04-16-2002, 08:15 AM
Maybe you'll enjoy this one a bit more...
This time, we'll change gears take a look at Big Japan Pro Wrestling, which at its peak from about 1998-2000 was the best garbage federation ever to exist. Unfortunately, with the loss of Tomoaki Honma and injuries to Ryuja Yamakawa, along with a working relationship with CZW that did much more harm than good, they really haven't been as good. But, they do on occasion put out a diamond in the rough, such as the Barefoot Thumbtack Deathmatch from their Samurai TV show on 6/18/01, between veteran deathmatch wrestler Mitsuhiro Matsunaga and young rising star and overall psychopath Jun Kasai. The match is reviewed by Stuart Max of Wrestling Viewpoint!
Mitsuhiro Matsunaga vs. Jun Kasai in a Thumbtack Barefoot & CZW Caribbean-style Barbed Wire Death Match
Even in semi-retirement, Matsunaga continues to innovate these cutting edge Death Matches. This one sees barbed wire wrapped around the ropes, the old W*ING Caribbean Barbed Wire style that is usually outdated (since the No Rope Barbed Wire concept became the hip thing courtesy of Onita), but doesn't really matter in this match. That's because the main concept of this match sees a bed of several thousand thumbtacks in the center of the ring. This doesn't seem too bad, but when you consider neither guy is allowed to wear shoes OR socks, then everything becomes clear. These two had a couple of dangerous Death Matches last year that were crazy, Matsunaga winning both. Kasai wears the face bandanna and goggles. He takes off his pants, meaning he's going to wrestle in generic black wrestling tights and no kneepads. Mr. Danger follows to a big response from the cult audience. He carries a barbed wire bat and twirls it in the thumbtacks, causing a ton of them to stick to the bat. He leaves the bat in the center, wanting an even playing field. Kasai eats a banana and fittingly, gets yellow streamers from the crowd upon being introduced. Kasai is almost pulled into the tack bed instantly, but staggers back and takes a walk, pausing to eat some more banana. The two struggle near the board, both crouched down and fighting for territory. Matsunaga tries a kneeling ipponzei, but Kasai blocks. Kasai moves on to Matsunaga's back and is taken on a piggy back ride. Matsunaga walks over to the tack bed, trying to position Kasai for something. Kasai manages to push Matsunaga's head into the tacks for the briefest instant, but not too much damage appears to be done.
Matsunaga just lifts Kasai off his feet and walks over to the tack bed again, waving to the crowd. I keep expecting Matsunaga to throw Kasai over and back-first into the tacks, but what happens is even sicker than that. He just throws Kasai (bare) FEET-FIRST INTO THE THUMBTACKS! Kasai skips around like a little girl, howling in pain. He picks thumbtacks out of his feet! Matsunaga gets the barbed wire bat (full of thumbtacks remember) and hits Kasai with two shots to the back! Matsunaga then pours some thumbtacks into Kasai's mouth. He follows with a... punch! Imagine how Kasai feels after that, his gums pierced by razor-sharp tack ends. Matsunaga pours more tacks in Kasai's mouth, not done yet. Rather than punch this time, he drops Kasai with a hangman's neckbreaker! Again, imagine how Kasai feels, a bunch of thumbtacks going down his throat. Insanity. Mastunaga kicks some tacks out of the ring with his own bare feet. He lifts Kasai for a crucifix powerbomb, but the Crazy Monkey kicks and thrashes. Matsunaga ends up stepping in the thumbtack bed, allowing Kasai to drop down and dropkick said leg! Outside the ring, Kasai hits Matsunaga with a steel pole. They go on one of those lame and overdone arena tours, wandering through the corridors and not doing much. They go back to this ring where Jun Kasai finally tops anything else he's done. How is that possible? You have a guy who lost his mind long ago. You have a guy who lost his mind not so long ago. This man has bare feet and his mind is ever-full of ideas that the common human being would shudder fiercely just thinking about. And then you have ropes wrapped in barbed wire. Crazy Monkey will self-destruct in 5 seconds. Kasai twists Matsunaga's arm, holds on to it and hops up top. He then proceeds to do a ROPEWALK ACROSS THE BARBED WIRE! Kasai's face just screws up in total agony as he does it, but you know he loves it deep down. He hops off the ropes, probably leaving flesh on them in the process, and chop's Matsunaga's head.
Kasai grabs some tacks and then headbutt's them into Matsunaga's cranium! The Crazy Monkey puts a ton more thumbtacks in a baseball cap and then makes Matsunaga wear it. That's not enough though! Kasai grabs a chair and you know the rest. Smack! Kasai does a monkey dance then ruthlessly drops Mr. Danger in the thumbtack bed with a German suplex hold for 2 1/2! Matsunaga has a billion thumbtacks stuck in him by now. Kasai thinks logically for once, using a simple bodyslam on Matsunaga, which impales the icon some more. Kasai pours some tacks on Matsunaga's body and then goes up top. He puts on the goggles, salutes and hits a diving body press for 2! Kasai hurt himself as much as Matsunaga doing that, but he's TWELVE eggs short of a dozen. "More, more, more!". Kasai sunset flip's Matsunaga into the thumbtack bed for 2, meaning he himself ends up SAT IN THEM! You can imagine Kasai's response and he runs around the ring. The fans chant "Kasai!", but he tells them to shush. Kasai hits Matsunaga's foot with the barbed wire bat and does likewise to Mr. Danger's back. The fans chant "Danger!", getting behind Matsunaga now. Kasai sends Matsunaga off the ropes and swings the bat low, but Matsunaga hops over the swing, just managing to avoid jumping into the thumbtack bed again. Kasai just kicks him though and Matsunaga topples over into the thumbtacks. Both of them stand on some chairs next to the thumbtack bed and after some struggling, Matsunaga RUSSIAN LEGSWEEP'S KASAI OFF THE CHAIRS and to you-know-where meaning you-know-who ALSO gets impaled with more thumbtacks as he goes down with Kasai. Matsunaga goes back to 2000 and applies a W*ING Scorpion Deathlock, that being a Scorpion Deathlock with a barbed wire baseball bat added to the formula. Kasai is "stronger" now though and doesn't tap out. Matsunaga says "screw it" and decides to end it in a brand new creative method. He pours thumbtacks on every inch of the canvas, meaning there is NO escaping. He applies a Cobra Twist and takes Kasai down into GROUND ROLLING CRADLES AROUND THE RING! Like Pacman with dots, the thumbtacks are engulfed, with Pacman's mouth being their goddamn flesh! Matsunaga ceases the rolling cradles, leaving Kasai in a pinning predicament for the 3 count and win (19:42)!
Good... god! This wasn't the most insane match ever, but it was the most *creatively* insane match ever. These two just did everything they could think of to have the most entertaining non-workrate Death Match probably ever. The match wasn't totally devoid of workrate, which separates this match from many others, such as the previous one. The match had an inkling of build and continuing psychology from their previous matches as it was Mr. Danger vs. the guy who is pretty much outdoing Matsunaga (although take contexts into account; Matsunaga was doing balcony dives in 1992, when Kasai was in school). Besides the Korakuen Hall Tour Guide, this was thorough Matsunaga entertainment as his new disciple (even feuding on-screen, you know Kasai worships Matsunaga) took it to him. If there's one disappointing thing about this match, it's not the content, which exceeded my expectations because Matsunaga is washed up, but was bumping around like it was 1993 in this match. It was that Kasai has followed the left (decent) path rather than the right (good) or center (terrible) path. The center path is the path of John Zandig and Mad Man Pondo. Garbage wrestlers with no talent at all, who use gore simply to cover up their lack of talent. The center path is the path of Tomoaki Honma and Ryuji Yamakawa. Garbage wrestlers with the world of talent, who use gore as an *addition* to the match, not as the *entire* match. The center path is the medium and a broader path, where it's somewhat of a hybrid, not the elite level and not the hideous level. Kasai approaches the higher end of the middle path moreso than the lower end as he has a ton of natural talent, but only uses a half of it. This was one of the sickest, most insane, but also one of the most creative and entertaining Death Matches ever. You have to see it if you dig this type of stuff.
[*3/4]
Post-match angle has Zandig shaking hands with Matsunaga and saying, "Matsunaga, most dangerous!". Kasai isn't happy and exclaims, "No, no, no... me, most dangerous!". Zandig tries to make everyone happy and says, "Three most dangerous!". He attempts to lift their arms, but Kasai has none of it. Kasai grins and suddenly Pondo and Dahmer attack Zandig from behind. Zandig takes the two out and then says Kasai should respect Matsunaga. Kasai and Teioh have words, then backstage, Zandig preaches respect some more, then shouts "baka!" a couple of times.
This time, we'll change gears take a look at Big Japan Pro Wrestling, which at its peak from about 1998-2000 was the best garbage federation ever to exist. Unfortunately, with the loss of Tomoaki Honma and injuries to Ryuja Yamakawa, along with a working relationship with CZW that did much more harm than good, they really haven't been as good. But, they do on occasion put out a diamond in the rough, such as the Barefoot Thumbtack Deathmatch from their Samurai TV show on 6/18/01, between veteran deathmatch wrestler Mitsuhiro Matsunaga and young rising star and overall psychopath Jun Kasai. The match is reviewed by Stuart Max of Wrestling Viewpoint!
Mitsuhiro Matsunaga vs. Jun Kasai in a Thumbtack Barefoot & CZW Caribbean-style Barbed Wire Death Match
Even in semi-retirement, Matsunaga continues to innovate these cutting edge Death Matches. This one sees barbed wire wrapped around the ropes, the old W*ING Caribbean Barbed Wire style that is usually outdated (since the No Rope Barbed Wire concept became the hip thing courtesy of Onita), but doesn't really matter in this match. That's because the main concept of this match sees a bed of several thousand thumbtacks in the center of the ring. This doesn't seem too bad, but when you consider neither guy is allowed to wear shoes OR socks, then everything becomes clear. These two had a couple of dangerous Death Matches last year that were crazy, Matsunaga winning both. Kasai wears the face bandanna and goggles. He takes off his pants, meaning he's going to wrestle in generic black wrestling tights and no kneepads. Mr. Danger follows to a big response from the cult audience. He carries a barbed wire bat and twirls it in the thumbtacks, causing a ton of them to stick to the bat. He leaves the bat in the center, wanting an even playing field. Kasai eats a banana and fittingly, gets yellow streamers from the crowd upon being introduced. Kasai is almost pulled into the tack bed instantly, but staggers back and takes a walk, pausing to eat some more banana. The two struggle near the board, both crouched down and fighting for territory. Matsunaga tries a kneeling ipponzei, but Kasai blocks. Kasai moves on to Matsunaga's back and is taken on a piggy back ride. Matsunaga walks over to the tack bed, trying to position Kasai for something. Kasai manages to push Matsunaga's head into the tacks for the briefest instant, but not too much damage appears to be done.
Matsunaga just lifts Kasai off his feet and walks over to the tack bed again, waving to the crowd. I keep expecting Matsunaga to throw Kasai over and back-first into the tacks, but what happens is even sicker than that. He just throws Kasai (bare) FEET-FIRST INTO THE THUMBTACKS! Kasai skips around like a little girl, howling in pain. He picks thumbtacks out of his feet! Matsunaga gets the barbed wire bat (full of thumbtacks remember) and hits Kasai with two shots to the back! Matsunaga then pours some thumbtacks into Kasai's mouth. He follows with a... punch! Imagine how Kasai feels after that, his gums pierced by razor-sharp tack ends. Matsunaga pours more tacks in Kasai's mouth, not done yet. Rather than punch this time, he drops Kasai with a hangman's neckbreaker! Again, imagine how Kasai feels, a bunch of thumbtacks going down his throat. Insanity. Mastunaga kicks some tacks out of the ring with his own bare feet. He lifts Kasai for a crucifix powerbomb, but the Crazy Monkey kicks and thrashes. Matsunaga ends up stepping in the thumbtack bed, allowing Kasai to drop down and dropkick said leg! Outside the ring, Kasai hits Matsunaga with a steel pole. They go on one of those lame and overdone arena tours, wandering through the corridors and not doing much. They go back to this ring where Jun Kasai finally tops anything else he's done. How is that possible? You have a guy who lost his mind long ago. You have a guy who lost his mind not so long ago. This man has bare feet and his mind is ever-full of ideas that the common human being would shudder fiercely just thinking about. And then you have ropes wrapped in barbed wire. Crazy Monkey will self-destruct in 5 seconds. Kasai twists Matsunaga's arm, holds on to it and hops up top. He then proceeds to do a ROPEWALK ACROSS THE BARBED WIRE! Kasai's face just screws up in total agony as he does it, but you know he loves it deep down. He hops off the ropes, probably leaving flesh on them in the process, and chop's Matsunaga's head.
Kasai grabs some tacks and then headbutt's them into Matsunaga's cranium! The Crazy Monkey puts a ton more thumbtacks in a baseball cap and then makes Matsunaga wear it. That's not enough though! Kasai grabs a chair and you know the rest. Smack! Kasai does a monkey dance then ruthlessly drops Mr. Danger in the thumbtack bed with a German suplex hold for 2 1/2! Matsunaga has a billion thumbtacks stuck in him by now. Kasai thinks logically for once, using a simple bodyslam on Matsunaga, which impales the icon some more. Kasai pours some tacks on Matsunaga's body and then goes up top. He puts on the goggles, salutes and hits a diving body press for 2! Kasai hurt himself as much as Matsunaga doing that, but he's TWELVE eggs short of a dozen. "More, more, more!". Kasai sunset flip's Matsunaga into the thumbtack bed for 2, meaning he himself ends up SAT IN THEM! You can imagine Kasai's response and he runs around the ring. The fans chant "Kasai!", but he tells them to shush. Kasai hits Matsunaga's foot with the barbed wire bat and does likewise to Mr. Danger's back. The fans chant "Danger!", getting behind Matsunaga now. Kasai sends Matsunaga off the ropes and swings the bat low, but Matsunaga hops over the swing, just managing to avoid jumping into the thumbtack bed again. Kasai just kicks him though and Matsunaga topples over into the thumbtacks. Both of them stand on some chairs next to the thumbtack bed and after some struggling, Matsunaga RUSSIAN LEGSWEEP'S KASAI OFF THE CHAIRS and to you-know-where meaning you-know-who ALSO gets impaled with more thumbtacks as he goes down with Kasai. Matsunaga goes back to 2000 and applies a W*ING Scorpion Deathlock, that being a Scorpion Deathlock with a barbed wire baseball bat added to the formula. Kasai is "stronger" now though and doesn't tap out. Matsunaga says "screw it" and decides to end it in a brand new creative method. He pours thumbtacks on every inch of the canvas, meaning there is NO escaping. He applies a Cobra Twist and takes Kasai down into GROUND ROLLING CRADLES AROUND THE RING! Like Pacman with dots, the thumbtacks are engulfed, with Pacman's mouth being their goddamn flesh! Matsunaga ceases the rolling cradles, leaving Kasai in a pinning predicament for the 3 count and win (19:42)!
Good... god! This wasn't the most insane match ever, but it was the most *creatively* insane match ever. These two just did everything they could think of to have the most entertaining non-workrate Death Match probably ever. The match wasn't totally devoid of workrate, which separates this match from many others, such as the previous one. The match had an inkling of build and continuing psychology from their previous matches as it was Mr. Danger vs. the guy who is pretty much outdoing Matsunaga (although take contexts into account; Matsunaga was doing balcony dives in 1992, when Kasai was in school). Besides the Korakuen Hall Tour Guide, this was thorough Matsunaga entertainment as his new disciple (even feuding on-screen, you know Kasai worships Matsunaga) took it to him. If there's one disappointing thing about this match, it's not the content, which exceeded my expectations because Matsunaga is washed up, but was bumping around like it was 1993 in this match. It was that Kasai has followed the left (decent) path rather than the right (good) or center (terrible) path. The center path is the path of John Zandig and Mad Man Pondo. Garbage wrestlers with no talent at all, who use gore simply to cover up their lack of talent. The center path is the path of Tomoaki Honma and Ryuji Yamakawa. Garbage wrestlers with the world of talent, who use gore as an *addition* to the match, not as the *entire* match. The center path is the medium and a broader path, where it's somewhat of a hybrid, not the elite level and not the hideous level. Kasai approaches the higher end of the middle path moreso than the lower end as he has a ton of natural talent, but only uses a half of it. This was one of the sickest, most insane, but also one of the most creative and entertaining Death Matches ever. You have to see it if you dig this type of stuff.
[*3/4]
Post-match angle has Zandig shaking hands with Matsunaga and saying, "Matsunaga, most dangerous!". Kasai isn't happy and exclaims, "No, no, no... me, most dangerous!". Zandig tries to make everyone happy and says, "Three most dangerous!". He attempts to lift their arms, but Kasai has none of it. Kasai grins and suddenly Pondo and Dahmer attack Zandig from behind. Zandig takes the two out and then says Kasai should respect Matsunaga. Kasai and Teioh have words, then backstage, Zandig preaches respect some more, then shouts "baka!" a couple of times.