FMW DirecTV PPV on 12/12/99
review by Stuart

This was FMW's second sell out at Korakuen in consecutive days, the 12/11 show also drawing 2,150 fans.

Willie Takayama vs. Naohiro Yamazaki

This is Hido's in-ring debut with his new gimmick. JIP in round two, Willie throwing loose kicks. He decks Yamazaki with an elbow smash and the referee counts to 8 before the youngster reaches his feet. More kicks by Takayama, but Yamazaki ducks a high kick and decks Willie with a German suplex hold for 1. He goes to a cross armbreaker, but Willie is able to break manually. A sudden high kick to the face sends Yamazaki down and he stays there for the 10 count, Willie winning (R2 1:12). The reason Hido's new gimmick didn't work was because he was totally unconvincing as a shooter and his kicks were slow and pulled. They realized this and sent him away after the 5/5/00 show and he's yet to return. They thankfully only showed the second round of this.

Chocoball Mukai gives a speech. He "quits" wrestling, although that didn't last long, unfortunately.

Kaori Nakayama vs. Emi Motokawa

This is a rematch from yesterday, when Nakayama surprised Emi with a quick win. This is JIP, Kaori throwing Emi around with hair slams. Kaori goes up and the camera catches Emi grinning, before she halts Nakayama up top. Kaori goes out and Emi follows with a plancha, but instantly clutches her right arm. The referee quickly stops the match (6:24) and Emi is stretchered out, her arm apparently injured.

Hisakatsu Oya & Yoshinori Sasaki vs. American Dragon & Lance Cade

The four exchanges moves for quite some time, not many of them having a purpose and coming off as restholds and weak build. Dragon does use a really nice bridging double arm submission though. Oya ducks under a Cade lariat and uses a backdrop suplex to ground him for 2. Cade lands on top of a second for 2, then tags Dragon. He sends Oya out with a dropkick, then follows with a baseball slide variation. Dragon grabs the ropes and goes out with a springboard tope con hilo to Oya! Back in, a Dragon suplex hold gets 2, Sasaki making the save. Cade enters and nodowa's Sasaki down for 2 1/2. Oya powers out of a powerbomb attempt and tags Sasaki. Sasaki and Cade do their own power test, then Sasaki uses his own nodowa for 2. A lariat (Sasaki)/backdrop suplex (Oya) combination to Cade gets 2 1/2. Oya folds Cade up with another and gets the win (11:50). Really boring in the early stages, but kicked into gear later on. It was a very similar match to the TWA vs. FMW match from yesterday, but dragged a bit more.
[*]

Ricky Fuji vs. Flying Kid Ichihara

Ichihara attacks with a dropkick, sending Ricky out. He follows with a baseball slide dropkick, then a slightly overshot quebrada. Back in, a missile dropkick gets 2 for the Flying Kid. He goes up again and is caught, Fuji bringing him down with a powerslam of sorts. Ichihara drop toehold's Ricky and cradles him with a la magistral for 2. An instant second gets the same result. After some idle leg work, Ichihara uses a nice standing somersault senton for 2. He inexplicably rests after that, clamping on a rear chinlock. Fuji corner charges into a boot and Ichihara capitalizes with a dropkick from the middle buckle for 2. From the same position, he drops a moonsault for the same result. Fuji throws a lariat and stares at Sena Wakana. His Kamikaze gets 2 1/2. Ichihara again uses his speed, stunning Fuji with a la magistral for 2. The camera keeps focusing on Sena Wakana instead of the match. Ichihara misses a moonsault press and Fuji capitalizes with a superkick. He follows with a front suplex, then applies a cross-leg STF for the win (7:09). More nonsense with the valet ensues after the match, Ichihara "leaving" her. This was pretty much as expected. Not a bad match, but this two aren't good enough to do much most of the time.
[*1/2]

Kintaro Kanemura, Koji Nakagawa, Jado & Gedo vs. Balls Mahoney, Axl Rotten, TAJIRI & Super Crazy

This is the final FMW vs. ECW match, with the remnants of Team No Respect facing the gaijin. Kanemura, Jado and Gedo dance, while "Mr. Double Cross" sits on the top rope, brooding. Kanemura makes some jokes about ECW, then Team Extreme enter. They go straight to a brawl, Balls throwing a super-stiff chairshot to Kanemura's back. He DDT's "Mr. Hardcore" Kanemura on the chair. Everyone fights outside, Tajiri and Crazy using stereo quebradas to TNR! They brawl in the crowd for a while, the fans seemingly enjoying it. In the ring, Tajiri and Gedo go at it. Tajiri ducks a high kick and throws a punch, but falls victim to Tajiri's rope handspring back elbow. Tajiri applies an Octopus hold, transitioning into the Tarantula. Crazy does an elaborate Hayabusa dive tease, backflipping off the ropes. Nakagawa hits him from behind and the match settles down, TNR dominating Crazy. Koji uses a bow-and-arrow hold to wear the luchador down. Jado counters a Frankensteiner attempt with a Liger bomb for 2. Gedo enters and drops Crazy with a hangman neckbreaker for 2. Crazy is draped over the ropes and Kanemura comes off the top with a fat boy legdrop for another 2 count. Crazy comes back by springboard lariating both Gedo and Kanemura.

Balls is tagged and superkick's Kanemura. Tajiri sets up a table outside and Balls throws Kanemura off the apron and through it. Back in, a belly to belly gets 2 for Balls. Crazy performs his triple rope moonsault sequence to Kanemura, then tags Tajiri. Tajiri slips out of a powerbomb attempt and spits POISONOUS GREEN MIST in Kanemura's eyes! He follows with a kick to the head, then a running low dropkick for 2, Jado saving. Everyone fights in or around the ring. Tajiri shouts "Axl" and throws a chair to him. Balls and Axl try a double chair dash to Kanemura, but collide. Jado and Gedo take out Balls and Kanemura drops his diving senton on Axl for the win (13:19), giving FMW a 3-0 win in the two day series. After the match, Axl disses FMW and promises to bring the props next time. Well, there wouldn't be a next time for him as he got fired (again) by Heyman. Team ECW get the fans to sing Balls' music. Axl's speech indicated that the situation wasn't over on this show, which made no sense at first, since only the main event was to follow. But it soon became clear. This wasn't a bad brawl, all things considered. Gedo, Tajiri and Crazy were good enough to make it passable. Kanemura wrestled on the same level as Balls unfortunately, even though he's capable of better. There were some good sequences involving the lighter guys, so the match was alright.
[*3/4]

H & Mr. Gannosuke vs. Masato Tanaka & Tetsuhiro Kuroda

Having defeated Kuroda and Oya yesterday, H and Gannosuke have to take on a stronger team today. However, their WEW Tag Team Title aren't on the line. After some early matwork, they go into the crowd, where Kuroda DDT's H on the floor. Kuroda charges through the crowd and lariat's H, then salutes the sky. Tanaka throws H into a door, which opens. Back in, Kuroda works over a leg Gannosuke's with various holds. H breaks a crab hold and eats a lariat (what else), after which Kuroda does a goofy dance. Tanaka and Kuroda continue to work over Gannosuke, at one point trapping both he and H in figure-four leglocks. Gannosuke manages to push off a tornado DDT attempt by Tanaka, but is taken down with a dragon screw. Gannosuke escapes a waistlock with a reverse low blow, then tags H, who enters with a springboard elbow smash to Tanaka. A dropkick sends Tanaka out and H goes all Hayabusa on him with a tope con hilo! He re-enters with a slingshot legdrop for 2 and gets the same from a Fisherman's buster. He uses a Rocker Dropper on Tanaka, then makes a slight breakthrough, getting a 2 1/2 count with a Tiger Driver. Gannosuke is tagged, but is caught with a legdrop by Tanaka. Kuroda is tagged and manages to spoil part of the match for me, by no-selling a German suplex, then a Dragon suplex straight after. He does sell Gannosuke's jumping neckbreaker drop (which makes it so more annoying, since that move isn't half as devastating as the suplexes) and stays down for 2 1/2.

H and Gannosuke use their kick combination to Kuroda, then H strikes with a corner charge jumping knee attack. He springboard's straight into a lariat though, Kuroda catching him in the ribs. Tanaka is brought in and throws elbows. H ducks under one and hits a release German suplex that Tanaka sort of sells, but not enough, since he's able to lift H and drop him with Splash Mountain seconds later, earning a 2 1/2 count. Kuroda is tagged and lariat's H in the corner. He joins in on the fun, release German suplexing H, then following with another lariat for 2 1/2! Gannosuke hits Kuroda from behind as he runs the ropes and H goes up top. He is caught up there by Kuroda, who drops him down over the ropes. Tanaka enters and runs straight into a Frankensteiner, but Gannosuke in turn enters with a missile dropkick to his old rival Tanaka. Gannosuke powerbomb's Tanaka for 2 1/2. He tries Fire Thunder, but Tanaka escapes and throws an elbow. Gannosuke counters a rolling elbow with the Gannosuke clutch for 2 1/2! A stiff running lariat gets 2 for Gannosuke, Kuroda making the save. H enters with a diving kneel kick to Tanaka. Tanaka blocks a Falcon Arrow and tries a suplex, but H escapes it and drops Tanaka with a Dragon suplex! Tanaka apparently sucks in the pain, but H persists with a Dragon suplex hold for 2 1/2. A double H Edge gets 2, Kuroda saving just in time! Tanaka catches H up top and KILLS him, bringing him down with a reverse suplex for 2 3/4! Tanaka uses his Stunner/DDT combination to H and Gannosuke. He ducks a lariat attempt from H and throws the rolling elbow for 2 3/4!

Kuroda returns with a diving elbow drop to H and Tanaka follows straight after with a diving body press for 2, Gannosuke saving! H is lifted on to Kuroda's shoulders, from where Tanaka Ace Crusher's him down for 2, Gannosuke again saving! Tanaka dashes a chair into Gannosuke's head. In stereo, Kuroda hits H with a sick Fire Thunder and Tanaka uses Diamond Dust on Gannosuke. Kuroda covers H for another near fall. A running lariat to H gets 2 1/2! Kuroda is caught up top by H and they scuffle up there. Kuroda tries to powerbomb him down, but H counters with a Frankensteiner. Kuroda tries a "limit break" charge, but goes into a shotei. H uses a non-release Tiger Driver (like a Tiger Driver '91, but not really a head-drop) and follows with a Falcon Arrow for 2 3/4! H signals for the finish and goes up. Firebird splash for 2, Tanaka saving! Gannosuke grabs Tanaka and drops him with Fire Thunder! H Edge to Kuroda for 2 3/4! H seems out of ideas and hits a high kick, then a shotei. So he pulls out his special move. H THUNDER (Emerald Frosion)! He covers Kuroda for the win (24:32)! The action in this was as good as the match yesterday, but the match wasn't as good because of the really annoying and stupid no-selling spree earlier on in the match. Kuroda just goes over the top with his irritating goofiness sometimes and was the main culprit. After that though, this was another really awesome sprint. Actually, I think the closing stages were better than yesterday's. However, there were the flaws previously mentioned that dragged it down somewhat. Still, another very worthy and exciting main event from these guys.
[***1/2]

Usually, the fans would rush to ringside and celebrate with the four. But things are happening. Balls Mahoney and Axl Rotten appear on the apron. Kuroda is dead, laying face-first on the canvas. Tanaka is infuriated. He screams at H for teaming with Gannosuke. He has a point, because some of the stuff Gannosuke did to H(ayabusa) over the years is hard to forgive. Tanaka grabs an ECW shirt and departs FMW, walking off with Balls and Axl. Before disappearing though, he displays his new "Americanized" way by flipping off the FMW guys. Kuroda confers with H and Gannosuke, the three slapping hands with the fans to end the show.

Overall:

This was the same as yesterday's show, but without a Tajiri vs. Crazy level match on the undercard. The closest thing was an okay Street Fight style match between Team No Respect and ECW. Again, like so many FMW events, this was a one match show as the top guys delivered. Since the 12/11 and 12/12 shows were a two-in-one style package, the shows can be judged together. Overall, it's the same story as the individual analysis', the two main events making the show(s).

For more of Stuart's thoughts and opinions on puroresu, visit www.puroresufan.com


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