IWA Japan Glass Grave Yard 10/16/94

International Wrestling Association Japan

Korakuen Hall

Attendance: 2,050

Nobutaka Araya welcomes us to the event but he’s not wearing anything underneath his gear so I’m too distracted by his bulge to focus on his words so I’m fast-forwarding.

Gran Apache vs. Yoshihiro Tajiri

Hey it’s baby Tajiri, making his first steps in the business. This is before his BJPW run which would really get him attention so I’ve not got my hopes set too high. His plain green tights don’t help.

Apache is a luchadore who wastes no time backflipping off the top rope so crowd decide they like him the best. Apache takes Tajiri down as production cuts to the ringside camera and the audio is much lower than the hard cam. Jesus that’s amateurish. Apache rolls out of an armbar to apply an Indian Deathlock. Or a Native American Deadlock in 2026. Tajiri escapes so Apache front flips to show he doesn’t care. Crowd adore him and his tassels. Tajiri also armdrags out of an armbar to demonstrate he can front flip also.

Tajiri escapes an armbar by holding on and running off the top rope which gets no pop. Apache slaps Tajiri in the back of the head to get a big laugh out of them. Apache backflips off the top rope but is able to side-step Tajiri’s standing moonsault. We get an indie stand-off to reset as Tajiri is clearly waiting for the next sequence to start.

Apache sails with a crossbody off the top which sets up a lovely crossbody over the top rope to the outside. He didn’t wait for Tajiri or make it look like anything else was going to happen there, straight into it after the first crossbody. Tajiri beats the count outside so Apache slaps him again. Crowd grimace rather than laugh this time. Tajiri stays on offence with basic-ass moves because he’s a young un and that’s how it works, so crowd dies as who cares about a basic suplex? Apache busts all the wind out of Tajiri with a back senton before yet another slap sends Tajiri to the mat. Tajiri won’t stay down though which gets the crowd behind him, and he rewards their loyalty by missing a twisting crossbody before getting rolled up by Apache at 9:40

This was a showcase for Apache who did a wonderful job of selling himself and knowing what the crowd wanted. Tajiri looked decent for a young un but there was nothing more than that.

Johnny Gomez vs. Yoshihiko Abe

Abe is wearing a gi. You’d think the fans would say something Abe not being in the correct vocation but they must have realised that technically applies to Gomez too.

Gomez feels up the ref while he’s being checked for talent weapons. Shouldn’t the ref have pockets full of knives and chains at this point from all the things he’s confiscated from Garbage wrestlers. His trousers must look like a B & Q aisle. Abe throws slo-mo strikes so Gomez can dodge them and get generous “oooos” from the crowd. Abe connects with a few but they’re so soft that the crowd doesn’t react. So they make noise when they *don’t* hit? OK. Gomez nearly ruins the real fight feel they’re aiming for here by taking a flip-bump from a kick to the back. Gomez recovers and delivers a pump kick that blows the roof off. It gets a one count.

Abe takes forever standing up, so Gomez does to his knees to mock him. Fair enough, that was pretty funny. Fujiwara Armbar takes down Abe, but that massive gi protects him and it’s back to throwing kicks. Gomez throws his own and manages to miss plenty. Abe gets his own Fujiwara Armbar and I wonder if other people who invented armbars get mad at Fujiwara getting the monopoly on them. Abe goes to the second rope to deliver an overhead chop like The Great Khali for two. Crowd went wild here so Abe goes for a second, but gets thrown off to loud disappointed “awwwws.”  Gomez’s roundhouse kick gets no pop and he looks disappointed. Weird moment sees Abe nail Gomez in the throat and then fake exhaustion so Gomez can land his crap DDT to lock in a STF. Abe gets the ropes, Gomez releases, then drags him to the centre of the ring and re-applies it for the submission at 6:53.

Crap but crowd enjoyed it, plus Gomez made me smile with a finish that simple.

Takashi Okano vs. Gran Apache

Apache starts strong with a single crab before nearly getting pinned after a roll up. Crowd aren’t impressed. Fancy hold trades followed by dull matwork don’t excite anyone, so Apache twats Okano across the back of the head with a dirty slap. Further matwork goes better when Apache is looping holds into more holds. Apache continues the stretch and slap sesh as the crowd begin to get worried and annoyed due to Apache’s chops sounding brutal. Okano attempts to out-run Apache but the luchadore makes it clear that despite looking ancient, he can still keep up. Okano instead lands a beautiful armdrag half way across the ring to frustrate Apache who retaliates by tricking Okano and smacking him daft.

Okano takes an extended leave of absence outside the ring while the crowd yell support. He thanks them for it because he’ll need it, as Apache further stretches his novice opponent before landing tilt-a-whirl backbreakers. Okano heads outside a second time for louder chants, which Apache cuts off with a wonderful crossbody off the top rope to the outside. Lovely logical set up to a crazy dive for once! Okano hates that he was deceived, so dropkicks Apache for his own attempt at a dive but his aim is just slightly off.

Apache delivers a yodelling top rope splash for two as the match heads down the finishing straight. Apache attempts a blind crossbody but Okano side-steps. His follow up pin attempt gets jeers from the crowd because that would have sucked as a finish but thankfully he kicks out. Okano’s tumbling body attack also misses. Apache’s silky smooth Frankensteiner Pin can’t end Okano, and neither can a flying headbutt. Impressive counter reversal gets Okano into a sunset flip for two, with La Magistral getting locked in for a close two. Okano converts a reverse powerbomb into a cradle to finish it at 16:37.

Very enjoyable encounter here, with Apache working the majority of it and getting to show off his skills while being in position for Okano’s bits. Also fair play for gelling so well with the lucha things Okano. Shame Apache was so impressive that the crowd booed when Okano won.

Barbed Wire Baseball Bat Match

Crash The Terminator vs. Leatherface

Crash heads out to You Could Be Mine by Guns ‘n’ Roses which I appreciate as I forgot how good the drums are. This is the Rick Patterson Leatherface, no-one’s favourite. but crowd go nuts for him despite being the Blackadder Series One of Leatherfaces cos he still charges *at* the fans with his chainsaw. So the whole intro is fans running scared with the biggest grins on their faces.

The bat is in the ring and the wrestlers start outside with a ten second count down to see who is the least fat. Crash wins because he’s not wearing a mask and butcher’s apron. Crash uses the bat on Leatherface but his thick outfit protects him so the gimmick loses appeal two seconds in when there’s no visual damage. Thankfully they brawl through the catacombs of Korakuen Hall with Crash getting busted open so you know he’s not currently winning. The crowd’s reactions are crazily loud and excited considering it’s a nothing ass brawl. This must be the tapes Saudi fans studied.

Leatherface gently lets Crash know he’s about to hit him with a chair by muttering “careful” before licking his bloody forehead. Back in the ring, Crash gets smothered with the bat which causes Crash to yell “shit, you’re digging me!” so Leatherface lets off. These guys are very polite for horror characters. Both in gimmick and outside the ring. Crash slams Leatherface before falling anyway to sell the blood loss. He’s looking like ’88 Luger but the effort is still appreciated. Leatherface throws the bat out the ring and then sends Crash outside right next to it, leading to fans clearly yelling “quick, grab it Crash!” which is hilarious because he doesn’t do that but he totally should have. Instead there’s more hall brawls. They attempt to brawl outside but can’t get the fire door open. I sincerely fucking hope it wasn’t the fire door, I still have nightmares about Great White and still make sure to know where the nearest exit is at every gig I go to.

Back in the ring, Leatherface misses his moonsault so Crash lands his. Crash misses a second, so Leatherface grabs the bat that they himself threw away before landing a top rope bat shot and a lame top rope fist drop to win at 10:49.

Very basic brawl that was kept afloat by the fan reaction. Leatherface’s entrance is his best feature. Oh he also headed out to the theme from TCMIII and I appreciate the attention to detail.

Tag Team League Block B Match

Brian Christopher & Dark Patriot vs. Dick Slater & Nobutaka Araya

Big Bri’ tells everyone he’s here to win the tag titles while Doug Gilbert yells “ichiban!” Dick responds with an authentic promo that makes us forget he’s dressed like Crocodile Dundee.

Patriot and Slater start and their sophomore stretching is decent. Their chops are better. Christopher (whose gear already says “Too Sexy”) and Araya exchange mild high flying which Christopher oversells as he always does. Christopher lands a wicked superkick to shock the crowd (and to cause a happy Bri to high five Gilbert) before Slater wants a piece of him.

He immediately applies the Spinning Toe Hold on both foes as the crowd roars their approval. I love how venerated that hold is in Japan. Modified Indian Deathlock kills a few minutes before Christopher decides to flung himself over the top rope and nearly KO Araya with the flying arse.

Slater runs defence to protect his partner but the new tattoo of Christopher’s coccyx is too painful and he continues to take offence. Gilbert suplexes Christopher onto Araya but Slater breaks up the pin before a one count with a headbutt for the pop of the match. Slater tries to protect Araya some more but Gilbert simply splashes the crusty old Dick, leading to an elevated legdrop…getting two as Slater won’t stay down. I thought that was the finish, no-one kicks out of top rope legdrops.

Hart Attack Clothesline can’t finish off Araya. A rough double sit-out Powerbomb also can’t put him away even though it looked like it killed him. Slater gets the hot tag and starts landing punches as the crowd goes BANANA. Araya tags back in, fresh as a daisy to land a moonsault but Gilbert keeps breaking up pins. Araya lands a bad German suplex on Gilbert so he lets go and tries again but lands an equally bad one so decides to powerbomb his foe instead. Gilbert still kicks out. Araya powerbombs him again and another moonsault ends it at 15:40

Meandering pace and weird flow but had some nice moments and spots.

Barbed Wire Boards Glass Crushing Death Match

The Headhunters (Headhunter A & Headhunter B) vs. Hiroshi Ono & Shoji Nakamaki

IWA doing broken glass spots before any other Garbage company (afaik). Nakamaki sneak attacks Headhunter A with a fireball that is mostly missed by the cameras. How do you miss The Headhunters? Nakamaki clotheslines Headhunter B over the ropes and teases dumping him in the giant blue box containing glass that’s waiting on the outside. He holds onto the ropes Rumble style so he can lariat Nakamaki. If they wrestled like that in 1996, WWF would have been more interested. Nakamaki lands a rough looking flying DDT thing that’s so messy he picks up Headhunter B and gives him a normal one immediately afterwards.

Headhunter B takes a lariat over the ropes and his foot smashes the glass but he’s wearing Iron Sheik esque curly boots so he ignores it so he can use a bit of glass to bust open Ono cos it’s the main event and there had better be blood. Nakamaki is bleeding also but you probably already knew that. A lot of this match is being recorded from the hard cam which isn’t good when it’s missing a bunch of stuff on the outside. Headhunter A is almost dumped into the glass and does a really good job of holding on for dead life while the crowd go wild. Headhunter B gets whipped into a barbed wire board but doesn’t sell it so Nakamaki glasses him to make sure he’s bleeding too.

Headhunter A simply punches and clotheslines Ono very frigging hard when action resumes in the ring, with B joining in with a top rope splash for good measure. Sit-Out Powerbomb only gets two because Nakamaki breaks it up by rolling on top of B. That’s a new one. A lands an amazing elbow off the top that Ono kicks out of to the amazement of the fans. Double Underhook Powerbomb can’t put Ono away but looks beautiful. Ono & Nakamaki get their chance to double team A, with Nakamaki throwing lariats like he’s genuinely pissed at how hard they were hitting Ono earlier. A don’t care and discombobulates Ono with a back senton. B takes Ono outside to be dumped onto barbed wire, and then absorb a frigging splash off the apron. Jesus.

Another board is brought in so Nakamaki can be dumped on to it and take top rope splashes. These moves are staggering. Oh they’re just the set up to The Headhunters placing another board on top of Nakamaki to give him a moonsault to the barbed wire sandwich he finds himself in for the pin at 14:19.

Not content, The Headhunters then dump the poor bastard into the broken glass.

As a match, it was clunky and The Headhunters are too dominant and bad at selling for their matches to be considered competitive. As a spectacle, it absolutely delivered the violence, blood and “how the fuck are they able to move like that??” you’d expect and demand.

Overall: Another mixed bag of a show with IWA Japan looking for anything to make their shows stand out. We had young cruiserweights, experienced luchadores, shite Americans, and enormous fat blokes jumping off the top top ten times. Even if it’s sloppy, it’s never dull.

I’ve been Maffew, sorry I don’t type as much as I used to. Life is busy.