TOP OF SUPER JUNIORS 1995
The participants are Brian Pillman, Alex Wright, El Samurai, Dean Malenko, Black Tiger, Wild Pegasus, Koji Kanemoto, El Gran Hamada and Shinjiro Ohtani. I’d like to make a note that at no point during this tape does it have a match with Hamada. It’s too bad too because there is a relatively crappy match between Wright and Pillman that has no place on this tape.
ALEX WRIGHT vs BRIAN PILLMAN
Well I’ll be damned, it’s the match I was just talking about. Hmm… this match is clipped. It starts right after the submission stage. Pillman hits a couple of knife edge chops, then hits a sloppy bulldog from the top. Wright takes control after a reversal on a german suplex attempt by Pillman. Wright hits his own German Suplex and it’s… OVER? What the hell? There was all of three minutes shown on this match and I can’t figure out why it even made it on the tape. The match was about *1/2 which is not the way you want to open a commercial tape. Let’s hope the next match makes up for it.
SHINJIRO OHTANI vs WILD PEGASUS
YES!!! My prayers have been answered and I only asked about ten seconds ago. Benoit is just disgustingly juiced up here (as in on steroids). His veins are just all over the place. It reminds me of Don Muraco during the late eighties. The match starts with Ohtani working over the leg. The match is clipped (blasphemy). Ohtani works into a crossface and treats benoit like his bitch. Benoit eventually takes control and hits his snap suplex. This match isn’t all that good so far. Ohtani retakes control with his springboard dropkick and springboard swandive plancha. They re-enter the ring where Benoit attempts the WILDBOMB!, which is reversed into a sunset flip by Ohtani. Benoit rips off Ohtani’s head with a lariat. Benoit goes for the swandive headbutt but it only gets a two count. Benoit goes for the Dragon Suplex, it’s reversed by Ohtani. Ohtani goes for the Dragon Suplex but Beniot runs to the ropes. So what does Ohtani do? He dropkicks Benoit in the back of the head. I LOVE THIS GUY! Ohtani hits the Dragon Suplex but Benoit is in the ropes. Benoit retakes control and hits a WICKED released german suplex. Benoit nails a WILDBOMB! And it gets a 2 9/10. Benoit hits the BUCKWILDBOMB! and you had better believe it’s over. The match was just above solid. ***1/4
BLACK TIGER vs KOJI KANEMOTO
You know, Kanemoto could be infinitely better if he’d actually you know… SELL SOMETHING! I like to look at it like he’s just a punk with no respect for anyone, but we all know he just doesn’t like to sell for his opponents. JERK!!! This match is CLIPPED! Oh fucking hell. We start with Kanemoto hitting a plancha from the top. Kanemoto goes for a pescado but Black Tiger pretty much moves all of a foot to the right. HA HA!!! YOU SELL THAT ONE BOY! Black Tiger hits a plancha of his own. Black Tiger tries to suplex Kanemoto into the ring but no dice and Kanemoto hits a hardcore suplex. We re-enter the ring and Black Tiger hits the brainbuster for two. Kanemoto hits a german suplex for two. Kanemoto goes for the springboard senton but it misses by a mile. That’s just plain sad. Black Tiger sells the move anyway. Kanemoto goes for his moonsault, lands on his feet and then hits Black Tiger with a superkick. He places Tiger on the turnbuckle, points to him so as to say "You should feel priviledged that I’m hurting you" and then hits the rana. It gets a two count. Black Tiger goes for a brainbuster but it’s reversed so Eddie hits him with a low blow. HA HA! There’s two things you have to sell in pro wrestling, the eye gouge/rake and the low blow. Now Black Tiger hits the Brainbuster. Black Tiger hits the Crucifix Power Bomb but it only gets two. Black Tiger places Kanemoto on the top turnbuckle and hits a TOP ROPE BRAINBUSTER! You had better believe that this match is over. I didn’t like the fact that the beginning was clipped but the rest was really good. ***1/2
DEAN MALENKO vs BLACK TIGER
The match is clipped right into the middle. They fight over a bunch of reversals and Black Tiger hits the brainbuster. Man he really likes that move. Black Tiger goes for the frog splash but that wasn’t his finisher so it gets no respect. In fact it gets knees in the gut. Black Tiger goes for a roll up but its reversed for two. Malenko looks tired so you can tell the clipping is deep into the match. Malenko hits a belly to back suplex. He goes for something off of the top but Black Tiger stops that cold and hits a top rope rana. Black Tiger goes for the Gory special (submission version). No one in the crowd seems to care. I don’t really blame them. They exchange the old sunset flip reversal sequence. Malenko hits a powerbomb and then slaps on the cloverleaf. Black Tiger tries for the ropes but Malenko pulls him back. Black Tiger goes for the ropes a second time, and now the crowd is into it. Malenko pulls him back yet again and this time it’s over. I HATE CLIPPING! **1/2 Post match has Black Tiger offering a handshake. The idiot Malenko takes it and Black Tiger rewards his stupidity with a short clothesline. The moral of the story is; never trust the heel.
WILD PEGASUS vs EL SAMURAI
They have El Samurai in the match so I’m hoping that the match is clipped. YES!!! Benoit is just beating the crap out of Samurai. He hits the kitchen sink. Samurai sells the move like someone jabbed a knife in his gut. HA HA! Knives are fun. The match is clipped a second time. The good people who made this tape are giving Samurai all the respect that he deserves. Benoit hits a super belly to back suplex but hurts his head. Figures… Benoit never does that right. Benoit manages to recover and goes for the cover. It gets two. Samurai has had ABSOLUTELY NO OFFENSE! Benoit goes for another Super belly to back but it’s reversed in mid air and it gets a two count. Samurai hits a top rope rana for two, la majistral cradle for two, and another rana for two. Benot takes control with a german suplex, a butterfly suplex, a super overhead belly to belly suplex and then a regular overhead belly to belly. Samurai re-assumes control and hits The Thunderfire Powerbomb for two. Benoit hits the WILDBOMB! for a two count. They enter a roll up sequence and the time runs out. I really hate that ending but what they showed here was pretty damn good. It’s a testament to Benoit when I like a Samurai match that’s been clipped TWICE! The match was ***1/2 from what I saw. Had it been non-clipped with a definitive winner, I’d say it would have been better than their 1993 Super Junior Final Match.
That’s the end of the "round robin." I’d like to have words with the person that made this commercial release. Instead of putting more super junior matches on this tape and keeping the clipped stuff complete, they elected to put some NJPW vs UWF crap at the end of it instead. GARBAGE!
SEMI FINALS
BLACK TIGER vs WILD PEGASUS
NO MORE CLIPPING! YEAH! You really can’t go wrong with these two. I don’t count that RAW match from a couple of months back. Give them a PPV slot and I’ll be a very happy person. Match starts out with a REALLY LONG feel out process. Both guys exchange a bow and arrow submission. It leads nowhere by the way. Black Tiger hits a drop toe hold and goes for the camel clutch. Benoit escapes the hold. Black Tiger goes for the Gory Special and then drops Benoit on his head. He hits a powerbomb and then hits a pump handle backbreaker. NICE!!! Benoit finally takes control. He hits a tilt a whirl backbreaker for two. Benoit hits a figure four around the head that seems to go on forever. Black Tiger escapes and suplexes Benoit to the outside. Black Tiger hits a nice plancha from the top. Benoit returns the favour with a tope suicida. Back in the ring and Black Tiger hits a rana. He nails Benoit with a nasty Saito Suplex. You’d think it was Kawada laying down that move. Benoit landed hard on his neck. It was just nasty! Eddie continues bringing the pain. He hits the crucifix power bomb for a two count. He irish whips Benoit into the turnbuckle but its reversed and Eddy hits chest first. Benoit hits him with a belly to back suplex and then lays down a BUCKWILDBOMB! God damn that was just vicious. It gets two? WHAT? Benoit can’t believe it. Benoit hits him with the Dragon Suplex for two. This match ROCKS! Benoit irish whips him in, its reversed and Eddie gets a roll up. Benoit goes for yet another WILDBOMB! but Black Tiger reverses and hits a great looking Brainbuster. It only gets two because Benoit rules the planet. Black Tiger sets up Benoit for Splash Mountain but Benoit rolls out of it. Black Tiger kicks him in the head and hits a really nice looking Tornado DDT. He goes for the cover and it gets 2 99/100. This match is just amazing. Benoit looks dead. Black Tiger looks like he wants to join him. Benoit is set up on the turnbuckle. It looks like its going to be a top rope rana. Benoit is fighting it. Benoit repositions Black Tiger into a SECOND ROPE TOMBSTONE! This wasn’t your Super J Cup 1995 piece of crap tombstone. Benoit got all of it and you better believe that this match is over. The match was ****1/2 and Black Tiger even does the stretcher job. This match is reason enough to get this tape.
KOJI KANEMOTO vs SHINJIRO OHTANI
Let me get this straight. You’ve got "No Seller" vs "Super Seller?" Uh huh… this should prove interesting. They start out quick. Ohtani goes for a dropkick but Kanemoto holds on to the ropes. Kanemoto goes for a spin wheel kick, it misses and then both guys go for a dropkick. After that, this match settles into submissions. A LOT of submissions. TEN – TWELVE MINUTES of submissions. Really funny part as Ohtani breaks a submission up, gets kicked in the chest which he no sells but then Kanemoto spits on him and Ohtani sells THE SPIT like he’s been shot in the head. Finally we get the moveset. Ohtani attempts a top rope rana but Kanemoto has none of it. So Kanemoto puts Ohtani on the top. He points to Ohtani, lays down some verbal smack, and then hits the rana. This guy is a pompous jerk. Ohtani takes control with a spinning wheel kick. He hits a top rope rana, and Ohtani hits hjs springboard dropkick. To the outside we go as Ohtani hits a great looking springboard plancha. They roll back into the ring. Kanemoto gains control and dropkicks Ohtani out. He hits a tope con hilo but it didn’t look right. I don’t think Ohtani was in the right position to catch him. Back in the ring and Kanemoto hits a tombstone piledriver and hits a sweet looking moonsault for two. Kanemoto goes for the springboard senton and then another moonsault. He lands on his feet but Ohtani is there to meet him from behind. Ohtani hits The Dragon Suplex and it’s over. This match was solid but the submissions made me wish they were still using clipping. ***
FINALS
WILD PEGASUS vs SHINJIRO OHTANI
I’m always torn when I watch these two wrestle because I just can’t choose a winner. Feel out process to start. It segues into a grecko roman knuckle lock. Benoit assumes control and applies a crossface. Ohtani escapes and Benoit steamrolls over Ohtani with a shoulderblock. Benoit goes the WILDBOMB! but Ohtani reverses into an arm drag. Ohtani dropkicks Benoit to the outside and then hits the springboard swandive plancha. Benoit re-enters the ring and Ohtani puts on the figure four around the head. Benoit escapes and nails Ohtani with a belly to back. Benoit hits a snap suplex for two. Benoit executes a figure four around the head of his own. Ohtani reverses and places a camel clutch on Benoit. He moves into a cross armbreaker. Benoit turns the move over and then puts on a camel clutch of his own. Benoit releases the hold and attempts a german suplex. It’s reversed and Ohtani hits a released german suplex. Ohtani goes for an arrogant cover which gets THE WIN!!! (just kidding) Ohtani hits a dropkick and covers but Benoit’s leg is in the ropes. Ohtani hits a figure four around the head + cross arm breaker combination hold. Benoit escapes and hits four nasty looking knife edge chops. Benoit hits the WILDBOMB! but it only gets two. Why you ask? Because the referee is an idiot. He didn’t pace the count and you could tell he was hesitating on the three. That’s really just sloppy work. Benoit attempts another WILDBOMB! but its reversed into a sunset flip for two. Benoit remains in control and hits Ohtani with a bodyslam. He goes up to the top for the Swandive Headbutt but it misses. Ohtani hulks up while Benoit slowly dies. Ohtani goes for the Dragon Suplex but it’s blocked so he has to settle for a german suplex. Obviously that’s not enough though. Ohtani picks him up and hits a spinning back kick. Irish whip which is reversed by Benoit. Ohtani pulls a flair flip and then pulls out a springboard huracanrana. Ohtani goes back out to the apron and waits for Benoit to get up. Ohtani hits a nice springboard dropkick to the back of the neck. Benoit’s not looking so good here. Ohtani goes for The Dragon Suplex and Benoit lands on his head. Benoit kicks out at 2 ¾. Ohtani raises his hand in victory. I almost feel bad for him. ALMOST! Ohtani irish whips Benoit into the ropes, its reversed and Benoit hits a very crisp spinebuster. He stands over Ohtani, pulls off his elbowpad and… NAH! That’d be a disgrace to wrestling. Benoit gets a double leg cradle out of the spinebuster for a two count. Benoit gets back up and sets up Ohtani with a Dragon Suplex. Stupid crappy ref screws up the count again. No pacing at all from this idiot. Here comes the ending as Benoit places Ohtani on the top rope facing the crowd. It looks like a super belly to back suplex. Ohtani elbows him off and then hits a top rope dropkick. Ohtani goes back up to the top but Benoit gets up and sinches him up for the second rope tombstone piledriver. What do you think? Ohtani’s not kicking out of that move. NO ONE KICKS OUT OF THAT MOVE! ****
Post match has the gaijin hoist Benoit up on their shoulders. I’m glad Pillman got such good usage in this tournament. Being ½ of the shoulder holding guys is a pretty big responsibility.
This tape is pretty good and is definitely recommended. The Black Tiger vs Wild Pegasus match was incredible and should be added to any and all high flyer compilation tapes.
Justin Baisden
Rolling Germans Wrestling
