WAR Wrestle Association-R Ryogoku Crush Night 12/13/96
By Maffew Gregg on 10 November 2024
Wrestle Association-R
Sumo Hall
Attendance: 11,000 (8,500)
Daikokubo Benkei & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Atsushi Kikuchi & Tomohiro Ishii
Oh look who has come crawling back to the opening match now that Tokyo Pro has imploded. You can tell the impact the company had by the complete silence that greats him.
Benkei is slightly more trained now so he sticks to big fat guy stuff like avalanches until Ishikawa locks in the WAR Special at 2:52 to mild boos. I’m going to guess we’re not getting a WAR vs. Tokyo Pro feud.
Kamikaze & Masakazu Fukuda vs. Takashi Okamura & Yoshikazu Taru
Match starts with everyone brawling all the way up the entrance ramp. Crowd enjoys the rival dojo scenario as well as the twisting body attacks off the ropes, until Kamikaze lives up to his name and completely whiffs on a Sasuke Special to the outside. Fukuda keeps Taru in control with sambo suplexes until Okamura and his velvet gear tag in to deliver a Samoan Drop so high he nearly drops himself on his own head. Okamura knees Fukuda with his gi pulled up until Kamikaze makes the save with a Fisherman’s Buster to end the match on an incredibly flat note. Crowd enjoyed this more than the editor who cut it to shreds.
Battle Ranger & Doink The Clown vs. Keisuke Yamada & Keizo Matsuda
Yup, it’s Ray Apollo aka Doink The Next Generation.
We’re JIP to Ranger taking a lovely German Suplex/top-rope leg-drop combo. The lads try something else but it’s completely messed up so the cameras mercilessly film something else. This enables Doink to make the tag to no pop and whip out the noggin-knocker. Ranger connects on a swinging leg kick in the corner with such force he lands outside. Sloppy top rope Frankensteiner only gets two because of interference so Ranger takes Yamada outside enabling Doink to land the Whoopee Cushion at 10:54 to end this after three moves shown. Huh. Doink looked polished compared to the other guys.
Ryuma Go vs. Samurai MAX
The usually popular Go gets little reaction from this unlit crowd. Is there anybody in the building yet or is the crowd still queuing outside like Wrestlemania 32?
Ryuma lands several dropkicks before an Abominable Stretch lets Samurai take over but it’s Hiroshi Hatanaka so this is like watching flies fuck on drying paint. Go lands a no-handed Frankensteiner before putting away his dull opponent with a leg-assisted rolling pin to finally get a rise out of the crowd at 5:44. Eh.
Tatsuo Nakano vs. Satoshi Yoneyama
Oh thank God Nakano is here. Yoneyama is the future Mohammed Yone but without his afro he’s unrecognisable. He’s representing Battlearts which gels well with Nakano’s UWF-i style, as Yone lands some low kicks with Nakano biding his time until he sees an opening by striking out the guard with a vicious uppercut to send Yone to the mat. He’s able to recover with standing knees but gets too cocky and German Suplexes Nakano, who ignores it to take advantage of Yone leaving himself open to apply a Kimura. That ruled. That could have been the finish but Yone is able to escape and throw desperate shots. Yone keeps on trying different holds with Nakano effortlessly countering them all until a very angled Single Crab ends it at 5:15.
Lovely master vs. novice stuff here with Yone trying his best to win while Nakano tried not to break a sweat.
Arashi & Osamu Tachihikari vs. Bam Bam Bigelow & Nobukazu Hirai
Poor Bam Bam being stuck with these wet losers.
We’re thankfully JIP to Bam’s hot tag and then clipped again because Osamu is so bad. You know it’s going good when a tag is one of the highlights. Barely anything happens but Bam does his best to stay animated and active by taking a suplex from Arashi. Hirai lands a top rope elbow so it’s worth pointing out he’s painted his face in the same colours as Bigelow’s flame gears. Osamu tags in to move around like a slow child wading through treacle. Bigelow euthanizes this one with his turning moonsault at 8:40. At least the crowd appreciated the finish.
This would be Bigelow’s last WAR appearance before he headed out to ECW. I don’t know if the Kimo match affected his reputation or he was simply offered more money in the states but he’ll be missed on these shows.
Koki Kitahara & Nobutaku Araya vs. Kazuo Yamazaki & Takashi Iizuka
Crowd come alive for the NJPW lads and who can blame them for being happy to finally see real wrestlers?
Crowd love the idea of Yamazaki going at it with Araya, especially with Yamazaki being so nonchalant about it all. Hard kick to Araya’s back sends him running to tag in Kitahara who is able to land a Dragon Screw but Yamazaki holds on to turn it into an ankle lock. Head kicks and German suplexes bring in Iizuka to splat Koki’s brain a bit. Araya saves his mate with basic stuff until Iizuka starts slapping Araya hard, which sadly for him only brings in Yamazaki to land a dozen high kicks Chun-Li style in the corner. Yamazaki is so above the other two that when Araya is stuck in a Figure Four, Kitahara can’t break it up with stomps. It all breaks down with Iizuka hilariously trying to keep a Figure Four of his own locked in despite the ref yelling “You’re not legal, get out!” Araya lands a desperate piledriver to bring in Kitahara who spams high kicks until he takes out Yamazaki on the apron to bring in Araya. Despite this good strategy, Iizuka takes a moonsault but Yamazaki saves at one. Kitahara takes a Dragon Screw before poor Araya takes a crazy high Sambo suplex to set up a life-ending Blizzard Suplex at 10:49.
This was a much needed lovely little affair with Team WAR holding on as much as possible against their much-greater foes in the puro equivalent to the Battle of Wizna. Great crowd heat too, well done lads.
International Junior Heavyweight Tag Titles
Yuji Yasuraoka & Lance Storm vs. First Tiger Mask & Masaaki Mochizuki
Yeah never mind First Tiger Mask being here, it turns out Yasuraoka & Storm’s entrance music is the fucking theme from MacGyver.
Tiger has been dividing his time between shoot-style and puro companies so he is a ball of energy to start off, moving around like a Tekken default stance but happy to land the suplex-from-a-DDT-position. Mochizuki kicks Yuji in the head very hard and it sounds like a glockenspiel being dropped out of a window. Lance and his rat-tail tag with a very high dropkick-directly-to-the-face but his handspring body press doesn’t get much love. Good. Mochizuki sends him outside and onto the announce table and the crowd go wild. That’s your champ! Oh wait, WAR fans don’t attend the big WAR shows.
Tiger tombstones and diving headbutts Lance who must be as happy as his little, boring heart can manage. Yuji tags in to instantly take slaps to the face as Mochizuki doesn’t like him. Lance sends Mochizuki to the outside so Yuji can land his very high crossbody which is the only thing keeping him alive. Lance is getting more comfortable on offence and his Triple Powerbomb gets the crowd buzzing. Tiger Mask doesn’t care for it and saves his fella before kicking Yuji in the bastard face again. German Suplex nearly ends it for Tiger’s team but Lance saves at the last second. Macgyver duct-tapes a powerbomb and a top-rope dropkick together but it only gets two. Tiger and Lance hustle themselves outside the ring, leaving Mochizuki to (you guessed it) kick Yuji in the head and nearly win the tag titles with another German Suplex. Yuji blocks a Sunset Flip by not being in position for it which is a novel way of getting out of doing something before winning out of nowhere with an Arabian Moonsault at 11:03.
Perfectly decent match with an out-of-nowhere finish. Tiger Mask treated this like an advert for Tiger Mask U which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing but it didn’t exactly make the champs look great which seems to be the theme for Yuji & Lance’s reign.
J-Crown
Ultimo Dragon vs. Rey Misterio, Jr.
As a reminder the J-Crown consisted of:
- Michinoku Pro Wrestling’s British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Championship
- New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
- Wrestle Yume Factory’s NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship
- Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre’s NWA World Welterweight Championship
- Universal Wrestling Association’s World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship
- Wrestle Association R’s International Junior Heavyweight Championship
- World Wrestling Association’s World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship
- World Wrestling Federation’s Light Heavyweight Championship
BUT ALSO! Dragon remembered shortly after winning the J-Crown that he’d won the NWA World Middleweight Championship at a WAR event on November 8th 1994 and never lost it. So he currently has Nine Belts.
Dragon is 2-1 against Rey in singles matches in WCW but this is their one and only 1-on-1 encounter in Japan. Rey shows the importance of the match by wearing his nicest Spider-Man mask.
Ultimo barely has to move to dodge Rey’s springboard moonsault and tries La Magistral seconds in so everyone knows Dragon’s read his book. Dragon’s volley of kicks send skinny Rey into the corner. That’s where the ropes are so he’s able to springboard into a Frankensteiner. Ultimo shrugs it off to stick a German Suplex for two, and Rey just-about manages a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker before making up for it with a standing moonsault. Rey seems perturbed by the lack of reaction and yells he’s going to “DO IT AGAIN” so Ultimo blocks it and shakes his head. Dragon’s not used to being in the ring with someone this small and flexible so he takes the time to torture rack backbreaker Rey and land the spinning-shoulder-Frankensteiner for two. I wonder who came up with that first.
Double Powerbomb by Dragon keeps the pressure on but crowd are clearly WWF fanboys as there’s little reaction so far. Running Ligerbomb across the entire ring doesn’t get much love either. Crowd sound pro-Dragon but that’s it. Rey kicks out of a sheer drop Brainbuster with a second getting converted into a small package. Rey manages an Arabian Moonsault and THAT gets the crowd talking. Did they forget who he was? Dragon tries an in-ring Asai Moonsault but Dragon catches him like a cheerleader and gets two from a jumping tombstone. Ultimo tries to dive onto Rey on the outside but he moves so Ultimo lariats him instead, leading to both men selling. I had to go back and check if I’d missed something there. Maybe Rey has Venom under his mask.
Another Liger Bomb gets two but this only motivates Rey who slinks up the ropes and connects with a springboard dropkick to send Dragon outside which leads to Rey landing a springboard swanton and now we’re cooking with gas. Not the wrestling gas, Rey wouldn’t get on that until 1998. Sunset flip gets two as the both men go for multiple pin attempts until Rey’s amazing springboard-into-a Frankensteiner gets another near-fall. Rey immediately tries for another, getting one of those sharp short Franks you don’t see much anymore. Another off the top can’t put Dragon away as the crowd’s knuckles are getting whiter. Dragon’s fourth Frankensteiner gets caught and after bouncing him off the top rope Tully-style, Dragon ends it with a powerbomb to retain at 10:16.
This was a match of two halves with Ultimo leading Rey into wrestling like Ultimo in the first half to little reaction, before Rey started being himself in the second half to much better results. The lack of crowd noise stopped this from getting really good but what we got was by no means mid. Crowd is watching Rey literally grow before their very eyes so it’s not their fault they’re not ready to see a man still going strong in 2024.
Ultimo would defend the J-Crown against Masayoshi Motegi at WYF and Jushin Liger in WCW, but more importantly would beat Dean Malenko at WCW Starrcade 1996 to capture the WCW World Cruiserweight Title to give him TEN BELTS and the low-res photo we all know and love.
Ultimo would eventually lose the J-Crown to Liger at NJPW’s Jan 4th Show, the WCW Cruiserweight Title to Dean Malenko, and then stop caring about the NWA Middleweight belt.
I bring this all up not because this was Dragon’s last WAR show as he headed to WCW full-time after this, only returning to Japan in 1998 for the Jan 4th NJPW show. His choice to sign with SWS and WAR greatly helped the company and him leaving is going to be like that last season of House Of Cards without Kevin Spacey.
This is also Rey’s last WAR match before also joining WCW full-time. His brief but amazing run in Japan is highly recommended, with fans going from “oh my god look how small he is” to “OH MY GOD LOOK HOW GREAT HE IS” in mere seconds.
Koji Kitao vs. John Tenta
Kitao and Tenta immediately tease it’s going to break down but this show is after Kitao’s Vale Tudo and UFC losses so his star power has greatly decreased so no-one’s biting on it. It says a lot about Tenryu’s love of ex-sumo guys that this is in the pre-main slot.
Tenta does his best to sell Kitao’s strikes but Dolph Ziggler with a crate of Eight Hour Energy would struggle to make Kitao look how WAR wanted him to look in 1996. Kitao tries an armbar which gets more reaction than their strikes so far. Kitao kind-of lands the Kick That Killed Tenryu but it looks weak and the crowd respond with sad, disappointed noises. Tenta looks grim too, he tries to sell/rest on the ringside table but can’t get all the way there so he sort of stays neither half way up and neither half way down. Kitao runs into Tenta’s fist which motivates Quake enough to throw a dropkick which the crowd “oooo”s. Tenta stays on offense and crowd sound hopeful when Tenta lands the Earthquake Stomp! For two. Kitao tries another Kick That Killed Tenryu and the crowd sound MAD when Kitao tries a pin. Wow. Tenta thankfully gets the ropes so Kitao decides to heel it up by pulling Tenta’s shoulders up on a second attempt. Just when you think it’s going to liven up, a lariat ends it at 7:20 with the crowd booing harshly. Kitao responds with a “hey it wasn’t my fault” gesture which sadly was half-right.
This was so fucking sad to watch and I question the sanity of booking this after Dragon vs. Mysterio. Or even booking it at all after both men looked horrible last time they faced each other months ago, and that was in a six-man tag. There’s a reason no-one talks about the rematch.
Tenta would never return to WAR, only returning to Japan for AJPW in 2003. If you like Quake you’ll not watch this, one of the worst matches I’ve ever seen come out of a big Puro company.
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Nobuhiko Takada
The climax of the UWF-i/WAR feud as well as Takada’s farewell to Puro. Takada had defeated Tenryu at the last major UWF-i show (the 5th Anniversary Dome show) so now it’s time for the rematch at WAR’s last major show. So kind of a big deal.
Crowd are very into this despite the length of this mega show. Both are hesitant to lock up before a slap from Tenryu and a kick from Takada lets both lads know where the power lies. Tenryu gets a flurry in the corner with Takada teasing that he’s hurt before hoofing Tenryu out the ring and then over the guard-rail. Tenryu looks mad but what else is new? Takada takes him to the mat to effortlessly apply an ankle lock and Tenryu is already up shit creek. He can’t do anything other than flail so Takada stands up to DDT the still-hooked limb. Tenryu grits his teeth as he’s able to grab Takada’s foot but doesn’t seem capable of doing anything with it. Takada plays it safe because he’s in so much control as he casually switches from whatever position best aids him. Tenryu continues to thrash like an up-turned turtle until he finally gets the ropes to release.
Tenryu slowly returns to the ring to take Takada down with some small elbows before a big ones has Takada frowning. He’s not amazing at expressions but against Tenryu all he needs to do is play the role of bad ass. Tenryu gets the mount but only manages a few shots before Takada recovers with the giant log kicks thrown Tenryu’s direction. Tenryu wonderfully sells them but given the noise of the impact, there’s probably not a lot of acting needed. Tenryu retaliates with chops to Takada in the corner but it’s hard to tell if he’s taking it seriously so Tenryu Johnny Wilkos him in the knackers to let him know he’s serious.
A sore Takada tries to send Tenryu over the guard-rail again but the cameras go all Blair Witch and miss everything. We see Takada grabbing his balls in annoyance and then both men are in the ring with Tenryu taking a side suplex for two. Tenryu chops Takada in the face multiple times as you get the impression he’s not happy with Takada’s lack of emotion. Well he’s fucking emoting now, looking like he hates life. Takada blocks a powerbomb with a Fujiwara Armbar as the crowd smell blood in the water. It goes nowhere as Takada tries high knees in the corner which are reversed Undertaker-style into a Powerbomb for two. Tenryu follows by walking directly into a kick to the face for a close near-fall. Takada doesn’t exactly seize the advantage, instead Tenryu tries a lariat which is converted into a Cross Armbreaker and despite Tenryu’s best attempts it gets locked in. However Tenryu is simply too tough and gets the ropes in another nail in the coffin for UWF-i’s cred.
Takada wallops Tenryu around the ring with giant kicks until Tenryu charges Takada and he bumps off the ropes. This manages to knock Takada down long enough for Tenryu to lock in the WAR Special, with Takada managing to send overhead knees into Tenryu’s face. Takada’s follow up kicks are harder than ever but Tenryu ignores them all to slap Takada across the face as both refuse to budge.
Takada’s swinging jumping kicks have no effect on Tenryu who is able to lariat Takada for two…who then gets up and covers Tenryu for two afterwards. I’ve never seen that before. Tenryu easily Powerbombs Takada afterwards to end it at 19:27.
Huh. I’ve seen a lot of hype for this match given it’s importance as the last proper wrestling match of Takada’s career and I think it was a heated match but I don’t think it was the amazing one people rave about. Takada seemed reluctant to really try until Tenryu started hitting him very hard, and even then he wrestled with zero urgency. Tenryu ended up recovering before Takada did and it didn’t feel like the match was about him being a challenge Tenryu needed to overcome, it felt more like Takada couldn’t be arsed anymore. Or maybe I’m focusing on Takada’s lack of body language or emotion or weird selling. Still, it was a big match and the crowd treated it as such so it’s worth a watch but I think people watch this and see Takada’s reputation rather than the Takada that showed up.
edit: I watched some more Takada UWF-i matches and it turns out this is just how Takada is when he’s not kicking Vader or Berbick. He’s a dull robot who kicks, but I’ve only now realised that’s the appeal: he’s supposed to not have any wrestling nuances because he’s (cosplaying as) a bad-ass real fighter wrestling one of the best to do it. I think this is a very important thing to know because if you’re not able to suspend your disbelief or simply don’t know or care about Takada then this will just be a Tenryu match with nice crowd reactions.
UWF-i would die a few weeks later and Takada would head to PRIDE for a whole new adventure. And then HUSTLE for a whole new something else.
Overall: There were a few worthy matches (Nakano/Yoneyama, NJPW vs. WAR, Rey/Dragon, the main event) but this show is also sadly the top of the wave of WAR.
UWF-i is defeated and dead.
Ultimo Dragon’s left.
Jericho is splitting his time between NJPW and WCW.
Kitao is a nobody.
Bigelow is bye-bye.
The CMLL lads have gone.
WWF and WCW connections are non-existent.
Fuyuki-Gun are fired.
Regardless of the positives here, 1997 suddenly looks very grim because it’s hard to go to WAR when there’s no-one there.
Next week: Rikidozan’s miserable memorial show!