(Almost) 5-Star Match Reviews: Tajiri vs. Super Crazy – ECW, January 15, 2000

ECW was about more than just crazy hardcore bullshit. Sometimes it featured crazy hardcore bullshit but with LUCHA and FLIPS. And that’s exactly what these two smaller guys pulled off. In fact, these two had one of the better matches from ECW to survive to the present day, which says a lot given that actual ECW matches have by and large aged poorly since they were usually great examples of “great in the moment but not much else”. Let’s see how this one holds up.

The Story

Tajiri and Super Crazy began feuding at the start of 1999. They began trading losses on a weekly and sometimes nightly basis. They fought in singles matches, tag matches, and other multi-man situations. They fought on ECW’s televised shows and house shows, and even took their feud to Puerto Rico and to FMW in Japan. They even tagged together on a few occasions but those situations could be best described as “temporary, uneasy allies” situations.

By the time this match came around Tajiri had 31 wins while Super Crazy had 21, with the rest being either double losses or tag situations. With each passing encounter their matches got more violent and intense. Thus to reach the next level one of their televised matches would be booked as a deathmatch without any rules.

The Match

This was taped on January 15, 2000 and broadcast on January 21, 2000. It was rated **** by the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer.

This is a Mexican Deathmatch though you wouldn’t know that from the lack of anything distinctly “Mexican” in or around the ring. They tease a lock-up but Tajiri hits a gut kick and applies a headlock. A commercial break occurs just as the opening exchange begins and when we come back Tajiri has Crazy upside down in the tree of woe and hits a sliding dropkick. Tajiri throws two more chairs into the ring to add to the one already there. Someone trash-talks Tajiri so he spits on him. Tajiri places three chairs one in front of the other by Crazy’s face and lands another big sliding dropkick. Then he introduces a table as Crazy starts bleeding. Tajiri spits on Crazy and also appears to spray mist in his eyes at close range. He smashes Crazy’s face into a table and tries to slide a chair across it but Crazy ducks at the last second. A second one misses Crazy but appears to hit a fan but this fan doesn’t sell it. I think Tajiri bows apologetically but he’s got a huge smile on his face so who knows. Tajiri follows with a Buzzsaw kick and then places Crazy onto the table. He lands a diving foot stomp but the table doesn’t break so he does one more. There we go, there’s the table break.

Tajiri throws the remnants of that table to the floor and hits Crazy with another Buzzsaw kick. Tajiri drops to his knees and mocks Crazy with an exaggerated face. LOL. Tajiri goes for an Irish whip but Crazy reverses and hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker followed by a quebrada for a two-count. Crazy dumps him into the floor and they start brawling into the crowd. Crazy brains Tajiri with a chair-shot to the head. Crazy puts Tajiri on a table and some fans help him up onto some bleachers, from where he dives with a moonsault and crashes into Tajiri and breaks another table.

Crazy drags Tajiri into the ring and lands some kicks. He lands some corner punches which bust Tajiri open but Tajiri bounces back with a handspring back elbow. Crazy answers with a clothesline and both men go down for a bit. Crazy crotches Tajiri on the top rope and hits a springboard enzui clothesline for two. Crazy blocks a kick but Tajiri counters with the Tarantula followed by a bridging German suplex for two. Crazy blocks a Brainbuster and Tajiri blocks a German. Tajiri dropkicks Crazy’s knee and baseball slide dropkicks him from ringside into the stands. Tajiri follows with a quebrada that sends them both crashing.

Tajiri sets up another table using the ropes but turns around to eat a missile dropkick. Crazy sets up his own table but Tajiri grabs a ring wrench. Shuffle side kick by Tajiri. Tajiri gashes Crazy with that wrench. Crazy ducks a kick and tries to powerbomb Tajiri through a table. Tajiri blocks by spraying mist in Crazy’s eyes. He dives for an attack but Crazy counters with a powerbomb through one of the tables to get the three-count.

Winner after 12:58: Super Crazy

You can watch the match here.

Review

This is a fine little hardcore demolition derby, the typical bread-and-butter that ECW offered at the time. It was quick, violent, and to the point. There wasn’t much story aside from two guys wanting to destroy each other. And yet Tajiri was animated and showed plenty of personality. The way he mocked Super Crazy added some flair to what would’ve otherwise been another weapons exchange. Tajiri was the star here as he acted all devious and setup all the roadblocks for Crazy to overcome. You really got a sense of what he was about as a performer from this short match: devious, unpredictable, and arrogant. One could even watch this on mute and still follow along without getting lost or confused. Though I wouldn’t recommend that since part of the appeal is the gritty and vocal atmosphere the fans bring to each match no matter who is involved in it.

Final Rating: ***

This was good but not exceptional in any way. It was slightly above expectations for a lower-card/house show feud but nothing game-changing. Still, though, for an under-fifteen-minute match this was fun and a decent way to pass the time. Tajiri was the bigger star here as he led the match and did more to portray himself as more than just another random lower-carder.

I’ve read his book about wrestling and it’s a very insightful guide on how he perceived wrestling and how one can succeed in it. Many of the lessons he imparts about pro-wrestling were on display in this match, which may be why people remember Tajiri a bit more than many other lower-card wrestlers to go through ECW and then WWF/E around the turn of the century.

Thanks for reading.