DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
TNA Fan World
HTML https://tnafans.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: Sheriff Lonestar's PPV of the Week
*****************************************************
#Post#: 17794--------------------------------------------------
Sheriff Lonestar's PPV of the Week; Dreaming in Kawasaki
DIR By: SheriffLonestar
Date: September 7, 2013, 3:33 am
---------------------------------------------------------
There really shouldn't be doubt in anyone's mind by now but
wrestling in Japan in the mid nighties was something very
special indeed. Every company was making money, and rewarded
artistically. New Japan at the height of its powers with, Mutoh,
Hasimoto, Hase, Sasake and Chono riding high. Kawada, Misawa and
Kobashi bringing home the bacon in All Japan. All Japan Women
producing a series of endless main event combinations from
Toyota, Yamada, Kong, Nakano and Inoue. JWP shocking the world
with Kansai and Ozaki. FMW at the peak of its lunacy with
Ohnita, Mr. Pogo, Matsunaga, Kudo and Toyoda. There really
wasn't any slack anywhere. I have detailed the rise and fall of
FMW the most in this column, mainly because it gives a
cautionary tale, but also because the cards are thoroughly
enjoyable despite the gross out nature of the product. Imitation
though is the sincerest form of flattery and today we look at an
organisation that took that FMW blue print and was almost, not
quite, but almost, as successful. To Japanese fans this show was
Kawsaki Dream, to western fans, immortalised in Mick Foley's
biography Have A Nice Day, it was King of the Death Matches.
IWA's one night single elimination gore-fest featuring the afore
mentioned Cactus Jack, Terry Funk, Shoji Nakamaki, Hiroshi Ono,
Leatherface, Tiger Jeet Singh, Terry Gordy and former FMW
wrestler Mr. Gannosuke. The idea in itself was original. Usually
FMW saved the real blood for the main events, IWA was all blood.
The company began as the brain child of Victor Quiñones who
found a backer in restaurateur Tatsukuni "Kinroku" Asano.
Quiñones' ability as a promoter and booker gave him a loyal
support base amongst wrestlers and meant he could get some big
names for their fledgling promotion. Quiñones may have even had
stronger Cool Aid than Paul Heyman.
Without giving to much away lets set up the matches in the
tournament proper. Tiger Jeet Singh vs Mr. Gannosuke kicks
things off. Singh was a legend by this point in Japan, his
monster feud with Antonio Inoki was a big draw in the 70's, but
then we all wore bell bottoms then didn't we? Gannosuke as
explained in previous columns was an FMW outcast he really was
being outshone by his childhood friend Hayabusa. Their Barbwire
Board Chain Death Match is probably not going to go down as a
great one (to be honest I forgot it was on here), but it does
show the booking power IWA had. Terry Funk vs. Leatherface, is
just amazing because well its Terry Funk doing his Funking
thing, aided and abetted in this lunacy by Mike Kirchner who may
go down in history as one of the toughest guys ever to wrestle
(seriously in his mid card run in the WWF in the eighties no one
wanted to wrestle him). So a Barbwire Chain Death Match made the
most sense because Terry could bring in a lot of old school
psychology from all those strap matches with Dusty Rhodes, it
paid off in dividends. Shoiji Nakamaki vs. Hiroshi Ono, Barbwire
Board Thumbtack Retirement Death Match; these two former
partners had just about everything going for them in the
violence stakes. Nakamaki a retired photographer whose main
asset was his willingness to put his body through hell had
already had the indignity of having his head shaved, what else
could anyone do to him? Well Ono tried his best damn it. This is
an example of how things went in IWA, Nakamaki was pretty much
there to bleed while Ono did the interesting wrestling stuff.
Cactus Jack and Terry Gordy have a wonderful burst of
creativity, all the more startling when you consider Gordy
wasn't long out of a near career ending coma and was nowhere
near his All Japan height. Cactus knew what to do to protect
Gordy's legacy.
IWA, like FMW, did try and broaden its appeal with some straight
wrestling. The Silver Kings vs The Headhunters for example is a
wonderful actual wrestling match without the need to go straight
for the blood. Takashi Okano vs. Flying Kid Ichihara is another
technical piece of wizardry, but it does look like a picture of
a beautiful girl in a war zone. How did you end up here?
Blurring that line is Dan Severn vs Tarzan Goto, a great match
which is remarkable because I didn't think I would ever put Dan
Severn and Great Match in the same sentence. Severen was a great
fighter, not a great wrestler, but he did bring some much needed
credibility to the NWA title. Goto does his best to help out by
being Goto, despite his hardcore wars in FMW, Goto knew what he
was doing from his All Japan days and this was by far his
highest profile outing without the help of Atsushi Onita.
Overall then a very good show, with a little bit of variety and
ends up in a Double Hell Death Barb Wire Exploding Death Match,
which I will let you enjoy for yourself. This was a time when
wrestling was pushing the boundaries and trying to find a new
place for itself and we tend to forget it these days when
miraculous matches happen much more closely together. They may
not be as bloody or violent, but the wrestling companies of the
world try and find ways of keeping us spell bound. Recently HHH
was interviewed on Grantland and he laid comment on the IWA via
his preparations for wrestling Mick Foley. He derided it as
“just special effects” and that the crowd was not commensurate
with the effort being put out. This was in IWA's early days when
they where getting 50-100 people. However a while down the line
and what happens? IWA drew 28,757 to Kawasaki Baseball Stadium.
With $1.2 Million gate. Without a TV show. Just think about that
for special effects and enjoy the show.
HTML http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27sScwFQRcE
*****************************************************
Page 1 of 1