The Independent Mid-Card 05.15.07: Tajiri vs. Psicosis
Posted by Samuel Berman on 05.15.2007
This week, the IMC takes things TO THE EXTREME~!
Hello and welcome to yet another week of The Independent Mid-Card. As a follow up Ring of Honor's recent announcement that they will debut on Pay-Per-View in July (and their reportedly very successful PPV taping this past Saturday), I though it might be fun to use this week's IMC as an excuse to take a walk down memory lane. You see there once was another "Super Indy" that evolved to the point that they could move to Pay-Per-View. That's right kids, it's time for ECW to make it's long-awaited IMC debut.
Yoshihiro Tajiri vs. Psicosis
Extreme Championship Wrestling – Hardcore TV – Philadelphia, PA – August 19, 2000
The Wrestlers:
Extreme Championship Wrestling – Originally known as Eastern Championship Wrestling during it's creation in 1992, ECW's name was changed following a famous moment in 1994 when Shane Douglas won a tournament for the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Title and threw the belt down upon his victory. The company began to pick up steam as an alternative to WCW and the WWF, giving fans the opportunity to see styles of wrestling (including pioneering the hardcore style) that hadn't yet migrated to the mainstream. Booked by Paul Heyman and featuring stars like Raven, The Sandman, Tommy Dreamer, Sabu and Taz, ECW began to work it's way towards national prominence, even working a cross-promotional angle with the WWF in 1996 and 1997. The company finally debuted on Pay-Per-View in April of 1997, and continued to have success for a while, including a deal for a national television deal on TNN (then ‘The Nashville Network') in 1999. However, due to a series of financial miscalculations and poor management, the company lost it's TV slot in October of 2000 and eventually filed for bankruptcy six months later. The assets of ECW were eventually purchased by WWE and that company has used the name periodically for storylines ever since, including the current ‘re-launch' of the company as a branded roster under the WWE umbrella.
Yoshihiro Tajiri – Known in his ECW heyday as "The Japanese Buzzsaw", Yoshihiro Tajiri was one of the most popular wrestlers in Extreme Championship Wrestling during his run from 1998 through the company folding in early 2001. Often matched up with fellow cruiserweights Little Guido (later known as Nunzio in WWE) and Super Crazy in fabled Three-Way Dances, Tajiri made a name for himself with creative submissions, solid mat wrestling and most notably his breathtakingly stiff kicks. At this point, Tajiri was already a former ECW Television Champion, having won the belt from longtime adversary Super Crazy in early April of 2000 before dropping the strap to then-stablemate Rhino later in the month.
Psicosis – One of the top luchadores in Mexico early in his career, Psicosis (who's ring name has also been spelled ‘Psychosis') first made a name for himself wrestling in AAA (one of the top Lucha Libre companies in the world). Along with Rey Mysterio Jr. and Juventud Guerrera, Psicosis was a part of the early ‘lucha invasion' into the United States, as the trio (amongst others) began competing in ECW in 1995 before signing with World Championship Wrestling in early 1996. Competing against both his fellow luchadores as well as top American junior heavyweights like Billy Kidman, Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko helped Psicosis earn accolades as one of the wrestling business' top high-flyers. A mainstay on the WCW roster for years, Psicosis (now a multiple-time WCW Cruiserweight Champion) was released by the company in 2000, leaving him free to return to the company in which he gained his first major exposure in the United States.
The Match:
We open with a short DVD introduction from Joey Styles, the original and current voice of ECW. He talks about how Psicosis originally made a name for himself in the United States as a part of ECW before going on to more fame and fortune in WCW. He notes that this is Psicosis' return to competition in the famed ECW Arena.
We cut to the match with both men already in the ring for the introductions. Psicosis is announced first, complete with another note of this being his return to the ECW Arena. He looks to be in good shape and seems genuinely hyped to be back in front of the raucous ECW crowd. It's also worth noting that he is wrestling at this point without a mask, a holdover from having lost a Hair vs. Mask match with Billy Kidman in WCW. Tajiri is customarily stoic during his introduction, highlighted only by his blowing of green mist upon announcement of his name. Psicosis talks a bit of trash before the bell while Tajiri just stands there silently waiting. The bell rings and we're off.
The two men circle as the crowd starts a LOUD applause. Both guys clap along with the audience as they circle. Psicosis goes for a leg, but gets nothing and we're still at a stalemate. A bit more circling and then we get a lockup in the center of the ring. Psicosis grabs a waistlock and takes Tajiri down to the mat, locking in a neat crucifix full nelson with his legs. Tajiri powers up into a Stretch Muffler and now Psicosis is forced to counter. Psicosis segues out of it and grapevines Tajiri's legs, and then leans back to put "The Japanese Buzzsaw" in a bow-and-arrow. Tajiri flips out of it and lands on Psicosis for a one count. Both men get to their feet and we have a standoff as the crowd applauds again.
The two men knuckle up as the crowd continues to cheer and we get a test of strength. Psicosis seems to get the early advantage, but Tajiri releases one of the knucklelocks and twists into a wristlock before getting a single-leg takedown. Psicosis is able to flip Tajiri over, but gets caught with an armdrag. Tajiri keeps a hold on the mat and then flips Psicosis into a crucifix cradle for another one count. Both men nip up and we're at another standoff. The crowd continues to cheer loudly and an ‘E-C-Dub' chant breaks out.
Both men circle again and we get another knucklelock, but this time Psicosis goes to work kicking Tajiri in the leg. Tajiri drops to his knees, so Psicosis kicks him flush in the chest. This all just serves to piss off Tajiri, so he no-sells and kicks Psicosis in the leg even harder and grabs a headlock. Psicosis sends Tajiri off the ropes, but gets dropped with a shoulderblock and they go into a leapfrog sequence that ends with Psicosis hitting an armdrag. They then go into a neat bit where Tajiri hops on Psicosis' back and ends up in position for a sunset flip bomb, but ends up hooking the arm and getting a side armdrag. Psicosis comes off the ropes and lands on his feet when Tajiri tries a tilt-a-whirl before ducking a spinkick and getting a single-leg takedown for barely a one count. Tajiri responds with a single-leg takedown into a cover for the same near-one count and both men nip up again into another standoff. For the record, the crowd is in an absolute frenzy at this point. Another ‘E-C-Dub' chant starts up as both competitors stand in opposite corners taking a moment to pause. Psicosis tries to get the crowd to chant ‘Lucha Libre', but they're more interested in just cheering.
Again they go to a knucklelock and again Psicosis starts kicking away at Tajiri's leg before switching to some stiff kicks to the chest. These work better than last time and Psicosis seems to get the first notable advantage of the match. He pushes Tajiri to the corner and gets a hard chop before sending him cross-corner on a whip. He follows in on a blind charge, but Tajiri absolutely pastes him with a trust kick to the face. Tajiri pops up the second rope and grabs Psicosis, making sure to shout a VERY audible "FUCK YOU!" at him before grabbing a front facelock for a tornado DDT attempt. Psicosis counters, landing Tajiri on his feet on the mat and then reverses to a gordbuster (sitout front suplex). Psicosis pays off the psychology by making sure to flip Tajiri off and yell "FUCK YOU!" right back at him after planting him face first on the canvas. Oh, and now the elusive ‘Lucha Libre!' chant that Psicosis wanted has started up.
Both men get to their feet and Tajiri reverses an Irish whip, but Psicosis gets a sunset flip for two. Tajiri segues his kickout right into a really cool modified surfboard where he's standing up with both of Psicosis' legs locked in an inverted Gory Special and both of his arms held behind his back. This is clearly one of those spots that's easier to see than to describe. Tajiri uses it to get a couple of two counts with Psicosis bridging a shoulder up each time (even bridging both shoulders up on the third pinfall count), but Tajiri suddenly releases the hold and drops a headbutt to Psicosis' groin. Tajiri then calmly stands up and kicks Psicosis' face into the third row. Check that, fifth row. Psicosis' simultaneous sell of the face and the groin is a thing of beauty.
Tajiri casually walks over to the downed Psicosis and kicks him in the side of the head before pushing his knee into the man's head when he retreats to the corner. Tajiri then lifts him up in the corner and gets a pair of chops. Then, when Psicosis kneels down and turns to face the turnbuckle in an attempt to cover up, Tajiri just kicks him square in the back of the head. Tajiri then stands around for a bit, leaning on the ropes in a very subtly funny moment before lifting up Psicosis in the corner and going for a cross-corner whip. Psicosis is able to reverse mid-move, putting on the breaks and getting a chop to the chest and a kick that sends Tajiri back into the corner. Psicosis goes to follow with a spear, but Tajiri moves and he ends up flying through the ropes and crashing to the floor at ringside. Tajiri then comes running with a no-hands somersault plancha over the top rope Pleased with himself, Tajiri then climbs to the top rope to pose for the crowd.
Tajiri climbs down to ringside and continues to assault Psicosis, sending him into one of the guardrails. Psicosis is able to counter a whip into another of the guardrails, sending Tajiri crashing side-first into the steel. Psicosis then drops Tajiri chest-first onto one of the barricades with a front suplex and pulls the rail towards the ring to prep for some sort of dive. He rolls back into the ring and poses for a moment before bouncing back-and-forth off the ropes and hitting a swandive plancha onto Tajiri in the crowd. He seemed to have overshot Tajiri a bit, but is still the first to recover. Psicosis grabs a chair and plants a smashes it into Tajiri's shoulder before picking him up and rolling him back into the ring.
Psicosis goes up to the top and goes for what looked like a hurricanrana, but falls way short of Tajiri and lands awkwardly in a sort of Sky High powerbomb. Both guys lay around to sell the move, but it was clearly a botch. Both men slowly get up and you can clearly see Tajiri shake his head at Psicosis in a gesture that could reasonably be interpreted as some sort of communication. Tajiri gets a double axehandle to the head and then goes to whip Psicosis off the ropes. Psicosis reverses the whip, but Tajiri gets his handspring back elbow smash Tajiri goes for a cover, but Psicosis rolls his shoulder up at two.
Tajiri goes for a powerbomb, but Psicosis counters out of it, only to get chopped in the chest a couple of times. Tajiri comes off the ropes and goes for a running inverted bodyscissors, but gets caught with a wheelbarrow suplex for a two count. Psicosis questions the count as both men move slowly to sell the exhaustion. Psicosis gets a basement front dropkick to the head as Tajiri is laying on the ground and then follows up with a kick to the back of the head as Tajiri covers up in the corner. They didn't build to it or anything, but that was a nice receipt from earlier in the match. Psicosis picks Tajiri up in the corner and whips him to the opposite turnbuckle. Psicosis then comes running and goes for what looks like it would have been a rana out of the corner, but Tajiri moves and Psicosis lands on top, crotching himself on the turnbuckle in the process. To be fair, just landing on the top rope from a standing jump is impressive, even if you don't hit a move. Tajiri gets a jumping kick to the back and then pulls Psicosis down into a tree of woe. This of course spells doom for Psicosis as Tajiri kicks him in the crotch and then gets his running baseball slide dropkick to the face that just echoes around the arena. The fans chant ‘one more time!', but Tajiri doesn't understand them and kicks Psicosis in the ribs to send him crashing down to the mat instead.
Tajiri gets a stomp to the face and covers with a lateral press for two. Tajiri picks Psicosis up and gets a pair of chops against the ropes before going for an Irish whip. Psicosis reverses that again, but Tajiri gets a hurricanrana into a cover, only to have Psicosis roll through into a sunset flip for two. Psicosis then gets a victory roll for another close two count that earns a nice ovation from the crowd. Both guys come running with a clothesline that gives us a double knockout spot.
Both guys recover and Tajiri grabs a front facelock and looks for the brainbuster. Psicosis floats over to block, but Tajiri grabs him and hits a Whippersnapper (stunner) before leaning back and immediately kicking him in the face for a close two count. Tajiri sets Psicosis on top and follows, but Psicosis fights his way into control and hits a second-rope gordbuster and calls for the Tijuana Jam (guillotine legdrop). He goes up and hits it, but is hurt and it takes him a few moments to cover, so he only gets a two count. Crowd totally bought that as the finish, so much so that you can clearly see fans sitting ringside shaking their heads in disbelief as yet another ‘E-C-Dub' chant breaks out.
Psicosis comes running off the ropes and goes for an inverted bodyscissors of his own, but Tajiri counters that by simply kneeing him in the groin. That's a simple, but undeniably effective counter. Tajiri waits for Psicosis to get to his knees and then kicks him in the head. A spinning back kick to the face sends Psicosis bouncing around in agony, so Tajiri comes running off the ropes with a basement dropkick to the face that gets the academic pin at 14:49. Tajiri is announced as the winner and the crowd gives both guys a thunderous standing ovation as we cut out.
The Analysis:
The match was great, but the crowd totally pushed this whole thing up a notch. Every so often, I get into this ROHbot bubble where I think that Ring of Honor is on par with ECW in its heyday. To be completely fair, it's not even close. The ECW Arena crowd was as jacked for Tajiri vs. Psicosis in the mid-card as ROH's New York City crowd (long considered its best market (though I'm partial to Chicago Ridge, obviously)) was for Joe vs. Kobashi. I mean we're talking about some crazy heat for this match.
As for the in-ring action, both guys pulled out a fantastic performance, marred only by the blown top-rope hurricanrana spot. And even in that case, both guys covered reasonably well, selling the damage of the spot rather than popping up to attempt a different move.
Some people will tell you that the extended parity sequences at the beginning are nothing but fun gymnastics exhibitions, but I found establishing both guys as equals to be an important part of the story that they were telling. Psicosis, who hadn't competed in the ECW Arena for nearly half a decade was being brought in against one of the crowd's favorite competitors. He needed an opportunity to prove in the ring that he was on equal footing with the dangerous Japanese Buzzsaw. The sequence with both guys talking trash and flipping the other off was a great bit of tit-for-tat, showing that competition is one of the things that can always transcend a language barrier.
In addition to Psicosis' plancha, which was absolutely breathtaking, a pair of spots that deserve an extra note are Tajiri kicking Psicosis in the back of the head when he covered up in the corner as well as him kneeing Psicosis in the groin on the flying bodyscissors attempt late in the match. Both moves showed creativity on Tajiri's part and were in that special category where a guy has to think on the fly and be imaginative to successfully attack his opponent or counter a maneuver. Great stuff from Tajiri on both counts.
The Aftermath:
Psicosis' second run with ECW would be short-lived, as he would soon leave the dying company for other Independent bookings. He would spend time with a number of companies including the ill-fated World Wrestling All-Stars and X-treme Pro Wrestling as well as numerous short runs in NWA-TNA. Eventually, Psicosis would debut for WWE as a part of the Mexicools faction with fellow luchadores (and ECW alumni) Juventud Guerrera and Super Crazy. Psicosis was eventually released from his WWE contract in November of 2006 following an incident where he was arrested for assault in conjunction with a carjacking. He has since returned to action and currently wrestles for Mexican promotion CMLL.
Not long after this match, the unlikely duo of Yoshihiro Tajiri and former ECW Triple Crown Champion Mikey Whipwreck would capture the ECW World Tag Team Titles. Though Tajiri would stay with the company until it ultimately folded in early 2001, he would quickly resurface in the then-WWF as the personal assistant of then-commissioner William Regal. Tajiri's (supposed) inability to speak English led to a number of humorous and well-received vignettes featuring the two. Additionally, Tajiri was given the opportunity to ply his trade in the ring in front of a much larger audience than he had been able to in ECW. During his run with World Wrestling Entertainment, Tajiri actually racked up a number of title victories, including a pair of Tag Team Title reigns. He requested and was granted a release from his WWE contract in late 2005 and returned home to Japan, citing a desire to spend more time with his family. Since returning to Japan, he has begun competing for All-Japan Pro Wrestling under the name TAJIRI.
The Final Word:
Many storylines and matches from ECW's original incarnation remain amongst the best in wrestling history. Though the company's dying days (and the many lackluster storylines contained therein) prove that the company was not without it's weaknesses, the heights of Extreme Championship Wrestling continue to show that a small company can indeed make an impact on the wrestling business as a whole. Without ECW, who's to say whether things like Hardcore Titles, Three-Way Dances, technical exhibitions and Lucha Libre would have ever drifted into the wrestling mainstream. ECW was THE true Independent leader in professional wrestling and continues to have lasting effects on the worldwide wrestling landscape.
This week's match is frustratingly only available on the out of print Deep Impact DVD that ECW released in 2001. Used copies are often available on Amazon or eBay, so if you're interested in picking up the disc, that's how I'd advise you to go about it. Elsewhere on the DVD are great matches pitting Jerry Lynn & Masato Tanaka against Justin Credible & the late Mike Awesome and Taz taking on Bam Bam Bigelow. The DVD also features the no-ropes Barbed Wire Match between Terry Funk and Sabu, though I caution everyone that matches of that type are not for everyone. And that that particular match is atrocious and if you want to see a good Barbed Wire Match you should watch Homicide vs. Steve Corino or BJ Whitmer vs. Necro Butcher from ROH. Also, as a final note, Tajiri vs. Psicosis is a DVD exclusive and IS NOT AVAILABLE on the VHS version of Deep Impact.
All that said, I'm on my way to dinner with my mom, because I had to work an eleven hour shift yesterday and was thus forced to bail on Mother's Day activities. Swing by next week for another solidly acceptable edition of the IMC. Oh, and I've got something special planned for June, so stay tuned.
