Movers and Shakers #8
Posted: 05/04/02
RIP, Lou Thesz.
Before we start, I’d like to mention the Toryumon USA website (http://toryumonusa.tripod.com), which contains everything you could possibly want to know about Ultimo Dragon’s promotions, and has been a large help in compiling recent M+S.
And now, the top of the pops from 4/28-5/4.
10. D’Lo Brown (WWF): Mr. Brown made his return to WWF television after a year’s absence on this past Sunday Night Heat, losing to Eddy Guerrero in another battle of the Frog Splashes. D’Lo looked to be in great shape and wrestled a hell of a match, busting out all his old signature spots and debuting a neato Blockbuster-into-a-swinging-sitout-Rock Bottom. As soon as the Real Deal returns to Raw and they offer a D’Lo Bobblehead at the Shopzone all will be right in the world.
9. Shinjiro Ohtani (Zero One): Zero One held a special card in honor of Ohtani’s ten-year anniversary in the ring (actually, he debuted in June of ’92, but why pick nits?). Ohtani rose to the occasion by teaming with Masato Tanaka to successfully defend their NWA Intercontinental Tag Titles against the team of Evolution (Nova and Frankie Kazarian) when Otani used a Cobra hold on Kazarian. Since he’s bulked up to heavyweight status, Shinjiro’s not one of the top three workers on the planet anymore, but he’s still awesome. We just hope he gives Larry Zybysko his old wrestling trunks back.
8. Guerreros de Infierno (CMLL): This week’s CMLL outing, packed with Boriquas, Talibanes, Capos, and Giant Silva, was looking pretty dismal. Thank God someone decided to stick Ultimo Guerrero, Rey Buccamero, and Tarzan Boy in a match. Watching their awesome bout with Shocker, Satanico, and Mascara Magica, two things become abundantly clear: 1) The Guerreros have the best tandem offense in all of wrestling and 2) no one is better than the GdI at making opponents look good. They bumped like ping-pong balls on Saturday, and made the normally good Mascara Magica look great and the great Shocker and Satanico look even better. If you’re not watching these guys, what’s wrong with you? They make sitting through Taliban matches worth it.
7. Dixie (Jersey All-Pro Wrestling): Stupid name aside, Dixie’s actually one of my favorite young indy guys. He’s not all about the highspots and white-hot death like the rest of his indy brethren, but more wrestling and character driven. Anyway, the current Jersey All Pro Triple Crown champ (JAPW Heavyweight, Light Heavyweight, and Jersey Titles) successfully defended his straps against Deranged (one half of Wasted Youth with Insane Dragon, who is actually Dixie’s old partner in Youth Gone Wild) on Friday, getting the win with a reverse Cloverleaf hold. Post match, Dixie continued assaulting Deranged, which brought out Insane Dragon and the Briscoe Brothers. But the Briscoes turned on Dragon and seemingly formed an allegiance with Dixie. So to recount, Dixie has the belts and a new posse, as well as the #7 spot.
6. Low Ki (Various): Man, is there something in the water in Philly? Ki once again steps it up huge at a Ring of Honor show, beating AJ Styles in yet another match people are calling a MOTYC (to go along with his other two from the first pair of RoH shows). At this point, it looks like Ki might never show up on Jakked again, so the Ring of Honor shows are really his biggest platforms to show his awesome hardass style of wrestling. Maybe Ki can thank Rob Feinstein by protecting him if the WK Media folks ever tip over his tape table again.
5. Genki Horiguchi (Toryumon): M2K member Genki became the 49th NWA Welterweight Champion when he defeated Ryo Saito for the belt on 4/29. The finish came when Magnum Tokyo came out and attempted to hit Genki with a Blue Box, but nailed Saito instead, allowing Genki to roll up Saito for the pin and belt. The next night, Toryumon president Ultimo Dragon forced Genki to give Ryo a return match, and this time Genki won clean as a sheet, beating Saito in 14:34 with a Beach Break. Looks like the heel turn is working just fine for Genki. When I find out what a Blue Box is I’ll let you know.
4. Eddy Guerrero (WWF): One of the few bright spots on the Raw roster, Eddy ruled it in the ring this week, having a great match with D’Lo on Heat and carrying the apathetic Jeff Hardy to something watchable on Raw. Not only that, he teamed with Red to defeat Joel and Jose Maximo at the 4/27 Ring of Honor Show, then gave an emotional speech afterwards thanking the fans for their support during his tough times. The crowd responded with a “Thank you Eddy” chant. Thanks indeed.
3. Minoru Tanaka & Jushin “Thunder” Liger (New Japan): The Megapowers of New Japan Juniors dethroned Jedo and Gedo for the IWGP Junior Tag Titles at the big Dome show, ending their nine-month run with the straps. Of course, neither man is a stranger to the belt (Liger has held them with Great Sasuke and El Samurai, while Tanaka had a run with Koji Kanemoto). Right after the match, the new champs were challenged by all of the Noah juniors, so it’s looks like there’s plenty of inter-promotional goodness headed our way. Liger also appeared to be really psyched by the upcoming Spider-Man movie, as evidenced by his “Amazing Liger Man” costume.
2. Yuji Nagata (New Japan): Huzzah! A first successful title defense for IWGP Champ Yuji, as he turned back Noah’s Yoshihiro Takayama in 15:30 with a high kick at the big New Japan Dome show. Post-match Nagata got into a confrontation with former champ Kazuyuki Fujita, so it looks like that will be a future challenge. Fujita actually defeated Nagata when he was champion at the 5/5/01 NJPW PPV before vacating the title due to injury. So we have the “I never lost the belt” angle along with the “Fujita’s already beaten Nagata” story. Sounds good, and a win by Nagata would establish him as a big-time champ.
1. Mitsuharu Misawa & Masahiro Chono (Noah and New Japan): The two wrestling legends finally had an encounter, as they wrestled to a 30:00 draw in front of an enormous (and apparently legit) crowd of 57,000. Match was apparently very good, but in all honesty, given the ages and physical conditions of both men, expecting ***** is probably a bit much. But the bout was said to have great drama, especially when the two began pulling out trademark spots from Giant Baba and Antonio Inoki, the two legends of All and New Japan Wrestling. And when you work a 30:00 dream match and draw in a crowd that size, well, choosing the #1 spot is pretty damn easy.
That’s all for now. Next week looks to be a rather slow week, with the WWF building to Judgment Day, and only All Japan and Zero One running shows in Japan. We’ll see what transpires. Now hit the lights on the way out.
Joe Gagne
bwo@infi.net