Movers and Shakers #7
Posted: 04/27/02
A quick note before beginning: Kodo Fuyuki's seven-hour surgical procedure
(for cancer of the large intestines) on 4/18 was apparently a success, which is
wonderful news. Best of luck to him.
Now, the top of the pops from 4/21 to 4/27:
10. Shane (IWA, New Japan): Yup, just Shane. This veteran of the
IWA in Puerto Rico (where he's held the World, Tag, and Hardcore titles)
recently made his debut in the New Japan juniors division. Things started
poorly, as Shane dropped his first three matches. But on April 19th he scored a
huge upset when he teamed with Jushin Liger to defeat the IWGP Junior tag champs
Jedo and Gedo when Shane pinned Jado with a cradle (that almost rhymed). Three
days later lightning struck twice when Shane pinned Koji Kanemoto in a tag
match, and then the next day pinned El Samurai in a singles match. I don't know
what the long term plans are for Shane (1-2-3 Kid of Japan, maybe?), but you
can't overlook wins over the current Junior Tag Champs and 2 former Junior
champions in less than a week.
9. Shocker & Dr. Wagner Jr. (CMLL): Lucha's best tecnico and
rudo showed why they've earned those distinctions when they teamed up on this
week's Galavision. The lucha kingpins joined forces with Giant Silva to tackle
Puma Inoue, Katsuyori Shibata, and Giant Singh in a continuation of the hot
Mexico vs. Japan feud. So not only did Shocker and Wagner have to work with two
young guys new to Mexico, they had to overcome the overwhelming suck of the
Giants. And guess what? It ruled. Shocker and Wagner busted out the New Japan
juniors style they're so well versed, not only making the match much more fluid,
but adding a "beating the NJPW guys at their own game" wrinkle to the
story. Sure, the Giants portion of the match blew, but you forgot about that
when Shocker and Wagner scored the win for Mexico. Muy bueno!
8. Chris Jericho (WWF): Not only has Y2J been exponentially more
interesting since he lost the WWF Title, he finally scored his first one-on-one
victory over Triple H on Smackdown. Sure, it wasn't totally clean, but hell,
what is in the WWF these days? Plus, he gets a shot at Hulk Hogan and the
Undisputed World Title on Smackdown this week. Sure, Jericho will have to play
pinball to Hogan's low octane offense, but he hasn't been shunted back down the
card like some of us feared. Now, if only the WWF would reunite Jericho and
Angle as Los Gringos Dorkos…
7. Tajiri (WWF): Tajiri surprised wrestling fans everywhere when
he not only beat Billy Kidman at Backlash for the Cruiserweight Belt, but also
retained the services of Torrie. The match itself was one of the better cruiser
matches in WWF history. OK, that's not saying a lot, but it was still good.
Kidman pinned Tajiri on Smackdown, so it looks like the WWF is intent on
continuing this feud, which is A-OK by me.
6. Gedo and Jedo (New Japan): The new sweethearts of the Internet
successfully defended their IWGP Junior Tag Titles against Katsuyori Shibata
& Wataru Inoue on 4/22. It was the duo's sixth successful title defense, a
record for the Junior straps (titles are defended a lot less frequently in
Japan). They now have their sights set on the longevity record held by Shinjiro
Ohtani and Tatsuhito Takaiwa (that duo held them for 11+ months, G+J just passed
their 9th month anniversary with the belts). But that will be no easy task, as
they have a big title match against Jushin Liger and Minoru Tanaka at the
colossal 5/2 Dome Show (The week had its low points too-the non-title loss to
Liger and Shane, as well as Jedo having to forfeit his shot at Minoru Tanaka's
Junior Heavyweight strap).
5. Minoru Tanaka (New Japan): Speak of the devil, this top flight
New Japan Junior and two-time IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion successfully
defended his title for the second time against Black Tiger on Friday. Tiger and
Tanaka have awesome chemistry in the ring, so this one may have been as good as
Tanaka's near-classic title defense against Takehiro Murahama a little over a
year ago. Tanaka doesn't look to slow down either, as he and Jushin Liger
challenge for the IWGP Junior Tag titles, and he's my favorite to win the Best
of the Super Juniors Show.
4. Undertaker (WWF): Dean Man Inc. will once again play a huge
role in the annual May PPV, as he beat Steve Austin at Backlash to become the #1
contender to the Undisputed WWF Title. Then on Raw he had a hot brawl with
Triple H, and then crossed over to the Smackdown show to return the favor to the
Game. Would be higher if his match at Backlash wasn't the drizzling shits.
3. Magnum Tokyo (Toryumon): Tokyo emerged as the winner of the
2002 El Numero Uno tournament. He actually lost the semi-final match to SUWA,
who was then attacked by M2K and sent to the hospital. Magnum was inserted into
the finals, where he defeated Masaaki Mochizuki with the AV (Shooting) Star
Press. They ran an angle afterwards where Magnum declined membership in M2K, but
was then kicked out of face stable the Toryumon Army. Is Magnum going to join
M2K? Or will he play lone wolf? We're intrigued. Some may complain that Tokyo
has gotten stale, but anyone who uses a move called the Erect Smash is OK in our
book. Hell, if you listen to Dean Rasmussen, Magnum may actually be Jesus
Christ.
2. Eddy Guerrero (WWF): Eddy captured his second Intercontinental
Title by cheating to win against Rob Van Dam at Backlash. Amazingly, it was
Eddy's first singles match after coming back to the fed. The match itself was
good stuff, and the rematch will surely be even better. And it looks like the
two will indeed meet again, as Eddy attacked Van Dam after a match on Raw. And
we got a laugh out of that "Senor Perfecto" crack.
1. Hulk Hogan (WWF): The first time Hogan made the list (for his
memorable match at Wrestlemania), I thought that would be it. Then he showed up
a second time (for earning a shot at Triple H and the World title), I was sure
that would be that. But then the guy goes out and wins the freaking World Title,
and hell, how could I not put him on the list? I mean, whether you were jumping
for joy or still cleaning up the vomit on Monday, this is one of the bigger
stories of the year. And if you seriously predicted this, please contact me-we
should go to the track.
Bonuses:
Humanitarian of the Week: Yutaka Yoshie (AKA The Prince of Peace) Yoshie
hit Giant Singh with a hard backfist during a tag match on 4/23, injuring the
Giant and forcing the cancellation of the much dreaded Singh vs. Silva match for
the big 5/2 Dome Show. Do they give out Nobel Peace Prizes for this sort of
thing?
That's all for this week. Next week sees the big New Japan 30th Anniversary plus
the Hogan/Jericho match for the World Title on Smackdown. Now hit the lights on
your way out.
Joe Gagne
bwo@infi.net