her fiercefully since the very beginning, Kudo never had a chance, her opponent was always ahead of her, they went outside the ring and here’s where the wildest exchanges took place, when Megumi tried to dive Kandori responded with two chairs to the face, they went back to the ring where Kudo hit Kandori with her Tiger Driver on some chairs for a two count, they went back to ringside where Kandori got serious, they went to the stands and she choked Megumi for the win.
I recommend this one to everyone who likes joshi brawls like the Dump Matsumoto vs Chigusa Nagayo hair matches, the crowd was loud cheering for Kandori, I loved it.
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Post by mrjmml on Jul 12, 2023 3:12:37 GMT -5
Shark Tsuchiya vs Megumi Kudo 04-29-1997 FMW 8th anniversary show This is the last match of Megumi’s career so it’s the last match of the project too, it happened in the 8th anniversary show of the company like Toyoda and Onita’s retirement matches, without Combat Toyoda the women’s division suffered a lot, the only great worker in that division after Toyoda’s retirement was Megumi, her opponent that night Shark Tsuchiya didn’t come close to Kudo in terms of wrestling ability, in the No Ropes Barbed Wire Double Hell Death between Megumi Kudo and Mayumi Ozaki I talked about how unintentionally funny the names of the stipulations were, the name of this match’s stipulation is No Ropes Barbed Wire Current Explosion Barricade Double Hell Death, it means that if you touch either the barbed wire or the barricades in the outside of the ring they will explode, simple enough.
Shark Tsuchiya was the only decent wrestler left in the women’s division, she was the leader of the company’s heel stable the Mad Dog Military, she also had a run in GAEA as the leader of Deadly Troops a heel stable in GAEA that lasted until 1996, the members of the Mad Dog Military took part in multi-woman matches like this one in LLPW Megumi Kudo & Shinobu Kandori & Michiko Omukai & Kaori Nakayama vs Shark Tsuchiya & Eagle Sawai & Sayori Okino & Miss Mongol or the handicap match I reviewed in 1995 Bad Nurse Nakamura, Miwa Sato & Shark Tsuchiya vs. Combat Toyoda & Megumi Kudo.
The match was the best match it could have been, Megumi made Shark Tsuchiya look really good, in the other the best style to hide your lack of talent in wrestling is the deathmatch, that also helped making this match good, Megumi took a lot of damage in this match, not only from the barbed wire, from the barricade too. Shark Tsuchiya looked dominant throughout this match, the match ended with one of my favourite spots of her career, both of them touched the barbed wire at the same time, Megumi fell on top of her opponent for the three count in her retirement match.
If you like the stipulation feel free to watch it if not Megumi’s performance is enough of a reason to watch it.
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Post by mrjmml on Jul 13, 2023 3:29:44 GMT -5
Tatsumi Fujinami vs Ryuma Go 07-27-1978 NJPW Summer Fight Series 1978 - Tag 27
Considering that Four Pillars is doing a Team Taco retrospective I think it would be a bad idea to persist in my Takeshi Ono retrospective so I’m going to do a best of Tatsumi Fujinami instead, I really enjoyed the Megumi Kudo project, doing the same thing with Fujinami sounds even better, a retrospective from his outstanding junior career to his fantastic run as a heavyweight all in NJPW with a few exceptions like his match against Vader in Bremen or against Ray Mendoza in Los Angeles. We have to start at the beginning with his first great series of matches, they were against Ryuma Go, they were short but great showings, as a Dynamite Kid fan (in the ring at least) I appreciate the early days of NJPW’s junior division, I love the match narrative of this one in particular, the limbwork is amazing, many wrestlers should watch this matches and learn from them, the match structure is solid and Fujinami came out of this match as the future of NJPW, this match is a star-making performance.
This match is for Fujinami’s WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship, Ryuma Go is the challenger, the match doesn’t look like a 1978 match it looks like something out of the 90’s, from Fujinami’s masterful work on Ryuma’s left leg, his struggle feels real, then Tatsumi Fujinami hit a piledriver on Ryuma Go for the two count, the nearfalls in this one are very impressive, after that and a double heel hook, they go outside the ring and Tatsumi stayed for a bit, Ryuma Go hit a running powerslam for a two count and the crowd popped with the kickout, Tatsumi Fujinami hit a german suplex with a pin combination for the three count and the win, the leg work in this match was awesome but it didn’t pay off, the finish didn’t have anything to do with that.
I’d recommend this match to everyone who likes the NJPW’s junior division from the 70’s and 80’s. Very innovative wrestling, I hope everyone of his matches are as great as this one. At least the ones I’ll review.
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Post by mrjmml on Jul 14, 2023 6:05:51 GMT -5
[1978-08-11-Los Angeles, CA] Mando Guerrero vs Tatsumi Fujinami
We continue Fujinami’s 1978 with his match against Mando Guerrero in Los Angeles, his style is awesome, the match is for Fujinami’s WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship, his opponent is a part of the famous Guerrero family, he is the son of Gori Guerrero, one half of La Pareja Atómica, the other half being El Santo and the brother of Eddie Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero Sr all of them were great wrestlers who had successful careers of their own, Mando (short for Armando in Mexico) is the challenger for Fujinami’s crown, they had a mat classic, I just hope this is the average quality for a great Fujinami match, this is at least at same level as his previous match against Ryuma Go that I analized yesterday, I can’t believe how good 70’s Fujinami is, his 1978 has been awesome so far, I think Fujinami is the best NJPW I’ve ever seen, even better than Jushin Thunder Liger in the 90’s, he is far ahead of his competition in every match, there’s an aura around him, he looked like the wrestler in the world in 1978, let’s see if he can mantain that momentum throughout the coming years.
The limbwork in this match is outstanding but I still feel like it didn’t pay off at the end, Fujinami does it pretty well but there isn’t any moment when Tatsumi takes advantage of that damage inflicted in Mando’s leg and that’s a missed opportunity. It’s smooth though, the match never feels dragged or slow because of that leg work, it’s an excellent example of what I want out of a junior style match, fast but effective limbwork and at least in that aspect it delivered big time, the match ended with another German Suplex pin combination, I assume that was his finisher.
I strongly recommend everyone to watch this match, maybe it’s slightly worse than the last one but still worth your time.
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Post by mrjmml on Jul 16, 2023 6:23:39 GMT -5
Best of Tatsumi Fujinami
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Post by mrjmml on Jul 16, 2023 6:25:12 GMT -5
Tatsumi Fujinami vs Ryuma Go 07-27-1978 NJPW Summer Fight Series 1978 - Tag 27
Considering that Four Pillars is doing a Team Taco retrospective I think it would be a bad idea to persist in my Takeshi Ono retrospective so I’m going to do a best of Tatsumi Fujinami instead, I really enjoyed the Megumi Kudo project, doing the same thing with Fujinami sounds even better, a retrospective from his outstanding junior career to his fantastic run as a heavyweight all in NJPW with a few exceptions like his match against Vader in Bremen or against Ray Mendoza in Los Angeles. We have to start at the beginning with his first great series of matches, they were against Ryuma Go, they were short but great showings, as a Dynamite Kid fan (in the ring at least) I appreciate the early days of NJPW’s junior division, I love the match narrative of this one in particular, the limbwork is amazing, many wrestlers should watch this matches and learn from them, the match structure is solid and Fujinami came out of this match as the future of NJPW, this match is a star-making performance.
This match is for Fujinami’s WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship, Ryuma Go is the challenger, the match doesn’t look like a 1978 match it looks like something out of the 90’s, from Fujinami’s masterful work on Ryuma’s left leg, his struggle feels real, then Tatsumi Fujinami hit a piledriver on Ryuma Go for the two count, the nearfalls in this one are very impressive, after that and a double heel hook, they go outside the ring and Tatsumi stayed for a bit, Ryuma Go hit a running powerslam for a two count and the crowd popped with the kickout, Tatsumi Fujinami hit a german suplex with a pin combination for the three count and the win, the leg work in this match was awesome but it didn’t pay off, the finish didn’t have anything to do with that.
I’d recommend this match to everyone who likes the NJPW’s junior division from the 70’s and 80’s. Very innovative wrestling, I hope everyone of his matches are as great as this one. At least the ones I’ll review.
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