Movers and Shakers #5
Posted: 04/06/02
Not much to say here. Quite a busy week, with some returns and a big title change.
Top of the pops from 3/31 to 4/6.
10. American Dragon (Various): The former WWF Developmental talent wrestled twice on the second Ring of Honor show, losing to Christopher Daniels in the opener, but beating perennial rival Low Ki in the main event. The latter match went over a half-hour and everyone who's seen it has placed it in the ****+ range. And if that wasn't enough, he beat Low Ki and Homicide in a Three Way Dance for Jersey All Pro Wrestling this past Friday. Dragon's easily at the top of the indie echelon as far as ability goes, and who knows, maybe the WWF is watching and will offer him another developmental deal (yeah, I know, I may as well wish for the moon).
9. Takeshi Morishima & Takeshi Rikio (Noah): The Double Takeshis successfully defended their Noah GHC Tag Titles against former champs Vader and Scorpio on 4/6 when Rikio pinned Scorpio after a lariat. Fun fact: this is the first time the Noah Tag Titles have been successfully defended. The three previous sets of champs (Vader/Scorpio, Mitsuharu Misawa/Yoshinari Ogawa, and Takao Ohmori/Yoshihiro Takayama) all lost the belts in their first title defenses. In all honesty, Rikio and Morishima wouldn't be my first choice (or second or third) to hold the straps, but they're young and try hard and may make themselves into something down the road.
8. Dr. Wagner Jr. & Blue Panther & Fuerza Guerrera (CMLL): This triumvirate of veterans (a combined 61 years of experience) managed to fend off the upstart Guerreros de Infierno and successfully defend their CMLL World Trios Titles for the first time this week on Galavision. The match ruled, not surprisingly, and in the end Wagner showed the young punks he's a rudo's rudo by pinning Tarzan Boy using the ropes for leverage. The champs were attacked afterwards by Mr. Niebla and Antifaz Del Norte, so it looks like they'll be no shortage of cool feuds and kickass matches for Wagner and co. in the weeks to come.
7. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (WWF): The Rattlesnake finally made his return to WWF television this past Raw, as he teased signing with Vince McMahon but opted to go with Ric Flair. Then he gave Flair a Stunner. DTA, I guess. Austin didn't do much, and what he did wasn't anything he hadn't done before. But let's face facts, Austin's back and now you can add another one to the very short list of reasons to watch Raw, rather than useless activities like reading and interacting with family members.
6. Satoshi Kojima (All Japan): 5-0 in the Champion Carnival and he's already clinched the #1 spot in his block. I ranked behind Tenryu since one of those wins was a forfeit over the injured Toshiaki Kawada. Still, you can't argue with the success of the former New Japan star, and I'm guessing he'll get a chance to avenge his loss to Tenryu at the last AJPW PPV in the Carnival finals. Plus he's got a showdown with Taiyo Kea on the 4/13 PPV to determine the #1 contender to the Triple Crown, so Kojima has no shortage of big matches in the coming weeks.
5. Eddy Guerrero (WWF): Eddy~! made his return to the WWF this past Monday, attacking and frog splashing IC champ RVD after his match with Booker T. Eddy's Froggy Splash (tm Dusty Rhodes) made not be as dynamic as Van Dam's, but at least Guerrero doesn't hurt his ribs when he does it (probably because Eddy's built like a brick shithouse these days). I ranked him above Austin because, because even though the Rattlesnake is much higher on the pecking order, Eddy's return was more dramatic and I'm greatly looking forward to his feud with Van Dam.
4. Mascara Magica (CMLL): Maybe the biggest win of this young luchador's career, as he was the sole survivor in a 16 man elimination match that aired this past Tuesday on Galavision. Mascara managed to eliminate both Safari and Hombre Sin Nombre, but still found himself alone against El Hijo Del Santo and Negro Casas. After Casas got DQ'd, Mascara survived an offensive flurry from Santo and made the legend give up to his inverted Argentinian backbreaker thingee. I just read in the Observer that they're planning on a mask vs. hair match between Mascara and Santo. So Magica will not only be in a high profile feud, Santo's going to make him look even better in the ring. The only downside is that Mascara's going to end up follicle-challenged. Maybe a tag team with Apollo Dantes could be in the works?
3. Gen'ichiro Tenryu (All Japan): Make it 6-0 in the Champion Carnival, as Tenryu clinches the top spot in the "B" block. Not only that, he scored a huge win over Keiji Mutoh on 4/1, avenging his Triple Crown loss on 6/8/01. Besides dominating the CC, Tenryu still has a match with Muto coming up for the vacant Triple Crown on 4/13, so he, like Kojima, will likely be near the top of the card for months to come.
2. Hulk Hogan (WWF): Amazingly, Hogan has been booked into the main event at Backlash, despite the earlier announcement of an Undertaker/Triple H main event. The prevailing logic seems to be that the WWF should utilize Hogan's newfound popularity before it promptly dissipates. And how did Hogan (in storyline terms) get this privilege? Win a #1 contenders match? No, he had the Rock actively campaign for him, instead of someone more deserving (like, say, THE ROCK). From People's Champ to Disciple 2k2. And while we're pretty sure Triple H will retain, there is a chance the Hulkster will get one more run with the belt. You should probably pause to vomit before heading on to #1.
1. Yuij Nagata (New Japan): In a victory for all that is right and just in the world, Nagata defeated Tadao Yasuda on 4/4 for the IWGP Heavyweight Title. Nagata, who almost had his career destroyed by an ill-advised shootfight at the end of '01, has made an incredible comeback that has culminated in a much deserved title win. Yuji was attacked post match by Noah's Yoshihiro Takayama, who will challenge Nagata for the belt on the big 5/2 Tokyo Dome show. I'd expect Yuji to hold onto the belt there and hopefully for a long time to come.
So there you have it. Next week will be HUGE, with the All Japan wrapping up the Champion Carnival and also having a PPV on Saturday, Akira Hokuto's retirement match, and the WWF formulating the card for Backlash. Be here or don't.
Joe Gagne
bwo@infi.net