The Single File #14
Posted: 06/27/01
It boggles that mind that I've done 13 of these things, and I still haven't hit an ECW match. I've done Wrestlemania matches, rare Japanese indy matches, hell, I've even done two Sid matches! But no Eee-See-Dub. And it's not like I don't like the fed-I've been watching since 1995 and have a good stockpile of matches. But week after week I drew a blank when it came to thinking up a match to review.
This trend wasn't going to change until I was watching Smackdown and saw Yoshihiro Tajiri kicking the fudge out of Crash Holly. And I smacked my head and said "Of course, a Tajiri match!"
But which one? I had some Tajiri/Super Crazy matches, but none of them jumped out at me. Maybe his ECW debut against Antifaz Del Norte? Alas, my copy of the match was clipped all to hell, only having about 7 minutes of action. But then I remembered I had this little gem, which featured not only Tajiri and Crazy, but another pair of wild cards as well.
Who: Yoshihiro Tajiri & Ikuto Hidaka vs. Super Crazy & Super Calo
When: 12/18/99
Where: A high school gym in Chattanooga TN
Backstory: Well, Tajiri and Crazy had a storied rivalry, so matches between the two were commonplace. You remember Calo from his stint in WCW, right? Dressed kinda like Public Enemy, sunglasses on his mask, pretty much treated like a jobber? Well, after his tour of duty in WCW, he had a cup of tea in ECW. So did Hidaka, a very scrawny high flier who looked like he just passed his 8th grade algebra midterm before the show. Anyway, he's made quite a name for himself in Battlarts
(1). So I imagine Paul E. said "Hey, I've got two Mexican guys with 'Super' in their names, and I've got two kick ass Japanese guys-why not a tag match?"
The Match: Hidaka and Tajiri come out first. Tajiri gives some guy the finger, which makes me laugh. Calo and Crazy are out next as I try and determine what this school's team mascot is (I can see what look like leopard or lion prints on the wall-maybe the Chattanooga High Jaguars?). Calo flips into the ring and poses with Crazy shakes hands with the ringside fans, I guess establishing the Mexicans as the faces for the uninitiated in the crowd. And low and behold, a "luchas locos" chant breaks out to seal the deal. Tajiri spits the mist during his introduction, so I guess it won't come into play in the match. I should point out that this match is off a handheld, so I may miss a detail or two due to there being only one camera.
Calo and Hidaka start us out (2). Tie up, and Calo pushes Hidaka back into the corner. Calo pulls his arm back for a punch, but changes his mind and backs off for the clean break. They circle each other, and Hidaka makes a grab for the leg and trips Calo. Hidaka twists the left leg and drops a knee on it. Now we get a hyper-annoying graphic from RF video telling us who we're watching. Hey geniuses, couldn't you have tossed that up during the introductions or something?
Anyway, Hidaka tries the move again, but Calo manages to flip out and backs off. They tie up again, and Calo tries what looks like a back heel trip, but Hidaka manages to backflip out of the move, only to walk into a drop toe hold from Calo. Calo slaps on a bow and arrow submission, but Hidaka manages to flip out and land on Calo in a pinning position. Ref counts one but Calo easily escapes. As both men get up Hidaka nails Calo in the gut with a spin kick. Hidaka slaps on a headlock, but Calo elbows him in the back and spins him around into a DDT position. But Hidaka trips Calo and turns him over onto his stomach, but Calo uses the momentum to hit Hidaka with an armdrag. Hidaka charges but gets tripped and Calo covers for a quick one count. Calo gets up and he gets tripped by Hidaka and covered for a quick one count. Both men flip to their feet and Calo takes a shot at Tajiri for whatever reason.
Tajiri gets tagged in and gives Calo the evil eye. Crazy shouts something from the apron, so Tajiri pastes him in the face with a back kick. Tajiri taunts Crazy on the floor and plays to the crowd, but he doesn't see Crazy gets tagged in and nail him with a kick to the gut. Crazy whips Tajiri to the ropes and hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Crazy tries another whip to the ropes, but Tajiri hits his handspring into an elbow to counter. Tajiri charges at Crazy, who sidesteps him and tries another tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, but Tajiri reverses it into a satellite headscissors and tags in Hidaka. Hidaka sets himself and hits a nice springboard swinging 'rana on Crazy. Crazy tries to rest on the ropes, but Hidaka hits him in the gut with a kick and follows up with a loud chop. Hidaka tries a whip, reversed by Crazy, but Hidaka jumps on the middle rope like he's trying a quebrada, spins in mid-air, and nails Crazy with a flawless spinning DDT. Crazy rolls and makes the tag, as does Hidaka.
Calo tries a dropkick, but misses and Tajiri boots him right in the head! A small "He's not Muta"
(3) chant breaks out, and Tajiri gets a "WTF?" look on his face. Awesome. Tajiri puts Calo in the corner and lays in three hard chops. Tajiri tries a cross corner whip, but Calo runs up the ropes and jumps back to avoid Tajiri. Calo rolls on the mat and gets to his feet. He ducks a Tajiri kick, responding with one of his own to the gut. Calo then runs up the ropes again and jumps off with a front dropkick that sends Tajiri to the outside. Tajiri tries to shake the cobwebs, but Super Crazy is suddenly in front of him on the apron. Crazy kicks Tajiri and attempts an Asai moonsault, but Hidaka nails him with a dropkick just before he tries the move, sending him to the floor. Calo then sneaks up behind Hidaka and nails him. Calo tries an Irish whip, but Hidaka reverses. Calo ducks a clothesline from Hidaka and nails a tope suicida onto Tajiri and Crazy on the floor! The "Eee-See-Dub" chant breaks out for that. Now Hidaka's the only one not on the floor. He runs the ropes, and hits the perpendicular springboard into a somersault tope to the floor! Now Crazy has climbed to the top rope, and hits a moonsault bodypress onto Tajiri and Hidaka on the floor! That earns the "Holy Shit" chant. Hidaka and Crazy off to one side of the gym while the camera focuses on Calo and Tajiri brawling on the floor. Calo rams Tajiri into the rail, and then tosses him into the stands.
Time for my least favorite part of ECW: the brawl into the crowd (4). Tajiri tries to run away but trips over some chairs. Calo catches up and rams Tajiri's head into the bleachers. They make their way over to Crazy and Hidaka, who are heading back to the ring. Tajiri deposits Calo into some chairs and now the cameraman has to fight his way through the crowd.
Okay, we've finally got Hidaka and Crazy back in the ring. Hidaka charges at Crazy but gets met with a drop toe hold. Crazy slaps on the Romero Special, and when Hidaka won't submit, Crazy starts rolling him around. Crazy ends the sequence in a sitting position, and Calo comes in and puts a Dragon Sleeper on Hidaka. Tajiri comes in the ring and boots Calo in the back of the head, then kicks a field goal on Crazy's face. Tajiri puts Calo in the Tree of Woe, Hidaka does the same to Crazy. Tajiri stands on Calo's groin for a little extra punishment. He and Hidaka then confer in the middle of the ring, then Hidaka whips Tajiri, who baseball slides into Calo's face. Hidaka then follows with a baseball slide of his own on Crazy (I'm guessing, the camera was focused on Tajiri and Calo). Another "Eee-See-Dub" chant. Crazy bails outside the ring and Hidaka heads back to his corner, so we're left with Calo and Tajiri in the ring.
Tajiri tries an Irish whip, but Calo reverses it and hits a nice tilt-a-whirl into a side slam for a 2 count. Calo stomps on Tajiri, picks him up, and nails a Michinoku Driver for another 2 count. Calo bounces off the ropes and tries a pinning 'rana, but Tajiri rolls through, bridges up, and destroys Calo with a kick to the back of the head. Hidaka hits the ring and nails Calo with a seated dropkick immediately after Tajiri's kick. Calo's corpse slumps to the mat and Tajiri covers, but only for 2. Calo immediately rolls to his corner and tags in Super Crazy.
Crazy comes in and immediately gets caught with a kick in the gut by Tajiri. Tajiri picks up Crazy and goes for the brainbuster, but Crazy manages to slip out and apply a waistlock. Tajiri responds to this with a good old-fashioned mule kick to the nuts. Hidaka comes in and nails Crazy with a German suplex as he staggers backwards for a 2 count. Hidaka heads back to the apron as we catch a glimpse of Tajiri fighting with Calo on the floor. Hidaka springboards and hits the Rey Mysterio Jr. 'rana for another 2 count. Hidaka tries another 'rana, only to have it turned into a powerbomb. Crazy immediately heads to the apron and hits a slingshot perpendicular moonsault
(5), then picks up Hidaka and splats him with an economy sized Liger-bomb that scores the pin
(9:26)! Calo and Crazy pose for the crowd and we call it a night.
Way cool match, with everyone bringing the goods to the table. The only complaint I have is that things felt a little rushed, which makes sense since they only had under 10 minutes to squeeze in all their spots. God only knows why they didn't give this match another 10-15 minutes. People have to see their New Jack matches, I guess.
Fallout: Well, Calo and Hidaka soon returned to Mexico and Japan, respectively. Tajiri, of course, made it into the WWF and can be seen every week on RAW and Smackdown. Sadly, Super Crazy hasn't been signed to the WWF or WCW, but wouldn't it be awesome if he did?
We're done for now. Back with something in a week or so.
Joe Gagne
Bwo@telegram.infi.net
(1) An indy promotion in Japan that mixes shoot and submission-style fighting with pro wrestling. The fed will probably make an appearance in TSF sooner or later.
(2) Nice idea starting with Calo and Hidaka. Not only does it build tension for the Crazy/Tajiri segments, it forces the crowd to pay attention and says "Hey, look what these guys can do."
(3) The look that Tajiri employs today is pretty much an homage/rip off of the Great Muta. When he first showed up in ECW, he was just your basic Japanese wrestler that wore blue and white trunks. Then he added the mist, poses, and long pants (all straight from Muta) and became the buzzsaw we all know and love today.
(4) Not only is brawling into the crowd dangerous, these four are far too talented to waste their time fighting in the seats. Save that crap for Balls Mahoney.
(5) Crazy heads out to the apron, then slingshots into the ring. He lands on the second rope perpendicular to the one he just jumped over, and hits the moonsault.