The Single File #10
Posted: 04/18/01

I really don’t know what drew me to buy the Big Japan King of the Death Matches ’98 tape; I’m really not a fan of extra garbagy wrestling.  I dunno, I guess I wanted to try something different.  I had heard a lot of people rave about Big Japan.  And I have to admit, I was intrigued by the potential Burning Trailer Glass Barbed Wire finals.

For the most part, the tape was pretty “eh.”  Mr. Pogo (whom you may have heard of) ended up winning the whole thing, which annoyed me greatly.  Pogo’s offense consists of [a] digging into a bag, [b] pulling out a sharp instrument (knives, drills, swords, etc.), [c] carving up his opponent’s head, [d] repeat. Other guys took nasty bumps and bled gushers; Pogo pretty much just sat there and carved people up.  It’s the equivalent of Kevin Nash going over William Regal, Kurt Angle, and Chris Benoit in a tournament.

But the tape wasn’t a total loss, thanks to Tomoaki Honma.  Honma’s emerged as a favorite among puroheads for his adeptness at high flying, mat wrestling, garbage spots, and the ability to mix all three styles in one match.  People called his 1/2/00 Spike Nail & Barbed Wire Board Death Match against Ryuji Yamakawa not only the best garbage match of 2000, but also one of the best matches of the year period.  But it was this particular match that sold me on Honma and made me say “This guy’s onto something.”

Backstory: Hey, it’s a tournament, that’s why they’re fighting.  I don’t know if Honma and Shadow have a history together.  All I know about Shadow is that he dresses and wrestles like a Japanese version of Axl Rotten.

The Match:  Honma comes out first in just yellow tights.  Geez, if there’s a good chance I’d be exposed to barbed wire, I think I’d cover up by body as much as possible (2).  Shadow WX has the right idea, wearing a Yankees jersey and shorts he probably owned in high school.

We start right away as Shadow charges at Honma and hits a kick to the gut.  He pounds away,  but Honma manages to get to his feet and soon the two are trading LOUD CHOPS.  Shadow  resorts to an eye rake, but Honma no sells it (3) and hits an eye rake of his own.  Honma poses for the crowd, which allows Shadow to get back to his feet and lay in with some kicks on Honma’s left leg that send him crumbling to the mat.  Shadow picks up Honma and promptly dumps him to the outside.  Shadow gets on the apron and jumps off with a flying kick to Honma’s head.  Shadow drags Honma around to the other side of the ring and tries an Irish whip, but Honma reverses, sending Shadow into a huge stack of chairs!  Ste-rike!  Honma follows up with a headbutt and a big DDT onto the chairs.  Honma follows with some stiff kicks onto the downed Shadow.  Now Honma tries to whip Shadow into a row of chairs, but again the whip is reversed, and this time Honma goes flying headfirst into the chairs.  Shadow follows up by pounding on Honma and ramming his head into the steel guardrail.

Now Shadow grabs Honma by the hair and drags him backstage.  He tosses Honma into a wall and busts him open.  Try to contain your amazement (4).  Shadow drags Honma through the lobby and up to the second floor of the arena.  The crowd comes alive when they see the wrestlers, hoping someone goes over the ledge.  It almost happens too, as Shadow tries to toss Honma off the ledge, and Honma is hanging on by a thread.   But he manages to elbow Shadow and prevent himself from going over.  Shadow staggers back against the wall, and Honma follows up with a running elbow.  Now it’s Honma’s turn as he grabs Shadow’s hair and starts dragging him downstairs.  Oops, I think we hit a clip as suddenly they’re back downstairs and Shadow is now dragging Honma. 

Shadow dumps Honma in the aisle.  Honma tries to fight back with some headbutts and chops, but they’re all no-sold by Shadow.  Shadow rocks Honma with a punch that sends him staggering, then follows up with a piledriver on the floor.  Honma is just a mess right now, by which I mean the front of his body is covered in blood.  Shadow heads back to the ring as Honma collects himself and staggers back to ringside.  We find out why Shadow went back to ringside, as he’s placed the barbed wired board on top of two chairs. Honma makes his way over to Shadow but gets a boot in the face for his troubles.  Shadow drags Honma up to a stage next to the barbed wire board and tries to powerbomb him off of it, but Honma manages to slip out and hit an enziguiri that sends Shadow flying off the stage and onto the barbed wire!  Ouch.  Honma shows what a nut he is by diving off the stage and hitting a splash on the barbed wire!  Honma heads back into the ring while Shadow tries to collect himself.  Finally Honma comes back out and drags Shadow back to the ring.

Honma has laid the second barbed wire board in front of a turnbuckle.  He rams Shadows’ head into the turnbuckle, then puts his opponent on top.  Honma climbs up, and hits a ‘rana that sends Shadow crashing onto the board.  Nasty.  Honma covers, but only gets two. Honma tries a waistlock, but Shadow elbows out.  Shadow bounces off the ropes, but Honma counters a drop toehold, then follows with a Majistral cradle for another 2 count.  Honma follows with a German suplex for another 2 count.

Honma now grabs the other barbed wire board and heads outside the ring.  He heads to the exact same spot and sets up the barbed wire board on another 2 chairs.  He grabs another chair and heads back to the ring.  But Shadow has recovered by now and meets Honma with a kick to the gut, then dumps him back outside.  Shadow drags Honma up to the stage and, yup, this time hits the powerbomb.  Owie.  I mean, not only was Honma powerbombed, he got powerbombed off a stage through some wood that was covered in barbed wire.  Honma looks to be hurting bigtime after that (duh).

Honma, amazingly manages to crawl back into the ring, where Shadow demolishes him with two chairshots.  As Honma collapses to the mat, Shadow grabs a spare piece of barbed wire and wraps it around Honma’s head, crown-of-thorns style.  Shadow bounces off the ropes and hits a nasty lariat that knocks the barbed wire crown right off Honma’s head, so Shadow puts it right back on. Shadow tries a whip to the ropes, but Honma slides between Shadow’s legs and hits a dropkick!  Honma follows up with a slam and heads up top, jumping and hitting a barbed wire assisted swandive headbutt!  Honma covers, but only for 2. The crown falls off Honma’s head, so he puts it back on, which seems kinda counter-intuitive if you ask me.  Anyway, Honma heads up top again, but Shadow’s already gotten to his feet.  So Honma tries a flying shoulderblock, but Shadow steps back and turns it into a super X-Factor!  Shadow gets a running start and nails another huge lariat that almost knocks Honma for a loop.  Shadow follows up with a Hawaiian Crusher (5) that gets the three (16:22).   

The match certainly wasn’t without flaws, namely Shadow dragging Honma throughout the building (hate it in WWF hardcore matches, hate it here), plus the time spent building the barbed wire board spots.  Still, how can you not like a match that mixes fluid wrestling with insane garbage spots?  Honma was king-sized here, and I’m a little pissed he didn’t win.  Shadow took some big bumps, and that’s about all I expected from him.

Fallout: Shadow WX lost to Pogo in the next round.  Guess how that match went?  I assume today both guys are still kicking around Japan. 

This is an okay tape if you want to try Big Japan (at least there aren’t any CZW guys here).  In Honma went on to the finals and had three matches, it’d be an easy recommendation.  As it is, try to track down any Honma matches you can—it’s amazing stuff.

Back next week with a Backlash preview—assuming the WWF announces a card before the show.  See you then.

Joe Gagne
bwo@telegram.infi.net

Endnotes:

(1)  There are 2 big pieces of plywood with one end covered in barbed wire that you can use however you want.  There’s also a bat rapped in barbed wire, but it doesn’t come into play in the match.
(2)  In the match before this, Kung Fu Lee wore a white karate outfit.  Honestly, why would you wear something all white in a death tournament?
(3)  How do you no sell an eyerake?
(4)  Honma’s the biggest bladefreak in wrestling.  Seriously, he loses a few pints a match.
(5)  A fireman’s carry into a Stunner.  Or a TKO if you remember Marc Mero

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