This is the second time I’m doing a review for this particular show. The first time around was my very first review. At that time, things were very different though. The main difference was that my review was basically Scott’s (that’s Keith) review with my input and little things that I noticed that he didn’t. I figured it was about time that I handled the three "forbidden" reviews (Super J Cup 1994 and 1995, along with BOSJ 1993) and put an end to any influence Scott Keith may have had on my work when I first started out. With that in mind, LET’S START THE BALL CAJUN!
If you ask any junior fan what show sticks out in their mind the most, odds are they will tell you one of the Super J Cup shows. The first Super J Cup was something truly special. Nothing of this scale had ever been attempted before. It’s a shame that the trend didn’t continue every year.
The participants are Masayoshi Motegi, Hayabusa, Ricky Fuji, TAKA Michinoku, The Great Sasuke, Super Delphin, Gedo, Black Tiger, Wild Pegasus, Dean Malenko, Jushin "Thunder" Lyger, Shinjiro Ohtani, El Samurai and Negro Casas. The format is a single elimination tournament with Wild Pegasus and The Great Sasuke getting a buy into the second round (does anyone know why? I’d love to know).
OPENING ROUND
DEAN MALENKO vs GEDO
Lots of ground stuff, Malenko was an outright submission machine. Tonight’s limb of choice is Gedo’s arm. LET THE SCREAMING COMMENCE! Malenko shakes things up with a Jackhammer suplex. I wonder how old that move really is? Malenko goes for a tombstone but it’s reversed and Gedo gets one of his own. He missed the Swandive headbutt and Malenko hits a BIG TIME lariat for 2 and ¾. Irish whip is reversed but Malenko flips over the top rope and comes back with a flying cross body press for 2 and ¾. Yeah that’s right… Malenko and the top rope were once good friends. Scary eh? Malenko charges in but gets caught in a powerslam and that’s all she wrote. Uh… what magical power was infused in this powerslam? Malenko carried the whole thing. **1/2
SHINJIRO OHTANI vs SUPER DELPHIN
WOO HOO… IT’S THE BITCHMASTER! Lets us all celebrate as he punishes Delphin for having the most asinine costume ever created. Well… it’s not that bad but I don’t like it anyway. Let us also attend the after party where Ohtani puts on a clinic in how to surgically remove Delphin’s left leg. Finally the onslaught ends… AWWW. Irish whip is reversed and Delphin hits a picture perfect dropkick. Delphin goes for a tilt a whirl but Ohtani slips out and fires off a spin wheel kick. Ohtani again tries to take Delphin’s leg home but no dice as Delphin gets ye olde poke in the eye. Delphin hits a DISGUSTING delayed vertical brainbuster. EEEWWW! OHTANI IS DEAD! Delphin goes for another but Ohtani slips out, fires off a dropkick and follows up with the springboard swandive plancha. Back in the ring and Ohtani continues the leg assault. SCREAM FISH BOY! Irish whip into the corner but Ohtani’s blind charge only ends up with a boot in the face. Delphin fires off the tornado DDT and ends it with THE FUCKING STUPIDEST MOVE EVER… THE DELPHIN CLUTCH! God I hate that move. ***1/4
TAKA MICHINOKU vs BLACK TIGER
Jesus… TAKA looks to be to all of ten years old here. I’m pretty sure he had to finish his homework before coming to the tournament. Now that he’s actually there, you can hear TAKA’s mommy in the background calling him home for dinner. He still has to deliver newspapers after dinner too. Eddie takes this little boy to school with a slingshot senton and a NASTY powerbomb within the first minute. Irish whip but TAKA backflips off the top rope and hits Eddie with a flying headscissors. TAKA fires off an overhead belly to belly suplex, which sends Eddie outside. TAKA follows up with a springboard plancha. Back in the ring and TAKA keeps it coming with a German suplex and a rana, each getting a two count. TAKA goes for another but gets KILLED with a powerbomb! Eddie hits the frog splash for 2 and ¾. Eddie goes for a powerbomb but it’s reversed into a sunset flip for a two count. TAKA with a powerbomb and a moonsault, each netting 2 and ½. He goes for another but Eddie gets the knees up. Eddie fires off a brainbuster for 2 and ¾ and then plants TAKA with a Tornado DDT for the three count. TAKA’s going to need some children’s Tylenol after that one. ***1/4
EL SAMURAI vs MASAYOSHI MOTEGI
If there’s one thing that’s changed since I started watching Puroresu, it’s my impression of El Samurai. I used to HATE this guy with a passion. After watching a lot more of his matches, I’ve come to appreciate him a lot more. I still attest to the fact that he didn’t really come into his own until 1997 but his stuff prior to that is still very good. Samurai runs roughshod over Motegi for a good eight minutes or so. Motegi makes the comeback with some fun stuff including locomotion inverted surfboards and rolling German suplexes. Motegi goes for another German suplex but its reversed and Samurai fires off one of his own for 2 and ¾. Samurai ends it with a BRUTAL Thunderfire powerbomb. Ugh… Motegi gets extra strength Tylenol for that one. Nothing special here. **1/2
RICKY FUJI vs NEGRO CASAS
Oh… lord. It’s the guy I hate the most out of FMW against the Lucha legend that’s never impressed me. YEAH!!! What a surprise… BORING MATCH! Casas hits a senton but misses a second one. Fuji comes back with a couple of lariats and ends it with a Tiger Driver. Ugh… I am not impressed. **
HAYABUSA vs JUSHIN "THUNDER" LYGER
HOT DIGGITY DAMN, GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME! You know how I said I hate Fuji the most out of FMW? Well… I LOVE HAYABUSA! Spot machine my ass, this guy rules it! If memory serves me right, this is the first time that Ezaki wrestled a match in Japan under the Hayabusa name. I found out a funny little tidbit a while ago: Apparently Hayabusa was offered a contract with NJPW from then best friend Jushin Lyger and when he refused Lyger got pissed and they haven’t spoken since. Ah well… Hayabusa jumps Lyger before the bell and fires off a perfect somersault plancha. Back in the ring and Hayabusa works over the leg for a bit. He eventually misses a kneedrop and Lyger returns the favour with some leg punishment. YAWN… Lyger shakes things up with a powerbomb for 2 and ½. Lyger with a BIG TIME lariat for 2 and ½. To the top and Lyger hits a superplex for 2 and ¾. Lyger goes for a shotei but it’s ducked and Hayabusa hits a leg lariat. Hayabusa to the top and he hits a top rope spinning leg lariat for 2 and ¾. Back to the top and he hits a moonsault for 2 and ¾. Hayabusa goes for a top rope twisting huracanrana (you have to see it to understand) but it misses. Busa stays on the attack with a bodyslam and goes for the Shooting Star Press but that misses by a mile. Ugh… Ezaki’s looking pretty green here. Time to go to school. Lyger hits a Lygerbomb for 2 and 9/10. Lyger goes for a top rope rana but Busa knocks him off. He goes for a leaping rana but Lyger KILLS him with a powerbomb. DEAR GOD! Lyger ends it with a Fisherman’s buster. That was pretty damn good. It would have been all the better if Hayabusa had hit his bigger spots. Ah well… ***1/2
QUARTER FINALS
SUPER DELPHIN vs GEDO
Hmm… I think the only pairing that could have been worse is Ricky Fuji vs Gedo. Ah well… I can be sure of one thing; either clutch boy or Mr. Piggy is going to job. They go for a comedy match. Now that’s something I wasn’t expecting. Overselling chops, hair pulling, low blows (no this isn’t WOW). The fans are eating this stuff up with a spoon. They only get serious near the end as Delphin executes a victory roll for 2 and ½. Gedo snaps off the power Malenko killing powerslam for 2 and ½. He hits a moonsault for 2 and ½. Delphin reverses a lariat into a crucifix for 2 and ½. Delphin hits a nice bridging waistlock suplex for 2 and ¾. A bodyslam followed up with a flying elbow gets 2 and ¾. Delphin hits the tornado DDT and gives the sign for The Delphin Clutch to a MONSTER POP! He slaps it on but Gedo reverses into a cradle for the three count. HA HA! DAMN RIGHT FISH BOY! The match suffered from a lack of heat because the crowd only popped for funny stuff after they realized they were having a half comedy match. However, the match was solid. ***
BLACK TIGER vs WILD PEGASUS
Let us all have a moment of silence as we all mourn the loss of the Japanese personas of Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit. Now then, I would like to point out that Benoit looks extraordinarily young here. It’s disturbing what steroids did to this man. Eddie brings the pain early with the slingshot senton and a nice waistlock suplex for 2 and ½. Eddies goes for the brainbuster but it’s reversed into a reverse suplex. Benoit rips Eddie’s head off with a BIG TIME lariat. Benoit executes a gorgeous German suplex along with a WILDBOMB! Each of them gets a two count. Oh yeah… while I’m at it, please note the following: "WILDBOMB!" and "BUCKWILDBOMB!" are simply names that I gave to Benoit's powerbomb. "Pegasusbomb" sounded stupid and considering the force that Benoit brings to his powerbomb (there's a reason they will not let him use it in the WWF) adding Wild at the beginning made all the difference. Buckwild is just a description I give when he brings the opponent down especially hard. Irish whip and Benoit goes for the kitchen sink but Guerrero rolls thorough into a cradle for 2 and ½. Benoit stays in control and tries to flapjack Guerrero but it’s reversed into a sweet huracanrana followed up with a German suplex for 2 and ½. Guerrero goes for a missile dropkick but Benoit swats him out of the way. HA HA! I love simple stuff like that. Guerrero stays on the attack with a springboard huracanrana and a top rope huracanrana for 2 and ¾. Guerrero goes for the tornado DDT but Benoit throws him off. He sets up Guerrero on the top for a superplex but gets knocked off. Guerrero comes off with a body press but Benoit reverses into a powerslam for the three count. Well… good match, bad ending. These two have done a lot better. ***1/2
EL SAMURAI vs THE GREAT SASUKE
Sasuke is CRAZY OVER with the crowd. Samurai dominates for the first half, working over Sasuke’s left leg with a mad man. Samurai hits a waistlock suplex and follows up with a Ziplock, which got a MONSTER POP! Hmm… must be part of the LARIATOOOOOO family of overness. Irish whip and Sasuke comes back with a handspring elbow, which sends Samurai to the floor. It’s almost scary when you hear the reaction of the crowd when they know Sasuke is going to hit a plancha. He doesn’t disappoint hitting a Space Flying Tiger Drop. HUGE POP! I can’t believe the popularity of Sasuke. Back in the ring and Samurai hits a BIG TIME lariat. Sasuke is dropkicked to the floor and Samurai hits a picture perfect somersault plancha. This crowd is starting to heat up. Back in the ring and Samurai hits a snap German suplex for 2 and 9/10. Samurai hits a bodyslam and clears about half the ring with a swandive headbutt for 2 and 9/10. Samurai goes for a powerbomb but it’s reversed into a rana rollup for 2 and ¾. Sasuke heads up top for a moonsault but Samurai cuts him off and tries an elevator drop, however Sasuke reverses that into a sunset flip. 1… 2… 2.9999999 OH MY, OH MY GAWD WHAT A NEAR FALL! THIS CROWD IS HOT! Sasuke goes for a leg lariat but it’s ducked and Samurai hits the Thunderfire Powerbomb! 1… 2… 2.999999 GOD DAMN! Samurai hits a huracanrana but Sasuke rolls through with it into a sunset flip for the three count! Hot damn, what a match. Great match with a super hot crowd. ****
RICKY FUJI vs JUSHIN "THUNDER" LYGER
Oh for pete’s sake, what’s the point of reviewing this match? There is absolutely NO CHANCE IN HELL that Fuji would ever go over Lyger in a million years. Well, I’m not bothering with play by play. I will say that Fuji actually brought some semblance of his work boots for this one. I will also say that Lyger could carry turnbuckle padding on a string to a half decent match. With those thoughts in mind, and the ending of a top rope rana, I hand you a *** rating.
SEMI FINALS
GEDO vs WILD PEGASUS
HELL YEAH! There is no one I’d rather see beat the piss out of Gedo than Benoit. Benoit whoops all forms of ass with vicious knife edge chops, bad ass stomps and a BIG TIME lariat. He goes for a dropkick but Gedo holds the ropes and slaps on the inverted full nelson. Big pop for that move. They go back and forth exchanging chops that nearly bring me to tears. CHOP HIM HARDER BENOIT! Gedo dropkicks Benoit to the outside and then hits a moonsault bodyblock from the top rope to the floor. NICE! Back in the ring and Gedo fires off the Malenko killing powerslam for 2 and ½ and a Northern Lights suplex for 2 and ½. He heads to the top but misses the swandive headbutt. TIME TO DIE PIGGY! They fight over a German suplex but Benoit eventually turns it into a WILDBOMB! for 2 and ½. He fires off another WILDBOMB! and ends it with the swandive headbutt. Short match but a very quick pace, which is always good to see. ***
THE GREAT SASUKE vs JUSHIN "THUNDER" LYGER
You want to talk about a hot crowd… DAMN! Very mat based to start with Lyger pulling off all sorts of innovative submissions. Lyger breaks it up with a koppo kick that KNOCKS SASUKE OUT! The referee is actually pushing Lyger away while he checks on Sasuke. Sasuke slowly gets to his feet and Lyger CRACKS him across the head with a Shotei. SASUKE IS OUT! Lyger pretty much tombstones a limp Sasuke and then slaps on a cross face chicken wing. GOOD MORNING… THIS IS YOUR WAKE UP CALL! Sasuke left arm is… how you say… FUCKED! Lyger uses a rollover elbow-wristlock hold segued into a Juji Gatame. Sasuke is in all sorts of trouble. Lyger heads to the top for a dropkick but Sasuke dropkicks him in mid air. Lyger to the outside and Sasuke follows up with a Quebrada moonsault. Here we go… now the crowd is hyped up again. Sasuke heads to the top and hits a beautiful somersault plancha. Back in the ring and Sasuke hits a DISGUSTING Thunderfire powerbomb for 2 and ¾. Ugh… I wonder if that Tylenol is still lying around. Sasuke tries Senton Atomico but Lyger rolls away. Sasuke manages to roll through but Lyger is right there to smack him with a shotei. Lyger hits a CRUSHING Lygerbomb for 2 and 9/10. THIS CROWD IS HOT! Sasuke’s put on the top and Lyger hits a top rope Frankensteiner for 2 and ½ but Sasuke rolls through with it and gets 2 and 99/100! WHOA… THAT WAS CLOSE! Lyger with a NECK BREAKING released German suplex for 2 and 9/10. Lyger with a Fisherman’s Buster for 2 and 9/10. NEAR FALLS, NEAR FALLS! My friends, this is a shitkicking! Lyger hits a hardcore suplex followed up with a plancha. He gets back in the ring to do a little posing and Sasuke tries to capitalize with a springboard huracanrana but he slips off the ropes. OOOHHH… there goes *****. Lyger recovers the situation by mocking Sasuke, giving him enough time to snap off a rana roll up for the victory. AWESOME MATCH! The botched spot at the end keeps it from the top rating. ****3/4
FINALS
THE GREAT SASUKE vs WILD PEGASUS
The first time I watched this match, a thought rang through my head: "Sasuke, it’s been fun but Lyger beat the shit out of you. Benoit is going to rip you apart." I’m happy to say that I was wrong on that one. Lots of flip floppy stuff to start which automatically gets the crowd nice and warmed up. More flip flop but this time Benoit steamrolls over Sasuke with a monster lariat. He follows up with a German suplex for 2 and ½. Benoit goes for a WILDBOMB! but Sasuke reverses into an arm drag. Sasuke charges in but Benoit meets him with another lariat. Sasuke to the apron and Benoit hits a springboard clothesline. Whoa… there’s something you don’t see from Benoit anymore. Back in the ring and Benoit hits the Dragon suplex for 2 and ¾. A bodyslam and swandive headbutt get 2 and ¾. Dang… Sasuke is taking another beating here. Benoit fires off a WILDBOMB! for 2 and ¾. A tilt a whirl backbreaker gets 2 and ¾. Benoit goes for a dropkick but Sasuke holds the ropes. He charges in for a lariat but Benoit ducks and executes a gorgeous German suplex for 2 and 9/10. This crowd is really heating up. Benoit goes for another Dragon suplex but Sasuke reverses into a cradle, however Benoit reverses that for 2 and ¾. Irish whip into the corner but Sasuke rebounds with a high cross bodyblock. Now it’s Sasuke’s turn to dish it out. Sasuke with a spin wheel kick which sends Benoit outside. You can feel the heat building as Sasuke gets ready. He hits a perfect Space Flying Tiger Drop to a MONSTER POP! Back in the ring and a German suplex and Fisherman suplex get respective two counts. Sasuke with another spin wheel kick, sending Benoit outside. He follows up with a missile dropkick from the top rope to the floor. NICE!!! THIS CROWD IS JACKED! Back in the ring and Sasuke executes a moonsault for 2 and ¾. Sasuke heads back up top but Benoit cuts him off and hits a SUPER GUTWRENCH SUPLEX for the three count. WOW… incredible match. The heat was through the roof for this one. It’s absolutely amazing that Sasuke was able to put on this stellar performance after taking the beating of a lifetime for almost twenty minutes in the previous match. It was a lot of fun watching this match. It was like a nineties version of the old Dynamite Kid vs Tiger Mask matches from the early eighties. Both Pegasus and Sasuke patterned their style directly from Billington and Sayama respectively. The similarities are uncanny. The bottom line is this was an amazing match. ****3/4
Final Analysis: My deepest respect goes to The Great Sasuke. He was part of all three ****+ matches. I’m not sure if there’s anyone else that could have gone almost twenty minutes in two consecutive matches and put on that kind of performance both times. If Lyger had gone over, it would have been a very bad booking decision. The crowd reaction to Sasuke was something almost beyond words. I’d venture to say he was more over with the crowd than Lyger and that’s no small feat.
As for the actual tournament, to put it quite simply, there are few tapes that can match this one. Everyone put in at least a decent effort. No match truly sucked or was even bad. Granted there are some that weren’t really good either but that is too be expected. Sasuke’s stellar performance alone make this show worth going after. An absolute must have for all puroresu fans. Highest recommendation.
