The SmarK Rant for Super J Cup 1994

(Originally written circa 1998)

– Taped from Japan.

– The participants are helpfully introduced at the beginning for those of us who don’t speak Japanese. And in case there was any doubt that this show will rock, it’s a who’s who: Masayoshi Motegi, Hayabusa, Ricky Fuji, Taka Michinoku, Great Sasuke, Super Delphin, Gedo, Black Tiger (EDDY~!), Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Justin Liger, Shinjiro Ohtani, El Samurai and Negro Casas. It’s a single elimination, one night tournament. Winner gets the WWF Junior Heavyweight title.

– Opening match: Dean Malenko v. Gedo.

I hate Gedo almost as much as Gonnad. Malenko works in his “flip out of a wristlock” spot early. He also counters a wristlock with a headscissor takedown. Good stuff. There’s a definite working-on-the-arm vibe going here. Thankfully, Gedo’s ultra-weak sucky offense is kept to a minimum as Deano controls the pace. Malenko actually pulls out a Jackhammer to get a two count! I guess that settles who invented that move. Gedo gets the good end of a tombstone reversal spot but misses the flying headbutt. Dean comes back with a big clothesline for two, then a flying bodypress for two. However, Gedo, International Shithead of Mystery, catches Dean with a powerslam for the upset pin. Fuck. Dean carried it pretty well, however. ***

– Super Delphin v. Shinjiro Ohtani.

Ohtani, the SUPER-DICK, leaps right at Delphin’s knee and goes to work like a motherfucker. I love this man. He proceeds to destroy the knee with every submission move known to man. Delphin makes a comeback with a nice tilt-a-whirl, but tries a second one and gets kicked in the face by Ohtani for his troubles. The lesson, I guess, is never try the same move twice. Back to the knee, but Delphin pulls out a backdrop suplex for two. Very delayed brainbuster for two. I wish he wouldn’t just start ignoring the knee injury. Ohtani kicks him in the face, right out of the ring, and then pulls out a springboard plancha. He tosses Delphin back in for a springboard dropkick, which gets two. Back to the knee, and into a cross-kneebreaker, which I’ve never really seen before. He makes the mistake of whipping Delphin into the corner, which leads to a tornado DDT and the pretzel-pinning combo for the Delphin win. He forgets about
the knee injury completely. Delphin didn’t really blossom until 1996, I think. ***1/4 Would’ve been more if not for Delphin’s lousy psychology and the out-of-nowhere ending.

– TAKA Michinoku (w/ big-ass goofy hat) v. Black Tiger.

Eddy v. Taka? Works for me. Eddy works in the face rake, slingshot senton, and KILLER powerbomb about a minute in. Geez, talk about a spotfest. I’m guessing Taka has somewhere between zero and almost no chance here. Eddy is
basically having his way with the very young Taka. Taka gets him out of the ring, but Eddy steps aside to prevent the springboard plancha. It works on the second go-around, however. Taka gets a rana for two, but tries it again and gets FLATTENED with a powerbomb for two. Froggy splash gets two for Tiger. Taka gets a fluke rollup for two, and a powerbomb of his own for two. Moonsault for two. The Japan Rule again kicks in, as a second moonsault hits the knees. Brainbuster for two follows from Eddy. VICIOUS swinging DDT finishes it. Total spotfest with no flow, but fun. **1/2 Taka took his beating like a MAN.

– Masayoshi Motegi (w/ belt of some sort) v. El Samurai.

I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with Motegi. He looked great and held his own in MPro match with Kaientai recently (recently being two years ago), but his persona has always bored me. He looks weird without his beard
here. Samurai ends up outside the ring and Motegi slips on the top rope and blows a spot. Samurai with the REAR CHINLOCK OF DOOM. Ehhhh, this one isn’t looking good. Samurai with a piledriver for two. Backdrop for two. Boston crab, which Motegi powers out of. Tombstone for two. A slugfest erupts, and Samurai awkwardly works in the inverted suplex for two. Another awkward spot as a dropkick misses and Motegi seems unsure whether to sell or not. He ends up out of the ring and Samurai hits a so-so plancha. Suplex back into the ring, and Samurai gets a missile dropkick for two. Rana is countered into a powerbomb by Motegi, and he applies a bow-and-arrow, locomotion style. Nice touch. Ugly flying headscissor attempt by Motegi gets two, and then he goes into a double locomotion german suplex, which is reversed on the third one into a Samurai rollup for two. Suplex reversals lead to a german suplex for two by Samurai and a powerbomb for three. Didn’t do it for me. **1/4

– Negro Casas v. Ricky Fuji.

Fuji is from FMW, so he’s useless. He’s wearing a jacket with “Canada” on the back for some reason. Lots of basic stuff here. I like Casas, he seems very fundamentally sound. Fuji hits a sloppy backbreaker and then mis-times a double axehandle off the top. A sloppy wrestling sequence leads to a Casas majastral cradle for two and a senton off the top for two. The Japan Rule kicks in again, as he misses a second. Fuji with some kicks and a move which I distinctly hear the announcers calling a “Tiger Bomb”, but that move doesn’t exist so I must have heard wrong. It gets the pin, at any rate. **

– Hayabusa v. Jushin Liger.

Hey, if anyone has an MP3 of Liger’s theme, e-mail me. I love that song. LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGER, LIIIIIIIIIIIIGER. It’s right up there with the Quebecers. Hayabusa hits a highspot before Liger even gets in the ring. Jesus, Hayabusa is built like X-Pac here. He works on Liger’s knee a bunch. Liger responds with a figure-four. The BITCH-SLAP COMBO OF DOOM puts Hayabusa on his ass, and a powerbomb gets two. Liger puts on a leg submission hold and slaps him around like
his bitch. Lariat gets two. Back to the knee. Whip to the corner and the somersault kick to the head. Folks, this is an ass-kicking. Liger superplexes Hayabusa for two. Hayabusa fights to his feet. Liger smacks him around some more. Hayabusa responds with a pair of dropkicks for two. Senton gets two. Nice spinning kick off the top gets two. Moonsault for two. A really weird and ugly attempt at a flying inverted rana gets two. An equally ugly attempt at a shooting star press misses. Liger nearly puts him out of his misery with a Ligerbomb, but he kicks out. Damn. To the top, but Hayabusa knocks him off and jumps off…but gets caught with a powerbomb, and then Liger finishes it with the fisherman’s buster for the pin. Pretty useless Liger match. **1/4

– We recap the winners of the first round. I guess Sasuke and Benoit get a bye. End of part one.

Quarterfinals:

– Gedo v. Super Delphin (w/ Taka).

Thankfully, Delphin controls for the most part in the beginning with some high-flying stuff, although neither guy has too much in the way of ring presence at this point in their career so there’s nothing exceptional going on. They trade machismo slaps and Delphin gets the highspot, with a tope. Back in and Gedo catches him coming out of the corner with a lariat for two. Powerslam for two. Moonsault for two. Delphin with a crucifix for two and a backdrop for two. Delphin with a Randy Savage flying elbow for two. He lures Delphin into the corner and nails the tornado DDT, but Gedo reverses the pretzel rollup for the pin. GOD FUCKING DAMMIT! This guy is SUCH a worthless piece of shit. These guys didn’t really click at all. **

– Black Tiger v. Chris Benoit.

Oh yeah, this’ll boost the star count a bit. I’m torn as to who to cheer for here. Damn, and my dinner just arrived, too. Tiger works on Benoit’s neck, but Benoit reverses an inverted suplex with one of his own. Nice. Benoit rips his head off with a clothesline and then drops him on his head for kicks. German suplex for two. I’d love to continue play-by-play, but I’m eating KFC and I’d rather not get my keyboard greasy, so we’ll skip to the finish as Benoit catches Eddy coming off the top with a powerslam for the pin. Good match. ***1/2

– The Great Sasuke v. El Samurai.

Slow submission-based start that builds considerably once they get into the dueling highspots. Sasuke nails the Space Flying Tiger Drop, and Samurai responds with a somersault tope. Back in the ring and the crowd is getting hot. Sasuke snaps off a rana-rollup for two, then Samurai powerbombs him off the top rope for two. Samurai tries his own rana, but Sasuke reverses to a rollup for the pin. Great ending sequence. ***1/4

– Ricky Fuji v. Jushin Liger.

Oh, I think we know who’s going over here. They trade wristlocks to start. Crowd seems pretty into Fuji. He’s got this great Jericho-like smirk on his face that you just want to smack off. Fuji gets the first highspot, with a pescado, followed by a powerbomb on the floor! EE-YOWCH! Liger gets revenge, doing the Kevin Sullivan gut-stomp, off the top rope, to Fuji, on the floor. Somersault kick gets two. Powerbomb and release german suplex (No bridge, all impact as Joey Styles would say…) for two. Superplex, but Fuji ends up on top for two. Fuji puts Liger on the top rope and dropkicks him to the floor, then baseball slides him, setting up…nothing. Hmm, thought a highspot was coming there. Fuji goes for the dropkick bit again, but Liger comes off with a rana for the pin. Kind of an anticlimactic ending. ***

Semi-finals:

– I’d like to re-iterate my belief in objective reporting.

– Gedo v. Chris Benoit.

DEATH! DEATH! DEATH TO GEDO! Benoit slaps the taste out of his mouth and clotheslines him, then legdrops him off the second rope. Chops in the corner so hard that the ring shakes. Benoit is my HERO. Dropkick misses and Shithead gets his lame-o submission move on. Gedo with a shitty piledriver for two. Gedo with some crappy restholds and some lame kicks to the back. Benoit no-sells the chops, because Gedo is a big JAPANESE PUSSY and Benoit is a MAN’S MAN. He does hit a nice somersault tope, but I’ll attribute that to dumb luck. Stupid powerslam gets two. Sucky northern lights suplex gets two. Lousy clothesline sets up a pathetic diving headbutt, which misses. They trade suplex reversals, and Benoit gets a powerbomb for two. Another one sets up the swandive for the pin. HAHAHAHAHAHA! Go home and die, Gedo, and let REAL wrestlers advance. ***

– Jushin Liger v. The Great Sasuke.

They trade go-behinds to start, and quickly go into a mat wrestling sequence. Liger with a funky submission move, that segues into a body scissor, which in turn segues into a bow-and-arrow type thing, which in turn segues into a proper bow-and-arrow. Good stuff. From there, Liger does something to Sasuke which is hard to describe, pulling the head down while keeping the legs in the air and nearly bending his neck back 90 degrees. Can’t really explain it in words, but it looked PAINFUL. Liger keeps working on the back. Rolling kick appears to knock Sasuke right out. Referee tries to revive him, and he is assisted to his feet by Liger, then dropped again. Jumping tombstone and cross-face chickenwing by Liger, which is fitting because I had chicken for dinner. Okay, perhaps that’s a stretch. Liger goes to work on Sasuke’s arm now, with an armbreaker and MEGA-DICK hammerlock where he wrenches on it repeatedly. He goes into a cross-armbreaker. Backdrop puts Sasuke out again. Man, he’s taking a hellacious shitkicking. Sasuke blocks Liger’s dropkick, then gets the first highspot with a quebrada. Liger wanders over to another corner of the ring, so Sasuke gets back in the ring and fires off a MAN-SIZED somersault tope, nearly landing right on his head. Gosh, I wonder how he cracked his skull open? I can’t imagine. Back in the ring and Sasuke with a Razor’s Edge for two. Jumping tombstone sets up a senton, which misses. Liger gets an elbow for two. Ligerbomb for two. He puts Sasuke on the top and snaps off a rana for two, then showboats and Sasuke rolls him up for two. Release german suplex for two. Fisherman’s buster gets two. Christ, Sasuke has taken everything but the kitchen sink. Kitchen sink gets two. Just kidding. Liger suplexes Sasuke to the floor and then gets his own highspot with a tope. Sasuke tries to climb to the apron but gets kicked in the head. Liger brings him back in, all cocky, and Sasuke hits a rana for the pin! Wicked match. ****1/2

Tournament final:

– Chris Benoit v. The Great Sasuke.

3/4 facelock from Benoit to start, but Sasuke flips out of it. Benoit with chops in the corner. Benoit ends up outside the ring but dodges the potential highspot. As per tradition, all the other guys are surrounding the ring to watch. Headscissors from Benoit. Sasuke reverses to a bow-and-arrow. Snapmare into a surfboard, then they break. Hot wrestling sequence which leads to a MANLY clothesline from Benoit and a german suplex for two. Sasuke sells getting the crap kicked out of him very well. Leg lariat from Sasuke gives him the advantage. Sasuke with a slam and legdrop for two. Benoit tries a powerbomb but Sasuke armdrags out of it, only to get clotheslined again. Benoit suplexes him onto the top rope, gutfirst. Springboard elbow from Benoit (!) sends Sasuke crashing to the floor. Wow, how many moves *did* Jericho rip off from Benoit? Back in with a dragon suplex for two. Sasuke really sold being terrified of the move well, and the crowd responded. Benoit gets the swan dive for two. Powerbomb for two. Benoit actually pulls out a Sharpshooter. Why doesn’t he do this stuff in the US? Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Dropkick misses, cue the comeback. A series of reversals leads to a Sasuke clothesline. Benoit bounces back with a german suplex for two. Benoit tries the dragon suplex, but Sasuke escapes, and Benoit rolls him up for two. Benoit ends up outside and Sasuke pulls out the SPACE FLYING TIGER DROP~! Back in the ring, and Sasuke gets a german suplex for two. Perfectplex for two. Missile dropkick misses and Sasuke crawls to the outside. Benoit tries to grab him but gets suplexed to the floor in a spot to make you go “Fuuuuuuuck.” Benoit rolls in and out again, so Sasuke gives him a missile dropkick to the floor. Just to remind him that he’s still there, I guess. Back in the ring and Sasuke kicks Benoit in the head and hits a twisting moonsault for two. Sasuke to the top again, but Benoit nails him and delivers a spine-crushing gut-wrench superplex for the pin and the tournament win. Another great match. ****1/2

– Benoit collects his belt, trophy and ugly yellow jacket. Celebrations abound.

The Bottom Line: Hey, you can’t lose with this one. Aside from Gedo’s continued existence on the planet, nothing sucked here and the last two matches rocked bells. I found, much like John Williams, that the 95 Cup was more fun (especially with the participation of Damien 666), but there was some great wrestling here. Very recommended show.