WAR Wrestle Association-R – WAR-ISM 11/09/96
By Maffew Gregg on 20 October 2024
Korakuen Hall
Attendance: 2,100
I don’t know what the name of this show is. Cagematch says WAR-ISM ’96, the VHS says REVIVE but Quebrada says “Dohatsu Tenryu Shin Nihon Seitetsu Genkosu Seisai.”
Speaking of not caring:
WAR, Kitao Dojo, Wrestle Dream Factory, Michinoku Pro, Big Japan, Samurai Project (Ryuma Go’s promotion), Battlarts and the defunct IWA are joining together as “The Union” as the groups had a press conference on 11/23.
Basically it appears that these groups are joining together for their secondary level real-life war with the new Tokyo Pro Wrestling which includes much of the falling apart UWFI and the IWA guys that quit like Tarzan Goto, Mr. Gannosuke and Flying Kid Ichihara.
Yeah Tokyo Pro wouldn’t make it to 1997 so all of that would be unnecessary. Like casting Knights Of The Round on a Dire Wolf.
Jun Kikuchi vs. Gokauku Umibozu
Gokuaku dogs Jun for five minutes until he retaliates with a Butterfly suplex. Gokauku goes back to dogging (not like that) before dropping Jun on his head with an awkward powerbomb and ending with a moonsault at 6:27 despite Jun kicking out. Ooof.
At least the Korakuen fans were making noise, even if it was yells of “what is this shit??”
Battle Ranger vs. Masayoshi Motegi
Ranger gets thrown around until we clip to Ranger making a comeback by diving off the top to the outside directly into a Motegi chairshot. Motegi maniacally flexes while grinning before busting out a top rope Frankensteiner for two. Ranger retaliates with a unique looking German Suplex where Ranger releases but very late on the throw which leaves him in an interestingly high angle. Not interesting enough to win so Motegi counters a Frank off the top into a powerbomb before going all out with a crazy twisting Doctor Bomb off the top to definitely finish at 10:58.
Hard to judge because of the clipping but what we got looked pretty cool, especially that rollercoaster of a finish.
Masaaki Mochizuki & Takashi Okamura vs. Kamikaze & Masakazu Fukuda
Kitao Dojo vs. Wrestle Yume Factory! Yeah that means nothing at this point.
Mochizuki starts off wonderfully with lighting kicks and suplexes. Okamura is the same but he’s dressed like a seventies coke fiend settling down for the evening. We’re clipped which is a shame as the crowd are really into interpromotional activities, even if one of those companies is technically dead. I think all the WYF offence has been clipped out as all we get is kicks and chair shots from the proud Kitao lads. Ah wait, Fukuda lariats Mochizuki into next week before landing the type of dropkick you’d throw if you were fighting a truck. Kamikaze dodges the kicks and lands a spectacular Sasuke Special to the Dojo lads.
We clip some more with Fukuda still trying to dropkick Mochizuki’s soul out of his mortal being but he keeps kicking out. The WYF lads really keep on the pressure which I like to see, none of this panting and wandering around like you see with a lot of WAR lads. Mochizuki comes back with a wonderful leg sweep to stop a charging Fukuda and wins with a flash La Magistral at 13:02! WYF crew are fuming and try to brawl afterwards before getting separated.
Even clipped, this ruled. Plenty of stiffness and hate and a real urgency to kill your opponent because of Dojo pride.
Doink The Clown vs. Onryo
They flew in Doink? And it’s the Ray Apollo version? Wow. This is Onryo’s debut after starting off in WYF and PWFG. His gimmick is being dead so I’m curious as to how that worked in the shoot-style companies. Probably better than Undertaker when he had those kid gloves on. Anyway Korakuen Hall fucking loves Doink as he sprays water in the ref’s eyes.
The women are squealing for Onryo because they think they can change him. They can’t. He’s dead. Onryo tries a crossbody but Doink grabs him for some spanking. I’ve had dreams like this. Onryo bumps around trying to hit Doink while the clown tee-hees and side-steps while the fans applaud. Doink hams it up while Onryo takes a needed breather on the outside to get his death life back. Onyro’s comeback isn’t much and crowd only react when Doink starts landing backslides. Onryo lariats Doink who reacts like an American getting hit by a Japanese lariat for the first time. Onyro’s second holds Doink so the dead man can fly off the top with a swanton. Then out of respect to Onryo, the crowd dies as no-one wants to see Doink on defence. After a few belly-to-bellies, Doink lands the Whoopee Cushion at 6:36.
This was a million times better than I thought it was going to be as just like in the 1994 WWF tour, Puro fans love Doink. I think this says more about the Japanese love of torturing strangers than Apollo’s abilities but this was at least half good.
Post-match, Doink puts over Onryo as only an American can:
“He’s short but he’s got a lot of fight in him!”
Arashi & Osamu Tachihikari vs. Bam Bam Bigelow & Nobukazu Hirai
Osamu is wearing a Converse hoodie which has killed that brand’s reputation quicker than any white guy can. Bam Bam explains this match is a wrestling match which will be different to his ultimate match which is next week oh no no no it’s that time already? More on that next week.
Anyway we’re JIP which is the best way to enjoy Osamu matches. He’s full of vinegar here as he chokeslams Hirai and- oh never mind we clip quickly ahead to Bam overselling Arashi because he’s a pro.
Bigelow bounces all over the place for the lump as the crowd soaks it up like tempura. Hirai slams Osamu on the outside and dumps a load of chairs onto him to set up a running dive down the stairs and over the guard rail but he trips and Shockmasters himself in the best thing I’ve ever seen him involved in.
An upset Hirai suplexes Osamu on the chairs and repeats the spot but the crowd are too busy laughing to care. Hirai apparently hurt his leg repeating it so Arashi gently works him over until Bam tags in and we clip some more which is for the best…wait they’re clipping the match but they left Hirai’s trip in? You know what, I respect that.
Hirai makes a comeback but the crowd don’t care because he did the damage to himself. Bigelow and Hirai land double diving headbutts together to prove they’re friends until a top rope elbow from Hirai ends it to noticeable “oooo”s at 14:20.
Crowd don’t like Hirai the way WAR likes Hirai. Still, with the help of an editing machine this wasn’t half bad (and funny) thanks to Bigelow’s efforts and Hirai’s coordination.
THE SPECIAL MATCH
Genichiro Tenryu & Nobutaka Araya vs. Kazuo Yamazaki & Takashi Iizuka
Tenryu is preparing for his big match with Takada by wrestling UWF-I representative Yamazaki and uhhh NJPW’s Iizuka. This was supposed to be Tenryu vs. Yamazaki but Yamazaki injured his ribs so it’s a tag match because UWF-I guys don’t let a little thing like “rib injury” get in the way of anything.
Tenryu and Yamazaki start off and it’s all staring and evil eyes until Yamazaki flurries Tenryu in the corner with headbutts and kicks. The ref can’t separate them so Yamazaki throws him out the way so Araya has to save by clobbering Yamazaki in the back of the head. Tenryu gets dropkicked a few times by Iizuka leading to Araya tagging in to…do something we miss as Tenryu is so pissed off at the beating he took that he circled around the outside to chair-shot Yamazaki who falls off the apron and takes out the cameraman. It’s not often you get jump scares in wrestling.
Araya gets ankle locked and looks for help but Tenryu is still hunting Yamazaki so he has to get the ropes by himself. Luckily Tenryu is there to get his knees in the way of Iizuka so Araya can tag in Mr. Mad who chops Iizuka so hard it sounds like someone dropping five pounds of steak onto a kitchen floor. Iizuka tries to fire his own shots but Tenryu gives him the death stare and continues as if he didn’t hear him. Araya works over Iizuka but his offence is so gentle by comparison it’s like a rest for Iizuka until Tenryu tags in to terrorise him some more with terrifying chops and kicks to the face. This goes on and on with Tenryu getting madder and madder until Iizuka counters with a high-angled Sambo Suplex.
Yamazaki comes in and seeing Tenryu block a German Suplex, turns it into a sleeper. Araya immediately breaks it up to boos, leading to Araya doing a little pose to the fans in response. Ha! Yamazaki sees it and proceeds to sink in a tight ankle pick, with Tenryu having to land a dozen knees in order to release him. Iizuka tags back in for sweet revenge which sees Araya put up too much of a fight and needing Yamazaki to tag in, who also takes a pasting from Araya. Hey he’s supposed to be the easy one. Tenryu chops away at Yamazaki, again ignoring any offence he throws Tenryu’s way and it’s only when Iizuka locks in an ankle lock that he sells. Araya saves him again (leading to another cheeky taunt!) but Tenryu misses the lariat and gets locked in again. Araya tries to save but Iizuka beats him up before he can attempt it. Araya tags in proper to Moonsault Iizuka for two, with Tenryu (still mad) lariating and Blind Elbowing for two. Tenryu surprisingly manages a Superbomb off the second rope which may or may not be a jab at Fuyuki-Gun leaving as it gets kicked out of easily. While Araya brawls with Yamazaki on the outside, Tenryu lariats and WAR Specials Iizuka for the submission at 15:19
Very one-sided but also really tense and fun at the same time. Tenryu when heated and raging is so damn fun to watch and is a big reason I’m staying with WAR despite the entire roster leaving. You couldn’t tell Yamazaki was injured because he only needed to stare to get a pop from the crowd. Araya also stepped up here which is nice because it’s about time one of Tenryu’s mates did something.
International Junior Tag Title Match
Jushin Thunder Liger & El Samurai vs. Yuji Yasuraoka & Lance Storm
Tenryu not headlining is rare, hopefully not as rare as Liger and Samurai taking their opponents seriously.
Liger immediately surfboards Yuji and reminds him who he is. Samurai and Lance go at it in a much more evenly contested encounter. Liger takes Lance down with a missionary position ankle lock that allows Liger to yell “ASK HIM ASK HIM” as Lance throws weak shots at Liger’s chest. Liger releases (out of boredom) so Yuji can play with Samurai until Liger gets tired of the middling action and Kappo Kicks a defenceless Yuji in the corner. Yuji gets kicked in the head a bunch (which always seems to happen in his matches) but crowd aren’t getting behind him. Probably because he’s wrestling one of the greatest to ever do it. And Liger. Jushin hears the silence so after German tossing Yuji he starts flipping off the crowd. That still doesn’t work. Yuji continues taking Boston Crabs from Samurai but the only people screaming for him are the women who loved Onryo earlier because both their careers are dead.
Liger bends Yuji into a 90 degree angle with a camel clutch but crowd still aren’t buying what he’s selling. Liger misses an avalanche enabling him to double dropkick his foes before tagging in Lance who lands The Rubbish Handspring in the corner before a much better top rope spinning wheel kick. Samurai sends Lance outside so Liger can whip Samurai into a turbo-charged plancha. Yuji follows with his very high crossbody and Liger finishes with his own lesser crossbody. Crowd politely applauds. Samurai lands multiple reverse DDTs that can’t put away Lance, so Liger tags in to take the Rolling Single Crab…before grabbing Lance and turning it into a Sunset Flip. Oh that was a lovely reversal.
Less lovely is Lance taking a Kappo Kick directly to the chin and is either selling really well or legit loopy. Liger splashes Lance for two with a noticeably slower count from the ref just in case. Yuji stays on offence with Liger which no-one is believing so Liger Palm Strikes the mullet right off him. Double powerbomb also knocks Yuji loopy so Samurai assists by landing another. A recovered Lance saves the day and Liger piledrives him on the concrete in response. Seems a bit harsh.
While that’s going on, Yuji connects with a German Suplex pin for two on Samurai which gets the crowd thinking it could happen. Lance rolls back in, recovering really quickly from his piledriver to twat Samurai into a roll-up, which is quickly reversed by Samurai so Lance hears the girl’s screams and turns around at the last second to break it up. That was nice and the crowd are finally reacting. Liger gets dumped outside so Lance and Yuji connect with their double team powerbomb/top rope dropkick, with Lance making sure Liger is dead with an enormous plancha. That looked sweet. Yuji is left alone with Samurai who takes his double-jump dropkick to set up the match-winning German Suplex to give Yuji and Lance the tag titles at 18:31.
While not the amazing match they were aiming for due to the lack of fucks the crowd were giving, this still ended up being much better than their previous one-sided encounter. They had a big mountain to climb following Tenryu but Lance definitely stepped up in this one and appeared to have ironed out all the creases in his offence. Liger & Samurai played their roles well and Yuji was fine being a dog toy for the bigger wrestlers to nibble on. Solid main event.
Overall: What a great show with Fuyuki-Gun’s absence surprisingly not noticeable. This was maybe the last consistent WAR show because we had heated Tenryu, Lance Storm beating Liger, Doink killing but most importantly we got Hirai landing on his stupid bastard face.
Next week: U-Japan, Bigelow and Kimo.