WAR Wrestle Association-R 8 Years Later 07/13/00

Wrestle Association-R

Korakuen Hall
Attendance: 2,000 (not sold out)

Previously In WAR…

The last WAR show.

In February, Tenryu announced that he would be re-starting WAR as a more regular company because they’d only ran a few shows in 1999. He also patched things up with Fuyuki enough to wrestle for FMW but with everything looking positive for WAR’s future, a funny thing called “the NOAH excursion from AJPW” happened.

So with AJPW decimated, Tenryu did the unthinkable and returned home.

During the show Motoko Baba got on the mic between matches and announced the return of Tenryu, who shook her hand and Kawada’s hand. It got a huge pop from most fans who chanted “Revolution,” which was what Tenryu’s group, where Kawada was his No. 2 man, was called back in the late 80s. Some fans were also really mad because bringing Tenryu back, due to the nature he left the company (not only leaving himself, but took numerous wrestlers with him) and the fact until his death, Shohei Baba never forgave him, is believed something Baba under no circumstances would have done (although Baba did allow Bruiser Brody and Abdullah the Butcher back after they had jumped to New Japan but Baba had different standards for foreigners since he actually started virtually all of his native wrestlers and some were almost like his own children). Tenryu and Motoko Baba became big-time babyfaces with the move.

Tenryu is also bringing a few of his mates with him (the fat ones) and because WAR *is* Tenryu, it means the company is officially over.

This show is only occurring because Tenryu had already announced it beforehand.

Osamu Tachihikari vs. Nobukazu Hirai

Osamu is representing SPWF, the company he’d frequent post-WAR even though I was sure that company didn’t last that long. Wow, a quick check reveals it went on until 2010? Huh, how about that.

Something that definitely didn’t last long was Osamu’s MMA debut, losing badly to Zurab Akhmedov at Seikendo a month before this.

This starts off slowly and dullily for old time’s sake. Crowd goes so quiet that I thought the VHS’ audio had stopped working at one point. Hirai works over Osamu’s arm, doing his best to keep it tepid. At one point he dangles it over the ropes and dropkicks it from the apron before falling to the floor. The crowd laugh at that and they’re right to do so. Osmau manages a clumsy STF and chokeslam to get the crowd politely applauding. Hirai bodyslams Osamu before landing that elbow drop he could never figure out. He’d do it every match and he’d find new ways to do it badly. Osamu counters a Frankensteiner into a decent looking Powerbomb to roll Hirai into a pinning combination at 8:22 to resemble a trained wrestler for the first time. That’ll do pig.

Hirai would of course head to AJPW for years and years and years until being involved in a very ugly incident that changed the company forever.

Yoshikazu Taru vs. Stalker Ichikawa

Oh hell yeah, it’s Network Of Wrestling’s very own Stalker Ichikawa! Toryumon’s TARU resembles Juventud Guerrera and is too much for Stalker to pick up so he tries a side suplex instead. Stalker keeps running the ropes and ducking under lariats so TARU lets him keep running and tire himself out before dumping him to the floor. Crowd are loving this already. TARU teases a dive outside before stopping and bopping Stalker on the head instead. Stalker gets his head dunked so much into the turnbuckle that he carries on doing it after TARU stops. In one of the most impressive bits of comedy I’ve seen, Stalker starts doing the Undertaker Old School rope walk but does it backwards and with many jumps! Then TARU easily tosses him off.

Stalker is able to send TARU outside before trying to skin the cat, requiring the help of the ref. This is followed by a wonderful Quebrada. We clip ahead to Stalker messing up a dive onto a table on the outside, causing TARU to wake up on the table and wonder where his opponent has gone. Crowd didn’t seem to understand that spot, must not have watched a lot of Looney Tunes. Stalker taunts in the ring for a while so TARU tries to sneak attack him, but the crowd yell “HEY HE’S BEHIND YOU” so he spots him. Ha!

Thumb up the bum (the rugby special) gets a two count before we settle to boring normal action. Stalker calls for a Tiger Suplex but can’t get it so he lands a backslide and then turns around to pretend he landed one. OK that was fucking great. Stalker then taps out to a bizarre looking hold, like a reverse Mexican Surfboard at 14:38.

Lovely mix of daft comedy and solid action. If you enjoyed any of these spots, chances are Stalker was doing them all the way up to his retirement in 2024.

Shoji Nakamaki vs. Mitsunobu Kikuzawa

Oh wow, Danger Man takes on the future Kikutaro! Actually it’s not that exciting.

They brawl in the ringside area and Kikuzawa gets split open but no-one is reacting. Both lads are freelance because no company wants them. After no reaction at all, they brawl in the crowd to continued silence. This is fascinating. Kikuzawa’s moonsault finally gets a cheer so an envious Nakamaki hurls a chair into his face. The Stroke gets two before a STF euthanizes this one for Shoji at 5:40.

Oh wow. I’ve never seen a match at Korakuen Hall get that quiet a reaction. Nakamaki was completely done in-ring after his IWA Japan run but the crowd couldn’t even be polite to his awfulness. Kikutaro would see better days.

Shinobu Kandori & Keiko Aono vs. Harley Saito & Norio Tateno

That’s a lot of talent for a mid-card match. These lot weren’t wrestling very frequently and some of them only had four matches this calendar year. I’m unsure if that’s due to lack of booking or injury so I’ll power up the Jabroniville signal so he can explain.

All four start off fast, knowing they’ll have to put in a shift to follow the previous match. Tateno makes the mistake of trying it on with Shinobu, taking a judo throw and an armbar for a big pop. Saito tries to tangle with her but she takes a bunch of headbutts instead. Aono tags in so their opponents can get something resembling offence, with Saito locking in the Mexican Surfboard. We clip to Tateno kicking people in the face and a half-stretch Plumb nearly ending it until it breaks completely down. Shinobu locks in a swinging sleeper hold but it doesn’t end things. The action is so quick it’s hard to keep up, never mind react to anything. Aono lands a splash for two. German suplexes are having zero effect with the end looking soon after a double splash off the top but Aono keeps kicking out. Crowd are politely applauding after everything but I think there is such a thing as being too fast. Nothing’s being sold and it’s fast-forwarding through a million spots. Which isn’t neccearily bad but there’s also zero attempt at getting the crowd into it. Shinobu ends with a judo throw and armbar at 11:04.

A big ol’ blur the crowd only got into out of spite.

Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Tomohiro Ishii

Oh this could be very nice. Mochizuki uses a portable scooter to attack Ishii who has upped his weight since last show. Definitely not a light heavyweight now. Mochizuki throws all the kicks at Ishii who even as a green-horn is all about that lifestyle. None of the kicks faze him but sadly neither do his follow up elbows. Mochizuki gets knocked down but kips back up so Ishii times a dropkick to land as soon as he’s vertical. Oh that’s lovely. Ankle pick gets Mochizuki’s breath back to continue attempting to break his shin over Ishii’s knee. Mochizuki realises Ishii’s limbs may not be human so decides to twat them with a chair instead. Ishii gets locked in a Sharpshooter but does the cool thing of attempting to escape it before it’s locked in with chops, like he’s being consumed by Jaws. Ishii powers out to the crowd’s mutual “oooOOOooo” but takes a fucking Falcon Arrow off the apron to the floor instead.

Mochizuki drags him back in but looks as tired as Ishii just trying to wear him down. Wow. Mochizuki deflects a desperate Ishii dive off the top with a well-timed kick to the face but Ishii starts his days getting kicked in the face so he’s able to German Suplex Mochizuki…who lands on his feet, in prime lariat-taking position. Ishii is in denial about the whole weight thing and lands a nice top rope Frankensteiner for two. Ishii’s top rope headbutt also gets two, also looking a bit soft compared to the rest of the ultra-stiff offence on display. Mochizuki lands his double jump kick to the back of the head (with a twist) that desperately needs a catchier name. Ishii counters Mochizuki’s kicks because he’s throwing them so predictably now, with Ishii converting into a Dragon Suplex for two. Ishii tries a running something but sadly lands directly into a leaping kick which looked beautiful, before taking a second one and a follow-up Brainbuster to end it at 14:24.

These two really had the urge to impress flowing through their veins at this point. The offence was a bit stuck in development at times, but the strikes were so hard it didn’t matter. Recommended match.

CIMA & Sumo “Dandy” Fuji 2000 & SUWA vs. Dragon Kid & Genki Horiguchi & SAITO

Toryumon/M-Pro helping out WAR some more by lending them their babies. Dragon Kid immediately gets the “oooOOOoooahs” with his quickness and smoothness, to the point where he accidentally flies out of a sunset flip because of sheer enthusiasm. Genki (with hair) is the same, but has the sense to slow it down and use CIMA as a surfboard so the crowd can take a rest and laugh. See that’s what the Joshi needed, surfing. SAITO further exemplifies the blend of comedy and effort by applying an upside down ankle lock, lowering himself to kick his opponent when they try to knock him down. It really highlights how amazing (and influential) the M-Pro/DDT/Dragon Gate scene was and would continue to be. I type this lovely praise because it’s better than typing up all the bloody spots.

Fuji teases a dive but can’t cos he’s fat. Kid gets ground into black pudding because he’s the most fun to mess with due to his size and flexibility. Everyone gets a chance to show off their diving in and out the ring, with the flow that these multi-men matches would become famous for. The ability to do the moves is there in 2000 but Kid in particular is all over the place in terms of slowing down so he doesn’t mess up his offence. CIMA landing a jumping Palm Strike to his opponent while he’s seated on the top rope in 2000 is an eye opener because that spot would pop on loads of US indies shortly afterwards. Crowd laps it up but dies a little when something doesn’t go as it should. Jumping pedigree ends it for Crazy MAX at 17:21. Good stuff!

Tatsumi Kitahara vs. Nobutaka Araya

Araya is now wearing a shirt and pyjama tights and seems to have regressed in terms of appearance. Koki still resembles a pub singer who thinks he’s hard. Long feeling out process gets clipped because it goes on for so long.

Both men brawl in the crowd to sounds of nervousness before Koki uses a chair. Man this crowd is not into fat lads swinging chairs tonight. Araya tries to hide behind some chairs so Koki lobs one at him that the camera cuts away from so I’m assuming he hit a fan or two. Why would you throw a chair into the direction of the audience? Moron. Koki slaps Araya so he responds by headbutting Koki into the third row. This match is dying a horrible, horrible death like the fan that got hit with a chair (RIP).

Back inside the ring, Araya takes stiff kicks to the face for old time’s sake. He absorbs them and smiles before asking for more. I think both men were expecting the kind of heat they used to get years ago and they’re not working well with the silence. They try hard slaps and Brainbusters but the crowd are either burnt out or don’t care. I don’t know, I wasn’t there. Koki gets an armbar out of nowhere for the immediate tap-out and noticeable boos which Koki responds with a “what?” pose at 10:54. You’d expect these two to be good at this point considering the amount of times they’ve wrestled one another but I guess not.

Araya would head to AJPW until his retirement in 2013. Kitahara would be in AJPW until 2001 before heading to something called Capture International which sounds made up.

Genichiro Tenryu vs. Hayabusa (FMW)

Here we go, the last WAR match of the last WAR show and Tenryu’s still beefing with other companies. Well, not really as this is more of a polite request than a feud but you know what I mean.

Funny thing is Hayabusa was H during this time in FMW, but Tenryu was like “I don’t care about H, give me Hayabusa” which was also a common thought amongst fans at the time and he’d revert back to the gimmick full-time shortly after this anyway.

Hayabusa tries to work Tenryu on the mat with no-one believing he’s in any danger. Tenryu tries to wristlock Hayabusa who immediately flips out of it to deliver a kick to Tenryu’s mid-section…followed by Tenryu staring at him and holding his rib mockingly. Ha!

Tenryu blinks away Hayabusa’s chops to deliver his own which Hayabusa also powers out, before taking a lariat to shut up. The WAR Special can’t put away Hayabusa (I’d hope not, it’s only been two minutes) before more dire, dire chops start making H sell. He’s able to dunk Tenryu outside to follow over the top with a plancha which is dutifully caught by Mr. Wrestling. He immediately tries to get up so H kicks him down to deliver a beautiful Quebrada.

Crowd are treating him seriously now, as is Tenryu who finally starts gritting his teeth. Hayabusa’s dropkick sends Tenryu into the ropes which he bounces off to lariat his opponent. Crowd loved that. Tenryu chops so hard Hayabusa is sent out the ring, so Tenryu follows up with a smooth Moxley-esque dive through the ropes to show he can do Hayabusa stuff too. Vigorous applause flows through the hall making you think this company may not be dead. It was.

Hayabusa kicks Tenryu in the head to remind us all before a Falcon Arrow gets a near-fall. Hayabusa blasts the boss with a 450 Splash with Tenryu having to slap himself in the face to power up afterwards. Frankensteiner is turned into a powerbomb to kickstart Tenryu’s comeback, with a Blind Elbow getting two. Hayabusa ducks a lariat to land THE PELE BEFORE IT WAS CALLED THAT but Tenryu chops Hayabusa onto the top rope to set up a smooth Reverse Suplex off the top. Hayabusa keeps kicking out of lariats as the crowd are getting louder before a Dirty Powerbomb ends it at 12:44.

It was a good main event with both men working well together and you get the impression they would have had even better matches had they had the chance. It wasn’t to be, so this for-the-hell-of-it match with little purpose was all we got.

Overall: A real Christmas Selection Box of a card to end WAR as a company. There’s a good reason they only sell those once a year, it’s because people like knowing what they’re going to get at a show.

Aside from a get-together 2006 show, that would be the end of Tenryu’s little project that was at it’s best when feuding with other companies and brought the best out of puro fans. When it wasn’t attacking NJPW, FMW or UWF-i however, the company could be pretty mid because Tenryu has the best taste in foreigners but the worst taste in Japanese guys.

There’s something poetic about starting these reviews with Tenryu leaving AJPW to join SWS and ending with him returning to be The Ace By Default. But to be honest I’m more upset about not being able to use the Regis Philbin picture anymore:

Next week we start looking at another Puro indie that’s about to go through a lot of interesting changes: FMW 1998!

I’ve been Maffew