Kitao Dojo – Buki 06/14/94
By Maffew Gregg on 4 February 2024
Kitao Dojo
Korakuen Hall
Attendance: 2,050
We open with footage of Kitao training and uhhhh let’s just say Elvis was more convincing as a karate guy.
Like last time, we’re using a big drum to start fights instead of a ring bell. Must have cost a tenor.
Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Yuji Yasuraoka
Future Dragon Gate great Mochizuki here. Masaaki misses a kick and both men fight on the mat like cats in a back alley at 2am with neither getting an advantage. Yuji absorbs some knees to chop Masaaki down for the first standing eight count of the night. But then Masaaki pops back up and immediately locks in a Fujiwara Armbar, with Yuki rolling out of it to land repeated kicks to the head before following with multiple German Suplexes and a Double Armlock. Masaaki ignores that to land a German of his own before kicking Yuji so hard his own belt flies off his Gi. Yuji can’t continue at 2:51.
Fast, spirited affair. Yuji would flame out of wrestling in 1999.
Masanobu Kurisu vs. Takashi Okamura
Kurisu is the prototypical Old Hard Japanese Bloke. This is Okamura’s debut and if you Google his name, he’s like the eighth result. Kurisu probably has socks in his drawer older than him. Kurisu offers a handshake but Takashi declines and throws some kicks to this ancient, balding guy who clearly doesn’t stand a chance. Okamura puts him in the ropes, slaps him across the face and then proceeds to kick and choke the youngster as hard as possible. Oof. Takashi tries a Figure Four but Kurisu’s like “yeah, wrong move for this match mate” and immediately stands out of it to slam the youngster by his leg. Kurisu headbutts the young un with the ref demanding an attempt on checking on him, which allows Takashi to land some solid kicks (but not as hard as before). He naively attempts to come off the top rope which is easily side-stepped, before getting stamped in the face. Yikes. Kuriso allows Takashi to get some mild offence in but it’s clear he’s just stretching this out artificially as nothing Takashi is doing looks like it affects his opponent in the slightest. Then Takashi out of nowhere jump-kicks Kurisu right in the face, causing Kurisu to stomp and slap the geek. Surprisingly it doesn’t end there as Kurisu again stretches this out for entertainment purposes by blocking a kick and converting it into a Single Crab at 5:44.
Felt like Ben Hur compared to the other matches in terms of length, especially when Kurisu was clearly playing with his food throughout most of it. Fun if you enjoy grumpy old men beating up kids for way longer than necessary. Looking at you, Kensuke Sasaki.
Akio Kobayashi vs. Nobukazu Hirai
I didn’t realise I’d be watching so many Hirai matches at this point in my life. Both men go through a grapple cycle on the mat before Hirai’s bland shots do something and then he lands back suplexes onto Akio’s head. Akio lands a kick that resembled Test’s big boot to…win at 4:16. Huh. Hirai got out-classed by Dink The Clown a few weeks ago, who cares.
Koki Kitahara vs. JR Carson
Carson of course hailing from the “USA branch of Kitao Dojo.” I love wrestling bullshit. Crowd still inexplicably go mad at the sight of JR, whose qualifications seem to be “American”. Koki can’t lock in a Fujiwara cos Biker Mullet is moving too much so they get vertical and exchange some starter kicks, with JR not liking any of them. He folds up every time anything is thrown, but manages to come back with a shoulder charge. Just a running, hairy wall. Crowd aren’t thrilled with that kind of offence because it’s supposed to look relatively real, and they’re also not raving when Koki makes him submit shortly afterwards with a Double Arm after a very quick 3:05. I see car wash fund-raises in Kitao Dojo USA’s future.
Koki Kitahara vs. Akio Kobyashi
Koki gets cocky with some high axe kicks, like the ones Law throws in Tekken but they all miss. Akio’s don’t and soon Koki is down after a shot to the ribs. Both men trade kicks to the ribs but one of those men is wearing a Gi so like a Miz babyface push, it goes nowhere slow. Akio tries some knees to the head but that leaves him wide open to getting grabbed and dropped on his head with a backdrop suplex. Koki applies a front ankle lock (aka the missionary), with Akio doing an admirable job of resisting and fidgeting to try and wrangle out of it. I love a good wrangle. Koki stares at Akio just so he’s tempted to kick his annoying face, which he does but Koki dodges easily. Oh that’s good troll work. Akio escapes by kicking Koki’s arm to release the hold, leading to Akio continue throwing limbs at that body part for another knockdown. Just when this is getting good, Koki ruins it by landing a perfect Exploder suplex with his supposed knackered arm and wins with a single crab. Well that was the best thing on the show with both men doing a good job of presenting the offence as a struggle, until the illogical effortless ending. Ah well.
Koji Kitao vs. James Magnum
Magnum is wearing an ICO PRO shirt. Crowd don’t sound as enthused for Kitao as last show. Koji’s opening flurry of strikes look like they couldn’t break the skin off a rice pudding so thankfully Magnum takes Kitao down and locks in a choke-armbar-thing so his opponent doesn’t have to do more than lie on his front. Kitao gets his slow-mo kicks before extending his arms and Magnum has to visibly walk into his arms so he can take a uranage. Urgh. Magnum gets lightly tapped and falls unconvincingly to the mat.
Magnum shoves Kitao who does his best to act confused before kicking Magnum in the legs causing him to fall down and be unable to get up at 2:29. Crowd aren’t impressed with the leg kick finish and jeer loudly. A complete failure with Kitao looking like he’d struggle to break wind.
Koji Kitao vs. Al Snow
Al lets us know he’s the smaller guy in the match so he’s prepared for this contest by watching Godzilla movies. I hope he lowered his expectations and watched the 1998 one.
Kitao starts by sweeping Snow’s entire body off the mat with one leg to a big pop. Al dodges a front kick and locks in an ankle lock in one smooth motion, before releasing it to try a Fujiwara instead. This is genuinely good and it’s been ten seconds. Kitao ROLLS OUT of the armbar before landing kicks that are much faster now and the crowd actually reacts to them. His punches are still awful so Al fires back with a few of his own and drops Kitao with a Backdrop Suplex for the pop of the night. A seated sleeper can’t put away Kitao, who stands up and immediately kicks Al in the side (which Al pretends was to his head like a pro) and the crowd are enjoying this so much they’re begging Al to get back up so they can have some more. And back up he gets, only for Kitao to scoop him up and SPIKE HIM WITH A SIT-OUT OWENDRIVER.
AL SOMEHOW STANDS UP AFTER THAT so Kitao locks in a large Fujiwara to end it properly at 3:19.
I don’t know if it was just the lack of good stuff on the undercard or the crowd’s loud reactions but I really enjoyed this main event. Kitao seemed motivated and/or angry because of the negative reaction he received against Magnum, and as a result he was moving around like a completely different guy. The crowd also seemed to be more into it because of the size difference and wanted to see the snake eat the rat like in that Rob Black video.
Overall: Just a curiosity with only the Al Snow match worth really seeking out. Not many times that’s been typed out in the history of wrestling, but here we are.
